Market Research Analysts Required

Happy New Year 2011

Happy Diwali!

Prima in Indus! Cathedral School Stamp to be released by the President today.

The 19th Common Wealth Games - the way forward for India?

Last evening I watched Prince Edward, patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation, formally declare the 19th CWG closed. Before that, The Commonwealth Games Federation President Michael Fennell paid handsome tributes to Delhi for "delivering an exceptional Games".

I had been tracking the slow and lacklustre progress of the Delhi CWG infrastructure development over the past 7-8 years since the Chief Executive Officer of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Mr David (Sandy) Hollway first visited Mumbai and discussed the subject with Indian Industry. All said and done Indian athletes and sports persons came out with flying colors. The way forward will require more sports infrastructure to be set up all over India. Just Delhi is not enough.

At a meeting with the London Business School in Mumbai last month, Mr. Nirmalya Kumar, Professor Of Marketing, disagreed with me that Indian Sports and Athletics had globalised. He said that India had not made its mark on the world map in this sphere so far. I hope that my stand is now vindicated.

• India finished a historic second in the CWG Gold Medal haul with 38 against UK's 37 only.
• India finished 3rd in the overall medals tally with 101, being a record medal haul of 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals.
• The main haul of these 101 medals came from the shooting range, wrestling mat, boxing ring, archery range and, to everyone’s surprise, the track and field events, to provide the country with a reasonably strong sports foundation on which to build a more powerful edifice on.
• Rifle-shooting ace Gagan Narang, from Hyderabad won Gold
• Teenage woman archer Deepika Kumari, daughter of an auto-rickshaw driver won Gold
• Haryana provided India’s first track and field event gold medal in 52 years when Krishna Poonia led a clean sweep of the women’s discus throw, Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil winning the silver and bronze.
• The women’s 4x400m relay squad also struck an unexpected gold. The team comprised of Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose, Ashwini Akkunji and Mandeep Kaur.
• Saina Nehwal, brought down two gold medals which were vital to help India push England to the third place
• The men’s hockey team made history by making it to the final for the first time and won silver.
• The wrestling contingent were not far behind winning 19 medals in the 21 designated event. Among the 19 medals, there were 10 gold, five silver and four bronze medals.
• Sushil Kumar won gold
• The women wrestlers participating in the Games for the first time stole the show with a memorable performance. In the six events for women, India won three gold, two silver and a bronze medal to show their supremacy in the freestyle category. The trio of Alka Tomar, Geeta and Anita won their final bouts with ease, while Babita Kumari and Nirmala Devi won silver.
• Krishna Poonia created history by breaking India’s 52-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medal jinx by winning the yellow metal in women’s discus throw with the event also setting a record of first with the country sweeping all the medals. Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil bagged silver and bronze respectively. Poonia also became the first Indian woman to bag a Commonwealth Games gold after ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh won the men’s 440 yards race in 1958 edition in Cardiff, Wales.
• Kavita Raut, a 25-year-old girl from a poor family at a non-descript village at Nashik district in Maharashtra who opened the medal floodgates for India by winning a bronze in women’s 10,000m race and she later said she took to athletics as she can run barefooted.
• Boxers won three titles - through Suranjoy Singh (52kg), Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Paramjeet Samota (+91kg). The four bronze medals were won by Amandeep Singh (49kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg), Dilbag Singh (69kg) and Vijender Singh (75kg).

We have beaten Australia at Cricket. Our golfers are doing well too. When officials from the Ministry of Youth Affairs &  Sports of India visited Mumbai on July 30th, 2010, to promote Delhi's newly developed sports infrastructure and stadiums for post CWG usage opportunities, I couldn't help but recollect Madhu Sapre's response at the 41st Miss Universe pageant, which was held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Bangkok, Thailand on May 8, 1992.







The response was unconventional and probably did cost her the crown. But then has India learn't its lesson? Will our leaders deliver or then will Madhu's remain a dream? In her own words on leadership appreciation.....







......Is the present Mrs. Gandhi listening?

What next.....?

Lets start looking for good architects and create a structural wonder. Good time to build a multi-religious, multi-era, multi-cultural monument as a house of peace and prayer for all. Let the past RIP.

Help us try and solve our car parking problems

Increase in purchasing power has resulted in an exponential growth in demand for, and the use of LCVs & Two-wheelers. This growth has caused an equal demand for parking spaces. Close to eight lakh cars are sold in India every year, growing at an average of 10% p.a. Each year five million two-wheelers are being added at an astounding 15%. Though the growth reflects the growing wealth of Indians, both material and monetary, cities are rapidly losing comfortable space in which to move about. What’s more, the problem has now shifted into tier II and tier III towns where infrastructure development is still weak.

