vantage point

The Fountainhead - Book that changed my life

2008-11-20T17:19:00.001+05:30

Though there are number of books which have inspired me over the course of time, one book which brought a major change in my thinking and approach is “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand. History of book is a big inspiration in its own way, rejected by 12 publishers it was later hailed as one of the best novel of all times, and a philosophical phenomenon. Written in 1943, it still inspires hundreds of new readers and old acquaintances with a revived eagerness and curiosity. Every reading gives you a new vigour to stand by your ambitions.

The Fountainhead, a fictional work focuses on the life of Howard Roark, an exceptional young architect who fights evil in the form of whole society but refuses to give away the supreme confidence in the his artistic vision. “Roark laughs”, marks the beginning of the novel, as he is expelled from the college for his refusal to follow the designs of the old masters. Roark later explains the indifference in this way:

“Here are my rules: what can be done with one substance must never be done with another. No two materials are alike. No two sites on earth are alike. No two buildings have the same purpose. The purpose, the site, the materials determine the shape. A building is alive, like a man. Its integrity is to follow its own truth, its one single theme, and to serve its own single purpose. A man doesn't borrow hunks of its soul. Its maker gives it the soul and every wall, window and stairway to express it.”

As the plot unfolds Roark sees himself fighting his second hander and a vacuous classmate, Peter Keating who rises to fame using his connections along with copied and borrowed designs. Lacking a strong identity, he seeks to construct one by taking opinions of others, lacking self-respect he seems satisfied by adulation given by others. He takes helps of Roark in major commissions. Roark fights his love, Dominique who tries every way to stop Roark from destroying himself. She considers he won’t be able to fight the evil in society and people won’t understand Roark’s architectural genius and integrity. Dominique does her bit to herd the employees of Roark to Keating’s way by marrying him. Roark also finds an enemy in the form of a clever socialist, Ellsworth Toohey who denounces his work forming a public opinion through newspaper columns. He despises Roark’s individual achievement and tricks him into a trial due to which Roark loses his job and contracts. Later, Keating takes help of Roark on a big contract, who agrees only on the promise of no change in design, which actually gets changed at the last stage due to Toohey. Roark finds the change which conflicts his visions and dynamites the building. He goes to trial with public opinion completely against him. He finds a lone friend in the form of Gail Wynand, a newspaper owner who bets his business to protect Roark. Roark appears before the jury and speaks these famous words:

“Man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. Animals obtain food by force. Man has no claws, no fangs, no horns, no great strength of muscle. He must plant his food or hunt it. To plant, he needs a process of thought. To hunt, he needs weapons, and to make weapons—a process of thought. From this simplest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from a single attribute of man—the function of his reasoning mind.
But the mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. There is no such thing as a collective thought. An agreement reached by a group of men is only a compromise or an average drawn upon many individual thoughts. It is a secondary consequence. The primary act—the process of reason—must be performed by each man alone. We can divide a meal among many men. We cannot digest it in a collective stomach. No man can use his brain to think for another. All the functions of body and spirit are private. They cannot be shared or transferred.”

He is acquitted and becomes one of the best architects.

Character of Howard Roark through the idea self-fulfilment—not through acceptance by society, but through acceptance of himself, gives an individualistic point of view. Considered uncompromising and egotistical, he actually lives to serve mankind by serving himself first and foremost. He lives to his fullest ability and loves men when they do the same. As Roark explains, the egotist "does not exist for any other man – and he asks no other man to exist for him."

Ayn Rand’s work gives a highly rational, incredible and inspiringly uplifting vision which tells you that you have no meaning in life without your dreams. There is a powerful message in it. It tells you life is not about anguish and pain, but about success and exaltation. It asks you to understand your power and achieve your goals. It inspires you to stay put on all the dreams and aspirations in spite of adversities and hardships faced during the course of it. It gives you the conviction to do better, to rise higher and go where you have never gone before. It challenges the inane thoughts of “Who is happy?” and "Enjoy yourself while you're young, because when you grow up, life is not fun, life is a burden". It says achievement is possible, happiness is possible. It validates the individual and the power of the individual human mind. It proves through a story based on our ages that people who struggle, suffer, work hard and find success, actually find happiness, same happiness which a kid finds when he learns to speak, walk after a trying numerous times. The Fountainhead is a celebration of human worth and a vision that upholds all the positive possibilities in his life.

US Recession - Fears that are engulfing India

2008-06-24T15:59:00.005+05:30

Okay, this won me a First prize in my company for Blog Writing..!! A copy from company's official blog:

Every morning, we wake up and read yet another article on the Business Page of newspapers on ‘Has US slipped into Recession?’ We see yet another disappointing data coming out from American economy. While Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke may deny it in a technical sense, Warren Buffet says ‘by common sense definition’ US economy is already in recession. The signs are there to see- Jobless claims have been highest in recent times and eighty thousand job cuts this quarter makes the figure even worst, Manufacturing has declined by 5.3 percent, some investment banks have gone bust, other have suffered huge loss. Bernanke has already confessed “No or a little growth expected in first half of 2008”. GDP projection for financial year of 2008-09 at 0.5% makes the calls of deadly ‘R’ word even stronger, the only question is ‘For how long?’

What’s a Recession?

Recession in technical terms is defined as a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales. A recession begins just after the economy reaches a peak of activity and ends as the economy reaches its trough.

It all started with Subprime Mortgage crisis with the bursting of US Housing bubble. High default rates and other adjustable rate mortgages (loans) were made to higher-risk borrowers with lower income or lesser credit history than “prime” borrowers. Long term profits and rising house prices lured borrowers assuming that they will be able to repay the mortgages later on as the property prices rise. However, as the housing boom started cooling down borrowers panicked and it became highly difficult to pay back the mortgages, many of them defaulted. As a result of that Mortgage Lenders (mostly Banks) started getting affected. Many of these lenders had given the rights to the mortgage payments and related credit/default risk to third-party investors via various securities (MBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDO), these securities were given very high ratings by various agencies such as S & P due to the high returns in last few years. Corporate, individual and institutional investors holding MBS or CDO suffered significant losses, as the value of the underlying mortgage assets declined. Some of the investment banks dependent on MBS went bankrupt, later bailed out by governments, major examples- Northern Rock, Bear Stearns (bought by JP Morgan Chase later with the help of Federal Reserve) and other reported major losses. Shares of investment banks declined suddenly (Bear Stearns share price reduced from 60$ to 2$ in a day). Stock markets in many countries declined significantly due to panic created and many investors suffered major losses which led to a ‘liquidity crunch in stock markets’. Subprime Mortgage crisis also led to downward pressure on GDP growth as there was less investment due to high interest rate and panic. There was a dynamic downturn in housing prices in many areas which made situation worse. Responding to ‘liquidity crunch’ Federal Reserve reduced interest rate gradually from 5.25% to 2.25% which led to more deprecation of US currency. As the cliché goes, whenever the US sneezes, the world catches a cold; this has led to lower earnings of trading partners which depend on US imports. On the other hand US exports have strengthened due to more money they are getting from stronger currencies. Foreign firms dependent on US currency are showing relatively lesser profits leading to low share prices and more job cuts.

