Environmental Progress thru Competition!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
Lok Sabha TV is a pleasant surprise. Yeah, they telecast some sessions of the Lower House, but it is far more than a peek in to the hell-house that we elect our representatives in to. And I don't just mean the cultural presentations. Late night this week, I happened to switch in to the Principal Advisor of the Planning Commission, Suresh Sethi, discussing energy policy matters on the channel. For once, I did not switch to the F channel. Believe me, my right hand almost twitched!
Much of what he said was, for want of a better word, relevant, and though I did not see his way at many points along his talk, one sentence caught my attention. Mr Sethi said, and I quote (though not verbatim) “Competition (among producers) will enhance the environmental performance of our industry”. Well, I fervently hope so. Because my training in micro-economics and energy economics suggests an entirely different outcome. So different that I thought it would be a great to elucidate my suspicions in my blog.
An industry's environmental performance is typically measured in the three media – air, water and land - and in indoor and outdoor spheres. Outdoor pollution is regulated by various state and central pollution control authorities while indoor exposure, to the best of my knowledge, is covered under occupational exposure and hazards regulations. Competition needs no definition. It pits the fortunes of one firm against another within an industry, sometimes across political boundaries. The virtues of competition are familiar. Competition among producers stimulates the incentive to innovate and lower costs as a means to undercut competitors. Larger market share translates to larger profits, (and for those executives with stock options, higher stock prices). By the same token, competition is, at least superficially, friendly to consumers who benefit from lower prices and choice. All hunky dory. Right?
Wrong! Competition is also a fight for survival (though, I suspect our bureaucrats and regulators will never permit annihilation of any firm of any significant size). The fight for survival engenders various competitive and anti-competitive strategies - from advertisements, product differentiation by branding, positioning in niche markets, pricing wars, to monopolistic and switching regimes strategies and more. It may be that competition in service industries begets practices that are considered internationally acceptable, thus enabling domestic firms to reach out to the international client̬le for their business. But competition in basic industries is not the same as competition in the IT industry. Consider the iron and steel industry. It is entirely raw-material intensive. From applying for environmental clearance, environmentally sustainable mining, transportation, to benefication, refining and pollution control Рevery step is resource-intensive. In other words, it costs money. Money reflected in the bottom-line of the quarterly report submitted to SEBI that drives many an investor frenzy. Despite the scale of production, pollution control costs are a significant fraction of total variable cost. Introduce competition in these industries and what happens is that the firm at once seeks to further lower its cost of production (wary as it is of its competitor's richer ores or closer mines). It seeks lower-priced raw material inputs, higher labor productivity, ...., and to cut corners environmentally. If its hands are tied with regard to iron ore and coal supply (gotta apply for fresh licenses and 'linkages' from the Steel and Mines Ministry), and the labor union leader has a permanent scowl on his face (who could those guys on motorbikes waiting outside the factory gate be?), then can one be sure that all pollution control procedures were followed? (Why, the workman assigned to that task took paternity leave!) When the going gets tough in the market, the squeeze is inevitably on activities that do not add to the bottom line of the firm. Is it then any wonder that firms under competitive pressures are hard-put to abide by the resource-draining environmental obligations? I half-suspect environment regulators and the commerce ministry officials are all-to-ready to look the other way if the firm's management is smart enough to suggest production cut-backs or 'labor-shedding'. And the Competition Committee would not look kindly about plant closures either! (And need I say anything about where the bull-runners stand?)
Pray what chance the environment has under these extremely 'competitive' times?
Come my friend, compete with me
Times are tough, input prices rising
The unions seek more, always
Where else do we cut corners
but of course environmentally
(The Minister did attend our luncheon
And did we not pay in to the Rehabilitation Fund?)
Times are tough, the market's rising
Oh no!, our shorts have failed
Who'd have anticipated
a government so friendly overnight!
Not a pie have we to spare
Where are the margins to justify
pollution treatment beyond the cursory?
Yes, our waste-water is clarified
(it sort of pooled up in the ditch)
Besides, the village well is more polluted!
(Hydrologist? No, we have none!)
Be ever my competitor,
but do complain 'bout competition
Yes, it is the bane of this industry
Compete, lest the consumers complain
Compete, lest they break me up!
(Standard Oil? Sounds familiar!)
Compete, so the Competition Committee may survive
(We need them too, you do understand?)
Times are tough, do me a favor
Compete with me, won't you my friend?
I'll return the favor and compete with you,
all of next year, infact for ever!
Let's compete and aid the Planning Commission in nation-building
Let's compete to realise their version of environmental utopia!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Zip, Zap, Suuueee me!
Zip, Zap, Suuuuee me!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com
Euro vehicle pollution standards and lead-free gasoline are so much in the news that one can't be faulted to presume the air is getting cleaner around us. But wait before you breathe too deeply! Would you care to walk out of your thickly curtained air-conditioned bungalow? At around 8:30-9 am on a cold morning to be precise. That's when the neighbor revs up his two-stroke scooter releasing a white plume. Now who would protest refreshing some benzene and carbon-monoxide to accompany your cuppa chai?! Join me as we find our way to work through the potholes and the braving the death-defying motoring strategies of the two- and three-wheelers. What's that smell? It can't be....thankfully, it isn't. It's only the foul smell from the rickety diesel-guzzling lorry in front of you. Defying all laws of physics, it seems to exist merely to spout soot and other toxics in to your lungs. Pardon me, how is diesel subsidized? By the age of the vehicle and the inefficiency of its engine? I zip past it only to find the light changing at the intersection. At this distance in the turning lane, it will be the third cycle before I get through. Just as I notice how environmentally competitive our sedans have turned over the years, I notice the phat phatees, those hybrids that seem like scaled-up autos or ultra-mini vans. These were endemic to North India. How and why they migrated to the South is a mystery, perhaps even a conspiracy. So clean in their first few months of introduction, I was half-deceived in to endorsing them. After all, they did take the pressure off the public buses. As time wore by, some of them have turned true rivals of their more polluting cousins on the road. Very likely, vehicle inspection is many months away; besides, all it takes is a tweak of the valve and a few notes in the hands of the middle-man.
Ahh, there's the free stretch of road. Shall I turn the window down for some fresh air? Let me, just a .....What's tha...? Black smoke in my face. Where did that come from? Oh, an SUV. Those macho, muscular 4x4s that were designed for pure pleasure .... to the owner. Why care for those pedestrians in the rear view mirror, black-faced, and gassed out as they are likely to be! And why is the bus overtaking me? Did I say the lorries were dirty? My God, that was nothing, compared to these buses. Rivaling the lorries in age and crowded with subsidized passengers beyond all human limits, these paleolithic buses fulfill their environmental duty unswervingly, everyday – distributing sooty exhaust throughout the urban limits and even into suburbs (Gotta hang on to the bus for dear life and breathe smoke and dust to qualify for HRA at Class I city rate!). With extended hours, they ensure that even the early morning walker is not spared his fresh breath of air! Lorries, buses, phat-phatees and SUVs. Does that cover the whole ambit of polluting vehicles? You didn't forget vans did you? So convenient, and yet, so polluting. The very van that picks and drops your child to and from school also pollutes the road, even your living room. That's the irony of India. To obtain convenience, one must sacrifice health. In the long run, it may not even qualify as a zero sum game!
