Are You Bitcoin Ready?

In early 1960s the US Army was building foundations for networking which would change the world. The ARPANET. The scientists working on the project devised a mechanism of peer-to-peer. This means that a server is termed peer to one or many clients which are also termed peer.
Peer to Peer Protocol changed the whole world and laid the backbone of internet. Where everyone is termed equal.
Satoshi Nakomoto, the Japanese wizard has given a financial taste to this peer to peer. This is the essence of Bitcoin.
Now, the crucial question is, what is the catch? The catch is the password. Though everyone is considered equal in internet there is a statutory requirement of password. All the users of internet cannot utilise all the services of the internet because many sites require password.
Let us together, now, expand this concept and fully discuss the implications of Bitcoin. Here we go . . .

Your Role in Improving Economy in India

Have you ever felt that when your car is clean from outside and inside and is also polished, it runs smoother? Though there is no connection between smooth car ride and a polished car, the fact cannot be denied that a car feels better when clean and neat.
You can improve the economy in India by making your home and neighbourhood neat. You must also spend one hour every week to see your finance related papers. You must also file all the papers neatly and clearly. It will not be a bad idea if you calculate your worth. Also use extrapolation of data to determine the worth on a future date. Say, when your son passes 12th class.
Consumption is also a good way to boost economy. If all of us consume Potato Chips more then a factory for Chips will be made which will give employment. Also potato crops will grow. And oilseeds crops.  But care must be taken to see that right products are consumed more. Eating too much of salted almonds by everyone cannot be termed feasible. The mantra I suggest is consume more of those products which are socialistic. Steel products, clay toys, garden fertilizers etc. are good examples of socialistic products.
Ethics are a personal thing. For someone buying a product below MRP is acceptable. Some people feel that if he milks Rs.100 from a person, it is as good as earning a lakh. Yet for some not returning loan is acceptable. I rate not returning a loan as ethical and acceptable. I feel it is the job of the bank to get back loans. Why should a borrower worry about returning? Anyway unethical finances are a pain and we must learn to live with it or get over it.
Of course, the most important in improving economy is the old adage "Small drops make an ocean". So start right now in a small quantum and help our country to progress.

Amir Aadmi, Garib Aadmi

There was a movie by the above name. It had Amjad Khan in it.
Right from childhood, I always thought Amir Aadmi should not become Garib, while Garib Aadmi can become Amir. This was a philosophy I liked and it stays close to my heart.
But from my observations most of the people have old financial systems in mind. Most have a savings bank mentality and think that 4% savings bank interest amount is obtained from agriculture improvement. But the point is most only deposit money and this money occupies costly space in cities. The rent of this space will negate agriculture improvement. So, 4% interest is due to other banking profit making schemes.
Another view is Amir should earn more and give to Garib. But here, Garib needs to go to Amir for that. Amir may not want to spend energy travelling to Garib and give money.
Yet another view is make the hands of Garib strong. The Garib should come up, become entrepreneur and earn riches, enabled by the grace of Amir. Even here Amir may not grace this step. Why should they? Are they paid for this? I am in synchronous with this thought of Amir.
How do you think poverty removal be given a fillip in India? Any suggestions.

Raghuram Rajan - New RBI (Responsibility Backed by Intelligence) Governor

Raghuram Rajan is good. Very good. Commoners like me felt that he will be swayed by Sensex and will be guided by market demand. But no. He kept his foot on the ground and is promising the nation a fight for a cause which is important.
The poor. Inflationary pressures. We have a RBI governor who is a gold medallist from IIT and has more degrees than the number of words in his name, who is interested to fight for a cause.
The most important outcome of his appointment and his work thereafter is the confidence he is able to gain from the brokers and stock market. The sensex is stable above 20,000. The Nifty too is above 6000 mark. The rupee dollar equation is 61.50 to 1 dollar. It is a big applause from the merchants at Dalal Street for his courage and determined efforts.
The lessons we can learn from his current innings is that determination is important when it comes to economic affairs. We cannot think loose and expect miracles. Miracles happen when there is a purposeful determined effort from all of us. One needs to be surefooted and confident in approach. One should not think about hurting a father's feeling but should like oneself because one is leading his life.
When applied to one's life it could mean an ebook instead of a hardbound book. A cellphone with lesser features than buying a latest one. It may mean lesser dinner at restaurants outside or lesser trips on holidays.
But do not despair. Look at the positive side. Look at the chance to explore your own locality. The chance to become a good cook. The chance to increase knowledge with what we have at our disposal. This is what Raghuraman Rajan seems to be saying by his actions.

