Anything under the Sun

How to make people use Toilet

2014-11-20T09:34:00.002+05:30

Almost 50% of our population (Approximately 600 million people) defecate in open and they don't have access to proper sanitation. Mr. Modi has promised to build toilets for people to address the issue.

My take on this issue is simple - rather than providing people toilet, make them to have toilets. Make it a status symbol and an aspiration to have a toilet. A shift in popular attitude is necessary.

Poor people don't feel bad when rich look down on them. They feel bad when their neighbours look down on them. The toilet needs to have similar status in mind and life as mobile phones have. You look odd when you don't have it. When you have a better one, people are jealous of you.

Also, there is documentary evidence that people are unable to accept or understand why a room has been surrected around their community. And usage of room as toilet discontinues, it is either abandoned or not used as a toilet. It becomes a store room. People continue to defecate outside.

So, we need to 1st create toilet in the minds of people. We have to change the repositioning of toilet from dirty dark room to a happy and colourful room. We have to reposition the toilet in the mind of people like a product. Toilet is a lifetime companion. We have to explain them why they need to have toilets and why they need to have good toilets.

One strategy is to change the greetings. This is proven fact that people will feel happier after visiting a toilet. So, create a greeting like, Are you happy today?" This greeting will create a fashion and reposition toilet in the minds of people leading to a cultural shift which is essential to adoption of toilet in desired way.

Perspective on Oil Prices

2014-11-10T14:13:00.000+05:30

Oil price reflect the world order in a single number. Its price movement reveals the underlying forces which are multiple and so varied that many attempts to build a reliable model to oil price has failed.

Who would have guessed that oil prices will dropped 29% since June 2014 despite geopolitical tension in Middle East, a strengthening US economy (The US Federal Bank has declared to end quantitative easing) and a moderate growth in Asia. Drop in oil prices have kept oil analysts, OPEC member countries and world over Finance Ministers to find the possible causes to define long-term strategy to manage their finances accordingly. This single number is one of the biggest influences to monetary policy of every single country irrespective of whether it is net importer or net exporter.

So, the 1st and foremost question is: Is this price drop a seasonal phenomenon or a structural change? I am inclined towards declaring it as a structural change due to below reasons:

1) US, largest consumer, has observed increased production in-house. Subsequently, its dependency on import has declined, leading to less demand and hence, drop in oil prices. Nigeria, the 5th largest exporter to US, has not exported a single drop of oil since July 2014. It has impact on geo-political equations and US isn’t rushing its forces to fight ISIS.

2) Oil demand has declined in Europe and Japan which has been battling deflation.

3) Growth in China has stagnated. Also, Chinese has been suffering from air pollution which has spurred demand of clean energy and China is going big on clean energy.

While the drop in oil prices is good news for net importers Like India (where central government has linked diesel prices to market and reduced government subsidy bill); the drop is serious concerns for net exporters like Venezuela, Russia and Nigeria because government revenue is plummeting.

The worst impacted is Venezuela where inflation is running at 50% and a drop in oil prices has shrunk government revenue. The investors are jittery that Venezuela government may default on debt repayment.

Nigeria government gets 80% of its revenue from oil. Nigeria had a bad-weather fund to manage drop in oil prices however the fund has only $4 billion (where it ought to have $20 billion) and this is getting messy because government is reluctant to reduce its spending where elections are due in February 2015.

Russia has seen Ruble decline. Putin drives maximum strength from oil prices and oil price above $100/barrel keeps his ambitions floating but this continuous drop may throw Russia Economy in recession coupled with western sanctions after annexation of Crimea.

Venezuela has called meeting of OPEC on 27th November, 2014 to stem acceleration in drop of Oil Prices. OPEC may find difficult to arrest this drop because a 2 million barrel/day production cut is required. There may not be enough members willing to cut production because it will reduce government revenues which will aggravate the member nations’ fragile fiscal position further.

So, we may rule out a production cut to make significant impact on oil prices. We shall find out more on 27th November however meeting may spring a surprise where OPEC members aren’t able to maneuver Oil prices, proving that this drop in oil price is indeed structural.

An open market has self-correcting mechanism. As prices drop significantly, suppliers start working towards increasing price which may take time but will show impact. 2nd, drop in energy prices spur latent demand and it resurfaces, resulting in sustained increasing demand. But, the climate change is also showing impact and world over governments have been investing in renewal energy (India has one of the most ambitious plan to boost solar energy); if so, the oil price drop may continue and stabile around a price which we may not predict as on date.