Come January, new rules are likely to be enforced and the existing ones applied to more cities and towns. Does that herald cleaner air? Despite the government's claims, No. Very likely, the increase in emissions from the entry of new vehicles (Remember, the UTI Auto fund must make money?) will swamp any reduction in emissions from the existing fleet. More vehicles on the road also means more congestion and more time idling at the intersection. That should reduce emissions some. Not! As for the vans, as much I might hate its exhaust, the fact that they are safer than three-wheeled autorickshaws, only portends to their more widespread use, both in the urbs and suburbs. And with many of us 'upgrading' to, or adding an SUV to declare our income to Aayakar Bhavan, the air isn't going to get cleaner, any time soon, claims to the contrary notwithstanding. So, if you are one of those old-timers waiting for fresh cool summer breeze or a cold blast of fresh wintery air for your walk, I have news for you.
Don't wait for packaged Alaskan air!
To pollute is my birth right
To protest not yours
Be a patriot, look away and ignore,
any transgressions of the commons
Remember, a developing nation are we,
can't put on the airs of the developed
We must lay to waste this air, water and land
to reduce cost this generation
(Why, the lung is a regenerable organ!)
so we may make money cleaning up in the next (or the one after)
Those are the lessons of Indian capitalism,
learn it, forgive it, live it!
(psst: Tried Johny Walker with Kurkure? Kya majha aata hai bhai!)
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com
Euro vehicle pollution standards and lead-free gasoline are so much in the news that one can't be faulted to presume the air is getting cleaner around us. But wait before you breathe too deeply! Would you care to walk out of your thickly curtained air-conditioned bungalow? At around 8:30-9 am on a cold morning to be precise. That's when the neighbor revs up his two-stroke scooter releasing a white plume. Now who would protest refreshing some benzene and carbon-monoxide to accompany your cuppa chai?! Join me as we find our way to work through the potholes and the braving the death-defying motoring strategies of the two- and three-wheelers. What's that smell? It can't be....thankfully, it isn't. It's only the foul smell from the rickety diesel-guzzling lorry in front of you. Defying all laws of physics, it seems to exist merely to spout soot and other toxics in to your lungs. Pardon me, how is diesel subsidized? By the age of the vehicle and the inefficiency of its engine? I zip past it only to find the light changing at the intersection. At this distance in the turning lane, it will be the third cycle before I get through. Just as I notice how environmentally competitive our sedans have turned over the years, I notice the phat phatees, those hybrids that seem like scaled-up autos or ultra-mini vans. These were endemic to North India. How and why they migrated to the South is a mystery, perhaps even a conspiracy. So clean in their first few months of introduction, I was half-deceived in to endorsing them. After all, they did take the pressure off the public buses. As time wore by, some of them have turned true rivals of their more polluting cousins on the road. Very likely, vehicle inspection is many months away; besides, all it takes is a tweak of the valve and a few notes in the hands of the middle-man.
Ahh, there's the free stretch of road. Shall I turn the window down for some fresh air? Let me, just a .....What's tha...? Black smoke in my face. Where did that come from? Oh, an SUV. Those macho, muscular 4x4s that were designed for pure pleasure .... to the owner. Why care for those pedestrians in the rear view mirror, black-faced, and gassed out as they are likely to be! And why is the bus overtaking me? Did I say the lorries were dirty? My God, that was nothing, compared to these buses. Rivaling the lorries in age and crowded with subsidized passengers beyond all human limits, these paleolithic buses fulfill their environmental duty unswervingly, everyday – distributing sooty exhaust throughout the urban limits and even into suburbs (Gotta hang on to the bus for dear life and breathe smoke and dust to qualify for HRA at Class I city rate!). With extended hours, they ensure that even the early morning walker is not spared his fresh breath of air! Lorries, buses, phat-phatees and SUVs. Does that cover the whole ambit of polluting vehicles? You didn't forget vans did you? So convenient, and yet, so polluting. The very van that picks and drops your child to and from school also pollutes the road, even your living room. That's the irony of India. To obtain convenience, one must sacrifice health. In the long run, it may not even qualify as a zero sum game!
Come January, new rules are likely to be enforced and the existing ones applied to more cities and towns. Does that herald cleaner air? Despite the government's claims, No. Very likely, the increase in emissions from the entry of new vehicles (Remember, the UTI Auto fund must make money?) will swamp any reduction in emissions from the existing fleet. More vehicles on the road also means more congestion and more time idling at the intersection. That should reduce emissions some. Not! As for the vans, as much I might hate its exhaust, the fact that they are safer than three-wheeled autorickshaws, only portends to their more widespread use, both in the urbs and suburbs. And with many of us 'upgrading' to, or adding an SUV to declare our income to Aayakar Bhavan, the air isn't going to get cleaner, any time soon, claims to the contrary notwithstanding. So, if you are one of those old-timers waiting for fresh cool summer breeze or a cold blast of fresh wintery air for your walk, I have news for you.
Don't wait for packaged Alaskan air!
To pollute is my birth right
To protest not yours
Be a patriot, look away and ignore,
any transgressions of the commons
Remember, a developing nation are we,
can't put on the airs of the developed
We must lay to waste this air, water and land
to reduce cost this generation
(Why, the lung is a regenerable organ!)
so we may make money cleaning up in the next (or the one after)
Those are the lessons of Indian capitalism,
learn it, forgive it, live it!
(psst: Tried Johny Walker with Kurkure? Kya majha aata hai bhai!)
Holy Smokes!
Holy Smokes!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
We Chennaites, conservatives and 'traditionalists' to the bone, may have adapted to rap tamil songs to accompany the annual Carnatic music festival, but when it comes to January, reading The Hindu while the cup of decoction coffee is still piping hot is still the 'in thing'. And January brings with it, besides the shrill religious music that interrupts many a tender moments, another traditional festival, Bhogi, the precursor to Pongal, the harvest festival. My ardent love for religion and Hinduism is quite well known. For the same reason, I generally stay clear of religious matters. But this one deserves attention. Over the years, the growing wealth among Indian families has been ostentatiously displayed in many ways including, unfortunately, overt displays of fireworks and the like. Come festival time - and the trend is to celebrate any and all festivals, election victories, five day match victory, ODI victory, Ganguly sixers and Kumble lbws - we are inundated by a mad cacophony of sound and light that serves no purpose than boost the ego of those lighting it. Why I even suspect an informal 'mafia ring' that goes around the localities handing out its 'evaluation' of whether households have spent enough on festival purchases. The more sound and light, and the more firecracker waste strewn around on the streets, the higher you are on their informal ladder of respect (and safety?) !
And whatever festival garbage remains on the streets despite the best efforts of the Corporation (Hey, we are entitled to our lighter moments!), is fuel for the traditional Bhogi fire. Diwali waste, garden waste, sweet boxes, styrofoam packings, plastic wrappings, you name it, the Bhogi fire consumes all. The 'holy smoke' from garbage burning mingles with the fog on the windless Bhogi morning made ever more dreary by the occluded sun to create something uniquely south-indian, the infamous 'Bhogi smog'. How divinely dangerous (and not just to the planes flying with reduced visibility)! Just when you thought your soot and cold-start benzene-exposed lungs could not be damaged more, what have you but the most toxic mix of pollutants in the air to herald the new year. (I guess, it's an early hurdle test. If one is to die from lung disease later in the year, he might as well die before the good times of harvest!).
