Indian Economy - News & Discussion Oct 12 2013

[Arjun]

Nachiket, in stock market parlance 'discounting' means the news is assumed as fact and incorporated into the market price.

Here's Goldman Sachs weighing in today: Goldman upgrades India on Modi effect, raises Nifty target to 6900

[Austin]

Pakistan officially printing fake Indian currency notes

[Prem]

Star India Reveals $3.2 Billion Sports Investment
http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/star-in ... 200801320/#

LONDON — Star India, 21st Century Fox’s pay TV subsid, has announced a 200 billion rupee ($3.2 billion) investment in the Indian sports business.
Following News Corp’s 2012 buyout of ESPN’s 50 per cent share in the ESPN Star Sports joint venture channels, Star’s Indian sports channels from Wednesday (Nov. 6) have been rebranded Star Sports, with four standard definition and two high definition channels and an online entity starsports.com.
Appropriately, for a country where cricket is the most popular sport by some distance, Star has signed India’s cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as their brand ambassador. Cricket will remain the focus of Star’s sports broadcasting, but will now go deeper with coverage of university level matches joining international games and domestic tournaments.Star India Chief Exec Uday Shankar (pictured above) said, “While cricket will be central to our approach, we will also be faithful to our role as a sports broadcaster and bring in the best of local and world sports to India, whether in soccer, hockey, badminton, tennis, F1 or the many other sports that fans in India are deeply passionate about.”Some of the tournaments that Star is investing in are Indian Super League soccer, in partnership with IMG-Reliance and the All India Football Federation, the Hockey India League and the Indian Badminton League.Star has also recognised that the vast majority of Indian audiences do not follow English language commentary and therefore the Star Sports 3 channel will entirely be in the Hindi language with plans in the months ahead to introduce Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bengali language feeds.Star timed the November 6 rebranding announcement to coincide with the start of the two match India versus West Indies cricket series, which will be the last two games for India’s most popular sportsman, Sachin Tendulkar, after which he will call time on a 24-year career.

[vera_k]

Pakistan officially printing fake Indian currency notes

Its worth exploring if all paper currency can be discontinued and replaced with coins. Coins are cumbersome, and will also drive adoption of electronic forms of payment.

[Austin]

^^ I think printing currency of higher value like Rs 100 , 500 ,1000 with strong security built in as much as possible and below 100 Rs we must adopt coin.

We would be using Paper currency for long time to come so better make it as hack proof as possible.

Since Pakistan is using highest level of forgery to print this note to make it as real as possible it bleeds them as much it does us.

[vera_k]

Paper or coins are cheap to make and have very little intrinsic value. Only way they can have enough value to give them pause is if the currency was made of coins that had precious metals in them. But adding precious metals to coins is not a feasible option.

[ArmenT]

^^ I think printing currency of higher value like Rs 100 , 500 ,1000 with strong security built in as much as possible and below 100 Rs we must adopt coin.

We would be using Paper currency for long time to come so better make it as hack proof as possible.

Since Pakistan is using highest level of forgery to print this note to make it as real as possible it bleeds them as much it does us.

Coins are also susceptible to forgery like paper money. In fact, a study done in the UK in 2006 estimated that around 1.5% of the 1 pound coins in circulation were fake. In the UK's case, the forgers are not even state-funded -- imagine how much worse it could have been if they had a neighbor like Pak.

[Austin]

One can practically forge any thing just that it would be much harder to do it and also easier to detect compared to forged notes , In Indian context its better to print high value notes on paper and introduce more security measure on it and low value keep it in coin.

[Austin]

S&P threatens India with downgrade post elections, markets fall

Standard & Poor's said on Thursday it may cut India's sovereign rating to below investment grade should the next government fail to provide a credible plan to reverse the country's low economic growth.

Alternatively, the credit ratings agency said it may revise India's outlook back to "stable" should a new government have an agenda to restore growth, improve the country's finances, or allow the implementation of an effective monetary policy.