Advanced Strategies (www.astrategies.com/astrategies.pdf) and the Abhyas program (www.abhyas.org) have engaged summer interns Gagan Kumar Singh and Santosh Manshiramani of the Sadhana Centre for Management Leadership & Development, Pune (www.scmld.org - beyond conventional management programs) to work on a research paper.

Responding to these questions will be your contribution to our ongoing efforts to create a collaborative dialogue, and combine efforts to find solutions that meet the increasing need of parking, as well as to formulate policies and regulations for the creation and use of parking space. These questions are targeted at residents of Mumbai and Pune, as these cities are being covered for the study at present. Thank you for your kind co-operation.


Click on link http://tinyurl.com/2vy77co

Goodbye `Arnold' Gary Coleman!

If more people were for people ....

How did Thailand come to this?

Wednesday, 19 May 2010
By Vaudine England  BBC News, Bangkok  

 

Three months ago, Bangkok appeared to be a successful South East Asian capital city - now government troops and anti-government protesters are fighting in the streets. The BBC's Vaudine England considers how it came to this.

Huge and thriving, Bangkok has long been seen - and seen itself - as a great city. But now there is blood on the streets.

It is hard to imagine how Thailand got to this - and how it will manage to recover.

One explanation is simply that a crazed rabble of poor people came to the city from the under-developed north, flaunting their love for a former prime minister - Thaksin Shinawatra - and being paid to do so.

Another vision talks of class war and a peoples' uprising, as the masses rise up on the barricades.

The reality lies somewhere in between and can only be understood by a brisk walk through Thailand's recent political history.

It is easy to speak of the 18 new constitutions in the past half-century, and the many coups. It is hard for people living in more settled countries to imagine that level of uncertainty about the basic rules of the political game.

Whatever version of the recent past is chosen, neither violence nor a death-defying commitment to democracy is unusual in Thai politics

Absolute monarchy only gave way to constitutional rule in 1932 and the play of power between the old feudal system, the military and various democratic forces has been fought out ever since, often with fatal consequences.

Certain big dates stand out: 1973, 1976, 1992, 2006 and now 2010.

Thailand's overwhelming image as a Land of Smiles - as a fantasy land of sun, sea, sex and surgery - has been carefully crafted.

It has seduced many, outsiders and Thais, into believing a façade of stability where there was perhaps more a papering over the cracks.

That paper is now badly torn. Deep-seated fissures, long in existence, can no longer be ignored.

If nothing else, commentators agree, the red-shirts have achieved that much.
Bloody history

Thailand lived under variations of military rule most of the time since the 1932 constitution, during World War II, into the 1970s.

On 14 October 1973, more than 70 protesters were killed and 800 were injured when troops opened fire on huge demonstrations held in support of pro-democracy students.

The then military government collapsed; a new constitution and new elections in six months followed.

On 26 September 1976, two students were garrotted and hanged, allegedly by police. Thousands of students gathered in their support and against military rule.

Two weeks later, on 6 October, that tension exploded into the killing by soldiers, police and right-wing mobs of at least 46 people. Students said many more died.

This moment marked the end of a democratic period, and caused parts of a generation to flee to the hills, joining a communist movement which was later decimated.

Troops on the streets of Bangkok in May 1992 Street fighting in 1992 left scores of people dead

By 1980, Gen Prem Tinsulanonda was appointed prime minister after a fellow general had ruled for three years following an October 1977 coup.

Gen Prem is now chairman of the Privy Council, and a target of red-shirt ire for what they claim was his role in the 2006 coup.

Coups and wobbly coalition governments led by appointed prime ministers carried Thailand into 1992, when Chamlong Srimaung led protests against the choice of Gen Suchinda Kraprayoon as prime minister.

King Bhumiphol Adulyadej famously called the two men into his presence to end fighting on the streets in mid-May that year, which had left scores dead, many injured and more than 2,000 people missing.
Back to future

Elections in September 1992 produced a Democrat-led coalition, with Chuan Leekpai as prime minister.

Thaksin Shinawatra proved very popular but highly divisive

Two years later, a telecommunications tycoon called Thaksin Shinawatra made his political debut, under the wing of Mr Chamlong.

In 1995, Mr Chamlong led his Palang Dharma party out of the coalition, causing the Chuan government to fall. Mr Thaksin was deputy prime minister in the next government.