Time was when nobody noticed but the asthmatics, the environmentalists, and of course, the garbage collectors. Today, environmentalists, meteorologists and pollution experts are ready with satellite readings and GIS software to monitor the direction of the dioxin plume. (I believe there is a way, at least informally, to exploit these trans-boundary transgressions monetarily. I fervently hope that it turns formal and hurts palpably) One also hopes, with so many TV channels, FM and AM stations around blaring public service messages, and the free TVs that were distributed with great fanfare, that the message pervades to all parts of the society, especially down to those elements who light fires with gay abandon. But then, what are the chances they 'd listen? So what does that leave us with? Another, 'I-told-you-so' fiasco? If you ask me, I'd have the mayor fund an annual campaign that doubles or triples the price of (unrecyclable) plastic (and other toxic) waste at recycle marts between Diwali and Bhogi. That would entice the waste-mongers to scrounge for plastic on streets and turn them in for their meal. And we might save a life or two, a few cancers and innumerable visits to the emergency room by asthmatics. You don't suppose the health and life insurance firms want to pitch in???
Shall we burn our waste early
and claim to avoid the Bhogi smog?
Shall we source segregate it
so urchins may light 'plastic only' fires?
Shall we hoard plastic for Bhogi day
knowing it'd fetch a price so high?
Shall we instead walk away
turning the proverbial blind eye?
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
We Chennaites, conservatives and 'traditionalists' to the bone, may have adapted to rap tamil songs to accompany the annual Carnatic music festival, but when it comes to January, reading The Hindu while the cup of decoction coffee is still piping hot is still the 'in thing'. And January brings with it, besides the shrill religious music that interrupts many a tender moments, another traditional festival, Bhogi, the precursor to Pongal, the harvest festival. My ardent love for religion and Hinduism is quite well known. For the same reason, I generally stay clear of religious matters. But this one deserves attention. Over the years, the growing wealth among Indian families has been ostentatiously displayed in many ways including, unfortunately, overt displays of fireworks and the like. Come festival time - and the trend is to celebrate any and all festivals, election victories, five day match victory, ODI victory, Ganguly sixers and Kumble lbws - we are inundated by a mad cacophony of sound and light that serves no purpose than boost the ego of those lighting it. Why I even suspect an informal 'mafia ring' that goes around the localities handing out its 'evaluation' of whether households have spent enough on festival purchases. The more sound and light, and the more firecracker waste strewn around on the streets, the higher you are on their informal ladder of respect (and safety?) !
And whatever festival garbage remains on the streets despite the best efforts of the Corporation (Hey, we are entitled to our lighter moments!), is fuel for the traditional Bhogi fire. Diwali waste, garden waste, sweet boxes, styrofoam packings, plastic wrappings, you name it, the Bhogi fire consumes all. The 'holy smoke' from garbage burning mingles with the fog on the windless Bhogi morning made ever more dreary by the occluded sun to create something uniquely south-indian, the infamous 'Bhogi smog'. How divinely dangerous (and not just to the planes flying with reduced visibility)! Just when you thought your soot and cold-start benzene-exposed lungs could not be damaged more, what have you but the most toxic mix of pollutants in the air to herald the new year. (I guess, it's an early hurdle test. If one is to die from lung disease later in the year, he might as well die before the good times of harvest!).
Time was when nobody noticed but the asthmatics, the environmentalists, and of course, the garbage collectors. Today, environmentalists, meteorologists and pollution experts are ready with satellite readings and GIS software to monitor the direction of the dioxin plume. (I believe there is a way, at least informally, to exploit these trans-boundary transgressions monetarily. I fervently hope that it turns formal and hurts palpably) One also hopes, with so many TV channels, FM and AM stations around blaring public service messages, and the free TVs that were distributed with great fanfare, that the message pervades to all parts of the society, especially down to those elements who light fires with gay abandon. But then, what are the chances they 'd listen? So what does that leave us with? Another, 'I-told-you-so' fiasco? If you ask me, I'd have the mayor fund an annual campaign that doubles or triples the price of (unrecyclable) plastic (and other toxic) waste at recycle marts between Diwali and Bhogi. That would entice the waste-mongers to scrounge for plastic on streets and turn them in for their meal. And we might save a life or two, a few cancers and innumerable visits to the emergency room by asthmatics. You don't suppose the health and life insurance firms want to pitch in???
Shall we burn our waste early
and claim to avoid the Bhogi smog?
Shall we source segregate it
so urchins may light 'plastic only' fires?
Shall we hoard plastic for Bhogi day
knowing it'd fetch a price so high?
Shall we instead walk away
turning the proverbial blind eye?
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Nuclear Devastation via Coal Power?
Nuclear Devastation via Coal Power?
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
If you are an avid reader then perhaps you have noticed how certain articles are 'friendlier' than others, and not merely because they are well-written. I happened to come across one such undated piece on the internet. Authored by Alex Gabbard of the ORNL, it reveals how coal-fired power plants emit many times, repeat, many times more nuclear irradiating particles than nuclear plants. (I forwarded it to the MoEF). And we thought nuclear plants had monopoly rights on human irradiation!
Surprising, yes, but is it a cause for concern? Consider this. In an age of global warming, half the world is unabashedly moving toward coal. India and China have turned coal in to a religion of the 'modern' day industrial revolution. China, as we hear, is adding a coal-fired power plant every week. And, going by the news in business papers, India is no laggard. (Any wonder coal beats other fuels by a mile when power plant are awarded on the basis of bidding 'levelized' tariffs – indexed to fuel price inflation??). With government-sponsored rural electrification, free or almost free power for agricultural pumpsets, subsidized power for residential consumers, unabated population growth and a booming economy, power demand is exploding through the roof. (Don't believe me? Look at the returns in Reliance Diversified Power Mutual Fund). What this means for global CO2 emissions and climate change is the subject of many articles, documents and reports. But, what does that imply for radiation exposure? For now, let's take a giant 'leap of faith' (believe in the divinity of God's followers!) and presume that we manage to stabilize CO2 emissions, if necessary by cooking up afforestation numbers and sequestering carbon. Coal-fired plants will then expand their share of power generation. As we move to coal of incrementally lower quality, radioactive ash emissions will further increase. Will Gibbard's radiation emission numbers stand up? Are they too conservative? Do we risk overshooting his estimates in search of a 'higher growth trajectory'. Does it even matter? Hey, what's a little irradiation for an extra scoop of ice-cream in the stock market?!!!!
On a tangent, we may yet save the polar ice and the disputed island with Bangladesh, but at what cost? Does it matter to the raccoons whether they were killed by warmer temperatures or bulldozers laying landing strips on their humble habitat? Does it matter to the whale whether its low sperm count was caused by warmer temperatures or 'non-toxic water-based/acrylic paint'? Are asthmatics any better off in a cooler world with lower humidity while breathing benzene from high-octane gas emitted by vehicles in the 'start and 'idle revving' cycle by the nasty neighbor? And, would you prefer power plant irradiation while preserving our abundant thorium deposits for a post-scorched earth world? I don't know about you, but I like 'subzi' made from fresh vegetables before they turn stale in the fridge and are cast to the bins!
