Nationwide Queer Pride March: An Historical event

Last week I wrote a piece on how its time for the queer people to stand up, stand tall and assert their rights. In this context the queer activism in India just witnessed a landmark event, the first ever nation wide Queer Pride March was concluded on Sunday, 29th June 2008.

Thousands of gay, lesbians, bi-sexuals, transexuals and other non-heterosexual people in Delhi Bangalore and Kolkata came out on the streets to join the march which was “not a protest but a celebration”, as Leselie Esteves, member of the newly formed Delhi Queer Pride committee puts it.

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This was the first of any such pride march in Delhi and Bangalore but for Kolkata this was the 4th gay pride march. The gay pride march is annually held around this time of the year across the world to commemorate the riots that broke out in 1969 in New York city when a Gay bar was raided by police.

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Men wore sparkling saris, women wore rainbow boas and hundreds of people chanted for gay rights in three Indian cities Sunday in the largest display of gay pride in the deeply conservative country where homosexual acts are illegal.
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Gay rights supporters took to the streets of Calcutta, Bangalore and New Delhi to call for an end to discrimination and push for acceptance in a society where intolerance is widespread.

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“This is a national coming-out party,” Alok Gupta, a lawyer from Mumbai, said as he stood among several hundred activists in New Delhi. “This is a simple thing: We are seeking the right to love.”
Source: Herald Tribune (Emphasis added)

Thaindian News also reports,

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Banners with slogans such as “Drop 377″ (referring to section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that considers homosexuality a crime), “Heterosexuality is not normal, it’s common”, “Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isai, Hetero-Homo Bhai Bhai” and the likes floated above the hundreds of heads on the roads of Connaught Place, the business district and shopping arcade in the heart of the capital.

(Emphasis added)

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To look at the political angle of the issue and to think of the fate of the petition pending before Delhi High Court seeking unconstitutionality of Section 377 of Indian Penal Code, it is interesting to note that, Mr. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a senior leader of India’s main Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, said he opposed the gay activists’ march and called homosexuality “unnatural.”
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And then I find the Hindu extremeist blaming Islam for the plight of homosexuals.

Arranged Marriages ONLY!

No, this is not some kind of religious or cultural proclamation BUT what the Government of India has decided to do for all Indians wishing to get married outside India. They need to get a “No Objection Letter" from both sets of parents. If your parents are deceased, you need to produce a death certificate.

A young Indian couple was shocked when their consulate asked for a 'no-objection letter' from their parents to get married. (Gulf News)

So if you are an Indian wishing to get married at the Indian Consulate under the Special Marriages Act, forget it! No chance unless your parents are happy with the “arrangement”.

Oh, and just to add, there is absolutely nothing we (the non resident Indian community) can do about it.

Where is the Hindu Makkal Katchi now?

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Where is the Hindu Makkal Katchi now?



I saw this bookmark at Landmark and a lot of thoughts came into my mind. The ones I can put down here, I am:



Is the HMK’s ire reserved for western wear only?



Do they target only women?



Do they have a problem only with leg show? Does a sari worn 6 inches below the navel & a shoulderless blouse not irk them at all?

Are they silent because Uncle Pai is the epitome of South Indian Brahmanical “Hinduism”? If they target him, they could end up alienating a load of their own supporters?

Or is it simply because they don’t walk into Landmark? Because they don’t read? At least not in the language that would get them jobs that wold keep them busy!

Any answers?

Secularism amidst Religion

With the kind of religious sentiments I see echoed in some of the blogs here, I thought it would be appropriated to talk about one of the finest gestures by a religious institution. A church here in Chennai has invited a Muslim scholar to deliver a speech on “Islam in the modern age” which deserves applause for its sheer boldnesss.
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“Talk” about being really secular. In a broad minded gesture, a church in Chennai invited a Muslim to deliver a talk on Islam on Friday.
A. Faizur Rahman, who is a student of comparative literature and an executive member of Harmony India, was invited by St. Louis Church, Adyar, to talk on “Islam in the modern age.”
Mr. Rahman, who says he has written a number of articles on Islam and Muslims, was particularly proud of his latest assignment. “It is quite broad-minded of a church to invite a Muslim for a lecture on Islam. I am glad to give the liberal view on Islam and the Quran,” he gushed.
The lecture, which went on for an hour and a half was followed by a rather intense question-answer session, according to Edward Aloysius, one of the parishioners of St. Louis Church. He adds that a group of senior citizens who are parishioners of the church banded together as the Wise Folks Forum struck upon the idea of inviting people from other religions to speak about the key features of their own faiths.
The first topic was Islam and other religions will soon follow, he added.
- The Hindu 21/06/2008

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Let’s face it, today there are sections within every religion who preach religious fanaticism. They not only appraise their own religions( there isn’t much wrong in this) but also denounce other faiths. So it has all added up to create an atmosphere of mistrust amongst people of various faiths. The kind of mistrust that we are actually witnessing all over the country here. Hence this is exactly the kind of thing which would go towards eliminating it. Just imagine a Muslim scholar speaking about Islam and the Kuran to an entirely Christian audience. It would go a long way to removing the misbeliefs that plague the society of today.
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And this is not just an one-off but part of a series of guest lectures where the church has planned to invite scholars from other religions to talk about them and have a frank discussion with them. Ofcourse the entire outcome of the whole process depends on the kind of people handling the issues, but with a good rational dialogue it can only promote religious harmony. I would welcome if things like these were to be encouraged rather than denounced for religious sacrilege which it clearly is not. Yes there might be points argued and questions raised but there can be no better platform to resolve these issues than this kind of interaction. Air your comments on this. Would such a thing really work out in practice? Or am I just being too optimistic?

It’s time to stand up and stand tall

Some time back I participated in a Group Discussion in a Business School based in Bangalore, to talk about one of the Blogging initiatives. Before the GD started, I was chit chatting with the other members and casually mentioned the word alternate to sexuality. One immediately shook her head in serious negation conveying me that I shouldn’t talk about it on the GD. And I didn’t because the context never came.
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Nonetheless, I could never stop frowning upon the shallowness of the matter. ‘Normal’ people under ‘normal’ circumstances cannot talk about Sex, more particularly if it is not heterosexuality. It’s a sad state of affairs but there is little we can do.
That is unless the society gets to see an upsurge of people calling themselves gay / lesbian / transgendered / transexual or simply put NOT heterosexual. Only if the number of people calling themselves queer is large enough and the faces known enough will the society realize it is not something so unnatural after all. And this responsibility lies with the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered) people themselves to come out of their closet and be confident of their sexuality. It’s time to stand up and stand tall.

