ரஜினி..ரஜினி..ரஜினி

 

நன்றி :சினிமா விகடன் 12.12.12

 நாளை  :ரஜினியும் பாரதியும்

India Changed alot since 1989 Sachin.

Firstpost : Anant Rangaswami : Dec 11, 2012

Sachin’s international career began in 1989. To truly grasp how long he has been playing, let’s take a look at what’s happened in India since then.

The only TV channels we had in India were Doordarshan’s channels. Zee TV, the first satellite channel, was still a few years away from launch.

Indian Airlines was the only domestic airline: East West Airlines, Damania Airways, ModiLuft and NEPC, all of which are now defunct, launched 1992 onwards.

Pepsi launched in India a few months before Sachin’s debut, and there was no Coke available. Coke re-entered India in 1993. When Sachin first played for India, Thums Up, Campa Cola, Gold Spot, Limca and Citra were the biggest carbonated beverage brands in the country.

The only cars available in India, then, were Maruti, Ambassador, Premier Padmini and the Standard Rover.

In 1990, we could buy $1 at Rs 17.50.

Days after Sachin made his debut, Rajiv Gandhi resigned as prime minister of India and VP Singh took charge a few days later. The BJP was then the third largest party in India, behind the Congress and the Janata Dal.

Wisden’s cricketers of the year were Kim Barnett, Jeff Dujon, Phil Neale, Franklyn Stephenson and Steve Waugh.

The top grossing films of the year included Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Dead Poets Society, Honey, I shrunk the kids and Ghostbusters II. Driving Miss Daisy won the best picture award at the Oscars.

In music, Madonna was rocking the world with Like a prayer, Phil Collins regaled us withAnother day in paradise, and Roxette rocked with The Look. Bill Joel started the fire with We didn’t start the fire.

The DVD had not been invented yet. CDs were new and rare in India.

Maine Pyar Kiya was the biggest grossing Bollywood film of the year.

Alain Prost won the F1 championship in 1989, while Boris Becker won Wimbledon.

Ayatollah Khomeini places a $3 million bounty for the death of Salman Rushdie for writingThe Satanic Verses. Shashi Tharoor wrote The Great Indian Novel.

Outlook magazine had not yet launched.

Only one phase of the Calcutta Metro was in operation; the Delhi Metro was still more than a decade away. The Konkan railway was but an idea. There were no expressways in the country. The second Hooghly bridge was still under construction and the Bandra Worli Sea Link was not yet thought of.

Prince William was seven years old and Prince Harry was five.

Margaret Thatcher was the prime minister of the UK, Ronald Reagan had just completed his presidency of the USA, and Geroge H W Bush had taken over. Benazir Bhutto was president of Pakistan (her first term).

Titan was a two-year old watch company, way behind leader HMT.

There were no multiplexes in India. No Mcdonald’s, No Pizza Hut, No Domino’s, not even a Café Coffee Day. Shoppers Stop had not yet launched, and Crossword had just a few stores in the country.

The official name of Kolkata was still Calcutta, and would remain so till 2001. It was still Bombay officially, till 1995. Madras was Madras, till 1996.

And, finally, to underline how much things have changed in Sachin’s career timespan, take a look at the prices of fuel in 1989. On 1 April 1989, petrol cost Rs 8.50 per litre, diesel Rs 3.50, kerosene Rs 2.25 and, hold your breath, an LPG cylinder just Rs. 57.60.

Things and times have changed, Sachin.

How Apple Really Lost Its Lead In The '80s ?

businessinsider ;;Jay Yarow | Dec. 9, 2012, 8:26 AM

When Android surged past Apple in smartphone market share, a lot of people squawked that computer history was repeating itself.

The story of the 80s, according to these people, was that Apple pioneered the personal computing industry with the Apple computer. It then stumbled because of its closed approach while Microsoft flourished, spraying its software everywhere through low-cost personal computers.

Apple went from being the wealthy market leader to an also-ran in the blink of an eye.

It's going to happen again, too, warn these people, if Apple doesn't learn anything.

You see, the iPhone was the innovative market leader, but a cheaper alternative from Google, Android, is being sprayed all over the place. If Apple's not careful, it will one again be a broke also-ran in the blink of an eye.

