Martin Luther King on Non-Violence

“Driving’s not a competition. Just get there safely.” And I remind myself that the other driver is a suffering being and wish him (sometimes her) well. “May you be well. May you be happy. May you be free from suffering.”
http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/quote-of-the-month/martin-luther-king-on-nonviolence

Ten reasons why Modi will not be able to deliver on his promises

1. The number one reason is that like the Congress, Modi and BJP believes in trickledown effect. It will promote large industry and industrialist in setting up factories and businesses in the hope that these industries and industrialists will create jobs and money will end up finally in the hands of the consumer. This has been the standard approach of all capitalist countries but the results are there for everyone to see, the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. 
2.  Because the government is spending more than its income, the government will not be able to cut down on taxes and may end up increasing taxes to bridge the earning and spending gap. This will leave still less money with the consumers. Less money with consumers means that although there will be factories producing goods, there will be no one to buy those goods. And given the shoddy image India has abroad, the international market isn’t really waiting with open arms to buy the goods manufactured in India. 
3. The race for plum portfolios shows that BJP elected members are as keener to get hold of a ‘lucrative’ berth. A berth that will not only make them rich but provide for their generations to come. Thus corruption is likely to continue unabated and it will be the polity that will suffer at the hands of this corruption. 
4. It has been reported that Mr. Modi wants to move the freight off the trains on to the roads to give a boost to the transport industry. Unfortunately, transport industry runs on expensive and dollar denominated purchase of fossil fuel. 31% of India’s import in 2012-2013 comprised of fossil fuel. A boost to the transport industry will spell doom for the railways, one of the last remaining public sector undertaking that is making money. Railways may end up in the same condition as the national air carrier, Air India. This also demonstrates that government run public sector undertakings will continue to be stripped in favor of private organizations and profits will go into private hands.
5. With such a large mandate that has come about riding on the contribution of party workers and crony capitalists, it is but natural that all those who contributed to the success of the party will demand their pound of flesh. And if that is not delivered to them on a platter, the honeymoon may end much earlier than envisaged by people.
6. On the one hand the government is promising higher prices for the farmers and on the other they are promising lower prices to consumers. Unless the government moves swiftly to manage waste in the supply chain, this does not look like something that will happen quickly. Also, any effort to tame down the profiteers at the selling end of the supply chain is likely to bring about howls of protest. Eliminating the middle men is going to be a tough proposition as it would mean indirect FDI in retail.
7. As prices continue to rise, doing business with India will become difficult for the world. India will no longer be able to provide cheap manpower in IT enabled services given the rising cost of infrastructure, utilities and education. Especially education as the government has abdicated its duty of creating human resources in favor of private organizations.
8. Rising prices will also drive the poor out of expensive cities thus creating reverse migration to villages. This may create problems about which no one has even started thinking about. Case in point is the negative growth of Mumbai as per last census. Discontinuing popular subsidy schemes like MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) will be difficult and any attempt to do so will have negative effects on the electability of the BJP in the coming state elections. Same with other schemes like the Food Security Act, Right to Education Act (Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan) and as these subsidy schemes are essentially schemes implemented by the states and there are vast leakages in the schemes with benefit not reaching the intended recipient, disillusionment with the central government will continue to rise.
9. Rising real estate prices will make it difficult for business to set up shop here. Housing price rise will keep pushing the working class to distant geographic areas putting pressure on transportation. And transportation is a recurring cost which the country can ill afford.
10. With the country heavily dependent on inward remittances of dollars from expatriate Indians and falling exports, world economic scene will continue to play an important role in the story of India. And unfortunately this, Mr. Modi has no control over.

Imagine - John Lennon - Words fit for awarding a noble prize for peace...

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Do you see yourself as middle-class or world-class?

Do you see yourself as middle-class or world-class?

No, I'm not talking about what's in your bank account. I'm talking about what sets world-class performers apart from those who are just "average," no matter what their profession.

Today, I'd like to share some of  thoughts about what distinguishes world-class performers from those who are merely "good enough."

The Middle Class competes...the World Class creates.

The Middle Class avoids risk...the World Class manages risk.

The Middle Class loves to be comfortable. The World Class is comfortable being uncomfortable.

The Middle Class hungers for security...The World Class doesn't believe security exists.

The Middle Class sacrifices growth for safety. The World Class sacrifices safety for growth.

The Middle Class focuses on having...The World Class focuses on being.

