Recently I watched Mankatha-the 50th ajith (popularly known as thala in South-India) movie. Though the movie was watchable, I couldn't digest the theme of the movie where the villain is shown in positive light. The movie was more about justifying the act of two corrupt police officers.
The people throng the theaters whenever a superstar actor movie releases, (be it a negative theme based movie). It is the responsibility of the directors (and producers) to make movies that produce positive energy in the society. Movies have been influential to the behavior of the people in our society. The release of Rang de basanthi (RDB) was followed by public becoming more about corruption. In a way today's anti corruption strike led by hazare owes a lot to RDB.
But today directors, in the name of exploring new themes are making movies like Mankatha which might influence people to commit crimes.
Looking back at Tamil Cinema history, I would say that, Tamil cinema has evolved a lot technologically, but in terms of story, characterization and picturization the quality has come down.
Just look at the kind of movies that are made today. Most movies have a standard theme where the hero has supernatural abilities, the heroine has no role to play and ya there is an item number.... Come bollywood, the movies there add a few raunchy sex scenes. Where is the cinema industry heading?
60's and 70's was the era of classical movies, where lot of emphasis was given to character. Even our demi-god rajnikanth ACTED in the movie 16 vayathinile. We have seen more classic like Edhiroli, Karnan, Apporva ragangal, avargal, mahakavi kalidas etc...oh ya rajni can act!! :)
80's and 90's was the of age of offbeat theme based movies..we had the best of directors in this age..from KB to maniratnam, P Vasu, Bharathi raja to name a few...:) and they gave us excellent movies...remember anjali? i will shed couple of tears even today if i watch that movie! apart from that we had guna, thever magan, chinna gounder, duet kadalan etc to name a few...this period also coincided with kamal shifting to acting versatile characters and rajni doing more superhero roles..
The quality of movies begin to steadily deteriorate in the 2000's..Even Rajni acted in a hopeless movie - 'baba'..we are still having the steady flow of characterless, emotionless and logic-less movies of actor vijay..
but still i feel tamil cinema industry was fairly much better when compared to bollywood or tollywood..even though vijay's movie was logic-less it never promoted any wrongdoing. he would fight the wrong/evil with the help of his supernatural abilities like jumping from one movint train to another, jumping from 100+ feet in the air without any support system etc. We can forgive vijay for that.
but mankatha has opened the pandora's box. now tamil cinema directors will start making 'A' rated porn movies, they wont mind making movies where wrong doing is justified..we would soon see movies like the dirty picture, dellybelly made in tamil.
This is not good for a society like ours where fans blindly follow what their stars do. I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow some ajith's fan commits a crime and justifies his crime by pointing fingers at mankatha.
Inspite of this I haven't lost hope. We still have a handful of quality directors like maniratnam, shankar, kamalhasan etc. The rest have to just refocus their views and make films with moral responsibilty.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Book review - the lost symbol by Dan Brown
Having read all of Dan brown's books I couldn't help but compare the lost symbol with his previous books. As in all his books, the novel happens in short time and there are more then one plot which come together at the climax. From the intriguing angels and demons and da vince code, this book is a little disappointing. nevertheless, for all dan brown's book readers, the lost symbol is an enjoyable read.
This the third brown book involving Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon. This book is set in Washington DC and the roles are derived from freemasonry.
Though the book was not as fast paced as the da vince code, the plot here was more believable and realistic. The main antagonist poses as an atheist and the characters try to convince him to have faith and belief in a supreme power.
The reference to Neotic science is a fun read but brown could have given more details about it. Apart from the interpretation of what Hell might be like when Mal'akh dies, there's no Indiana Jones Holy Grail excitement going on here.
Coming to the plot, the novel starts very well. The buildup about the secret - the Freemasons keep and national security crisis forces the readers to keep one hand on the book!! The buildup to find the lost symbol brings along many new aspects connecting science and spirituality. The plot is good until the climax, where he refers to the bible as the 'the lost symbol'. For someone with brown's caliber we can expect a better ending. It is like brown wrote this book with a movie in mind.
Finally saying that the lost symbol is the bible (for a christian, vedas for hindus, quran for Muslims etc) was diluting all the buildup. There are some more loose ends in the book. Was it the bible that the masons were protecting? it is available everywhere! What about the staircase that is going down the earth? cant langdon figure out that he is actually climbing up the stairs?
Barring these mistakes (in the climax), the lost symbol is a nice read. It is typical brown style book. racy, energetic with lot of puzzles to understand and solve. Also inclusion of Neotic science in the book has made every made question his spirituality.