S&P is the only of the three major credit agencies with a "negative" outlook on India. The country is rated "BBB-minus" or its equivalent by these agencies, or the lowest investment-grade rating, meaning it would fall into so-called "junk" territory with any downgrade.

S&P added it will conduct its next review on India's ratings after the elections, which are due by May 2014, unless the country's fiscal or external standing deteriorates.

"The negative outlook indicates that we may lower the rating to speculative grade next year if the government that takes office after the general election does not appear capable of reversing India's low economic growth," S&P said in a statement.

"If we believe that the agenda can restore some of India's lost growth potential, consolidate its fiscal accounts, and permit the conduct of an effective monetary policy, we may revise the outlook to stable. If, however, we see continued policy drift, we may lower the rating within a year."

The credit agency affirmed India at "BBB-minus" on Thursday, citing its low external debt, ample forex reserves and an increasingly credible monetary policy. S&P had cut its outlook on India to "negative" in April last year.

Still, India's economy has been a key drag on its ratings after growth slowed to a decade low of 5 per cent in the fiscal year ended in March. Analysts have widely attributed the middling growth to the government's lack of decisive policy action and high interest rates.

The current account and fiscal deficits are also seen as leaving the country vulnerable to foreign investor sell-offs, most recently in late August when the rupee fell to a record low.

The Sensex nearly gave up all gains to trade 0.2 per cent up on the day from 1.1 per cent after the S&P report. The partially convertible rupee fell to 62.73 per dollar, its weakest since September 30.

"While the overhang of a potential S&P downgrade is not new, it can introduce higher volatility," said Varun Khandelwal, managing partner and director at Bullero Advisors.

"December to April will be critical and most likely markets will shrug off today's statement," he added.

[Satya_anveshi]

This is a complete retrograde step. US banks are flush with liquidity (wampum) and have found willing suckers to swallow the dump.
India Gives Foreign Banks New Door Into Local Market

[Supratik]

It is not necessarily a retrograde step. It is reciprocal and foreign banks will follow same Indian rules as Indian banks. Now they should get moving on the new banking licenses.

[Satya_anveshi]

^^IMO, it is less about the rules than about the capital. US/Western banks will have undue advantage in buying hard assets with wampum in exchange. They will obviously succeed. The level playing field is/will never be equal (rules not withstanding). Allowing access to institutions will only perpetuate this advantage further to them. What statement are we making in the interest of creating alternate reserve currency and restoring to a multi-polar world?

[vishvak]

+1 Satya Anveshi ji, opening up a sector to Americans- with huge capital and international presence in global trading orgs that set global rules- has this inherent imbalance that is difficult to overcome.

[Supratik]

^^IMO, it is less about the rules than about the capital. US/Western banks will have undue advantage in buying hard assets with wampum in exchange. They will obviously succeed. The level playing field is/will never be equal (rules not withstanding). Allowing access to institutions will only perpetuate this advantage further to them. What statement are we making in the interest of creating alternate reserve currency and restoring to a multi-polar world?

The same argument can be made about foreign investment in every sector.

Advantages:
1) It allows domestic banks to grow abroad which they need to become fatcats like the American, European and Japanese banks,
2) Another route for industry and entrepreneurs to access funds,
3) A 1.2 billion population needs lakhs of branches for financial access
4) More competition in financial services

The next thing they need to do is to release new banking licenses for domestic banks and merge PSU banks to make them more efficient.

[Arjun]

Goldman Sachs stands by 'Modi-fying our view' report after govt calls it 'objectionable'

I am glad the market and research analysts are collectively trashing the tired old shibboleths popular in some political circles, that quality of leadership and business-orientation of government are irrelevant to the growth story of the Indian economy. Not only is it relevant - this is probably the single most important input factor to economic performance.

[Suraj]

Exports surge in Oct, but trade deficit zooms over Sept on gold imports

Riding on increased demand for engineering goods, exports posted a robust 13.47 per cent growth to $27.27 billion in October 2013 compared with $24.03 billion a year ago. The trade deficit, however, stood at nearly double the 30-month low of $6.7 billion touched in September, mostly due to a small recovery in the demand for gold in the festival season.

