Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Locked
somnath
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3416
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 12:31
Location: Singapore

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by somnath »

Arjun-ji,

Most philanthrophic/charity donations in India too are tax-friendly...At an infinitesimaly small level, I have received tax breaks for all my donations to CRY, and I know for a fact that Azim Premji's foundation is a tax-exempt entity..the "religious" aspect touches India as well - the well-known cases, Birla especially, deploy a large part of their corpuses towards the various Birla Mandirs across the country..

What Buffet is doing, and he is doing it across the world, including in the US, is very important..He is asking successful industrialists to give up bulk of their wealth (the paper worth) for a larger cause...This has hardly been practised in India - barring the Tatas and Azim Premji, no industrialist has parked away a sigificant part of their wealth for charity...that is one..

Two, it is also about the structure..The Bill Gates foundation is sponsoring work in areas that are right at the cutting edge - for example, on research to eradicate malaria...There are lessons that can be drawn there as well...
Virupaksha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 3110
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Virupaksha »

Somnath,

One doesnt get tax-friendly for hindu institutions.
All major temples are taken over by the govt and then the money is used for "secular" purposes, without ever crediting the temple money.
Eg: Many roads around tirupati are built from donations to Balaji but never credited.
Remember nobody is issued a tax certificate to those donations.

Only minority charity institutions have major advantages. Infact Ramakrishna mission tried hard to declare itself a minority institution for the same reason.

Cutting edge: Let me remember who built the TIFR, who were the backers of congress during british struggle.
Ambanis have built universities and schools. I myself studied in one of them. And I know that the university/ they built http://www.daiict.ac.in/daiict/index.html wasnt of any use to them in its early years. Now dont know. Birlas built the BITS.

So when these Buffets and Gates froth their mouths and patronize Indians and then MUTUs defend them. That the Indian business men do not tom-tom what they do shouldnt be a reason why we Indians should fall for this propaganda...........
shyam
BRFite
Posts: 1453
Joined: 29 Jul 2003 11:31

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by shyam »

Charity or non-profit in massa is more like a business. A big chunk of their revenue is used for publicity. Their CEOs take a huge salary.
As of 2010, Marsha J. Evans, was no longer employed by the American Red Cross. According to United Press International, Gail McGovern took over as CEO of the American Red Cross in 2008 at an annual salary of $500,000 plus a signing bonus of $65,000.
Working for charity is a career of choice and not a mind to serve the poor.

These charities work with businesses so that they are mutually beneficial. Ever wondered who actually benefits when some charity asks for unopened toy for orphans? If you buy a new toy for charity, the toy company also benefits.

Let's not forget EJ angle of charities.

I used to give money to charities before, but after analyzing many such things I stopped doing so.

After giving so much money to charities, Bill Gates and Warrent Buffet are still the riches people in US. I wonder if the donated money is recycled back into their businesses.
Arjun
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4283
Joined: 21 Oct 2008 01:52

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Arjun »

somnath wrote:the "religious" aspect touches India as well - the well-known cases, Birla especially, deploy a large part of their corpuses towards the various Birla Mandirs across the country..
True, but my point is also that when one says only 0.6% of GDP goes towards charity, I am pretty sure this does not count the massive amounts deposited into hundis of temples across India (as also that of other religions) every year.
What Buffet is doing, and he is doing it across the world, including in the US, is very important..He is asking successful industrialists to give up bulk of their wealth (the paper worth) for a larger cause...This has hardly been practised in India - barring the Tatas and Azim Premji, no industrialist has parked away a sigificant part of their wealth for charity...that is one...
This is worthy of a debate, & Bill Gates and Buffet are to be lauded for hugely upping the scale and quality of philanthropy. The debate is whether the wealthiest should largely be giving away the bulk of their wealth to foundations rather than passing it on entirely to family. What are the pros and cons of this ? Certainly one big benefit, in addition to the funds directed to charitable causes, is that it decreases the level of feudalism in society - surnames should hopefully not count for as much as they do in India now. But would it also impact business growth or the ability of Indian firms to aim for global leadership ? - this needs more evaluation.

