Sunday, September 18, 2011

Watch Singham

Let me understand the term Public Company.

It is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government. Their legal status varies from being a part of government into stock companies with a state as a regular stockholder. There is no standard definition of a government-owned corporation (GOC) or state-owned enterprise (SOE), although the two terms can be used interchangeably. The defining characteristics are that they have a distinct legal form and they are established to operate in commercial affairs. While they may also have public policy objectives, GOCs should be differentiated from other forms of government agencies or state entities established to pursue purely non-financial objectives that have no need or goal of satisfying the shareholders with return on their investment through price increase or dividends

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/government-corporation#ixzz1YDmIos6J


In India, a government-owned corporation is termed as a public sector undertaking (PSU). This term is used to refer to companies in which the government (either the federal Union Government or the many state or territorial governments, or both) own a majority (51 percent or more) of the company equity. Some examples include:
Since I am more interested about the Oil Companies, let me look at India's star performer.

Indian Oil Corporation:

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. is India's largest company by sales with a turnover of Rs. 3,28,744 crore ($ 68,837 million) and profit of Rs. 7445.48 crore ($ 1,719 million) for the year 2010-11.

IndianOil is the highest ranked Indian company in the latest Fortune ‘Global 500’ listings, ranked at the 98th position. IndianOil's vision is driven by a group of dynamic leaders who have made it a name to reckon with.

In this section, read about IndianOil’s business and its spread across the country & abroad. You can also know about IndianOil's current financial performance, special initiatives and recognitions & awards that have come its way.
collage
Updated on July 11, 2011
  • IndianOil breaks into Top 100 of Fortune Global listing, ranked 98th
  • IndianOil: One of ‘The Best Companies to Work For’
                                  
This is just one of our petroleum companies, and as an Indian, I should be really proud of it's performance by only looking at the profit it churns out year after year. And this holds true for every other state owned oil companies and so also the two private oil companies: Reliance and Essar.

And what are they doing with this profit? Oh yes.. they pay dividends. And how do they make this profit? Mostly by the sale of petroleum products. Who buys them? The Indian populace. One should remember that not every Indian directly purchases these oil products but every Indian is unfortunately linked with the same since every commodity he purchases is connected to Oil one way or the other. Hence when the oil prices increase it is the 70% of India's population who is yet again squeezed. As of 2005, according to World Bank statistics, 75.6% of the population lived on less than $2 a day (PPP), while 41.6% of the population was living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 (PPP) per day.

Last year when we went for our vacation, I clearly remember that the petrol price was around IRS 55/- and this year? IRS 68/- ! Figure out the increase in price.

Yes, last year the price of crude oil was USD 74 (avg) in September while this year USD 86. But what I do not understand is how in the world were these oil companies making profit year after year even when the price stood at an average of USD 85/- ? And what are they doing with this profit? Yet even this time they blame lack of profit for the price increase.

The year before last, Reliance opened their petrol bunks all over Kerala but was soon forced to close due to lack of profit. And then the government gave up their the right of control over oil prices and now those petrol bunks are back in business. Figure out how.

While listening to our policy makers and politicians, I understand that they have no intention in doing anything to solve the present crisis.

And why should they, when we read that just like these companies even they have been churning out profit year after year!

"The average asset value of a minister in the current ministry is Rs.10,63,55,097 (Rs.10.6 crore). In 2009, the average asset value of a minister was Rs.7.3 crore. The current ministers, on an average, are Rs.3.3 crore richer than in 2009," the report said."

On the other hand, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's assets have grown by 107 percent, even though he has not mentioned three residential flats owned by him and his wife.



And hence what shall the the Indian citizens do....
 
Watch the movie Singham!

 
 
Invoke your imagination and your "favourite" politician/policy maker  to mind. Try to enjoy the result. 

But do forget that this movie is made by Reliance... and that over the years the Indian masses have been conditioned to vent their frustration by watching movies.