But Government officials are not worried. “We are confident of reaching the export target of $325 billion this fiscal and significantly contain the trade deficit,” Commerce Secretary S. R. Rao said, addressing a press conference on Monday. Imports during the month declined 14.5 per cent to $37.82 billion as gold and silver inflows fell 79.9 per cent to $1.37 billion. Import of gold and silver in September was lower at $800 million. “Import of gold is slightly higher than in September, but we expected it because of the festivals,” a Commerce Department official told Business Line.

While exports have increased across sectors, specifically, engineering goods did well in October posting a growth of 36 per cent to $35 billion.

Garment is another segment that is performing well with increased orders not just from the EU and the US, but also new markets such as West Asia, Latin America and Japan.
...

“It seems we can achieve the apparel export target of $17 billion set by the Government,” Apparel Export Promotion Council chief A. Sakthivel said.

Exports during the April-October period grew 6.32 per cent to $179.37 billion. Imports at $270 billion were lower by 3.8 per cent.

Exports remain on track to make the $325B fiscal year performance goal.

[Austin]

Rupee may crash to 78 per dollar in 6 months: Sharekhan

After a brief recovery, when it stabilized to 60-61 per dollar, the rupee is witnessing fresh bouts of weakness. On Tuesday, the rupee traded lower for a fifth straight session, breaching the key 63.50 levels. The rupee is now trading at a two-month low.

Rohit Srivastava of Sharekhan told NDTV that the rupee is headed to 74/75 per dollar. (Watch the full interview)

"You have started another move up, which is likely to make new highs. Rupee is likely to go above the 68-69 mark...anywhere between 74 and 78 in six months," Mr Srivastava said.

Other analysts did not agree with Mr Srivastava's extreme forecast, but said the rupee will weaken further.

Manishi Raychaudhuri of BNP Paribas Securities told NDTV that in the near term (till early or mid-December), the rupee will trade marginally lower.

Fears that the US Federal Reserve would start winding down its stimulus as early as next month, after strong jobs report, is the immediate trigger for rupee weakness. An early tapering may halt the flow of liquidity to emerging markets like India and may even lead to a reversal of funds.

India needs dollars to fund its current account deficit, so a reversal in funds will pressure the rupee.

Locally, two RBI initiatives to support the rupee might come to an end this month, Mr Raychaudhuri said.

In August, the RBI took oil companies, the biggest purchasers of dollars, out of the open market through a swap deal. A month later, the central bank struck a swap deal with banks for foreign currency deposits (FCNR (B)) that have so far fetched the RBI nearly $17.5 billion.

"These two strong measures, which have reduced the demand of dollars and had ensured the inflow of dollars, have a finite shelf life," Mr Raychaudhuri said.

There might be short term weakness in forex markets, but a repeat of the panic seen between May and August is unlikely, analysts said. That's because the government's strategy to contain trade deficit has worked in recent months. Even in the festive month of October, trade deficit of $10.56 billion was well under control.

"The fundamental thing, which contributed to the fair value of the rupee in the long run, seems to be working fine," Mr Raychaudhuri said.

Besides, analysts are not ready to underestimate the firepower of the Reserve Bank under Mr Rajan, who has earlier surprised markets with unexpected actions.

"The RBI has shown its willingness to come with extraordinary measures to stabilize the currency," Mr Raychaudhuri said.

However, Mr Srivastava maintained that there are definite signs that the rupee will weaken considerably from current levels.

"The rupee kept creeping up all of last year - all the way from 52 to 68 - but market only responded or people panicked only after 60," Mr Srivastava concluded.

[Pratyush]

^^^

What will it take to convince the OPEC, that, they let us buy Oil with Indian rupees.

[Aditya_V]

So finally Media should admit Raghuram Rajan does not have a magic wand, if goverance that need to be fixed for the rupee to stabilise and thee economy to grow.