If the mission of charity is to primarily increase well-being of the masses - in India the best way to do that is through more employment. This does not necessarily require a not-for-profit structure - but might be just as well or in fact, better - implemented through a for-profit, corporate structure. Therefore the Ambanis might be better advised to create more firms lets say in food processing and other areas that can generate massive employment rather than simply giving the money away to charity.

Another point - I am not so sure that the Tatas and other Western foundations are giving their wealth away. They are holding the stock of their firms in charitable trusts - and only the returns from these stocks are then used for philanthropy.
Two, it is also about the structure..The Bill Gates foundation is sponsoring work in areas that are right at the cutting edge - for example, on research to eradicate malaria...There are lessons that can be drawn there as well...
Agree. As long as the goals for charity remain generic well-being / employment - that might actually be better done through corporate, for-profit structures. But when one expands to specific social, health, research and educational objectives - these are better conducted through non-profit foundations that develop cutting-edge expertise in these areas, while being driven by specific goals and objectives.
Last edited by Arjun on 29 Mar 2011 10:48, edited 1 time in total.
somnath
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3416
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 12:31
Location: Singapore

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by somnath »

Ravi-ji,

You are getting the wrong point..No one's saying that there is NO philanthrophy being done by Indian business groups..The question is of scale...I repeatwhat I posted earlier, from the Bain report:

1. US spends 2.2% of its GDP on philanthrophy, India 0.6%
2. Only 10% of India's "philanthrpohy" comes from individuals and corporations, for the US the number is 75%. this is the most impressive number - for India, most "charity" is done by the govt and overseas donor agencies..

The above points encapsulate the differences in scale..

At a different level, the top 50 American philathrphists here..

http://www.businessweek.com/interactive ... _2008.html

the important point to note is how much of the wealth is being pledged - for a whole range of people there, a very signifcant proportion of their wealth, upto 90-100% is being pledged out...Again, that is the approach one is talking about...What % of Mukesh Ambani's wealth is used for philathrophy? What % indeed is the same for the Bajaj or the Birla families? Really, barring the Tatas and Azim Premji (and GM Rao I am told), cant think of similar scale by anyone in India...

About religious trusts, I am not an expert byfar, but I think all public religious trusts are tax-exempt.....I remember a couple of friends in office saying that their Tirupati donations can be used for tax breaks...Might be wrong though..
somnath
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3416
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 12:31
Location: Singapore

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by somnath »

shyam wrote:Charity or non-profit in massa is more like a business. A big chunk of their revenue is used for publicity. Their CEOs take a huge salary.

Working for charity is a career of choice and not a mind to serve the poor.
Shyam-ji, it is very important to look at philanthrophy as a professionally run initiative..That is the only way you can scale up and manage large sums of endowments and complex projects...And professional management cannot come free..The Bill Gates foundation in India has Ashok Alexander as its head (ex-Mckinsey India head)...I think in India CRY started the trend when they hired Ingrid Srinath (IIM, Cal alumna) as their head some years ago...A batchmate of mine who went to IRMA for his post grad had interesting stories on how philathrophic orgs are managed - the good and the bad :wink: Net net, it is a sine qua non to have professionals...
Arjun wrote:They are holding the stock of their firms in charitable trusts - and only the returns from these stocks are then used for philanthropy.
That is true..But that is also the way how the endowment can be made self-sustaining...Also, remember, these guys are still passionate about their work - so Warren Buffet doesnt want to sell-off his stake in Berkshire and go..So bequathing the paper to a foundation is a win-win - doesnt dilute executive control for the entrepreneur and creates an anuity revenue stream for the endowment..

One point about the ability of the firm to "expand"...The becqueathal of a person's stake to an endowment does not take away anything from the firm's ability to leverage its balance-sheet, expertise etc to expand...And given that these endowmnets are controlled by the entrepreneur himself, even executive control is not an issue..The way I see it, the only thing that changes is that dividend (and share buy-back) income streams accrue to the endowment rather than to the individual..And by legacy, this income stream is "denied" to the individual's progeny....
Arjun
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4283
Joined: 21 Oct 2008 01:52