Finally, if you planning to visit washington, read this book and explore the places mentioned in the book (I will if I visit washington DC :) )
For all brown fans it is a must read!! It is an entertaining novel but definitely not the best of Dan Brown’s work.
This the third brown book involving Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon. This book is set in Washington DC and the roles are derived from freemasonry.
Though the book was not as fast paced as the da vince code, the plot here was more believable and realistic. The main antagonist poses as an atheist and the characters try to convince him to have faith and belief in a supreme power.
The reference to Neotic science is a fun read but brown could have given more details about it. Apart from the interpretation of what Hell might be like when Mal'akh dies, there's no Indiana Jones Holy Grail excitement going on here.
Coming to the plot, the novel starts very well. The buildup about the secret - the Freemasons keep and national security crisis forces the readers to keep one hand on the book!! The buildup to find the lost symbol brings along many new aspects connecting science and spirituality. The plot is good until the climax, where he refers to the bible as the 'the lost symbol'. For someone with brown's caliber we can expect a better ending. It is like brown wrote this book with a movie in mind.
Finally saying that the lost symbol is the bible (for a christian, vedas for hindus, quran for Muslims etc) was diluting all the buildup. There are some more loose ends in the book. Was it the bible that the masons were protecting? it is available everywhere! What about the staircase that is going down the earth? cant langdon figure out that he is actually climbing up the stairs?
Barring these mistakes (in the climax), the lost symbol is a nice read. It is typical brown style book. racy, energetic with lot of puzzles to understand and solve. Also inclusion of Neotic science in the book has made every made question his spirituality.
Finally, if you planning to visit washington, read this book and explore the places mentioned in the book (I will if I visit washington DC :) )
For all brown fans it is a must read!! It is an entertaining novel but definitely not the best of Dan Brown’s work.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
For the cause of "poor" bribe taker
All of us criticize the "bribe taker". Let it be the local traffic constable, or any government servant in any government organization. But we never look at what causes them to take bribe. ( I am only trying to justify the position of low level bribe takers in a government organization, many of whom I have come across being "forced bribe takers"). Bribes in lower level of bureaucracy can be best explained by the trickle down effect of corruption!!!
In one of my previous blogs, I had mentioned about the apathy of a traffic police constable and the terrible life he is being forced to live in. In this post, I am trying to extrapolate and generalize this concept, i.e. the plight of any ordinary government employee who earns an average of less then 30,000rs/month.
At this age, cost of everything right from education, to daily rations, travel etc have become so high that the lower class and middle class have found it virtually impossible to bridge the gap between expenditure and income. India has become a living model of how the government policies can be designed in such a way that rich get rich and poor get poorer.
Coming back to the core point of this blog, why does some officer take bribe? Simple, because he has to take it. He cant get decent food, he cant get his kids educated in good schools or colleges and ya he cant provide his family a decent place to live in. In order to bridge this gap between expenditure and income he is forced to take a bribe.
I will like to give the example of a real life incident (that does not involve a government employee). Once I had taken an auto-rickshaw from Chennai CMBT (main bus stand) to my home in chrompet (roughly 20KMs away from CMBT). Over the coarse of journey I had a chat with the auto-driver about how life is getting tough for normal middle class people and what the government did (or does) for making the condition better. He begin telling me about his personal life experiences and how he is fighting to get his three kids educated so that atleast they can have a better life then his. He was forced to give "capitation fees" to get his kids admitted in private schools. Just hearing at his plight made me realize how much of a comfortable life I am living in.
Though this auto-driver (or any auto driver) charged me extra for the ride. This is an indirect form of bribe. But again he is forced to charge me extra. If he had some help from the government, he would have charged me right!
Imagine a situation when cost of petrol is as low as 10rs per liter!!! Ya, it can be a possible if the government brings back all the black money!!, and it makes better use of the gas in KG basin(There is a separate scam involving KG basin and Ambanis, which is set to explode in the next few days). They would be able to provide enough subsidy to the poor people (like the auto-rickshaw driver). Petrol cost is one thing that affects the life of majority of the people in this country. Right from the vegetable vendor, autoricksaw guys to any ordinary citizen of this country.
Why cant the government bring in effective policies to control effective distribution of PDS of foodgrains? Why is the opposition silent on it? The answer is straight forward. All the political parties and its members get their monthly money (read it as 'salary') from this theft!! Why cant the government do something about it? If we had effective PDS, the bribe taker need not take bribe. They need not go to the local ration shop to buy foodgrains at highly inflated rates.
