Indian Economy - News & Discussion 27 May 2012

[SwamyG]

A person who I know, left a cushy and nicely paying job in the IT - a decade ago, and started his own company. He is one of those individuals, who prided being in India and giving jobs to people and making changes in peoples' lives. He did not get caught up in the allure of America, when IT professionals were making beeline. His company is making money. He has traveled across Europe and America. Now has a thriving business in an Eastern African country. However, after his African operations started, he is totally demoralized about Indian system/culture of working. A few years before, he was part of the corrupt system; now he thinks the African corrupt system is still better than the Indian corrupt system. He has moved his family to Africa, but still has operations in India. He mentioned that several of his hi-fi friends are similarly demoralized about Indian politics and state of affairs.

[svinayak]

However, after his African operations started, he is totally demoralized about Indian system/culture of working. A few years before, he was part of the corrupt system; now he thinks the African corrupt system is still better than the Indian corrupt system.
He mentioned that several of his hi-fi friends are similarly demoralized about Indian politics and state of affairs.

The upper elite crowd is disenchanted with the INC system and they used to thrive under it. There is a disconnect with the INC system and the common people. In India this can be felt by people who move with common people. I know some bollywood crowd and they also feel the same. Ripe time for change.

[gakakkad]

land bill ,the final nail in the coffin of economy ? it makes land acq tougher not easier...

How?

400% compensation in rural .200% in urban..even when acquired land is sold to a third party 20% compensation to the original owners.

So if 100 acres of land is needed for setting up a semiconductor fab in what is technically a rural area, it ll need 80% consent..if the cost of land is say 20 crores, an additional 80 crore will go to compensation..so 120 crore might just be the cost of getting the land..who would want to set up a fab in Yindia then...

this is a redistributive scheme . it ll inflate the cost of land..increase land mafia, commie "haak-thoo-vist" and the like..

it ll also fuel inflation.. for every acquired land 200-400% of liquidity enters the market,even before the land begins production...so it is a process of increasing the m2 in market without increasing the corresponding gdp.. and the amount of headache it is likely to give will only slow down economy further..

JMT ..

[Arjun]

Combative PM Manmohan Singh blames BJP for economic ills

How shameless can this joker get

[SwamyG]

However, after his African operations started, he is totally demoralized about Indian system/culture of working. A few years before, he was part of the corrupt system; now he thinks the African corrupt system is still better than the Indian corrupt system.
He mentioned that several of his hi-fi friends are similarly demoralized about Indian politics and state of affairs.

The upper elite crowd is disenchanted with the INC system and they used to thrive under it. There is a disconnect with the INC system and the common people. In India this can be felt by people who move with common people. I know some bollywood crowd and they also feel the same. Ripe time for change.

The said individual was part of a NASSCOM delegation to Africa. He laments all the promises and pledges of investments by India into Africa has not materialized. India's economy continues to run because of its people. I think the 3-5% growth rate is because of people's hard work.
If I might hazard a guess; when GoI is indifferent the country/people achieve the 3-4% range of growth. If the GoI becomes an enabler for businesses, the growth rate is in the range of 5-7%. 8-10% growth is when global conditions are extremely favorable, and GoI continues to enable its citizens find opportunities. Like America, India seems to be in the pocket of Corporations as well. Just that because of its heterogeneous and unorganized sector, India is not fully, yet, into the pockets.

[Prem]

RBI plans to request Tirupati, Shirdi shrines to sell their gold pile to rescue Re fall
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 173834.cms

MUMBAI: With all efforts to arrest the rupee's slide coming to a naught, policymakers now plan to knock on the doors of temples — from Tirupati to Shirdi — seeking a boon to feed Indians' fetish for gold without importing it.
The Reserve Bank of India, which has been making gold imports more difficult through a series of restrictions, is discussing with banks on how to convince temple trusts to deposit their hoard of idle jewellery that could be converted into bullion, said two bankers familiar with the matter.They refused to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the issue. The Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, Shirdi Sai Baba temple in Maharashtra, Siddhivinayak at Mumbai and Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram are among the richest in India with huge reserves of gold and precious metals.
In fact, the roofs of many temples, such as the Nataraja temple in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, and Tirupati are covered with gold. RBI is counting on banks handling the accounts of these temple trusts to convince them to convert their huge gold deposits into cash, the bankers said.No certainty of any dealBut there is no certainty of any deal with the temple trusts, given the diverse nature of these trusts and the local politics involved. "The idea is that a designated bank may buy gold from a temple trust and the ornaments will be converted into bullion. These may be bought by RBI by selling rupees," said one of the bankers quoted above. RBI did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Gold imports worth $53.6 billion last year are blamed for the rupee's slide, accounting for 61% of the current account deficit in fiscal 2013. Although the government and RBI acknowledged that high inflation provoked investors to chase gold, both have of late been trying to discourage imports of the precious metal. The rupee lost nearly a quarter of its value this year, but has since recovered."The finance minister and RBI governor should jointly — and immediately — approach the trustees of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD)," said Jamal Mecklai,[/b] chief executive of Mecklai Financial. "Three of these (trustees) are state government appointees, and given the current political dispensation this is a distinct advantage. They should, of course, offer prayers. That will be an opportunity for the hugely rich trusts to make additional amounts of money."
Tirupati is among the world's richest temples with an estimated gold hoard of about 1,000 tonnes, nearly double of India's estimated imports this year. The country, as a whole, is estimated to have a gold stock of 18,000-30,000 tonnes. The temple trusts, however, do not seem inclined towards such a plan, at least for now."There are no plans to do such a thing. There have no discussions with RBI," said a spokesman at TTD. Some banks run gold deposit schemes where individuals deposit the yellow metal for 3-7 years.