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Arjun »

somnath wrote:That is true..But that is also the way how the endowment can be made self-sustaining...Also, remember, these guys are still passionate about their work - so Warren Buffet doesnt want to sell-off his stake in Berkshire and go..So bequathing the paper to a foundation is a win-win - doesnt dilute executive control for the entrepreneur and creates an anuity revenue stream for the endowment..
But then, if the actual funds to philanthropy is only to the extent of the returns - and the core wealth is not given away, there seems to be some inconsistency in claiming that 90% of wealth has been given away. Also, if Bill Gates and Buffet's announcements have already taken effect - why is it that they still appear in the rich lists ? Obviously the technical ownership of the bulk of their stock has not changed hands.
Virupaksha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 3110
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Virupaksha »

Where did Bain get those %s?? from his/some one else's musharaff I am sure.
if the hindu "religious trusts" grow large they would be taken over by the govt.

The management of all major hindu religious trusts are taken over by the govt. Are the TTD funds from individuals/institutions? Who controls the money? The govt. Who does it come from? The general public but in records it will go as going from govt.

The needs of a growing country and a developed country are different.
Many of the trust in US are set up for tax benefits. and because there is an estate tax.

You are comparing apples to oranges. Just because some western guy tries to patronise, we dont need to fall for it.
Virupaksha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 3110
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Virupaksha »

Arjun wrote:
somnath wrote:That is true..But that is also the way how the endowment can be made self-sustaining...Also, remember, these guys are still passionate about their work - so Warren Buffet doesnt want to sell-off his stake in Berkshire and go..So bequathing the paper to a foundation is a win-win - doesnt dilute executive control for the entrepreneur and creates an anuity revenue stream for the endowment..
But then, if the actual funds to philanthropy is only to the extent of the returns - and the core wealth is not given away, there seems to be some inconsistency in claiming that 90% of wealth has been given away. Also, if Bill Gates and Buffet's announcements have already taken effect - why is it that they still appear in the rich lists ? Obviously the technical ownership of the bulk of their stock has not changed hands.
This is a classical way in which the rich try to escape the estate tax in west so that they can bequeath their wealth to children.

Many of the trusts are for that exquisite purpose. Some do gooders will give the money to charity but make sure the control must remain with them and their children.
somnath
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3416
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 12:31
Location: Singapore

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by somnath »

^^^the technical ownsership has shifted..For example, Berkshire Hathway...My BBG tells me that the largest shareholder in the compnay now is Gates Foundation (8.14%), while Warren Buffet owns 4.73%...

Typically, the ownsership will shift to the endowment..In certain cases, Bill Gates for example (not Buffet though), the Endowment itself will be headed by Gates himself...dont know wht you mean by "core wealth", but barring exercising shareholding control over the company, the entrepreneur does not get any cash flows from the asset any more...Importantly, Gates' kids are not going to be able to divide up his stake in MS between themselves, or sell off the stock...at best, they can have a role similar to that of Gates, ie, be on the board of the Foundation to exercise shareholder control over MS...Not dissimilar to the model adopted by the Tatas, or Premji now...
Arjun
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4283
Joined: 21 Oct 2008 01:52

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Arjun »

somnath wrote:Typically, the ownsership will shift to the endowment..In certain cases, Bill Gates for example (not Buffet though), the Endowment itself will be headed by Gates himself...dont know wht you mean by "core wealth", but barring exercising shareholding control over the company, the entrepreneur does not get any cash flows from the asset any more...Importantly, Gates' kids are not going to be able to divide up his stake in MS between themselves, or sell off the stock...at best, they can have a role similar to that of Gates, ie, be on the board of the Foundation to exercise shareholder control over MS...Not dissimilar to the model adopted by the Tatas, or Premji now...
If 90% odd of Bill Gates' $50 Bn+ wealth is in the hands of these endowments, why does Forbes continue to count the full amount in Bill Gates' name? His personal wealth, post the transfer, should show $5 Bn.
Virupaksha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 3110
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Virupaksha »

How many times have you seen an Indian billionare say Azim Premji, Tatas who have done more than their fair share, went into other countries and frothed their mouths in this fashion??

The excessive attention which was paid to Ambani's home or these idiotic statements are simple propaganda.
somnath
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3416
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 12:31
Location: Singapore

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by somnath »

ravi_ku wrote: This is a classical way in which the rich try to escape the estate tax in west so that they can bequeath their wealth to children.

