According to a recent report, the Government of India's fiscal deficit in April was at 541.58 billion rupees ($11 billion) The tax receipts were at 74.62 billion rupees while expenditure were at 662.17 billion rupees for the first month of 2009/10 fiscal year (India FY starts from April and ends in March). The government must be finding it hard to print the currency to meet the level of disbursements!

In a recent interview, Jim Rogers, a global investor says cotton, silver and sugar can be hot picks. He further suggests that there are tens of thousands of fund managers and becoming a farmer would be a better idea. He opines that the financial community is not going to be a great place to be in for the next 30 years. He says that the world is likely to face food crisis sooner or later, and it would be a better idea to invest in food and commodities.

Full interview may be found at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Interviews/Fund-Managers-can-become-farmers-Jim-Rogers/articleshow/4610704.cms?curpg=1

Labels: fund manager farmer, Global investor, Jim Rogers, rogers interview

Recently, the proposed US law has become a hot topic for Indian IT/ITES/BPO sectors. The proposed laws are aimed at protecting the American jobs, and it's reported in local news papers that the laws are not fair. Big Indian outsourcing technologies like TCS, Wipro, and Infosys are not happy with the development. In specific, a new rule would bar companies with more than 50 U.S. employees from getting any additional work visas if more than 50% of their US workforce is made up of H-1B or L-1 visa holders. It's surprising to know that some companies prefer to get their work done by H1B visa holders rather than native Americans. It also appears that the sole motive for this are:

• Lower wages that are paid to H1B visa holders.
  
• H1Bs' also work extra hours without any additional pay for the purpose of Green card (that entitles them permanent resident status) application processing.
• The employer may terminate the contract at any time without any obligation on its part

Though there is a lot of commotion on the 50/50 rule, it appears quite reasonable to have atleast 50% of employees US residents (permanent). Indian companies would do better if they conform to laws, and get on to their business as early as possible. It is also surprising to a common man, how US had allowed a US company to run in US with a majority of H1B employees.

On the other hand, it's discourating to resort to protectionism in Companies that had received US Government aid. The respective companies should be able to choose their employees without Government intervention. It might lead to lower efficiencies, and reduce productivity.

In any case, Obama government appears to be very careful in implementing the laws, and hope that the H1B laws would not be detrimental to countries like India, and China.

Labels: 50/50 rule, h1b, outsourcing, usa

The credit card bill that is going become law in United States is a step taken by Obama government in right direction. Credit card companies are abusive of consumers' rights and privileges when it comes to interest rates, penalties for late payments, foreign exchange conversions (when purchases are made in foreign currency), levying additional charges towards card insurance, etc. India can take a hint and implement similar legislation.

U.S. credit card debt has jumped 25 percent in the past 10 years, reaching $963 billion in January, according to figures from the White House. The average outstanding credit card debt for households that have a card was $10,679 at the end of 2008, according to CreditCard.com, an online market.

The Election commission on Monday announced dates for the 15th Lok Sabha elections, which will be held in five phases from April 16 to May 13. The schedule is as given below:

Andhra Pradesh: April 16 and 23.
Arunachal Pradesh: April 16
Assam: April 16 and 23.
Bihar: April 16, 23, 30 and May 7.
Chhattisgarh: May 13.
Goa: April 23.
Gujarat: April 30.
Haryana: May 7.
Himachal Pradesh: May 13.
Jammu & Kashmir: April 16, 23, 30, May 7, and May13
Jharkhand: April 16 and 23.
Karnataka: April 23 and 30
Kerala: April 16.
Madhya Pradesh April 23 and 30.
Maharashtra: April 16, 23, and 30
Manipur: April 16 and 23
Meghalaya: April 16.
Mizoram: April 16.
Nagaland: April 16.
Orissa: April 16 and 23.
Punjab: May 7 and 13.
Rajasthan: May 7.
Sikkim: April 30.
Tamil Nadu: May 13.
Tripura: April 23.
Uttar Pradesh: April 16, 23, 30, May 7, and May13
Uttaranchal:
Uttarkhand May 13.
West Bengal: April 30, May 7 and 13.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands: April 16.
Chandigarh: May 13.
Dadra & Nagar Haveli: April 30.
Daman & Diu: April 30..
Delhi: May 7.
Lakshadweep: April 16.
Pondicherry: May 13.