[krishnan]

they wont even leave temples alone now. Wonder who gave this idea

[Vayutuvan]

So if 100 acres of land is needed for setting up a semiconductor fab in what is technically a rural area, it ll need 80% consent..if the cost of land is say 20 crores, an additional 80 crore will go to compensation..so 120 crore might just be the cost of getting the land..who would want to set up a fab in Yindia then...

gakakkad ji, please chose another example as the numbers in the fab example do not work out. A fab costs anywhere from $1-3 Billion (i.e. 6500-20000 crores). 100 karod is almost a round off error. 20 or 120 karod pharak nahin padat hai. Not saying that it would not make a difference in some other situation.

[milindc]

So if 100 acres of land is needed for setting up a semiconductor fab in what is technically a rural area, it ll need 80% consent..if the cost of land is say 20 crores, an additional 80 crore will go to compensation..so 120 crore might just be the cost of getting the land..who would want to set up a fab in Yindia then...

gakakkd ji, please chose another example as the numbers in the fab example do not work. A fab costs anywhere from $1-3 Billion (i.e. 6500-20000 crores). 100 karod is almost a round off error. 20 or 120 karod pharak nahin padat hai.

Problem is not about cost, but the social impact analysis, and compensation to anyone whom the Panchayat decides has lost livelihood. This whole process will take around 3-5 years for just land acquisition even for Private parties

[member_20317]

they wont even leave temples alone now. Wonder who gave this idea

Jamal Mecklai,

[Suraj]

It's hard to estimate whether the Land Acquisition Bill is good or bad without more data. Existing acquisition policies and costs have to be compared, but these are not even remotely transparent, or uniform. Except for some places, the process of acquistion is ad hoc, and the definition of 'market price' isn't easily established. Costs may be paid up front and under the table. Further, the time value of money is important. Existing land acquisition efforts take too long and are too litiginous, negating any benefit from paying anywhere near a market price before the industrialization was proposed. An industrialist may prefer to pay double or triple just to be assured of having the land right away rather than 5-10 years of litigation later.

If there's detailed information about current costs of land acquisition available from articles or reports, please post them. It'll help analyze the implications of this bill better.

[vishvak]

About gold of temple deities, link

"We cannot destroy the assets by melting or selling them to 'solve' the present deficiencies and difficulties. It will not be much different from a thief stealing them for his/her own rational convictions!"

Read it all only, including nomenclature. The wording of media report is more like a thief justifying. It has no legal basis either as clearly stated. The media hype seem to be more about indulging in illegality under excuse. Misgoverned times for temple gold it seems, under some scheme.

=======
The padmanaabhaswaamy inventory was to be concluded by August too. click

[member_20317]

TSJones ji, the link you provided, gives no return for Ctrl+F on both 'Rus' short for Russia and 'Rum' short for rumours. Pls do link the rumours if you find such a claim by US authorities.

.................

Meantime, you guys can read this. Seems like Indics have been preempted:

http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/Publicati ... d=12476#17

I.7. Management of Gold Reserves

The Reserve Bank held 557.75 tonnes of gold forming about 6.0 per cent of the total foreign exchange reserves in value terms as at the end of March 2010. Of these, 265.49 tonnes are held abroad (65.49 tonnes since 1991 and further 200 tonnes since November 2009) in deposits / safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements.

In November 2009, the Reserve Bank concluded the purchase of 200 metric tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), under the IMF's limited gold sales programme. The purchase was an official sector transaction and was executed over a two week period during October 19-30, 2009 at market-based prices. As a result of this purchase, the Reserve Bank's gold holdings have increased from 357.75 tonnes to 557.75 tonnes.

Lone warriors:
http://www.punemirror.in/article/62/201 ... gland.html

Dinesh Thite

Posted On Friday, May 04, 2012 at 02:53:08 AM

City petitioner questions RBI move in court

RBI gets HC notice to explain gold deposits with Bank of England

According to Raghunath Kelkar, the Reserve Bank of India is bound to keep excess gold in its reserves, not deposit outside the country; despite summons, RBI rep fails to appear in court

A technocrat-turned-public interest litigant Raghunath Shankar Kelkar has challenged the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) move to deposit 265.49 tonnes of gold out of its total stock of 557.75 tonnes abroad by filing a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court and demanded that the precious metal be brought back into the country, according to the provisions of the law.

Kelkar (56), who used to manufacture computers, has filed the petition as he found the move by the apex bank in contradiction to the section 33(5) of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934, which stipulates that 85 per cent of its gold reserves should be kept in India.