Bad News

The general viewpoint of ‘Decoupling’ (American recession not having any impact on East) can true in a broader sense, but it is a plain rhetoric when it comes to specific sectors. Indian exporters, especially IT Industry have felt biggest pinch with deeper cuts in their pockets. This crisis has created a ripple effect and it might take some time before things get back to normal. Lakshmi Narayanan NASSCOM chairman says “The current situation is not temporary”. There are three major concerns in front of Industry now:

1. Decrease in IT spending by US:

With American companies accounting for 60-70% of IT spending coming to India, sector is facing major troubles due to reduction in spending due to slump. December report on Indian tech sector by Morgan Stanley states that uncertainty in United States may delay tech spending in the first half of 2008. While Product based companies will largely remain unaffected, companies having large accounts providing financial services will be seriously impacted, with recession hit investment banks expected to cut spending on IT Infrastructure. Lehman Brothers has already closed an Indian based Mortgage Capital Division, in turn closing a big account in one of the major IT Company.

2. Dollar weakening:

With US growth rate slowing down, Dollar has seen gradual weakening against all the major currencies of world. Rupee has appreciated 15% in last 5 years and alarmingly high 11% in since January 2007. Thanks to RBI for accumulating Forex reserves, dollar has stayed above 39 Rupees otherwise, it could have fallen further. This coupled with steep salary hikes has led to lower revenues and tightening of overall margins drastically. Last year, overall operating margins reduced to 6% from average 13% in 2006 and figure can reduce further this year.

3. Threats to most preferred outsourcing destination:

Rise of China, Philippines and Malaysia, adding to great Indian Infrastructure problem and no special encouragement from local government, India’s ‘Most preferred outsourcing destination’ status is under threat. India has been taking the crown for granted and China has declared a war with an army of software engineers charging lower than their Indian counterparts. With fewer infrastructure concerns and supporting government policies they are confident to win. Quality is yet to be ascertained but they are surely taking away relatively easier work such as testing and support. On the other hand Indian Firms grappling with ‘Production worthy’ skill shortage and other domestic concerns have a major problem in hand.

Countering Bad News

Indian IT Industry can weather this storm without much concern if it is willing to apply some patches to already existing software. Following steps can prove helpful:

1. Diversifying Global Presence:

Indian companies have relied on US for far too long, diversification is need of the hour. They need to focus on other markets mainly European Union.

2. Tapping local markets:

Indian IT firms can look forward to fast growing Indian Retail, Power and Financial sectors as their next big clients. With big revenues and even bigger order books these sectors will turn to Industry for their IT needs.

3. Fighting the Infrastructure devil:

With bigger cities collapsing under weight of population and over-utilization of resources, there are still number of properly developed and well connected cities waiting for large investments by Indian Majors, Satellite cities to four metros and Bangalore being prime examples. It all depends on who makes the first move.

4. Tackling ‘Skill Shortage’:

There is an easy way out to every problem related to knowledge- ‘Spread the knowledge’. Organize “Technical trainings’, ‘Workshops’, ‘Internship Programs’ right at the college levels. There are enough graduates in country; onus is on IT Industry to make them employable.

5. Decreasing Attrition Rate:

Skilled employees are always best resources for company; they can always bring more money than what they are paid. Retaining them at a little higher cost should be a prudent option. Other creative steps which keep them attached to the Name of company should be taken.

Every cloud has a silver lining. With lesser outsourcing from Financial Sector, there is a possibility that a tighter hand of all the majors in America may propel outsourcing in other sectors. It may come slowly and with lesser budgets but can certainly prove handful. Age old saying “Don’t do different things, but do them differently” has to be brought under practice in these changing scenarios. At the end of every crisis we emerge stronger. This crisis will also help Indian IT Industry in the longer term and fittest will definitely survive.

References:

1. Financial Times: Credit Squeeze Explained

What India needs- An IIT or 10 primary Schools?

2007-08-24T19:53:00.001+05:30

One more Independence Day went by(Frankly, It was just another holiday for me,a nice break in one hectic or rather boring training schedule),our super-intelligent PrimeMinister came up with great social agendas including setting up new IIT's' and IIM's'... Yeah Nice, Isn't it? But is it really wise to talk about setting new IITs and IIMs err.. should I say USIIT(United States Indian Institute of Technologies) for the brain-drain, when our primary education system is actually frail. If you do a small survey on a current batch in IITs, 80% of students entering these premier institutions are a result of spoonfed courses given by number of institutes run by some highly paid,qualified professors. Setting up more of such central universities now will not only increase the business of such institutes but it'll also increase their success rate to 80% right now,to 90%(unbelievable isn't it!!) and inturn, it will attract other more qualified teachers to leave their respective jobs to join these institutes. (they will make more money). All those students getting success because of them belong to urban of higher middle class who can pay such huge fees and later on make money after completing course in these world famous institutes : "Rich gets richer Poor gets poorer" (where is Red bastion?).

On the other hand we can build 10 primary schools pulling some good teachers tempting them with good salaries at the cost of one single department of IIT and that is precisely the need of this hour. I am not against setting of a new IIT or IIM (it will be good for me too ;-) ) but we should get our priorities right if we have to perform well as a nation in future. Its always better to make a strong foundation and then try to make a big building on that. Instead of going for higher education straightaway we should look for a planned way to uplift primary education system which actually indirectly benefits the society more. At the same time IITs and IIMs can find some other ways to raise funds for themselves and their new siblings.
"There won't be a single vacant seat even if IITs increase their fees by 10k per semester and IIM by 1 lac per year".

WorldCup 2007 and Indian story

2007-03-24T22:49:00.000+05:30

So everyone coming out with their suggestions and propositions now after the shameful exit from the first round , and Just look at the number of people who actually thought India to win the World Cup. How can you?? I mean Patriotism is just another thing,we are just a shade better than most of the upcoming teams(not minnows) like Bangladesh, Kenya on the the International stage. There are so many impuissances in the team that an exit in first round comes as a no surprise to me or very frankly most of us. And even if they had somehow managed to enter the super-8 teams like Australia, South Africa, New Zealand would have clobbered them badly. So instead of crying over the previous loses,BCCI,concerned individuals and fans as well should take it positively as a lesson.
What India needs is some fresh blood combined with a good attitude towards the game. Making Australian team as their role model they have to work on their athleticism,attitude,team selection.. err.. virtually everything . Right now there is simply no comparison between the two teams.