[Philip]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/n ... ddle-class

India's economic slowdown forces middle classes to put dreams on hold
Construction projects stall as weak rupee and rising living costs prompt consumers to swap aspirations for reality

Annie Gowen in Ghaziabad for the Washington Post
Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 12 November 2013

ust outside India's capital, partially finished high-rises line the smog-veiled skyline, concrete monuments to the aspirations of the country's middle class.

They are among the hundreds of developments aimed at the rising ranks of home buyers – two- and three-bedroom units in buildings with air conditioning, washer-dryers and security booths. Estate agents' billboards tout the "VVIP way of life".

But as Asia's third-largest economy has slowed, buyers in places such as Ghaziabad have vanished, capital has dried up, and some projects have been slowed, stalled or even abandoned.

A decade of rapid growth propelled tens of millions of Indians from poverty into a middle class that now numbers 200 million to 300 million, an extraordinary social transformation in a nation of 1.2 billion. But these days, the optimism that once inspired slogans such as "India Rising" is fading.

The economy is expected to grow by only 4%-5% this year, not enough to create the salaried jobs needed for the country's growing workforce. The rupee fell to a historic low against the dollar in August. Prices for staples such as fuel and onions have skyrocketed. India's economic woes have had "significant spillover effects" on the rest of south Asia, home to the world's biggest concentration of poor people, according to a recent World Bank report.

Ghaziabad offers a glimpse of a country where the middle-class dream is on hold.

"People are frustrated," said Prashant Mehrotra, 38, a hospitality industry employee who was supposed to move with his family into a new flat more than two years ago but is still waiting for it to be finished. The brochure for his development, Ajnara Integrity, promises two pools, a Zen garden, a cricket lawn and a sun plaza.

Nearby, estate agents sit idly in booths and fan away flies, waiting for customers who hardly ever come. Others crowd the road, dodging horse-drawn carts and new-model cars, waving shiny brochures.

Ramesh Kumar, 35, was manning the new vegetable stand he had set up to augment income from his struggling vegetarian food stall. He quit his job as a car salesman four years ago, banking on the soaring construction in the Raj Nagar neighborhood of Ghaziabad for his future. Now he's borrowing money from his father to keep afloat.

"I thought this was an up-and-coming area," he said. "With so many flats coming in, I thought there would be lots of buyers. That did not happen."

Over the past decade, economic reforms and a boom in India's IT and business-services industries fuelled expansive growth of the economy – 8% on average per year from 2003 to 2012. But recently, a spike in inflation, high interest rates, infrastructure problems and a series of government corruption scandals have slowed the momentum of the world's most populous democracy.

Most experts – including India's new central bank governor, Raghuram Rajan – expect that the economy will improve next year, partly because of a strong monsoon season that would help agriculture and because of new government measures to help restart stalled infrastructure projects.

"We need to change the perception about India," Rajan said last month in Washington. He acknowledged that India had inflation problems, financial-sector turmoil and slower-than-desired growth. "These are issues we need to deal with," he said. "But these are not crisis issues."

Still, the implications of the economic deceleration are profound. Rajesh Shukla, a statistician with the nonprofit Institute for Human Development, estimates that slowing growth will prevent the move of around 9 million people out of poverty in the next few years.

Many of the country's new consumers say that the rising costs of fuel and food, combined with the weak rupee, have forced them to put off major purchases such as homes and cars and to cancel vacations. They are people who once saw goods such as air conditioning and smartphones as luxuries. Now, they are viewed as necessities.
india economy politics A high-rise residential complex undergoing construction in Ghaziabad. Photograph: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty

"The middle class has given up on some of their dreams or postponed the fulfilment of their dreams for the time being until the situation improves and they feel more confident of their incomes and the economy," said Alam Srinivas, author of the book The Indian Consumer.

Simant Singhal, 29, an IT professional from Delhi, said he and his wife have decided to delay starting their family because of the uncertainty.

