A “different” politician

I received an email from a classmate of mine, who is now the CFO of a large Indian company. It was such a lovely story that I asked for his permission to publish it in my blog. It is contextually, very Indian and the specifics may be unfamiliar to an overseas reader, but the overall story can easily be appreciated.

Here is the message from my classmate.

(On the left is Mr Konnappa, the MLA who is the subject of this post)

PART 1

The person with me is Konnappa, MLA (equivalent to a Congressman in a state in the US) from the north west part of Telangana adjoining Maharashtra. I happened to meet him while pursuing some factory location.

He was originally elected on a BSP ticket – only one of two MLAs of BSP (Mayawati). But then seeing his good work, the Chief Minister asked him not to waste his time, join the ruling party and continue his work. So they merged. His constituency is in the vicinity of Ramagondam, Sirpur, and Singareni coal mines.

Recently the area has seen some factories shut down and many workers in the streets. He is working hard to bring some industries into the area or revive the shut ones.

We learnt about some of the good work that he has been doing. This based on my colleagues’ personal visit to the area and my interaction with him.

The closure of factories has thrown some 2400 children potentially out of school – due to loss of jobs of parents. He has supported the children attending school by paying their fees – some Rs 34 lacs ($ 50K) per annum. “Children cant afford to lose their precious years of schooling” is his logic. “Whats the source of funds – Personal?” I quizzed. “No sir I am not that wealthy. I ask some money from Chief Minister, some other like minded MLAs, I asked some theatre owners, shop keepers and some industries who support such efforts. I only make up the balance. Its more of a co-ordination exercise” said he.

Konappa is providing one meal a day for some 1500 poor children in his area. “Half my salary and allowances goes in this”. He had invited one of my colleagues during an earlier visit to eat with them and said “your colleagues was very pleased to do that.”

Recently some potential investors were visiting a factory closed for last 3-4 years. “To make it presentable, I worked alongside the workers to clean it and make it as good as the … he showed the table top of our lunch table in Bikanerwala restaurant. If you start any industry here, I will work one day in the factory free to see that everything goes smooth for you. “

“When your colleague had visited my town, I made him talk to the workers of a closed factory to pep up their mood. They were all happy and appreciative.”

“From last 6-7 months back, I have started a scheme for pregnant women. Tribal women suffer blood deficiency. This causes several deaths of the mother during child birth or poor health of children. I have started giving them 2 kgs Gude (Jaggery) +some other thing he said which he claimed is good for blood generation + 2 Kgs of Ragi which he claimed he ensures that only the pregnant get to eat’ (may be thru social policing). The deaths have started coming down. Now the state has witnessed it and wants to roll it statewide’ he said with a pride in his voice.

I did not get the impression that his claims were unjustified. He seemed utterly sincere; guileless for a MLA. Moreover when the Deputy Chief Minister introduced him to us said, “he is firstly a social worker; incidentally he happens to be a politician. Ask him for whatever help you need “

PART 2

It was supposed to be the final meeting to say Yes or No as to whether we would take over the closed factory and revive it. The MLA had done stupendous work in the last 4-6 weeks which would have taken 6-8 months for us.

It was in relation to takeover and restarting a sick mill. At stake was the livelihood of 2000 odd workers and their families, the children’s education, daughters’ marriage, etc. And a passionate MLA who felt the weight heavily on his shoulder.

The Secretary to the government informed us of the decisions of his govt on various help, assurances and policy incentives and assured supply of feedstock etc, we had sought. It fell short of what we wanted. The MLA , Konappa, and the Government had gone a great distance; yet it was below our threshold.

My colleague and myself had a quick discussion and said that in the interest of moving forward we will take it. We said so to the Secretary and requested him not to completely shut the door on the others requests. We thanked him and got up to go. The Secretary must have sensed our discomfort. and said ‘If there are some difficulties later, you can always come back. It is also our interest that you keep things going’

We came out. In the corridor, I congratulated the MLA for his efforts. Even while shaking his hands I found his eyes getting wet. I am yet to learn how to handle such situations. My colleague, senior in age, sympathised, and consoled the now visibly shaken man. He told him he can’t be seen by others in that state and that we should get into some room and we moved into one.

Konappa said “Sir, for the first 61 years of my life, I did not have any BP or sugar. Last 3 -4 years, I have developed both. Loss of livelihood, children’s education, the future, no growth in my constituency… have all affected me. Today I see some hope return”.

“This is the first time I have stayed in Hyderabad, the state capital for 9 days continuously. To go from one person to person to plead for a solution in the best interest of the workers and their families “

“When the factory closes and there is no one to care, people start looting. I closed the scrap shop nearby 3-4 years ago and warned other dealers within the vicinity against dealing in any material from the factory or they will close down for ever. I told the workers some day or the other someone will come and not even a single bolt should be missing. I know the pains and delays such things can cause for I have been a daily labour in the very same factory several years ago”

“Sir, please don’t worry. It is my personal responsibility that you people will face no difficulties. “

He seemed much more in control by now. and we told him it was time for us to leave. He walked us down. “These are the times that give me satisfaction. Far more than seeing Rs 2-3 lacs in my bank account (I thought their unit of thought will be in crores rather than lakhs, but this man seems stuck in a time warp of his own). That’s when I feel … this earth (pointing downwards) which has to bear my weight. I feel I am repaying a part of the debt I owe to it, when I see some poor people appreciate it”

He was composed by now, with some pride and a smile on his face. But I was shaken. My mouth was quivering. In full public view at the entrance to the car park.

Some politician this. Some human being. Hope I can work with him some day. Imitation is the best form of flattery they say. I hope I will be able to imitate him … one day… some day.

The Blogger drafts a new law to be passed

There are various ways to vent out road rage. I am trying a novel experiment here to douse the fire that is consuming me. By attempting to write a law !! Read on and see if you agree.