It's an entertaining story, but it turns out it's not exactly accurate. The loose outline of the story is the same, but the particular details are different.

Goldman Sachs released a massive report on the warring tech giants this week. In the report it details how Apple lost in the eighties and how it's distinct from this era. It's a good story to read because it's important to see how Apple is in a completely different position this time around.

First off all, Apple was never really a market leader in the 80s. Here's a great chart looking at the computing market share.

Goldman Sachs

Apple's early success was thanks to the Apple II, which was released in 1977. Apple failed to deliver a successful follow up for seven years, says Goldman. It came out with the Apple III, which had "engineering flaws," and had to be recalled. The next computer was the Apple Lisa, which cost $9,995, making it way too expensive for the broader consumer market.

Apple didn't deliver a strong follow-up until it released the Macintosh in 1985. By then it was too late.

While Apple struggled to deliver a follow up computer, IBM desperate to break into the personal computer market, outsourced production of an operating system to Microsoft. Consumers and enterprises were familiar with the IBM brand and bought IBM computers, shunning Apple's balky offerings.

IBM, however, didn't lock in exclusivity. Microsoft started selling its OS to any PC maker, that would buy it. Thus, Microsoft's share of the computing market took off. As Microsoft grabbed market share, developers started working on applications for its OS instead of Apple's Macintosh system.

Microsoft's operating system, which was on more computers that cost less money and had better applications became the dominant computing platform for the next twenty years.

Things have changed for Apple.

Each year Apple has released a phone that is better than the phone it sold the year before. There was no seven year opportunity for a rival to release a phone that was better than the iPhone.

There is no IBM this time either. Apple, through the iPod and the Mac, was a trusted brand. The closest thing to a trusted computer brand when the iPhone launched was Microsoft and its partners, HP and Dell. Neither HP, nor Dell, had something to compete with the iPhone. Motorola was a trusted handset maker, but its Microsoft phones were nothing compared to the iPhone. 

When Google got into the smartphone game it was starting from scratch with Android. Remember, in 2007, Google was still a new company to most people. It wasn't a blue chip brand like IBM. And its first handset partner was HTC, which no one had heard of in 2008.

Then there's the developer angle. In the eighties, developers only worked on Microsoft because it was not worth it to do otherwise. Here's another fun chart from Goldman:

Screenshot

Why would a developer increase development cost by 75% to only get access to 8% more market?

Today, Apple isn't having a problem attracting developers. But, even if it did, the cost of developing for iOS and Android is much less, says Goldman, making it worth it for a developer.

Finally, there's another reason Microsoft triumphed over Apple last time. Computing devices were largely bought by corporations. And they liked IBM and its PC clones. Those corporate buyers stayed on the Microsoft platform for years because they were comfortable with it, and there were applications for it.

This is changing.

In 2000, Goldman says Microsoft powered 97% of internet connected computing devices. The majority of those PCs, 60%, were for commercial use. The remaining 40% was consumer purchases. 

Today, only 30% of internet connected computing devices are personal computers. And 85% of those purchases are now made by consumers, not corporations. Those consumers are bringing their devices to work, thus weakening Microsoft's grip on the enterprise.

Goldman Sachs

Apple is one of the most beloved consumer brands. With 85% of computing purchases coming from consumers, it is in a better position to avoid what doomed it in the eighties.

Then, there's the iPad. Apple had no such companion product in the past. Sales of the iPad reinforce sales of the iPhone, which reinforce sales of the iPad. Once people get into Apple's ecosystem, which is loaded with apps, they tend to stick around.

Without question, Apple could still get decimated. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are all selling competing tablets. Microsoft and Google have smartphone operating systems trying to beat the iPhone. Google's Android has taken huge amounts of market share.

But, if Apple gets decimated and relegated to a niche player on the cusp of going bankrupt, it's going to be for reasons that are very different than why it lost in the eighties.

Memo to RBI: Only shock therapy will work from now on

by R Jagannathan: firstpost : Dec 10, 2012

When Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao takes a view on interest rates next week in his mid-quarter monetary policy review, he should know that no matter what he does, growth will not revive and inflation will not come down.

Unless he decides to go in for shock therapy, which he has been loath to do so far. If anything, he has been willing to wound, but afraid to strike.