"She does not want to have children any time soon as she is working, too, and would like to save enough to give a decent life to our children," he said.

In recent days, Indians have crammed markets, malls and bazaars to buy clothes, electronics, colourful candleholders and sweets in the busiest shopping season of the year – the lead-up to Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, celebrated at the start of the month. But some shoppers said they were not spending as they had in the past.

In the Home Ways store in the busy Sarojini Nagar market, customers were ignoring the $500 flat-screen TVs – with "powerful and vibrating sound for India" – to try out more practical gifts, such as steam irons.

Shopping in the market with his wife and two daughters, Sudhir Kochhar, 36, a banker, said he has grown disillusioned about India's promise.

"I don't expect things to get better in the near future," he said.

Kochhar had once hoped to buy a second home as an investment, but with prices of food and fuel rising, he can't even afford to pay his life insurance. He dreams of leaving India and emigrating to Europe or the United States.

For millions of Indians, attaining a better life has meant leaving the traditional caste and social structures of a small town for a degree and professional job in a city such as Bengaluru, New Delhi or Mumbai. Many such Indians in their 20s and 30s find it difficult to remember another time when the country's fortunes weren't rising.

The economic slowdown "was a huge shock for the middle class", said Srinivas. "There was a sense that nothing could go wrong."

Rajshree Chouhan, 20, an English tutor and film student, was the first in her family to leave her small ancestral village in Rajasthan. She felt that as a woman, she had more opportunities in a bigger city. In New Delhi, she hosted a radio show and had dreams of buying a car and a camera. For now, though, she navigates the city on a scooter.

Rising food prices have left her and her fiance, an employee of a debt collection agency, strapped for cash, she said. They are no longer eating out, and she has quit buying brand-name clothes such as Levi's jeans.

"It does surprise me," she said. "At first, I was like, 'Why is this happening?'" But now, the couple are focused on simply surviving.

Her fiance, Piyush Singh, 27, the son of a civil servant from eastern India, said he wonders whether he will ever be able to afford to further his education beyond high school – which would then pave the way for him to achieve more than his father and grandfather.

"Even today, I dream of shifting a level up. Everyone does in life," he said. "The middle class always has hopes."

Suhasini Raj contributed to this report

This article appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from the Washington Post

[Austin]

^^^

What will it take to convince the OPEC, that, they let us buy Oil with Indian rupees.

The OPEC cartel only trades in USD thats the deal they have with US.

[kmkraoind]

Sebi gives RBI a chance to clean up mis-selling by banks

This is the second time that Sebi has stepped visibly on the turf of another regulator. Regulator watchers remember the time almost four years ago when C.B. Bhave, the then chairman of Sebi, asked 14 insurance companies to stop selling unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) since they were nothing but a collective investment scheme under the garb of an insurance policy. The resulting media and finance ministry attention possibly cost Bhave his second term, but also forced the insurance regulator to issue guidelines to clean up the toxic Ulips. Sebi’s role in getting the insurance regulator to clean up its own house has largely gone unacknowledged.

[Rahul Mehta]

What will it take to convince the OPEC, that, they let us buy Oil with Indian rupees.

USG has threatened world leaders that if anyone tries to create a substitute currency of crude oil, then he will murdered in public the way Saddam\Gaddafi were murdered. So I dont think Saudi\Kuwait\UAE will dare to trade in anything except dollar. The US Military sitting in Saudi Arabia will simply murder the political figureheads who try to do any harm to dollars.

Currency is Military and Military is Currency has been the 5000 year old equation.

===

To answer your question, "What will it take to convince the OPEC to sell oil with Indian rupees", it is pretty simple --- we need to make our Military as strong as US Military. For that we need to make large amount of weapons --- "100% made in India, 100% made by Indians" , not made via FDI in India. Once we have same weapons as USA does, or even half of it, Saudies will give oil to us for free, just as USA is getting it for free (*).