Many of the trusts are for that exquisite purpose. Some do gooders will give the money to charity but make sure the control must remain with them and their children.
Tch tch...The approach to denigrate in the face of all facts is astounding...Picking up your favourite "Bajaj"...Bajaj Auto's top shareholdings from BBG:

Bajaj Holdings: 31.49%, Jamnalal Sons: 8.97%, JayaHind Invest: 3.54%, Mah Scooters: 2.34%, Genesis Indian Invest: 1.64%, Bajaj Devashram: 1.55%................Of course, most of these too are "trusts", not charitable by any measure...What do you think they were set-up for, barring estate planning and tax planning?

BTW, Mukesh A spent >1 billion on that home - what is the size of his endowment if one wants to know?
Virupaksha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 3110
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Virupaksha »

Why dont you pick on Jobs/ Oracle/Bush's/Google/Queedom's riches??

Well I can say with confidence that DA-IICT the university alone costed atleast more than 300 crore in 2000 , forget his rest. But I never saw him tom-tom even in his own university (now handled by Anil after the split.)
Last edited by Virupaksha on 29 Mar 2011 11:34, edited 1 time in total.
somnath
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3416
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 12:31
Location: Singapore

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by somnath »

Arjun wrote:If 90% odd of Bill Gates' $50 Bn+ wealth is in the hands of these endowments, why does Forbes continue to count the full amount in Bill Gates' name? His personal wealth, post the transfer, should show $5 Bn.
I dont think Forbes makes its methodology very clear...But all of Bill Gates' donations are to the Bill Gates Foundation, which he is the Chairman of...I guess Forbes adds that in on that basis as "personal" wealth...I think they would need to for consistency, as lots of companies are owned through trusts, esp in Asia (also in the US) - charitable or not...

the difference between (say) a Jamnalal Sons trust and a Bill Gates Foundation would be on objective, legacy and access to cash flows...
Arjun
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4283
Joined: 21 Oct 2008 01:52

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Arjun »

somnath wrote:BTW, Mukesh A spent >1 billion on that home - what is the size of his endowment if one wants to know?
A lot of hearsay in that $1 Bn figure, that is typical of Indian DDM. The actual figure is supposed to be nowhere close.
Virupaksha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 3110
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Virupaksha »

You didnt know that the economist, the hindu are the most truthful of the newspapers. I will get you figures from them.


The gossip column of TOIlet has more truths than them.
somnath
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3416
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 12:31
Location: Singapore

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by somnath »

ravi_ku wrote:Why dont you pick on Jobs/ Oracle/Bush's/Google/Queedom's riches??

Well I can say with confidence that DA-IICT the university alone costed atleast more than 300 crore in 2000 , forget his rest. But I never saw him tom-tom even in his own university (now handled by Anil after the split.)
What chance do I have? Warren Buffet is doin that job :wink:

About the so-called ambani uni - is that philanthrophy or another business stream? What are the fees charged? What is the endowment created?
Virupaksha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 3110
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Virupaksha »

somnath wrote:
ravi_ku wrote:Why dont you pick on Jobs/ Oracle/Bush's/Google/Queedom's riches??

Well I can say with confidence that DA-IICT the university alone costed atleast more than 300 crore in 2000 , forget his rest. But I never saw him tom-tom even in his own university (now handled by Anil after the split.)
What chance do I have? Warren Buffet is doin that job :wink:

About the so-called ambani uni - is that philanthrophy or another business stream? What are the fees charged? What is the endowment created?
:rotfl:

Lets just say that the four years I was there, our fees wasnt even enough to cover the prof's salary and maintanance expenses, forget the initial funding.
It was over budget :rotfl: for construction as well.

And on top of it, none of the students even wanted to go reliance infocomm when infy and co came to campus :twisted:

You didnt even know that such a university existed. Then there was a nirma university which was around that area.

All these tom-tommers of the west dont even know their musharaff's when speaking about India.