If we dissect the Indian team which went for World Cup carrying our Billion hopes we would find that,that hope for a World Cup win was inconceivable and practically impossible.

Robin Uthappa- Was never tested at such big stage. Just 7,8 matches and he was drafted as an opener basically to cover up Sehwag. No wonder he failed but then we had no option with Kaifs and Rainas proving their inutility earlier.

Virender Sehwag- He played ok,or rather well. His kinda attitude was required in the SL match. Indian batsmen needed to break the shackles earlier on so that they can play Murali easily later,something called calculated risk which nobody did.

Saurav Ganguly- I personally don't see him fitting much in One day Team though he can come good in Test arena. Ganguly has a problem of playing on only one side of the wicket,he is a bad runner,fielder and a very slow starter. Opposition captains has small worries when he is on strike,make a 7-2 field,bowl an off stump channel line even at bad lengths or just short of good length and middle stump line.Ya he occupies the crease but then he does nothing else,no rotation of strike,not much attack. Which creates a pressure on non-striker and while chasing Indian team mostly succumbs to it. So he actually plays for his side in the team not for the team. He has that flair of hitting sixes later on but with all important power plays being lost by Ganguly playing full over without singles he is a waste more often than not.

Sachin Tendulkar- He is past his prime agreed but finding a replacement for him is very difficult considering the talent India has in their backyard. The X-factor which led them to trophies(small numbers) is lost now. It was mostly Sachin who took them to finals and then won one or two. With his favorite position as an opener taken by someone like Ganguly. He needs some time to fit in new position. Another excuse maybe.but Sachin is indispensable atleast right now.

Rahul Dravid- The third of the Big Three he has lost his flair of taking singles and doubles with ease. He is still a very good player. Probably the best player in the team right now, spare of those statistics that how blah blah has a better average than him.

Yuvraj Singh- He was desperately needed in SL match; He was in great nick and could have bailed India out of trouble. Sadly as often happens he was run-out. He is the captain of future Indian team. Good fielder in the side but only relatively .with others being the worst ever. He is not an outstanding or excellent and can work to improve.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni – At last India found a better a wicketkeeper-batsman and he is actually very good. He is the only “busy player” in the side who can rotate the strike with his rather unconventional shots and play some big ones as well. And he is also an intelligent cricketer.

Kumble, Harbhajhan Singh- Well so called Indian spin attack has totally lost its sheen now. They have nothing new to offer and many a times the target of opposition to score good and fast runs. They might be good in slow turners of India in test matches but for ODIs team is better off without a spinner just like South Africa and Australia.

Zaheer Khan- He is comeback well and is a very good bowler. He will surely stay and perform well for next 2-3 years.

Ajit Agarkar- Another okish fast bowler. The only one having some pace and a good fielder as well, the only good arm in Indian team. He should also stay for sometime.

Munaf Patel- A good fast bowler sans any attitude for the game. He must be the laziest cricketer at present. A very bad fielder but a good future prospect.

All said and done about the team, India seriously needs to find some good talent which is not present at the moment. They need.

1)A fast bowler who is actually fast . Australia is producing one after another Shaun Tait,Mitchell Jhonson and they have a good accurate medium fast bowler as Nathan Bracken.
2)Two or three Busy cricketers who can run fast,.field well and control the middle order by taking singles and doubles with an odd boundary here and there. Probably too much to ask but Australia has Micheal Hussey,Clarke. Sount Africa has Ashwell Prince,Justin Kemp. New Zealand has Mcmillan,Ross Taylor.Sri Lanka has found a good talent in Chamara D’silva,Dilshan,England has Peiterson,Collingwood. India has none. These player don’t play for records they have their averages in 30s ,strike rates in 80s but they play when required.
3)One or two seriously good fielders who are good at direct hits and catches. I haven’t seen a great run-out from an Indian fielder for about an year.
4)A good all-rounder like Jacob Oram,Shane Watson,Collingwood.

5) A hard-hitter with brooooaad shoulders like Hayden and Symonds who can take the attack to opposition when required.

This all won’t happen all of a sudden but if such team is built with good spirits filled with attitude it would go a long way. For the time being India are seriously lacking goods to be even among top 6 of cricketing nations.

Fans: Finally its just a game,and someone has to lose it. They played their best,did some mistakes and that costed them dearly. But Its our mistake as well,we created hoopla and expectations out of nothing.. Team was not that good.They didn't want to lose. They played their best. And comparatively They are not playing with your tax money as politicians are.. Finally its just a game,not the end of world.

Excuse for spellings of names.

PagalGuy post link- http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/725794-post424.html

Microsoft Vista and Beyond!!

2007-02-23T23:27:00.000+05:30

Windows 95 was released at the time which marked the beginning of Internet and progression of operating systems. Lines of buyers ten years ago was visibly longer than on January 30,2007 when Microsoft released its newest version Windows vista. After numerous failures,five years,spending $6 billion and two year behind schedule finally Microsoft released not so desperately awaited Vista.This is only one of many indicators reflecting the end of Microsoft era or a start of Open era. The era of youtubes and flickrs, era when email is used as storage media and documents and spreadsheets are prepared on online software. It doesn't matter which operating system you are on when most of the services are freely available on Internet. Things are changing rapidly now,open source softwares are rising. Open source are usually written by volunteers instead of a company,and so is constantly open to upgradation,enhancements and changes.Mozilla FireFox is one of the best examples,it was virtually an unknown 2 years back but now it is widely replacing Internet Explorer as default browser for all kinda surfing. Microsoft has retaliated but its not good enough. All of a sudden it has to come up with a new Internet Explorer which is all but same as its competitor,with some bugs as well. Open office the open source counterpart of Microsoft office is slowly but steadily catching up. Linux replacing whole Windows as OS as a whole will take time but not much. Most of the web-servers are already running Apache open source server. Being open these are readily available for download and in days of Internet revolution it is not really too much to ask for, is it??
During the days of Windows 98 and Windows 2000,Microsoft kept its operating system and applications on a common code,which proved to be other developers nightmare(to make a flawless software on same code as of Microsoft) but with Internet revolution now developers can write their own code and let the network be a platform rather than OS running the computer. So instead of selling it,companies developing them are finding new ways of making money like subscriptions,opening them and earning through advertisements. Ending Microsoft's monopoly immediately.
Security is another major concern for Microsoft. After windows 95 each operating system was developed by bringing some changes(usually small) in code and hence with time it was becoming more and more vulnerable to attacks. So Vista was planned to have a whole new code, it was a plan to start it with scratch to form a new and more secure operating system but due to number of failures some of the major changes were abandoned and already running behind schedule Microsoft decided to launch Vista. Within a few days researchers came out with major security bugs and many other vulnerabilities. This time,Microsoft initially planned not to open Vista's kernel to other security softwares and firewalls to improve security but after attacks from other companies of Microsoft using it as a backdoor entry into another business,Microsoft backed down and access was provided.
It is not that Microsoft is unknown to such threats,it is answering to this rise by adjusting and improving. In 2006 Microsoft struck a deal with Novell,an open source company. It is also moving into new services like Office Live,Windows Live providing online features and only recently Hotmail was renamed to Windows Live. In area of online gaming X-box Live has more than 5 million members. It is also venturing into new business like softwares for television set-top boxes,mobile phones(Windows Mobile). Zune media player in competition to I-pod being a a new hardware launch after X-box,most of you must have already heard about Microsoft mouse,keyboards and UPS. Probably its Microsoft's time to IBM way which moved to services from hardware but is Microsoft too late for that??