(* - USA is getting oil for free, because whatever little money USA pays to Saudi etc , the Saudies are forced at gunpoint to "re-invest" twice of that in US bonds, shares, T-bills etc. The investment will one day all become junk. So essentially, Saudies are giving oil for free.)

Thats the power of Military. The Military is the MOST important area of international economics, and the reason why NO economics textbook will talk about it is because economics textbook writers are paid NOT to write about importance of Military in international economics. Just as economics textbooks writers are paid NOT to write about role of courts, police, laws in local economics and how bribes are used to enact laws and get judgments. Essentially, every economics textbook writer and economics column writer is a paid-textbook-writer and paid-column-writer just as every journalist is a paid-journalist.

[Gus]

^^^

What will it take to convince the OPEC, that, they let us buy Oil with Indian rupees.

military muscle to act as their protectors.

most of the OPEC are run by elites with no mandate from their people and are vulnerable to getting removed.

[Cosmo_R]

This Chindu article hints at what is ahead:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/u ... epage=true

" Ministry of Finance officials told The Hindu the decision is being taken to keep the fiscal deficit within the target of 4.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product that Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had set in Union Budget 2013-14. .....

“The probability is very high of a sovereign rating downgrade if the fiscal deficit target isn’t adhered to as it essentially means the country is living beyond its means and its fiscal health is fragile. This makes it vulnerable to the slightest shocks,”....

"The issue is at the official level right now,” Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu. It will be escalated to the political level. The Finance Minister must explain at the political level what is so sacrosanct about keeping the fiscal deficit below 4.8 per cent, and why there can be no flexibility on the target fiscal deficit number in an election year."

UPA is in panic mode. SG will override Chidu, damn the consequences, it's all about the dynasty. Combined with increasing probability of a Fed taper.....

[kmkraoind]

From above article

On Tuesday, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh protesting the proposed “savage” cuts, saying they will prove to be counterproductive and destroy the credibility of the UPA government, Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu . A copy of the letter was not immediately available.

[Singha]

does anyone know the life background of jairam ramesh , salman kursheed and kapil sibal...all 3 seem to be deep insiders in the 10 janpath durbar and have a lot of leeway and trust of the first family. how did they rise to prominence?

[vina]

does anyone know the life background of jairam ramesh , salman kursheed and kapil sibal...all 3 seem to be deep insiders in the 10 janpath durbar and have a lot of leeway and trust of the first family. how did they rise to prominence?

Jairam Ramesh -- IIT Mumbai (dad prof there), MPA some top US Univ, returned to India, right had man of Narsimha Roa Admin, key media guy responsible for UPA -1 defeating NDA /countering India Shining, seems to have some grey matter between his ears, erudite , clean hands and can get a job done competently if given to him.

Salman Kursheed - Grandson of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Zaakir Hussain, "muslim face" (though more secular, married to a Christian - Louise Miranda ) , Oxbridge Lawyer, taught law there as well I think, again , someone with grey matter between ears, and a loyalist.

Kapil Sibal - Haahvud trained laayur, fat cat, typical scumbag lawyer, a servile doormat for the family, an attack dog aimed at others.

[Pratyush]

Jairam Ramesh -- IIT Mumbai (dad prof there), MPA some top US Univ, returned to India, right had man of Narsimha Roa Admin, key media guy responsible for UPA -1 defeating NDA /countering India Shining, seems to have some grey matter between his ears, erudite , clean hands and can get a job done competently if given to him.

His economic inclination is left leaning.

Salman Kursheed - Grandson of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Zaakir Hussain, "muslim face" (though more secular, married to a Christian - Louise Miranda ) , Oxbridge Lawyer, taught law there as well I think, again , someone with grey matter between ears, and a loyalist.

A small mind, whose family asks for money, from those, who seek to work with him.

Kapil Sibal - Haahvud trained laayur, fat cat, typical scumbag lawyer, a servile doormat for the family, an attack dog aimed at others.