Office of the Frustrated Motorists of Bangalore
Middle of Nagwara Junction
Bangalore – 560045
25th April 2018

Do No 435/16/346A/FMB/2018-16

Dear Sirs

The Motorists Community of Bangalore is considering an amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act to provide guidance for vehicles driving on the wrong side of the road. It is recognised that in Bangalore the number of vehicles driving on the wrong side of the road have exceeded the number of vehicles driving on the right side of the road. It is therefore in the public interest that clear rules are formulated in this regard.

The draft rules titled “The Bangalore Motor Vehicles (Wrong Side ) Rules 2018 ” are hereby being released for public comment & consultation. We are seeking your opinion on these draft rules so that they may be considered before the final Rules are framed and enacted.

Please submit your final comments to this office on or before 13th May, 2018.

-sd-

Assistant Deputy Chief Officer (Acting)
Office of the Frustrated Motorists of Bangalore

The Bangalore Motor Vehicles (Wrong Side) Rules 2018

DRAFT

CHAPTER 1

1. Short title, extent and commencement

(1) These rules may be called the Bangalore Motor Vehicles (Wrong Side) Rules, 2018.

(2) They shall extend only to the city of Bangalore, Karnataka.

(3) They shall come into force on the First day of May, 2018.

2. Need for these Rules

(1) It is recognised that in the city of Bangalore more people drive on the wrong side of the road than on the right side of the road.

(2) The current Motor Vehicles Act is silent on the rules governing driving on the wrong side of the road.

(3) It is therefore considered expedient in the public interest to frame clear rules to guide motorists to drive correctly on the wrong side of the road.

CHAPTER 2

3. Definition of Lanes

(1) The left most lane on any road is exclusively meant for 2 wheelers coming in the opposite direction.

(2) The second and third lanes are exclusively reserved for traffic going in the forward direction.

(3) The right extreme lane (often erroneously called as the fast lane) is meant for

a. Four wheelers coming on the wrong side of the road
b. Two wheelers who are preparing to dart into the opposing side of the road
c. Trucks and buses who have broken down and are denoted by some leaves placed on their rear
d. Yellow board taxis who have had a puncture and whose tires are being replaced

(4) It is expressly clarified that no matter how wide the road is , these four lane rules shall apply.

(5) When a vehicle is parked in the left most lane, right of way on the second lane is for the 2 wheeler coming in the wrong direction.

(6) These definition of lanes cater also to single carriageways where they will apply head on , on both sides.

CHAPTER 3

4. Rules regarding Lights

(1) Any vehicle coming on the wrong side of the road must have their headlamps in high beam. It is preferable that high powered lights are fitted so that oncoming drivers can be blinded as effectively as possible.

(2) It is optional for such vehicles to have their hazard warning lights on.

5. Rules regarding turn indicators

(1) Vehicles coming on the wrong side of the road should not use their turn indicators at all . (Note that Rule 4 (2) encourages them to be used as hazard warning lights).

(2) Any vehicle signalling with their turn indicator is liable to face a penalty of a maximum of Rs 1000 or simple imprisonment not exceeding six months , or both.

CHAPTER 4

6. Special Rules for Two Wheelers

(1) There must be at least 3 people riding on the two wheeler. If any of the riders are less than 12 years of age, the minimum number of riders shall be 4.

(2) The driver shall carry his helmet on the arm. Under no circumstances shall he wear it on his head. Only ISI mark helmets are allowed.

(3) The driver shall speak into the mobile phone for the entire duration of driving on the wrong side of the road. He shall not use the left hand to hold the phone and instead cradle the phone between his neck and the head with the head tilted at a minimum of 35 degrees from the vertical.

CHAPTER 5
7. Rules at Traffic Junctions

(1) Traffic lights shall have the following meaning for vehicles coming on the wrong direction of the road

a. Red means Go
b. Amber means Go
c. Green means Go

(2) At any traffic junction vehicles coming from the wrong side of the road may either continue on the wrong side of the road or change to the opposite side. Such change can be executed at any time while crossing the junction and shall have right of way.

CHAPTER 6
8. Service lanes

(1) For sake of abundant clarity it is hereby reiterated that these Rules are applicable to service lanes to National & State Highways as well. Motorists are encouraged to avail of this facility and drive on the wrong side of service lanes.

(2) It is recognised that all service lanes have either craters of a minimum dimension of 3ft by 2 ft by 4 ft or a lake of equal dimensions. Therefore the lane rules stated in 3 above do not apply to service lanes and any vehicle can occupy any lane.

Chapter 7
9. U Turns

(1) Vehicles coming on the wrong side of the road are permitted to do a U turn anywhere and at any point in time. This provision is to enable them to do an instant U turn at the sight of a Traffic Cop in the distance. Vehicles coming on the right side of the road must give way for those taking U turns.

(2) A minimum of 6 points must be executed while performing a U turn. 3 point U turns are not permitted.

(3) All vehicles coming on the wrong side may, at any time, cross the divider and move on to the right side . Both 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers are allowed to climb the divider and cross over for this purpose. Vehicles coming on the right side shall patiently wait while this maneuver is completed.

(4) Vehicles coming on the right side of the road shall not honk while maneuvers described in (1) , (2) and (3) above are being carried out. If they do provisions of Chapter 8 relating to Road Rage shall apply.

CHAPTER 8
10. Road Rage

(1) In recognition of the extreme stress faced by drivers coming on the wrong side of the road, it is allowed that they freely curse those coming on the right side of the road.

(2) In accordance with Karnataka Promotion of Local Language Act, such cursing is permitted only in Kannada.

(3) Drivers of vehicles coming on the right side of the road shall keep their mouths firmly shut and enjoy the colourful insults, especially on the questions of their parentage and the status of the female members of their family. If they open their mouth they shall be liable to face a penalty of a maximum of Rs 1000 or simple imprisonment not exceeding six months , or both.

CHAPTER 9
11. Pedestrians

(1) Pedestrians are expected to look both sides before crossing the road. If they only look right, and are run over by a two wheeler coming on the wrong side, then there is no liability on the two wheeler and it is entirely the fault of the pedestrian.