The Corus Burden

2007-02-21T20:21:00.000+05:30

Triumph of Tata's against Brazil's CSN (Companhia Siderurgica Nacional) in acquisition of steel major Corus is termed as a next or rather first big step in Global Indian Takeover. It may sound utterly stupid but Tata-Corus might have been more of India's nwe nationalism than a good business strategy. And consequently much hyped deal may prove to be a dead end for Tata's.
A $13.2 billion bid,when through would make company 5th largest steel maker in the world,according to an estimate this would be 9 times the largest previous acquisition of a foreign firm by and Indian company.

From all possible calculations the decision of raising the initial bid from 455 pence/share to 608 pence/share makes it a highly overvalued deal.It is even higher than price offered by Mittal steel to better performing Arcelor which was also a much larger takeover. According to Financial Times and other analysts 450-460 pence/share would have been a fair-value for Corus and anything above that would require returns from other factors and synergies. And country's new economic hero Mr. Ratan Tata must be banking upon such returns only. Tata group is relying upon benefits as a producer having its iron-ore sources,to produce cheap steel and Corus being technological partner with good access to markets,to change that cheap stell into high quality stell product. So the obvious strategy is to ship the low cost steel to Corus in Europe and that later sold off to bigger customers. Tatas have been trying a similar strategy in Singapore and Thailand off-late. But there are way too many problems to make it a success.

1) Capacity at Tata steel is very less to maximize returns at Corus. Corus can produce maximum 20 million tonnes a year,would want atleast 15-16 million tonnes from Tata steel to maximize its profits. Tata's are only producing 4-6 million tonnes at present. Even after complicated expansion plans it would take about 6 more years to reach that capacity.

2) If Tata chooses to import more iron-ore or acquire mines now,it would neutralize all the planned cost savings.

3)Corus would never find markets large enough for such high capacity. Moreover,demand for steel is going down and more so in European countries. There is no respite from China where is capacity is increasing and demand going down every month.

4) Corus is already behind its other counterparts in Europe such as Arcelor and Thyssen Krupp of Germany in terms of performance and that is the most important reason it was up for sale. Profits are slipping for past one year.

5) There are concerns over how Tata's are going to finance the acquisition. It will be a 50:50 debt-equity ratio most probably which means Tatas will have to put about $6.5 billion which would be very difficult,increasing there debt to equity ratio to 100% from 15% at present.

6) Main reason behind the deal was to decrease any vulnerability of Tata Steel being bought itself by a bigger company,but this deal makes them even more vulnerable with above mentioned problems.

It is turning out to be a big gamble for Tata's right now which might prove to be a disaster in long term.

sensex crosses Dow Jones-reality check!!!

2006-04-07T22:08:00.000+05:30

There were jubilations in sensex on 29th march,after all sensex has crossed Dow Jones industrial average index (DIJA). Riding on the back of sustained FII investments of which some 80% are questionable,sensex is touching new highs every week 11800 being the latest record. Starting of 2006 experts dismissed all speculations of even 10k and look where sensex is today,leaving all that cliche of corrections and overvaluation I would shed some light on numbers game of
"Dow vs sensex"
though Dow and sensex have same 30 stocks, the methodology to calculate Dow is different as compared to sensex. As explained in previous post about calculation of sensex sensex is calculated on the basis of market capitalization weighted method with different companies having different weightage according to their market capitalization. But Dow has a equal weightage to all 30 companies which means a more uniform method of calculation.taking an example
if infosys or BHEL goes up by 10% on a one particular day sensex will be flying high irrespective of how other stocks are performing because these stocks have a good weightage in sensex and that is what has been happening for past 4,5 months. FIIs and local mutual funds have been chasing some 100 companies which form an important part in sensex and has led sensex rocketing past 11000. This is not essentially the market sentiment with many of small cap stocks hitting their low in past 9 months. Adding to the irony all the non index stocks have negative returns.
But Dow has a better method of calculation of its index,with a consistent rise even if one or two stocks fairing highly it's equal weightage method gives more accurate results as far as index is concerned.
since there is no criteria to convert weighted index to uniformly distributed or vice-versa,comparing sensex and Dow will be stupidity, just to satisfy some inane minds of stock brokers misleading public.

sensex can definitely be compared in terms of returns on which it is way behind Dow in absolute terms,considering last year returns sensex registered a growth of 40% with Korea composite index 53% and other index of developing countries fairing quite well in high 30s.

yes,sensex is reaching a new high everyday but it is not a true representation of what is going on in markets. A deep correction may not in sight for times to come but people investing in small companies are playing with fire.

himesh.. god please save me..

2006-04-06T20:30:00.000+05:30

this person is not worth my thoughts,this pic would do...god ,help me..

comfortably numb

2006-04-03T01:19:00.000+05:30

Comfortably Numb

(Roger Waters)
Hello, is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?
Come on, now, I hear you're feeling down.
Well I can ease your pain
And get you on your feet again.
Relax, I'll need some information first.
Just the basic facts.
Can you show me where it hurts?
(David Gilmour)
There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship, smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.
When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I've got that feeling once again
I can't explain, you would not understand
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.
(Roger Waters)
Ok, just a little pinprick.
There'll be no more aaaaaaaaah!
But you may feel a little sick.
Can you stand up?
I do believe it's working, good.
That'll keep you going through the show
Come on it's time to go.
(David Gilmour)
There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship, smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.

For many fans, "Comfortably Numb" is the exemplary Pink Floyd song. The brilliant musical arrangements, haunting guitar solos, ethereal vocals and sweeping lyrics illustrate just why this band is considered one of the best in the history of rock music. Yet not only is the song an important number in the Floyd catalogue but it is also arguably one of the most important songs in the album's second half in terms of both narrative and theme.