Two coalition governments later, General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh was prime minister - he is now chairman of Mr Thaksin's Peua Thai Party.

The 1997 economic crisis brought back the Democrats under Mr Chuan. But elections in January 2001 gave Mr Thaksin a resounding win.

Mr Thaksin used this to accrue wealth and power across a range of Thai institutions. He earned a shocking human rights record and quashed the free press, but poured money into rural areas usually starved of attention.

In elections in 2005 he again won by a landslide, with the highest voter turnout in Thai history. He called another, snap, election in 2006, which the Democrat opposition boycotted. His win was ruled invalid by the constitutional court on 8 May 2006.

Plans for elections in October were foiled by the 19 September coup in 2006. Since then, two Thaksin-allied governments have been elected and stymied by court actions, leading to the current Democrat government, elected by another vote in parliament, not a general election.

Determining whether current troubles are sudden and shocking, or in fact an outgrowth of a long history of conflict - discussion of which has been suppressed by censorship and strict lese majeste laws - all depends on where you choose to start.

Whatever version of the recent past is chosen, neither violence nor a death-defying commitment to democracy is unusual in Thai politics.

How does HRM compare with ARM?

My newly hired office manager!

Prahalad’s core competence lay in big ideas

The guru of the bottom of the pyramid

Apr 22nd 2010      from www.economist.com

COIMBATORE KRISHNARAO PRAHALAD, universally known as C.K., was the most creative management thinker of his generation. He revolutionised thinking on two big subjects, business strategy and economic development, and made a significant contribution to a third, innovation. His admirers were legion, including bosses of some of the world’s biggest companies, heads of NGOs and founders of scrappy start-ups.

Mr Prahalad burst onto the management scene with two path-breaking articles in the Harvard Business Review, “Strategic Intent” (1989) and “The Core Competence of the Corporation” (1990), and a bestselling book, “Competing for the Future” (1996), all co-written with his former pupil, Gary Hamel. “Core competence” remains one of the most frequently reprinted articles ever published by Harvard Business Review.

Mr Prahalad shifted the focus of strategic thinking dramatically. He believed firms should seek not simply to position themselves well within their existing markets but to capitalise on their advantages to redefine markets in their favour. That, he argued, involves identifying and developing strengths, such as logistics or miniaturisation, that cannot easily be imitated by competitors. Firms should then “stretch” those skills to the maximum, setting themselves ambitious and industry-transforming goals, and using those goals to galvanise their workers. He cited a long list of successful Japanese companies, such as Sony, Canon and Komatsu, which had done just that.

Mr Prahalad was particularly struck by the ability of these firms to harness the ideas of their humbler employees. And, later in his career, he became increasingly fascinated by innovation. He argued that company-centric innovation was giving way to “co-creation”, in which firms collaborate with their customers and business allies. He also shifted his attention to the legion of small businesses that were redefining the corporate world.

Mr Prahalad’s work on strategy and innovation turned him into a superstar. He sat on the board of several prominent companies, including Hindustan Unilever and Pearson (which is a part-owner of The Economist), and worked as a consultant for others, including AT&T, Citigroup, Oracle and Philips. He subjected these corporate titans to often coruscating questions about their ability to “compete for the future”. He commanded huge speaking fees and lived in grand houses in Michigan and California.

But his native India always tugged at Mr Prahalad’s heartstrings. He was a leading member of Indus Entrepreneurs, a self-help group for Indian entrepreneurs. He was haunted by the contrast between the rich world he inhabited and the poor world he had grown up in. This led him to veer off in a radically new direction―and to produce perhaps his most thought-provoking book. “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits” (2004) was a counterblast against two types of intellectual laziness: that of corporate titans who were ignoring the bulk of humanity and that of humanitarians who regarded profit as a dirty word. He argued that the world’s poor represented trillions of dollars’ worth of pent-up spending power. And he demonstrated that a legion of innovative companies in the developing world, including several in his native India, were learning how to turn these people into paying customers.

The book proved to be perfectly timed. Companies were waking up to the fact that technological innovation and economic reform were opening up new markets in poorer countries. Firms from those countries were growing in confidence. And academics were recognising the limits of their state-sponsored view of development. Mr Prahalad was lionised in the emerging markets, particularly in India, and hailed by corporate philanthropists, notably Bill Gates. The United Nations gave him a seat on its commission on the private sector and development.

What made Mr Prahalad such a creative thinker? And why was he able to keep reinventing himself when his fellow gurus were happy to trot out the same ideas for ever-rising lecture fees? For all his success, he was an outsider in the American-dominated world of management theory. He was one of nine children of one of Chennai’s leading judges and Sanskrit scholars, and spent a formative period in his youth working for Union Carbide, an American chemicals firm which later became infamous for the deadliest industrial accident in history, at a factory in India.