(2) Pedestrians are required to move only sideways while walking on a road. This is to enable them to look both right and left , to ensure that they sight vehicles coming on the wrong side of the road early.

(3) Pedestrians are required to do the 360 degree head rotate while they are shuffling sideways along the edge of the road. The sequence and purpose of the rotation is described below

– First right to check vehicles coming on the right side of the road.
– Then down to avoid the crater, lake, fallen board having 136 photographs of politicians looking like constipated owls, egestion output of various animals, etc.
– Then left to check vehicles coming on the wrong side of the road.
– Then up to avoid being entangled by electrical / cable TV wires.

CHAPTER 10

12. Monitoring and Penalties
(1) Traffic policemen shall be deployed at strategic locations to check on compliance with the said rules. They shall be deployed in teams of 2 – one facing the right side of the road and one facing the wrong side of the road to effectively catch offenders.

(2) The maximum fine for offences under these rules is Rs 1000. This can be compounded by a discrete folded note of Rs 100 slipped unobtrusively (amount increases to Rs 200 at monthends to ensure no loss of lifestyle to public servants in the difficult last week of the month) .

Where have all the promotions gone ?

Many men of this blogger’s vintage are seriously challenged when it comes to matters of fashion. This blogger is a card carrying member of the tribe who behaves like this when it comes to clothes

– A few shirts and a few trousers, all looking very similar, hang in the closet
– A shirt is plucked from the leftmost corner, the trouser is picked from the rightmost corner and worn
– As they are laundered , they join the back of the queue in the hanging sequence; thereby ensuring an automatic first in first out principle !
– When a hole appears in any of the garments, it is thrown away
– When there comes a day when not enough shirts or trousers are hanging in the closet, a shopping expedition ensues and half a dozen items are bought and the cycle repeats all over again !!

The last of the above happened recently to yours truly and off I trooped off to the mall to replenish supplies.

By way of background, you must know that this is the way men’s clothes are sold in India

– An anemic looking shirt or trouser is priced at a king’s ransom. Let us say that in India it is something like Rs 3000 (circa $50 ; a ridiculous price to pay for a shirt)
– Random words such as ‘Uncrushables”, “Perfect Fit”, “Wrinkle Free”, “Soft”, “Smooth” , all of which are nonsense, are displayed prominently to justify the price tag. Of course they all mean absolutely nothing.
– Then a promotion scheme is run wherein you get 2 items free, if you buy 3, or even Buy One and Get One Free (BOGOF is an accepted word in Indian English)
– Everybody is happy

Men at the level of fashion consciousness as this blogger , shop for clothes as follows

– Enter the store. Go to the section where their size is stocked
– Pick the first three shirts on display
– Pick the first three trousers on display
– Go to the cash counter and pay
– Snigger at the lady draping and preening in front of the mirror and and suggest rudely that no amount of this or that garment can hide the fact that she needs to go to the gym !
– Exit store, preferably within 5 minutes

Accordingly, I entered a store and performed all of the above maneuvers. And then when I went to the cash counter to pay, the guy said I had to pay for all of them. I told him that I would of course pay for all as per whatever promotion scheme was running. He said there was no promotion scheme and I had to pay full price for all. WHAT ? I have never heard anything more ridiculous. He repeated that I had to pay full price. I said, I don’t understand. He patiently said – No promotion. The he spelt it out letter by letter – N O ; P R O M O T I O N.

I stalked out of the store yelling that he must be joking and if he expected me to pay $50 for a shirt, he must be a member of the Monster Raving Loony Party (such a political party actually exists in Her Majesty’s land). I stormed into the next shop and went through the same sequence.

No promotion. Stormed out and went to the next shop. No promotion. Next shop. No promotion. There wasn’t anymore shops to enter into. And I had no shirt to wear tomorrow. So I went back to the first shop, tail between my legs, paid $ 50 and bought just one shirt and slunk back home. There is still a huge hole in my closet, but I am damned if I am going to pay the ridiculous full price tag to fill it up. I shall launder and iron my clothes twice a day and live with just a pair or two !!!

This facetious post underscores a serious issue. The explosion of promotions and consumer behaviour which has now been tailored to buy only promoted items. All promotions are a distortion on a fair price-value equation. The true price of a product can never be determined when crazy promotions are running all the time. The seller tries to hoodwink the consumer, the consumer shops around for what he believes is the best promotion and this has become a complicated dance.

And so, apparel manufacturers stopping all promotions is a good thing. But then they have cheekily not cut the price tag at all. It remains the ridiculous $50. That’s absurd. I live in India and not in the US of A. I am not shopping on Bond Street or the Champs-Élysées. A shirt should cost $10. OK $20. Not $50.

Every manufacturer has withdrawn promotions at the same time. This smacks of collusion. Is the Competition Commission looking ? Or have the stocks of shirts and trousers of the worthies not diminished enough to warrant a visit to the shop ?

Amazon vs Walmart in India

The war for the future of the retail trade in the world is going to be fought in India. It has happened by default, but happen it nevertheless has. The irony hasn’t struck the policymakers in India as yet – they of the medieval dinosaur disposition of still not allowing foreign companies into the retail sector in India. If that makes your head reel, then this is India, true to its form.

Globally, Walmart (the old incumbent) and Amazon ( the not so new disruptor) have been itching for a gigantic fight for a long time. In the US, Walmart dominates in store and Amazon dominates online. There it is a fight between one form of retail trade and another. Not a headlong fight. In China, which would have been the logical war zone, both have failed against domestic competition – not least because the playing field is not level (actually tilted a full 90 deg). Hence India, by default, has become the battlefield.

It actually is peculiar that India is the chosen fighting arena. This is a country where foreign firms are still not allowed to open a store in India. You need domestic partners. Every rabble rousing politician has demonstrated and agitated in the past against allowing wicked foreigners into the retail trade. Most of India’s retail trade continues to be the mom and pop store.