As mentioned before, "Comfortably Numb" begins as if in answer to Pink's final question at the end of "Bring the Boys Back Home." The moody bass, gradual drums, and wavering guitars build to the song's first line as if musically representing Pink's drifting consciousness and his hazy realization of being spoken to from both outside of his mental wall and inside his physical one, the hotel room. Curiously, though, the song begins with the questions of what is for now a total stranger, one who inverts Pink's last question by asking if there's "anybody in there?" referring to both the hotel room as well as Pink's comatose state. Quite possibly mirroring Pink's own state of mind, first time listeners are often confused as to just who is speaking. Is this another of Pink's hallucinations? Is this Pink speaking to himself? Is this a real person? It's hard to say if Pink even knows, but thanks to lyrical implications as well as Roger Waters's interviews, it's safe to assume that the new speaker is a doctor who, along with Pink's manager and others, has broken into Pink's hotel room in an attempt to try and revive him for that night's concert. As Waters states, the rest of the song becomes Pink's "confrontation with the doctor," with "confrontation" taking on both senses of its meaning. It is both a meeting between the two as well as a battle as the doctor attempts to reinvigorate the indifferent Pink who just might not be ready to be resuscitated. After all, his journey to reevaluate his "fading roots" is terminated almost abruptly with the intrusion of his manager and doctor having only just begun in "Vera" and "Bring the Boys Back Home."

The verses in the first part of the song do little more than detail the doctor's initial examination of Pink, testing his awareness of himself ("just nod if you can hear me"), his emotional situation ("I hear you're feeling down"), as well as other medical generalities ("can you show me where it hurts"). What is most interesting for me about the doctor's introduction lies in the irony behind his questions rather than what is actually said. As mentioned before, his first question ironically reverses Pink's main question since "Hey You." Asking if there's "anybody in there" could very well be what Pink has wanted to hear all along: there is someone "out there," and they are trying to get behind his wall and help him. Yet in another irony, the "help" the doctor ultimately brings is far from what Pink really needs. The doctor then asks if there's "anyone home," recalling, unbeknownst to him, Pink's earlier fixation on the ideas of home. It's questionable as to whether Pink is "home," that is fully cognizant at this time, or even if he is found "home" in the brief journey back into his mind. As if calling through the haze and muddle of Pink's brain, the doctor's wavering voice finally asks Pink to show him "where it hurts" in one of the verse's most blatant ironies. For Pink, the truth is that it hurts nowhere and everywhere. That is, the pain is not physical, not something that can be pointed out, poked at, and remedied. Rather, the pain is deeply seeded within his mind and quite possibly within his very being.

Perhaps in reply to the doctor's question, Pink tries to show the origin of his suffering as best he can through his mentally entombed and drug-dulled state. As if answering "where it hurts" and "nod if you can hear me," Pink sings in the vaporous chorus that "there is no pain / you are receding." It appears his wall has fulfilled its purpose in blocking out the emotion, the feeling, and the connectivity with life outside of the mind. All is dulled for Pink; all is distant like a ship's "smoke on the horizon," an image that is as enigmatic as it is eloquent. Some might argue that the line is nothing more than a metaphor, an image conveying Pink's feelings of isolation and helplessness, as if he is adrift on the sea with help visible but equally out of reach. Others might argue that it is a childhood memory, that Pink's mind is lapsing between the present and the past as a result of being interrupted from his regression by the manager and doctor. It's even possible that the mental picture symbolically portrays the root of Pink's disorder. Ship imagery was often used by Waters to convey the departure and sacrifice of English soldiers during World War II. Many examples of this can be found in Pink Floyd's followup album, "The Final Cut," in songs such as "Southhampton Dock," which lamentingly pictures the symbolic figure of England's innocence "bravely wav[ing] the boys goodbye again" as they disembark for the war from the harbor. Applying these same ideas to "Comfortably Numb" and Pink's story, it's easy to see how the ship on the horizon could symbolize Pink's father, having gone and died in the war and constantly hovering on the horizon of his son's mind. It is also interesting to note the oceanic implications in this and the next line, both with the ship and when the doctor's voice is "only coming through in waves." Keeping in mind that water is often a maternal symbol, the mother's overprotection of Pink is also implied in the image. It was also mentioned before that water is often a symbol of the mind as well, reflecting the multiple layers and unfound depths of the human psyche. By both readings, the water (Pink's mother / mind) intensify the root icon of the ship constantly on the horizon, ultimately producing the overwhelming sense of distance and isolation. It is the story of Pink's psychosis in a single line.

From here Pink regresses back into his mind and, more specifically, the childhood memory of being sick, as previously mentioned in the analyses of "Mother" and "Nobody Home." Many fans are puzzled by this sudden mentioning of some childhood illness which, until now, has remained unmentioned throughout the album, barring the movie version of "Mother" and the implications of the "swollen hand blues" in "Nobody Home." Though I wish I could provide more specifics about this illness, there is little information to go by in the song itself. But perhaps that is what makes Pink's story so universal, so applicable to everyone in this world. Nearly all of us have been sick, and many to the point of the disorientation Pink felt as a child. Listing specifics ("I, Pink, contracted a serious case of the flu when I was 13 years old, which lasted 4 weeks and…etc.") would not only detract from the etherealness of the song but also from the universality of Pink's story. When it comes down to it, we know all that we need to know. Pink was sick as a child and the only reason he recalls that memory now is because at the present moment, he is feeling similar effects to that illness many years past. While that which is causing his "hands [to feel] just like two balloons" (most likely drugs) differs from the cause of his adolescent ailment, the feelings of disorientation are the same. By one argument, this parallel between the past and present shows what little has changed. Sure, the innocence of Young Pink has been left in the dust of experience, but the raw emotion and the impression of being lost, isolated, and without an anchor are relatively the same. It's like the meeting between old and young Pink in the movie sequence for "Is There Anybody Out There?" except this time Pink realizes that relatively nothing has changed aside from the completion of his wall. In a way the wall becomes Pink's present illness. It is that which causes him to feel disoriented, to feel incapable of any connection, even linguistic, and which prompts him to simply state that he "can't explain [and] you would not understand."

In light of this parallel between old and young Pink as well as the rest of the album, his next cry that "this is not how I am" is generally read more as blind irony rather than cognizant truth. The fact is that this IS how Pink is. He has been this way since he was a child and with the construction and completion of his wall, this is how he has remained. From what we've heard, Pink has nearly always been distant, uncommunicative, and disordered. While he might view his recent pitfalls as new developments in his life, the audience has the ability to see the story as a whole and thus conclude that these recent occurances are merely the recycled experiences of his past. Pink has been in this state before (as evidenced in the young / old parallel) and will continue to remain here until destroys his wall and progresses into life without being "comfortably numb," that is without dulling the pain and past trauma by whatever means necessary. Yet for the time being he remains "how I am" by numbing the effects of the physical world with drugs and the mental world with his wall.

