முதல் அழுகை.

கோடை காலத்தின் உக்கிரத்தில் தகித்தான் சூரியன். உக்கிரத்தை தாங்க இயலாத தளிர்கள் தங்கள் சிரத்தை கவிழ்த்து தரை பார்த்து இருந்தன. சுற்றுபுறத்தை அளவிடுகையில் அது ஒரு சிறு கிராமம் என்று தெரிகிறது. கிராமத்தின் கம்பீரத்தை உயர்த்திக்காட்டுவது போல அந்த கிராமத்தின் பசுமை கோடையிலும் கண்களை குளிர்விக்கிறது.

அதோ ஒரு பெண்மணி மற்றும் ஒரு சிறுவன் அந்த வண்டியில் ஏறுகிறார்கள். அந்த பெண்ணை பார்த்தால் கற்பமாய் இருப்பது போல இருக்கிறது. சிறுவனுடன் வண்டியில் போவதை பார்த்தால் அவளுடைய தைரியம் நமக்கு மெய்சிலிர்ப்பை உண்டாக்குகிறது.

அந்த தாயின் கண்களில் தெரியும் வலி அவளுக்கு குழந்தை பிறக்கும் நேரம் நெருங்குவதை பறைசாற்றுகிறது. அந்த பெண் நேராக சென்று மருத்துவ மனையில் சேருகிறாள். மதியம் இரண்டு மணி ஆகி விட்டிருந்தது. செவிலியர் அவசர நடை அந்த பெண் கருத்தரிக்கும் நேரம் நெருங்கி விட்டதை நமக்கு தெரிவிக்கிறது.

ஒன்றும் அறியாத அந்த பாலகன் தன் தாய்க்கு ஒரு சேவகன் வெளியே காவல் நிற்கிறான். சிறுவனின் கம்பிரமான நடை அவன் எதற்கும் அஞ்சாதவன் என்று காட்டுகிறது. மருத்துவ அறையில் இருந்து ஒரு அழுகை குரல் வெளியே வருகிறது. அந்த சிறுவனின் தாய் ஒரு ஆண் மகவை ஈன்று எடுகிறாள். அந்த குழந்தையின் முதல் அழுகை திக்கெட்டும் ஒலிக்கிறது.

Why India is still a developing country

I came across an email that clearly identifies the issue regarding why India is still a developing country. I am publishing the email here.

An Old Story:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food orshelter so he dies out in the cold.

Indian Version:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter . Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for

not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance). Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers. Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway

Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'. Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter. Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'. Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '. CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '. Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later....

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar

company in Silicon Valley, 100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India.

......AND

As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the grasshoppers,

India is still a developing country…!!!

The next leap

Three hundred years ago there was a country which was contributing 1/4th of the global gross domestic product. Every country in the world was envious of this part of the world. The country was blessed with vast natural resources. The country had a pleasant climatic condition with beautiful scenary. However, the country had lacked in securing its resources due to mismanagement.

The mismanagement has led the country to become a slave. The country was ruled by foreigners for centuries. Eventhen, the country has never lost its individuality. A few leaders understood that it is collective management (Democracy) that is the best way to manage. These leaders have a special place in the history of the nation.

Post 18th century the country deviated from its exploratory path and started adopting foreign principles. This has resulted in the decline of the country's contribution towards GDP which currently attributes to less than 1%. However, the wheel has already started rotating and the country has started to progress. This time technology has acted as a catalyst for the growth of the nation.

But as the world experienced credit crunch, the country is also experiencing slowdown in business. When I talked to a westener regarding the situation, I was told that this is the right time to sow the seed for future growth. Investment guru Buffet once mentioned that, the right time to make purchase is during the period of discounted sale. The time has arrived for purchasing at a discounted rate. I am going to make the purchases for the future and thus making my next big leap.

Nanda visits Rahul

Nanda visited his friend Rahul's house on a weekend. Rahul is working with IOB and is looking at the historical chart of his company. Neha is Rahul's wife and works as a Wealth Manager.