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I see no reason why, an educated person in a free society, who is independent financially and otherwise and is aware of his/her rights, should shy away or feel guilty of his sexuality. Trust me I have come across such young people who are scared to come out. I think enough have been said and written about LGBT rights already and its high time they start asserting their rights themselves. You can’t seek respect from others unless you respect yourself and resepecting yourself would mean being comfortable with your sexuality.
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In this context is worth mentionable the name Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil from who young queer people in India should gain courage and confidence. Prince Manavendra has set an excellent example by coming out with his homosexuality. Being part of the Royal family in Gujarat one can guess how difficult it must have been for him to come out. Although he initially tried to hide it for many years, he even got married like many Indian gay men do, today he admits he made a terrible mistake. Things have not been easy for him, he was disowned by his parents and the royal name in 2006 when he came out, but now he is reunited with them and is loved and respected by all. Taking lessons from his own life he is now engaged in a lot of social activity for the sexual minorities.
Prince Manavendra is also going to make the nation proud by being one of the three opening speakers at the forthcoming EuroPride 2008 in Stockholm.

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Jonah Nylund, President of Stockholm Pride said, “We have chosen Manvendra Singh Gohil because he can give EuroPride visitors an image of the situation for LGBT people in other parts of the world”
Source:Pink News
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Responsibility also lies with the mainstream media today to provide more respectable visibility to queer people. Such achievement such as that of Prince Manavendra must be reported as a national achievement thus giving confidence to the queer citizen of the country.
Last time another such person made queer activists in India proud was Zoltan Parag by participating in the Mr. Gay International contest. This news should have got enough coverage in the mainstream media but they are politically too weak to call a spade a spade. That said, I find it surprising that Zoltan is concerned that the media has exposed him too much.
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“Indian media has exposed me so much that now when I call my friends back home, their parents do not let them talk to me.” Said Zoltan.
Source: Hindustan Times
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My question, why should he be bothered about how is he looked upon by the heteronormative parents of his friends? No one said it is going to be easy, but you’d have to face it and fight it now instead of being scared.
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Its a popular rumour in Bollywood that Mr. Karan Johar is gay. His films also happen to have, very nicely, placed gay people into the mainstream without ridiculing them. Now if he himself is indeed a gay I think he should just come out with it. I personally have a lot of respect for him and I really hope he is honest about his sexuality.

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The taboos, illusions and ridicule about homosexuality would only end when famous and popular faces would declare themselves as queers. There still has been some progress with Gay men, but there isn’t a single Lesbian celebrity in the country. Rumour has it that Rekha is a lesbian, if she is she should assert it.
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Tehelka here has put in a list of cases where doctors try to cure homosexuality by shock therapy. Such disgusting ideas has to come to an end and it would only happen when more queer people would speak and more voices would be heard.

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Some people are also scared to come out because of a common fear in India about homosexuality being illegal. As unconstitutional and unjust this law is, one still needs to understand homosexuality perse is NOT illegal according to this law. An act of ‘carnal intercourse against order of nature’ is illegal. By this definition anal intercourse even between heterosexual man and a woman would be illegal, however the police of the country has ever since its inception only harassed gay couples, male sex workers using this law. But a fear shouldn’t come in the way of asserting human rights.
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To sum up my point, I’d quote what senior lawyer Anand Grover, of the Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS unit, said while addressing an issue of unsuspecting gay men / tourist being mugged and blackmailed by showing them the fear of an arrest u/s 377 of IPC:
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“Blackmailers succeed simply because these gay men are too closeted to fight back. It’s this desire for secrecy and fear of being ousted that leaves gays open to grave security risks. The answer is to be more open as you can’t be arrested on the basis of your sexual orientation. Beyond that, there’s little refuge in law unless Section 377 is amended.”

Through a Rapist's Eyes (No Joke)

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This is important information for females of ALL ages .

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Guys - please forward to the female members of your family and all your female friends and associates. When this was sent to me, I was told to forward to my lady friends. My men friends have female friends and this information is too important to miss someone. Please pass it along.

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A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts :

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• 1) The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun, braid or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed . They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.
• 2) The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women who's clothing is easy to remove quickly . Many of them carry scissors around specifically to cut clothing.
• 3) They also look for women on their cell phone , searching through their purse or doing other activities while walking because they are off guard and can be easily overpowered.
• 4) Men are most likely to attack & rape in the early morning, between 5: 00a.m. and 8:30a.m.
• 5) The number one place women are abducted from/attacked is grocery store parking lots. Number two is office parking lots/garages . Number three is public restrooms.
• 6) The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to another location where they don't have to worry about getting caught.
• 7) Only 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence but rape with a weapon is 15-20 years.
• 8) If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn't worth it because it will be time-consuming.
• 9) These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas , or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands.Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you're not worth it.
• 10) Several defense mechanisms he taught us are: If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question , like what time is it, or make general small talk: "I can't believe it is so cold out here", "we're in for a bad winter." Now you've seen their face and could identify them in a line-up; you lose appeal as a target. [Spencer, Leanne Lentz]
• 11) If someone is coming toward you , hold out your hands in front of you and yell STOP or STAY BACK ! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they'd leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back . Again, they are looking for an EASY target.
• 12) If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes,) ! yell I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.
• 13) If someone grabs you , you can't beat them with strength but you can by outsmarting them . If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the arm (between the elbow and armpit) OR in the upper inner thigh VERY VERY HARD . One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands - the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it; it hurts.
• 14) After the initial hit, always GO for the GROIN . I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy's parts it is extremely painful. You might think that you'll anger the guy and! make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause a lot of trouble. Start causing trouble, and he's out of there.
• 15) When the guy puts his hands up to you , grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible . The instructor did it to me without using much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked audibly.
• 16) Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don't dismiss it, go with your instincts!!! It may feel a little silly at the time, but you'd feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.

PLEASE READ THEN TELL THIS TO EVERY WOMAN YOU KNOW, IT'S SIMPLE STUFF BUT IT COULD SAVE HER LIFE...

Section 49-O of Indian Constitution:

Section 49-O of the Constitution:

Did you know that there is a system in our constitution, as per the 1969 act, in section "49-O" that a person can go to the polling booth, confirm his identity, get his finger marked and convey the presiding election officer that he doesn't want to vote anyone!

Yes such a feature is available, but obviously these seemingly notorious leaders have never disclosed it. This is called "49-O".

Why should you go and say "I VOTE NOBODY"... because, in a ward, if a candidate wins, say by 123 votes, and that particular ward has received "49-O" votes more than 123, then that polling will be cancelled and will have to be re-polled. Not only that, but the candidature of the contestants will be removed and they cannot contest the re-polling, since people had already expressed their decision on them. This would bring fear into parties and hence look for genuine candidates for their parties for election. This would change the way, of our whole political system... it is seemingly surprising why the election commission has not revealed such a feature to the public....

Please spread this news to as many as you know... Seems to be a wonderful weapon against corrupt parties in India... show your power,expressing your desire not to vote for anybody, is even more powerful than voting... so don't miss your chance. So either vote, or vote not to vote
(vote 49-O) and pass this info on...

"Please inform about this post to as many as possible, so that we, the people of India, can really use this power to save our nation". Use your voting right for a better INDIA.

Corruption- The list goes on...