After a brilliant guitar solo, the doctor is back in the second verse with a shot that will hopefully (at least for the manager and crew) revive Pink from his drug and wall induced trance. A Floyd fan simply known to me as Rob sent his suggestion on what the "pin prick" actually is. "In Comfortably Numb, when the doctor gives Pink an injection, it may not be to take away the pain. If you remember, he screams after the injection. It might be Narcan, which is an opiate antagonist often given to heroin abusers when they enter emergency rooms. It kills their high immediately. However, if they're suffering from paranoid delusions (the wall, the dictator) it would not help those." As mentioned earlier, though, the shot itself is not given to help Pink along psychologically. Rather than being the assistance he seeks, the shot is really a reflection of one of Pink's bricks. It is yet another string which controls him, keeping him "going through the show" (the concert) so that the managers and all involved continue to make a profit off of him. As Roger Waters says in his 1979 interview, "they're not interested in any of these problems, all they're interested in is how many people there are and tickets have been sold and the show must go on, at any cost, to anybody." Once again, Pink finds out that there are people "out there," yet those who find him at this time severely reinforce his wall rather than help deconstruct it.

Since the very beginning of the album, the "show" has been a metaphor for life itself. Keeping this original reading in mind, it is arguable whether the doctor's shot aids Pink's "going through the show" or hinders it. From one perspective, the shot does resuscitate him from his drug-induced stupor, which in a sense reconnects him with the physical world. Yet from another and equally valid perspective, the shot can also be said to interrupt the regression started in "Vera," thereby obstructing his metaphysical journey to reconnect with his roots and find a way out of his wall. Furthermore, one can also argue that the doctor's shot acts as a catalyst for the future emanation of Dictator Pink, in a way freeing the crazed self that has been locked away for so long in his subconscious. Or could it be, by that first reading, that the rise of Dictator Pink is imminent and that the shot not only quickened the fascist self's fruition but also the subsequent epiphany that destroys Pink's wall? Just as these varying viewpoints are debatable, the ensuing questions are likewise unanswerable.

Pink enters the song once again with the second chorus, this time recounting that as a child he "caught a fleeting glimpse / out of the corner of my eye." While I wish I was able to provide some lyrical certainty, especially after the problematic questions just posed, I am unfortunately unable to fully define what this "fleeting glimpse" is. Such is the joy of literary interpretation, though. That "fleeting glimpse" is any number of things for each and every one of us. One could reason that as a child Pink saw the world as it really was, warts and all, as the saying goes. Much like the caustic warnings from "the Thin Ice," Pink realizes that life is an often long, arduous trip whose dividends are usually not equivalent to what is invested. Life and the people in it are full of masks, full of walls, deceit, double-speak, pain, and suffering.

Or perhaps he saw a glimpse of what he would become, once more paralleling the relative stasis between young and old Pink. This quick glance could very well be the meeting of selves as visualized at the end of "Is There Anybody Out There?" in which young Pink confronts and flees his older self, scared by the dementia he finds behind the deranged older eyes.

From a wholly different perspective, Bill Romanelli writes: "My theory is that it's a fleeting glimpse of a life, and a world, without walls. Everyone on the planet at one time or another wishes they could go back to the innocence of their childhood, that they could see the world through the eyes of a child. All of us, when we're children, have this fleeting glimpse. I think it's 'fleeting' because this 'innocence' of childhood probably only lasts until we're three of four years old, and few of us are even fully self-aware before we're two years old. That means for two years of our life (practically an instant in a 40 year life) we exist in a state where we feel safe, cared for, and untroubled. We're completely undistracted by material concerns, egos, and so on. And we trust everybody, implicitly. And then it's gone. The child has grown, the dream (of a world without walls) is gone."

Or could that glimpse be something as simple and universal as hope and love, things that are sorely lacking from Pink's life as both a child and an adult. Pink is loved as a child by his mother, yet this overprotective love is so selfishly centered on the mother's own feelings of loss that it becomes distorted into something more akin to suffering. Similar to Bill Romanelli's point, it's possible that Pink simply hopes, even if it's for a brief time. Perhaps he hopes to be great ("mother, should I run for president?") or for a life without his wall or even something as seemingly simple as being accepted. However, whatever hope he has departs in the shadow of the wall that will consume life for the rest of his youth and into his adulthood. Subsequently, Pink's "fleeting glimpse" disappears like the innocence of a grown child, the departed "dream" replaced by the unsettling reality of a life full of walls, masks, spoiled fantasies, and failed hopes. It is a life where, at least for Pink, one either acts or is acted upon with grievous consequences.

Just as Gilmour's guitar solos have often mirrored a change within Pink, the final frantic lead guitar reflects Pink's latest dramatic metamorphosis. It is the raging change from one who has formerly been acted upon (at least in his own mind) to one who is finally about to act.

True to the ethereal quality of the song, the movie sequence for "Comfortably Numb" is one of the most rich and symbolically complex pieces in the film. Though the episode starts ordinarily enough by faithfully depicting the first verse in which Pink's manager and medics break into the room to find Pink in a drug-induced stupor, the sequence soon becomes a bit more dense with the induction of the first chorus. As Pink sings of his childhood memories, the screen is filled with the familiar shot of Pink running across the rugby field and stopping in front of the camera. Just as "Goodbye Cruel World" expanded this same shot from "When the Tigers Broke Free, Part 1," "Comfortably Numb" continues the sequence past its predecessors, showing Pink from another angle as he circles a spot on the ground, and then bends to pick up a wounded rat from the grass. Pink takes the rat home, shows it to his mother, and is shooed from the house by the startled woman who backs away from the rodent. He then takes it to a little shack beside a canal and places it in a makeshift bed of straw, wrapping his sweater vest around the injured creature. Before the second verse begins, there is a quick shot of Pink's mother superimposed over the sky of Pink's alienated wasteland (that barren landscape first depicted in "Nobody Home.") What is most interesting about this shot for me is the way the Mother is portrayed with such garish, exaggerated makeup and hair. She is a larger-than-life, almost godlike figure spanning the limitless sky. If nothing else, she is part of the reason for the wasteland lying below her. Nor is she the only reason. As subsequent shots show, the doctor, Pink's father, and numerous others bar the sky, symbolizing not only Pink's isoaltion from life but also from the limitless hopes and dreams (the sky) of his former childhood innocence.

Soon after we find young Pink being examined by a doctor, the same shot that was used in the sequence for "Mother" depicting the childhood illness alluded to in the chorus of "Comfortably Numb." It's quite possible that Pink has picked up some kind of illness from the rat, one which he remembers years later as he begins to awaken after being injected by the doctor in his hotel room. Interestingly, older Pink screams well after the needle pierces his arm, causing one to wonder if he's yelling more in response to his childhood memories rather than his present pain.

At the second chorus, young Pink once again runs to the shack only to find that the rat is dead. After a shot of Pink dropping the animal's body into the canal, a line of people cross the wasteland in front of the camera. First Pink's father holding the dead rat by the tail with Pink's wife (theatrically made up like the Mother) in the background. Next the schoolteacher whose eyebrows are made into a continuous furrow followed by one anonymous soldier after another. They are the sources for the bricks in Pink's wall, each one spawning an emotion that ultimately lead to the creation of Pink's alienated mental landscape that they walk through. As they pass they look at the camera, at Pink, with love, or accusations, or sympathy. In Pink's mind they are gaudy (like the depiction of the Mother and wife), obtrusive, and most of all, never ending.