Monday, August 29, 2011

Ente Keralam....

Getting back to blogging did not look easy after the vacation. Though every day the blog beckoned me, I somehow managed to evade this space, but here I am now!

And one should not blame me since as soon as I got back from vacation, it was Anna Hazare who got all my attention. May God bless this man and all who worked with him. He gave our nation a choice and showed that power can still rest with the common man. The battle is not won yet, but it is a good start. And while looking at the rest of the world facing unrest, a small fear did gnaw at me, specially since there were many calling this a undemocratic and foolish way of handling issues (my foot!)  but thankfully peace was maintained. What happened in London was shocking too. A nation that claims to be culturally and democratically much advanced than the rest of world, failed somehow.

This vacation was as hectic as any other and the days flew fast. Except for a brief trip to Kanyakumari, the entire time was spent in Kerala since we had a bit of house renovation going on. It dragged through the entire holiday and more! The rain was one culprit and so also the frequent power failure due to the heavy rains. In between we did manage a trip to Cochin and two trips to Trivandrum and from Trivandrum to Kanyakumari.

If there is one thing that I remember most about this vacation, it would be the food. I think there was no respite given to the stomach anytime. Since we were mostly at home there was always fresh food and lots of fresh fish.

It was on our way to Cochin that we stopped at Avees Puttu House at Onnamkara– Kuttanadu. The Appam and curry was too good! On our way back we tried the tiger prawns and faced the same predicament that Mr. Bean faced. Heard the distinct sound… crunch, crunch.. but there was no other way to enjoy it!

A day at Kanyakumari was the most relaxing of all. The hotel that we booked online and with absolutely no clue turned out to be a good choice. The gentle and cool sea breeze was all that was needed to soothe you. The entire staff and also the food was too good.


A few photos that were clicked.









At Kanyakumari....



The sunrise at Kanyakumari..






At Sparsa....







Spent most of the time looking at this scene.... from the level of the water in the river, one would have an idea of the rain that fell overnight.


 

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

It is time...

It is time for another...




 VACATION .....




nd from the net world too, unless net and time permits me.....

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Hair extension


No, I was not looking for it myself since I still have enough on my head to satisfy my ego, unlike my Hubby, who is forever threatening that he will be taking the service of one of those hair fixers like Gulf Gate etc. Have also noticed that he is very quick in spotting those who have them too :).  Maybe, we shall both take their service together someday!

Anyway, it was the weekend and the children having gone to India to give company to their grandmother, I had nothing much to do and was switching channels. It is when I saw a short documentary on Luxe.tv about hair extensions in expensive saloons in Europe.

Watched many beautiful ladies getting their hair fixed but what got my attention was when the scene shifted to India. Rows of people are sitting down to shear their heads and hearing this lady with her shorn head say that she has offered her hair to Lord Murugan, I assumed the temple is that of South India.

So have you always known where all this hair is going? There were bundles and bundles of hair stacked in the corner.

I knew it was being used in India too, since I remember seeing those small buns of hair that some ladies tucked inside their hair and also hair extensions too, but not until I watched this programme on TV did I realize that hair mostly offered to God for various reasons in India is the main source (China is also another source) in expensive saloons across the world.

This discarded hair becomes very expensive once it has been treated and sorted out into different length, color, texture etc.



To know the extent of it, you can have a look at the snap shot of the same. The hair can be of length from 5 to 80 inches and the color can be black, brown, grey and also white.


But, towards the end of the programme, this business guy from India did admit that business is not going to be good in the near future since the current generation does not believe in these kinds of offerings to God.

Yes, they may soon run out of hair and I wonder what these ladies shall do then?
Hair salons regularly charge anywhere from $500 to $3000 and quality clip-in human hair extensions range from $200 to $400. Last year alone the human hair extension market was worth over 300 million dollars.