When compared to say Tatas, Birlas they didnt do much. But remember the previous phase of Dhirubhai was more than even the 2nd generation of Rockerfellers. The first gen was the robber rockerfeller phase. They will transform slowly.
Last edited by Virupaksha on 29 Mar 2011 11:54, edited 2 times in total.
Arjun
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4283
Joined: 21 Oct 2008 01:52

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Arjun »

somnath wrote:I dont think Forbes makes its methodology very clear....
That does raise some suspicions ! Bill Gates is genuinely one of the heroes of the past few decades - and maybe he should talk to Forbes about dropping his endowment from inclusion in rich list - so more billionaires around the world can take take this seriously AND take inspiration.
somnath
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3416
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 12:31
Location: Singapore

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by somnath »

^^^Not sure if Bill Gates (or Buffet) take these lists all that seriously...But really, his foundation is there - he has publicly bequathed his money to the Foundation, and the info is public! Here's the financial position of the Foundation..

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/annualre ... ition.aspx

So dont think he has anything to answer for in terms of (lack of) transparency..
svinayak
BRF Oldie
Posts: 14223
Joined: 09 Feb 1999 12:31

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by svinayak »

Aayyooo!
Arjun
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4283
Joined: 21 Oct 2008 01:52

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Arjun »

somnath wrote:^^^Not sure if Bill Gates (or Buffet) take these lists all that seriously....
Seems Bill Gates $56 Bn current wealth is after subtracting $30 Bn he's given to the Bill & Melinda Foundation...so he has already given away 33%+ of this wealth - and he has publicly pledged to give all away in due course. Certainly difficult to find philanthropy on this scale anywhere else in the world !

But does not make sense to force the pace on any such standards in India - India will create its own examples eventually over the next 50 - 75 years.
amit
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4325
Joined: 30 Aug 2007 18:28
Location: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by amit »

Arjun wrote:A lot of hearsay in that $1 Bn figure, that is typical of Indian DDM. The actual figure is supposed to be nowhere close.
That one billion figure is based on the market value of the land. Actual spending by Mukesh is closer to around $300 million. When you consider that, that's his only house, it compares very well to what folks like Larry Ellison, who is worth much less than him, spend on their many properties
amit
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4325
Joined: 30 Aug 2007 18:28
Location: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by amit »

Arjun wrote:But does not make sense to force the pace on any such standards in India - India will create its own examples eventually over the next 50 - 75 years.
I agree with Arjun on this point. You can't compare US standards with those of India.

Think of it this way. After how many generations of affluence, the type of which the world has probably never seen (in terms of breadth of affluence) before, has this philanthropy habit come in? Contrast that with Mukesh Bhai. It's useful to remember that Mukesh (and his brother) were born in a one-room chawl in Mumbai when Ambani senior was just starting out.

Indians are only now coming out of abject poverty that the country was plunged into for about 1000 years. And Mukesh Ambani's generation is probably the first after a millennium which has seen a horizontal growth of prosperity across different sections of society. You'll need some more generations to go through that experience before you can expect the type of philanthropy shown by a Gates or Buffet, IMO.

Another point to note. Tata Sons is majority owned by charitable institutions. So profits made there go to charity. And a lot of IT czars like Premji have spent a lot of money for education, wouldn't that be part of charity?

Interestingly, the other day, while driving to work I caught an interview with Bill and Melinda Gates on BBC when they were on a visit to Bihar. Some uppity reporter from Desh bought up this comparison. They both specifically pointed to the private investment in education being seen in India.
somnath
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3416
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 12:31
Location: Singapore

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by somnath »

Amit,

Philanthrophy cannot be "forced", it is a question of inner calling..But the template setup by the likes of Gates and Buffet (and even before, by the Rockefellers and Oppenheimers) is great..And if they are on an evangelisation mission to India on this, more power to them! There isnt a need to denigrate that effort (or indeed the individuals) or invent "glories" in India on that topic...