Corruption Perceptions Index:
The annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), first released in 1995, is the best known of Transperancy International’s tools. It has been widely credited with putting TI and the issue of corruption on the international policy agenda. The CPI ranks 180 countries by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.
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Global Corruption Barometer:
The Global Corruption Barometer is a survey that assesses general public attitudes toward and experience of corruption in dozens of countries around the world.
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TI Bribe Payers Index:
The TI Bribe Payers Surveys evaluate the supply side of corruption - the propensity of firms from industrialised countries to bribe abroad.
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Bribe Payers Index 2006:
Foreign bribery by emerging export powers "disconcertingly high"
Overseas bribery by companies from the world’s export giants is still common, despite the existence of international anti-bribery laws criminalising this practice, according to the Transparency International 2006 Bribe Payers Index (BPI), the most comprehensive survey of its kind to date.

The Time that nothing happened.....

Did you know that nothing happened between 3 and 13 September 1752?

In September 1752 the Julian calendar was replaced with the Gregorian calendar in Great Britain and its American colonies. The Julian calendar was 11 days behind the Gregorian calendar, so 14 September got to follow 2 September on the day of the change. The result was that between 3 and 13 September, absolutely nothing happened!
The calendar switch also influenced the way George Washington's birthday is celebrated. He was born on 11 February 1731, but the anniversary of his birth is on 22 February because of the 11 days eliminated from the calendar switch. At the same time, New Year's Day was changed from 25 March to 1 January, thus according to the new calendar, Washington was born in 1732.
The first Roman Calendar (introduced in 535BC) had 10 months, with 304 days in a year that began in March. January and February were added only later. In 46BC, Julius Caesar created "The Year of Confusion" by adding 80 days to the year making it 445 days long to bring the calendar back in step with the seasons. The solar year - with the value of 365 days and 6 hours - was made the basis of the calendar. To take care of the 6 hours, every 4th year was made a 366-day year. It was then that Caesar decreed that the year begins with the 1st of January.
In 325AD Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, introduced Sunday as a holy day in a new 7-day week. He also introduced movable (Easter) and immovable feasts (Christmas).
In 1545 the Council of Trent authorised Pope Paul III to reform the calendar once more. Advised by astronomer Father Christopher Clavius and physician Aloysius Lilius, Pope Gregory XIII ordered that Thursday, 4 October 1582 was to be the last day of the Julian calendar. The next day was Friday, 15 October. For long-term accuracy, every 4th year was made a leap year unless it is a century year like 1700 or 1800. Century years can be leap years only when they are divisible by 400 (e.g. 1600). This rule eliminates three leap years in four centuries, making the calendar sufficiently correct for all ordinary purposes.
Protestant rulers ignored the new calendar that the Pope ordered. It was not until 1698 that Germany and the Netherlands changed to the Gregorian calendar. As mentioned, Britain made the change only in 1752. Russia adopted the new calendar in 1918, China in 1949.
In spite of the leap year, the Gregorian year is about 26 seconds longer than the earth's orbital period. Thus the beginning of the third millennium should have been celebrated at 9:01pm on 31 December 1999. But considering that the Gregorian calendar starts with Year 1, and not Year 0, adding 2000 years means that the third millennium started at 21h00:34s on 31 December 2000. However, because Dionysis Exeguus - the 6th Century monk whose task it was to pivot the calendar around the birth of Jesus Christ - miscalculated the founding of Rome by about 4 years (and left out the year 0), the TRUE THIRD MILLENNIUM actually started on 31 December 1995.

Guide for Stock Trading in India NSE & BSE (NIFTY & SENSEX Trading Guidance)

Guidance for Trading in Shares:
Simple guidelines for making money in share market. Following article will help you to trade successfully in Indian Stock markets..

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Manage your Emotions:
Trading in Stock markets involves huge risk. Remember that it can even wash out your capital. Never try to take the risk which you are not comfortable with. As a stock trader, emotion is always your enemy. Emotions can drive your thinking and it may deviate from wise decisions. Variable emotions during trading is one of the prime reason for most traders to fail in stock trading. In order to be a successful trader, you have to control your emotions. For this, it is always best to reduce the risking money and limit it to your comfortable levels. If you are getting sleepless nights for losing Rs.1000 on a trade, then it is advisable not to take the risk of more than Rs.1000. If a loss of upto Rs.500 is bearable to you, then risk up to Rs.500 only. In this way emotions will not drive your thinking and wise decisions can be taken to have profitable trades everyday.

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Stop Loss 'MUST' in Stock Trading:
Losses in Trading always start with small amounts. You can always control the magnitude of your losses in stock trading. If you are ignorant to put your stop losses in a trade then it can wipe out all your gains which may be equivalent to multiple winning trades. In order to have success, do not take big losses, always use your stop loss to control it. After you start a trade, enter a stop loss and maintain it.

Always Remember - Its Your Money:
When ever you are trading, keep in mind that its your hard earned money that you are risking. No body wants your money to grow, its only your interest to grow your money. Trading is a platform where you should not depend on others ideas to make money. You have to manage and control the trading. Decisions should be always yours get the skills from others to make wise & profitable decisions.

Avoid Predictions in Stock Market:
The stock markets will not care about what happened in the past. If you find information available publicly to make commercial decisions, then you are using old information. The stock exchange market moves on what it hopes to occur in the future, and not on what already occurred. Use what precisely proved in the past to provide indication for that can occur in the future, but do not make decisions on the information which is largely known.

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Always follow wise Investors:
In each stock, there is a small group of investors who know more than general public. They have an advantage, because they can better envisage than a company will make in the future. To be successful, we must find out of what the investors with best information do, and then we follow the same.

Trust the Market directions:
Information is eccentric - the financial sector wants you to buy stocks. Brokings which finance the companies, the bulletins which are paid to announce stories of company, the promoters which are paid to support stocks, the media which sell publicity on a high market and naturally, companies themselves get advantage when the stock prices move high. More purchasers, the prices go higher. Do not trust anybody by making decisions of investment, because each one can have a target. Only the market cannot be (although it can seem pretty stupid sometimes), therefore, always trust what the market indicates you.

Learn How Stock Market Moves:
To make money in the market you have to work really hard to learn how the market moves. You must work hard to control your emotions. You must work hard to learn discipline. However most money in a market is made, which it trends, where there are lots of opportunities and it seem simple to make money. If the market does not trend, it is harder to find opportunities.

Share Market Made Simpler

What is a Share?
A very simple question for those who are already into shares. But, for those who are new to Shares, the following text will help you to understand.

Difference between Share and Stock:
The term of share and stock means the same thing, of this stock is a common usage in America for shares. In India we term this as shares.

What is a Share Certificate?
Share is the proof of ownership in a company. The physical proof of this ownership is a record called a share certificate. Today, shares are kept in electronic format or it is also termed as dematerialized format. You can still hold a share in a paper format, if you want.
This document is a proof of your share in the company. Your ownership in the company is in proportion to the number of shares you hold. In short, you are buying a partial ownership of the company.