Polling schedule with states segregated by poll dates are given below:

Andhra Pradesh: April 16 and 23.
Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep will have a single-phase poll on April 16.
Assam: April 16 and 23.
Bihar: April 16, 23, 30 and May 7.
Karnataka: April 23 and 30.

In Mizoram, it will be on April 16.
The polls are scheduled as follows:
Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh will have polls on all five dates.

Maharashtra: April 16, 23, and 30.
West Bengal: April 30, May 7 and 13.


Madhya Pradesh : April 23 and 30.
Manipur: April 16 and 23.
Orissa: April 16 and 23.
Punjab: May 7 and 13.
Jharkhand: April 16 and 23.

Goa and Tripura will have one-day poll on April 23.
Gujarat, Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu will have one-day poll on April 30.
Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan will have a one-day poll on May 7.
Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and Puducherry will have polling on May 13.

Labels: 2009, elections, general elections, india, polls, usa

A leading Indian software outsourcing and development firm Infosys Technologies Ltd. (popularly known as Infosys) appears to have it Trainees (Newly recruited employees not yet ready to take up regular work) outnumber the regular employees. According to recent news article from Economic Times of India, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/TCSInfosysWipro/Infosys-fires-2100-for-poor-performance/articleshow/4387963.cms, Infosys has as many as 45,000 trainees out of a total of 1,03,078 work force (which includes trainees).
It is amazing to know how aggressively the Indian outsourcing companies recruited freshes (almost having no skilset, except for college degrees) in anticipation of business growth. Indian top notch companies are now in a fix as to how to reduce their work force without adversely impacting their public relations and Companies' market cap. The most favored solution to issue pink slips is to cite performance reasons. Recently, Infosys has terminated the employment of about 2,100 people citing performance reasons.
It is obvious that the government and the Industry have difficulty adjusting to the changed realities in wake of economic down turn. In India, poverty rate is very high, and any retrenchment in jobs is likely to evoke adverse public reaction. In some cases, it also likely that the government may takeover the company(ies). Recent example of such takeover is Satyam Computers Ltd. The government has taken over the company and sold it highest bidder in an auction.
It is obvious that the government intervene, and provide more jobs so that the impact of retrenchments in IT related companies is minimized.

The severe recession in the USA and other countries have crippling effect on world countries, including India. It was reported that the un-employment rate is the highest since 1983. The recession was compared with that of 1929.
The world stock markets are under severe pressure, and stock markets are declining month after month.
The root cause for recession can be traced to

• Unrealistic "real estate" prices during boom years, and the cascading effect that followed.
• The home prices have appreciated almost 100% during the past few years
• The stock markets have appreciated several times without solid fundamentals
  

The speculation systematically infused in to the public by the media, and vested interests. US along with other other governments fueled the speculation (forgot to govern?). As a result, stock markets have sky rocketed, and the home prices followed. Unfortunately, the "boom" kept the end users away.

The banks and insurance companies are taking the direct hit of the recession. Motor industry, and other products and services industries are getting severely impacted.

Is it recession? Technically, yes. But, it is a correction being done for the wrong policies of the governments, particularly the United States. Unfortunately, most other governments including India followed the same policies as that of the US and are getting severely effected.

How much time it might take? It is reported that the current situation may last for a few years. The recovery time may be different for different countries. Faster the governments acknowledge the realities, and take corrective measures, lesser will be the time for recovery. If the governments tend to ignore the severity (down play it), it is likely to take several years before the normalcy is restored.

It is going to irreversibly change the economies of world countries. The currencies are going to depreciate at a faster rate, and savings are going to become less significant.

It is arguably the biggest challenge that "democracy" has faced to date.