The bribe taker at the lower level is taking money which indirectly reaches the people in the higher level of bureaucracy! And therefore rich get richer and poor get poorer.
In one of my previous blogs, I had mentioned about the apathy of a traffic police constable and the terrible life he is being forced to live in. In this post, I am trying to extrapolate and generalize this concept, i.e. the plight of any ordinary government employee who earns an average of less then 30,000rs/month.
At this age, cost of everything right from education, to daily rations, travel etc have become so high that the lower class and middle class have found it virtually impossible to bridge the gap between expenditure and income. India has become a living model of how the government policies can be designed in such a way that rich get rich and poor get poorer.
Coming back to the core point of this blog, why does some officer take bribe? Simple, because he has to take it. He cant get decent food, he cant get his kids educated in good schools or colleges and ya he cant provide his family a decent place to live in. In order to bridge this gap between expenditure and income he is forced to take a bribe.
I will like to give the example of a real life incident (that does not involve a government employee). Once I had taken an auto-rickshaw from Chennai CMBT (main bus stand) to my home in chrompet (roughly 20KMs away from CMBT). Over the coarse of journey I had a chat with the auto-driver about how life is getting tough for normal middle class people and what the government did (or does) for making the condition better. He begin telling me about his personal life experiences and how he is fighting to get his three kids educated so that atleast they can have a better life then his. He was forced to give "capitation fees" to get his kids admitted in private schools. Just hearing at his plight made me realize how much of a comfortable life I am living in.
Though this auto-driver (or any auto driver) charged me extra for the ride. This is an indirect form of bribe. But again he is forced to charge me extra. If he had some help from the government, he would have charged me right!
Imagine a situation when cost of petrol is as low as 10rs per liter!!! Ya, it can be a possible if the government brings back all the black money!!, and it makes better use of the gas in KG basin(There is a separate scam involving KG basin and Ambanis, which is set to explode in the next few days). They would be able to provide enough subsidy to the poor people (like the auto-rickshaw driver). Petrol cost is one thing that affects the life of majority of the people in this country. Right from the vegetable vendor, autoricksaw guys to any ordinary citizen of this country.
Why cant the government bring in effective policies to control effective distribution of PDS of foodgrains? Why is the opposition silent on it? The answer is straight forward. All the political parties and its members get their monthly money (read it as 'salary') from this theft!! Why cant the government do something about it? If we had effective PDS, the bribe taker need not take bribe. They need not go to the local ration shop to buy foodgrains at highly inflated rates.
The bribe taker at the lower level is taking money which indirectly reaches the people in the higher level of bureaucracy! And therefore rich get richer and poor get poorer.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Chennai - a tribute to its people
It was around this time of the year in 2004, I moved to chennai. I always thought I was a north indian and would never fit among chennai people. But things changed as soon as I joined high school, all my fears evaporated. People here are very accommodating. Initially, I had to overcome the pressure due to my average performance in my 10th board exams, and coming to chennai was like blessing in disguise....Chennai helped me to adapt, helped me to perform better academically and ya taught me more the most important lesson in life - " the significance of hard-work" !!
The people of this city give lot of importance to traditions and its values. Almost all my classmates in school would visit the temple daily. It does not mean that they are less fashionable, neither are they averse to modern technology.
Chennai today has got a lot many new hotels with varying cuisine. But people still love to eat idlis in murugan idli shop, panipuri in gangothri, sweets in anandhabhavan and ya ofcourse gheeroast in saravana bhavan! :)
The people of this city are aware of whats happening around them. For example, If you talk to anyone who is supporting anna hazare and his campaign against the corruption, you would realize that Chennai people know what they are protesting against. They are aware of the weak points in the government's version of lokpal and why anna hazare's janlokpal thou being "draconian" is better off.
Many of my northi friends say chennai lacks a night life. And therefore does not qualify as a modern city. They go the extent of saying that chennai is modern village!
But chennai begs to differ. People here do not enjoy night life. Nights are meant for sleeping and chennai people beg to differ from the rest! And this is the beauty of chennai.
People here love what they get. A very hot day does not deter people from going to beach, and come rain people enjoy that too:)
Another important aspect of chennai is "affordable housing". Chennai can today claim to be among the most developed cities in India. But still you can find houses at reasonable rent. You can earn 20K/month, live a good life and still save up half the salary. the same is not possible in bangalore or mumbai!