A Simple Example :
Suppose a company issues 100 shares. Out of 100 issued shares, you are buying 10 shares of the company. Now you own 10 percentage of the company.

What is Face Value (par Value) of Share?
All companies issue shares with a fixed denomination called the face value (or par value) of the share. This face value be indicated on the share certificate. Generally Indian shares has a face value of Rs. 10/-.

Difference between Face Value and Market value:
A face value has no relation with the market value of the share. Market value of the share will always change depending upon the market conditions. But the face value is a fixed value of the share as per the books of the company.

Split the face value of the share:
A Face value or par value of the company share always remains the same, irrespective of the market price of that share. Companies have to right to split the face value of the share to Rs. 5, 2 or 1 to bring more volatility to the share.


Risk of Investment in Shares:
Make money with Share Trading:
As everyone know, every money making avenues has its own risks involved like in investments. The knack of investing is by knowing which risks are worth taking, and which should be avoided.

Understanding and analyzing:
Understanding and analyzing the risks to take is the soul of good investing and the becomes your basis of getting good returns from your investments. This cannot be done without thorough research and analysis.

Share Trading is not Gambling:
Take the right decision by yourself. Do not let other factors bother you from your investment policies. Investing without adequate research is like gambling. By gambling on your investments you are not protecting your investments and may incur heavy losses.

How to become successful in Share Trading?
To be a successful investor by trading in shares there are definite steps to take. Following texts can help you to succeed in stock markets..

• Look for company financial data
  Before investing in company shares on the stock market, you should be aware that all publicly traded companies must provide access to investors with company financial data. The data is generally available from the company so if you are considering buying shares from a company, then get access to this financial information and make happy yourself that the company is in a good financial state before owning the shares of the company with your money.
• Key aspects to Look in a Company’s Financial information
  While researching the details of a company, then take a look at its financial position of atleast two to three years into the past. There is no need to go back further than this but if you go back less, there may be significant trends in the finances that you will fail to spot. Take exceptional note of the quarterly statements and the revenue and earnings per share of the company.
• Figures tell the Story of a Company
  Try to identify trends in the figures. While there is no guarantee of what might happen In the future of the figures, it is unquestionable that an upward trend in revenue and profits will be a positive sign to look out for. In simple words, a company having steady growth for past 2 to 3 years should have a positive growth in the future, until or unless some major changes occur.
  After you are satisfied with the financials of the company and that the projection of making good profits into the future are favourable you will be in a situation to consider putting money into the share.
• What Kind of Shares will give more returns? (Growth or Dividend)
  It is an continuing debate over whether it's preferable to buy shares that will grow in value, or shares that pay good dividends. The answer to this question should always lie with the individual investor. It is always suggested to avoid chasing dividends. We refer to the practice of certain investors of buying a share just before a dividend is expected to be announced. Please note that the price of the share will already have taken the dividend into account so you will be paying for it in any case.

Bank Interest Rates Vs Inflation

Relation between Inflation and Bank interest Rates:
Now a days, you might have heard lot of these terms and usage on inflation and the bank interest rates. We are trying to make it simple for you to understand the relation between inflation and bank interest rates in India.
Bank interest rate depends on many other factors, out of that the major one is inflation. Whenever you see an increase on inflation, there will be an increase of interest rate also.

What is Inflation?
Inflation is defined as an increase in the price of bunch of Goods and services that projects the Indian economy. An increase in inflation figures occurs when there is an increase in the average level of prices in Goods and services. Inflation happens when there are less Goods and more buyers, this will result in increase in the price of Goods, since there is more demand and less supply of the goods.

Inflation causes increase of Interest
Inflation can be recognized as a combination of 4 factors :

• The Supply of money goes up
• The Supply of Goods goes down
• Demand for money goes down
• Demand for goods goes up
  

Our Indian government gets involved in it to control the inflation by adjusting the level of money in our economical system. The most noticeable way to increase the money flow in the system is to print more currency, then the rupees will become more relative to goods.

Inflation and Global Liquidity
Factors like rates of import and export, the production cost of farms, value of dollar, price of oil (crude oil), market movements of other overseas markets cause global liquidity. In India, we can also feel the effects of global liquidity. We are not isolated from all these issues now. Due to the remarkable economic growth of India over the recent years, increase in foreign currency inflow caused the demand in multiples for many Merchandise and services in India. RBI (Reserve Bank of India) needs to control this excess liquidity in our economic system. For this, RBI increases the “Repo rates” which makes “Costly Credits” and thus increases the CRR rate (Cash Reserve Ratio). This kind of measures by RBI can only control the inflation to a certain extent only.

Globalisation
Due to Globalisation, no country are independent from Global Liquidities. This causes an important factor for the inflation in a country. A political crunch or economical downturn in a far away country can impact our money value in India

What is a CRR rate?
Cash reserve Ratio (CRR) is the amount of funds that the banks have to keep with RBI. If RBI decides to increase the percent of this, the available amount with the banks comes down. RBI is using this method (increase of CRR rate), to drain out the excessive money from the banks.

What is a Bank Rate?
Bank rate is the rate at which RBI gives to the commercial banks. Whenever RBI increases its rates, the effect will be shown on the commercial banks. In this case, the commercial banks have to increase the interest rates for their profits.

What is a Repo Rate?
Whenever the banks have any shortage of funds they can borrow it from RBI. Repo rate is the rate at which our banks borrow rupees from RBI. A reduction in the repo rate will help banks to get money at a cheaper rate. When the repo rate increases borrowing from RBI becomes more expensive.

What is a Reverse Repo Rate?
Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which Reserve Bank of India (RBI) borrows money from banks. Banks are always happy to lend money to RBI since their money are in safe hands with a good interest. An increase in Reverse repo rate can cause the banks to transfer more funds to RBI due to this attractive interest rates. It can cause the money to be drawn out of the banking system. Due to this fine tuning of RBI using its tools of CRR, Bank Rate, Repo Rate and Reverse Repo rate our banks adjust their lending or investment rates for common man.

BUY INDIAN TO BE INDIAN

Be INDIAN
Buy INDIAN

U CAN MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE TO THE INDIAN ECONOMY BY FOLLOWING FEW SIMPLE STEPS.

Hi
Gr88 Indians

Please spare a couple of minutes here........for the sake of our country.

I got this article from one of my friend, but it's true, I can see this from day to day life,

Small example,

Before 5 months 1 CAN $ = IND Rs 32

After 5 months. Now it is 1 CAN $ = IND Rs 37

I don't think so, Canadian Economy is booming, but Indian Economy is Going Down . Our Economy is in our hands. Do u know this, INDIAN economy is in a crisis - As you are all aware ! INDIA like many other ASIAN countries, INDIA 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 30000 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 paise to produce is sold for NINE rupees , and a major chunk of profits from these are sent abroad. This is a serious drain on INDIAN economy.

Did you know that " COCA COLA " and " SPRITE " belong to the same multinational company, " COCA COLA " ?

