Tuesday, January 27, 2009
RBI Stimulus 2008-2009 - a Staggering Rs. 400,000 Crores
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has provided a stimulus exceeding Rs.400,000 crores (Rs. 400 billion) up till now towards boosting Indian Economy. The money is pumped in to the banking systems by way of reducing CRR, and other means. The interest rates have been cut several times during the past 3-4 months. The industry is looking forward for more stimulus. Fiscal difficit is shooting up to 6% of GDP.
Stock market below 10,000 levels - The Sensex has reduced by 50% from its peak of 21000. However, it is yet to reach realistic levels (considered to be at 7000). It might take another few months before it reaches those levels. The primary impediment for stock market correction are the general elections scheduled for later this year. We can see more stimulus packages being annouced till elections, and the fiscal dificit shoot up further.
Stock market below 10,000 levels - The Sensex has reduced by 50% from its peak of 21000. However, it is yet to reach realistic levels (considered to be at 7000). It might take another few months before it reaches those levels. The primary impediment for stock market correction are the general elections scheduled for later this year. We can see more stimulus packages being annouced till elections, and the fiscal dificit shoot up further.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Satyam Computers, and the Media
Satyam Computers Chairman, Ramalinga Raju has admitted to accounting fraud, following Satyams bid to acquire family-owned Maytas Properties. Satyam is #4 IT company in India only after TCS, Infosys, and Wipro with over 50,000 employees and 2+ billion dollars revenues per year.
According to Raju, the tampering of records started a while ago to keep the company under his control, fearing a below average earning will prompt hostile takeover. Accounts have been inflated to the tune of Rs.6000 crore (One and half billion dollars approximately). But it appears that there are no significant bad loans. It is just that the surplus funds that the Company had been claiming are simply not there. The company still has solid client base, employee base, and infrastructure.
It appears that the scam has been projected out of proportions. Only the guilty could be punished, and all support could have been extended to the company from the government. The government could also have put a few directors on board Satyam. It's unfortunate that the government has decided to scrap the board, and put its own directors on board.
The media, particularly TV and news papers have recently been playing spoil sport over a wide range of issues. Recently, there was an assault case on a girl student (in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India), in which acid was thrown on the face of the girl student by another person, who claimed to have been refused his love. There was a huge coverage of the incident in the media. The police killed all the three persons (gents, aged about 20 years) involved in the acid throwing incident in an encounter (said to be an encounter, but people widely believe it was a false encounter). People also believe that the political bosses gave this prescription to police to counter media.
Who owns media? and who has to be punished for the misdeeds of media?
According to Raju, the tampering of records started a while ago to keep the company under his control, fearing a below average earning will prompt hostile takeover. Accounts have been inflated to the tune of Rs.6000 crore (One and half billion dollars approximately). But it appears that there are no significant bad loans. It is just that the surplus funds that the Company had been claiming are simply not there. The company still has solid client base, employee base, and infrastructure.
It appears that the scam has been projected out of proportions. Only the guilty could be punished, and all support could have been extended to the company from the government. The government could also have put a few directors on board Satyam. It's unfortunate that the government has decided to scrap the board, and put its own directors on board.
The media, particularly TV and news papers have recently been playing spoil sport over a wide range of issues. Recently, there was an assault case on a girl student (in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India), in which acid was thrown on the face of the girl student by another person, who claimed to have been refused his love. There was a huge coverage of the incident in the media. The police killed all the three persons (gents, aged about 20 years) involved in the acid throwing incident in an encounter (said to be an encounter, but people widely believe it was a false encounter). People also believe that the political bosses gave this prescription to police to counter media.
Who owns media? and who has to be punished for the misdeeds of media?
Labels: media, ramalinga raju, satyam computers