And by shock therapy we mean he should either cut rates significantly, or do the opposite – say, by, one or two percentage points immediately. This would be shock therapy, not a 25 basis points cut or status quo on repo rates. That would be neither here nor there.

The problem is that Subbarao has not been running a

 tight enough policy

. AFP

For a frog sitting in water, if the heat is raised a little bit at a time, it is likely to get comfortable with the slowly rising heat till it reaches the level where it cannot survive.

 It would have been far better to give the frog a sudden jolt of scalding heat so that it would have jumped out when it could have saved itself.

India’s wounded economy is suffering from a debilitating inertia that is neither too hot to jump off, nor hot enough to kill. 

But the end result is surely going to be a dying growth cycle— as the 5.3 percent GDP growth in the second quarter of 2012-13 testifies.

Subbarao’s critics, who want interest rates brought down to reverse the slowdown, point out—not unfairly—that his tight money policy is not really working since there is no appreciable decrease in underlying inflation.

The Governor’s backers—who include most global research agencies and right-wing economists—say the problem is that Subbarao has not been running a tight enough policy, and inflationary expectations are still nowhere near topping out. So he should not be sending a cheap money signal.

India’s top moneyman has been equivocating between whether he should target growth or inflation over the last few quarters, but on balance he has managed to do little about either because monetary policy is ineffective when fiscal policy is pulling in the other direction.

So what’s going wrong?

 Why hasn’t the good doctor’s medicine—holding the line on interest rates—cured inflation? 

And what does this tell us about what he should do next?

The most important element in cure is diagnosis. If your diagnosis is right, the cure will be obvious. If it’s wrong, no cure is possible.

So the focus has to be on diagnosing right. A Seshan, writing in Business Standard today, offers an interesting insight on the diagnosis and says the problem is “inertial inflation” — a situation where inflation has stabilised at an uncomfortable level and refuses to be tamed. Others have called the phenomenon by a different name—structural inflation—but it’s probably the same thing

And why has this happened in India? 

Seshan sees inflation as sticky because several expectations are built into the economy. He writes: “Inter alia, the factors that contribute to it (inertial inflation) are the annual increase in support prices for agricultural produce that provide the benchmarks for the markets, the periodical wage revisions in the organised sector and RBI’s assumption of an ‘acceptable’ inflation rate of four to five percent —which people know by experience will be exceeded. The central bank can deal with only the last factor in relation to expectations.”

Jahangir Aziz of JP Morgan Chase, writing The Indian Express, explains the other side of the inertia by pointing out that despite high rates, “India has not even enjoyed the ‘benefit’ of lower inflation from falling growth. Instead, inflation has remained stubbornly high. The authorities and many in the market have raised this as a puzzle. But there isn’t one. India’s growth has fallen from 9 percent to 5 percent not because of slowing consumption but because corporate investment has declined sharply.”

Between Seshan and Aziz we have the real issue: the system is too geared for higher inflation, and the confidence to invest—which holds the key to supply side nirvana—is missing. Thus, we have a situation where lack of investment and growth is making fighting inflation even harder.

The way out of this “inertial inflation”, or “inertial slowdown” is that we need a systemic shock, and Seshan’s own suggestion is that the government should release its massive food stocks to the poor and lower the general level of inflation. Though this would not bring down the fiscal deficit (another important reason for “inertial inflation”), small-scale tinkering with the deficit is not achieving anything anyway. A plus point with this proposal is that politicians would be thrilled to give away grains at throwaway prices in an election year.

Aziz’s shock therapy would include important second generation reforms like the introduction of a goods and services tax (GST). In addition, “I would place a permanent fiscal responsibility act that commits the government to hard budget constraints, a framework to price natural resources transparently, a land acquisition framework that balances the interests of sellers and buyers and a transparent set of election finance rules very high on that agenda.”

A government married to two political rivals in Uttar Pradesh—Mayawati and Mulayam Singh—may not find the gumption to act boldly, but that still leaves RBI Governor Subbarao free to act.

What can Subbarao do in his 18 December monetary policy?

 What shock can he deliver?