The Middle Class is frustrated...The World Class is grateful.

The Middle Class has pipe dreams...The World Class has vision.

The Middle Class trades time for money...The World Class trades ideas for money.

The Middle Class is problem oriented...The World Class is solution oriented.

The Middle Class sees itself as a victim. The World Class sees itself as responsible.

The Middle Class thinks it knows enough...The World Class is eager to learn.

The Middle Class chooses fear...The World Class chooses growth.

From an email forwarded by Amit Saxena. (Emphasis mine)

How real estate prices are going to destroy business in Bombay.

Real estate prices have had exponential growth over the last couple of years. Prices has risen three fold in just the last 3 years.Property prices for residential housing hover around 1,00,000 per square feet in suburb of Bandra while further north prices range between 80,000 to 15,000 from Bandra to Borivili. Prices in North most part of Bombay are around 200,000 to 25,000 per square feet.

Add to this a loading factor of 50% from carpet to built up area, the actual usable area gets reduced to half or alternatively for calculation purposes the carpet area prices double. Thus for an apartment in Bandra, you end up paying double the actual asking rate!

Thus a 500 square feet, one bed room flat costs5,00,00,000 (5 Crores) in Bandra while it costs 50,00,000 (50 Lacs ) in Dahisar.

With median income hovering around 1,00,000 per month for a family, even the apartment in far flung Dahisar is not affordable even after taking a loan from a bank to the extent of 80% of the value.

Same is true for commercial real estate. A shop in Kandivili’s Mahavir Nagar is quoted at 20,000 per square foot of built up area. A shop with an area of 400 square foot costs 80,00,000/-. A Bank term deposit of a similar amount will fetch a return of 8,00,000 per year translating to 66,000 per month. To generate a profit of 66,000 per month, a business will have to do a turnover of at least  4,40,000 per month, that is 14,500 per day. For a restaurant that averages at 300 per customer this would translate into 50 customers per day each spending at least 300. If each customer ends up spending just half of that, the number of customers required to justify the investment becomes 100.

Thus all business will be reduced to real estate play.

Add to that the march of technology. It is making the location of an organization irrelevant to its operation. Companies can now and are indeed moving to smaller cities which provide the same if not better level of infrastructure and quality of life. As companies move out, people will move out.

Thus the bubble will burst and the phenomenal rise of real estate prices will eventually sound the death knell for the city.

Sales of city homes take a breakneck plunge

In a recent article appearing in Times of India Mumbai Edition dated 3rd August 2011 indications are available that real estate prices are in for a fall.

Read excerpt here

Past seven month's data gleaned from the stamp duty and registration department showed that the trend in the eastern suburbs (Kurla to Mulund) has been the worst, with a record 33% slide in the number of documents registered in 2011, compared to that in 2010. From January 2011 to July 2011, 7,529 papers were registered, while 11,371 were sealed between January 2010 and July 2010. The western suburbs seem to have fared slightly better with deals between Goregaon and Dahisar sliding by 19%. Borivli taluka recorded the registration of 13,554 documents from January 2011 to July 2011, compared to 16,846 for the same period last year.

Read the entire article here

Builders exploit FSI rules, buyers face music

A report appearing in Times of India Mumbai Edition dated 23rd July 2011 explains how a scam is happening in the real estate sector.

Read excerpt below and check out link for the whole article.

Clara Lewis, TNN Jul 23, 2011, 05.01am IST

MUMBAI: In several upmarket areas, builders get proposals sanctioned for smaller flats than they actually sell. In such instances, the buyer, or flat owner, can end up becoming the lawbreaker, making him vulnerable to extortion by corrupt civic officials in the long run.
The builders pay the civic body a pittance in development charges and scrutiny fees for the BMC-approved carpet area, and then 25% of the Ready Reckoner rate as premium for the extra Floor Space Index (FSI). They, however, charge flat buyers market rates for both the carpet and additional FSI areas. The BMC building proposals department has reportedly approved plans for such buildings in areas stretching from Malabar Hill to Gamdevi, Girgaum, the Parel mill areas, Elphinstone Road, Dadar, Bandra, Khar,Santa Cruz and the Juhu Vile Parle Development Scheme.
Drawings with TOI show that the intention is clearly to amalgamate extra spaces with the original carpet area to create one large flat. A 1,500-sq-ft flat can grow to 2,500 to 4,000 sq ft and cost Rs 10 crore to Rs 16 crore.

Read the Article Here