We must note that mankind didn’t stop using stones because earth ran out of stones. The oil may meet a similar fate. We may be witnessing a tectonic shift in energy consumption pattern in mankind history: The beginning of end of Oil. It may farfetched as on date but there is probability. The time will tell.

Unemployment in India

2011-03-29T11:12:00.004+05:30

There is unemployment on gigantic scale in India. Our government doesn't even measure employment data seriously and periodically. It does measure, however, once in 5 years and that too through sampling methods.

This shows how little we, as a country don't care about employment or think everybody is not entitled to be employed in a dignified manner or an environment which promotes unstructured employment or seasonal employment.

This is a topic which requires debate and immediate resolution. Sustained unemployment is set to create social imbalance and derail Indian growth story.

Unstructured Employment: Let me think loudly. A middle class family in top 10 cities of India requires at least 2-5 support personnel...Bai, driver, child care taker etc. Now, if government implements 'right to education' in spirit and letter, I am sure cost of living in India will multiply 4 times. It may restructure middle class way of life. It may make luxury truly unaffordable or redefine luxury itself.

Seasonal unemployment: Our politicians and we Indians need it badly. India celebrates two festivals apart from regular festival. One is election (vidhansabha or loksabha) and marriage. Winning election is not a child game and it requires mammoth coordination which requires human resources at each and every level. No business provides employment to local youths as much elections and marriages do.

Hidden unemployment: I had read it in social studies at class 10th but saw its manifestation when I joined work. I can say with confidence that it prevails largely in corporate sector. First, our IT companies exploited talented youths from IITs. IIT engineers are supposed to do better things in life but few men presented jobs wrapped so nicely that almost every IITian fell for it. An IIT engineer has more-than-adequate talent and aptitude to maintain a US client system or write code or manage coolies.

The interesting question is why it happened. It happened due to TINA (There Is No Alternate) factor. Our government and institutes failed to provide an conducive or stimulating environment of innovation, research or creation and the country has been loosing excellent engineers to few men who claim they have created 'value'. I don't deny it but the opportunity cost is huge. opponents to my argument may argue that opportunity cost doesn't exist because there was no alternative however why we haven't woken-up till date is another question for some other day.

If China has become manufacturing hub of this world, we are in the process of being back-office support center of this world. We need to push innovation, creation or research. The government, private institutes and corporate India should provide adequate incentive to educated youth for innovation and research to harness our in-house talent adequately.

In the nutshell, we need to wake-up to aspiration of people in this country at all levels. The prevailing environment and worsening law-and-order situation is a sound warning to all governing bodies, state and central governments. The kids who should be in laboratories were pelting stones in streets in J&K. We have naxal problem in many states. We have 'right to education' act but we lack political will and financial muscle to implement it. Education has slowly become luxury in this country either by design or by inaction.

The problem of unemployment may convert demographic dividend to a unmanageable law-and-order problem. The country needs to act fast at all levels.

Financial Inclusion

2010-11-30T20:05:00.004+05:30

Recently, RBI deputy governor gave a brilliant speech on financial inclusion with facts, figures and way to go (http://rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_SpeechesView.aspx?Id=538).

The government, planning commission and Reserve Bank of India has been playing role of arm chair consultant on financial inclusion. There is an urgent need for one of these institutions to take the lead in setting-up Information technology framework which may support a low-cost business model to make financial inclusion viable.

Reserve Bank of India may keep pushing banks to implement financial inclusion. Basically, financial inclusion is not about business model, it is about technology innovation to support low-cost banking with given infrastructure (network, electricity, connectivity). Therefore, it would be ideal if Reserve Bank of India can ask a imminent technical person (or a company) to work with IRDBT and create technology infrastructure which can work seamlessly with UID and Mobile Number. I am sure Reserve Bank of India has excellent people to dedicate for this initiative and it may choose a person from Industry (RBI may check availability of Nandan Nilekani before searching further)

The requirement is to develop a technology-cum-process framework to create a value proposition and ask banks to follow it. If a bank innovates further, so far so good, however I feel strongly that regulator and government has no choice but to invest money and resources to create a viable technical infrastructure if they are really serious about financial inclusion.

Once this infrastructure is created and signed-off by all stakeholders, I guess banks will follow this business model. Reserve bank of India should remember that financial inclusion is agenda of Union Government because it is committed to include everybody on growth path (why it didn't wake-up earlier which is another question for another day. Even if India was growing at 5%, a poor man needed prompt credit) .