Choices, conscious and unconscious
Private choices, choices for the family
Choices for today, and those for the 'morrow
Choices this generation, choices for decades and centuries beyond
Choices for humanity, choices for pets, animals and plants
Choices for this earthly life, choices beyond
Choices, choices and Hobson's choices!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
If you are an avid reader then perhaps you have noticed how certain articles are 'friendlier' than others, and not merely because they are well-written. I happened to come across one such undated piece on the internet. Authored by Alex Gabbard of the ORNL, it reveals how coal-fired power plants emit many times, repeat, many times more nuclear irradiating particles than nuclear plants. (I forwarded it to the MoEF). And we thought nuclear plants had monopoly rights on human irradiation!
Surprising, yes, but is it a cause for concern? Consider this. In an age of global warming, half the world is unabashedly moving toward coal. India and China have turned coal in to a religion of the 'modern' day industrial revolution. China, as we hear, is adding a coal-fired power plant every week. And, going by the news in business papers, India is no laggard. (Any wonder coal beats other fuels by a mile when power plant are awarded on the basis of bidding 'levelized' tariffs – indexed to fuel price inflation??). With government-sponsored rural electrification, free or almost free power for agricultural pumpsets, subsidized power for residential consumers, unabated population growth and a booming economy, power demand is exploding through the roof. (Don't believe me? Look at the returns in Reliance Diversified Power Mutual Fund). What this means for global CO2 emissions and climate change is the subject of many articles, documents and reports. But, what does that imply for radiation exposure? For now, let's take a giant 'leap of faith' (believe in the divinity of God's followers!) and presume that we manage to stabilize CO2 emissions, if necessary by cooking up afforestation numbers and sequestering carbon. Coal-fired plants will then expand their share of power generation. As we move to coal of incrementally lower quality, radioactive ash emissions will further increase. Will Gibbard's radiation emission numbers stand up? Are they too conservative? Do we risk overshooting his estimates in search of a 'higher growth trajectory'. Does it even matter? Hey, what's a little irradiation for an extra scoop of ice-cream in the stock market?!!!!
On a tangent, we may yet save the polar ice and the disputed island with Bangladesh, but at what cost? Does it matter to the raccoons whether they were killed by warmer temperatures or bulldozers laying landing strips on their humble habitat? Does it matter to the whale whether its low sperm count was caused by warmer temperatures or 'non-toxic water-based/acrylic paint'? Are asthmatics any better off in a cooler world with lower humidity while breathing benzene from high-octane gas emitted by vehicles in the 'start and 'idle revving' cycle by the nasty neighbor? And, would you prefer power plant irradiation while preserving our abundant thorium deposits for a post-scorched earth world? I don't know about you, but I like 'subzi' made from fresh vegetables before they turn stale in the fridge and are cast to the bins!
Choices, conscious and unconscious
Private choices, choices for the family
Choices for today, and those for the 'morrow
Choices this generation, choices for decades and centuries beyond
Choices for humanity, choices for pets, animals and plants
Choices for this earthly life, choices beyond
Choices, choices and Hobson's choices!
Monday, November 26, 2007
'Optimist'ize Your Life!
'Optimist'ize Your Life!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
“Be an Optimist”, they said
“Smile and look around,
the world is bright
glamorous and beautiful”
Persuaded, I have shed
my pessimist snake-skin,
peeled away my morose face
(even shaved my week-long stubble!)
And now, sporting a silly smile
I have turned, overnight,
a 'born-again optimist'
livin' the good life,
ignoring matters mundane, and
anything beyond instant comprehension
Wishing away all grey clouds of tomorrow
in to the enjoyment of the now
I am an Optimist, therefore I am!
No longer do I trek weekends
run along the beach at dawn
Vocational training? Evening college? No, not for me
With latest sunglasses, lotsa macho stuff
a bike from hell, and boots to fit
No book worth the thrill
of a babe riding pillion
curling her hands 'round me
as we zoom away to the mall
Gotta meet friends, live up the life,
check out movies,
the music, the moves and the shakes
SMS every gimmick there is
beep my way to ephemeral glory
Be the trendsetter, buy that gizmo,
Honest to God, jus' my share
to help the corporates light up their register
while I Optimistize my expenditures
'fterall, they discount my gas, they sure do
If there's anything you should know, hear this from me
Be an Optimist, 'twill change your life!
Hey, but what about
Justice? equality? liberty?
Equity and opportunity
in this fledgling land of ours?
What's that I hear of inflation and subsidies
jus' more of election politics?
Global warming threatening economic growth
Technological obsolescence causing unemployment?
Nuclear imperialism couched in capitalism
(with fringe benefits distributed in the stock market)?
The industry-religion-mafia triangle?
(Whoever heard of that?)
Investment in mutual funds, or is it
fraud in financial markets?
Caring for the young, the aged, and the infirm?
vs money for public safety, hygiene and education?
Stop, stop, stop, Don't tax my brain!
Painful it is even to hear
Why worry about things that matter not to me?
Ignorance is bliss, so they say
and a blissful Optimist I sure am,
So bother me not, my friend dear
with debates and serious arguments
Join the Optimist club, if you dare
But, if you happen to be a wimp
or a 'pink' who 'cares'
take my word, ask the nerd o'er there,
I hear he'd rather be
of all unholy things
a Pessimist!
ps: The Optimist made a career of painting rosy pictures of year-ahead sales and profits to FIIs and laughed all the way to the pessimist's foreclosure!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
“Be an Optimist”, they said
“Smile and look around,
the world is bright
glamorous and beautiful”
Persuaded, I have shed
my pessimist snake-skin,
peeled away my morose face
(even shaved my week-long stubble!)
And now, sporting a silly smile
I have turned, overnight,
a 'born-again optimist'
livin' the good life,
ignoring matters mundane, and
anything beyond instant comprehension
Wishing away all grey clouds of tomorrow
in to the enjoyment of the now
I am an Optimist, therefore I am!
No longer do I trek weekends
run along the beach at dawn
Vocational training? Evening college? No, not for me
With latest sunglasses, lotsa macho stuff
a bike from hell, and boots to fit
No book worth the thrill
of a babe riding pillion
curling her hands 'round me
as we zoom away to the mall
Gotta meet friends, live up the life,
check out movies,
the music, the moves and the shakes
SMS every gimmick there is
beep my way to ephemeral glory
Be the trendsetter, buy that gizmo,
Honest to God, jus' my share
to help the corporates light up their register
while I Optimistize my expenditures
'fterall, they discount my gas, they sure do
If there's anything you should know, hear this from me
Be an Optimist, 'twill change your life!
Hey, but what about
Justice? equality? liberty?
Equity and opportunity
in this fledgling land of ours?
What's that I hear of inflation and subsidies
jus' more of election politics?
Global warming threatening economic growth
Technological obsolescence causing unemployment?
Nuclear imperialism couched in capitalism
(with fringe benefits distributed in the stock market)?
The industry-religion-mafia triangle?
(Whoever heard of that?)