The temples, the silsarees, the beaches, the shopping malls, the hotels, mahabalipuram, the flower sellers, Tnagar, pongal, diwali....all make chennai what it is!!!And now chennai people have adopted themself to start loving the automobile and IT companies too....
Happy birthday Chennai! May the spirit of Chennai live forever!
The people of this city give lot of importance to traditions and its values. Almost all my classmates in school would visit the temple daily. It does not mean that they are less fashionable, neither are they averse to modern technology.
Chennai today has got a lot many new hotels with varying cuisine. But people still love to eat idlis in murugan idli shop, panipuri in gangothri, sweets in anandhabhavan and ya ofcourse gheeroast in saravana bhavan! :)
The people of this city are aware of whats happening around them. For example, If you talk to anyone who is supporting anna hazare and his campaign against the corruption, you would realize that Chennai people know what they are protesting against. They are aware of the weak points in the government's version of lokpal and why anna hazare's janlokpal thou being "draconian" is better off.
Many of my northi friends say chennai lacks a night life. And therefore does not qualify as a modern city. They go the extent of saying that chennai is modern village!
But chennai begs to differ. People here do not enjoy night life. Nights are meant for sleeping and chennai people beg to differ from the rest! And this is the beauty of chennai.
People here love what they get. A very hot day does not deter people from going to beach, and come rain people enjoy that too:)
Another important aspect of chennai is "affordable housing". Chennai can today claim to be among the most developed cities in India. But still you can find houses at reasonable rent. You can earn 20K/month, live a good life and still save up half the salary. the same is not possible in bangalore or mumbai!
The temples, the silsarees, the beaches, the shopping malls, the hotels, mahabalipuram, the flower sellers, Tnagar, pongal, diwali....all make chennai what it is!!!And now chennai people have adopted themself to start loving the automobile and IT companies too....
Happy birthday Chennai! May the spirit of Chennai live forever!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
The power or social media
The various social media sites have had a tremendous impact on how news reaches the people in this world. Even till a decade back, a government would survive even if there was a massive disconnect between what he promises and what he delivers. But now there is a vehicle to connect information and people. In recent months we have seen protesters take on the government by organized street rallies, sign online petitions and reach out to more people. Social media sites like twitter and facebook has made information reach people faster and more accurately.
Social media as such by its design promotes democracy! It presents the government and its leaders with challenges, challenges where they have to constantly live upto their promise! There are a couple of instances where I have seen people, ya, ordinary people take up social media to reach out to the needy.
During the recent mumbai blasts (13/7), large number of people not only offered others a free ride home but also provided them with accommodation for the night stay! people used #google docs, #twitter and #facebook to reach out the needy. Injured people who needed blood were able to connect to possible donors and when the phone lines were dead, people used twitter to communicate their safety to their relatives.
The present uprising of the people of India against corruption and the inefficiency of the government in tackling corruption has also been vastly helped by social media sites. People were able to communicate about fasting sites to large number of people. My own parents took part in a candle light march in marina beach after coming to know about it via a twitter! such has been the reach...
Even in corporate level, social media sites have come to their rescue during difficult times. Most of us would have seen the youtube video showing two disgruntled employees contaminating the food they were about to deliver..it become a rage then..It was a nightmarish week for the company. dominos fired back via youtube and twitter...they uploaded their own video what they were doing to fix the situation..this way they could connect directly to their customers..dominos were able to come out unscathed from this potentially catastrophic event..such is the power of social media..
Social media as such by its design promotes democracy! It presents the government and its leaders with challenges, challenges where they have to constantly live upto their promise! There are a couple of instances where I have seen people, ya, ordinary people take up social media to reach out to the needy.
During the recent mumbai blasts (13/7), large number of people not only offered others a free ride home but also provided them with accommodation for the night stay! people used #google docs, #twitter and #facebook to reach out the needy. Injured people who needed blood were able to connect to possible donors and when the phone lines were dead, people used twitter to communicate their safety to their relatives.
The present uprising of the people of India against corruption and the inefficiency of the government in tackling corruption has also been vastly helped by social media sites. People were able to communicate about fasting sites to large number of people. My own parents took part in a candle light march in marina beach after coming to know about it via a twitter! such has been the reach...
Even in corporate level, social media sites have come to their rescue during difficult times. Most of us would have seen the youtube video showing two disgruntled employees contaminating the food they were about to deliver..it become a rage then..It was a nightmarish week for the company. dominos fired back via youtube and twitter...they uploaded their own video what they were doing to fix the situation..this way they could connect directly to their customers..dominos were able to come out unscathed from this potentially catastrophic event..such is the power of social media..