Amazon was the first to enter. Amazon.in is now globally second (distantly) only to Amazon.com in the Amazon universe. E Commerce is still minuscule in India but given India’s size , even minuscule is big. Amazon has been pouring money into India, adopting the time tested formula from the US. Their competition was Flipkart, a local E Commerce provider. Now Walmart is acquiring Flipkart. This will now become an all out battle between the two for the online market . Right now Flipkart and Amazon.in are close in India with Flipkart being the marginal leader. With the acquisition, Walmart will now be bigger online than Amazon in at least one country.

I wonder what the other global majors are thinking about all this. Carrefour and Tesco, the old European giants, are not present here at all. OK Tesco is , via a joint venture, but you would be hard pressed to find a store. The newer European upstarts Aldi, Lidl, et al, can’t point to India on a map and so, have not come. The Chinese, notably Tmall and JD seem to be interested only in slugging it out in home territory. Alibaba is of course more global in outlook, but they are in the B2B space. So its just the Americans wanting to fight in India.

Where is the famous Ramamritham in all this. How come none of the rabble rousers are yelling their heads off against evil Americans ? The truth is that both Ramamritham and the political worthies are old foggies. Neither know how to switch on a computer, let alone how to buy anything online. Events have overtaken these dinosaurs before they have realised what’s happening. The same thing happened with the Indian IT industry a couple of decades ago. The only way to beat Ramamritham is with something he does not understand.

So now the war will begin. This blogger is salivating at the prospect. You see, he is a piddling customer of both Amazon and Flipkart. “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers”, goes the old saying. I beg to differ. When these two elephants fight, it will be the grass that will flourish. I am looking forward to all the lovely deals and freebies !

Wallowing in Nostalgia

This blogger has reached a stage in life where he often turns nostalgic. Ahhh – the good old days … Sigh …

Today it was nostalgia in ads. All from about 40 years ago. Colour television had not yet come to India (it came with the Asian Games of 1982). Black & White TVs were few and far between and it was perfectly OK to go to your neighbour’s house to watch TV because they had a set and you didn’t. Of course, there was only one channel – Doordarshan, the state TV.

Ads were primarily through cinema. Before the movie started, there would be a series of ads shown in full colour. Those days, you eagerly looked forward to the ads as much as you looked forward to the movie itself And then when TV came, these ads morphed to TV, but the largest reach was through cinemas for a long time. Of all the ads, there were 3 or 4 that almost everybody knew by heart. We could hum along, skip along to each of them.

First Gold Spot. When Coca Coal exited India in 1977, a local entrepreneur quickly cashed in with equivalents – Thums Up (Coke), Limca ( a lemon drink) and Gold Spot (Fanta). The Gold Spot ad was a classic – Indians with a taste for Bollywood might recognise a young Javed Jaffrey. Gold Spot, alas, disappeared when Coca Cola reentered India in the late 1990s.

My second classic of course has to be Liril, by Unilever. It completely took India by storm sending the soap skyrocketing as the largest selling soap in India. The ad was so successful that the model Karen Lunel was paid by Unilever never to appear in any other ad ever again. She will forever be the Liril girl. Liril is still going strong in India – it was , and has always been, an “India soap”. Unilever , despite being global never sold Liril in any other country, but in India it was a mega hit.

My personal favourite of them all is Close Up also from the Unilever stable. The wonderful Close Up jingle; I can still remember the words and hummed along when I listened to the song today. Alas, the ad has been lost to history. I can’t find it on You Tube at all. When Close Up was launched with this ad, it caught on to become one of India’s best selling toothpastes. Today, Unilever has withdrawn from toothpastes in most countries, but in India, Close Up is still a star. The ad seems to have been lost, but the song on which it is based is very much there – Walter Navarro’s lovely classic. Listen to the song and those of you old enough to remember that ad, imagine it before your eyes. Even better that way.

Why is it that my vision is a tad blurred today !

RESEARCHES IN AGRICULTURE AND SOIL

This book presents the recent researched being undertaken in the field of agriculture and social studies. The book will help scholars in understanding the agriculture and soil better for the academic and professional purposes.

In a broader sense, research in soil fertility focuses on a reduction of the environmental impact of farming by reducing losses and conservation of fossil fuel energy. … Also mine site rehabilitation, bioremediation, and precision agriculture have become important in soil fertility research in temperate regions

Advance our understanding of biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrient elements in soil, providing important insight into regional and global element cycles which provide the basis for sustainable soil and land use management. Stabilization mechanisms of organic matter in soil nano-structures and the development of a biochar soil management technology that improves soil fertility, sequesters carbon and reduces off-site pollution. Research topics include: carbon sequestration in the context of climate change and black carbon dynamics; using synchrotron-based NEXAFS and FTIR for the micro- and nano-scale observation of b

Soil Chemistry

Behavior of contaminants such as heavy metals at the soil-water interface in the environment, and soil health, as it is impacted by the contamination of soils by various waste materials, commercial fertilizers and manures. Protecting food crops from toxic metal contaminants, minimizing trace element deficiencies, and developing methods for testing and remediating contaminated soils. Use process-based measurements and state-of-the-art spectroscopic (e.g., XAS, FTIR, NMR), microscopic (e.g., TEM, SEM) and diffraction (e.g., XRD) methods to understand ecosystem element cycles and processes from the molecular to the field scale.

Soil Fertility/Plant Nutrition

Assessment of nitrogen and phosphorus cycle processes in agricultural soils with respect to enhancing plant nutrient uptake. Specific research topics include: improve fertilizer N recovery by crops; the functions and dynamics of soil organic matter; appropriate practices for management of soil organic matter.

Soil Genesis/Classification/Pedology

Examination of the spatial distribution and variability of soil characteristics in urban and human influenced environments.

Soil Ecology, Waste Management & Environmental Microbiology

Assessment of pathogens in composting systems; microbial diversity, and relationships between microbial diversity, environmental characteristics, and ecosystem processes; methods to assess soil biological quality, remediate degraded soils, and improve soil management practices.