Investment in mutual funds, or is it
fraud in financial markets?
Caring for the young, the aged, and the infirm?
vs money for public safety, hygiene and education?
Stop, stop, stop, Don't tax my brain!
Painful it is even to hear
Why worry about things that matter not to me?
Ignorance is bliss, so they say
and a blissful Optimist I sure am,
So bother me not, my friend dear
with debates and serious arguments
Join the Optimist club, if you dare
But, if you happen to be a wimp
or a 'pink' who 'cares'
take my word, ask the nerd o'er there,
I hear he'd rather be
of all unholy things
a Pessimist!
ps: The Optimist made a career of painting rosy pictures of year-ahead sales and profits to FIIs and laughed all the way to the pessimist's foreclosure!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Global Warming, the Movie - Cycle III
Global Warming, the Movie - Cycle III
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
Ever wondered why no Indian actor or actress ever made it to a James Bond movie? Or, for that matter, an Indian fiction author? Because there is no 'story', no 'plot', no 'real-life conspiracy' to base it on. Get it? So, as a favor to my more illustrious colleagues in the film industry, here is my outline for a 'James Bond' movie. I have named it 'Global Warming, the Movie - Cycle III' (No apologies to Al Gore!). You may want to rename it 'Mother of All Conspiracies'.
Once, there were a group of politicians who, for various reasons not related to character, intelligence, performance, principles (too much of it, of course), fell out of grace and power. Not finding any takers, they decided to get together. In trying to accommodate each other's past, they committed to certain wrongs in the future, so no one among them get away leaving the rest behind. They built up a constituency of the denied – environmentalists ignored and derided by the society, social activists no one cared to lend an ear to, scientists denied their due recognition, union workers suppressed by capitalists and incorrect economic policies, and of course, the poor ignorant farmers believing in the word of God. This motley group now needed someone who could feed their constituency while they staked claim to power. Enter the master strategist (He prefers anonymity). Why not we play a game no one would even dare to conceive?
Behold the birth of the contra strategy! We know businesses using dirty fuels will face increasing pressures to move in to much costlier, cleaner fuel to combat global warming. We know oil and coal-rich countries are loathe to accept global warming. We know our country has vast resources of thorium and our nuclear scientists have succeeded with the thorium cycle (It's not their fault that it happens to be closed-cycle and very low cost, in short 'pareto superior' over existing power technologies). Wouldn't it be ever so stupidly suicidal to introduce new generation nuclear power that is cheaper by the dozen than fossil fuels, global warming notwithstanding? Why not hold it back when there is a more than a nominal 'willingness to pay' to suppress it? Better yet, sell the technology to fossil fuel energy tycoons, oil-rich countries and MNCs of the west for a not inconsiderable sum? ..... And so was born the plan to hoodwink the nation in to selling away its home-grown, thorium-exploiting nuclear technology even while claiming to obtain 'advanced' nuclear technology under a 'nuclear deal' with the US or a 'technology transfer' agreement under the framework of the FCCC (we get carbon credits for 'free'!).
Now all that is needed is a 'fall guy' for the entire drama – a 'judge' for namesake, in reality a sacrificial lamb on whom to build the altar of colossal treachery. Someone with a brilliant academic record and meteoric future, someone who fits the bill perfectly and not because he is brown, thin, short and reticent. But first, he must be framed suitably in every crime known to humanity and beyond, and then bundled off to the US for higher studies. The plot is on. The student meanders through his assistantship and eventually finds a summer internship in the corporate world. No points for guessing who his employer is! Wonder of wonders, he makes an impression and passes their test! (Never heard of the 'key', have you?) Shall we anoint him a regulatory, a judge or assign a political future? No, No, most definitely No. First have him fired as a spy and treat him like a criminal on return. Threaten him with arrest, volunteer him every time a 'hit key' comes along (remember he has passed as a 'judge') and deny him repeatedly until he retreats in to a shell to protect his nest egg and his family.
Now the stage is set. Negotiate a secret deal with coal and oil MNCs and oil/coal rich countries that protects their resources and markets by suppressing advanced nuclear power technology. Sell the home-grown closed-cycle thorium power nuclear technology or fusion technology to the CIA-MNC-OPEC combine in a brazen example of 'reverse technology transfer'. (Yeah, something like $10 billion a year in to our stock markets - most of it in to domestic energy companies whose executives fund our campaigns and in which we are well invested - for the next 30 years regardless of who is in power....yeah, they too are 'in' the deal. Also.... that private equity fund.... we will manage it for the goodwill of our environmentalists, scientists and union leaders.... and if at all necessary, an endowed chair for that asshole!). Act holy and green; fund programs furthering energy efficiency and nuclear power. Talk of carbon credits, even subsidize energy-efficient CFL lighting (never mind the power was generated from lignite!) Covertly, invest in uranium commodity markets and have the purveyors of yesterday's technology fund space vehicles ostensibly for lunar exploration for uranium (and when the mission finds no uranium, we may laugh our way to the bank). Wonder of wonders, the strategy even finds favor with Australians who would rather generate power at 2 cents a KWH with their low grade coal deposits!
But what about our getaway? Ahh, that's where we need our judge, No, the spy, I mean the criminal. He too must pay for the wrongs he didn't commit! He serves jail time for 30 years for the sum of our wrongs while we move our kitty away (I am settling in Christmas Islands. How about you?). It also gives sufficient time for the fossil fuel industry to invest in and takeover the next generation energy industry. To cap it all and at the end of the term, we backstab the political right by signing in to a global warming treaty, and have the co-conspirators on the other side either announce the invention of a closed-cycle thorium nuclear power technology or release evidence of the suppression of the superior nuclear technology. That should put the right in to a tizzy as we sail in to the sunset.....
Epilogue: All movie-goers had a gala time and returned home to peaceful sleep. The Cycle IV sequel? The Master Strategist is already working on it.
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
Ever wondered why no Indian actor or actress ever made it to a James Bond movie? Or, for that matter, an Indian fiction author? Because there is no 'story', no 'plot', no 'real-life conspiracy' to base it on. Get it? So, as a favor to my more illustrious colleagues in the film industry, here is my outline for a 'James Bond' movie. I have named it 'Global Warming, the Movie - Cycle III' (No apologies to Al Gore!). You may want to rename it 'Mother of All Conspiracies'.
Once, there were a group of politicians who, for various reasons not related to character, intelligence, performance, principles (too much of it, of course), fell out of grace and power. Not finding any takers, they decided to get together. In trying to accommodate each other's past, they committed to certain wrongs in the future, so no one among them get away leaving the rest behind. They built up a constituency of the denied – environmentalists ignored and derided by the society, social activists no one cared to lend an ear to, scientists denied their due recognition, union workers suppressed by capitalists and incorrect economic policies, and of course, the poor ignorant farmers believing in the word of God. This motley group now needed someone who could feed their constituency while they staked claim to power. Enter the master strategist (He prefers anonymity). Why not we play a game no one would even dare to conceive?