Saturday, August 20, 2011
spencers plaza - a trip back in memory lane
Spencers plaza the pastSpencers plaza is one the largest shopping malls in south asia. Situated in the heart of chennai, this shopping malls has a collection of top foreign brands as well as indian brands. With centralized A/C this place used to be the most important hang-out spots in chennai.
It is (was) one stop shopping mall in chennai where People from all classes (rich, middle and poor) can buy something and everything. With Satyam cinemas close by, most people would follow up a movie in satyam cinemas with a visit to Spencers..
Spencers was a hanging spot for me right from high-school days. If we decided to hang out, the first place that comes to our mind was spencers plaza. It had a little for everyone.
When it comes to food, It was an one stop place where we can taste variety of cuisine.Right from the pani-puri shop located at the entrance of the food court, to pizza corner that used to follow that and the cookie man; spencers would be able to feed people from all walks of life.
We had the historic Landmark book shop. It was a one stop place for latest books, music cds,kids-toys, movie cds etc...
In Spencers we also used to get a variety of gadgets ranging from Chinese gadgets like music stereos to FM players to the latest sony cameras and latest leather footwear..
After a little bit of google search I found out that Spencers plaza has its own history..read this, an article in hindu newspaper about the history of spencers. Spencers plaza was Chennai's first departmental store in 1895. In 1984, a fire broke out and it was reconstructed subsequently as spencers plaza.
Spencers plaza the present
Today I visited spencers with many of my old friends. I was totally shocked to find spencers plaza empty. All the shops from third floor have been removed! ya, the place that had food court is gone!
The whole of the third floor has been converted to a parkng space! There is no landmark, no cookie shop too...:( The new food court opened in the third phase, second floor has only a handful of eateries! With hardly 10 people in the food court, the whole place looked deserted!
I am really saddened to see the current state of affairs in spencers;, that too in a city like chennai, where people give lot of importance to historic things. Spencers had long been the heartbeat in chennai and now it is reduced to nothing more then a museum. I hope spencers plaza fights through this period of uncertainty and reclaims its position of the best shopping plaza in chennai!!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Annagiri- the new phenomena part2: middle class
It is a fairly straight forward question..why is the middle class supporting anna hazare? why are people from different religion, caste etc come together to support anna hazare? The reason is fairly simple... outburst of frustration caused mainly due to the virtual absence of any governing body in the country..
Indian middle class is the largest contributors to the Tax paid to the government. They do not have an option of not paying taxes, it is directly cut from their salary...and in return what do they get? even basic amenities like clean and hygienic water, smooth roads, public transportation are not provided by the government...I am not against the government using tax-payers money for the benefit of the poor, but at-least provide the middle class with these basic amenities..ya, you lay roads every year, but come one rain, the roads are all gone..what is left is stone and soil..and we have to face the agony of travelling in poor roads all winter...there is also the added hazard of stagnant water and its related diseases. But the government is not bothered about all this..
The poor have been poor all their life. The government policies are aimed at short term benefits. be it NREGA or any other scheme, they are meant to provide the villagers some form of employment. The money they earn is only sufficient for rozha khana...And in effect the poor are dependent on the government all their life..
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is another aspect of the Indian youth that I would like to highlight here..
why this sudden momentum? were things fine 5 years ago? was there no large scale corruption before? remember JP Narayanan + Indira Gandhi + Corruption = Emergency..?? remember Bofers..Corruption has been a phenomenon throughout 60 odd years of independence....2G, CWG etc are just additions to the list...
The answer lies in the IT revolution...till a decade back, middle class indians are mainly employed in government firms like railways, incometax, PSUs, banks etc..that is the educated people of this country were mainly dependent of the government for its salary..but the last 10-12 years have seen large number of education youth work in private industries...
anna hazare is just a phenomenon that people could connect with..the people of this country do not only want to fight corruption or black money etc.. The people also want better infrastructure, better roads, better transportation, better healthcare facilities etc..It is a fight for their basic rights...
Dont be surprised if you see more such anna hazare's and protest in the future...