Rahul: Hi Nanda! welcome. It has been a long time since you visited my house.
Neha: Welcome Nanda. Your friend was just thinking of calling you.
Nanda: You are lucky that our telepathy has worked this time and I reached for your service Rahul. How is life going on.
Rahul: Life is great my friend. Today we celebrated Chitirai tirunal our traditional Tamil festival.
Nanda: Oh yeah. I have heard about this festival. What is special you are doing for this festival.
Neha: I am insisting him to invest a marginal amount into share market for our future.
Nanda: Good thought Neha. Have you got any specific scrip in your mind?
Neha: I asked Rahul to look at the possibilities related with IOB.
Nanda: Great suggestion. You are a treassure for your clients as you can make them rich through your stock ideas.
Rahul: Don't exaggerate Nanda. Is IOB really a good investment?
Nanda: You have better knowledge about the company as you work with it.
Rahul: Yeah I know about its past and current. IOB's core strength is its overseas business. Headoffice in Chennai. One of Indian bank with online transaction facility.
Neha: The stock traded around 160 when Sensex traded at 21k. Currently the scrip trades around 58.
Rahul: Nanda, do you think the stock has reached bottom to consider for investment at this point of time?
Nanda: The Scrip's MFI is currently at 80. This indicates that the scrip has bottomed out.
Neha: This is a good news. I see that the MCAD shows a trend reversal and is reaching towards the 0 level. This is again a signal of bullishness.
Nanda: Right said Neha. Even RSI indicates bullish signal as it is above 70.
Rahul: The long term view of the bank's operation is very good as it is having very good liquidity system. The bank's operations can improve even further. The bank has a better future in rural areas. The rural schemes are doing better.
Nanda: This is a good news Rahul. I am going to recommend this scrip for my clients.
Neha: I will wait for the sensex to correct as it moved north for 7 consecutive sessions. Once the market corrected I shall consider investing.
Rahul: I have no other choice other than to follow what boss (looks at Neha and grins) says or else I will be denied of my lunch today.
Neha: You Rahul! Shut up. Come on lets have our lunch. I am feeling hungry.
Nanda: Me too and going to enjoy the lunch today with you guys.

Party at Arun's house

Nanda is an Analyst. Neha, Priya, Arun and Ravi are his friends who are assembled at Arun's house for a party. Arun is hosting the party as he failed on a bet with Nanda. Arun was confident of L&T suceeding the bidding process as opposed to Nanda who supported Tech Mahindra.

Nanda: Hey Arun, finally you have to agree that I won the bet with you.
Arun: Yes. I thought L&T was very keen from the beginning.
Neha: I do agree that L&T would have gained more had it won the bidding. How will it affect the IT sector.
Nanda: I think Mahindra is better placed IT firm than Infy, TCS and Wipro. Because of its client base and revenue.
Arun: I disagree with you. Nobody can compete with Infy or TCS.
Ravi: I disagree with you Arun. You know Tech Mahindra is concentrated towards telecom industry and with this acquisition they extend the service to other areas also.
Priya: This is similar to the ripple effect seen in water. If we drop a stone in the pond it creates concentric circles with the place where the stone was dropped as its centre.
Nanda: Right said Priya. I assume Tech Mahindra can now provide other service and can continue to have more focus towards its core sector ie. Telecom.
Neha: Another point to note down is that MBT as it was earlier called has a strong revenue and client base in Europe.
Arun: Yeah. But the issue is that they are more dependent on BT who is the primary customer from UK.
Nanda: I agree. But we know that Indian IT companies are more dependent on America and Satyam is not any different. Now this merged entity will have a balanced outlook in two major geographies America and Europe.
Ravi: This can act as a headache for other major IT players such as Infy, TCS and Wipro who are still struggling to get a major client base in Europe.
Arun: I think the Europe market is conservative when compared to US market. This is the reason for Indian cos. to struggle in acquiring new clients in this region.
Priya: You are right Arun. Me too have read about the conservative nature of Europeans.
Nanda: I am thinking of increasing my exposure in Tech Mahindra. The cos. is having bright future.
Arun: I will wait for another quarter and then will increase my stock.
Priya: I have never purchased Tech Mahindra in the past. I never thought this company will become one of major IT player.
Neha: Me too have no stock in this company. I am going to buy a small lot.
Ravi: I am thinking of buying Satyam instead of Tech Mahindra because the management might try to merge the stock.
Nanda: Good thought Ravi.

Tamil proverbs and management concepts

In the previous blog I claimed that INC followed free trade through exports and BJP's focus towards domestic consumption. These technical terms are explained easily using two tamil proverbs.

neo-liberal policies -

"ஊரான் பிள்ளையை ஊட்டி வளர்த்தால் தன் பிள்ளை தானே வளரும்."

This particular proverb explains clearly the concept behind neo-liberal policies. This liberalization policy encourages countries to open up the country's market for foreign companies and the goods manufactured by them. They encourage the other countries to export more instead of serving the local consumers. The effect of this is seen in the form of surge in prices of commodities in local market. I claim this as a risky strategy because the countries that are in power provide subsidies to the local players there by making their product cheaper. On the other hand the so called poor nations that are governed through neo-liberal policies are denied to provide subsidies because the governments are asked to reduce operating expenses. This forces the local players to increase their selling price of goods in domestic market. However, the competition from foreign players forces them to fix the price less than their cost price. This can be identified as the main reason for the formers to suffer because they are affected mostly by this Washington Consensus.

retion-o-centric approach -

"தனக்குப்பின் தானம்."

