DISAGREE !! Democracy doesn't come in the way of India's economic growth as compared to China !!

Democracy can never come in the way of economic growth if the growth is perceived by the majority to be beneficial to it. In cases where it is not perceived as beneficial by the majority then the notion of economic growth itself is questionable as it won’t benefit the majority of the country's population. 

What we need to understand here is how we perceive economic growth. Building Roads, retails malls, office spaces, power plants and other infrastructure by acquiring land from individuals and then relocating them to places further far away from the development or where they won’t receive power from the plant they gave their lands for, would contribute a percentage or two to the GDP numbers. However in absolute terms this was detrimental to the individuals who sacrificed their land. They did not realize any economic growth in the process. 

Democracy provides for representation of these individuals and they insisting on better returns for their land should not be viewed against economic growth but for it, as a better compensation will make them participants in the economic process. Economic growth needs to be perceived in terms of growth of the individuals against GDP numbers. In India over the last five years, GDP growth has certainly declined but the number of tier III towns, semi urban markets and rural commerce has increased many folds. Sadly this doesn't add much percentage to the GDP figure but is very essential in terms of economic growth and self sufficiency of the Nation. 

On the contrary, China has adopted Build first Occupy Later strategy.

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Deregulation of Fuel prices might not work with the middle class driven Indian Economy

Fuel subsidies form a major component of India’s much debated public spending overheads and have been heavily criticised by free marketers and economists. The government, currently facing flak for the lacklustre GDP numbers and scuttled reforms coupled with growing domestic inflation and fiscal deficit, is for the first time seriously contemplating a move towards deregulating prices of both petrol and diesel. While petrol prices have already been partially deregulated, deregulating diesel would have a serious impact on commodity prices and amplify inflation.

While most of the debate is concentrated on this indirect effect on the pockets of the Indian middle class, we forget the more direct impact on middle class spending, which is the driver for growth in India. A car is not a luxury to many middle class households living in India’s growing cities. Many of these cities have very scanty public transport systems if any.

It is incomplete to argue whether the middle class can pay Rs 100 for a litre of petrol, rather we should ask if it is worth for the middle class to pay Rs 100 for a litre of petrol (which is essentially for transport) and still remain profitable in their domestic accounts. If the middle class can pay this price and still retain enough so as to not affect their spending patterns, then the government would have effectively passed on the costs from the Oil companies to the common man and the deregulation move would be justified.

However if the increased fuel cost is such that it does affect their savings considerably (which looks plausible given current inflation numbers) then this would also affect their spending on non essential commodities. Once the middle class goes into a self imposed austerity drive it would largely trim the profits of the consumption driven consumer industry and be detrimental to the economic recovery we are all hoping for. In other words the government would have only passed on the losses faced by the public sector oil companies to the common man and finally to the industry with no gains for the economy as a whole.

The subsidies on fuel in my opinion still remain a contentious issue which cannot be considered with merely the government’s expenditure in mind. A fully deregulated fuel market will have a much higher impact on the industry and this ultimately would have to be mitigated through reforms and by ending the policy paralysis – steps that require greater public backing which the government might just loose by removing the subsidies on fuel.

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SAP ABAP| SAP Technical Consultants |SAP Modules |SAP course and training in India and fact that I don’t know SAP full form.

SAP ABAP consultants are Technology Consultants for SAP implementation/ development/ upgrade projects. To take a holistic view, let’s first understand ERP and package implementation process.

ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning integrates internal and external management information across an entire organization, embracing finance/ accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application (Read Package application). Its purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders.

SAP is a German software giant. Full form of SAP is Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung in german or Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing for the rest of us.

 

SAP is one of the many ERP packages available. So what’s the flow? Management consultants advise any company to go for ERP implementation to optimize their business. Depending upon the requirements IT/Tech consultants recommend one or more of SAP/ ORACLE/ Seibel /Sales Force/ TIBCO etc. - all these are package software. 

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JAN LOKPAL BILL Plotting an Ideological Revolution of Modern India

The lines are clearly drawn now, sides taken and the first set of salvo fired from both sides- clearly this round to TEAM ANNA. The events of the last few days have transformed this country into a sea of young Indians having answered the call of their conscience, willing to participate and question the highest order in our country.

This storm has taken everyone by surprise especially the political class for whom it seemed was a prerogative until not long ago to protest and arm-twist the people of this country. The battle for the JAN LOKPAL BILL has touched many a different chords now. Here is a modest attempt to make order out of chaos.  

The mood on the streets is different.

 If you scan the streets today, people are angry, irate and are demanding a change. A single bill with contentious clauses cannot possibly trigger such kind of a response. It’s not the first time a very controversial bill has made it to the front page. The Nuclear Liability Bill came very close but others like the Women’s Reservation Bill and Reservation bill never created such a stir. The Lokpal Bill however has now turned into a revolution. This bill was special simply because the fight was now out of the gutters of Indian Politics into the open where Anna Hazare and the Civil Society members with morals of impeccable order questioned the intentions and commitment of the government – which the government certainly failed to salvage. Through this bill the dark tactics of the government and the politics of suppression were witnessed by a whole country only further establishing the need for an independent watchdog – THE JAN LOKPAL.  It’s now about fighting this suppression and insult that the Government unleashed on simple Indians – a cause bigger than what any Bill represented.