More Powers to SEBI Planned

Parliament is planning to pass a proposal to give more powers to SEBI. The main aim I guess here is to scrutinise, restrict and disallow certain Foreign Direct Investment.
This step is an exact opposite of stock market functioning. Can the government prevent a thief from buying a share? If it cannot then it cannot also ask thief not to put money in bulk.
When I have a mango to sell, I am interested in two things. First of all I should get a good price. Second is I cannot wait long otherwise the mango will rot. Shares work on such principles. There is a desire to get good price. And there is a force which is against it.
A healthy share system is not governed by laws. It is governed by market forces.
Remember, the old Murphy's law. A thing which can go wrong will go wrong eventually. But by putting a wrong law we cannot have a right system. Unfortunately this is how our system works. It is time to change this. Time to change for the better. Time for BJP.
 

Uncertain Times

The economic scene today seems uncertain. It is mainly due to the crisis in political circles. I shall make you see this in this write-up.
Situation now is,

1. Inflation is easing

• Probably, better transport co-ordination.(Good functioning by transporters)
• Probably, more production. (Kudos farmers)
• Probably, redundancy of middlemen and illegal storage handling. (Fear of police danda)

(People are so fed up of politicians, that the efficiency of transporters, farmers, police have improved).

    2. Gold Import rising

• Probably, businessmen/importers filling demand of public (They are right here)
• Probably, ineffective import duty (Fear of losing votes by politicians)

    3. Petroleum Products

• Factually, rising fuel prices (Incompetent handling of refinery businessmen by politicians)
• The news is, gas for thermal power plants better and improving (rabble rousing politicians(coal scam))

    4. Banking

• We read that, bad loans are there (corrupt politicians inspire people to not return loans by not resigning themselves on money corruption)

   5. Falling rupee

• Image of government is corroding in US. And Narendra Modi (supported by NRIs) has been snubbed by JD(U), though it is none of JD(U)'s business. These two have been perceived bad by Indians, themselves. Then why should NRI care. And the dollar-rupee rates are before you.

It is clear from above that politicians are responsible for economic damage. Yes, it is true. Economy as of today is also an image. Politicians also creating image. Somehow these two are colliding and the economy is suffering.
Solution? Simple. Guidance. Or responsibility. Clearly it is not a one man job. It is a collective responsibility. And who has to lead for collectiveness? Politicians.

Mobile Economy

I have Nokia 510 with Windows 7.8 operating system. I have one SIM card. I neither have two devices or two SIM cards. I had mobiles purchased earlier, but these I have successfully managed to give to my family members. Resources should not be wasted. They should be used wisely.
Each of the mobile / software combination has its own advantages. One cannot have enough of these. If Nokia-Windows promises to give you blur free photographs using advanced hardware and software, Samsung supplies digital pen with some of their devices to develop the artist in you. Then we have Apple with their own high standard audio and video. As a programmer one tends to admire Samsung / Android as these promote free, liberal thinking programmers. Apple and Windows have employees as programmers.
One must realise that we cannot go on manufacturing and allow imports of mobile devices. The government and controlling military is stupid if it thinks that they will satisfy public demands. Instead the government and military command should help the big companies to initiate common hardware and software standard for India. We are a large nation and not scared sheep in lion's garb.
 

