Management theories deal with human affairs, which are far more complex

Using Theory to Gain the Edge Good theories, invariably, are nothing more than practical common sense. Mohit Malik Businessworldindia.com October 03, 2005

Professor C K Prahalad advises us to work on our core competence in the pages of Harvard Business Review . Sunil Mittal of Bharti Enterprises thinks differently: he goes ahead and outsources the management of the company's entire telecom infrastructure. Not just that. In the biggest deal of its kind in the Indian domestic market, Bharti has also outsourced its call centres also.

In his classic text ‘Marketing Management', Kotler famously asserts that first-mover's advantage is the key to success. Here again, Sunil Mittal likes to think differently. He declares that he wants to roll out only technology that is at least one year old for his network.

If you are wondering about the meaning of core competence, look beyond the country. Even Nike outsources manufacturing of its shoes, and pretty much everything else. All of these are instances of companies going against conventional wisdom. Against everything that gurus preach. So who is wrong?

Can it be that neither is? The concept of core competence is a very powerful one. The key to using it lies in identifying your core competence correctly. In this case, is network management the core competence of Bharti? As for the first mover's advantage, Bharti would rather be the least cost mobile operator in the world instead (I believe, it already is). The cost of telecom equipment drops after the initial adoption. Since Bharti addresses the mass-market it prefers buying the equipment when it is cheaper, and the technology more stable. As Mittal often says: he charges customers two cents for a call. 1 cent is the cost and Bharti pockets the other 1 cent!

For Nike, a Drucker quote comes to mind, "Marketing and innovation are the two chief functions of business…Everything else is a cost center." Incidentally Nike does only two things in-house, R&D and Marketing. Drucker's words are definitely not a theory in the conventional sense, and am sure he never intended them to be. But definitely common-sense.

That said, theories are definitely very useful. It is not that “theoretical” equates with “impractical”, as is often said, or meant. They help us make sense of the world we live, and work, in. But, by definition, theory is general. Not always applicable. Not always applicable to every situation. At the simplest level, theories help us understand why a thing happens, and how. It is essentially a statement (though usually long-winded and fairly dense!) of cause and effect. Nothing more.

To take the example of ‘The First-movers Advantage', it is very important. But as millions of bombed dotcoms realized, just being the first is not enough to guarantee success. Google wasn't the first search engine. Amazon wasn't the first online bookseller. Internet Explorer wasn't the first browser either. Theory is useful only when it fits our situation. This apart, we need to know the factors that make a theory applicable and those which do not. The situation and the context in which the business operates is key. The theory by itself is not.

Management theories, unlike those of the physical sciences, deal with human affairs, which are far more complex. As times change, theories that were valid in one period might not retain their validity in another. Unlike the physical sciences, management sciences do not have “laws”. While a law notes that something happens, a theory attempts to deal with why or how it happens

But then even the theories of the physical sciences are not inviolable either. Peter Lynds, a 30-year-old college dropout from New Zealand challenged Einstein's Theory of Relativity quite successfully in 2003. Einstein posited that time is relative for each one of us. Lynds claims time is an illusion. Incidentally, Lynds is now writing a book on the structure of the universe. And his agent is the one who also represents Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code. But I digress. (if you will like to more of Lynds' work, drop me an email). Clausewitz reminds us "Theory can never lead to complete understanding, which is an impossibility, but it can strengthen and refine judgment." Blindly applying a theory is suicidal. But there is something even more dangerous.

Other Articles by the Author Leading Strategically The Reflective CEO A ‘Satisfying’ Solution Mohit Malik heads the leadership and strategy practice at Anoova Consulting . The views expressed in this column are his own. If you have ideas or suggestions for future columns or comments on this one, please contact me directly at mohit.malik@AnoovaConsulting.Biz

Don't ban futures trading in commodities

It will impede price discovery Jignesh Shah MD & CEO MCX The Economic Times FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2006

“No activity in the economic field is perhaps so little understood as futures trading on organised commodity exchanges”, wrote the Forwards Markets Review Committee, headed by the internationally acclaimed agricultural economist Prof M L Dantwala, in 1966.

The recent knee-jerk reaction of some in the central government and many in the media to the rise in the prices of wheat, sugar and pulses is reminiscent of the truth of this statement. Futures trading in these commodities is being blamed for price escalation in these essential commodities. Four decades ago, futures trading in most commodities was banned fearing that trading will fuel inflation. Is history repeating itself once again? Commodity futures trading was revived towards the end of the last century, after a lapse of nearly three-and-a-half decades, in the wake of economic reforms and liberalisation following India’s entry into WTO.