Banks have a simple mandate: Accept deposits and provide loans and banks will follow it wherever it makes business sense. I do not think I, as a shareholder will like my bank to invest INR 3000-4000 crores per year on financial inclusion and wait for returns.

Financial inclusion also means that Reserve Bank of India will need to increase its presence and reach beyond state capitals to ensure financial inclusion is happening under the regulatory umbrella of banking act and RBI act.

Interbank Mobile Payment Service

2010-11-24T19:11:00.004+05:30

Till now, interbank mobile payments were processed through NEFT and since NEFT is executed in batches, it was not real time.

Recently, Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India launched real time (or instant) Interbank Mobile Payment System. It is instant 24x7, interbank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones. It provides customer facility to use his mobile phone as another channel to access and transfer his funds in a secured manner with immediate confirmation features.

Interbank Mobile Payment Service rides on the existing NFS interbank ATM transaction switching infrastructure and message format and therefore easy for banks to adopt.

The process requires one time registration for both remitter and beneficiary where they have to register their mobile number, bank account and get MMID and MPIN.

MMID is a 7 digit number to be issued by bank to customer upon registration. Customer has choice to map multiple account numbers per mobile number. This is to avoid human error while transferring money and for transaction routing through NPCI.

Remitter will use initiate transaction using Beneficiary Mobile number, Beneficiary MMID and amount.

The remitter bank will :

a) verify remitter mobile number
b) MMID verification
c) MPIN validation
d) Remitter a/c identification
e) Debit to the remitter a/c
f) Generate and send transaction to NPCI
g) SMS confirmation to remitter

The beneficiary bank will:

a) verify b mobile number
b) Beneficiary a/c identification
c) Credit to beneficiary a/c
d) Generate and send transaction response
e) SMS confirmation to the beneficiary

There is per day limit on transactions depending on level of encryption. It is one more positive step towards financial inclusion.

Business agility driven from IT agility

2010-11-18T14:53:00.003+05:30

IT agility is important in an organization to drive business agility especially for financial services companies. Agile IT set-up can help to launch new products in minimum time and subsequent versions or varieties by few mouse clicks.

Therefore, it has been increasingly important to invest judiciously in IT set-up and educate business teams to drive more out of IT investments. It is important to invest in right mix of people for IT set-up who understand business. For example, an old Chinese saying is,"If you want to employ people for building ship, search those who have passion to fight with sea storms."

An IT set-up which understands business, will inherently devise IT strategy which believes in building robust, flexible, configurable and independent frameworks. These frameworks can take care of immediate as well as near future changes and may keep evolving as business grows and customer habits change.

My point is having good business analysts is not enough, organization needs to employ people who have sound understanding of business processes and who do not require step-by-step guidance from business teams.

As I have learned, implementing a complex system and aligning people around it doesn't work as good as starting from basic and gradually implementing IT systems as organization grows, business grows, volume grows and processes mature. This method ensures sustainable and gradual investment in IT and you are not running a risk of creating IT capital which may be never used.

Banking in India - A way forward

2010-11-10T14:23:00.002+05:30

Private Banks have led the way in last decade (1997 onwards) and brought reforms in banking sector riding on technology. Government banks followed and the happiest stakeholder is customer.

Having said that, the ball has begun rolling and financial inclusion is the buzz word. Government, Regulator and Finance Minister have agreed on target to be achieved by 2012. I recall Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh started talking about financial inclusion in 2004-2005 and now the idea has taken good shape.

The government facilitated the same by implementing UID project because completing KYC norms is one of the major hurdles for financial inclusion. Also, it is not advisable to dilute KYC norms in the name of financial inclusion.

Till now, Indian banks implemented technology with language English and served urban customers. If financial inclusion has to be successful and economically feasible, banks would need to delve deeper into Technology and multi-layered integration will play a major role.

There will be need for multilingual technology platforms, need for many kinds of authentication mechanisms, devising mobile applications which may work on GPRS or 3G, establishing multiple kiosk operated through solar energy, ATM operable through solar energy etc etc.

While it is possible to use technology to deliver banking services to last man in the society, the role of banking regulator and self regulation of banks will play a major role in its successful and satisfying implementation. The information may not get updated on a real time basis which may pose its own risk. Documentation and other details will take time to reach head quarter or nearest branch and there may be dilution in rules for providing credit or accepting deposit. Central bank would do good to appoint a local regulator or reviewer who may send periodic reports to them and also educate people about banking services and various charges from bankers.

