Will the real Narayan Murthy please stand up.

Recent reports point to NRN (Narayan Murthy) of Infosys fame having started a venture capital fund after selling some of his stake in Infosys via share sale on the stock exchanges.

Now, this fund has gone into PR mode and is being featured in electronic media.

Read report here

What is more interesting are the comments made by some of the readers.

Reproduced below are these comments

Actual Translation of NRN words
by Batao Na on Dec 22, 2009 09:39 AM | Hide replies

In the cryptic code NRN said

"The way to succeed for any new start-up company in the IT services field is to focus on niche areas or small verticals and doing some unusual things, N R Narayana Murthy"

This translates to

" Pay poor wages and be a slave driver, Always be in recruitment mode because poorly paid slaves will keep jumping ths ship. Fudge the resume of your employees and oversell to your clients making them work is anyway clients headache. Pay media and tom-tom every mundane things you do . To get free publicity think innovative like bribing Indian government so that visiting foreign leaders are forced to add your campus visit to their schedule and media accompanying them give you free coverage this is lot cheaper then direct advertising"

Treat Your Employees as Beggars to be a Successful Businessmen by historyrepeats on Dec 21, 2009 03:57 PM | Hide replies a) Give pittance salary. b) Be biased in promotion,increment and rise. c) Promote those who don't deserve only d) Encourage dispute amongst employees. e) Keep your spy in the employees to be updated f) Never bring talent people on top. g) Hire corrupt ppl on top hierarchy h) During economic slowdown,do cost cutting or retrenchment of junior level employee only. i) Keep folling employees with long term benefits. j) Keep good relations with Politicians. k) Offer salary which does not commensurate with the candidate's talent. l) Give raise to employee who is lazy and a treachere to company. m) Don't spend money on employee' s welfare. n) Do small contribution on CSR with profit in mind and propagate it as you care and concern for Social & Environmental issue. In short, be a cunning businessman and don't believe in servicing your client and keep them on toes. The work which could be completed in a jiffy , spends months to show the biggest work done for clients and in return fleece the clients and ask to shell them big amount for work done. Customer is Kind only on papers-Remember. Talk high on Mission, Vision and Value but never practice what you preach.

These are serious charges and most of them seem to stick given Infosys track record.

Will the real Narayan Murthy stand up and answer them?

We are the least tourist friendly country...

Hi,

From my visits to Delhi, Chennai, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kolkatta and a host of other cities including Bangalore, I have come to the conclusion that we are one of the most unfriendly country as far as tourists are concerned.

• We have all street signs in local languages, including destination boards on buses, trains and trams.
• We have the public transport operators that speak only the local language. In south India if you speak in Hindi, you will most likely not get anywhere!
• All signage is in local language, making going from one place to another very difficult.
• There is no street furniture where you can rest your sore back.

Why can't we have

• Street signs in English and our National Laugage (Hindi).
• Street Furniture.
• Decent wash-rooms, maybe air-conditioned and available on pay-per-use basis.
• Restaurants with street seating arrangements from where one can watch the local life passing one by.

Hope someone does something about this otherwise visitors will continue to say 'Incredible India!'

Outside-In Process: The New Path to Customer-Centricity

Sep. 04, 2009
By Dick Lee, High-Yield Methods

Peter Drucker famously opined that the greatest risk to organizations was neither doing the right work wrong nor doing the wrong work but not seeing or reacting to profound change occurring around us. Today, we're in such a period of transformational change, with a powerful confluence of forces driving up the power of customers in buyer-seller relationships—and correspondingly depressing the potential for sellers to stay competitive while putting their own interests ahead of customer interests. That this change is occurring is almost beyond debate. But how to effectively respond to this sea change is not only a matter for debate, but a source of great frustration for sellers. Fortunately, a growing number of companies are showing the way by proactively treating the rise in customer power as an opportunity rather than a threat—and using an approach becoming known as "Outside-In Process" or just "Outside-In" to build bridges extending out to customers.

Read rest of the article here

Read This Because the Dollar Is Doomed

From The Motley Fool Blog

By Tim Hanson
August 28, 2009
Brian Richards and I wrote back in March that we thought the dollar might be doomed. That was because:

1. The United States has a massive and growing deficit.
2. The United States continues to generate significant trade deficits.
3. The United States has become oh-so-willing to print money out of thin air to meet its increasing obligations, and to prop up the likes of AIG (NYSE: AIG) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).

The more things change …
Fast forward five months, and that willingness to print and spend has only increased. None other than Warren Buffett of the famously successful Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) put the nail in the dollar's coffin in a New York Times editorial last week. He wrote, "Fiscally, we are in uncharted territory" and concluded that "Unchecked greenback emissions will certainly cause the purchasing power of currency to melt. The dollar's destiny lies with Congress."

Read the story here

Is the World Losing Faith in the U.S. Dollar?