Indian middle class is the largest contributors to the Tax paid to the government. They do not have an option of not paying taxes, it is directly cut from their salary...and in return what do they get? even basic amenities like clean and hygienic water, smooth roads, public transportation are not provided by the government...I am not against the government using tax-payers money for the benefit of the poor, but at-least provide the middle class with these basic amenities..ya, you lay roads every year, but come one rain, the roads are all gone..what is left is stone and soil..and we have to face the agony of travelling in poor roads all winter...there is also the added hazard of stagnant water and its related diseases. But the government is not bothered about all this..
The poor have been poor all their life. The government policies are aimed at short term benefits. be it NREGA or any other scheme, they are meant to provide the villagers some form of employment. The money they earn is only sufficient for rozha khana...And in effect the poor are dependent on the government all their life..
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is another aspect of the Indian youth that I would like to highlight here..
why this sudden momentum? were things fine 5 years ago? was there no large scale corruption before? remember JP Narayanan + Indira Gandhi + Corruption = Emergency..?? remember Bofers..Corruption has been a phenomenon throughout 60 odd years of independence....2G, CWG etc are just additions to the list...
The answer lies in the IT revolution...till a decade back, middle class indians are mainly employed in government firms like railways, incometax, PSUs, banks etc..that is the educated people of this country were mainly dependent of the government for its salary..but the last 10-12 years have seen large number of education youth work in private industries...
anna hazare is just a phenomenon that people could connect with..the people of this country do not only want to fight corruption or black money etc.. The people also want better infrastructure, better roads, better transportation, better healthcare facilities etc..It is a fight for their basic rights...
Dont be surprised if you see more such anna hazare's and protest in the future...
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Annagiri- the new phenomena
I have been following the annahazare protest and its the buildup for the past two days. And definitely it is not anymore an anna fast! Just look at the crowds that have come out on the streets in different parts of the country, it is clear that the people of this country are frustrated with the no-action policy of the government.
These protests makes me ask a simple question? Is it only corruption that this protest is about? Is it only the fight to gain our democratic rights that the protest is about? It is definitely much larger then that...Looking at the way the government has responded to the various scams that have been committed in the last two decades, people's anger has been growing!! Let it be 2G, CWG, Adarsh or the yet to come out Krishna-Godavari gas scam the government's response is to save the guilty.
People are frustrated with politicians in general. The politicians are looting people in all levels. It starts from captation fees that we have to pay for our kids to get admitted in pre-schools to get a seat. Ya in chennai the captatition fees for prekg varies is 40K-120K. And guess what many politicians, film-stars have started their own schools. If we do not want to pay any such illegal bribes we need to get our kids admitted to government schools. All of us know the quality of education we have in these government schools.
the next level is in college..May it be medicine, engineering, arts, science etc, most of the private colleges are owned directly or indirectly by politicians. My cousin scored 1138/1200 and 199/200 in PCB and still couldn't land a seat in any medical college in tamil nadu. In SRCC, Delhi this year the cut off was 300/300..ya, a phenomenal 100%..Till two years back we had 6IITs, 7IIMs, 17 NITs..now this number has doubled..but a little bit scanning the net, you will realize most of these new colleges do not even have a campus....what can people do? how can a common middle class family bear such fees...this is why people are forced to take bribes..
a traffic policeman in chennai has to stand in hot sun all day 365 days a year..and how much do they get paid..a paltry 25K/Month..how can he get his son/daughter educated? It does not make sense..he is forced to take bribe to pay the bribe and fees....I am not justifying this traffic police, but what other way does he have?
Today If some IAS officer wants to maintain law and order in his/her constituency, he has to directly confront the local politicians....for anyone who is following what is happening in madurai, tamilnadu for the last 5 years he will understand what I am trying to say here..
The way forward is much more then lokpal..the whole political class needs to change...I am not a great fan of rahul gandhi, but still I would like to see him take up leadership roles in the present government..the next step would be to ruthlessly punish the corrupted culprits...scams like 2G, CWG etc needs to be investigated by fast track courts and the guilty should be punished asap...even the scams of the past like bofers scam should be investigated..thou this may lead to some top names go behind bars, but ya this will also bring back faith in the political class...here in the present opposition needs to wake up..they cant continue playing politics with the issue of lokpal..they should have their views made public...
Perhaps in the interest of democracy things should change as soon as possible..
I would like to finish with the argument that it is no more about anna hazare..but it is about the people of india adopting annagiri....jai hind...mera bharat mahan...
These protests makes me ask a simple question? Is it only corruption that this protest is about? Is it only the fight to gain our democratic rights that the protest is about? It is definitely much larger then that...Looking at the way the government has responded to the various scams that have been committed in the last two decades, people's anger has been growing!! Let it be 2G, CWG, Adarsh or the yet to come out Krishna-Godavari gas scam the government's response is to save the guilty.