We have seen how various programs of Central Government fail in implementation at the last mile. I hope central bank is smarter and will ensure financial inclusion doesn't remain lip service and a facility on paper.

Next decade (2011-2020) will see rural and semi urban population income growth and of middle-class. Remember, poor doesn't require cheap credit but he requires prompt credit. The prompt credit facility is set to change lives of many Indians.

Ways to tackle Inflation

2010-07-25T22:12:00.002+05:30

The present government has evolved a unique method to fight inflation and that is making statements - 'The inflation may come down by ...' and I/We hope that inflation will go down...

While Reserve Bank of India will take action because IIP numbers and other data shows inflation is going up due to 'demand' side and not due to supply constraints.

Earlier, Food inflation was worry where government cited various reasons however the basic reason was Minimum Support Price for wheat and rice. The government has doubled these prices in last 5 years. The question needs to be asked is how long our government can afford to increase minimum support price to benefit farmers and then looking towards RBI to cool down inflation? This is one more subsidy where corporate sector ends up paying higher prices for its loans.

The government has to decide who are its first customers? Farmers or people living below the poverty lines (government pays farmers higher price to procure wheat and rice and then subsidizes the same to distribute among below the poverty line people) or both? The government can not sustain this revolving door game where it keeps paying subsidy in various forms to both farmers and BPL.

The correct strategy will be to declare farming as business with proper incentive (taking leaf from China of 1979) and improving infrastructure to improve penetration and reach of grain markets so that people decide fair rates. India needs to move faster on agriculture and infrastructure reforms and needs a full time agriculture minister and who is not an affected party due to changes in government policy.

Commonwealth Games

2010-07-19T22:08:00.003+05:30

Common wealth games committee has done an excellent job of marketing the games among Indian public. The queen's baton is being relayed all across India and through all states (including north east) however our over worked, very busy media doesn't have enough airtime to cover it.

The people and especially school kids are participating in these events and common wealth 2010 is going to lay foundation for sports development in India. We shall many sportsmen and sportswomen ready to represent India and win medals after 5-10 years.

The government has pulled all stops to use strengths of various agencies. The IRCTC has been instructed to facilitate book tickets online and already worth 10 crores tickets have been booked.

The one concern is food quality being served in Delhi. India is famous for spicy food and many visitors/foreigners/players may like to give all together different experience to their taste buds. The government seems to be in position to ensure safe food. The government has set-up a body named Quality Council of India which in consultation with health Ministry, Delhi will certify food and ensure food sold with its certification is of the best quality. The government is planning to entrust this body of providing certificates to food vendors and other eatable distributers later.

Mr. E. Sreedharan has provided best in class transport to delhi and I still feel bewildered and lost why in delay to set-up same facilities in rest of the 9 metro cities.

All the best to New Delhi and India. This game will be feather in cap of the people of Delhi.

IT penetration in India

2010-07-11T22:34:00.000+05:30

The UID project is picking up speed and as we all IT people know, once go-live date of a project comes near, the buzz around the project increases multi folds.

And with Mr. Nandan at the helm of affairs, I am sure he must have taken care of every aspect of the Project. This project is going to be a technology marvel to say the least. The system architecture has to support insertion of 1 billionth plus 1 record in mili seconds and retrieval of record based on unique number, again in mili seconds.

In my opinion, this project is going to be Olympics for existing technologies where technologies has to stretch itself to cater this huge requirement.

India served whole globe with its software services capabilities and Mr. Manmohan Singh has put his finger at right spot to improve government delivery which doesn't inspire confidence among citizens.

Also, this project will inspire rural masses to believe in IT because this is being executed by government and is pure "sarkari". The finger print records and other biometric record, if integrated with bank Core Banking System, may help to increase penetration of banking services to rural areas as well. Second, UID number will help many processes to be completely online thus improving process turn around time. Third, UID number can be used to identify person with complete confidence and private players may throw their hats to develop applications in local languages to improve communication and delivery from all levels of government.

Further, 3G is going to instigate and usage of overall mobile applications because demand will come from end user and application developing company will command more share in revenue with network service provider which is not the case at present.

Successful implementation of this project will trigger various changes in delivery systems of all levels of governance and justice. The power equations will change and citizen would have reasons to demand service rather than begging for it.

I do not any reason why Mr. Nandan Nilekani may not command same aura in Indian history as did Mr. Manmohan Singh as finance minister. Mr. Nandan greatest contribution to this country is accepting this enormous challenge and promise to deliver.