Soil Microbial Genomics & Evolutionary Biology

Examine the effects of agricultural management practices on soil ecology and soil microbial processes. Microbial diversity, and relationships between microbial diversity, environmental characteristics, and ecosystems processes; the development of soil health diagnostics; the impact of soil microbial diversity and community composition on agroecological function; and the use of environmental genomics to identify factors which impact bacterial population structure in soils at landscape and regional scales.

Soil Physics/Environmental Biophysics

Examination of physical soil characteristics that contribute to soil fertility, soil quality, transport and exchange processes in soils. Research topics include: soil physical tests to determine soil health; examination of natural porous media; transport theories; the exchange processes in soils.

iogeochemical cycles in soils; and the study of so-called Terra Preta de Indio (Amazonian Dark Earths), anthropogenic soils. Recent efforts include the combination of bio-energy and biochar applications to soil, which offer the opportunity to develop a carbon-negative energy technology which at the same time improves the environment.

A French soap opera is about to unfold

The world\’s richest woman just died. If you didn\’t know this, please stop focusing on the tweets and turn your attention to more weighty matters of the world.

Liliane Bettencourt passed away four days ago at the age of 94. She was the heiress to the founder of L\’Oréal, the world\’s largest cosmetic company; the only child of Eugène Schueller who founded L\’Oréal in 1907. She herself worked in the company from the age of 15 and rose to become its deputy Chairperson.

The future of L\’Oréal is now in play. And therein lies a story that could give a beating to any soap opera on television.

In 1974, fearing that France would nationalise the company, Bettencourt did a deal with Nestle wherein she offloaded about half her holding in exchange for shares in Nestle. Since then Nestle and Bettencourt have had one of the longest tangos in business history. Nestle, a food company, with no presence at all in cosmetics, had a 30% stake in the world\’s largest cosmetics company (now down to 23%). But in an agreement with Bettencourt, Nestle remained a sleeping partner and promised not to acquire any more shares or to bid for Bettencourt\’s own shares as long as she was alive. Presumably Nestle had thought that she would not live so long. But they kept their word and until now have not interfered at all in the business just pocketing the dividends and biding their time. So much so that very few outside the business world probably even know that Nestle is a major shareholder in L\’Oréal.

In the meantime Bettencourt\’s life over the last decade has been another soap opera all by itself. Sometime in 2007, at the ripe age of 84, she took a fancy to her photographer and started to bestow gifts to him worth over €1 billion. Her daughter filed a complaint with the police that her photographer was taking advantage of her weakened psychological stake to amass a personal fortune. She and her daughter had an extremely public spat with each accusing the other of having gone mad. The courts finally made Bettencourt\’s grandson as her overseer and the fortune was vested with her daughter and her two grandsons. But everything was in a state of limbo as long as she was alive.

Cue the events in Nestle. Nestle , for long, has waited patiently to consummate what was really a delayed acquisition. Both the last two Chairmen of Nestle sit on the L\’Oréal Board. They were probably waiting for the death of Bettencourt to acquire L\’Oréal . But alas they now have an activist shareholder in Dan Loeb who has a fair stake in Nestle and is pushing it to do the opposite – sell the stake in L\’Oréal and return the money to shareholders. So there is no saying what Nestle will ultimately do – acquire L\’Oréal or divest !

There are other big fish circling. Given how cheap debt is , there are enough and more funds of various stripes, including probably the notorious 3G Capital and their close friend Warren Buffet, who are getting all excited. Also interested would be two giants in the cosmetics field – Unilever and Procter & Gamble, who have long eyed Nestle\’s stake with envy and made noises about what a Foods company is doing with a stake in a Cosmetics company.

Complicating this will be nationalism, for after all L\’Oréal is (very) French. Would Macron be willing to let a French institution fall into the hands of the ugly Americans ? If he interfered, the tweeter in chief would surely have something to say !!

And what will Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, Liliane\’s daughter and the two grandchildren to whom the 30% stake in L\’Oréal passes, do ? Would they act in concert. Or would they go their own ways ? Would they buy ? Or sell ?

Every investment banker is drooling and shivering with anticipation. It is fair to assume that no first class seats are available on all flights to and from Paris, London, New York and Lausanne !

Watch this space. The knives will be out on 18th March when the six months period after Bettencourt\’s death ends and all agreements expire. Bettencourt\’s life was colourful to say the least – marrying a Nazi sympathiser, losing money with Bernie Madoff, a strange affair with her photographer, being declared mentally incompetent, accused of giving cash stuffed envelopes to Nicolas Sarkozy, having numerous Swiss bank accounts …… But even by those standards, what will follow in the fight for L\’Oréal will be, to put it mildly, interesting.

The pox on Ramamritham (for the nth time)

Regular readers of this blog know that this blogger rather likes railing against Ramamritham. Ever so often, there has to be a post yelling at this cursed individual.

This time it is on the Department of telecom (DoT) which is a pesky nuisance that purports to regulate every aspect of our phones and how we talk to others. Along with the child it spawned TRAI – The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, they have been busy over the last decade framing rules and procedures for everything on earth. Did you know that every phone company has to publish its prices and tariffs in a prescribed format ? If you have seen that format, you\’ll know that you need a PhD in mathematics to understand it.

One result is that you have to go armed with lots of paper and proof for something as simple as getting a SIM Card. In control obsessed China, I just went to a corner shop and bought a SIM. It took me 2 minutes to do so. In India, you submit an ID proof and an address proof (of course Raramritham has written rules on which documents will be accepted for either of those proofs), then wait a while as the SIM is \”activated\”, then you call up a number and revalidate the proofs you have submitted ……..

The latest antics of Ramamritham that has got my goat is that he has ruled that all phones henceforth sold in India must have GPS. His logic ? The safety and security of women is \”of utmost importance\” says this blessed specimen. If she is in danger, we can trace her whereabouts through the GPS signal !!

Really ?? Is it the business of Ramamritham to be legislating such nonsense ? If he was really concerned about women\’s safety, he would be improving police coverage, improving response time to complaints, ensuring more policewomen in the force, ensuring that cases are brought to speedy trial, having a helpline where somebody actually answers the phone, etc etc. No. That\’s all too difficult to do. Instead he can indulge in his favourite activity – write a rule.