Nikhil Ghorpade

The Bombay High Court bench comprising D D Sinha and V K Tahilramani heard the petition recently. The court noted that no one appeared for the RBI. The order stated, “Considering the issue involved in the present PIL, we grant one opportunity to the RBI to put an appearance through its lawyer on the next day of hearing and assist the court.”

Kelkar had filed the petition on March 1. He said that he had sent three notices to the RBI on the issue, which elicited no reply. He has made the Government of India another respondent in this case. Kelkar is an avid RBI watcher.

He read the 17th half yearly report of RBI on management of foreign exchange reserves, in which the apex bank has said, “The Reserve Bank held 557.75 tonnes of gold, forming about 9.2 per cent of the total foreign exchange reserves. Of these 265.49 tonnes are held abroad in deposits or safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements.”


He said that the RBI move was in violation of the legal provision as it had put 46 per cent of its gold reserves out of the country. The reason issued for the action is that of safe custody. “Does the RBI mean that gold is unsafe in India? Does the RBI think that Indian security forces are incapable of guarding the gold treasure of the country?” he asked.

He raised a question in the petition, “In case there is a war between India and England in future, will our gold held by Bank of England be safe?” He has made three demands in the petition that the RBI be ordered to transfer the gold reserves of the country from the possession of the Bank of England and Bank for International Settlement to its own possession within the country, that till the final disposal of the case, the apex bank not be allowed to take any more gold out of the country and a detailed report be filed as to which officers are responsible for the breach of section 33 (5) of RBI Act.

The price of gold deposited outside the country is about Rs 80,000 crore. Kelkar is pleading his case himself, instead of appointing a lawyer. Earlier, when he thought that the country had suffered a loss of more than Rs 65,000 crore due to alleged mistakes of RBI regarding its market stabilisation scheme (MSS), he filed public interest litigation (PIL) in the High Court in 2008.

His argument was that RBI lost Rs 65,065 crore in 2006-07 due to fall in its valuation of investments in foreign exchange. The RBI had not taken this loss to its profit and loss account and the central government was also not accounting this in its accounts presented to the Parliament, he had said. The petition was dismissed in 2009, on technical grounds, said Kelkar.

► Does the RBI mean that gold is unsafe in India? Does the RBI think that Indian security forces are incapable of guarding the gold treasure of the country?

- R Kelkar, the petitioner

Here is how Section 33(5) of RBI Act stands today:

http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/Publica ... 170510.pdf

(5) Of the gold coin and gold bullion held as assets, not less than seventeen-twentieths shall be held in 3 [India], and all gold coin and gold bullion held as assets shall be held in the custody of the Bank or its agencies;
Provided that gold belonging to the Bank which is in any other bank or in any mint or treasury or in transit may be reckoned as part of the assets.

[harbans]

I think we need to start a new thread for the twin disasters the FSB and the LAB: This looks will destroy completely whatever is left of the economy. FSB will take 20-30% of Government revenues! They are portraying it as %GDP, but the GOI does not have the GDP to it's disposal, it has only it's receipts..

Contours of the Land Acquisition act

First, land cannot be acquired for any private projects unless they fall in the following categories: infrastructure projects, industrial corridors, mining, investment and manufacturing zones, sports, healthcare, transport projects, and space programme.

Second, even for private projects that pass muster from the above definitional angle, they will need the nod from 80 percent of landowners (70 percent for private-public projects).

Third, land can be acquired only at two times market prices in urban areas and four times market rates in rural areas.

Fourth, as if this high price is not enough, those losing land will have to get a house to stay, a one-time allowance, or a job or annual payments of Rs 2,000 per month for 20 years. And this payment will be adjusted for inflation.

Fifth, approvals and clearances will be needed at all stages from the state or various committees or bureaucrats. The social impact assessment of the project will be done by a committee, the state government will evaluate this, and all sales of land will need a final clearance from the state.

This kind of law is tailor-made for corruption and illegal gratification. Remember the licence-permit-quota raj? The entire state machinery was intended to create opportunities for rent-seeking behaviour by babus, netas and crony capitalists by putting obstacles in the way of those who wanted to set up businesses and create jobs.

http://www.firstpost.com/business/upas- ... 71847.html

[SwamyG]

Requesting gold from the temples is serious, no? Is that bad, or is there some deep conspiracy theory?

[krishnan]

guess both, just a nice reason to loot the temples

[member_20317]

The Acquisition that the law talks about is only the acquisition done by government. Except the govt of J&K :sad:

Till now I can think of 4 more difficulty (in addition to those I had mentioned earlier) that this law creates.

1) The value increases in the urban areas more then it does in the rural areas so the compensation and the sharing of subsequent transfer consideration should have been more for the urban areas.

2) Clause 42 makes it illegal for any person other then a government to acquire land more then 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas. Now a normal commercial deal say with development rights getting sold, will be either defaulting on Stamp duty (state subject) if it is deemed a conveyance or it will be void ab initio under this Central law, but it cannot be both. Income opportunity for lawyers but bad for setting up visionary projects. More litigation and miscellaneous applications and arbitration but no solutions.