Poor ability to work with other, who thinks the world as a court room, where his arguments will carry the day, without having an understanding of interpersonal relations or political finesse. A blunt instrument, in times needing a surgical knife

[Pratyush]

No business can survive if every decision is questioned, says FM

The best course of action would be for the Govt to exit the business of taking decisions and libralise the business environment. That is the best way, to not only insure growth but also reduce corruption. As the incentive for paying bribes to the Neta & Babu will be removed.

[Arjun]

Jairam Ramesh -- IIT Mumbai (dad prof there), MPA some top US Univ, returned to India, right had man of Narsimha Roa Admin, key media guy responsible for UPA -1 defeating NDA /countering India Shining, seems to have some grey matter between his ears, erudite , clean hands and can get a job done competently if given to him.

'Grey matter between the ears' seems, quite frankly, like over-the-top support for IIT alum. Jairam is firmly in the Left Loony camp....and gives Sibal and Aiyar a run for their money on the matter of being a doormat for the family (track his recent pronouncements if you want evidence).

IIT Mumbai's track record in producing left loonies is quite stellar actually. There's that Ram Puniyani guy and other assorted 'mavericks'...

[manish]

Jairam Ramesh -- IIT Mumbai (dad prof there), MPA some top US Univ, returned to India, right had man of Narsimha Roa Admin, key media guy responsible for UPA -1 defeating NDA /countering India Shining, seems to have some grey matter between his ears, erudite , clean hands and can get a job done competently if given to him.

'Grey matter between the ears' seems, quite frankly, like over-the-top support for IIT alum. Jairam is firmly in the Left Loony camp....and gives Sibal and Aiyar a run for their money on the matter of being a doormat for the family (track his recent pronouncements if you want evidence).

IIT Mumbai's track record in producing left loonies is quite stellar actually. There's that Ram Puniyani guy and other assorted 'mavericks'...

Wasn't he the guy who had his feelings hurt 'cause India was treating Huawei shabbily per him?

[JE Menon]

Of the three, JR is probably the only one who has some degree of personal integrity left (and that's saying a lot in the current Congress mindscape)... the rest are supine sycophants of the lowest order.

Boys, this is OT for this thread... Take it elsewhere pls.

[vera_k]

IIT Mumbai's track record in producing left loonies is quite stellar actually.

Tuition is heavily subsidized in those institutions, so no surprise that people get used to government subsidies and expecting something for nothing. Since resources are needed for anti-poverty programs, all government colleges should be made to send retrospective tuition bills to alumni and recover the subsidies provided from those who now have the means to pay. IRS can be enlisted in the effort to recover past subsidies as well.

[hanumadu]

Of the three, JR is probably the only one who has some degree of personal integrity left (and that's saying a lot in the current Congress mindscape)... the rest are supine sycophants of the lowest order.

Boys, this is OT for this thread... Take it elsewhere pls.

Sir, please indulge me just this once.

Jairam Ramesh used to write a economics column in India Today. IIRC, his views were more in tune with BJP that the Congress. Congress really sucks the life blood of everybody joining it. I am sure young bloods like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Rajesh Pilot will be just as bad as the older generation of politicians as time passes by. Even Kapil Sibal was critical of Arjun Singh on some issues regarding IIMs and he came across as a reasonable man. Look what he has become now.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/afte ... 19717.html

Even India Today was out and out pro BJP. I guess it had to tow the establishment's line to survive.

[vera_k]

GST back to drawing board

Technology can be used to ease taxation in the absence of the GST. E-commerce companies have worked out the mechanics of collecting and remitting sales taxes online, so its possible to apply the same technology on a wider scale.

[chola]

^^^

What will it take to convince the OPEC, that, they let us buy Oil with Indian rupees.

Very simply, when we start producing stuff that is they want. The Iranians won't take rupees in full because for oil because we could not sell them anything competitive outside of IT services.

[SBajwa]

by Rahul Mehta
To answer your question, "What will it take to convince the OPEC to sell oil with Indian rupees", it is pretty simple --- we need to make our Military as strong as US Military. For that we need to make large amount of weapons --- "100% made in India, 100% made by Indians" , not made via FDI in India. Once we have same weapons as USA does, or even half of it, Saudies will give oil to us for free, just as USA is getting it for free (*).