On one hand coke advertisements say that ' JO CHAHO HOJAYE, COCACOLA ENJOY' (i.e . whatever the hell, let it happen, you drink coke) ; and on the other hand,

Sprite says that 'BHUJAO ONLY PYAS, BAKI ALL BAKWAS'(i.e. drinks can just quench thirst all other claims are false). What can you do? You can consider some of the better alternatives to aerated drinks. For that matter PEPSI is also the same.

You can drink LEMON JUICE, FRESH FRUIT JUICES, CHILLED LASSI (SWEET OR SOUR), BUTTER MILK, COCONUT WATER, JALJEERA, ENERJEE, MASALA MILK..........Everyone deserves a healthy drink, including you!Over and above all this, economic sanctions have been imposed on us. We have nothing against Multinational companies, but to protect our own interests we request everybody to useINDIAN products only for 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?

1. Buy only products manufactured by WHOLLY INDIAN COMPANIES.

2. ENROLL as many people as possible for this cause.

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. All categories of products are available from WHOLLY INDIAN COMPANIES.

Do you know that the cotton is produced in the INDIAN villages, threads are produced in the INDIAN towns, dresses are stitched in INDIAN cities and clothes are purchased by INDIAN customers? But it is BRANDED as MANUFACTURED BY A MULTINATIONAL COMPANY for which we LOSE PRECIOUS FOREIGN EXCHANGE.THE POINT TO NOTE: THE MONEY IS GOING TO SOME DEVELOPED COUNTRIES . It is TRUE.PLEASE go to the remote areas of cities AND SEE FOR YOURSELF THE TRUTH . Thousands of poor innocent INDIANS are working as tailors for stitching the WORLD'S POPULAR READYMADE CLOTHES.
BUT THEY ARE PAID A POOR AMOUNT.

THIS IS HAPPENING BECAUSE OF OUR IGNORANCE. INDIA IS ONE OF THE MAJOR TEXTILE EXPORTER IN THE WORLD OUR TAILORS ARE FAMOUS EVEN IN COUNTRIES LIKE US AND THEN WHY SHOULD WE BLINDLY GIVE IN TO THE ATTRACTION OF FOREIGN BRANDS?

PLEASE THINK ABOUT IT.

Every INDIAN product you buy makes a big difference. It saves INDIA.

Let us take a firm decision today.

BUY INDIAN TO BE INDIAN

We are not against of foreign products.

WE ARE NOT ANTI-MULTINATIONALS. 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 GLOBALISATION OF INDIAN ECONOMY. FOR INDIANS LIKE YOU AND ME IT IS RECOLONISATION OF INDIA .THE COLONIST'S LEFT INDIA THEN. BUT THIS TIME THEY WILL MAKE SURE THEY DON'T MAKE ANY MISTAKES. WHO WOULD LIKE TO LET "A GOOSE THAT LAYS GOLDEN EGGS"

Why go Rural?!!

"It is not the rural markets, but we who are sleeping" – Adi Godrej

Introduction

Marketing today has completely transformed the nature and dynamics of business.
Marketing of products has taken precedence over the process of production itself. This can be attributed to the fact that the new age consumer equipped with the potent tool of information seeks more knowledge about the product, its features and its uses. And when this information is presented in a creative and effective manner, it creates an everlasting impression on the consumer’s mind and may even alter his perception of what he needs.
Marketers are forever seeking fresh challenges and scouting for more and more clientele to be drawn into their sphere of influence. The urban consumer has always been pampered with the most dazzling array of goods and services from every industry. But the urban market is fast shrinking due to saturation caused by the competition and the growth rate over the past few years has consistently shown a declining trend. In the hunt for fresh pastures, the vast and hitherto vastly unexplored terrains of rural India consistently beckon the moolah seeking marketer.

Why go Rural?

There are various reasons why every industry is taking a very serious look at rural markets
•About 285 million live in urban India whereas 742 million reside in rural areas, constituting
72% of India’s population resides in its 6, 00,000 villages.
• The number of middle income and high income households in rural India is expected to grow from 80 million to 111 million by 2007 while urban India is expected to grow from 46 million to 59 million.
• Size of rural market is estimated to be 42 million households and rural market has been growing at five times the pace of the urban market
• More government rural development initiatives.
• Increasing agricultural productivity leading to growth of rural disposable income.
• Lowering of difference between taste of urban and rural customers.
Many companies like Colgate-Palmolive, HLL, Godrej etc have already made forays into rural households but still capturing the markets is a distant dream. Most marketers still lack in depth knowledge to analyze the complex rural market.

Characteristics of Rural markets

There are certain characteristics of rural India, which every prospective marketer needs to be aware of before unleashing his product:
• Low income influenced by seasonal fluctuations
• Low literacy
• Diverse customs, languages and social structures
• Resistant to change
• Price sensitive
• High brand loyalty
• Influenced by traditions
• Moderate aspirational levels
• Quality Conscious
• Low to moderate risk taking ability

These typical characteristics of the rural market make it evident that there are huge challenges, which a marketer will face. These challenges need to be tackled using appropriate strategies and proper planning. The major obstacles can be classified as follows:

• Poor infrastructure facilities, which hamper the effective distribution of products and make the task of reaching the target consumer difficult.
• Traditional media is ineffective due to illiteracy and non availability.
• There is insufficient past research to provide some insight about consumer behaviour.
• Disposable income is highly dependent on good monsoons and a rich harvest.
• Varying linguistic and socio-cultural norms compel the marketer to vary his marketing message for different parts of the same country.
• Role of women in buying process is still not independent of family constraints.
• Inadequate credit availability hampers the ability of rural retailers to carry stocks.
Understanding the psyche of the rural consumer and gauging the complexity of the rural market has to be given utmost priority by marketer. Creative marketing solutions need to be devised to combat these barriers.

Methods followed traditionally

Traditional methods of rural marketing make an interesting study and they ought to be analyzed carefully to draw relevant conclusions. Conventionally marketers have used the following tools to make rural inroads:
• Use of few select rural distributors and retailers to stock their goods but no direct interaction with prospective consumer.
• Use of print media or radio but no alternate form of advertising for promoting their brands
• More focus on price of product but less attention devoted to quality or durability
• Same product features for urban and rural setting with no customization for rural areas despite differences in the market environment.
• Low frequency of marketing campaigns.
• Little uses of village congregations like haats and melas to sell the products.
• More focus on men as decision makers and buyers.

Marketing in focus groups

To explain how the dynamics of branding works in different settings, let us take example of four villages from various parts of the country. For our purpose we will refer to these villages as our focus groups. We have taken a village each from Punjab, Bihar, Kerala and West Bengal. As we have stressed earlier, for any product to be successful in the rural parts of the country, a customized approach is necessary. So we will start our analysis by describing the features of each village, define a product that we wish to market in that village and then describe the marketing strategy for that product.