3) National Monitoring Committee (supposedly for monitoring rehab work) will become another tool like the polution control boards in the armory of the Central Government to needle progressive states like Gujarat or opposition ruled states.

4) Collector has been made the pointman for administering the law and you know how our IAS lobby works.

This law is the admission by the UPA that they cannot do anything to promote Infrastructure sector and so will not allow anybody else to work on it. It is also an admission by others who probably see themselves in the drivers seat in 2014 (NDA & Turd Afront), that they too would return the complement that UPA has been handing out to them.

[member_20317]

Requesting gold from the temples is serious, no? Is that bad, or is there some deep conspiracy theory?

They are making the idea legit. After this 30-40 years down the line, when they are in majority, they will say, a hindu deity cannot have any legal existence because it is not allowed in Christian and Muslim law for God/Allah to hold property. And thus against secular practices. Hence a somnath will be done with the full support of the constitution.

Or some such cruked illogic.

vvv And that too.

[vishvak]

Requirements is for solving deficiencies and difficulties from government, is conveniently changed to requirement for wealth of temple. Meaning nothing to be done about deficiencies and difficulties - which is where the problem is.

Something like talking of Modi when riots occur in J&K. No connection - neither credit nor debit.

Talking of bullion and RBI buying it with Rupees scheme, what stopped the scheming bankers/RBI to buy cheap gold from international markets when price of gold dropped for the same schemes in white. By this time the bankers could have made about 150% in few months ie 50% net profits in white money in few months time. The scheme is therefore just another excuse.

About gold from temples for bullion, there are no banking models about it either.

It seems as an excuse to loot temples. There is history however of barbarians looting temples under various excuses - deemed legitimate at that time.

[Gus]

article posted in my social network - asking, why are they not bringing back the money in swiss banks instead.

[gakakkad]

The Acquisition that the law talks about is only the acquisition done by government. Except the govt of J&K :sad:

Till now I can think of 4 more difficulty (in addition to those I had mentioned earlier) that this law creates.

1) The value increases in the urban areas more then it does in the rural areas so the compensation and the sharing of subsequent transfer consideration should have been more for the urban areas.

2) Clause 42 makes it illegal for any person other then a government to acquire land more then 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas. Now a normal commercial deal say with development rights getting sold, will be either defaulting on Stamp duty (state subject) if it is deemed a conveyance or it will be void ab initio under this Central law, but it cannot be both. Income opportunity for lawyers but bad for setting up visionary projects. More litigation and miscellaneous applications and arbitration but no solutions.

3) National Monitoring Committee (supposedly for monitoring rehab work) will become another tool like the polution control boards in the armory of the Central Government to needle progressive states like Gujarat or opposition ruled states.

4) Collector has been made the pointman for administering the law and you know how our IAS lobby works.

This law is the admission by the UPA that they cannot do anything to promote Infrastructure sector and so will not allow anybody else to work on it. It is also an admission by others who probably see themselves in the drivers seat in 2014 (NDA & Turd Afront), that they too would return the complement that UPA has been handing out to them.

exactly what i m talking about.. no industrialist is lukin forward for this..

[subhamoy.das]

The only silver lining was the Indian private enterprise which is being landed death blow after blow in last 10 years and this land bill is the last one. Indian is going down hill for a place to do business and the rupee is just a reflection of the same. But I cannot imagine that UPA is so dumb to drive business - which bank rolls there vote bank reforms - away. And they will be so dumb to drive rupee down and increase inflation and hit their vote bank. Are they so stupid to think that poor will vote for them for taking basic item beyond reach by one hand and then rub their wound with some sprinkles of food with the other. I feel some smart *** is sabotaging them from inside by stalling business reforms.

[Singha]

Huge layoffs coming soon in india
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/job- ... 04653.html

[JwalaMukhi]

Begging for gold from temples is very serious business. Last time, the conditions were very bad, such as during the war where bakis won the right to sign peace treaty in BD, many commoners parted with gold to support war effort.

Either the looters have completely emptied the treasury or there is very sinister motivation to enable looting of the temple gold by these thugs. Nation must be in very dire situation.
Else the only reason could be the present British-Aurangzed durbar version 2.0 is not content and is bent on changing itself to Aurangzeb-muhammad Ghazni regime by backdoor. Temple raiders led by oxphord educated armani clad ghazni.

Is the ground situation so bad? On the street, know that price of onions changes by 1 to 1.5 to even 2 times within a span of 6 hours. Something is definitely not right, asking for temple gold???

[Prem]

. Are they so stupid to think that poor will vote for them for taking basic item beyond reach by one hand and then rub their wound with some sprinkles of food with the other. I feel some smart *** is sabotaging them from inside by stalling business reforms.

Look no further than PMO office. As presently understood, the job of our PMO is to keep India poor and destitude. I did not want say but man is communal as well DIE to the core and detest sons of soil and find himself in perfect company. Shalya Rathi of Indian economy and inner strength. He has already succeeded in making the Charriot stuck in mud and muck. Lets not forget that only time he has genuine smile and glow on his face is when Pakistan is mentioned.

[nawabs]

Mayaram meets treasury heads of foreign banks on rupee

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/econom ... 43217.html

Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram today discussed the continuing rupee fall and the resultant macro-economic impact with the treasury heads of leading foreign banks.