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Moral Policing in India

As if Indian politics wasn’t murky enough, moral policing in India took a bizarre turn when on Sunday night Mumbai police detained 31 youths for ‘Dirty Dancing’ at Oro Lounge at Malad. Furthermore the police fined them Rs. 1200/- for indecent behavior under Bombay Police Act.  While the police justify their action – thought absurd - on moral grounds, apparently the reason for the raid in itself was to check on the owners of the lounge for having a deejay without adequate permissions.  TOI in its Wednesday edition reported Tiff between officer, local cops led to raid? So here may be another example of how innocent citizens who were at the wrong place at the wrong time may have had to face the brunt of the police simply because they seemed as an easy target. This time around though the netizens have attacked back on facebook . The community www.facebook.com/stop.moral.police had 517 followers on last count.    

So who decides the morals in the first place and why does it always apply to citizens only.  Why can’t someone come up with morals to follow in the parliament or at an election rally? The level of politics in India has plummeted into such darkness that    (right, left, center or whichever way you see it) that it almost seem a prerogative of the powerful to abscond from things too obnoxious to deserve a mention.

What about moral policing the authorities? 

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Volkswagen's Perfect Indian Dream - Das Auto !!

If you read any market entry strategies, then contrast those to the entry of European giants ‘Volkswagen’. The company was already present in India through sister company ‘Skoda’.  Yet the launch of Volkswagen saw no mention of the Czech rebel (you would like to read skoda’s history). Volkswagen wanted to come in fresh and you could sense its intentions were big when they set up their manufacturing plant in Chakan, India’s Automobile hub near Pune.

    

'Volkswagen India' started with the Passat and then followed the Jetta. Now the traditional people’s car from Europe had established itself in the premium luxury car segment in India, right between the Skoda and the Audi (both brands belong to Volkswagen).  There were plans for a hatchback on the lines of the European ‘Golf’, but did you expect this? The bug came in first. Volkswagen’s most celebrated and legendary car, The Beetle was in India. What followed was the greatest marketing exercise ever. The newspapers were full of the Beetle, Volkswagen even came up with a two page add in ‘Times of India’ explaining the genesis of the Beetle and Volkswagen, its name (‘Folks – Wagen’ as it should be pronounced).  Quickly Volkswagen graduated to become most sought after car brand in India, which in turn helped it to build a good dealership base.

At Rs. 21 Lac ex-showroom Mumbai, how many Beetles does Volkswagen expect to sell? – I would be tempted if I had that kind of money- but still not many will be sold. So why would Volkswagen spend so much on marketing of this car? Simple, the ‘Polo’ was to come next. This car was coming out of the Chakan plant and the Hatchback segment is the hottest one in India. Polo sold like hot cakes – I remember a point when dealers would demand 50K premium to get that car to you and you still had to wait 3 months. It was as if Volkswagen was saying “Look at the Beetle, that’s how good our cars are. That is what we are all about. But since everyone can’t have the Beetle, we got you the Polo.”  Now wouldn’t you buy a car from the same guys who make the Beetle? Yes!! said India. Volkswagen's marketing strategy in India has been spot on. Ever since its entry into the premium hatchback segment in India Polo has outsold all its competitors. The new ‘Vento’ based on the Polo’s platform has displaced ‘Honda City’ as the bestseller in the entry level sedan segment. The Beetle has simply made the Brand so very special. It has helped Volkswagen sell every other car they had an offer. Hopefully other India manufacturers -read Maruti - can learn from this. Maruti still gives the new K series Alto more media space than its ‘Kizashi’. Volkswagen is here to stay in India and is the Brand to beat in the Indian Auto space.  

Volkswagen is steadily increasing its dealer network across Inda. It has acquired 20% stake in Japanese giant Suzuki, a step which will open out the Asian market for Volkswagen. Today Volkswagen represents nine brands – Audi, Bugatti, Bentley, Lamborghini, Scania, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge) and Volkswagen Passenger Cars.  In its bid to become the world’s largest automaker, it surely has India’s admiration.   

 

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For Google to find me !!

I have been keeping myself away from the social media for some time now. It started when notifications from my accounts left me searching for some real mail. Soon all trace of me on the web was lost. Coming out of isolation I want Google to find me and what better way to do that than a blog of my own.  Thursday was spent searching a suitable name and today I finished most of the design work.  It feels great, doing something out of my own wish rather than my manager’s.  

The work is not done yet, but I want a post on the page and so this informal first blog. One that follows next will introduce IndiaVichar to its audiences, what it stands for, who it represents and the Thoughts, Aspirations and Ideas it portrays.

As IndiaVichar prepares itself, your best wishes I seek.

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