Saaransh vs. Paar

2010-06-20T15:02:00.003+05:30

I watched Saaransh movie way back in 1990s and always wondered why Anupam Kher did not win National Award for Best Actor for this movie. After doing some research, I came to know that great Nasiruddin Shah won it for a movie named 'Paar' which was released in the same year, 1984.

I wondered why Nasiruddin Shah won the award. I searched for movie Paar but didn't get it until last week. My local crossworld store had arranged this movie and I watched this movie today.

Paar movie deals with an older subject but in a far better way. The movie weaves a story of untouchable person from Bihar who goes to Kolkata and suffers. The poignant scene of the movie is where Nasiruddin Shah pregnant wife (Shabana Azmi) are starving for 3 days and they agree to cross 36 pigs across the river for a meager Rs. 27 out of which Rs.7 is commission of the person who helped Nasiruddin shah to get this work.

And I believe judges took right decision in deciding best actor for year 1984...

Third Generation

2010-05-23T15:32:00.002+05:30

According to Physics: If you double the frequency of an electro magnetic signal, it will travel half the distance. This is basic law of physics but this law is going to burden balance sheet of Indian telecommunication companies. And some folks decided earlier that we should not use same equipment to roll-out 3G what we use for 2G.

Government provides 2G spectrum in 800-950 MHz and will provide 3G in 1800-2000 MHz. This will reduce the coverage area of the 3G towers and where a telecommunication used to put 1 tower, will have to put at least two towers to cover the same area. Also, the company needs to install totally different equipments to roll-out 3G.

back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that telecoms companies will need same amount o roll-out 3G what took them to purchase 3G spectrum. The other factor is why I would like to go for 3G? Agreed that 20-25% subscribers in Delhi and Mumbai have 3G ready phones and they may be waiting for 3G. But it will be difficult to spread 3G like 2G services. Rest of the India will wait for 3G services prices to go down.

Also, if telecommunication companies decides to use 3G spectrum to fulfill 2G spectrum requirements, their return on investments will suffer heavily. Three things will happen in next 3-5 years:

1) consolidation in Indian Telecommunication Sector
2) If consolidation doesn't happen, same finance minister will be forced to provide tax relief to telecommunication companies because they will find hard to survive
3) Telecommunication companies will become customer centric rather than product centric. At present, telecommunication communications are working out cheapest rates and to stay ahead in beating the competitor. This 3G roll out will stop this trend and we will see companies paying attention to quality of services which has taken a back seat. At least one company will differentiate on quality of services (end-to-end) and force others to follow suits. The quality along with attention on customer preferences can push ARPU to 750+ levels monthly and bring back telecommunication sector back on track.

Indian customer is also getting smarter and now he will demand quality with cheapest rates...

One advice to finance minister: Keep at least 10,000 crores aside for telecommunication sector where government can work on scientific advances to make spectrum a reasonably priced commodity. Very high rates of infrastructure is never a good sign and ultimately government will suffer due to same.

Mechanical Harvesting of Sugar cane

2010-05-23T15:18:00.002+05:30

At least 6 sugar mills of Maharashtra have ordered for machines to harvest sugar cane. This news was both surprising and amusing for me. It is because of two reasons:

1) Expected cane production for 2010-2011 is 18% higher than previous financial year
2) Number of skilled laborers are 5.5 million against the requirement of 7 million

One thing is very clear: Local education or HRD minister should provide resources or develop capability to train laborers as skilled laborers to harvest sugarcane. The mechanical harvesting technology will bring more efficiency, will be more economical and will reduce the time required for processing. This all will lead to reduction in cost and hence increase in profits.

This change must be researched into and social activists should declare the trend. Maharashtra is second fastest growing Indian state. So, have enough jobs being created where next generation of cane harvesters are finding alternate employment? If this is the reason, Prime minister and Finance Minister will be very happy otherwise it is a worrying trend. Or is it extra 18% cane production which is responsible to deploy machines to complete processing on time?

Whatever be it, more and more people find alternate ways of employment and reduce dependence on agriculture, better we are.

Euro Zone - Danger Zone?

2010-05-23T15:09:00.002+05:30

Whenever anyone of us visits a developed country, we are taken aback by how much government cares for people...It seems that European nations have to change the way these countries approach social security. There are two fundamental reasons:

1) Change in demography - aging population more than working populations
2) Government revenue < Government Expenditures - The governments are living out of their pockets and mostly on debt. The financial crisis of 2008 forced governments to extend more sops to stay afloat.