For a village in Punjab

There are various factors that need to be kept in mind so as to influence the buying behaviour of the people of this village. Punjab has a rich culture and Punjabis are per se very lively people. They believe in strong community relationships. Caste system is not very strong and overall farmers are prosperous. Land is fertile and there is abundant food and water. Literacy rates are almost equivalent to the country’s rate and people are highly aware of the current trends and like to own goods that enhance their status in the community. People are fond of eating and frequent celebrations are part of their lives.

To understand how marketers need to approach this market, we have chosen an electronic grill as the product. Traditionally a clay tandoor is used to cook chapattis, non-vegetarian items etc in this region. We are offering electronic grill as a substitute to this. Characteristics that a marketer needs to highlight in this product are:
° Modern way of cooking
° A premium product, uses some imported technology
° Control panel in Punjabi language
° Smart looks, international styling
° Faster cooking, heat controls and offers variety in terms of dishes that can be cooked
° Payment in easy installments
° Convenient to handle and portable
° Available in different sizes viz. 22 liters, 19 liters, 16 liters
In addition to using these promotional parameters, it has to be kept in mind that disposable income is maximized during harvesting season so it’s the perfect time to launch this product. Television and radio can be used to effectively promote the product. In addition to this, demonstrations can be used to carry home the message.
As women are highly regarded in this region, so they can be roped in to educate the local women about the benefits of using this product instead of traditional tandoor.
Also another way to promote this product can be to position it as a gift item during marriages etc.

For a village in Bihar

Factors that need to be analyzed while entering this market are low level of literacy, division of society based on economic background and caste system. There is no dearth of water in this region and soil is also fertile. But there is lack of infrastructure and modern industries. Rainfall levels are high. The law and order situation has worsened in the recent past and the frequency of extremist violence has risen. The people of Bihar are very religious and God-fearing. For recreational purposes, they engage in folk theatre and enjoy music and dance.

To understand how marketers need to approach this market, we have chosen multipurpose oil as the product. Characteristics that a marketer needs to highlight in this product are:
° Non- sticky quality of the oil
° contains herbal qualities
° Can be used for many purposes like hair massage, body massage and for relieving stress
° Special characteristics like cooling attributes
° Available in variety of fragrances
As the income level in this part of the country is very low, so small and convenient packaging is very important. Moreover to help them to relate to this product, impression of their local Madhubani painting can be used on sachets or bottles. Also the product name has to be traditional to which villagers can relate to for example madhusudan or sanjivini. For promoting the product, some movie star should be used as villagers aspire to be like them and thus emulate them.

For a village in Kerala

Kerala can perhaps be one of the easiest places for the marketer to sell their product, as it is very similar to the urban markets. This can be attributed to the high level of education coupled with a rich socio cultural heritage. Various recreational activities are largely promoted by number of clubs like sports clubs, youth clubs etc. Kerala has high sex ratio and is most literate of all the states in India. Administration is very efficient and there is high level of awareness among people. There is high regard for women in the society. Certain parts of Kerala are industrially backward and tourism, rubber, Beedi manufacturing etc form the major source of income for the people. One of the most important characteristics of these villages is the presence of large number of co-operative societies.

To understand how marketers need to approach this market, we have chosen a mouthwash as the product. Characteristics that a marketer needs to highlight in this product are:
° Usefulness of dental hygiene
° Anti plaque properties
° Promises fresh breath

Any media i.e. television, radio or print media can be used to promote the product.
Again, as the income levels are moderate so small or medium packs have to be introduced. Most important point that has to be taken care of is that co-operatives have to be roped in for effective distribution of the product. These co-operatives are very well aware of the buying habits of the people and the trends of the market. So they can provide large amount of useful information. Some kind of incentive or profit sharing model has to be devised so that co-operatives have the reason to push this product.

For a village in West Bengal

A typical village of West Bengal has characteristics like low amount of agriculture, coastal areas with fishing being the major source of income for the locals, generally people are poor and land holdings are very small, literacy rates are very low. Staple diet is rice and fish. People are very proud of their language and culture.
We have chosen dairy whitener as the product to demonstrate the approach that a marketer needs to take to make inroads in this type of market. The main brand promise that is offered to the consumer is low pricing and economy of the product.
Cost of milk in a cup of tea is around Re 1. But a 50 gm sachet, which is priced at nearly Rs 6.50, can be used to make nearly 25 cups of tea. So cost of milk used comes down drastically to nearly 26 paise per cup. Moreover sachet offers convenience of use and can be used anywhere. As there is high degree of humidity in that region and people cannot afford refrigerators, so this product helps to eliminate the problem of proper storage.

Analysis & Opportunities

As it is clear from the examples taken, for the product to be successful in rural market, it has to be customized for that particular market. Each product needs individual attention and success in one market cannot be emulated in other markets.
Most important factors that work for a product are right brand promise that is relevant for the local population and discreet brand visualization. Brand visualization would include factors like name of the product in local language, color combination according to local settings and a tag line, which delivers the message that is easily understood by the people. Companies need to identify the opinion leader in each area and target him as the first point of contact for villagers. One potential area that companies need to tap is advertising the local events like bullock races, melas or festivals. Another way is to advertise in places where people commune like hand pumps, ponds or haats.

Innovative uses of products

Time and again it has been proved that whatever may be the level of research involved in the market study, rural consumers behave in the manner that is totally unpredictable. They devise such innovative uses of a product that even surprises the companies. Some of the following examples will support this are:

° In a village of northern India, weavers used condoms to cover their fingers while weaving. This not only helped to avoid cuts on the fingers but also the lubricant helped in easy movement of the thread between the fingers.
° Godrej hair dyes are used in some villages to dye the buffaloes. This made them look younger and thus fetched better price at the cattle fairs.
° Horlicks was added to the feed of the cattle to fatten them and thus improve the milk producing capacity.
° Asian paints found that in some villages’ paints were used to color the horns of the cattle for easy recognition.
° In the villages of Bihar, Iodex was used on the tired limbs of the cattle, returning from the fields in the evening so that they are fresh the next day.

All these examples show the there is tremendous potential for the existing products in the rural areas, and companies need to look beyond the obvious and critically analyse every indication that rural markets give, be it poor sales or high sales volumes.

Future Outlook

Considering the magnitude of the task at hand with the companies, it makes sense for non-competitive companies like HLL and LG to make a joint effort to penetrate the market. They can use each other’s distribution channels to leverage their brands. Also considering the poor awareness levels of the people, competitors like HLL and P&G should join hands to avoid the product proliferation, which results in confusing the consumer. Rural consumers have a very high level of ethos so all the care should be taken not to hurt them in any form of advertising. Moreover every effort should be made by the companies to promote the “my brand” feel in the minds of consumers.
This can be achieved by connecting the local industries of that place and if possible, use it in packaging or graphics of the product. So the need of the hour is the integration of all the above stated approaches and constantly reinventing the products and bringing new innovations. Companies will need to think beyond the short term gains and resort to experimentation so as to develop a dedicated model for these areas. This will ensure rich rewards and long term association with rural consumers.

