India is shining again!!!

This is a great moment of celebration: all Indians can be really proud of the achievement at the Oscars. It is a triumph for Indian talent combined with the dedication of the British mind. Right from Rahman, Resul and the hundreds of people who worked hard to make Slumdog a perfect success no words can express their joy and excitement!

Rahman's success proves a known fact; to be successful one needs to be extremely passionate. Success came knocking when Rahman and music became inseparable. He dreamt that one day his music will be played all over the world and the dream has come true!

After all the hype one shouldn't forget the inhuman conditions in which millions of children live in India's slums. More than half of them do not go to school and are deprived of their childhood. Thanks to Danny Boyle, we can't hide our underbelly anymore!!

It is a golden opportunity for us to provide all basic facilities to the poor. The government, corporates, NGO's and the general public should come together to fight poverty in the country. We need to put all our children back to school. It is indeed a shame when more than 19% of our children suffer from malnutrition and more than 87% of India's population in the rural areas do not get the minimum calorie requirements.

But, this is a chance of a life time. Nobody can deny our right to celebrate. JAI HO!!

Crisis and Opportunities

This is a brief report on the Business Seminar organised at Y.B. Chavan Centre by MEDC on Economic Outlook and Business Prospects for 2009-10. The key note address was delivered by Dr. Suresh Tendulkar, Chairman, PM's Economic Council.

Dr. Tendulkar began by telling about a Chinese word "wei ji" which is supposed to mean both crisis and opportunities. The global financial crisis should be seen as an opportunity to increase efficiency and productivity. Further any crisis can make people wiser. It has brought all central banks together abandoning their usual 'beggar thy neighbour' attitude. Milton Friedman and even the current Fed Chief argued that central banks are to be blamed for such financial crisis.
"Great Depression is caused by the poor policy making by the central bank." Milton Friedman.
Dr. Suresh Tendulkar tried to lessen the anxiety of the people who came to attend the seminar by saying that one should not bother too much about the stock markets. "The most sensible thing about the sensex is that it does not make any sense!"
Elaborating the theme of his lecture 'Economic Outlook' he stated that any economic forecast is conditional since the policy makers can only provide incentives or disincentives while the success depends on many factors.
The economic outlook for fiscal 2009-10 is made on a number of assumptions relating to the expected turnaround of the global economy and a host of domestic factors. The positive factors are the expectations that the financial markets may revive sooner due to the co-ordinated efforts of the central banks in fighting recession. Since November, major central banks have been cutting interest rates to spur growth. The European Central Bank reduced the rate to 2.5% while the Bank of England went a step further to bring down the key rate to 2% for the first time since its inception.

The fairly optimistic outlook by the Prime Minister's Advisory Council is based on a couple of domestic factors like a 5% growth in agriculture for many years which created strong rural demand. He said that the Indian agriculture is not affected badly by the global meltdown. However, demand in the urban sector has been affected as a consequence of the rising interest rates. Dr. Tendulkar was of the view that the fiscal stimulus and easing of the rates by RBI would help the urban consumers. Better foreign exchange position is also giving us confidence.
He reminded the audience that the comfortable position that we enjoy today is the result of the dismantling of government controls since 1991.
On the flip side he pointed towards the poor progress in infrastructure due to lack of coordination between the central and state agencies and the underperforming power sector. Though we can expect some improvement in the power sector when gas from Kaveri Basin and other sources start commercial production.
Answering queries on the financial sector he opined that asset quality will deteriorate in the short run before the situation improves. After all, the so called 'vanila 'or 'exotic' instruments had turned 'toxic' all over the world. Dr Tendulkar ended his discourse by warning against the 'irrational pessimism' created by the media on the impact of global financial turmoil on Indian economy.(Are we moving from 'irrational exuberance' to 'irrational pessimism'?)
Some quotes from Milton Friedman:
"Governments never learn. Only people learn."
"Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government programme."

LEADERSHIP QUALITIES

Thirty seven year old Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has been asked by the Republican Leadership to deliver the party's response to Barack Obama's maiden State of The Union Address to Congress on 24th February.

Republican party leaders have declared that their party must not be simply the party of "Opposition", but the party of "Better Solutions".

Jindal has been selected not just because he is young.He has reformed government and brought many innovative ideas to make it work for the people.Jindal who is the son of first generation immigrants has made ethics and governance his central theme of
campaign like Obama.
Now the million dollar question being asked again and again by Indians-whether we will ever have an Obama.....
As an Indian, Iam too frustrated with the class of politicians we have inherited.The dance of 'mobocracy' we witnessed in UP, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa recently and mute response from political leaders across India have been too disgusting.They don't deserve our votes. By keeping quiet they have shown their poor leadership abilities.How can any such person bocome a true leader like Obama or even Jindal?
I love Obama for his honesty . He has the courage to admit his mistakes and never loses his cool.Look at the leader who invited John McCain for dinner and consultations immediately after a landslide victory.Obama has some of the best qualities of Mahatma Gandhi, Mandela and Martin Luther King(Jr) .

He has the unmatched ability to capture the hearts and minds of the people, especially the youth.Do the so called leaders in India have any of his qualities?Obama has the hallmarks of a great leader.

According to Newell, author of 'The Soul of a Leader,Character and Ten Lessons in Political Greatness',a political leader has to have two or three things they want to get done,and so have the ability to focus on them from the outset,and to know ahead of time what they are.

"Great Leaders don't make up any agendas as they go along and don't just respond to the pressures of daily events", Newell.
Starting a website and Blog or sleeping in a village with an 'English tourist' is just not enough to become a mass leader!