But what about that rat? Since I posted my original analysis back in 1997, a large number of people have written me about the symbolism of Pink's pet rodent. Whether asking me to expound further or telling me their own opinions, the rat seems to have affected the audience in much the same way it affects the young Pink. Roger Waters states on the DVD commentary that like Pink, he found a rat on a rugby field that died a few days after he took it home and cared for it in his garage. Yet there seems to be some deeper level to this memory that goes beyond the simple depiction of an incident from the author's childhood. On some deeper level, many feel that the animal is a symbol of Pink's father, dying out of Pink's life just as soon as it entered into it. Vardaman from William Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying associates the death of his mother with that of a fish he caught earlier in the day. For the young child, the death of one creature is just like the death of another. "My mother is a fish," Vardaman comments, externalizing and coalescing his youthful and shallow thoughts on death. And so the rat could very well serve this same purpose for the young Pink, acting as a carrier of sorts for the chaotic feelings of loss caused by the loss of his father. Others feel that the rat is a reflection of Pink, its sickness and helplessness mirroring Pink's own childhood illness and dependence. Still others might choose to explicate the scene from a psychoanalytic perspective. If one interprets the rat as Pink's hopes and dreams (a sort of symbol of Pink himself), then the mother's rejection of the rat is metaphorical of her rejection of Pink's individuality and emotions. Pink then tries to foster these hopes alone, yet he eventually suppresses these feelings within his mind when he tosses the rat into the canal (once again interpreting water as the subconscious mind). Young Pink's act of oppressing to the shadowy and uncharted depths of the mind those feelings that one cannot deal with is a perfect example of the classic psychoanalytic defense mechanism of repression, much like the wall itself.

But why does Pink continue to return to this memory? The emotions caused by the rat's death are just one out of innumerable things that Pink has repressed throughout his lifetime. Why is it that Pink returns to this instance of finding the rat time and again? It is the first shot of young Pink at the beginning of the movie in "When the Tigers Broke Free, Part 1." It is also the first thing Pink thinks about immediately after completing his wall. And now, as he sits in his hotel room, mentally fading between the past and present, it is once again the predominant memory of his childhood. So out of all of the pains and repressed feelings of his life, why does Pink vividly recall, almost habitually, this singular incident? I believe it's because this is one of the only times in his life in which he truly connects with another living being. Though he grieves at the loss of his father, Pink never truly connected with him because he never really knew him. And though he loves his mother he cannot connect with her because she is so overprotective and demanding. Both relationships are marked by Pink being taken from (emotionally, individually, etc.) rather giving. Yet out of his childhood innocence, Pink gives himself to this injured and helpless animal, sacrificing his time and even the clothes off his back for the welfare of a creature that most, like his mother, automatically shun. Perhaps he sees a bit of himself in the rodent, his own metaphorically injured and alienated state. Or perhaps he projects his hopes in life onto the creature, wanting to believe that life is more than the flimsy disguises sung about in "the Thin Ice." Whatever the rat is to Pink, the connection he makes with it is deeply rooted, enough so that it is one of the most dominant memories in his mind years later.

Yet what about the nature of this memory, of this remembered connection? One might argue that the recollection is actually Pink's slow realization that the wall is more injurious than advantageous. He built his giant defense mechanism out of the belief that no true connections could be made between two living things. However, in stark contrast to this idea lies the image of young Pink giving himself so freely to the rat. If a true, personal connection is possible, then the wall was built in vain. But from the opposing side, this memory could very well be a negative realization, a moment that reinforces Pink's previous belief that all relationships end in ruin. Pink's care ultimately ends with his mother rejecting the animal and the rat's death. Put simply, all paths lead to pain, loss, and death, thereby justifying the completion of Pink's wall. Such an idea is reinforced when Pink's dad walks through the wasteland carrying the dead rat, almost as a reminder in Pink's mind that all things in life lead to pain.

Almost in response to the painful memories of loss and death and the hallucinatory procession of the characters in Pink's past (his living bricks) across his mental wasteland, Pink retreats further behind his wall and further into decay. As the crew members carry him down the hall, the flesh on Pink's arm begins to form a sort of chrysalis, a fleshy cocoon that soon spreads to his chest and face before finally encapsulating his entire body. The lights of the hallway distort as the crew drags the pulpy mass that was Pink down the stairs and into the awaiting limousine. In the back seat of the car, Pink tears at the flesh of his melting face, an image reminiscent of the faceless masks worn by the children in "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2." For the most part, Pink has been formed by the events of his life and the people who have populated it. He has taken on the identity of all those who molded him. The loss of his father, the watchful, paranoid eye of his mother, the stricture of his teacher, the infidelity of his wife, the ignorant ardor of his fans; all have shaped Pink into the faceless, identity-less mass sitting in the back seat of the limousine driving him to his concert. That is until now. Pink first breaks through the flesh-like cocoon on his arm, revealing a black-sleeve underneath adorned with a patch, a symbol of two crossed hammers. He finally breaks free from the mask that was his identity-less face and emerges from his shell in a full black Nazi-like uniform. The conflicting sides of Pink, the rebel and the orderer, that began to coalesce in "Is There Anybody Out There" have finally united and been born into the figure that sits calmly and expressionless in the car's back seat. All the pain, all the hatred, all the feelings of loss, all the disillusionment; every negative emotion that has been repressed within the murky canal of Pink's mind erupts to the surface of long mental suppression and finds an outlet in this newly awakened incarnation.

Some Excerpts from: Pink Floyd's THE WALL: A Complete Analysis copyrighted by Bret Urick

Mittal – Arcelor takeover/bid : Racism vs Globalization -1

2006-03-16T21:55:00.000+05:30

paper presentation topic in my college,not selected though, i think they are not worth my great thoughts ;) ,i'll post it here.