Song of YOUTH- by APL ABDUL KALAM

As a young citizen of India, armed with technology, knowledge and love for my nation, I realize, small aim is crime. The vision of transforming India into a developed nation, powered by value system I am one of the citizens of a billion, only the vision will ignite the billion souls. It has entered into me, the ignited soul compared to any resource, is the most powerful resource on the earth, above the earth and under the earth. I will keep the lamp of knowledge burning to achieve the vision – Developed India.


-A P J Abdul Kalam
Hon. President, India

India in the year 2020

India in the Year : 2020 Conversation Place :

Two Americans at IBM, USA. Conversation Date : 15th August 2020. Currency Conversion Rate: Rs.1 = US$100/

Alex : Hi John, you didn't come yesterday to office?

John : Yeah, I was in Indian Embassy for stamping.

Alex: Oh really, what happened, I heard that nowadays it has becomevery strict.

John : Yeah, but I managed to get it.

Alex : How long it took to get it stamped?

John : Oh, it was nasty man, long queue. Bill Gates was standing infront of me and they played with him like anything. That's why it gotdelayed. I went there at 2 am itself and waited and returned by 4 pm.

Alex : Really? In India, it is a matter of an hour to get stamped for USA.

John : Yeah, but that is because who in India will be interested incoming to USA man, their economy has been booming.

Alex : So, when are you leaving?

John : Anytime, after receiving my tickets from the client in Indiaand you know, I will be getting a chance to fly Air-India. Sort of dream come true.

Alex : How long are you going to stay in India?

John : What do you mean by how long? I will be settled in India, my company has promised me that they will process my Hara Patta.

Alex : Really, lucky person man, it is very difficult to get a HaraPatta in India.

John : Yeah, that's why, I am planning to marry an Indian girl there.

Alex : But you can find lots of US girls in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

John : But, I prefer Indian girls because they are beautiful and cultured.

Alex : Where did you get the offer, Bangalore?

John : Yeah, salary is good there, but cost of living is quite high,it is Rs. 1000/- for a single room accommodation.

Alex : I see, that's too much for US people,Rs.1/- = $ 100/-. Oh God!What about in Chennai, Mumbai?

John : No idea, but it is less than what we have in Bangalore. It islike the world headquarters of Software.

Alex : I heard, almost all the Indians are having one personal Robotfor help.

John : You can get a BMW car for Rs. 5000/-, and a personal Robot forless than Rs. 7500/-. But my dream is to purchaseAmbassador, which costs Rs.200000/- but has got a sleeky wonderfuldesign.

Alex : By the way, who is your client?

John : A pure Indian company, specializing in Embedded Software.

Alex : Oh, really, lucky to work in a pure Indian company. They are really intelligent and unlike American Body shoppers who have openedtheir Fly-by-night outfits in India. Indian companies pay you in fulleven when you are on bench. My friend Paul Allen, it seems, used hisbench time to visit Bihar, the most livable place in India, probablyworld. There you have full freedom and no restrictions. You can dowhatever you want! ! I wonder how that state has perfected thatsystem.

John : Yeah man, you are right. I hope our America also follows theirfootsteps.

Alex : How are you going to cope with their language?

John : Why not? From my school days I have been learning Hindi as my first language here at New York. At the Consulate they tested my proficiency in Hindi and were quite impressed by my cent percent scorein TOHIL, i.e., Test of Hindi as International Language.

Alex : So, you are going to have fun there.

John : Yeah, I will be traveling in the world's fastest train,world'slargest theme park, and the famous Bollywood where you can see actorslike, Hrithik, and all. Esselworld is also near to Bollywood.

Alex : You know, the PM is scheduled to visit US next year, he may thenrelax the number of visas.

John : That's true. Last month, Narayanamurthy visited White House and donated Rs. 2000/- for infrastructure development at Silicon Valleyand has promised more if we follow the model of Silicon City ofBangalore. Bill Gates also got a chance of meeting him. Very luckyperson.

Alex : But, Indian government is planning to split Narayanamurthy's Infosys.

John : He is a hard worker man, he can build any number of Infosyslike this. Every minute he is getting Rs. 1000/-. It seems, if youkeep all his money converted as Rs. 100/- notes you can reach Pluto.

Alex : OK, Good Luck John.

John : Same to you Alex. And don't go to Consulate in a Kurta Pyjamabecause they will think you are too Indianised and may doubt you willever come back and hence your Non-Immigrant Visa may get rejected.But don't forget to say "Namaste, aap kaise hai" to the Visa officer at Window 5. It seems he likes that and will not give you a visa if you don't greet him that way. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing wrong in dreaming huh, Hope it will happen soon.!!!!!!!!!!

Nuclear India

In opening the door to nuclear commerce with India, Washington has confirmed how much an alliance with New Delhi is worth to it. But is anybody on the Indian side doing the math?

THE BUSH administration concluded a deal on nuclear cooperation with India, stating its willingness to supply India with civilian nuclear technology and thereby effectively accept India's status as a nuclear-weapons power. The deal requires approval from Congress, which will be asked to pass legislation allowing civil nuclear cooperation to go ahead, as well as from other countries that form part of the nuclear suppliers' group. During the arguments to come, critics will probe the details of yesterday's agreement, as indeed they should. But the accord could deliver big gains, particularly when compared with the absence of a deal rather than with some imagined perfect one.
The clearest win out of the bargain is a closer relationship with India, the world's most populous democracy, an emerging powerhouse in engineering and medicine, and a potential counterweight both to militant Islam and China. But there are other wins, too. Allowing India to import foreign technology for its civilian nuclear program will boost global efforts to develop new sources of energy, particularly sources that won't increase the level of climate-warming gases. In exchange for the opportunity to import nuclear know-how, India will disentangle its civilian nuclear program from its weapons-building facilities, subjecting the civilian side to multilateral inspections designed to ensure that technology or fissile material isn't diverted for military purposes. Again, this represents a gain: Currently only four of India's nuclear facilities are subject to foreign safeguards, and these are less muscular than the inspections to which India will be submitting. Finally, India will promise not to export nuclear equipment or material deemed sensitive by other nuclear powers. At present, India respects these international rules; in the future it would be formally committed to them.
.....The deal can be criticized, however. India has agreed to place 14 of its 22 reactors under international safeguards, but these exclude its two fast-breeder reactors, the main sources of bomb-making material. It would be up to India to decide whether future reactors are designated as civilian. The prospect of a potentially large plutonium-making program outside the scope of multilateral inspections is not a setback relative to the status quo, since the status quo involves minimal inspections. Still, it could be argued that the deal is a missed chance: The carrot of foreign civilian nuclear technology could perhaps have been used to bring a larger share of India's program under multilateral safeguards.
The biggest question is whether this agreement will weaken efforts to control other aspiring nuclear powers. The Bush administration hopes that the bargain at the heart of the Non-Proliferation Treaty will remain intact: Nonnuclear countries will renounce their bomb-building ambitions in exchange for help in building civilian power stations; countries that cheat and seek to build bombs will risk United Nations sanctions. Now that India has built bombs yet stands to get civilian help anyway, the risk is that other countries may demand the same deal. To the extent that these countries have nuclear allies that find it convenient to promote their bomb-making ambitions, the India precedent could weaken the international consensus against proliferation.
The Bush administration argues that India is an exception, not a precedent. For one thing, it never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, so it is different from North Korea, Iran or other potential bombmakers. For another, it has earned the right to be trusted with nuclear weapons by refusing to sell its military know-how to others, so distinguishing itself from irresponsible Pakistan. These arguments are reasonable, but they won't be worth a lot in practice if the rest of the world is deaf to them. Having negotiated the deal, the Bush administration needs to sell it.

