1. The owners of 2,150- MW Dabhol Power project, Ratnagiri Gas and Power is considering making an initial Public Offering of a quarter of its shares (Rs. 1000 Crores) by the end of this year. The Chairman, Ratnagi Gas said the offering will be followed by a Rs.500 Crore private placement of equity shares to be subscribed by institutional lenders. The Dabhol plant will be fully operational by next month and will be generating 1,700 MW power.
2. IT companies in Bangalore are getting paranoid of the recession at US and are taking all possible cost cutting measures such as reduced number of global jaunts, upcountry client visits by automobiles rather than by air route, taking pool cabs and hiring buses for internal travel, etc.
3. 54% of the Bombay Stock Exchange stocks below their 2006 price. Share market crash. The downward journey started from January 22, 2008. The sensex is down by another 5% today. Looks like a bottomless fall of share prices.
4. Reserve Bank of India is set to ban hiring of recovery agents by Banks. This is in view of the complaints of intimidation and harassment of all kinds by these recovery agents. This is line with the strictures passed by the High Court/Supreme Courts of India.
5. Fiat launches 1.3 litre diesel version of Palio Stile in India.
6. Hindujas have big plans for the health sector in Kolkata. The corporate giant is intending to set up a multi-speciality hospital in the city.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Lack of safety provisions in motorcycles - effect on insurance claims
There was a news item entitled “Senior citizen’s PIL gets positive Response” in the Indian Daily – The Times of India. In response to the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) pertaining to the violation of Motor Vehicle Act which is resulting in the death of motorcycle riders, the Bombay High Court has directed all the motorcycle manufacturers to ensure all the safety provisions in the vehicles as stipulated in the Act. Reputed manufacturers are involved in the litigation.
It was brought out in the litigation that the manufacturers were violating the rules on the provision of safety equipment in motorcycles, particularly with respect to the provision of permanent hand grip for the pillion rider and covering half of the rear wheel to prevent loose clothing such as saris and dhotis (sari guards) getting stuck to the moving wheel resulting in accidents and casualties. As per the report many motorcycles inspected were not having the hand grips or sari guards of stipulated dimensions.
It is a very good ruling by the court which will also help favorably the victims or their relatives in claims from the motorcycle insurance companies / the vehicle manufacturers the adequate compensation.
It was brought out in the litigation that the manufacturers were violating the rules on the provision of safety equipment in motorcycles, particularly with respect to the provision of permanent hand grip for the pillion rider and covering half of the rear wheel to prevent loose clothing such as saris and dhotis (sari guards) getting stuck to the moving wheel resulting in accidents and casualties. As per the report many motorcycles inspected were not having the hand grips or sari guards of stipulated dimensions.
It is a very good ruling by the court which will also help favorably the victims or their relatives in claims from the motorcycle insurance companies / the vehicle manufacturers the adequate compensation.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Dole out of taxpayer’s money
The Government of India, just for the sake of votes (keeping forthcoming elections in mind) has recommended writing-off bank loans to small and middle level farmers of over 60,000 rupees (1US$=40 rupees) in the national budget presentation on 29/02/08 for the year 2008-09. The loans were given by the banks, and nobody knows how the finance minister is going the compensate the banks. The banks though nationalized, is partially owned by the public.
The Taxpayers may not mind if the money really reaches the “Kisans” who work in the fields. May be, the so-called kisans are at the mercy of the middleman and the land owners. To begin with, the kisans would not have received the full loan amount at all. The loan amount sanctioned is reported to be distributed amongst the bank employees, the middleman who arranges for the loan, the land owner (generally politicians) and a small percentage is given to the kisan. By writing off the earlier loan, the kisan becomes eligible to get a small percentage (may be 10-20%) of one more fresh loan to be given by the nationalized banks in the rural areas. Generally, the banks will be pressurized to give such loans by the politicians to get the votes.
As soon as it was declared, the stocks of the banks fell down in the equity market of Stock Exchanges. The entire liability will finally be borne by the shareholders. Who cares? Nobody needs to return the loan amount any way. In the next budget it will again be waived off.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
India for Indians
There are well known advocates, such as Shashi Tharoor, of a Presidential System of governance for India to solve many of the problems associated with a multi-party unstable government at the Centre. His demand is for an India for Indians. The government is unable to provide good governance due to various local, regional, caste-based and religion based issues taking precedence over national issues such as education and healthcare. There are demands such as: the next prime minister should be from Dalits, and demand from some “backward” Muslim and Christian groups to get enlisted as scheduled caste just to get the benefits of reservation in education and government jobs. Some parties are even proposing 20% reservation for so-called “forward” communities.