The closed-door meeting held at the LIC headquarters here was attended by treasury heads of foreign banks like Standard Chartered, HSBC, among others.

Though Mayaram spoke to the waiting reporters, he refused to talk about the outcome of the meeting. Similarly, the participants also refused to speak.

According to sources, he discussed the crucial NDF (non-deliverable forwards) market, which largely influences the movement of rupee in the domestic market.

"What is significant is that the RBI does not have any control on this market. In the RBI's annual report released recently, it has admitted that there is deeper correlation between the rupee movement in the on-shore and offshore market.

"During the period of rupee depreciation, shocks originating in the NDF market may carry more information which gets reflected in the onshore segments of the market through mean and volatility spillovers," the RBI said in its annual report quoting its internal research, released on August 22.

After sinking to a record low of 68.85 against the US dollar on August 28, it stabilised yesterday to close at 65.70.

The meeting assumes importance as foreign banks are big players in the NDF market and its influence of the market is high as volumes are too large in comparison to domestic. NDF deals are forward transactions settled in dollars because the rupee, being not fully convertible, cannot be delivered outside the country.

[Theo_Fidel]

The RBI has clarified that it has/had no plan to attack temple gold. How would they even do this. It is technically private property and the courts protect it even if GoI tries any stunts.
------------------------------

Media appears to have zero interest in saying anything true at this point. There are realproblem to talk about and instead they focus on this latest bauble.
-------------------------------

Reading the land acquisition act it appears everything has been left to the states! Land acquisition is a real problem in the weak states not the strong ones. I can't see this doing anything but create anew set of rules that will paralyze everything as industry, land owners and courts try to figure out how these new rules will work.

The major problem with the existing rule is that no direct eminent domain procedure is laid down. Yet incredibly the new laws do not have an eminent domain system. Seem like more bureaucratise to no where.

[rahulm]

We continue to build structures of concrete on foundations of jelly.

Land title in desh is not absolute, i.e. is not guaranteed.As far as I am aware, this is is true of every state. Isn't land title a state subject? Yet, it is amazing this situation exists in every state and UT without exception.

Bottoms up reform is required and absolute title is the first step. This will provide a robust foundation and is a prerequisiste for a modern democratic country.

[Theo_Fidel]

No place in the world has absolute title. Even the usa has title insurance. All kinds of encumberances occur. God forbid your property end up with and easement. We will see how far your absolute tile gets you then.

As some one looking to acquire property in chattisgarh I can tell you the difference is like night & day from TN. In TN it is so easy to go to the registrars office and look up records and confirm ownership. In chattisgarh the people have simply never bothered to register the property. How can you run a legal registration system when folks can't be bothered to join the main stream system. The registrars office is a shambles and the lawyer I spoke to said the only way is to buy the land and fight off challengers. How stupid is this. Some risk is acceptable but folks seem to completely not want act like property owners. What can one say...

[Prem]

India’s Visa Maze Ensnares Foreign Entrepreneurs
http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/31/indias-visa-maze/
(Behara, Bbu Ka Maara, Visa doond DoondKar Haara)