Never mind that if a woman wanted GPS on her phone to reassure her of security, she can simply go and get such a phone. No. It has to be legislated.

India has an installed base of 400 million phones that are euphemistically called \”feature phones\”. Translation – they do not have feature such as GPS ! The cost of a phone is likely to increase by Rs 400 if GPS has to be featured in all phones. That of course, does not bother Ramamritham.

When the industry protested, in true style Ramamritham replies – \” It is reiterated that all mobile handset makers should adhere , blah blah, to implementation of GPS facility in all mobile phones sold in India from January 1 , 2018. The representation (sic) in this regard will not be entertained in future \” . Beautiful.

Can all scientists stop their work on space exploration, finding a cure for cancer, sequencing the DNA, etc etc and instead concentrate single mindedly on the eradication of Ramamritham please !

Right problem ; Wrong solution

The extreme left , as this blogger is wont to repeat ad nauseam, is as bad as the extreme right. The champions of the hard left – Bernie Sanders in the US and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK have one policy in common that is a good example of this. Free college for everybody.

They also have another thing in common which is often the case with the left\’s policies. Right problem. Wrong solution.

First the right problem. Its a complete disgrace that in a developed country, a young person starts working life under a mountain of debt. Outstanding student debt is now £100bn in the UK, and a ridiculous $1.3 trillion in the US. And just to give you a perspective on the latter statistic, its $ 600 m higher than the total credit card debt in the US. You start life with a mountain of debt, and not a ready prospect of a good job. Great. If I was to be born again and had a choice of where to be born, I wouldn\’t choose either the US or the UK on that statistic alone.

The left deserves great credit for highlighting this problem. Successive governments of all stripes and colours (pun intended) deserve censure for ignoring the problem and allowing it to build to these levels. A society, and a nation, that spurns its young does not deserve to be called \”civilised\”.

But, as is often the case, the left\’s solution is dead wrong. Their prescription is for college to be made free and the costs to be picked up by the government. Fantastic. Will they never learn that tax tax tax and spend spend spend does not work – for free advice apply to Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, et al.

This blogger suggests three solutions instead.

First cut costs. Why is college education so expensive ? In the US, a ridiculous amount of cost is spent on college sports, fancy living quarters and everything that has nothing to do with education. My good friend Sriram has blogged extensively and is far more knowledgeable on this subject. In the UK, the average Vice Chancellor earns £300,000. And gets payoffs for leaving the job, which would make any corporate fat cat proud. Wield an axe on any cost that does not strictly have to do with education. Get the professional cost cutters from industry and let them loose on the education sector and within 3 years they\’ll cut costs down.

Secondly, what about parental responsibility. I am not at all clear why parents in these countries do not pick up a large portion of these costs. In Asia, education costs are largely picked up by parents. That\’s their legacy and gift to their offspring. If you are not prepared to start your child off well in life, you don\’t deserve to have a child. Period. And anyway what sort of an argument is it that you will not pay for your offspring\’s education, but somebody else (the tax payer) should. And don\’t tell me the parents cannot afford it – they have 15 odd years from the child\’s birth to plan savings. Save $ 5 every day and you won\’t have to worry about student debt.

Thirdly make college education truly global. Allow students from anywhere in the world to study anywhere else – allow free movement of students. There are superb universities in China and India for example, where you can get high quality education at a fraction of the cost in the US or the UK. Just like industry has truly globalised with activity automatically moving to the lowest cost location, so be it with education. Yes, I know this is an utopian dream and will never happen, but at least I can articulate it in my own blog (and no doubt face a volley of criticism in the comments !). Just to make it very clear, I am only advocating free movement for education; not permanent immigration.

The hard left may not ascend in the US, despite how many ever have felt the Bern. But there is a real chance that Jeremy Corbyn might become the Prime Minister of the UK. In that case their national anthem of \”God save the queen\” could perhaps be amended to God save the UK !

Beggars in Nigeria will start paying tax !

So says the Finance Minister of Nigeria. Beggars will have to pay taxes. Apparently some beggars are earning millions in Nigeria. Perhaps its fair enough that Mrs Adeosun , the Finance Minster said “proceeds from begging are taxable. You are supposed to pay taxes even if your means of income is begging”.

Nigeria is a notoriously corrupt country and tax evasion is blatant and has been elevated to a fine art. Hence the startling \”fact\” that beggars are earning millions. Nigeria should, by all rights, should be a very prosperous country. It has oil wealth and is a net oil exporter. It has a young , bright and growing population. It has a decent education system and some of the ablest people in the African continent. It is a large economy – second largest after South Africa. And yet, it is a huge underperformer economically.

Periodically the Nigerian government tries to tackle corruption and the also shore up the country\’s finances. Bolstering tax revenue by cracking down on rampant tax evasion keeps getting tried periodically, but with not much success. The latest is the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme ( with the unfortunate acronym – VAIDS) . Good luck for the latest attempt.

India suffers from similar evasion, with its own home grown quirks. Agricultural income is not taxed , but much of what is claimed as agricultural income has nothing to do with farming. Similarly the tax entity called Hindu Undivided Family is nothing but an institutionalised way to manage taxes. The irony that \”Undivided\” and \”Family\” cannot be put adjacent to each other when it comes to money matters is completely lost on Ramamritham !

The United States being the leader of the world in all matters offers a rich variety of such dodges in the law. Walt Disney in Florida and other big landowners collectively dodged $950 m in taxes by renting a few cows to graze on their large land holdings and thereby qualified as agricultural land inviting lower taxes. And since two of my usual commenters are from the great state of Oregon, they may wish to declare that two of their limbs are useless and thereby earn a tax credit of $50 !

Back to begging. Actually no country exempts the proceeds of begging from taxation. If your earnings from begging exceed the minimum threshold, you have to pay tax on it anywhere in the world. Mrs Adeosun was only stating an universal truth ! Beggars of the world, beware !!