As the global economy appears headed toward recovery, concerns are growing that the United States' addiction to massive fiscal stimulus as an economic panacea could eventually lead to an even bigger crisis -- a loss of confidence in the U.S. dollar. Prominent voices are sounding dire warnings, worried that a gradual return to normalcy could undermine the political will needed to control deficit spending and prevent a disastrous long-term decline of the world's primary reserve currency.
Read rest of the article here....

Another Update on Forest Land Issue in Mumbai

Recent reports appearing in newspapers suggest that the Supreme Court has called for a list of affected parties.

The Central Empowered Committee has arrived at a formula for allowing the buildings on forest land to stay.
This is as per four categories.

1. Flats constructed before June 22, 2005 @ Rs 8 to 12 per square feet.
2. Builders who have completed construction before June 22, 2005 but have yet to get occupation certificates @ 8 to 12 per square feet x 5, that is between 40 to 60 Rs.
3. Builders who have undertaken commercial/factories and residences for redevelopment @ Rs 8 to 12 x 10, that is 80 to 120 Rs per square foot.
4. Builders with pending construction plans @ 8 to 12 per square feet x 20, that is 160 to 240 Rs per square foot.
   

Once the data is supplied to the court, people can expect relief after paying afforestation charges as the government has already accepted the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee.

Bandra Worli Sea-Link, a bridge to nowhere!

It is with much fan-fare that Bandra Worli Sea-Link bridge has been inaugurated in Mumbai (Bombay).

Built on a BOT (Build Operate Transfer) model, the bridge stands testimony to colossal waste of public money for the benefit of few.

Pro Bridge lobby will say that the bridge will make travel to Nariman Point and South Mumbai eassier and faster.

I say, why do we need to travel to the south tip at all. The error of developing Nariman Point as a business district is being compounded by creating infrastructure to reach there. There is a need to re-think the way Mumbai is developing and the way people travel.

A similar investment in local rail transport would have benefited a lot more people, but then these people are considered insignificant by the decision makers who themselves travel in cars and other such personal transport vehicles.

Your comments are invited.

Dirty rotten scoundrel

I can see him in my rear view mirror, riding his two-wheeler and honking away to glory. He zigs and zags through the traffic trying to cut through. As he draws closer, I notice his mouth swollen and filled with pan spittle. A large vermilion mark is sported on his forehead. Now I see him and now I don’t. But I can hear him honking some where behind me.

His helmet is safely locked at the rear of his vehicle. He tries to cut into a car from the right while entering the subway but gets blocked. The horn goes blaring, I am still ahead of him.

On the straight now, I notice that he has finally over taken me and stopped at the signal. A traffic cop stands below the signal, noticing not only him but a host of others who are not wearing the compulsory helmet. He chooses to ignore them and looks the other way.

Meanwhile he has taken the first place below the signal and is waiting to rush through. But what is this, he wants to go right and he is in the left most lane. I suddenly see him drifting into the left lane right under the traffic cops nose. A stream of spittle hits the ground as he empties his mouth and as the signal turns green, he scoots to the left virtually cutting across traffic.

Dirty rotten scoundrel and he is not the only one on the streets of Bombay.

MHADA Should build 5 Lac Houses

If someone really wants to beat the recession and give a stimulus to the economy, it could be our very own government housing agency MHADA.

Recently MHADA announced sale of around 4000 houses and believe it or not more than 5,00,000 people applied to own a house at government advertised discounted rates.

It is common knowledge that MHADA builds very poor quality houses, nevertheless the response has been overwhelming.

If MHADA was to convert every application that it received in to a firm allotment, the economy of the country would receive a big boost.

Let us get the maths straight;

Flats on Offer : 3863

Average Sale Price : Between 20,00,000 to 30,00,000 (2 to 3 Million Rupees or 20 to 30 Lacs)

Taking a median price of 25,00,000 ( 2.5 Million or 25 Lacs)

Forms Sold : 5,00,000 (5 Million)

Money Collected from sale of Forms 5 Million x 100 (500 Million or 5 Crores)

If MHADA was to make a firm allotment to every person that has applied;

Total Sale Realization 5 Million x 2.5 Million = 1250000 Million Rupees ( 12.5 Billion Rupees or 1,25,000 Crores)

Considering a profit margin of just 20% for the government, it would translate to 25,000 Crores for the government.

All the babus can make their cut from the developers, the Babus get stimulated.

The politicians can fill their pockets by awarding contracts to their cronies, the politicians get stimulated.

Poor mumbaikar can have a house to call his own. They get stimulated.

The steel companies can churn more steel from their factories, the cement companies can spew more cement and thus everybody in the value chain gets stimulated!

Banks can lend money to these flat buyers because for one thing they are indirectly giving the money to the government, land title will be clear, flats will be built on time and chances of getting cheated are limited. Banks get stimulated!

Any takers for the scheme?

Slumdog Millionaire and Why Amitabh choose to slam the movie

When Slumdog Millionaire became a hit with world audiences, film folks back home choose to applaud the film that showcases the dirty underbelly of Bombay City.

Some leading lights choose to differ. Amongst them were Amithabh Bacchan and Aamir Khan.

Why did they choose to play down the film which had got critical and mass acclaim all over the world?