Carrying all the right documentation for his five-year business visa, Alex (not his real name) embarked on what he thought would be his fourth and final visit to the Indian immigration authority. He believed his wild goose chase was almost at an end. However, his awkwardly smiling assassin, the elusive office supervisor, had other ideas.“Sorry, you can’t get your visa now, please come back in some time,” the supervisor said, fatally.Alex’s plight shows the difficulties entrepreneurs face in trying to access the booming market of India today. This is his story.The economics graduate moved to India about a year ago to co-found a social business with his peers. The government made them wait the best part of a year before approving their application to be incorporated as a local not-for-profit — a vital credential to navigate the country’s Catch-22 regulatory system. With incorporation certificate in hand, Alex was confident the last piece of his visa puzzle, namely attaining a five-year authorisation to work to improve the quality of life for Indians, was about to fall into place.How wrong he was.
Stepping into the office was like entering Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on Groundhog Day, endlessly waiting for a weasley little oracle to emerge from his hovel in order to deliver bad news. Alex was forced to return to the office three times because he “didn’t have the right documentation.”On the fourth visit, the bureaucrat, ensconced in his glass bubble, again said he didn’t have the right documents and would have to come back again. At the end of his wits, Alex didn’t buy it. After failing to plead his case with the front-line worker, he asked to speak with the manager lurking in the background. The bureaucrat turned meekly, skulked over, and relayed the request to his superior who took one look at the fiery redhead on the wrong side of the counter and scurried away to his glass-walled office, deep in the bubble. The clerk returned and, as if the whole spectacle had not been witnessed, told Alex the manager was unavailable.
“The manager is right there,” he said, pointing to the anonymous office. “I just need to speak with him for two minutes. I’ve already met him before. He knows my case.”“Sorry sir, he is not available,” the bureaucrat said, reciting a well-used line. “You’ll have to send him an email to organise an appointment.”Email? Alex was all too familiar with India’s digital black hole, where bits may have even travelled backwards and forwards in time, even to alternate universes, because they never seemed to reach their intended destination.
The bureaucrat retreated to discuss the latest turn of events.Alex briefly took a minute to survey his surroundings. The same situation was playing out at three or four adjacent counters.“This is the fourth time you’ve asked me to come back for a five-year business visa. I have all the right documentation, I have had it all along. Why won’t you accept my application?” railed another aggrieved applicant.Alex snapped back to attention when the manager emerged from his den. He was face-to-face with his tormentor.“What’s the problem, sir?” the manager asked.“You know what my problem is! We’ve already spoken about it, you told me to come back with more information and I did. I’ve come back four times with the correct documentation and you’re still telling me I won’t be approved?!” he said.“I’m sorry sir but we can’t process this visa application now, please come back in some time,” he said, wearing a weak smile.“Why not?”“I’m sorry sir but we can’t do this now, please apply in some time,” he repeated, like a broken record.No matter how he always received the same answer and result but despite the frustrating experience he plans to come back and try again. He’s chasing that sweet feeling of victory that can only be earned by simultaneously exerting extreme amounts of effort and patience to achieve ordinarily routine tasks.The Red Tape At The Finish Line
For an entrepreneur, there’s a lot to like about India. The subcontinent’s diversity, population, and economic disparity offers near endless problems to solve, as well as the scale to make a meaningful impact and return. But if you get too far ahead of yourself, the red-tape woven noose dangling around your neck will rein you back in. The rope becomes dangerously short as you enter the government maze, where searching for the right approvals demands long wait times, repeated visits, and constant apprehension as to whether the application will even be received. It’s an exercise in humility.
Saju James, partner at Fragomen Global Immigration Services, said the visa process was straight forward — if you know the procedures. This means that you must give the consulates the right information, right down to using the correct vernacular in the application.“If you don’t stick to the template, exactly what the consulate is looking for, the chances of getting denials are much higher,” said James, whose firm has processed close to 1,000 work permits, less than two percent of which have been rejected.This is a legacy of the way that visa offices were run before 2009, James said, when the Indian government didn’t have direct oversight of the approval process. Previously, each visa office and consulate operated as its own fiefdom; and a single supervisor served as judge, jury, and executioner.“That changed as the government took direct control of the process and released specific guidelines and processes to be followed. Most importantly, it started measuring workers on how many visa applications they actually processed, as opposed to simply documenting the number of hours they worked.It was a vast improvement.“The only difference is that they have not published the formats for when you apply for a visa application, so some offices still give a difficult time to applicants.”James said it was difficult to track the efficiency because the agencies themselves did not record the rejection rates. However, he estimated that the number of unsuccessful applications previously ranged into the double-digit percentages.This is all little comfort to Alex, who still goes to bed every night in fear of being woken up by that same Sonny and Cher song and seeing his visa application, as complete as it always was, lying unapproved on his cheap desk.

[Vayutuvan]

No place in the world has absolute title. Even the usa has title insurance.

Not an absolute guarantee as the native Americans in mid-west have claims on 23 million acres (or it hectares?). There is a settlement a couple of years back in which the native Americans have foregone their claims. Never knew before I bought my SFH, but the n millions in the middle America were in the same boat. Looks like everything is resolved. If not, jhenda ukhad ke chalenge - who knows where?

[M Joshi]

Interesting analysis of INR devaluation previous to LS elections of the past 3 decades with graphs et. al.

http://www.newslaundry.com/2013/08/hawala-logic/

Explains, at least in part the devaluing of the Indian currency that's happening.

[panduranghari]

Begging for gold from temples is very serious business. Last time, the conditions were very bad, such as during the war where bakis won the right to sign peace treaty in BD, many commoners parted with gold to support war effort.

Either the looters have completely emptied the treasury or there is very sinister motivation to enable looting of the temple gold by these thugs. Nation must be in very dire situation.
Else the only reason could be the present British-Aurangzed durbar version 2.0 is not content and is bent on changing itself to Aurangzeb-muhammad Ghazni regime by backdoor. Temple raiders led by oxphord educated armani clad ghazni.

Is the ground situation so bad? On the street, know that price of onions changes by 1 to 1.5 to even 2 times within a span of 6 hours. Something is definitely not right, asking for temple gold???

Jwalamukhi ji,

The idea that the idiots in power want to use gold to save the economy, tells you everything you need to know and understand about the best mode of saving for yourself and your family. Keeping surplus rupees in your bank account is like becoming a force participant in a bit of S&M though you really do not want to be a part of it.

In many ways I am so glad that that Islamic mleccha Mecklai brought this issue into print. Now the government cannot do this. They could have tried it in secret. But now not likely.

The parabramha is watching over us. Hari Om Tat Sat.