All told, the deal signed in Washington raises a number of questions about the Manmohan Singh Government's policies in the field of nuclear energy, disarmament, `promotion of democracy,' energy security and strategic stability in Asia. No doubt the Government has answers. Spinning euphoric reports in the mass media is not the way of providing them. The Government owes it to the people to provide a detailed account of its nuclear policy in the form of a White Paper. Let the details of the Strobe Talbott-Jaswant Singh negotiations be made public. Let the Government place on record its estimate of how much the proposed separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities will cost and what the benefits of last week's agreement will be. And let it say openly that nuclear deal or not, India will continue to work for global disarmament and has no desire to play the role of a `hedge', fence or `tether' in the U.S. plan to contain China.

(Courtesy: The Washington Post Company)

Slavery

In America. Now. Here. Today.

This is what we get for letting unions wither. This is what we get for our libertarian delusions. Forced labor. Workers forbidden by law to change jobs. Held captive at gunpoint when they dare to protest.
Fellow Americans: Odds are these particular workers don’t look like you. Do you think that will save you when the time comes?
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What we can agree about—and what we can’t (and shouldn’t try)

Two ways of making the same point. Both worth your time. Discuss.

Inflation- A real headache for nations (Contd.)

Some nonmonetary ideas are illogical. The existence of monopoly power or union power might be argued to raise prices generally relative to what they otherwise would be. But a continuing price rise year-in year-out requires a continuing increase in the degree of monopoly or union power in the economy. This is neither plausible over long periods of time, nor consistent with evidence from recent decades for the United States.
Nonmonetary theories of inflation traditionally separate "demand-pull" sources from "cost-push" factors like oil, monopoly power, or wages. A surge in the demand for goods and services in general ("aggregate demand") is thought to "pull" prices up across the board, especially when "aggregate supply" is held back by inertia or capacity limitations. Skeptics rightly question how demand could constantly outstrip supply. Surely, demand must originate from purchasing power, purchasing power from wealth, wealth from income, and income from the ability to produce (and hence supply) goods and services. This contradiction was understood early in the nineteenth century by Jean-Baptiste Say and others.
Other logical objections to the idea of demand-pull inflation center on the importance of money. How could prices rise without a commensurate increase in the quantity of money in private hands? If such a thing happened, the purchasing power of the quantity of money would have declined involuntarily, and that would not be consistent with market equilibrium. Economists of the "monetarist" school emphasize the power and discretion of government to vary the money supply, causing private markets to bring the economy's price structure into conformity.
Finally, there is strong, though surprisingly little known evidence against the demand-pull view that excessively rapid economic growth ("overheating") is an important source of inflation. Inflation has tended to increase in periods of slow growth or recession and decrease in periods of expansion. The idea that growth risks inflation is not on as strong a footing factually as the idea that inflation hurts growth.
Among those who attribute inflation to monetary causes, at least two quite different views exist. The monetarist view is that increases in the quantity of money cause inflation. Critics of this view point out that the quantity of money is difficult to define, especially when funds can be transferred electronically and credit cards can substitute for cash balances. It can also be argued that people have freedom to choose the quantity of money they want to hold rather than merely accept the quantity the government wishes to impose upon them.
The other monetary view, held historically by opponents of fiat (i.e., government) paper money, and by advocates today of restoring the gold standard, is that the quantity of money can take care of itself. What really is needed, according to this view, is a mechanism for keeping the price of the currency stable, for providing an anchor, so to speak.
Governments have been slow to accept the recommendations of either of these camps. That probably is because either a strict monetary rule or strict adherence to a gold standard or other price rule would place strict limits on discretionary government management of the economy.

Inflation-the real headache for each nation

Inflation is the loss in purchasing power of a currency unit such as the dollar, usually expressed as a general rise in the prices of goods and services. A classic example is the Great Inflation of the Roman Empire. Successive emperors replaced a steadily increasing fraction of the silver in their ancient currency, the denarius, with base metals like bronze or copper. As a result prices rose inexorably despite repeated attempts to restrain them through legislation. Diocletian, rather than taking responsibility for the debasement, attributed the rapid inflation of his day to the avarice of his subjects. His famous edict of a.d. 301 threatened with death any vendor who charged prices exceeding official limits. But inflation ran along unhindered for another century until an alternative currency, an undepreciated gold coin known to Shakespeare as the bezant, became the customary unit of account, spreading throughout Europe and lasting well into the Middle Ages.
In modern times inflation continues to be blamed on private greed, and governments still seek to restrain it by decree, sometimes even devaluing their currencies as they do so. We have many measures of inflation, but none provides a truly reliable gauge of inflation at any specific time. The most widely watched measure is the consumer price index (CPI), published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Subindexes are available for different cities and for many different classes of goods and services.

Other popular indicators of inflation include producer prices (formerly known as wholesale prices) and unit-value indexes for imports and exports. As we move back through the distribution chain from the consumer toward the supplier of raw materials, a more jumpy picture of inflation is revealed at each step. Commodities, whose prices can be monitored continuously on centralized exchanges, and which are easy to measure, are the most volatile indicators of all. An index of commodity prices, when plotted on a graph, looks much like an index of stock prices. But its ups and downs are significant; it provides warning one or even two years ahead of movements in the consumer price index.

In the news media, discussion of inflation often takes a "bottom up" view. Each month's change in the CPI can be, and is, split up into dozens of components, such as food, energy, and housing. It is tempting to see the sectors where prices rose the most as causes of the observed inflation. Sometimes policymakers speculate that if "price pressure" in those areas could be relieved, overall inflation could be reduced.
This way of looking at inflation is mistaken. The prices of some items always are rising or falling relative to others. This is a natural feature of the way a market economy adapts to changes in supply or demand. Rapid price increases within a single sector, though often labeled "sectoral inflation," are partly the result of an adjustment in relative prices and partly a manifestation of the overall inflation rate. They may have no causative significance whatever. When we watch the tide come in at the beach, we know that it is not caused by the waves, however forceful they may be. Inflation is not simply the sum total of a collection of independent price changes, as the arithmetic of the CPI implies. It is the degree to which all of those prices move in concert.

(to be continued..)