BTW, pvt investment in education in india is largely a business opportunity, an offshoot of failed govt interventions in the sector..Not philathrophy - though Premji and Tatas are an exception - they have great templates on philanthrophies in India..
amit
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4325
Joined: 30 Aug 2007 18:28
Location: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by amit »

Somnath I'm a Jhonny come lately in this discussion. As a result my comment is only wrt why Indians don't match US in philanthropy. Even though I am firmly in the open source camp I hold Bill Gates in high regard.
krisna
BRF Oldie
Posts: 5868
Joined: 22 Dec 2008 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by krisna »

somnath wrote: There isnt a need to denigrate that effort (or indeed the individuals) or invent "glories" in India on that topic....
sorry to butt in,
who is denigrating any efforts or individuals. you started the issue by using words like 'denigrating' 'glorius India' when there was none. Now it has taken a life of its own. 8)
Please read the article-
Virupaksha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 3110
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Virupaksha »

Where we are bad at, is the creating publicity and making use of media to use so called philantrophy for selfish/destructive purposes.

Most of the official US/UK aid go their own consultancies as fees, but well they are "philantrophy".

"We will not allow you to buy the 100Rs blanket in the local market, we will get only the latest blanket of 4000Rs from my home location and oh the consultancy charges are extra. We also have to make surveys for the consultancy to gain more knowledge so as to use it.

See you idiots we are spending 15000Rs on charity and you misers, what do you do??
Last edited by Virupaksha on 29 Mar 2011 21:01, edited 2 times in total.
krisna
BRF Oldie
Posts: 5868
Joined: 22 Dec 2008 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by krisna »

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 3#p1056703

Reposting what Indians have done for charities from the article - I am just posting it. I sincerely hope no one says that I am denigrating non Indians or talking about glorius India.

1) Karna- Mahabharat epic
2) J N Tata
3) G D Birla
4) Jamanlal Bajaj
5) Dayal Singh Majithia
6) Local people funding Swami Vivekananda trip to other countries like usa.
7) local poeple funding the wrestlers and weight lifters from remote parts of Orissa and Manipur.
8 ) Ekal Vidalayas educating more than 1 million children in 35000 villages
9) Satya Sai initiatives about water supply to over 731 villages later extended to include chennai metroploitan city with population of few millions.
10) Ramakrishna Mission runs around 200 hospitals serving nearly one crore people annually mostly in rural areas. It also runs around 1,200 educational institutions serving more than 3.5 lakh students of which more than 1.25 lakh are in rural areas.
11) Nadars engaged in business in Tamil Nadu have funded hundreds of educational institutions and hospitals and so the Marwaris/Chettiars/Katchis/Bhoras all over India.
The above you can count as 12, 13, 14, 15, etc :D

12) A lot of our education, healthcare, arts, literature and spirituality efforts/ventures have been fully financed by businessmen who are even shy to talk about it.
one cannot put a number to it. :((

The article is minefull of information about Indians, good to know about it. I am happy such articles are written. :D
The article has not mentioned about the Jains, akshaya patra schemes and many more, I am sure other sdres can add to the list.

It is good we as sdres know about ourselves and our people. It helps us to follow them easily.
A BIg BIG thing about Indian charity is that there is less or may be no undercover activities compared to many western sponsored charities.
Virupaksha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 3110
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Virupaksha »

please also include the TTD schemes, of nitya anna daana, building roads nearby, the dams by Puttaparti Saibaba and others.

As I have been saying, we have to learn propaganda from these buffoons & gates.

http://www.sankaranethralaya.org/

Until atleast 5 years ago, the above was the best eye hospital in South India nominally managed by Kanchi Sankaracharya.

http://www.sankaranethralaya.org/best-eye-hospital.html
shyam
BRFite
Posts: 1453
Joined: 29 Jul 2003 11:31

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by shyam »

There is belief among many people that if we don't copy what Americans do, we are not doing good. Whatever other things we do don't count.

Shankara Netralaya performs an eye surgery for $30. If we give money to professional charities, it would cost $300 in India and may be $10000 in Massa.
svinayak
BRF Oldie
Posts: 14223
Joined: 09 Feb 1999 12:31

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by svinayak »

krisna wrote:
sorry to butt in,
who is denigrating any efforts or individuals. you started the issue by using words like 'denigrating' 'glorius India' when there was none. Now it has taken a life of its own. 8)
Please read the article-
This is known as faking arguments and faking discussion. Instead of supporting India and Indians the discussion take a life of its own without any purpose. India does not need this kind of advice from Buffet etc.
svinayak
BRF Oldie
Posts: 14223
Joined: 09 Feb 1999 12:31