[member_27444]

The genesis

From 1950, India ran continued trade deficits that increased in magnitude in the 1960s. Furthermore, the Government of India had a budget deficit problem and could not borrow money from abroad or from the private corporate sector, due to that sector's negative savings rate. As a result, the government issued bonds to the RBI, which increased the money supply, leading to inflation. In 1966, foreign aid, which had hitherto been a key factor in preventing devaluation of the rupee, was finally cut off and India was told it had to liberalise its restrictions on trade before foreign aid would again materialise. The response was the politically unpopular step of devaluation accompanied by liberalisation. Furthermore, The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 led the US and other countries friendly towards Pakistan to withdraw foreign aid to India, which necessitated more devaluation. Defence spending in 1965/1966 was 24.06% of total expenditure, the highest it has been in the period from 1965 to 1989 (Foundations, pp 195). Another factor leading to devaluation was the drought of 1965/1966 which resulted in a sharp rise in prices.
At the end of 1969, the Indian Rupee was trading at around 13 British pence[clarification needed]. A decade later, by 1979, it was trading at around 6 British pence. Finally by the end of 1989, the Indian Rupee had plunged to an all-time low of 3 British pence. This triggered a wave of irreversible liberalisation reforms away from populist measures.

[chola]

Is there really trillions of dollars worth of Indian Black money parked in Swiss and Caymon Islands Banks or is this one of the urban myths being peddled. What is the proof that this kind of money is parked and really what can any Indian Govt do to get this money back without any leverage with swiss Chakku.

It's myth. There are billions not trillions. And much of that money had already been rerouted back to India as investment and remittances.

For example, you converted 40 rupees into a dollar five years ago by depositing into a foreign bank account, you would have 65 rupees to use today on nice prime real estate in Bangalore.

Round tripping had been going on for ages. Now, there are some corrupt netas, bollywood stars and IT wallahs who have not an ounce of confidence in the land that gave them their wealth and keep wealth in forex and gold onlee. But those are a minority. All desis love a deal and Bharat is one of the best deals on earth for years (as long as you stay liquid.)

[Gus]

noob question. one hears all the time about money in swiss bank.

what denomination are these? is it literally INR bank notes in a locker? or does swiss banks accept INR deposits and then converts it into Swiss currency or any other currency? if money was converted into USD or Swiss before it was flown there, would it not get caught in our regulations here on how much to take out and purposes etc etc?

[TSJones]

noob question. one hears all the time about money in swiss bank.

what denomination are these? is it literally INR bank notes in a locker? or does swiss banks accept INR deposits and then converts it into Swiss currency or any other currency? if money was converted into USD or Swiss before it was flown there, would it not get caught in our regulations here on how much to take out and purposes etc etc?

Gus, this question should be in the global perspective thread so I will respond it. Swiss banking is international in scope. They trade globally. Unless the depositor specifies a rupee onlee account, it will probably be converted to Swiss Francs, stored as electronic blips on a computer. Any actual currency deposited will be traded away to other banks and associations (although the bank probably keeps a number of currency stocks for pay out upon customer requests).

Having said that, there are some banks in Switzerland that act as storehouses only. That is to say, they do not use customer deposits to trade and to make loans. in other words, if the customer deposits rupees or gold or any other currency, the deposit sits in a vault and gathers dust. Naturally, no interest is paid and there are banking fees involved.

Hope this helps.

[Theo_Fidel]

Amyrao,

Thanx for that synopsis.
-------------------

The key problem in indian has always been lack of capital. Our people are not productive enough yet to generate all the capital we need. The question is how does india overcome this without note printing. Usa had this exact same problem and got over it by getting eu to freely invest in its economy. Even now usa sucks capital from eu. They did not have a problem as they welcomed european colonization. It also helped that the usa had so much oil to prevent the relentless drain of capital india deals with.

And no the $20 billion of fsb+mnrega is not enough.

Take one key problem I have been collecting numbers on. Housing.
According to the latest census we have 78 million houses in India of which only 30 million of so classify as 'pucca'. The rest are kacha dwellings meaning unfinished brick and tatch, etc. Think of how bizarre that number is. In a population of 1.2 billion we need roughly 300 million pucca houses for families of 4 individuals plus another 200 million homes for vacations, speculation, surplus, etc. Even say the kacha homes can all be easily up graded, it still leaves us with an incredible shortage of 220 million homes for residence and another shortage of 200 million homes for other uses.

The capital for this has to come from the people. Right now the best estimate is roughly 2.5-3 million new units are being added each year. which means it will take 100 years! To overcome that particular capital shortage. Even this level of construction requires 3million x $100,000 = $ 300 billion in fresh capital every year. You see the real massive nature of the capital investment required.

I would be interested in hearing ideas on how we overcome this. My fever dream is a massive housing bubble financed by the middle east + china + usa that lasts for 20 years sucking in $2 trillion a year that leaves us with a massive housing capital stock of $40 trillion......