Source:
http://www.rajimpex.com/product-selector-tool.htm
http://www.hairextensions.com/home.php?cat=5

Friday, June 17, 2011

The cost of being the richest...

“The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.”


Have always thought that the following building was ugly.



It may be the world’s priciest private residence owned by the world’s fifth richest man and it may have started when Mrs. Nita Ambani was relaxing at a spa at the Mandarin Hotel, New York, and when the Asian interiors struck her, she inquired about the designer.
Source:therichtimes.com


But now we know for sure that this building shall stand as the ugliest image of corruption in India. It was indeed at the cost of millions of Indians who have been enduring the vagaries and the blatant disregard of a few, who managed to be at the helm of this business of corruption.

Source: www.panoramio.com by joelnewell

And sadly, those who suffer shall continue to do so for many more years to come.




The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has come down hard on Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), suggesting the company grossly overstated its development costs in India's largest gas field, possibly causing "significant" financial losses to the exchequer.

As the production-sharing contract involves profit-sharing with the government, a higher capital expenditure results in the profit being lower for the government than it would be otherwise, which the CAG has explained in its 200-page June 7 report to the petroleum ministry.

The CAG report has revealed severe irregularities and violations on part of private operators and government departments and ministries.

Source: Hindustantimes.com

And while reading certain news, one is made to believe that these super rich are magnanimous/benevolent since they are investing their “hard earned” money in India.

Ambani Invests $16.9 Billion In The Heart Of India



But then life shall go on and one should only wait for the next increase in fuel price. One can also wait for the other brother to come up with his idea of a home.

Barely weeks after Mukesh Ambani moved out of Sea Wind, the family’s joint home, into his own 27-story tower that has been billed as the world’s most expensive private residence, comes the news that younger brother Anil is planning to construct his own palace in the sky.

Source: Forbes.com

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Jyotirmoy Dey

India has been ranked 13th by CPJ or the Committee to Protect Journalists.

CPJ’s Impunity Index calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country's population. For this index, CPJ examined journalist murders that occurred between January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2010, and that remain unsolved. Only those nations with five or more unsolved cases are included on this index.

CPJ defines murder as a deliberate attack against a specific journalist in relation to the victim’s work. Murders make up more than 70 percent of work-related deaths among journalists, according to CPJ research. This index does not include cases of journalists killed in combat or while carrying out dangerous assignments such as coverage of street protests.

Source: cpj.org

While it is understandable when Iraq tops the list, should India be in the list at all?

If we take a look at the countries that have taken a place in this list, it is imperative that we ask ourselves why India is in this list. Except for Brazil, all the rest of the countries are/were facing turmoil due to various reasons.


Statistical Table
Unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants for 2001-2010. Only nations with five or more unsolved cases are included. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained.


Source: cpj.org

Yet again it shows how government after government has indulged in corruption. We also saw the 4th pillar of democracy (Media) being drawn into the vortex of corruption.

But now with the latest killing of senior Mumbai journalist Jyotirmoy Dey, should one wonder if majority of them are playing it safe?

This killing shocked the nation but will his killers be brought to justice?


Source: www.dailypioneer.com


Today I read that the journalists have begun a fast for CBI probe and I pray they persist until the culprits are arrested.This deserves the utmost support from every citizen too. The 4th pillar may have had lapses but when our nation does get journalists who put their life in danger just so as to expose the corrupt forces, then every citizen ought to join this fight. It deserves the same support that Anna Hazare is being given.

Dey had also met home minister R R Patil in May and submitted the state Anti-Corruption Bureau's adverse report on Mahabole. The officer was investigated after allegations that he helped Dawood's sister Haseena Parkar in an extortion case registered against her. This happened after Akela was booked under the Official Secrets Act for his story on the poor condition of the armoury where the Railways' weapons are stored. It was alleged that Mahabole had instigated the arrest.


Without a strong media, we shall never be able to root out the menace of corruption that is strangling the nation’s growth and threatening its stability.

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