People are frustrated with politicians in general. The politicians are looting people in all levels. It starts from captation fees that we have to pay for our kids to get admitted in pre-schools to get a seat. Ya in chennai the captatition fees for prekg varies is 40K-120K. And guess what many politicians, film-stars have started their own schools. If we do not want to pay any such illegal bribes we need to get our kids admitted to government schools. All of us know the quality of education we have in these government schools.
the next level is in college..May it be medicine, engineering, arts, science etc, most of the private colleges are owned directly or indirectly by politicians. My cousin scored 1138/1200 and 199/200 in PCB and still couldn't land a seat in any medical college in tamil nadu. In SRCC, Delhi this year the cut off was 300/300..ya, a phenomenal 100%..Till two years back we had 6IITs, 7IIMs, 17 NITs..now this number has doubled..but a little bit scanning the net, you will realize most of these new colleges do not even have a campus....what can people do? how can a common middle class family bear such fees...this is why people are forced to take bribes..
a traffic policeman in chennai has to stand in hot sun all day 365 days a year..and how much do they get paid..a paltry 25K/Month..how can he get his son/daughter educated? It does not make sense..he is forced to take bribe to pay the bribe and fees....I am not justifying this traffic police, but what other way does he have?
Today If some IAS officer wants to maintain law and order in his/her constituency, he has to directly confront the local politicians....for anyone who is following what is happening in madurai, tamilnadu for the last 5 years he will understand what I am trying to say here..
The way forward is much more then lokpal..the whole political class needs to change...I am not a great fan of rahul gandhi, but still I would like to see him take up leadership roles in the present government..the next step would be to ruthlessly punish the corrupted culprits...scams like 2G, CWG etc needs to be investigated by fast track courts and the guilty should be punished asap...even the scams of the past like bofers scam should be investigated..thou this may lead to some top names go behind bars, but ya this will also bring back faith in the political class...here in the present opposition needs to wake up..they cant continue playing politics with the issue of lokpal..they should have their views made public...
Perhaps in the interest of democracy things should change as soon as possible..
I would like to finish with the argument that it is no more about anna hazare..but it is about the people of india adopting annagiri....jai hind...mera bharat mahan...
Sunday, May 8, 2011
FDI, an intro
I have been reading quite a about stocks, FDI etc in the last month.
Here is a small intro on Foreign Direct Investment(FDI).
The world has come of age after globalization. People with money are exploring new coutries with large market and exploitable workforce.
In todays world, FDI is very essential for the growth of the economy. Coutries like India, China etc are competing with each other for FDIs. Infact many policies are framed by developing coutries to attract more FDI
Definition
To put it crudely, FDI is the investment made in businesses outside the investors economy. A parent foreign enterprise teams up with a foreign affliate, which together form a multinational cooperation. FDI is permitted through joint ventures, technical collaborations etc. For example, Bharthi (ya, the airtel company) and Wal mart have teamup to form Bharti Walmart Pvt. Ltd. and have already opened up stores across india.
The advantage with FDI is that it is non-debt creating and non-volatile. The returns depend on the performance of the projects.
FDI is not allowed in all sectors. Generally most countries wouldn't prefer to have FDI for Arms, Nuclear energy and other sensitive sectors.
Here is a small intro on Foreign Direct Investment(FDI).
The world has come of age after globalization. People with money are exploring new coutries with large market and exploitable workforce.
In todays world, FDI is very essential for the growth of the economy. Coutries like India, China etc are competing with each other for FDIs. Infact many policies are framed by developing coutries to attract more FDI
Definition
To put it crudely, FDI is the investment made in businesses outside the investors economy. A parent foreign enterprise teams up with a foreign affliate, which together form a multinational cooperation. FDI is permitted through joint ventures, technical collaborations etc. For example, Bharthi (ya, the airtel company) and Wal mart have teamup to form Bharti Walmart Pvt. Ltd. and have already opened up stores across india.
The advantage with FDI is that it is non-debt creating and non-volatile. The returns depend on the performance of the projects.
FDI is not allowed in all sectors. Generally most countries wouldn't prefer to have FDI for Arms, Nuclear energy and other sensitive sectors.
Friday, April 22, 2011
An Introduction to Mutual funds.
My interest in mutual funds started right from my college days. I could never participate in d discussions wid my friends when ths topic came..this led me to learn about mutual funds.