This outsider’s view went hand in hand with intellectual restlessness. Mr Prahalad invariably worked with a collaborator and never wrote more than two articles on the same subject. This gave his work an unfinished air. He did not revisit the idea of “core competences” in the light of the poor performance of some of the Japanese Godzillas he once worshipped, nor the idea of “stretch” in the wake of the epidemic of over-leveraging. Nor did he provide a satisfactory reply to critics who argued that the real promise of emerging markets lay in the middle of the pyramid.

Preaching, not practicing

This impatience led to one of the few failures of Mr Prahalad’s otherwise gravity-defying career. In 2000 he co-founded a software company, Praja, which was meant to act as a test bed for his ideas, particularly his commitment to bringing information to ordinary people. Instead, it ate up millions of his own dollars and was sold off two years later. He concluded that he was no good at the “blocking and tackling” that fills most managers’ days.

But then Mr Prahalad’s core competence lay in big ideas rather than in dotting the “i”s and crossing the “t”s. He taught the world’s biggest companies to think of themselves anew, as a “portfolio of competencies” rather than as a “portfolio of businesses”. He taught everyone to see the developing world not as an also-ran but as a vortex of innovation and creativity. The world of management theory has more than its fair share of charlatans, but C.K. Prahalad was the genuine article.

Copyright © 2010 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved.

Angklung

The CII Indonesia event last evening was classy & truly `Remarkable'. I was quite impressed by their Angklung Orchestra and thought I should share this link, which is not of the orchestra that performed last evening, the latter which was greatly impressive.

Remembering CK.

"Be concerned about due process. People seek fairness, not favours... They often don’t even mind if decisions don’t go their way as long as the process is fair & transparent."



It was great knowing you CK. Thanks for the time spent, thanks for the guidance, thanks for your wisdom and thanks for being you. However the urgent has always driven out the important and the future continues to remain, largely, unresolved!

Climate change and decline of social responsibility

The two subjects, ‘Climate Change’ and the decline of social responsibility are connected. Some important questions raised with reference to these areas are:

i. How do we take appropriate action to prevent billions of hectares of land that may recede in their nutritional value?

ii. How do we prevent the huge wastage of water that is already a reality?

iii. How do we prevent the waste of food and aspire to achieve more food productions?

Equally important as ‘Climate Change’ is economic change. For instance, it is projected that there will be 9 billion people on the earth reaching out towards a growth that should be inclusive. These aspirations need resources for future sustainability. Printing money and harbouring ambitions of high GDP growth cannot achieve this. Printed money cannot be thought of as a true resource. The resources provided by the earth and their proper allocation is what constitutes true resources. For instance, the newspapers of 22nd March 2010 reported that the IPL is allocating 3550 crores towards its growth. This money will be borrowed from the banks and the banks will provide this money in what they call the ‘incremental credit growth’. Can this be labeled as a productive allocation of resources? This is true of the ESOPs, which are shed on the future generations. This burden is also a result of printing money. The two culprits are asset inflation and the obsession with GDP growth.

(my guide and guru Mr. Chandrakant Sampat shared this with me and I thought that I should reiterate what he said and inturn share it with you)

SUCCESS DOES NOT HAPPEN IN ISOLATION

There was a farmer who grew superior quality and award-winning corn.

Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won honour and prizes.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learnt something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbours'.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbours when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir, "said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior, sub-standard and poor quality corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn.

If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbours grow good corn."

The farmer gave a superb insight into the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbour's corn also improves. So it is in the other dimensions!

Those who choose to be at harmony must help their neighbours and colleagues to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well. The value of a life is measured by the lives it touches.

SUCCESS DOES NOT HAPPEN IN ISOLATION. IT IS VERY OFTEN A PARTICIPATIVE AND COLLECTIVE PROCESS.

So share the good practices, ideas, new learning's with your family, team members, neighbours.

Chile Earthquake 27-Feb-10

I had the pleasure of meeting Ex-President Ricardo Lagos of Chile and the delegation with him to India in 2005. My prayers for strength to Chilean acquaintances and hope for a speedy recovery.