Slowly, it has become difficult to sustain government expenditure. Had European governments courage and will power, they would talk about India where the government doesn't provide any relief on ground (social security practically, there are many schemes running on paper and in registers of various district collectors) but charges income tax moment you start earning.

European finance leaders are claiming they will do whatever required to save Euro. However, a small correction, the ball lies in court of political leadership to dictate the changes and make people aware of ground realities. It is a messy thing and it will take time for people to understand that they do not live in rich nations anymore.

Post IPL Parties

2010-04-11T14:55:00.002+05:30

Commercialization of an entity has a limit and who decides this limit? The man who is calling the shots...the man who is in control and the man who knows he doesn't have to fear of competition because constitution of India gives him complete protection...

Post IPL match parties have become headache for players. The unwritten rule says that cricket stars must attend these parties and these parties go longer than an IPL match. If you are a common man and want to attend these parties, you have to shell out INR 50,000 per party. So, if you are willing to attend these parties, you have to be a crazy and uncommon common man (Is Income Tax Department listening?).

Mr. Modi...forget the 20-20 matches...Lets have only parties with cricket stars...May be you are thinking of organizing one more IPL season only of parties.

I never thought somebody will make cricket players behave like prostitute...Mr. Modi has not made exactly prostitute but talking/walking/hand shaking male prostitute who have to generate revenue for their franchises by hook or crook.

Mr. Modi....First you have almost killed Test Cricket. You have shortened the length of game where excellence has gone out of cricket dictionary. Now fielding remains only skill in a 20-20 match. You may as well deploy bowling machines after 4-5 years which will deliver balls based on public demand.

I do know if anybody else hurt the game of cricket so much as Mr. Modi has been doing....

News of News Channels

2010-04-11T14:34:00.002+05:30

No Hindi news channel in India makes money. Are you surprised???

There is no reason to be. Go deeper and the naked reality of this industry comes out. Many of these news channels have not made money in their life span. India is the only country where news runs as standalone, independent business.

When government decided to go ahead with 24 hours private news channels, the basic idea was to promote science, general knowledge, contemporary history and making youth aware of various aspects of India which were not getting adequate attention on DD. However, our Hindi news channels picked up naughtiest page from print media and started showing stuff which is frivolous, generates negative discussions and is taking society backwards.

None of hindi news channels concentrate on any of the stuff that government thought they would. In stead these channels are promoting all kind of stupid stuff like astrology, junter-mantar, bhoot-pishach etc etc. These channels have gone into a vicious cycle where they run by TRP rating published on Friday morning.

These TRP ratings define their content for next week. There is desperate attempt to make money however till the time these channels add positive value to society and guides younger generation in right direction, they will remain in bad shape and may be they will also distort our society to a certain extent.

Counting Indians

2010-04-04T12:23:00.002+05:30

India has started counting each of its 1.2 billion citizens and as prime minister said,"The information gathered during census will be a treasure to implement development programs." The prime minister is 100% correct.

The exciting factor is this data will be passed on to Mr. Nandan Nilekani who will use it for UIDAI project implementation.

The critical success factor will be government employees gathering this data have robust processes in place for 99% accuracy otherwise it will be mess beyond correction. Extra care needs to be taken in U.P. and Bihar where government employees may complete their work without visiting respective households.

Economists will wait for this data and it may actually clarify all doubts about poverty level in India where various experts have various opinions and as it always happens, every expert appointed by any government is absolutely right.

This job should be handled by Planning Commission of India and this exercise should happen every 5 years due to pace of growth in India. Also, India does not need planning commission of India any more, it needs implementation commission of India with power and teeth to stop leakages in the system.

A bunch of handful intellectuals sitting in Delhi have achieved very little so far in last 60 years. Lets have one representative in every state monitoring independently implementation of government projects and sending reports to Delhi monthly basis. There has to be segregation of duties and we can no longer trust government employees implementing these schemes at grass level.

Ignorable Paisa League (IPL)

2010-04-04T12:08:00.002+05:30

I tried to watch IPL matches this season but I lost interest in the match every time. The matches are predictable and once you have little bit knowledge about a team's form, the matches become even boring.

The IPL matches bring me back memories of old Hindi movies where a wicked and rich landlord will exploit poor villagers because he is rich, powerful and laws of the land favor him. The similarity is stark in case of IPL. The rules, pitch and environment are brazenly in favor of batsmen who keep beating poor bowlers for no reason. Now, as a cricket lover, you can't wait for a hero to emerge and beat back landlord but the administrators have to jump and give something for bowlers in the pitch.