Job losses in India too ?

My good friend who goes by the moniker of Vaingluory, at least on my travel blog, messaged me drawing attention to this story . The opinion piece from a headhunter is titled \’Expect 100,000 to 200,000 Jobs to be Lost Every Year For The Next Three Years\’ .

There is a lot of hyperbole in this – I don\’t think India is going to lose jobs at that rate. Certainly not from the IT industry . But there is an undercurrent of truth , and there is a chill wind coming.

In the last 10-15 years, India, especially in the IT and BPO sectors has seen a pace of job creation that has been unmatched in its history. The impact this has had on people\’s lives is very visible in India\’s cities. In any other country, these job numbers would have been a spectacular miracle that would have transformed the country. India has a huge population and hence this is only a small wave in the ocean.

The young have come to believe that this scorching pace is the natural order of things and that anybody can get a job for the asking. Of course, this can\’t last for ever. The IT industry has matured and the rate of job growth has slowed down. That is only to be expected. The days of \”Tresspassers will be recruited\” are long gone ! Companies are not recruiting in the same numbers. They are asking some underperformers to leave. Some have to cut their costs and so some layoffs have happened too. I do not see any evidence that there is going to be a large shrinkage of jobs ; there will be a much slower rate of growth and there will be some layoffs. But the overall numbers is not going to shrink in a short span of time.

But some global trends are inevitable and they will have a big impact. The most important of them is automation. This is an inexorable trend and will affect all industries including IT. This is going to be the single largest impact on jobs. It\’s a global problem without any easy answers.

The second problem in India, is agriculture. Agriculture has always been the sponge – the vast majority of the Indian population is employed (more accurately underemployed) here. This sector is increasingly becoming financially strained, for reasons that are peculiar to India . Small land holdings, a major water crisis, inability to make significant profits, and the extent of risks for which there are no commensurate rewards. All these make agriculture likely to shed jobs on a scale that will be gargantuan. This has profound consequences for India. Manufacturing or services simply cannot absorb this load and even if they could, there is a massive skill gap for agricultural workers to migrate to other sectors.

India has one big advantage – an already strong services sector which will keep growing. This has the capacity to absorb skilled manpower. Touch any area and India has actually a huge potential for job creation. Judges, policemen, health care workers, retail industry workers, logistics industry workers, even professions like carpenters, plumbers, electricians – everywhere we have a shortage of qualified people even today. Jobs will keep getting created in each of these trades. Many of them will be self employed . Many of them may be in the government ; for example if we have to have a policemen to population ratio that is even remotely comparable to other countries, we will need to add millions of policemen. Ditto judges. Ditto nurses.

The issue is skills. India has a young population that is extremely keen on education and willing to work hard. It lacks a real effective skill building initiative. The National Skills Development Corporation, if it really does its job, can transform India.

Letting go

When your child is born, it is probably the greatest moment of your life. It\’s your child. It is the creation of you and your partner. It\’s a new life created out of the blue. And only because of you.

You then slog your butt off to raise the child. You shower it with love and affection. In the first years of the child\’s life, you don\’t have a single night\’s sound sleep. You worry about your child every minute. You take joy in every smile and gurgle. You get terrified if the child were to as much sneeze.

As the child grows up, you continue to sweat over it. You work hard to earn money to provide for the child. You are willing to sacrifice anything to ensure a top quality education. You try and impart your values. You even discipline the child when she does something wrong. You have every possible aspiration for the child – she will be famous, she will be wealthy, she will excel; above all she will be happy. You even transfer your own aspirations, which you were not able to achieve, on to her.

All too soon, the child grows up. She is now a teenager. She has her own wishes. She does not want to ask your permission for everything. She perhaps listens to music that you cannot even understand how it could be called such. She wants to stay out late. You want to impose your will on her, because in your eyes, she\’s still the baby and you want to protect her. She rebels. You argue.

And then, in the blink of an eye, she is an adult. She leaves home; first to study somewhere else and then to work and be independent. You have a lump in the throat.

What do you do as a parent ? You have to let go.

What if she wants to marry somebody from a different world and the polar opposite of what you determine to be a \”good man\”. You have to let her go and warmly and enthusiastically embrace both of them.

What if she takes up a profession (maybe singing in a night club). It\’s against all your values. But you have to let her go. Wish her every success.

What if she takes up something unpleasant. Like, say, smoking. You can certainly give her a hug and say quietly that this isn\’t good for her health. But is she going to listen ? No way. You have to let her be. Yes, you can worry inside your heart. But that\’s all you should do.

You came from a very middle class family where you lived frugally and never bought anything for yourself. She decides to blow her first salary on 25 designer dresses. She flaunts bling. Yes, the neckline is too low. Do you chide her ? Of course not. You let her be.

The worst thing you can ever ever do, is to bitch about her to all and sundry and say what a disappointment she has turned out to be. You will gain absolutely nothing from it. You will only demean yourself in the eyes of everybody else. And she is not going to be one inch different.

For you see, its her life. The values you tried to drill into her are all very much there. She just sees life very differently from you. That doesn\’t mean she doesn\’t love you. It doesn\’t mean that she is \”bad\”. She is just she. The angel she always was, is, and will be. Let her be.

I know its not easy. But its a mark of your greatness, if you can let her go. It does not negate the immense effort and everything you have done for her.

Mr Murthy; I am talking to you.

This blog turns to politics

On October 18th, or immediately thereafter, a small line of people will walk in into the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square. That will be the new Standing Committee headed by Xi Jinping. And at that time the world shall know what has happened to the \”elections\” in China. The stunning fact is that very few people in the world seem to even know about one of the most momentous events in world politics. Very little has been written about it in the world press and almost nothing has made it to TV. Not even the significant Beidaihe retreat that happened in August.

All this at a time when many people in the world seem addicted to the nonsense that a certain person spews sitting on his toilet seat. The lack of interest in what is happening in China is, to this blogger, unbelievable. Perhaps unfamiliarity is the reason. And hence this blogger is breaking his vow to keep this blog completely apolitical and is launching into a series of posts on what is happening in China.