Economist Chile Earthquake click here

Budget 2010

BUDGET 2010

1. ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
1. Indian Economy is in a much better position than the previous year
2. Economy can achieve GDP growth rate of 10% in the coming financial year also
3. Significant private investment inflow is also expected to boost GDP growth rate.
4. The Economic Survey not only suggested the continuation of stimulus for the export sector, but also suggested a further reduction in the excise duty for related industries.
5. According to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, economy is to grow over 7.5% this fiscal and 8% next fiscal.

2. FISCAL POLICIES
1. Fiscal deficit target at 5.5 per cent for FY11
2. FY10 fiscal deficit revised to 6.9 per cent of GDP
3. Rs 25000 cr disinvestment target this year.
4. Rollback in excise duty to 10%
5. Govt announces partial rollback in excise duty

3. INFRASTRUCTURE
1. Rs 1,73,552 crore provided for infrastructure development
2. Rs 950 cr more for Railways
3. Road development hiked to Rs 19894 Crs
4. Rs 1.73 lakh Crs, which is 46% of total plan outlay, reserved for infrastructure development
5. Need to improve food security and healthcare systems

4. BANKING LICENSES
1. Additional banking licenses to private players
2. Rs 16,500 crore allocated as capital support for PSU banks
3. Government will provide further capital to strengthen the RRBs so that they can have adequate capital base.
4. RBI may give banking licenses to Pvt cos and NBFCs

5. AGRICULTURE
1. Budget focuses on agriculture and farmers. Fertilizer subsidy will be reduced
2. Rs 300 cr proposed for Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
3. 4 pronged strategy for agriculture
4. 2 per cent loan subsidy for farmer loans
5. Extend loan payments for calamity hit farmers
6. Rs.200 crore provided for sustaining the gains already made in the green
7. Revolution areas through conservation farming

6. FOOD PROCESSING
1. Five mega food parks to be set up
2. Development of food processing sector by providing infrastructure
3. Pvt sector to meet food grain storage deficit

7. PETROLEUM AND DIESEL PRICING POLICY
1. Fuel prices likely to go up
2. Excise duty on petrol and diesel raised to Rs 1/litre
3. To restore 7.5% duty on petrol and diesel.
4. To restore 5% duty on crude petroleum

8. INVESTMENTS
1. Calculation of indirect foreign investment in Indian companies defined clearly.
2. Significant private investment
3. inflow expected to boost GDP
4. Rs 2400 Crs allocated for MSMEs
5. Liberalization of pricing and payment of technology transfer fee and
6. Trademark, brand name and royalty payments

9. FOCUS ON CLEAN ENERGY AND INDUSTRIES
1. Establishment of National Clean Energy Fund
2. Grant of 200 cr to Tamil Nadu Textiles
3. Rs 500 cr for clean Ganga
4. Food security bill draft ready

10. EDUCATION
1. 1 Increase allocation in school education to 31,036 cr
2. 2. States will have access to Rs.3,675 crore for elementary education
3. under the Thirteenth Finance Commission grants for 2010-11.

11. POWER AND ENERGY
1. Allocation to power sector doubled to Rs 5,130 crore
2. Rs 5000 cr allocated for solar hydro projects in Ladakh region
3. NREGA allocation 40,100 cr
4. Double plan allocation for power sector
5. Allocation of Rs 1900 cr for UID project.

12. RURAL AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
1. Rs 61,000 cr for rural development
2. Rs 12,000 crore relief to drought affected region of Bundelkhand
3. Banks for villages with a population of 200
4. Rs 5400 Crs allocated for urban development
5. 25% of plan allocation for rural infrastructure
6. Rs 48000 Crs for Bharat Nirman
7. Indira Awaz Yojana allocation Rs 10,000 cr

13. DIRECT TAX
1. Individual

TAX RATE	NEW TAX SLABS	INCOME	TAX SAVING
Exempted Income	160000	Rs 4 Lakh	Rs 10300
10%	160001 – 500000	Rs 5 Lakh	Rs 20600
20%	500001 – 800000	Rs. 7 Lakh	Rs 41200
30%	800001 and above	Rs 10 Lakh	Rs 51500
Income upto Rs 1.9 Lakh and Rs 2.4 lakh exempted in the case of women and senior citizens, respectively. The Budget 2010 also offers an annual deduction of Rs 20,000 towards an investment in long-term infrastructure bonds, on top of whatever 80C deduction a taxpayer might have taken.

2. Corporate
1. Surcharge reduced to 7.5% from 10%
2. MAT rate rised to 18% from 15%
3. GST will be implemented next year
4. Direct Tax code by Apr 2011

14. INDIRECT TAX
1. Petroleum
1. Customs duty on crude petroleum is being increased from Nil to 5%.
2. Customs duty on Motor Spirit (petrol) and HSD (diesel) is being increased from 2.5% to 7.5%.
3. Customs duty on some other specified petroleum products is being increased from 5% to 10%.