Two possible shocks are possible. Since everyone is expecting a 25 basis points cut in repo rates, it is impossible to shock anyone with this. Since no one would be surprised if he held rates, this too would not come as a shock.

A true shock would have to be something higher on the Richter scale: if Subbarao thinks growth needs a kickstart, he should cut rates sharply—by one or two percent at one go. If he thinks inflation is the problem, he should raise rates by the same amount. The latter may worsen growth, but it could prod the government—our frog —to jump out and try out some second generation reforms.

The India Growth story is dying.

 It will survive only if there is a shock to the system. 

Over to you, Dr Subbarao.

Sundaram AMC’s equity head resigns

Satish Ramanathan. Queries sent to the corporate communications division at Sundaram Asset Management on the subject didn’t elicit a response.

Kayezad E. Adajania :mint : Thu, Dec 06 2012. 11 17 PM IST


The fund house is in search of a successor to Satish Ramanathan, two persons said

Mumbai: Sundaram Asset Management Co. (AMC) Ltd’s head of equities Satish Ramanathan has resigned, two persons close to the development said on Thursday.

The fund house, India’s 13th largest by assets under management, is in search of a successor to Ramanathan, the two persons said.

Queries sent to the corporate communications division at Sundaram Asset Management on the subject didn’t elicit a response.

The company is expected to make an announcement within a day or two, the persons said.

Launched in 1997, the 15-year-old fund house was a performance leader at one time. Its flagship Sundaram Select Mid-cap Fund was one of the best-performing mid-cap schemes and finished in the top 10 between 2003 and 2007. In the past three years, however, its equity schemes haven’t done as well.

Of the five diversified equity funds it has, according to Value Research, a mutual fund tracker (thematic and sector funds have been omitted), three underperformed their respective category averages in 2010 and 2011.

The fund house’s new managing director, Harsha Viji, who took over the reins in July, “means business”, according to a market expert.

This market expert said that Viji’s focus on performance initiated the change in the fund management.

“Viji has been making subtle, but far-reaching changes in the fund house ever since he joined because performance is paramount to him,” said a person at the fund house on condition of anonymity.

Harsha Viji is the great-grandson of T.V. Sundaram Iyengar, the founder of the TVS Group (Sundaram AMC is a part of the TVS Group).

Viji’s father, Santhanam Viji, is chairman of Sundaram Finance Ltd, the AMC’s sponsor and one of TVS Group’s several companies.

In addition to the five equity diversified funds, Sundaram AMC also has a few thematic and sectoral funds that focus on sectors such as energy, financial services, rural consumption and capital goods companies.

Some of these funds have also been hit hard, as have most in many of these sectors, especially those related to the infrastructure sector, on account of the slowdown in the economy.

The fund executive cited earlier said Viji may initiate a merger in some of its equity schemes. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has been subtly nudging the Rs.7.68 crore Indian mutual funds (MF) industry to consolidate some schemes and bring down the total number of offerings from 

Heavy evening shower ends dry spell but hits traffic in Chennai on MOnday Night

D Gopala Krishnan : The Hindu ,4 Dec 2012







Several low-lying areas were inundated within hours of the showers on Monday 

evening. (in picture) A huge tree collapsed on a car on TTK Road — Photo: S.R. 

Raghunathan : The Hindu : 4 DEC 1012


R Lakshmi : The Hindu 4 DEc 2012

A low pressure area that had dissipated into a lower level circulation brought what the cyclone that hit the Tamil Nadu coast close to the city in October-end failed to bring.

The skies opened up on Monday after a long dry spell, bringing much needed relief to the people of Chennai.

A low pressure area that had dissipated into a lower level circulation brought what the cyclone that hit the Tamil Nadu coast close to the city in October-end failed to bring.

On Monday morning, Anna University and Meenambakkam had recorded the highest of 5 cm of rainfall. Nungambakkam, DGP office and Tambaram received 4 cm. Several other stations around the city too recorded a good spell of rainfall.

On Monday, though there were intermittent showers during the day, many localities experienced heavy showers in the evening. Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam received 2 cm and 4 cm of rainfall, respectively, between 5.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m.

Traffic on main roads, including Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Jawaharlal Nehru Salai and Poonamallee High Road, slowed down following the downpour in the evening. Traffic personnel had a tough time regulating traffic in areas such as Purasawalkam and T. Nagar.