Food Security Bill

Economy can be difficult. It is mainly about demand.
In India education and jobs do not require much effort from the politicians. They need not help. The demand from public is so much that education happens. Getting into a job also happens, though may not to the extent of education. These are self driven economies and only opposition we have to these is the dissatisfaction of the people. One may say I did not get right education. Or I did not get right job. These grudges will get a patient hearing only when you are a vote bank. The caste factor. Upper caste people normally are pushed behind by this demand of the public. The merit system may not work.
What about food? One cannot run in an empty stomach and find food. There has to be food security. Amartya Sen, Nobel prize economist quite rightly has advocated for food security bill. He said in one interview that we have enough gold in our country and food security bill should be passed.
Another brilliant thing is the view of the communists. If people in high places are unable to bear grudges against each other then they have to get rid of this grudges first. This would mean that no difference in people are there in economic terms. Every people has similar demand and have equal opportunity to fulfil this demand.
Let us hope that better sense prevails and politicians join hands together and bring into reality Smt. Sonia Gandhi's dream of Food Security Bill.

Go For Gold

The gold is falling.
Cyprus has pledged gold. China economy is slowing. US is planning subsidy reduction. Some banks have reduced value of banks. All these have made gold unattractive.
But in India the demand for gold keeps increasing. Because of two reasons. Population and greed for more. Gold was always felt to be the most stable. And investment in gold is most welcome.
How to buy gold during these times. The best option is to buy in installments. Buy one lot now. Buy another one later. Why? Because gold price may vary. May increase or fall. So, it is safer that one buys gold in installments.
After all, safety is what Indian life is all about.

Insider Trading - Understanding

My blogs may be good. Anil Ambani likes it. He wants to do a favor. He wants to pay money. Will he pay from his own pocket or will he pay from his company's account? If he pays from his own pocket it is insider trading. If he pays from his company's account it is not.
We have seen the attitude of people. The so called high class society. They move in flashy cars, wearing choicest of garments, perfumes. But when it comes to giving alms to beggars, they just raise their window glass.
The above is not involving in insider trading.
Today, the share market is stable. It is no longer vacillating in huge swings. It is due to the commitment of brokers and fund managers who have taken exceptional pride in their jobs and have shown sheer brilliance and apt hard work.
We all need to rise up and give alms to beggars. We all must switch off ACs at red lights and breathe in fresh air. And then we must ask the question "Am I an Inside Trader?"

Respect for rupee

It is a matter of concern when the corruption figures are shown in lakhs of crores. Some newspaper claim that the whole of India can be wiped of poverty with the money that is stored in foreign banks.
What has caused the downfall? People say morality of the people has fallen and they resort to incorrect and illegal activities to achieve things. People hoard perishables and sell them off at convenient times just to earn extra money. People take admission to colleges on the basis of money.
Demand is more than supply. And money is expected to fill it.
The situation now has changed so bad that shopkeepers sell items below MRP. What is it that makes them so confident? Where do they have an extra source of income?
Many times artificial demand is created. When a minister says 100 flats be alloted, their chamchas often keep 70% and 30% are only legally sold as per minister's order. For the other 70% false legal papers, bogus claims etc. are entertained. This is the seed for corruption.
The police have to be extremely strong in such things. They cannot remain quiet. I remember in Howrah station we were prevented taking a bag of rice from the Howrah station to Ballygunge gardens. Because in those days only ration rice was permitted.
Reverting back to old systems is futile. And is not permitted by laws of heat. Entropy cannot be reversed. Yes, Stephen Hawking, the broken cup on the floor cannot join back and fly up to the table. No, it cannot. But I wonder why a human does not pick up the cup, glue it and keep it back.

BSE - Bearish Steered Entrepreneurs

The sentiment at BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) is bearish. The sensex is just below 20000 and Nifty just below 6000. They do not seem to cross these magical marks. However clever brokers might be, the FII seem to be calling it a day, everyday and seem to be dictating terms on them.
The process of turning the black money white started years back. Suddenly we could see a lot of rich people appearing with cars, ACs and modern gadgets at their disposal. Loans became easy and money was not restricted in selected circles only and that too hidden. Most of Indian businessmen made money riding with the tide. The cars, ACs and cellphones were the waves they rode on and businessmen made a few bucks. But this was the maximum they could foresee. They were otherwise blind in seeing the future and in seizing the opportunity and making billions of dollars. They made only a few thousands.
Today, it is different. It is a much better connected world today. Most of the systems have been computerised and businessmen are expected to change with time. But it is hard to believe and accept that the business community has not changed. They are still "old wine" in a "new bottle".
Take for example the Sahara case. The SEBI action on Sahara group is a sadistic action of words and letters by SEBI. Why corner and bully on a single company? That too at every opportunity and every now and then. It does not seem to be India. It seems primitive Arabia.
The central government has done its maximum by delaying GAAR. It is upto brokers to capitalise on this and  make investment friendly atmosphere. It is time that every businessman worth his penny realise that the systems are no longer the same. The time calls for attracting funds from tax havens and FII.
The businessmen have to be told in harsh words that if they keep going the way they have been going in the recent past they will only achieve nothing. It is time to make investment in India attractive for investors from tax havens countries. This is the way out for them.