2. Precious Metals
1. Customs duty on serially numbered gold bars (other than tola bars) and gold coins is being increased from Rs.200 per 10 gram to Rs.300 per 10 gram.
2. Customs duty on other forms of gold is being increased from Rs.500 per 10 gram to Rs.750 per 10 gram.
3. Customs duty on silver is being increased from Rs.1000 per kg to Rs.1500 per kg.
4. Customs duty on platinum is being increased from Rs.200 per 10 gram to Rs.300 per 10 gram.
5. The above change in rates would also be applicable when gold, silver and platinum (including ornaments) are imported as personal baggage.

3. Additional Duty Of Customs Of 4 % (Special CVD)
1. Goods imported in pre-packaged form and intended for retail sale and certain specified goods namely, ready-made garments, mobile phones and watches are being provided an outright exemption from additional duty of customs of 4%.
2. In addition, outright exemption from this duty is also being provided to Carbon Black Feedstock, waste paper and paper scrap.
3. The existing exemption by way of refund would continue on other items.

4. Food/Agro Processing
1. Project imports status is being granted to the initial setting up or substantial expansion of, a cold storage, cold room (including farm pre-coolers) for preservation or storage or an industrial unit for processing of agricultural, apiary, horticultural, dairy, poultry, aquatic & marine produce and meat.
2. These projects would attract concessional rate of basic customs duty of 5%.
3. Project imports status is being granted to installation of Mechanized Handling Systems & Pallet Racking Systems, in mandis or warehouses for food grains and sugar, with concessional rate of basiccustoms duty of 5%.
4. Such systems are also being exempted from additional duty of customs (CVD) and special additional duty of customs.
5. Truck Refrigeration units for the manufacture of refrigerated vans/trucks is being fully exempted from basic customs duty. Such units are already exempt from excise duty.
6. Basic customs duty is being reduced from 7.5% to 5% on specified agricultural machinery such as paddy transplanter, laser land leveler, cotton picker, reaper-cum-binder, straw or fodder balers, sugarcane harvesters, track used for manufacture of track-type combine harvester etc.

5. Agriculture/Horticulture
1. Basic customs duty on long pepper is being reduced from 70% to 30%.
2. Basic customs duty on ‘asafoetida’ (heeng) is being reduced from 30% to 20%.
3. Full exemption from basic customs duty is being provided to bio-polymer/bio-plastics (HS Code 39139090) used for manufacture of bio-degradable agro mulching films, nursery plantation & flower pots.

6. Capital Goods
1. Mono Rail Projects for urban transport are being granted project imports status under Heading No. 98 01 and would accordingly attract concessional rate of 5% basic customs duty.
2. Tunnel Boring machine for hydro-electric power projects is being fully exempted from basic customs duty with Nil CVD.
3. Concessional rate of customs duty of 5% presently available upto 06.07.2010 on specified machinery for tea, coffee and rubber plantation is being extended upto 31.03.2011. Excise duty exemption is also being re-introduced on these items upto 31 .03.2011.
4. Specified road construction machinery items are presently fully exempt from customs duty subject to specified conditions. Sale or disposal of such machinery items at depreciated value is being allowed on payment of customs duties on depreciated value at the rates applicable at the time of import subject to specified conditions.

7. Concessions To Environment-Friendly Items
1. Full exemption from basic customs duty and special additional duty of customs is being extended to specified parts namely, batteries including battery chargers, electric motors and AC or DC motor controllers imported for manufacturing all categories of electrical vehicles including cars, two wheelers and three wheelers (like Soleckshaw).
2. These parts will attract CVD of 4%. The concession is subject to actual user condition. This concession will be available till 31 .03.2013.
3. A concessional rate of basic customs duty of 5% is being provided to machinery items, instruments, appliances required for initial setting up of solar power generation projects or facilities.
4. These items have been exempted from CVD also by way of excise duty exemption provided to them.
5. Ground source heat pump (for geo-thermal energy applications) is being fully exempted from basic customs duty and special additional duty of customs.