The presidential system being followed in USA looks so complex and involves time consuming and expensive propositions as compared to the system followed in India. It is reasonable to expect that the elected leader from a party should get votes from at least 50% of the country’s electorate. That means the country should go for a two-party system and not a loose combination of n-number of fragmented local parties with their leader’s eyes focused on Prime minister’s “Gaddi” at Delhi. Fortunately, one country can have only one Prime Minister!
In presidential system of course, the system will always favor President from more populous states. Two or three states with large population can join together to get a president elected from those states all the time. But then, to get votes from 50% of the electorate is difficult unless the leaders are of national level with broader outlook and long term vision. Such a leader has to reach out to all kinds of population groups and come out of regional, cast/religion based petty politics such as Maharashtra for marathis only and Karnataka for Kannadigas. The country’s laws, regulations and rules should be made applicable to everybody irrespective of caste, creed, region and religion. India should belong to every Indian.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Safety of employees in BPO operations
India is the hub for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) operations for many multinational companies. BPO means the transmission of processes along with the associated operational activities and responsibilities, to a third party with at least a guaranteed equal service level and where the client contains a firm grip over the (activities of the) vendor for mutual long term success. BPO is positively related to the search for more efficient organizational designs: cost reduction, productivity growth and innovative capabilities.
The BPO companies work round the clock and generally, youngsters work round the clock to carryout the jobs in India. The timings in these offices are very odd and often one has to work during night times for days together without any break. The biorhythm of the body is disturbed in the workers and the body does not get enough rest during day time. The salaries paid for the staff in these offices is quite high as compared to other industries for the persons with similar qualification. It is observed that the age group of the staff members is early twenties, they are fashionable and the male and female staff members get close due to the longer periods of each other’s company during odd hours of working. The staff members are also victims of psychological problems and are spendthrifts. It reported that alcohols and drugs are common in frequent parties or outings indulged by the employees. However, the BPO operations provide employment opportunities to the young adults and are fast acquiring the status of industry.
In media, it is often reported that suicides, rapes and murders are common in the BPO industry. Often, the victims are young girls and incidents occur during transportation to and from the work place. The vehicles/drivers for transportation of the employees are being outsourced. Though there are restrictions and guidelines for the safety of the female nightshift employees, the incidents still occur periodically and given wide publicity by the media.
It is now well understood that the employer is responsible for the safety of the employees even during their transportation to and from the workplace. Female security person accompany female employees in vehicles ferrying young night-shift employees. The employer should ensure that the security guidelines such as: the driver doesn’t report drunk for duty, verification of driver’s character by the police, etc are followed strictly.
Some of the demands by the enraged public at large include: no night shift for female employees, female driver for transporting female staff members, use of the company’s driver for the transportation, dress code for the night-shift female employees, etc.
The BPO companies work round the clock and generally, youngsters work round the clock to carryout the jobs in India. The timings in these offices are very odd and often one has to work during night times for days together without any break. The biorhythm of the body is disturbed in the workers and the body does not get enough rest during day time. The salaries paid for the staff in these offices is quite high as compared to other industries for the persons with similar qualification. It is observed that the age group of the staff members is early twenties, they are fashionable and the male and female staff members get close due to the longer periods of each other’s company during odd hours of working. The staff members are also victims of psychological problems and are spendthrifts. It reported that alcohols and drugs are common in frequent parties or outings indulged by the employees. However, the BPO operations provide employment opportunities to the young adults and are fast acquiring the status of industry.
In media, it is often reported that suicides, rapes and murders are common in the BPO industry. Often, the victims are young girls and incidents occur during transportation to and from the work place. The vehicles/drivers for transportation of the employees are being outsourced. Though there are restrictions and guidelines for the safety of the female nightshift employees, the incidents still occur periodically and given wide publicity by the media.
It is now well understood that the employer is responsible for the safety of the employees even during their transportation to and from the workplace. Female security person accompany female employees in vehicles ferrying young night-shift employees. The employer should ensure that the security guidelines such as: the driver doesn’t report drunk for duty, verification of driver’s character by the police, etc are followed strictly.