This approach follows a different route. The approach focuses towards the domestic needs. Hence, the main motive of this approach is self sustenance in other words this is called "Swadesi movement". It is very much possible to think that this strategy might isolate us from the rest of the world. But this notion is false. The example is seen through developed nations. Considering any sector it is seen that these countries export those goods that are available plenty. For example Scotch whisky is very famous world wide and India is not isolated from this. Last year the Scotland government increased the age limit for the purchase of Alcohol to 21. A country that is proud of manufacturing alcohol is trying to safeguard its own population from the ill habits. Contrary to this the same government encourages the export of alcohol to countries such as China and India. This is because these countries have major population. By encouraging these countries to consume more alcohol the government is trying to balance the loss of income incurred due to the rise in the age limit in its own country. Thus the country benefits financially and builds a healthy culture for its own public interest.

The difference between BJP and INC

I am currently affected by the election virus of India. This is my third political blog in the current series. For a change this time I am comparing the two renowned national parties Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress(INC).

The fundamental principles of INC is humanism and inclusive development. On the other hand BJP represents the country's majority community and centre-right in nature, the party advocates conservative social policies, self reliance, robust economic growth, foreign policy driven by a nationalist agenda, and strong national defense.

My view of INC is that the party follows free market led by globalization driven through exports. Incidentally BJP follows free market led by region based strategy through self sustainence. From a realist perspective it is understood that globalization is a myth.

An export driven market will fail during the time of crisis as other countries might tend to follow protectionist measure. On the other hand a consumption driven economy is the one that can survive any external financial turmoil irrespective of time line. This does not mean that a country will be isolated from global growth. The best example for this is the growth of Asian Tigers and China. These countries followed protectionist policies as opposed to the neo-liberal policies of IMF and World Bank. In current situation when IMF and G20 are seriously considering an alternative currency for Dollar in terms of SGN, strongly believe that Chinese Yuan should be included in the list of global currencies that have to back this newly designed currency.

The election manifesto of both the parties discuss the same issue namely Security, Governance and Development. The difference is seen only through the strategic policy formulation and implementation. As identified earlier INC formulate a strategy that is based on FDI and exports, while BJP formulate strategy that are based on domestic development and growth. Now the real question of whose policy includes the growth and development of aam admi raised among the public.

From my point of view both the strategy can lead us towards the success. But in graph theory I learnt something called shortest path algorithm. Considering human mentality the shortest path algorithm is very famous because human beings look for best solution with less input. Hence the public can make rational decision based opportunity for individual growth with less investment.

IT usage of Tamilnadu Political Parties

In my previous blog I had mentioned that MDMK had feedback mechanism though a few links are dead links. I received a mail from the webteam that shows that the feedback url is active and is been reviewed by the respective team.

The links to the webpages of respective political parties are listed below.

DMK
http://www.dmk.in/

AIADMK
http://www.aiadmkallindia.org/

MDMK
http://mdmk.org.in/

DMDK
http://www.dmdkparty.com/

PMK
No Webpage

BJP
http://www.bjptn.org/

BSP
http://www.bahujansamajp.com/

CPI
http://www.cpindia.org/

CPI(M)
http://www.cpim.org/

How effective is the usage of IT among Tamilnadu Political parties

DMK
The website has various branches that includes a separate section to tamil grammar. The site looks elegant and has been designed in tamil. The site has a good look and feel. The content includes the long lasting history of this party in Tamilnadu.

However, the website shows its hatred towards Brahmin community and towards the national language Hindi. Another issue to note is that there is no achievements mentioned under the past achievement list for the period from 2006-2008. Majority of data available in the website are old and has no current data.

AIADMK
Unlike DMK website this party has enabled multi language (Tamil and English with english as its primary language). However, the site lacks content. Except the Press Release none other tab has links. Even the press release section is not updated to hold current data and has content that are released during 2007. There is no mention regarding the party's policies, history, achievements.

MDMK
Similar to AIADMK's website this party has enabled multi-language for viewing. The party has uploaded the site with content that attracts the leader. The site makes use of multimedia to a greater extent.
However, the site lacks elegancy in the website design and hence makes tougher for the reader. Due to this the reader might lose interest in browsing the site. There are some broken links seen in the website. The site has option to send feedback. I am currently testing this option I shall update soon.

DMDK
The website of this party has good look and feel. However, the homepage shows pictures of those affected by natural calamity and terrorism. There is no mention why this occupies homepage. This seems that the party is concentrated towards Srilankan Tamil community.

Regarding the content posted in the site, the contents describe the history and achievements of an individual and no data available that is related to the party. Hence I am not able to understand how and why the party prevails in tamilnadu. I am also confused regarding whether this is a website of a political party or a private website of an individual with acting background.

PMK
I am not able to find the official website of this party.

BJP
This national party has a dedicated website for Tamilnadu. The site has been designed to view in english. However, the site is filled with excellent content and elegant design makes it easy for its reader. The history and reason tells the reader the existence of the party.

BSP
The website of this party has excellent design. However, there is no regional flavour to the site. The site given overall view of the nation.

CPI
I found difficult to track the national website of this party. There is no regional flavour to the site. The site lacks in content.

CPI(M)
The website of this party has some good content. However, the site lacks in design and it makes difficult for the reader to find relavant data without struggling. The site lacks to provide regional flavour for the reader.