8. Health Sector
1. At present, medical equipments attract varying rates of customs duty and are spread over many lists. This multiplicity of rates is being done away with and now all medical equipments (with some exceptions) will attract 5% basic customs duty, 4% CVD/excise duty and Nil special additional duty of customs [i.e. effective duty of 9.2%].
2. Parts required for the manufacture and accessories of medical equipment will also attract 5% concessional basic customs duty with Nil special CVD.
3. Concessional customs duty available to spares for the maintenance of medical equipment is being withdrawn except in specified cases.
4. Full exemption from basic customs duty and CVD/excise duty is being retained for specified medical devices (exempt by description) as well as for assistive devices, rehabilitation aids and other goods for disabled (List 41).
5. Cobalt-chrome alloys, special grade stainless steel etc. for the manufacture of orthopedic implants are being exempted from basic customs duty subject to actual user condition.

9. Electronics Hardware
1. Battery chargers and hands-free headphones are the basic accessories of mobile phones. Full exemption from basic customs duty and CVD presently available for parts, components, accessories for manufacturing of mobile handsets including cellular phones and parts thereof is being extended to parts for the manufacture of battery chargers and hands-free headphones also.
2. Full exemption from 4% special additional duty of customs presently available upto 06.07.2010 on parts, components and accessories for manufacture of mobile handsets including cellular phones, parts thereof (except accessories) is being extended to parts of two specified accessories also upto 31.03.2011.
3. Basic customs duty is being reduced from 10% to 5% on magnetrons of upto 1,000 kw for the manufacture of microwave ovens.
4. Full exemption from customs duty is being extended to additional specified capital goods and raw materials for the manufacture of electronic hardware.

10. Entertainment/Media
1. Films for exhibition are imported on cinematographic films or digital media. Digital masters/Stampers of films are also imported for duplication and distribution of CD/DVDs. It is being provided that customs duty would now be charged only on the value of the carrier medium and the customs duty on the balance value will be exempt.
2. Similar tax treatment, as provided to films above, is being extended to music and gaming software (other than pre-packaged form) for retail sale imported on digital media for duplication. Pre-packaged Movies, Music and Games (meant for use with gaming consoles) will continue to be charged to import duties on value determined in terms of the provisions of the Customs Act.
3. Promotional material like trailers, making of films etc. imported free of cost in the form of electronic promotion kits (EPK)/ Betacams are being fully exempted from basic customs duty and CVD.
4. Project imports status is being accorded to ‘Setting up of Digital Head End’ with 5% concessional basic customs duty and Nil special additional duty of customs.

11. Gold Refining
1. Gold ore and concentrate are being fully exempted from basic customs duty and special additional duty of customs.
2. CVD @ Rs.140 per 10 gram of gold content will be charged. This duty structure is subject to actual user condition.

12. Export Promotion
1. Basic customs duty on Rhodium is being reduced from 10% to 2%.
2. The current limit of Rs. 1 lakh per annum for duty free import of samples is being enhanced to Rs. 3 lakh per annum
3. At present specified components, raw materials and accessories for the manufacture of sports goods are exempt from basic customs duty. Some additional items are being added to the list of exemption.

13. Electrical Energy
1. At present, Electrical energy is fully exempt from customs duty.
2. Electrical energy supplied from a Special Economic Zone to the Domestic Tariff Area and non – processing areas of SEZ would now attract duty of 16% ad valorem + Nil Special CVD.
3. This change is being made retrospectively w.e.f. 26th June, 2009.
4. Exemption on supplies or imports of electrical energy, other than the above, would continue.

15. COMMODITIES TO BE CHEAPER & COSTLIER: BUDGET 2010-11

Costlier	Cheaper
Jewellery	Gaming softwares
Gold and Platinum	Toys
Refrigerators	CDs
Televisions	CFLs
Cement	Mobile Phones
Air Conditioners
Cigarettes
SUVs

16. MSMES

1. Extension of existing interest subvention of 2% for one more year for exports covering handicrafts, carpets, handlooms and small and medium enterprises.
2. High Level Council on Micro and Small Enterprises to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of High-Level Task Force constituted by Prime Minister.
1. Increase sub-limit to 6 percent from 4.9 percent
2. Shortage of credit
3. Need for a focused procurement policy
4. Prompt payment of MSME dues
5. Additional finances from SIDBI
6. Simplification of labour laws to prevent inspector raj
7. Formulation of a one-time settlement policy to strengthen the MSME industries
8. Remove bottlenecks in their development.
3. The corpus for Micro-Finance Development and Equity Fund doubled to Rs. 400 crore in 2010-11.
4. National Social Security Fund for unorganized sector workers to be set up with an initial allocation of Rs. 1000 crore. This fund will support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers, bidi workers etc.
5. Limits for turnover over which accounts need to be audited enhanced to Rs. 60 lakh for businesses and to Rs. 15 lakh for professions.
6. Limit of turnover for the purse of presumptive taxation of small businesses enhanced to Rs. 60 lakh.
7. To facilitate the conversion of small companies into Limited Liability Partnerships, transfer of assets as a result of such conversion not to be subject to capital gains tax.
8. To ease the cash flow position for small-scale manufacturers, they would be permitted to take full credit of Central Excise duty paid on capital goods in a single installment in the year of their receipt. Secondly, they would be permitted to pay Central Excise duty on a quarterly, rather than monthly basis.
9. Reduction in central excise duty on corrugated boxes and cartons from 8% to 4%.
10. Enhancement of weighted deduction on payments made to National Laboratories, research associations, colleges, universities and other institutions, for scientific research from 125% to 175%.