A cricket match is a contest between bowlers and batsmen of both sides. However, IPL has made cricket matches a contest between batsmen of both sides. When IPL first season began, I expected that bowlers will come up with new tricks but the rules are vehemently in the favor of the batsmen. A bowler has no chance to beat back batsmen. I am still waiting for a IPL match where team batting first scores 119 in 20 overs and other team looses by 1 run.

The only skill which counts in IPL is fielding and rest is muscle power in the arm of batsmen.

One critical factor for IPL success and viewership is: No other alternate entertainment for Indian men without cost and in the convenience of home. IPL is tailor made for couch potatoes. Your 4 hours pass on a weekend or weekday just like that without any effort.

I am expecting if somebody starts football league on the lines of IPL, it may be successful with a longer gestation period. It is anybody's guess that Indian public will get bored of IPL and as law of economics say - if you are making exorbitant profits in any sector, you will definitely find a competitor sooner.

Platinum Jubilee Ceremony of RBI

2010-04-02T15:14:00.002+05:30

I was going through speeches of Prime Minister, Finance Minister and RBI governor at the occasion of final platinum jubilee ceremony at Reserve Bank of India. I liked few quotes and am sharing them below:

From the speech of RBI Governor:

http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_SpeechesView.aspx?Id=493

1) As an institution, central banks go back several centuries. The first central bank, the Riksbank in Sweden, was established in 1668, nearly 350 years ago, at a time when much of India was still under the Great Mughals. The Bank of England came shortly thereafter in 1694. By the turn of the century in 1900, there were only 18 central banks. Today, there are around 180 central banks, a tenfold increase in the last one hundred years.

2) A final thought before I close. A powerful lesson from the financial crisis has been that financial sector development is not, and cannot be, an end in itself. The growth of the financial sector is important only to the extent it improves the growth of the real sector. For all of us in the Reserve Bank - indeed even for those outside it - engaged in financial sector issues, it is important to remember that what we do in the financial sector adds value if, and only if, it makes a difference to the lives of ordinary people. This is the lasting message that the Reserve Bank will carry forward beyond the platinum jubilee celebrations.

I wish USA bankers and central bankers also understand, digest and practice what RBI governor said.

3) Prime Minister Sir, as Finance Minister, in your budget speech of 1994-95, you had famously invoked Victor Hugo to say that: ‘No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come.’ If our first Prime Minister, Pandit Nehru, gave us ‘the idea of India’, you had reinvented the idea to unleash India’s ‘animal spirits’, Keynes’ memorable phrase for ‘get up and go’ entrepreneurism. As a nation, it is our collective dream, hope and joy to take forward that idea of India. On the occasion of its platinum jubilee, the Reserve Bank of India rededicates itself to the continuing task of turning that idea into reality.

A day in the life of India - 1st April, 2010

2010-04-02T14:31:00.003+05:30

Right to Education law will shape future of India and we will see its affect in next 25 years. Well! you will get criticizers for everything in India. These criticizers have little idea what they are saying and they are self proclaimed God.

I will tell you why? Mr. Subir Gokaran (before joining RBI) used to write article in Business Standard every Monday where he used to criticize central bank now and then. I was reading his interview after joining RBI as deputy governor and he clearly said,"I am amazed by the way data is analyzed before reaching any decision."

I am surprised by the fact that nobody asked for this fundamental right. It has been done on the behest of a forward looking lawyer-turned-education minister and economist-turned-prime minister. When India sits next time to write history, these two men will occupy larger space than others.

Second One is change in interest calculation rules on saving accounts. I was surprised to know that my banker friends had no idea how interest is calculated on their saving account. I think this is the only reason why this method-of-interest-calculation survived since 1952.

Anyways, now banks will press RBI to reduce interest rate on saving account and I think this will pave the way for lower interest rate in India.

Two Budgets

2010-02-27T13:02:00.002+05:30

Financial budget is okay and Finance Minister has done a reasonable job. Finance minister can allocate money for various sectors and a lot of mathematics and past trend must have been taken into the account, so I do not find any reason to criticize it.

What we need is: How to ensure that money reaches to allocated destination? We need administrative reforms for this. Everybody has its own eyes on UID project. The failure of this project will be victory of people who are averse to administrative reforms.

Well - I was expecting finance minister to offer tax savings for any individual/corporate if they invest in skill development programs. Skill development is need of the hour. India needs skilled people rather than educated people. I am talking about enjoyability of an individual. We should have someway to measure it.

I do not find any relevance of Railway Budget. It is a launching platform to become chief minister of the state you have dreamed for long.