On 27th January 2006, Lakshmi Mittal, third richest man and owner of world's largest steel company with steel plants in 14 countries, announced his takeover offer of Arcelor. Arcelor -a Luxemburg based company is second largest steel producer in the world, created by merger of three European steel makers with headquarters at Luxemburg.This announcement led to a fur ore, with hysterical remarks made against Lakshmi Mittal calling him “the predator” from India. Guy Dolle CEO of Arcelor termed Mittal’s offer as “ridiculous” and would be paid in “monkey money” (an inelegant expression in French signifying worthless money) in direct reference to Indian money. Dolle was not the only culprit, there were also some contemptuous declarations by minister’s of France and prime minister of Luxemburg which signified outright racism against Mittal. The comments have brought out nervousness and insecurity currently gripping whole Europe, it’s inability to attach to global capital movement which brings instability in it’s own home. Mittal’s takeover bid is entirely correct according to industrial logic, with equity markets also reacting favorably. This fiasco has created a question mark over globalization policy having roots in this European countries now engaging in protectionism policy to takeovers of their own companies.

arbit posts from cell using nokia lifeblog

2006-03-04T20:15:00.000+05:30

In context of the news relating to iraq war and mistakes commited by respective leaders of US and UK,and their selection for another term. I am bound to think even public of west is as stupid as public of developing countries like INDIA. Their leaders have commited grave mistakes of going in for war even after frequent warnings by their advisors,public,even military chiefs. And still they are selected for another term as president,just like laloo's rule of bihar for 15 years,voting with their eyes closed. I used to think this happens only in developing countries of ASIA and AFRICA. But recent news proved me wrong. Todays leaders are no less than actors, the actors who are responsible for numerous deaths because of their inane decisions and strategies. Who can't even take their public in confidence before taking any decisions. Who do they think they are... GOD ??

Talking about INDIAN leaders government i was not too suprised to read about their decisions about some projects. A hydrological project which is used for help of public actually first makes some million homeless which are slated to get good in a sanctuary(and PM talks about saving endangered species of animals,first save humans), And the project is on line in some 5 years. Without even studying the project's immediate consequences how can they take decision about benefits it is going to cause later. It is very funny that i was reading about this in newspaper when a lecture of hydro projects was going on in my class. And prof was saying project is only started after number of beneficiaries exceed the affected numbers. Is that true in our country,who is responsible for displaced people due to these projects,if these adivasis have no right to live because they have no votes.

sensex

2006-02-22T17:43:00.000+05:30

Today sitting in my college canteen,I overheard two of my juniors discussing about sensex. Conversation went somewhat like this
X-"I think sensex needs correction"
Y-"yes it needs correction but it'll stay above 10k even after correction(means only small correction)"
X-"no it is highly overvalued it needs a correction of about 600-1000 points"

sometimes I wonder how many people, talking inanely about corrections and liquidity,know what actually sensex is,what are reasons behind bull run or corrections?? Everybody knows sensex is short form of BSE-sensitive index of 30 stocks of financially sound companies,but how many know it is a market capitalization-weighted index.

Calculation of sensex
sensex is calculated on the basis of market capitalization-weighted method->the value of index is total value of those 30 stocks according. to weightage(value of shares multiplied by no. of shares presently in market) compared to value at base period. The relative performance as compared to base period and an index is defined called sensex. sensex is index of only 30 companies and doesn't necessarily show the whole market sentiments. Only a day before yesterday I saw advance decline ratio as 1:3 and sensex was up by about 90 odd points,because those 30 companies performed and other companies didn't.

30 companies and their weightage in sensex.

ONGC-24%
Bharti tele.-10%
ICICI bank-7.5%
BHEL-6.8%
SBI-6.6%
Infosys-5.5%
HDFC-4.9%
HLL-4.8%
TATA motors-4.3%
Bajaj auto-3.7%
Guj Ambuja-3.4%
TISCO-3.3%
HDFC bk.-3.2%
Grasim-2.2%
Wipro-2.1%
REL-1.7%
Maruti-1.6%
HPCL-1.6%
ACC-1.5%
Tata Power-1.4%
MTNL-1.3%
Ranbaxy-1.2%
RIL-1.0%
Satyam-0.7%
Dr. Reddy's-0.7%
Hero Honda-0.5%
Cipla-0.4%
ITC-0.4%
HINDALCO-0.2%
Zee-0.1%

it is very clear that if on a given day if these 30 companies or even 15 of these companies and performing well sensex is bound to be in green, even if IT sector is over-performing,sensex will move up,basically these companies are heavy weights having huge cash book and a big assignment book so they will propel sensex , but more or less market sentiment is not same.

right from sensex touched 6k there have been doubts and opinion of a huge correction-higher interest rates,lack of reforms,rising crude prices;brushing aside all these concerns sensex rocketed towards 10k,with small hiccups which actually led to more investments. FII inflows and now domestic funds-money is poured in from all corners. But with more and more japenese money coming into market the inflation is going to rise soon,FIIs are cooling off and once domestic funds stop investing this unbalanced market will crash badly. but a market friendly budget can definitely help it.

Urbanisation and INDIA

2006-02-21T19:53:00.000+05:30

"75% of population in western countries live in cities"

"40% of population of china and other developing lives in cities and clusters which makes 5-7% of total land and contributes 40% to their GDP"

These are just a small idea of what is happening in china and other developing countries. people are just running towards cities,or small towns are in process being converted into cities. This is visible in INDIA too,NCR is developing with a speed of light but investment guru like Marc Faber are still upbeat about india's real estate market,nobody is talking about any bubble.

In most of the developed nations 75% of population lives in cities and same pattern has begun in developing countries. Who wants to live in villages now,who wants to be a farmer,everybody wants to be a city resident,wants to dress good as city people do,wants a McDonald's burger and a domino's pizza,and for that he has to enter city life. Delhi is adding about 1300 people per week(an understated government figure according to a private survey). Farmers are encouraging their children for making a fortune in cities rather than farming in villages. Government is buying agricultural land rather forcefully at a lower rates from small farmers without enough recompensation for selling it to real estate developers. Cash is just flowing for urbanisation,budget is highly inclined towards cities every year. No one is thinking about unprecedented consequences this can cause. There is population explosion in every metropolis,resources are lagging far behind;crime,corruption is on unexampled heights . Pollution is increasing at an alarming rate. Government is losing high amount of arable every year. Agriculture-major factor behind the GDP growth we are having is declining. Everyday new and expensive malls and markets are coming up for public which actually doesn't exist. Villages are still underdeveloped,even our totally defective education system is encouraging this very unplanned plan. It is high time some checks are made otherwise instead of becoming developed country INDIA will easily become economical failure.

vantage point

2006-02-21T13:09:00.000+05:30

Today as I play my favorite song "stairway to heaven" by led zeppelin I find a freakish idea boggling my mind to start a new open blog.with an understanding that I am not being able to master the art of blogging for my many attempts have proved futile and I've always found excuses for my inability, with a vow to fight these excuses (as I always do and fall again) I start vantage point-my viewpoint ,the world as I see it. Sometimes I wonder what actually my viewpoint is,is it actually my own or just an impression of what media tell me. Actually no one considers this point we keep on thinking what they tell us never ponder that coin has other side too. Today media leaves a stamp on our mind which controls our stances on every other topic. Who knows are they showing a true picture or creating a false picture which we usually believe. With this idea in mind I aspire to write what I think.
ATB to me
P.S-guys,i am just a rookie blogger on general topics so forgive me for all my mistakes and do mail me the same.