Budget 2010 hopes ...

1. FDI reforms
2. GST announcements
3. DST progress
4. Individual tax peak rate reduction from 30 to 25%
5. Divestment directions and announcements
6. Banking sector permissions to issue new instruments for infrastructure finance
7. DDT abolition
8. STT reduction
9. Increased allocation under infrastructure schemes
10. Health sector allocation increases
11. Service tax on rentals paid on immovable property removed
12. Remove customs duty and CVD on anti-cancer & HIV drugs, pass benefits to patients
13. Power single window clearance system
14. Lower and make uniform stamp duty rates for real estate
15. STPI extension by another year to allow for economic recovery
16. Telecom make uniform rate of licence fees
17. MSME incentives
18. Increased allocation for Maharashtra, Mumbai and North East India 8 states.

An impacting day ... in terms of media cover

An impacting day, in terms of media cover. The Railway Budget, found to be visionary by some, and potentially likely to lack in effective implementation by others. The killing of a Hamas leader in Dubai. Toyota's acceleration problem and related vehicle recall and fall of grace. The rhetoric in prelude to the proposed peace talks between India and Pakistan "India has the Maoists, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal tada tada tada" comparing domestic Indian Political issues with state promoted cross border terror from Pakistan. And then the scintillating ODI knock of 200 runs by Sachin Tendulkar. Well done Sachin, first saw you in 1987 at the Brabourne when you were a junior cricketer, barely higher than the stumps but thumped every possible delivery to cause a big score.

Sachin studied for a while at the Kirti M Doongursee college where his father the late Prof. Ramesh Tendulkar taught. I will be visiting the college on 26-Feb-10 and propose to reiterate this to the BMM students.

And then I read the following, very apt in the present context of the way things are; the globalisation of the ideology & justification of murder.

"Obviously the present crisis throughout the world is exceptional, without precedent. There have been crises of varying types at different periods throughout history- social, national, political. Crises come and go; economic recessions, depressions, come, get modified, and continue in a different form. We know that; we are familiar with that process. Surely the present crisis is different, is it not? It is different first because we are dealing not with money nor with tangible things but with ideas. The crisis is exceptional because it is in the field of ideation. We are quarrelling with ideas, we are justifying murder; everywhere in the world we are justifying murder as a means to a righteous end, which in itself is unprecedented. Before, evil was recognised to be evil, murder was recognised to be murder, but now murder is a means to achieve a noble result. Murder, whether of one person or of a group of people, is justified, because the murderer, or the group that the murderer represent, justifies it as a means of achieving a result that will be beneficial to man. That is we sacrifice the present for the future -and it does not matter what means we employ as long as our declared purpose is to produce a result that we say will be beneficial to man. Therefore, the implication is that a wrong means will produce a right end and you justify the wrong means through ideation.... We have a magnificent structure of ideas to justify evil and surely that is unprecedented. Evil is evil; it cannot bring about good. War is not a means to peace." ~Taken from 'The Book of Life', daily meditations with J. Krishnamurti.~

Can we have `Give Peace A Chance' replace `We are the world', as the effective mantra?

"Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude." ~Ralph Marston~

I set this blog up in 2005. The first and only post for all this time was good. It was well appreciated and stood for my beliefs. Busy with other urgencies, I did not make new posts as blogs must have regularly. I wondered what would prompt me to move forward with the blog. I wondered when the `important' would over ride the `urgencies'.

I have found a reason today.

To have an attitude of appreciation for all that I otherwise, grumble about every day. The people who surround me every day and I hackle at every opportunity with a view to enhancing their work efficiency.

One of them pointed out "Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?" ~Dennis and Wendy Mannering~

I have decided to change mine. That's because "Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude." ~Ralph Marston~

I would like to appreciate my staff and my family and their inputs to where we are all heading. "We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." ~Joseph Campbell~