We need to improve speed of our trains at least by 40% in next 2 years. Otherwise Road transport will overwhelm railways and trains will rum empty.

You Managing Projects or Projects Managing You!!

2010-02-20T14:37:00.002+05:30

Well! Nothing to insult anybody's work as a Project Manager. I see project management as an art where you have to constantly learn by "what works" rather than "what are the normal practices". The most important factor is operating environment which changes very rapidly and often we fail to notice the changes and how it is impacting my project with the same pace.

Project Management is a simple thing in an ideal world but we do not live in an ideal world. As mode of communications are increasing, I feel more is communication gap and more confusion leading to chaos. Additionally, I feel we Indians have by nature poor skills as Project Manager barring one, Mr. E. Sreedharan.

I searched in old Hindi/Sanskrit literature about project management. I didn't find anything. Then I looked at various processes in Hindu Marriage and how these are carried day-by-day. If you look at a Hindu marriage by project management angle, you will get insights into what project management basics our old sages would have taught.

1) The first thing is - no parallel processing. Every process is pre-planned and pre-defined by a Pandit and it can't be changed unless something goes wrong in either family.

2) Role Definition: Roles are very clear. There is no ambiguity on which task will be carried by whom.

3) Time Management: Pandit has defined time for every event in advance. People do back calculation and make prior arrangement.

So, what I conclude is: Project Management is all about doing basic things correctly. If you try to do things faster or parallel, you may make your boss happy but it is more or less certain that you will screw lives of less mortals here or there. Project Management is doing things as it should be without being over smart.

Risk Scenario and how to handle it

2010-02-06T14:30:00.004+05:30

The October 2008 successfully transferred the risk from private bank's balance sheets to government balance sheets.

The game has began with President Obama declaring a budget with huge deficit. President Obama is walking on a thin rope and I wish him all the best to him.

My simple statement is: Things are too much confused...The risk has gone to government. The bankers are back to huge bonus days. So, who suffered at the end of the day? The public is still suffering with unemployment and high inflation may add up if government is forced to pay higher interest on the bonds. High interest will led to higher unemployment and ...

The government should force banks to pay a levy or extra tax because government has been forced to save these banks. The government must not use public money to save these banks but it should use money from a separate fund collected through new tax.

RBI is indeed smarter the way it has controlled Indian banking system. It has beautifully balanced growth with safety. And It has forced banks and bankers to forget one word which is root of all financial chaos - 'Banker Greed'

Changing contours of Communication

2010-02-06T14:25:00.003+05:30

As you move up in the organization and talk to ED or Group Chiefs or business heads, it becomes very important to listen what is not being said.

Yeah...more often than not, when I have thought from this perspective, it helps me to find out what may be going in their minds and how to deliver according to it.

I have found we indians are shy and we do not criticise somebody brazenly who is doing a decent job. We are poor in communication with emotions always involved. So, even bosses at that level will tell you - you did a good job. At the max, they will suggest you minor enhancements but the devil lies in their pauses and in their indications.

What you think is 'end of the road' is just the bend in the road. If you do not read it then, somebody else will and he will go beyond you.

So, please listen carefully to what is not being said. Rest will follow. However, contextual relevance is importance.

Chicken Biryani

2010-01-30T15:04:00.002+05:30

I have been working in software field for last 8 years. However, one thing that my experience taught me was importance of human angle in this whole business.

As a coder, as a project manager or as a business analyst or any role, you have to understand all stake holders carefully and you have to know them as you know your close friends. This is a critical success factor which none of the software engineering books teaches you.

Also, we run behind the technology and processing power and turn-around-time of various business processes on our systems, but we often neglect the human part. Stupid, it is not about technology. It is more about the people involved. It is more about staying one step ahead of these people and this can happen only when you know them as your friends.

The whole software business is very much perception based. The success of any project or any new enhancement depends on all stakeholders involved. I do not think there is any method which can clearly document all the aspects in writing of what user wants. And nobody can guarantee that user's mind will not change after sending that last requirement specification document in the e-mail.

I find requirement gathering similar to like asking somebody how you would like your chicken biryani to taste? Just try to answer it yourself and imagine how software guys make user's life difficult. However, a good chef knows how to make a good chicken biryani after asking may be 2-3 questions or just by knowing back ground of the client.

So, the trick is to be the chef one who knows how the chicken biryani should taste!!! Sooner you know this, higher you go otherwise your manager will keep writing 'work on customer satisfaction' in every appraisal report.