What is mutual funds?
Its an investment collected from a pool of investors. The money collected from investors are invested in diversified tradings to minimize 'risk'. It is a financial intercessor that allows investors to pool their money for a predetermined investment objective.
How does it help?
Generally the middle class is very risk averse when it comes to investing in stocks. This is due to the inherent fear of markets crashing and therefore loosing out all the money. Its very obvious that every boom is followed by a 'crash'. When 'overpriced' stocks in market 'correct' their value it leads to fall.therefore people may lose their investment.
this is where mutual funds come into play. An AMC (Asset Management Company) pools money from investors and invests them on behalf of the investors..This money is invested in various asset classes like equity, bonds, debentures, government securities etc.
Key aspects of Mutual Funds
The most important aspect of safety in mutual funds is 'diversification'. The money invested by investors in invested across different types of investment. When one investment goes down, another might come up. This reduces risk considerably..
The advantage here for the investor is that he/she need not invest a large amount of money. They also can invest on a monthly basis. Even a small amount that is invested is diversified in various forms of investment and as a result, there is more safety.
Types of mutual funds and risks associated with it.
Equity fund: Since the returns are directly related to the performance of the company it is a 'high risk' mutual fund investment. But again if we invest in trusted firms like TCS, Hindustan motors etc, the risk is much lower.
Diversified funds: Invests in companies spread across sectors. Risk is less as if one sector fails others are still productive.
Tax Saver fund: Offers tax benefits.
Gilt fund: safety is my priority if i were to invest here. Primarily government funds.
Sector fund: Investing in equity shares in a particular industry.
Hedge fund: very high risk funds that adopts highly speculative trading strategies. Though very risky, if the company performs well you will hit the jackpot! :)
Debt/Income fund: Investment in bonds, debentures, government secutities etc. Provides regular income. Less risky.
Balanced fund: a balance in both equities as well as fixed income based investments. main aim here is to have a stable income as well as capatilizing on high returs (but risky) equities.
Liquid fund: as the name suggests, it aims to provide easy liquidity. investment is generally done short term.
Nowdays all banks have mutual funds departmnet, therefore it would be a good idea to split your savings between mutual funds and recurring deposits. This will ensure higher value for your savings.. :)
What is mutual funds?
Its an investment collected from a pool of investors. The money collected from investors are invested in diversified tradings to minimize 'risk'. It is a financial intercessor that allows investors to pool their money for a predetermined investment objective.
How does it help?
Generally the middle class is very risk averse when it comes to investing in stocks. This is due to the inherent fear of markets crashing and therefore loosing out all the money. Its very obvious that every boom is followed by a 'crash'. When 'overpriced' stocks in market 'correct' their value it leads to fall.therefore people may lose their investment.
this is where mutual funds come into play. An AMC (Asset Management Company) pools money from investors and invests them on behalf of the investors..This money is invested in various asset classes like equity, bonds, debentures, government securities etc.
Key aspects of Mutual Funds
The most important aspect of safety in mutual funds is 'diversification'. The money invested by investors in invested across different types of investment. When one investment goes down, another might come up. This reduces risk considerably..
The advantage here for the investor is that he/she need not invest a large amount of money. They also can invest on a monthly basis. Even a small amount that is invested is diversified in various forms of investment and as a result, there is more safety.
Types of mutual funds and risks associated with it.
Equity fund: Since the returns are directly related to the performance of the company it is a 'high risk' mutual fund investment. But again if we invest in trusted firms like TCS, Hindustan motors etc, the risk is much lower.
Diversified funds: Invests in companies spread across sectors. Risk is less as if one sector fails others are still productive.
Tax Saver fund: Offers tax benefits.
Gilt fund: safety is my priority if i were to invest here. Primarily government funds.
Sector fund: Investing in equity shares in a particular industry.
Hedge fund: very high risk funds that adopts highly speculative trading strategies. Though very risky, if the company performs well you will hit the jackpot! :)
Debt/Income fund: Investment in bonds, debentures, government secutities etc. Provides regular income. Less risky.
Balanced fund: a balance in both equities as well as fixed income based investments. main aim here is to have a stable income as well as capatilizing on high returs (but risky) equities.
Liquid fund: as the name suggests, it aims to provide easy liquidity. investment is generally done short term.
Nowdays all banks have mutual funds departmnet, therefore it would be a good idea to split your savings between mutual funds and recurring deposits. This will ensure higher value for your savings.. :)
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