End the deficit..

“I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for re-election.”

—Warren Buffett giving us a quick lesson on incentive in an interview on CNBC.

A nearly fool-proof way to get any economy back on track !:)

Moral right

The NewsHour on Times Now today had a debate on the 2G scam with the usual list of panelists - one from Congress, one from BJP , 3-4 journalists . The Congress guy lamely defended the Prime Minister by saying ' BJP has no moral ground to talk on this issue considering the scam in Karnataka'. The TV show anchor miraculously picked up this brilliant idea and started a volley of questions to the BJP person.

By this yardstick there is no hope for India. Most of the political parties and politicians in India differ only in their degree of corruption. So , they can't ask anything of the government or of each other. Maybe they should sign a peace accord to amicably continue looting the country.

Yet another bandh

There's a bandh across many parts of India today. It is unclear what it will tangibly accomplish other than loss of a day's wages for many and inconvenience to even more. The union leaders on TV this morning were not able to properly articulate what they hope to accomplish. There's definitely a lot of anger about price rise and other issues. They need to be addressed. But a strike of this type is not going to do that.

Look at the way the govt is allowing millions of tonnes of food grains to rot.They are busy trying to save their rear on a host of issues or blaming some group/individual/political party.This type of mind set will be hardly affected by a day's strike.

We really need platforms and the discipline+willingness to engage in meaningful discussions to resolve problems.

Culture focus

Creative types are being taught business . Brilliant initiative by NY city.

All cities would be enriched by supporting artists .

IPL

Received a sms from the mobile service provider sent by the police "Kindly note that mobiles, cordless phones, cameras , water bottles , purses , handbags , eatables , any type of weapon etc are not allowed inside DY Patil Stadium". DY Patil btw is the venue for the IPL final match today.

Wonder if such conditions applied to all the matches and if it was applicable to Lalit Modi and his ilk.

It's better to watch the IPL match at home. And Live Cricket in the neighborhood.

A new way to fight corruption

A fee based BPO style business to fight corruption . Brilliant and much needed service being explored by Shaffi Mather.

As he aptly quotes his colleague 'We are insane persons attempting an impossible task. Of course , an insane person does not know what is impossible '.

Ideology coupled with the power of an organization and market forces can hopefully pack progressively powerful punches to the monster of corruption.

Unusual yarn

Taking a leaf out of Mahatma Gandhi's life, Ghaziabad Municipal Commissioner Ajay Shankar Pandey asks late-comers or truant staff to use the charkha and spin yarn to repent for their mistakes..

..The first to use the charkha was Health Officer D K K Tyagi. “Pandeyji was not happy that I had not completed drain work on Meerut road. I spent about 25 minutes at the charkha. I felt good and calm.”

..What does civic body do with yarn? "We intend to sell it to a khadi unit and use the money for the under-privileged community," an official said.

Pandey has a reputation for thinking out of the box — be it sweeping the streets of Mathura in 1994 to counter a strike by sweepers or handing receipts for the bribes that contractors offered (15 per cent of project cost) when he took charge as Ghaziabad civic commissioner in 2007.

The creative approach and the discipline it will hopefully foster is commendable. The non-linear approach is worth emulating for various kinds of institutes - schools , colleges , work places.

(Much needed )Change

News on TV few days ago . Sense of déjà vu in hearing spokespersons of the Congress and BJP *. Seldom do they have a point of view that is progressive . They are either defending themselves or attacking the others. The issue could range from the trivial to grave. That's incidental. They are steadfast in their approach. They manage to drag down the standards for conduct , quality of thought to a sub-zero level. The country suffers status quo and stagnation as the monkey show goes on day after day.

It used to be that way in some industries (in India ) - e.g airlines where one endured the incompetence of Indian Airlines . Thankfully more and more sectors face competition either by new players in the industry or a product/service offering from another industry that meets the need of the consumer. There's hardly any business that can afford to operate in a stagnant way and not experience the consequence of it .Unfortunately for the people of India the politicians are still able to get away with their self-serving , least common denominator approach #. One hopes that 2010 will bring in a change on this account...Each of us will contribute to making that change.

*Congress , BJP representative of political parties . The nonsense is no way limited to them.
# Every walk of life has people of integrity and good intention. In Indian politics such people are outnumbered as of now.

The Great Indian Ropeway Trick

Centuries ago, when Mughal emperor Shah Jahan cast his melancholic lovelorn gaze on the marble dome rising in commemoration of his favourite queen Mumtaz, little did he realize that the real tragedy was not in the passing of his beloved but in the future preservation of the Taj Mahal itself...

...Once the ropeways and Agra Eye are in place in Agra, the original Taj will also become a caricature of itself. And Shah Jahan will finally laugh and cry at the same time.

Insightful article by Gautam Bhatia. Monuments across India suffer in varying degrees by the apathy , ignorance and incompetence of successive governments.

Approach to taxation

India's commerce and finance ministry should learn a thing or two from China's approach...

China may cut import duties on luxury goods and cosmetics to encourage wealthy consumers in the mainland to buy such products at home rather than abroad, Vice Commerce Minister Jiang Zengwei said.

“Such wealthy consumers exist and instead of them spending their money overseas, why not keep them in the country,” Jiang said in a commentary published in the People’s Daily today. “Lowering the duties will boost the imports of luxury products and that will spur domestic retail sales.”

Relationship Managers

Income Tax dept has designated 'Relationship Managers' for large tax paying corporates.

Hopefully , reward points (and rewards) for individual tax payers won't be far off .