[member_27444]

Note
What India did in 1966 under the first year of rule by Mrs IG, Obama admin has been doing since 2008
and the EU is following suit since 2012 aka QE

with out devaluation you think or be lead to think ( of $ )

But in reality $ has also devalued but in a opaque way how so?
Look at commodity prices especially Gold and oil yes there is a margin of inflation due to speculation but essentially the dollar has devalued else it won't be $ 3.80 cents at the pump even after excluding taxes it still reflects inflation aka devaluation of dollar add milk prices as well to get better picture

[Prem]

An Advice to all who are worrying about fall of Indian Rupee
http://www.morungexpress.com/public_dis ... 02269.html

hroughout the country please stop using cars except for emergency for only seven days (Just 7 days)Definitely Dollar rate will come down. This is true. The value to dollar is given by petrol only. This is called Derivative Trading. America has stopped valuing its Dollar with Gold 70 years ago.
Americans understood that Petrol is equally valuable as Gold so they made Agreement with all the Middle East countries to sell petrol in Dollars only. That is why Americans print their Dollar as legal tender for debts. This mean if you don’t like their American Dollar and go to their Governor and ask for repayment in form of Gold, as in India they won’t give you Gold.You observe Indian Rupee, “I promise to pay the bearer...” is clearly printed along with the signature of Reserve Bank Governor. This mean, if you don’t like Indian Rupee and ask for repayment, Reserve Bank of India will pay you back an equal value of gold.(Actually there may be minor differences in the Transaction dealing rules, but for easy comprehension I am explaining this)Let us see an example. Indian petroleum minister goes to Middle East country to purchase petrol, the Middle East petrol bunk people will say that liter petrol is one Dollar.But Indians won’t have dollars. They have Indian Rupees. So what to do now? So That Indian Minister will ask America to give Dollars. American Federal Reserve will take a white paper, print Dollars on it and give it to the Indian Minister. Like this we get dollars, pay it to petrol bunks and buy petrol.
But there is a fraud here. If you change your mind and want to give back the Dollars to America we can’t demand them to pay Gold in return for the Dollars. They will say “Have we promised to return something back to you? Haven’t you checked the Dollar? We clearly printed on the Dollar that it is Debt”So, Americans don’t need any Gold with them to print Dollars. They will print Dollars on white papers as they like.But what will Americans give to the Middle East countries for selling petrol in Dollars only?Middle East kings pay rent to America for protecting their kings and heirs. Similarly they are still paying back the Debt to America for constructing Roads and Buildings in their countries. This is the value of American Dollar. That is why many say some day the Dollar will be destroyed.At present the problem of India is the result of buying those American Dollars. American white papers are equal to Indian Gold. So if we reduce the consumption of petrol and cars, Dollar will come downThe Above Details are translated originally from Telugu Language to English by Radhika Gr.Kindly share this and make everyone aware of the facts of American Dollar V/s Indian Rupee.And here is a small thing other than petrol , what we can do to our Indian RupeeYOU CAN MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE TO THE INDIAN ECONOMY BY FOLLOWING FEW SIMPLE STEPS:-Please spare a couple of minutes here for the sake of India.
Here’s a small example:-
At 2008 August month 1 US $ = INR Rs 39.40
At 2013 August now 1 $ = INR Rs 62
Do you think US Economy is booming? No, but Indian Economy is Going Down.
Our economy is in your hands. INDIAN economy is in a crisis. Our country like many other ASIAN countries, is undergoing a severe economic crunch. Many INDIAN industries are closing down. The INDIAN economy is in a crisis and if we do not take proper steps to control those, we will be in a critical situation. More than 30,000 crore rupees of foreign exchange are being siphoned out of our country on products such as cosmetics, snacks, tea, beverages, etc. which are grown, produced and consumed here.A cold drink that costs only 70 / 80 paisa to produce, is sold for Rs.9 and a major chunk of profits from these are sent abroad. This is a serious drain on INDIAN economy. We have nothing against Multinational companies, but to protect our own interest we request everybody to use INDIAN products only at least for the next two years. With the rise in petrol prices, if we do not do this, the Rupee will devalue further and we will end up paying much more for the same products in the near future.What you can do about it?Buy only products manufactured by WHOLLY INDIAN COMPANIES. Each individual should become a leader for this awareness. This is the only way to save our country from severe economic crisis. You don’t need to give-up your lifestyle. You just need to choose an alternate product.Daily products which are COLD DRINKS,BATHING SOAP ,TOOTH PASTE,TOOTH BRUSH ,SHAVING CREAM,BLADE, TALCUM POWDER ,MILK POWDER ,SHAMPOO , Food Items etc. all you need to do is buy Indian Goods and Make sure Indian rupee is not crossing outside India.Every INDIAN product you buy makes a big difference. It saves INDIA. Let us take a firm decision today.THIS is a Shout For GIRLS Don’t IGNORE & Guys Tell Your Loved Ones, They are the Power Purchaser, Who takes care of HOUSEHOLD things, Who can Play a Big Role as well to SAVE OUR MOTHER INDIA we are not anti-multinational. we are trying to save our nation. Every day is a struggle for a real freedom. We achieved our independence after losing many lives.They died painfully to ensure that we live peacefully. The current trend is very threatening. Multinationals call it globalization of Indian economy. For Indians like you and me, it is re-colonization of India. The colonists left India then. But this time, they will make sure they don’t make any mistakes.Russia, S. Korea, Mexico - the list is very long!! Let us learn from their experience and from our history. let us do the duty of every true Indian. finally, it’s obvious that you can’t give up all of the items mentioned above. so give up at least one item for the sake of our country!“WE all TOGETHER CAN SAVE our COUNTRY from crises”
Mhao Yanthan
General Secretary
RJD Youth Wing in-charge of Media & Publicity Cell
Nagaland State