Behold the birth of the contra strategy! We know businesses using dirty fuels will face increasing pressures to move in to much costlier, cleaner fuel to combat global warming. We know oil and coal-rich countries are loathe to accept global warming. We know our country has vast resources of thorium and our nuclear scientists have succeeded with the thorium cycle (It's not their fault that it happens to be closed-cycle and very low cost, in short 'pareto superior' over existing power technologies). Wouldn't it be ever so stupidly suicidal to introduce new generation nuclear power that is cheaper by the dozen than fossil fuels, global warming notwithstanding? Why not hold it back when there is a more than a nominal 'willingness to pay' to suppress it? Better yet, sell the technology to fossil fuel energy tycoons, oil-rich countries and MNCs of the west for a not inconsiderable sum? ..... And so was born the plan to hoodwink the nation in to selling away its home-grown, thorium-exploiting nuclear technology even while claiming to obtain 'advanced' nuclear technology under a 'nuclear deal' with the US or a 'technology transfer' agreement under the framework of the FCCC (we get carbon credits for 'free'!).
Now all that is needed is a 'fall guy' for the entire drama – a 'judge' for namesake, in reality a sacrificial lamb on whom to build the altar of colossal treachery. Someone with a brilliant academic record and meteoric future, someone who fits the bill perfectly and not because he is brown, thin, short and reticent. But first, he must be framed suitably in every crime known to humanity and beyond, and then bundled off to the US for higher studies. The plot is on. The student meanders through his assistantship and eventually finds a summer internship in the corporate world. No points for guessing who his employer is! Wonder of wonders, he makes an impression and passes their test! (Never heard of the 'key', have you?) Shall we anoint him a regulatory, a judge or assign a political future? No, No, most definitely No. First have him fired as a spy and treat him like a criminal on return. Threaten him with arrest, volunteer him every time a 'hit key' comes along (remember he has passed as a 'judge') and deny him repeatedly until he retreats in to a shell to protect his nest egg and his family.
Now the stage is set. Negotiate a secret deal with coal and oil MNCs and oil/coal rich countries that protects their resources and markets by suppressing advanced nuclear power technology. Sell the home-grown closed-cycle thorium power nuclear technology or fusion technology to the CIA-MNC-OPEC combine in a brazen example of 'reverse technology transfer'. (Yeah, something like $10 billion a year in to our stock markets - most of it in to domestic energy companies whose executives fund our campaigns and in which we are well invested - for the next 30 years regardless of who is in power....yeah, they too are 'in' the deal. Also.... that private equity fund.... we will manage it for the goodwill of our environmentalists, scientists and union leaders.... and if at all necessary, an endowed chair for that asshole!). Act holy and green; fund programs furthering energy efficiency and nuclear power. Talk of carbon credits, even subsidize energy-efficient CFL lighting (never mind the power was generated from lignite!) Covertly, invest in uranium commodity markets and have the purveyors of yesterday's technology fund space vehicles ostensibly for lunar exploration for uranium (and when the mission finds no uranium, we may laugh our way to the bank). Wonder of wonders, the strategy even finds favor with Australians who would rather generate power at 2 cents a KWH with their low grade coal deposits!
But what about our getaway? Ahh, that's where we need our judge, No, the spy, I mean the criminal. He too must pay for the wrongs he didn't commit! He serves jail time for 30 years for the sum of our wrongs while we move our kitty away (I am settling in Christmas Islands. How about you?). It also gives sufficient time for the fossil fuel industry to invest in and takeover the next generation energy industry. To cap it all and at the end of the term, we backstab the political right by signing in to a global warming treaty, and have the co-conspirators on the other side either announce the invention of a closed-cycle thorium nuclear power technology or release evidence of the suppression of the superior nuclear technology. That should put the right in to a tizzy as we sail in to the sunset.....
Epilogue: All movie-goers had a gala time and returned home to peaceful sleep. The Cycle IV sequel? The Master Strategist is already working on it.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Sane Insane?
Sane Insane?
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
What is sanity? A state of mind?
Behavior consistent with society's norms
and expectations of the inferiors?
Following traditions of the majority
going about the routine timidly,
unobtrusively and unnoticed
so not to raise the ire of households,
neighbors or the powers that be?
Accepting established rules and institutions
stacked against the commons?
Disappearing and dissolving in to the multitudes
of those gone by, in to an oblivion of the ordinary?
And, pray, what is insanity?
Unmitigated, unexpressed frustration
against injustice – stark yet private, gory yet informal;
Anger at denials and insults umpteen
attempts on life, mail fraud, forgery, intimidation
IPR theft, smoking, gassing, witch craft, you name it?
Outrage against relatives
who sold out to enrich themselves
while snaring the family deeper in web?
Fighting every stone cast by neighbors
while living in the glasshouse of an 'executive test'
one did not volunteer for?
Writing one's diary, regurgitating memory,
(even mutterings to oneself to 'register' thoughts and ideas
that would otherwise get smoked out)
before the MNC-CIA combine could get to it,
pry in to your life, your bedroom,
even your memory and preferences
and have the mafia blackmail you,
sift and screen your future,
or whatever is left of it
until finally, all that remains
is an unrecognizable shadow of yourself,
one you wouldn't recognize in the mirror
and you voluntarily step away
from a career among the stars?
Ain't it easy to pull down a dark horse
a genius who dared to dream
the American dream and made it,
but for cold-blooded machinations
of those with an ulterior ideology?
(Not so fast, smart ass!)
Ain't it easier, I reckon,
to bump an ace, show him a failure,
a spy, impotent, even insane
than “suck up” and invite him
with a Mercedes for a signing bonus?
Ain't it easy to delay and force him in to penury
until his work and qualifications lose relevance
and he begs again for a job on his fours?
So I have decided
that in this perverted world of opposites
it wiser to be insane
than follow in the serpentine of the sanes.
Wish me luck as I trudge against the grain,
a lonely soldier, a rebel if you will
in the war against status quo
a war for truth and justice, for opportunity,
an insane voice in the sea of the sanes!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
What is sanity? A state of mind?
Behavior consistent with society's norms
and expectations of the inferiors?
Following traditions of the majority
going about the routine timidly,
unobtrusively and unnoticed
so not to raise the ire of households,
neighbors or the powers that be?
Accepting established rules and institutions
stacked against the commons?
Disappearing and dissolving in to the multitudes
of those gone by, in to an oblivion of the ordinary?
And, pray, what is insanity?
Unmitigated, unexpressed frustration
against injustice – stark yet private, gory yet informal;
Anger at denials and insults umpteen
attempts on life, mail fraud, forgery, intimidation
IPR theft, smoking, gassing, witch craft, you name it?
Outrage against relatives
who sold out to enrich themselves
while snaring the family deeper in web?
Fighting every stone cast by neighbors
while living in the glasshouse of an 'executive test'
one did not volunteer for?
Writing one's diary, regurgitating memory,
(even mutterings to oneself to 'register' thoughts and ideas
that would otherwise get smoked out)
before the MNC-CIA combine could get to it,
pry in to your life, your bedroom,
even your memory and preferences
and have the mafia blackmail you,
sift and screen your future,
or whatever is left of it
until finally, all that remains
is an unrecognizable shadow of yourself,
one you wouldn't recognize in the mirror
and you voluntarily step away
from a career among the stars?
Ain't it easy to pull down a dark horse
a genius who dared to dream
the American dream and made it,
but for cold-blooded machinations
of those with an ulterior ideology?