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by svinayak »

shyam wrote:There is belief among many people that if we don't copy what Americans do, we are not doing good. Whatever other things we do don't count.
This is a manufactured belief which is reinforced with the kind of arguments in this thread. The purpose is to show Indian decision making and its vision is below others. This is kind of slow social engineering and all kind of false arguments are thrown in to reinforce it. Anybody who has not visited US may start to believe in this false image.
svinayak
BRF Oldie
Posts: 14223
Joined: 09 Feb 1999 12:31

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by svinayak »

krisna wrote:
It is good we as sdres know about ourselves and our people. It helps us to follow them easily.
A BIg BIG thing about Indian charity is that there is less or may be no undercover activities compared to many western sponsored charities.
Volunteer activity is highest among Indians. This is never considered when money is counted.
krisna
BRF Oldie
Posts: 5868
Joined: 22 Dec 2008 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by krisna »

Acharya wrote:
shyam wrote:There is belief among many people that if we don't copy what Americans do, we are not doing good. Whatever other things we do don't count.
This is a manufactured belief which is reinforced with the kind of arguments in this thread. The purpose is to show Indian decision making and its vision is below others. This is kind of slow social engineering and all kind of false arguments are thrown in to reinforce it. Anybody who has not visited US may start to believe in this false image.
At least from my side, I can say without any hesitation- I am much too proud of my heritage and openly say I am from India, love to be Indian...... :mrgreen: This happened after I left India. I have different opinion about UK/USA NOW than when I was in India. I take the good from both sides removing the obvious other aspects. :P
One thing I noticed is that westerners(aam admi) respect if you show respect to your country without showing disrespect to theirs which I think is right. I would do the same about my country.
Some desis think otherwise which I have some issues. :(( :((
somnath
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3416
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 12:31
Location: Singapore

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by somnath »

krisna wrote:sorry to butt in,
who is denigrating any efforts or individuals. you started the issue by using words like 'denigrating' 'glorius India' when there was none
I dont want this to degenerate into a slanging match, but here are the sections from the article..

About "inventing glory"...
Ratan Tata may be shy to point out to Bill Gates that ‘the Tata founders bequeathed most of their individual wealth to many trusts they created for the greater good of India and its people’. So is the case with G D Birla and Jamnalal Bajaj. This may not be trumpeted by Kumara Mangalam Birla and Rahul Bajaj
The point on GD Birla and Jamnalal Bajaj are patently wrong, as I have pointed out before...Their wealth was largely divvied up between various parts of the clan, with disputes continuing till date..Dont know what Rahul Bajaj has to say about the legacy, will he claim that the issue with Kushagra Bajaj was on philanthrophy? :wink:

About "denigrating" Buffet-Gates..
It is interesting that Bill Gates who has operations in Cayman islands and Reno of Nevada to minimise or evade taxes to be paid to the United States government is enthusiastic about “Giving by India Inc”. Warren Buffett is planning to give his dollar assets to the Gates foundation which will reduce estate taxes in the future. Interestingly both of them are some of the few US business barons supporting estate taxes. It is not clear who are their dinner guests in India. If it is Forbes billionaires from India we hope Shahid Balwa of the Spectrum fame is not going to be there!
One doesnt know what tax treatment Gates and Buffet are subject to (dont think anyone barring the prncipals themselves would!), but if these are not unsubstantiated snide allusions to ulterior motives, then I dont know what is..

Some more (from participants in the debate)..
ravi_ku wrote:This is a classical way in which the rich try to escape the estate tax in west so that they can bequeath their wealth to children.

Many of the trusts are for that exquisite purpose. Some do gooders will give the money to charity but make sure the control must remain with them and their children
Just so that the facts are clear, the rich do not have to set up "charitable" trusts in order to create tax-efficient legacies for children...there are enough private bankers around the world who do precisely that, no veneer of "charity" required...Why go outside, just ask Rahul Bajaj :wink:

Some more...
ravi_ku wrote:Many of the trust in US are set up for tax benefits. and because there is an estate tax
If you have a POV, thats fine...There is some data that I have posted (Bain) - the numbers are quite stark..If you dont want to believe the data, thats your prerogative..State your reasons and lets move on...

