I have finished reading about the series of blasts across Bangalore first and then Gujarat. It seems that people who are miserable want company and want to drag every one down.
It was equally unfortunate to hear comments from the Gujarat Congress spokesman that Modi should take responsibility and resign. The blatant attempt to play politics with a national tragedy speaks volumes of the opportunistic politics that have come to undo the Indian growth story.
Equally horrible is the decision of the NDA to oppose the liberalization agenda that UPA plans to push through as a result of winning the no confidence vote.
Seems that India is suceeding despite the inept politicians and that the politicians are getting thouroughly shameless and are opposing the Nuclear deal (which will give energy security) and now prevent liberalization!!
The usual platitudes of the bombing being a cowardly act, asking for people to exercise restraint etc are being bandided around. Meanwhile the few terrorists who were caught red handed trying to enter the parliament are yet to be executed despite a Supreme court order. One wonders what they will do by catching perpetrators of the latest attrocity.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Back to thinking
It has been a very hectic last few months, however with the Victoria day break resulting in a long weekend, I have been able to get back to the blogging.
I think that in the last few months, I have had a ring side view of the impact of the indeterminate state of the economy on daily work. It feels like no one really knows how deep the problems run and how soon things will get back to normal. The result is close monitoring of costs with a very short term vision and frequent course correction.
In my profession as a Project Manager, this has presented some challenges. The normal progress of project is now interrupted by conflicting requests for information. This is leading to additional costs (an unintended consequence) and delays.
I have been reading up on Agile project management and the light weight concepts with the hopes of finding some interim solution to my problems. Meanwhile there is an opinion gaining currency that the problems in the global economy will sort itself out by middle of 2009.
The weekend is now coming to an end! Got to log off for now
I think that in the last few months, I have had a ring side view of the impact of the indeterminate state of the economy on daily work. It feels like no one really knows how deep the problems run and how soon things will get back to normal. The result is close monitoring of costs with a very short term vision and frequent course correction.
In my profession as a Project Manager, this has presented some challenges. The normal progress of project is now interrupted by conflicting requests for information. This is leading to additional costs (an unintended consequence) and delays.
I have been reading up on Agile project management and the light weight concepts with the hopes of finding some interim solution to my problems. Meanwhile there is an opinion gaining currency that the problems in the global economy will sort itself out by middle of 2009.
The weekend is now coming to an end! Got to log off for now
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Intro and ramblings my favourite topic, entertainment!
Before anyone gets all excited, this starbuck is not related to the gorgeous, spirited and sexy pilot of Battlestar Galactica… a huge fan though.
So, Gregory David Roberts’s pretentious tome, “Shantaram” is being made into a movie, with no less than Johnny Depp and Amitabh Bachchan starring in it. Don’t know if anyone else got the same feeling, but methinks it was created with the hope that it will one day grace the silver screens across the world. It has all the Masala of a Hollywood film complete with prison torture, odd "Madame" characters, War and a dying hero in this same war. Best part is, it will also appeal to the bollywood crowd, as it seems to have bollywood masala cleverly woven into the plot! Ah globalization !
If anyone out there is asking for my opinion, I think Leonardo Di Caprio would have made a far better Shantaram. No substitute for Amitabh Bachchan for the role of Khader Bhai. I hope they pick Rajpal Yadav for the part of Prabhaker.
So, Gregory David Roberts’s pretentious tome, “Shantaram” is being made into a movie, with no less than Johnny Depp and Amitabh Bachchan starring in it. Don’t know if anyone else got the same feeling, but methinks it was created with the hope that it will one day grace the silver screens across the world. It has all the Masala of a Hollywood film complete with prison torture, odd "Madame" characters, War and a dying hero in this same war. Best part is, it will also appeal to the bollywood crowd, as it seems to have bollywood masala cleverly woven into the plot! Ah globalization !
If anyone out there is asking for my opinion, I think Leonardo Di Caprio would have made a far better Shantaram. No substitute for Amitabh Bachchan for the role of Khader Bhai. I hope they pick Rajpal Yadav for the part of Prabhaker.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Charity and Governance
Now that the markets are a bit more stable, I have been able to think of other things. This time it is about Charity.
Charity is a big thing in this part of the world and also while in Ireland, I noticed that the Irish are really big on charity. These days, I have noticed a lot of advertisements asking for charity. Some say you can sponsor a child in Africa or some where in the third world. There are visuals of malnourished kids and emaciated families.
There are tax breaks and various incentives to provide to accredited charities. To facilitate charities, it is now possible to authorize deduction of charities at the payroll itself. This allows mobilizing vast sums towards charities. To mobilize these charities and channel them to the target audience requires overheads of organization. Organizing and deploying charity is an industry in itself and has huge corporate sponsorship and charitable giving is likely to be part of performance appraisals in the near future.
The average Canadian is quite happy to donate to charitable causes the year round. The fact that quality of life is good in the first world allows people to be open to donating and also sensitive when shown human suffering.
What is prominent is the fact that there are campaigns to provide education and basic living facilities to disadvantaged children in the third world. This is really a good achievement. However, I always wonder if there are any charities that are aimed at addressing the root cause of these misfortunes. There is a common link between orphans, poverty and refugee issues and that is poor governance. The difference between regions of prosperity and regions of intense misfortune is governance.