(Not so fast, smart ass!)
Ain't it easier, I reckon,
to bump an ace, show him a failure,
a spy, impotent, even insane
than “suck up” and invite him
with a Mercedes for a signing bonus?
Ain't it easy to delay and force him in to penury
until his work and qualifications lose relevance
and he begs again for a job on his fours?
So I have decided
that in this perverted world of opposites
it wiser to be insane
than follow in the serpentine of the sanes.
Wish me luck as I trudge against the grain,
a lonely soldier, a rebel if you will
in the war against status quo
a war for truth and justice, for opportunity,
an insane voice in the sea of the sanes!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Diwali by the Marina!
Diwali by the Marina!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
Years ago, I wrote to the Tamil Nadu Government years. Perhaps it was lost in the email garbage cleared automatically by the email janitor robot? But then, some things are better appreciated when repeated. Besides, the blog is a perfect medium to post rejected suggestions! The message? Simple: Celebrate Diwali Publicly, Together!
The problem, as I perceive it, is that Chennai is a very congested city. Add tradition, religious fervor and generous Diwali bonuses to this concoction, and what results is an explosion of sound, light and chemicals in a short period of time that pollutes the air and earth and poisons the very young, the minorities and the aged. The scores of fires, explosions and accidents leading in to and on the festival day do no favor to Diwali meant to celebrate the victory of the good over evil. (We could get in to debating what is good and what is evil, but I'll hold that off for another day!). Unmitigated littering of the streets with arsenic-, cadmium-, and strontium-laced cracker waste that contaminate well water and ground water, rooms filled with smoky, poisonous air and painful 1000-wallahs and 10,000-wallahs that put mosquito mats to shame are not what Lord Rama ordered. I daresay the festival is turning more to the liking of Lord Ravana!
But, I am not inciting religious passions here. My purpose is to suggest a better way. Have your Diwali sans the devil. Chennai is blessed with a coast and a wide beach. Let's celebrate by the sea. Choose a Diwali weekend or the weekend immediately after the festival. Ban private fireworks celebration. Instead, organize a public offshore Diwali fireworks display. We could declare the transport system 'free' for the evening and stage a moving offshore display of fireworks that enthralls the throngs for a couple of hours, for the weekend. It need not be entirely or even partly government-sponsored. Many business houses would come forward to participate if the event were correctly promoted. The Marina road could be turned in to a street-side eatery for the evening. It would be a gala public event. An event for the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the religious or for that matter, even the atheist to enjoy. A cosmopolitan festival for a truly cosmopolitan city!
Open your heart. Invite the world to the Chennai Christmas!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
Years ago, I wrote to the Tamil Nadu Government years. Perhaps it was lost in the email garbage cleared automatically by the email janitor robot? But then, some things are better appreciated when repeated. Besides, the blog is a perfect medium to post rejected suggestions! The message? Simple: Celebrate Diwali Publicly, Together!
The problem, as I perceive it, is that Chennai is a very congested city. Add tradition, religious fervor and generous Diwali bonuses to this concoction, and what results is an explosion of sound, light and chemicals in a short period of time that pollutes the air and earth and poisons the very young, the minorities and the aged. The scores of fires, explosions and accidents leading in to and on the festival day do no favor to Diwali meant to celebrate the victory of the good over evil. (We could get in to debating what is good and what is evil, but I'll hold that off for another day!). Unmitigated littering of the streets with arsenic-, cadmium-, and strontium-laced cracker waste that contaminate well water and ground water, rooms filled with smoky, poisonous air and painful 1000-wallahs and 10,000-wallahs that put mosquito mats to shame are not what Lord Rama ordered. I daresay the festival is turning more to the liking of Lord Ravana!
But, I am not inciting religious passions here. My purpose is to suggest a better way. Have your Diwali sans the devil. Chennai is blessed with a coast and a wide beach. Let's celebrate by the sea. Choose a Diwali weekend or the weekend immediately after the festival. Ban private fireworks celebration. Instead, organize a public offshore Diwali fireworks display. We could declare the transport system 'free' for the evening and stage a moving offshore display of fireworks that enthralls the throngs for a couple of hours, for the weekend. It need not be entirely or even partly government-sponsored. Many business houses would come forward to participate if the event were correctly promoted. The Marina road could be turned in to a street-side eatery for the evening. It would be a gala public event. An event for the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the religious or for that matter, even the atheist to enjoy. A cosmopolitan festival for a truly cosmopolitan city!
Open your heart. Invite the world to the Chennai Christmas!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Ride on our Dreams, Ride to the Moon!
Ride on our Dreams, Ride to the Moon!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
Long have we suffered
Too long have we been ignored
Poisoning, self-immolation, drowning
suicides and murders, you name it
Been there, seen that.
Promised the green revolution,
Only to be subsidized in to impoverishment
Herded like cattle in to morchas and stampedes
Guinea pigs for MNCs testing their wares
Are we gullible illiterates? Followers in herd-mentality?
Mass sacrifices at the altar of vote politics?
'Beneficiaries' of many a policy
that enrich the politicians and businesses
who pander our poverty among the powers that be?
Have we been reduced in to dated statistics
for trend analysis in annual reports?
Are we guinea pigs in life insurance scams?
Organ donors for foreigners wealthy?
Insipid, stale news unfit for Headlines Today
displaced in the papers by district sports?
Trashed in oblivion, never picked again?
Now that the lands are in lien,
and we have drowned in misery
Shall we change vocations,
break ships that moved foodgrains?
Move in to town to cook and clean
live in the jhopdi by your high-rise
for a few grains of rationed, export-quality wheat?
Suppressed seemingly in to eternal slavery,
what hope should we hold out now
for our family, our children, their future?
Elections are drawing near,
Perhaps our voices seem a tad louder?
Shall we seek the fruits of democracy?
Equal opportunity, equal access, constitutional rights,
Why, even mere human rights?
Schools for our children, water to drink
A place to call home, remunerative farming?
Or, as they beckon us, shall we
make a beeline to the party leader's?
Perhaps lady luck will smile this time
in order of torture, if not penury?
Will the nuke deal change our lot?
Will color cellphones hasten aid?
Will intra-day hedging in commodity futures
bring my child a meal a day?
Will the PSU IPOs pull us out?
Will policy reform do us good?
Should we buy a handful BT cotton seed
with 'trickle down' disaster relief?
Sell our lands away for an SEZ?
After all, the Green Revolution has passed us by
(Yes Sir, green it was very!)
Shall we now await the IT revolution?
Beep a number come loan-default time?
Is this the nation Gandhi died for?
Where Mother Teresa led by example?
Are we worthy of Ambedkar, Amte and Bhave?
Is this the India they envisioned?
As we sleep in the open and gaze at the sky
The stars seem dimmer and farther away
They may steal our lands and our home
but our dreams, they shall always be
May our dreams be the wind beneath your wings.
Ride on our dreams, Ride to the moon
And when you are there, don't look back,
Go on, go for the stars!
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
Long have we suffered
Too long have we been ignored
Poisoning, self-immolation, drowning
suicides and murders, you name it
Been there, seen that.
Promised the green revolution,
Only to be subsidized in to impoverishment
Herded like cattle in to morchas and stampedes
Guinea pigs for MNCs testing their wares
Are we gullible illiterates? Followers in herd-mentality?