Perhaps it could be to do with the fact that they have individually contributed almost nothing to the development of the city? It could also be that they never ever knew that such an underbelly existed?

But it would be naive to think that these were the real reasons.

I think it was their conscience that prompted them to issue these statements. They know in their heart of heart that they have only taken from the city and choose to look the other way when the problems depicted in the movie came face to face with them in their day to day life.

I am sure Amitabh and Aamir have seen beggars on the roads, driven through the shanties that are home to more than 60% (90 Million of the 150 Million) population of the city. They know how people live in sub-human conditions in these shanties but have always thought of it, like almost all of us, as a problem for the government to tackle.

They forgot that it is people from these shanties that make or break their movies every friday at the box office. They also forgot that they have the power to make a difference, a power that they have chosen not to use.

Therefore when someone showed them the ugly face of the city, they cringed at the site and choose to slam the movie rather than come out and say, Hey, I am ashamed that all this is happening in my city and I take full personal responsibility to move the mountain, to change all that is depicted in the movie and strive to make the city a better place to live.

Had they done that, they would have become bigger darlings of the masses.

BMC Officials run the Slum Racket

Recent report in Times of India points to BMC officials being involved in aiding and abetting slums in Bombay.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone, least of all the residents of Bombay.

In a recent conversation with a senior police officer, he remarked, that the Crime Department of the police is actually involved in Crime, similarly the Social Service Branch is involved in Gambling and Prostitution or giving protection to these rackets run all over the city. The Economic Offenses Wing extracts it's pound of flesh from White Collar crime reported to it. Often, case property is divided amongst the players at various levels.

The slum report goes on to detail how the whole racket operates. How migrants come to occupy the slums and live in sub-human conditions and how locations are later converted to commercial use by greasing the right palms.

What is the remedy for such crime?

Why do I call it a crime? It is a crime against all other residents of the city who pay taxes and contribute to the city. Slums on the other hand are a drain on the city. Electricity is stolen to light these houses, water connections are pilfered to supply water to people living in these slums.

All these slums are an encroachment on government or unprotected private land. Government officials along with local corporators, ward officers, et all contribute to mushrooming of slums. They hold more than 60% of the total population of the city pegged at 150 Million according the report published in Times of India. Therefore about 90 (9 Crore) Million people live in slums. If for each slum the average occupancy is 6 persons, then there would exist around 15 (1.5 Crore) Million individual slum homes.

If you take an average transfer rate of 40,000 for creation of a slum home, it would translate to 600 Billion (60,000 Crore) rupees that have been generated from these slums. All this money has been distributed amongst the players ranging from the ward officers, local corporators, local politicians, goons and the underworld.

No wonder no one wants to rock the boat.

These slums also serve as vote-banks for the politicians that have been instrumental in creating these slums in the first place. They provide protection from various government agencies to the residents of the slums who in turn use their votes to keep the leaders in power.

The slums are also result of zoning rules and development rules created by the same ruling class. These rules create artificial scarcity of land by capping the floor to space index (FSI) and creating green zones, coastal zones and a plethora of other rules to reduce land supply. On the other hand they acquire land from their ill-gotten money and reduce to available land for housing. This drives up the land price and in turn house prices. Slums thus indirectly allow the political class to hoard land with the money made from slums.

One solution to the problem could be a radical re-look at FSI and DCR (Development Control Rules) imposed on the city. Another solution could be to dis-enfranchise the residents of all encroached land. This way the politician will not benefit from the vote-banks that they now depend upon and are instrumental in creating in the first place.

A more severe solution would be death penalty for corruption. But then who will bell the cat?

Your comments are invited.

Read the Times of India Report Here

Real Hustle

Yesterday, I went shopping in a mall near Mira Road in suburban Bombay.

My daughter had purchased a garment which she wanted exchanged. Once that was done, we entered Archie's a gift shop located on the ground floor. Here we selected a photo frame and as we were about to pay our way out we noticed a sudden commotion near the payment and packets counter.

On inquiry we learnt that someone had absconded with a bag belonging to another customer. Normally this would be a mistake and the customer would come back and take his right bag but this turned out to be a con job. Here is how it was committed.

The con artist was tailing the group of women who had made a purchase from Croma (an electronics store on the first floor). These women had purchased two mobile phones. The thief had made a purchase of a cheap headphone from the same store at the same time. He ensured that their packing bags were of the same size and type. Once this was done he started tailing his target. The target entered Archie's and handed over their bag for safekeeping and security purpose, the thief did the same. The shop provided both the people with tokens to claim their parcels on the way out.

This is where the con artist used his skills. As soon as he saw that the target group was exiting the store he rushed over to the parcel counter and presented the guard with his token at the same time as the target group did. He then confused the gurard by pointing to the wrong bag and claiming it as his own. As the guard was holding both the tokens and as was being badgered by the con artist to do his job quickly, he handed the bag containing the mobile phones to the con artist.

He disappeared in a jiffy leaving the target with a bag containing the cheap headphone.

You could be target of such a real hustle and may lose your belongings. Be aware and beware.