Some of the demands by the enraged public at large include: no night shift for female employees, female driver for transporting female staff members, use of the company’s driver for the transportation, dress code for the night-shift female employees, etc.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Cigarette smoking and lung cancer
In spite of the fact that governments are trying to create public awareness about the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, one can witness school and college children smoke openly or in private. Efforts are also made in India to legally prohibit showing smoking cigarettes in films. The school and college children idealize the film heroes and try to mimic their actions, which includes smoking cigarettes in a particular style.
A recent study in Norway showed that people who smoked just one to four cigarettes a day were nearly three times more likely to die from heart disease than nonsmokers. The probability of dying from lung cancer also increases three times!
In view of this observation of marked increase in the fatalities even amongst small-time smokers (one to four cigarettes a day), it is necessary that awareness amongst the children regarding the harmful effects should be ensured by the school managements and by the governments. This also calls for ban smoking in crowed places to avoid passive smoking, i.e., inhalation of cigarette smoke by nonsmokers who happened to be present nearby to a smoker.
A recent study in Norway showed that people who smoked just one to four cigarettes a day were nearly three times more likely to die from heart disease than nonsmokers. The probability of dying from lung cancer also increases three times!
In view of this observation of marked increase in the fatalities even amongst small-time smokers (one to four cigarettes a day), it is necessary that awareness amongst the children regarding the harmful effects should be ensured by the school managements and by the governments. This also calls for ban smoking in crowed places to avoid passive smoking, i.e., inhalation of cigarette smoke by nonsmokers who happened to be present nearby to a smoker.
Monday, February 11, 2008
An international kidney racket
An international kidney racket was busted at Mumbai by the police in January 2008. In mid-1990s, the issue of illegal and unauthorized kidney transplantations in Mumbai was raised by the Maharashtra Medical Council, and an investigation report was submitted by the council to the government for action. The kidney donors’ identities could not be ascertained. The addresses given were identical. No personal, medical records or consent papers were available. It was also noted that the hospitals where these transplants were carried out were not of any standard for conducting the surgeries. No action was taken against the urologists and nephrologists involved.
The kingpin of the racket, Santosh Raut was involved even at that point of time in the racket at Mumbai. He was once arrested, got bail and jumped the bail and vanished only to resurface as Dr. Amit Kumar in the northern state of Haryana. He also claimed that he transplanted kidneys with the consent of donors. It was reported that many foreigners were the recipients of the kidneys. He has spread his racket throughout the country and abroad (Nepal, Canada). When he was arrested at Mumbai recently, he said that he was doing social service by helping patients and in the process he is making some money. He said that he kept the records of the donors. Police have taken him into custody to verify his statements and also to arrest other medical and paramedical persons involved in the raket.
It is estimated that about 1.5 lakh patients have kidney failure every year in India. Only about 3500 receive an organ for transplantation. Similar disparity is seen in cases of other organs such as cornea, liver, etc. Virtually there are no proper donors. The so-called donors sold their organs for money. The gap between the supply and \demand is too high and hence the organ trading rackets are mushrooming everywhere. The number of donors (brain-dead and cadaver) has to be increased. There is also a need of centralized registry that can connect potential donors and recipients. Any illegal transplantation of organ should be viewed seriously and the culprits and the hospitals should be penalized severely. The offence should be made non-bailable. The general public need to be made aware of the current situation and should be encouraged for organ donation willingly.
The kingpin of the racket, Santosh Raut was involved even at that point of time in the racket at Mumbai. He was once arrested, got bail and jumped the bail and vanished only to resurface as Dr. Amit Kumar in the northern state of Haryana. He also claimed that he transplanted kidneys with the consent of donors. It was reported that many foreigners were the recipients of the kidneys. He has spread his racket throughout the country and abroad (Nepal, Canada). When he was arrested at Mumbai recently, he said that he was doing social service by helping patients and in the process he is making some money. He said that he kept the records of the donors. Police have taken him into custody to verify his statements and also to arrest other medical and paramedical persons involved in the raket.
It is estimated that about 1.5 lakh patients have kidney failure every year in India. Only about 3500 receive an organ for transplantation. Similar disparity is seen in cases of other organs such as cornea, liver, etc. Virtually there are no proper donors. The so-called donors sold their organs for money. The gap between the supply and \demand is too high and hence the organ trading rackets are mushrooming everywhere. The number of donors (brain-dead and cadaver) has to be increased. There is also a need of centralized registry that can connect potential donors and recipients. Any illegal transplantation of organ should be viewed seriously and the culprits and the hospitals should be penalized severely. The offence should be made non-bailable. The general public need to be made aware of the current situation and should be encouraged for organ donation willingly.
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