Budgets 2013

The railway budget and union budgets have been presented in the parliament.
The railway budget has provisions of WiFi on trains. People were commenting on uncleanliness of our toilets. No one seemed to have suggestions. Dry soil toilets can be designed which can be rotated and mixed and used upto 5 to 6 toilet sessions.
Increase in rail reservation fees are practical steps to increase revenue for rail IT setups. It would have been better if investment is made in research to tackle crowd in passenger trains.
Our food and petroleum subsidies are very high. The government cannot tackle this on its own. Private public participation is a must to tackle this burden. It calls for a strong government at the center. People should support the government and should vote collectively for a secular, principled party at the center. A party which is experience itself personified. A party which is no different from the very definition of our country. Which party, you ask? Well, ask yourself. 

Shares Buyback

Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathway made fortunes in share by using intelligence and diligence. He was a pioneer in buyback of shares. If the share market does not give him the money the shares deserves he would buyback. He knew his value and never hesitated to assert it as an action.
In India, we have seen reports of partial buyback. This is treated as unwelcome by SEBI and Shri Sinha is framing rules to prevent them.
The earlier SEBI chief Bhave was rumoured to be Ambani protege. Shri Sinha was in Finance ministry, Central Government and took the office of SEBI with confidence. From what we could read in newspapers, he seemed to have won the confidence of many over there in Mumbai Dalal Street.
Now this shares buyback thing. One thing why should not a businessman buyback his shares? Secondly why should not he buyback partially? It is a pure financial decision of the businessman which makes him do what he feels the best for his shares.
Framing rules like a government, by SEBI is uncalled for. What profitable financial activity is done by the government? Its activities are a loss in terms of fiscal deficit. Framing rules like government will only result in more and more malpractises. It is a wrong medicine for an incorrectly perceived illness.
 

Changing Times

The times are changing fast. The economy of India is facing challenging times. However many of our CEOs seem to be comfortable with future, as a survey indicates.
The Finance minister is waging a war promising a brave approach to issues. He is confident of reducing deficit and enhancing growth without burdening the corporate world much in terms of taxation in his near future budget.
In the IT world, HCL has re-aligned their business into three major categories. They seem to be getting prepared to align themselves with the changing times. The step seemed very practical.
The resignation of Bharati Airtel CEO, Sanjeev Kapoor over his assignment to Africa seemed bad. One has to take challenging assignments and give out the best for one's company and country.
What can be the prescription to deal with these times. Increasing consumption in IT software and training is a reasonably good way to boost the economy. Quality music, e-books must be bought by payment and in fact government must take steps to ensure financial worthiness to IT software industry and boost consumption.

IPO headaches

IPO (Initial Public Offerings) are a tough financial task to implement. The director of the company has to painstakingly lobby around, fill and submit forms, show financial data, get clearances etc. And after so much hard work, the issue may crash after opening. Because of greedy and money lusting brokers and public.
A good performing stock no doubt improves the image of a company, but the financial risks involved are also high. Shares can be a big cushion to a fat, risk loving entrepreneur. Shares are challenging and offers plenty of opportunities to implement ideas, whether fair or foul. Mostly foul. But how reliable is it?
If you want my opinion, for general public investing in shares is a very attractive proposition today.  IT is spreading its wings on our financial and banking systems. More and more people will be able to have access to banks and share applications over internet. This will mean more customers for shares,, thereby increasing the demand for shares and hence their prices.
So, what are you waiting for. Money does not stop for anyone. Go out, explore and invest money with both your hands.