Mass sacrifices at the altar of vote politics?
'Beneficiaries' of many a policy
that enrich the politicians and businesses
who pander our poverty among the powers that be?
Have we been reduced in to dated statistics
for trend analysis in annual reports?
Are we guinea pigs in life insurance scams?
Organ donors for foreigners wealthy?
Insipid, stale news unfit for Headlines Today
displaced in the papers by district sports?
Trashed in oblivion, never picked again?
Now that the lands are in lien,
and we have drowned in misery
Shall we change vocations,
break ships that moved foodgrains?
Move in to town to cook and clean
live in the jhopdi by your high-rise
for a few grains of rationed, export-quality wheat?
Suppressed seemingly in to eternal slavery,
what hope should we hold out now
for our family, our children, their future?
Elections are drawing near,
Perhaps our voices seem a tad louder?
Shall we seek the fruits of democracy?
Equal opportunity, equal access, constitutional rights,
Why, even mere human rights?
Schools for our children, water to drink
A place to call home, remunerative farming?
Or, as they beckon us, shall we
make a beeline to the party leader's?
Perhaps lady luck will smile this time
in order of torture, if not penury?
Will the nuke deal change our lot?
Will color cellphones hasten aid?
Will intra-day hedging in commodity futures
bring my child a meal a day?
Will the PSU IPOs pull us out?
Will policy reform do us good?
Should we buy a handful BT cotton seed
with 'trickle down' disaster relief?
Sell our lands away for an SEZ?
After all, the Green Revolution has passed us by
(Yes Sir, green it was very!)
Shall we now await the IT revolution?
Beep a number come loan-default time?
Is this the nation Gandhi died for?
Where Mother Teresa led by example?
Are we worthy of Ambedkar, Amte and Bhave?
Is this the India they envisioned?
As we sleep in the open and gaze at the sky
The stars seem dimmer and farther away
They may steal our lands and our home
but our dreams, they shall always be
May our dreams be the wind beneath your wings.
Ride on our dreams, Ride to the moon
And when you are there, don't look back,
Go on, go for the stars!
Monday, October 22, 2007
IPOs, Lies and Videotape (Yes, Lies, All Lies!)
IPOs, Lies and Videotape
(Yes, Lies, All Lies!)
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
Ever so often, the media draws our attention to the zooming stock markets and what the sky-high PE multiples portend for valuation and future course of the market. In developed economies, the stock market is so large and so mature, that practically no IPO, no matter what size, dents the market. The story is very different in emerging economies like China and India where large state-run enterprises, fed with government protection and subsidy, are privatised by offering them in IPOs to the stock market. The relative size of these IPOs in relation to the market capitalization, though small, is significant enough to induce market volatility as investors pull out of their existing holdings to subscribe.
In developed nations, these decisions are unnecessary, even illegal. Entrepreneurs take their enterprise to the market at a time they judge convenient or optimal. That brings to the fore many questions: What the IPO size should be (ie, which enterprise to offer and what percent of the stockholding), when it should be offered; whether it should be graded and what the price band should be. And even presuming the market regulator works independently of the ruling party in the center (yup, have a good laugh!), in what order should the regulator permit these IPOs to open in the market? At any given time, there are 50-odd companies that have filed their prospectus with the regulator. Are these issues timed according to quality? Quality as certified by the grading authority, a certification that is presently entirely optional, giving rise to the signaling and lemons problem economists talk about. (If my IPO is truly a good prospect, why would I have it certified? Then again, I could signal to investors by having it certified. And to the contrary, certification may enhance my image if my prospects aren't that good. After all, I can arrange four quarters of PAT rising at 40% from a quarter with loss!) Do the regulators yield with regard to the timing if the pricing is closer to the government's wishes? (After all, large listing gains are beneficial to FIIs and the stupid small investor who is also a voter!) Wouldn't it be more transparent and informative, if these entrepreneurs competed with each other to bid for IPO slots?
Now that's an idea worth exploring. Entrepreneurs who realize that timing is as much a decision variable as pricing and certification will bid different amounts for their IPO slot depending on the condition of the market, their prospects, their needs and the (perceived) number of competitors. The bidding will ensure that those firms that wish to 'strike the iron when it is hot', perhaps for want of funds to expand, (or reasons not that abstruse) will bid high for a slot. High-priced IPOs will seek the market when the PE is inflated. Bargain IPOs will be deferred to tepid markets. The market PE may not zoom higher than do the realty stocks on BSE. The ruling party, FIIs and IPO funds may no longer be able to play hokey with your fortunes at the market. And that would do the long term investor a lot of good.
Then again, don't read much in to this column. It may have already been 'purchased' away! These days, even lies command a price!!!!!
(Yes, Lies, All Lies!)
Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar
Ever so often, the media draws our attention to the zooming stock markets and what the sky-high PE multiples portend for valuation and future course of the market. In developed economies, the stock market is so large and so mature, that practically no IPO, no matter what size, dents the market. The story is very different in emerging economies like China and India where large state-run enterprises, fed with government protection and subsidy, are privatised by offering them in IPOs to the stock market. The relative size of these IPOs in relation to the market capitalization, though small, is significant enough to induce market volatility as investors pull out of their existing holdings to subscribe.
In developed nations, these decisions are unnecessary, even illegal. Entrepreneurs take their enterprise to the market at a time they judge convenient or optimal. That brings to the fore many questions: What the IPO size should be (ie, which enterprise to offer and what percent of the stockholding), when it should be offered; whether it should be graded and what the price band should be. And even presuming the market regulator works independently of the ruling party in the center (yup, have a good laugh!), in what order should the regulator permit these IPOs to open in the market? At any given time, there are 50-odd companies that have filed their prospectus with the regulator. Are these issues timed according to quality? Quality as certified by the grading authority, a certification that is presently entirely optional, giving rise to the signaling and lemons problem economists talk about. (If my IPO is truly a good prospect, why would I have it certified? Then again, I could signal to investors by having it certified. And to the contrary, certification may enhance my image if my prospects aren't that good. After all, I can arrange four quarters of PAT rising at 40% from a quarter with loss!) Do the regulators yield with regard to the timing if the pricing is closer to the government's wishes? (After all, large listing gains are beneficial to FIIs and the stupid small investor who is also a voter!) Wouldn't it be more transparent and informative, if these entrepreneurs competed with each other to bid for IPO slots?
Now that's an idea worth exploring. Entrepreneurs who realize that timing is as much a decision variable as pricing and certification will bid different amounts for their IPO slot depending on the condition of the market, their prospects, their needs and the (perceived) number of competitors. The bidding will ensure that those firms that wish to 'strike the iron when it is hot', perhaps for want of funds to expand, (or reasons not that abstruse) will bid high for a slot. High-priced IPOs will seek the market when the PE is inflated. Bargain IPOs will be deferred to tepid markets. The market PE may not zoom higher than do the realty stocks on BSE. The ruling party, FIIs and IPO funds may no longer be able to play hokey with your fortunes at the market. And that would do the long term investor a lot of good.
Then again, don't read much in to this column. It may have already been 'purchased' away! These days, even lies command a price!!!!!
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