I begin with a small primer on the current Chinese political system. The Communist Party of China (CPC) is the apex body in China. The government is subservient to the Party. Even the People\’s Liberation Army is not the army of China; its the army of the Party. Therefore what happens in the Party is of prime (only) importance in the politics of China.

The apex decision making body in the CPC is the Politburo, currently consisting of 25 members. Consider it as the Cabinet. From amongst these, an elite group forms the Standing Committee of the Politburo. Currently it has 7 members. This is the all powerful body.

When Mao Zedong established the Party, and for as long as he ruled China, all these institutions were irrelevant. Mao was the sole power centre. But when he died and the dangers of concentrating so much power in one man became apparent, the party elders led by Deng Xiaoping, established some rules and norms for the politics of the future. Thus far they have been adhered to. They are

The principle of retirement . The unofficial term is \”qishang baxia\” or \”Seven up; Eight down\”. The unwritten rule is that if you reach 68 at the CPC Congress meeting which is held once every five years (think of it as election year), you step down and retire. 5 of the 7 members of the Standing Committee and 11 of the 25 members of the Politburo have crossed 68.

The General Secretary and the Premier usually serve for two terms – 10 years – and then stand down. The current incumbents are finishing their first term and can therefore continue for one more term.

An all powerful single power centre , a la Mao, was never allowed to happen post his death. Even Deng was not all powerful – he had an equivalent power centre in Chen Yun. Factions abound ; the Shanghai faction, the Youth League, etc. These factions and their powerful overlords jockey for power behind closed doors. Retired leaders don\’t keep quiet – they exercise power by placing their underlings on these bodies.
The norm in China is for leadership changes to happen with great turmoil, purges and the like. Only two peaceful transitions have ever happened – the handover from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao and from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping. Even the transition from Hu Jintao saw the dramatic fall and subsequent imprisonment of Bo Xilai.
There are three powerful positions in China – The President of China (a mere titular position), the Secretary of the Communist Party (the real powerful position) and the chairmanship of the Central Military Commission that governs the armed forces. Currently all these three positions are held by Xi Jinping. That was the case with Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao as well, but in the Deng era, he was simply the Chairman of the CMC and the other positions were held by his chosen people. A fourth, and less powerful position is that of the Premier – currently held by Li Keqiang and is the No 2 position in China.
Every year in the summer, the power brokers in China retire to a coastal town called Beidaihe , where all the skullduggery, bargaining and negotiations happen. Each faction tries to get its people on to the Politburo and the Standing Committee. Usually most of the big decisions are made here on the beach behind thick closed doors. This is the real \”election\” in China. The Beidaihe meeting happened last month and this blogger is mystified that not only have there been very little leaks, there has been scant reporting in the press as well. Next to the US elections, this is the most important political activity in the world. And we don\’t hear even a squeak.
In the last two peaceful transitions, at the end of the first of the two terms of the incumbent leaders, the top of the subsequent generation is usually nominated to the Standing Committee. This gives the clue as to who would subsequently take over as leaders. If the past 20 years is a guide, then this should happen in the current change and the successor to Xi Jinping who would take over 5 years from now, would at least be indicated. But as we would see in subsequent posts, there is a good chance that this won\’t happen.

In the next post, we will assess the current political landscape and who are the power brokers in China.

Learn from history – Steel tariffs don\’t help

The US has been there before many times. And yet they do it again and again. Granted that logic and thoughtful action is not a feature of the current US administration. But still, you would have thought they would have read up what happened when they tried it last time.

I am referring to the announcement today that the US plans to impose a tariff of 25% on steel imports.

George W Bush tried the same tactics in 2002, with an eye on the same political prize – voters in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He imposed 8-30% tariffs on imported steel . At that time the target was European steel. Europe promptly took the US to the WTO and won sanctions of some $2 billion. More tellingly, the politically astute European Union threatened retaliatory tariffs on oranges (goodbye Florida votes) and cars (ta ta Michigan votes). Meanwhile steel prices in the US surged, screwing industries that buy steel. A later study concluded that 200,000 jobs were lost in the US as a result. Bush retreated and called off the tariffs in 2003.

His father George HW Bush , and his predecessor Ronald Reagan tried various forms of it too. Reagan famously tried quotas on cars (at that time the target was Japan). The end result of that was that car prices went up by $1000 between 1982 and 1984 and the auto industry actually lost 60,000 jobs as a result of the quotas.

Obama indulged in steel tariffs too. His target was China. But that administration did it selectively – huge tariffs, selectively on products and against companies from China that were dumping.

It is not clear what the current administration is trying to achieve. Presumably their target is China , the current bogeyman and indisputably the cause of depressed world steel prices because of overcapacity. But China exports not much steel to the US possibly as a result of the Obama era actions. It is the 11th largest exporter to the US occupying a small portion of US imports – even India is above it in the rankings. The biggest exporter of steel to the US is Canada, followed by Brazil. Is the US trying to screw Canada ?

Why pick a trade war with Canada of all the countries. The US has a deficit of $ 12 bn in goods and a surplus of $24 bn in services on a $ 700 bn two way trade. Overall the US has a surplus with Canada. And you want to provoke a war with them ? Yes, the current administration has launched a war on NAFTA, but even by that perverted logic, the target must be Mexico and not Canada. Canadians are not fools . Selected tariffs from Canada on Vehicles (bye Michigan) and Agricultural Produce ( adieu Ohio) and we are back to reliving the George Bush experience.

Albert Einstein is famously quoted to have said \” The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” But to avoid that, you have to read history to determine what has been done before. Well, in the current administration, reading history is too much to ask. They would make a \”yuuge\” improvement if they could just begin with reading !

Learn from history – Steel tariffs don\’t help

I am referring to the announcement today that the US plans to impose a tariff of 25% on steel imports.

Obama indulged in steel tariffs too. His target was China. But that administration did it selectively – huge tariffs, selectively on products and against companies from China that were dumping.

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