I will take it even further.

1. Oil has been sitting buried underneath for millions of years nobody could figure out the utility of it.

2. Engine was made by Benz while Ford made the assembly line so millions could afford cars now., by around first world war.

3. As more and more oil was needed American companies start exploring outside of USA between 1930s-early 1940s., A major part of Second World war was fought in North Africa and oil was a part of it.

4. Second world war happens and just as it gets concluded the victors (allies) met at Yalta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalta_Conference).

5. U.S president meets the Saudi victor (supported by British during second world war) Abdulaziz bin Saud.

6. India became independent and soon after India the British Raj goes up in smoke all over the world.

and since then U.S has realized that only "DANDA" i.e. "Staff" works and rest is all "MAYA" "Fiction". The sooner we realize this the better it will be for our people.

If the world is a neighborhood of 200 houses then
Defense Budget that is less than 10% of the national budget is akin to saving yourself with a pistol.

Defense Budget of 10-15% will upgrade that pistol to a decent size automatic Gun. that puts us
anywhere between top 5 in the neighborhood.

and if we keep on growing economically then sooner we will be among the top. U.S is the top because

1. Technological Innovations.
2. Defense to protect those Technological innovations.

[panduranghari]

What will it take to convince the OPEC, that, they let us buy Oil with Indian rupees.

USG has threatened world leaders that if anyone tries to create a substitute currency of crude oil, then he will murdered in public the way Saddam\Gaddafi were murdered. So I dont think Saudi\Kuwait\UAE will dare to trade in anything except dollar. The US Military sitting in Saudi Arabia will simply murder the political figureheads who try to do any harm to dollars.

Currency is Military and Military is Currency has been the 5000 year old equation.

===

To answer your question, "What will it take to convince the OPEC to sell oil with Indian rupees", it is pretty simple --- we need to make our Military as strong as US Military. For that we need to make large amount of weapons --- "100% made in India, 100% made by Indians" , not made via FDI in India. Once we have same weapons as USA does, or even half of it, Saudies will give oil to us for free, just as USA is getting it for free (*).

(* - USA is getting oil for free, because whatever little money USA pays to Saudi etc , the Saudies are forced at gunpoint to "re-invest" twice of that in US bonds, shares, T-bills etc. The investment will one day all become junk. So essentially, Saudies are giving oil for free.)

Thats the power of Military. The Military is the MOST important area of international economics, and the reason why NO economics textbook will talk about it is because economics textbook writers are paid NOT to write about importance of Military in international economics. Just as economics textbooks writers are paid NOT to write about role of courts, police, laws in local economics and how bribes are used to enact laws and get judgments. Essentially, every economics textbook writer and economics column writer is a paid-textbook-writer and paid-column-writer just as every journalist is a paid-journalist.

Only Saudi matters. All others will fall in line was the thinking on the basis of which ARAMCO made the deal in 1930 directly with King Abd Al-Aziz Al-Sa'ud to gain oil concessions. They paid him directly in British gold sovereigns which he counted himself, it's claimed. The old Dammam no 7 oil well was the first dug then and it's still producing oil. Do read about Texas railroad commission and how that lead to the formation of OPEC. Of course military support is welcomed by the Al-Sa'ud's. But anyone willing to offer military support will be welcomed. However, do remember it's not just military. There is silent movement of gold in the back ground. If in 1970's, during the times of the first oil crisis, Al-Sa'ud was paid 10$ every barrel of oil, in reality it was 10$ + x amount of gold. When inflation reduced purchasing power of dollar and lead to second oil crisis, the price of the barrel did not rise massively because the Al-Sa'ud got 29$+ xx amount of gold. This silent movement of gold made this convenient arrangement possible. Everything else is a side show.

[panduranghari]

Indians are paying 21% over spot for gold. But the appetite is still there for more.