From my perspective, the issue (especially) about Gates and Buffet is this - they are first generation entrepreneurs generating a fabuous amount of wealth, and are giving away bulk of that for a larger cause - its a model worth emulating, at least for me..And if they evangelise, more power to them, no need to denigrate the effort...
krisna
BRF Oldie
Posts: 5868
Joined: 22 Dec 2008 06:36

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by krisna »

I dont want this to degenerate into a slanging match, but here are the sections from the article..
I firmly believe that both parties should learn from each other. Slanging match causes both to lose. There is no winner.
About "inventing glory"...
The article mentions that these 2 gentlemen did some good work for the Indians. He also mentions that the gentlemen did not glorify themselves unlike Buffet and Gates.Even their progeny are shy to comment on the philanthropic achievements of their forefathers. In fact you are casting aspersions on the them by your rather generous terms like "inventing glory" "glorious India" when none exists. Really pathetic attempts to paint them in a bad way. Really disgusting!! :twisted:
The point on GD Birla and Jamnalal Bajaj are patently wrong, as I have pointed out before...Their wealth was largely divvied up between various parts of the clan, with disputes continuing till date..Dont know what Rahul Bajaj has to say about the legacy, will he claim that the issue with Kushagra Bajaj was on philanthrophy?
what is your point on GD Birla and Jamanlal Bajaj? why beat around the bush. :wink: say it clearly whether the 2 Indian gentlemen did philanthropy or not. yes or no.
About "denigrating" Buffet-Gates..
One doesnt know what tax treatment Gates and Buffet are subject to (dont think anyone barring the prncipals themselves would!), but if these are not unsubstantiated snide allusions to ulterior motives, then I dont know what is..
Not casting aspersions on the author - dont know how you arrived at that - only expressing disappointment with the effort..As for the rest, I have posted my treply in the other thread..
You dont know whether the author knows the above facts mentioned in the article to be true or not. Instead of substantiating what the author said was wrong you attribute it to snide allusions to ulterior motives and add some non sensical words like "inventing glory" "glorious India" etc. Hence you are casting aspersions on the author.
somnath
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3416
Joined: 29 Jan 2003 12:31
Location: Singapore

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by somnath »

Krisna-ji,

Not sure if you dont relly undestand or simply refuse to...One last time...
krisna wrote:The article mentions that these 2 gentlemen did some good work for the Indians
No, the article says that they becqueathed most of their personal wealth to charity...Which is patently and evidently wrong...
You dont know whether the author knows the above facts mentioned in the article to be true or not
There is no way any third party individual can know the tax status/liability of any individual, not unless he works for Income Tax (or IRS in the US)...Its illegal in most civilised countries for such data to be in the public domain...Therefore, to impute motives on that basis is denigration, nothing else...

Plus, as I said before, no one needs a veneer of charity to set up tax-friendly trusts, they are as old as private banking..And your favourite Rahul Bajaj or Kumar Birla would know about them as well as anyone else :wink:

Of course, in case you have some other source of data to dispute the Bain report on the relative "philanthrophy intensity" of India and US, we will be enlightened...

And yes, Acharya-ji,
This is known as faking arguments and faking discussion
-------------------
This is kind of slow social engineering and all kind of false arguments are thrown in to reinforce it
Funny, but you seem to make one-line remarks and scoot...Some time back you claimed something to the tune of INR being the "free-est currency in the developing world", and I asked you for some argument/evidence for that claim..Maybe you can reinforce your beliefs and also enlighten the "unenlightened" ones like us?
Arjun
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4283
Joined: 21 Oct 2008 01:52

Re: Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Jan 1 2010)

Post by Arjun »

somnath wrote:.And your favourite Rahul Bajaj or Kumar Birla would know about them as well as anyone else :wink:
What exactly did you mean by that? I notice you don't apply the same standards for Indian industrialists versus white-skinned ones - the former can be denigrated at will but not the latter ?
Of course, in case you have some other source of data to dispute the Bain report on the relative "philanthrophy intensity" of India and US, we will be enlightened...
Can you enlighten us on the methodology that Bain used for the study?
Locked