Some low-level areas such as those in Kilpauk were water-logged within an hour of the evening showers.

TRAINS RUN BEHIND SCHEDULE

The heavy downpour in the southern suburbs of Chennai resulted in a traffic gridlock on Monday evening at Chromepet, where vehicles that broke down were trapped for more than three hours. As Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses towards Tambaram and Chengalpattu were unable to reach their destinations on time, crowds of waiting commuters could be seen at all the bus stops.

Train services too were affected and Southern Railway staff said many late evening suburban electric trains from Chennai Beach to Chengalpattu were behind schedule.

RESERVOIRS FILLED

The overnight showers had increased the annual rainfall to 93 cm against the normal of 140 cm in Nungambakkam and 100 cm against the average of 138 cm in Meenambakkam.

For this season, beginning October 1, Chennai has registered 51 cm, which is short by 21 cm of the average rainfall for the reason. Officials of the meteorological department said that the rainfall has mostly been isolated to districts of Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram. The rains will continue till December 7 over the city. There may be an increase in rainfall over the State on Tuesday and Chennai may experience heavy rain.

The four reservoirs that cater to the city’s drinking water needs, too, received some rainfall. This helped in maintaining the storage, which is under severe strain as Krishna water has stopped reaching the State’s border in Uthukottai, Tiruvallur district, for the past two days. The Andhra Pradesh government had reduced the release citing dipping storage in the Kandaleru reservoir. The storage stood at 6.4 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) against 68 tmcft in Kandaleru reservoir on Monday.

Officials of the Water Resources Department said that at present, the four city reservoirs have less than 40 per cent of storage that would last only for a few months. Krishna water is imperative to balance the water withdrawal. “The Andhra Pradesh authorities have discharged 500 cubic feet of water per second (cusec) on Friday. We expect it to reach here (Uthukottai) by the early hours of Tuesday. Initially, we will realise a minimum of 100 cusecs,” said an official. The city has so far realised 3.18 tmcft of Krishna water since June end. This is equal to three months of city supply.

Meanwhile, a holiday on Tuesday was declared for all schools in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Vellore. The meteorological department has forecast that rain or thundershowers may occur in some areas, heavy at times, till Wednesday.

TREE COLLAPSES ON CAR

A huge tree collapsed on a car on TTK Road around 8.30 p.m. on Monday. The car was waiting for a signal near Park Sheraton, when the tree collapsed. Members of the public rushed to the aid of the passengers. All six of them including the driver escaped unhurt.

(with inputs from K. Manikandan)

Cybercrime in RBI chief's name

 Rao Jaswant Singh, TNN | Dec 2, 2012, 01.41 AM IST


GURGAON: In what could be described as an online shock for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cyber fraudsters posing as RBI governor are now sending phishing emails to unsuspecting persons seeking their banking details in lieu of transferring a hefty amount.

Despite advisory warnings issued by RBI there has been a series of complaints about having received a mail from the address blaire.macphail@sunmedia.ca with the subject Union Pay/ATM Compensation Payment Notification.

A forged letterhead of RBI showing its address as Shantipath in Chanakyapuri New Delhi is an attachment and the mail ends with "Yours in service D Subbarao RBI Governor". 

The letter reads "Reserve Bank of India Union Pay Settlement Committee and the ATM International Inc wishes to congratulate you on the successful emergence in our ongoing fund remittance promo to all ATM card users across the globe.

The mail also asks the mail recipient to furnish personal details including name address contact number age and occupation and a fee of US $350. The mail claims that only after that an amount of $1.8 million will be transferred to their account.

Ironically the mail alerts the customers to stay away from impostors and contact them through the secure code given to them in the email.

A senior bank official said RBI never asks for bank account details of any customer and nor are such mails sent by the bank directly or indirectly. The Cyber Emergency Response Team of India the central agency that monitors all government websites blocks such website after complaints are received.

He also said the bank appeals to the public to not respond to such mails or share their bank account and personal details with anyone for any purpose. "Also the RBI has issued alert on its website" he added.

In case any bank customer has revealed their bank account details in response to such a mail they should immediately alert their respective bank and request them not to transfer any cash.