Regardless of whether a country is resource rich (like Nigeria) or totally barren (Ethiopia) or has been prosperous in the past (Zimbabwe), the common thread is poor governance. The responsibility of the government is to be the custodian of the collective futures of its citizens and to manage the resources with a good vision and effective clean administration. Where this element is absent, what happens is that the proceeds of national resources do not reach the people. Corruption becomes rife and when public protests increase; there is a violent clampdown. It is established that those in government can benefit from the national resources, then elections become violent and common people get caught in the cross fire. Democracy becomes a casualty.
The result of all of this is the swelling number of orphans, poverty, and hopelessness. People who can flee such regimes end up as unwanted refugees. They risk their life and limb and end up in the shores of Spain or elsewhere in containers.
I am going to spend some time on the net doing research to find out if any NGO is involved in addressing these root causes and will share my findings. Meanwhile I can only think that if we are in a boat that has a hole in the hull, bailing buckets of water will help only to a certain extent. What will really solve the problem is sealing the hole. Similarly charity addressed at providing education and food to orphans and the needy in the third world is like bailing buckets of water from the boat. The water will continue to fill up until the hole in the hull is plugged.
Charity is a big thing in this part of the world and also while in Ireland, I noticed that the Irish are really big on charity. These days, I have noticed a lot of advertisements asking for charity. Some say you can sponsor a child in Africa or some where in the third world. There are visuals of malnourished kids and emaciated families.
There are tax breaks and various incentives to provide to accredited charities. To facilitate charities, it is now possible to authorize deduction of charities at the payroll itself. This allows mobilizing vast sums towards charities. To mobilize these charities and channel them to the target audience requires overheads of organization. Organizing and deploying charity is an industry in itself and has huge corporate sponsorship and charitable giving is likely to be part of performance appraisals in the near future.
The average Canadian is quite happy to donate to charitable causes the year round. The fact that quality of life is good in the first world allows people to be open to donating and also sensitive when shown human suffering.
What is prominent is the fact that there are campaigns to provide education and basic living facilities to disadvantaged children in the third world. This is really a good achievement. However, I always wonder if there are any charities that are aimed at addressing the root cause of these misfortunes. There is a common link between orphans, poverty and refugee issues and that is poor governance. The difference between regions of prosperity and regions of intense misfortune is governance.
Regardless of whether a country is resource rich (like Nigeria) or totally barren (Ethiopia) or has been prosperous in the past (Zimbabwe), the common thread is poor governance. The responsibility of the government is to be the custodian of the collective futures of its citizens and to manage the resources with a good vision and effective clean administration. Where this element is absent, what happens is that the proceeds of national resources do not reach the people. Corruption becomes rife and when public protests increase; there is a violent clampdown. It is established that those in government can benefit from the national resources, then elections become violent and common people get caught in the cross fire. Democracy becomes a casualty.
The result of all of this is the swelling number of orphans, poverty, and hopelessness. People who can flee such regimes end up as unwanted refugees. They risk their life and limb and end up in the shores of Spain or elsewhere in containers.
I am going to spend some time on the net doing research to find out if any NGO is involved in addressing these root causes and will share my findings. Meanwhile I can only think that if we are in a boat that has a hole in the hull, bailing buckets of water will help only to a certain extent. What will really solve the problem is sealing the hole. Similarly charity addressed at providing education and food to orphans and the needy in the third world is like bailing buckets of water from the boat. The water will continue to fill up until the hole in the hull is plugged.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Things looking much better
Things are looking much better in both BSE/NSE and TSX. Plan to sell everything and hold deposits instead and wait out the volatility. other option is to buy high dividend Blue Chips and wait out the volatility. Waiting for the next interest rate cut to be announced before taking next steps. Let us see how it unfolds!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Relief
Things are looking better this morning. Gains overnight in BSE/NSE have improved the situation. Yet to see what the market holds today in TSX.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
As I watch my shares fall in both BSE/NSE and TSX. I feel that I cannot do anything. I simply do not understand what is happening.
My calculation that Gold would be stable and hold value seems to be wrong given the reports that in India, investors are selling Gold to buy blue chips at rock bottom prices. This is in a way mixed news because it would mean that there is optimism in the market and I hope tomorrow sees the BSE/NSE pick up.
Meanwhile, I have been able to pick up some good scrips yesterday in BSE and TSX at really good prices. On hind sight I could have waited it out a day or so more especially since the U.S market was closed.
I am going to try my best not to look any more into my portfolio until this volatile period is behind us, but at the same time feel that i would later regret not having done some bottom fishing!!
My calculation that Gold would be stable and hold value seems to be wrong given the reports that in India, investors are selling Gold to buy blue chips at rock bottom prices. This is in a way mixed news because it would mean that there is optimism in the market and I hope tomorrow sees the BSE/NSE pick up.
Meanwhile, I have been able to pick up some good scrips yesterday in BSE and TSX at really good prices. On hind sight I could have waited it out a day or so more especially since the U.S market was closed.
I am going to try my best not to look any more into my portfolio until this volatile period is behind us, but at the same time feel that i would later regret not having done some bottom fishing!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)