It was recognised that futures markets perform the economic functions of price discovery and price risk management. Futures markets do not actually determine prices. The basic forces of supply and demand set prices in both the physical and futures markets. Futures markets only discover prices, and disseminate these widely for the benefit of producers and consumers, as also the government authorities so that the latter can devise appropriate trade and fiscal policies to correct the supply-demand imbalances. When supply is short, prices are bound to rise, whether futures markets exist or not. The converse is true with surplus supplies.

Stoppage of futures trading is no solution to the rising or falling price trend. With such stoppage, not only do we lose the valuable price discovery mechanism, but, also the risk management tool — so vitally needed to avert price risks. Suspension of futures trading drives speculation to the physical markets, aggravating the rising or falling trends in prices. At a time when the last phase of Doha round of talks is about to end, and convertibility of rupee seems near, it is ironical that some are clamouring for the closure of futures markets in agricultural commodities.

ABC of Nationalism: The Alipore Bomb Conspiracy Case, 1908

From the yellowed pages... Almost a century old now, The Alipore Bomb Conspiracy Case comes alive through an ongoing exhibition at the Supreme Court Museum in New Delhi. SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY takes a look. PHOTOS OF PROSECUTION AND PERSECUTION Fragments of bombs used in Alipore bombing and a typewrtier used at Alipore court The Hindu Metro Plus Delhi Thursday, Jun 29, 2006

In a nation where the bulk of its hundred million are post-independence citizens, where even the proverbial `midnight children' are deemed grey, the freedom struggle doesn't mean as much as it did the generation that lived it. From a pin to a plane turning designer, from a needle to anything else that you need for a modern living on offer on equal monthly instalments, one perhaps might have to blame changing times more than just the generation for shifting focus, for not being able to connect to that bygone era with the expected fervency, for being more interested in our secured personal future than about the struggle of a collective past.

Well, little wonder then that an ongoing exhibition of the Alipore Bomb Conspiracy Case, an important trial of pre-independence India, hasn't attracted much public footfall. Currently on display at the Supreme Court Museum on Mathura Road in New Delhi, the over-three-month long exhibition that opened for public in May, is but more than a mere peek at a piece of history. Simply because the past on show is that of our own, and the exhibits in more ways than one can succeed to evoke this feeling if you pay a visit.

Sifting through a pile of court orders, FIRs, pistols and revolvers, yellowed newspapers, chargesheet written on calf skin, revolutionary letters and stills, typewriters at Alipore court, fragments of bombs used by the attackers on that fateful day of spring in 1908 with little notes qualifying each and every display, you almost feel the veritable silence caused by lack of visitors in the hall. Mutely, the objects demand your gaze. Even after close to a century, they have lived to tell their tale truly.

Surely, this stroll through history ends with education. About one's own past, about being so lucky to have not been born to suffer in foreign hands, about people who braved those odds so that we can think of living life with dignity. And also, it gives you interesting insights into that age. One particularly noticed instance is a story on the page one of a Calcutta-based English daily, Bande Mataram dated June 11, 1908 recommending a home-grown tea brand introduced with well-known people endorsing it, including the owners of Amrita Bazaar Patrika. Cut to today's newspapers selling advertisement spots for huge money and you are left smiling at the irony of time.

For many of us unaware of the details, the Alipore case is an angry offshoot of the division of Bengal in 1905 and traces back to the night of April 30, 1908, at Muzaffarpur near Planters Club when two revolutionaries, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki, threw a bomb on a carriage carrying two English ladies. They mistook it for the carriage of D. H. Kingsford, the District Magistrate known for his notoriety as the Presidency Magistrate of Calcutta. Khudiram was arrested and hanged to death while Chaki committed suicide that dawn. But the case was considered one of conspiracy and war against the King of England and so it continued.

Aurobindo Ghosh

After examining 206 witnesses and over 300 material objects, which interestingly included false beards too besides bombs etc, producing over 4000 documents, the judgement was passed by C.P. Beachcroft after 131 days. It acquitted seven of the accused, transported three out of the country for seven years, exiled three more for 10 years and properties seized, and ordered two to be hanged to death. Those acquitted included Aurobindo Ghosh too, known to many as Sri Aurobindo of Aurobindo Ashram legacy. He was, by the way, a classmate of Beachcroft in King's College, Cambridge, and Aurobindo happened to have scored more marks than him in Greek.

Led by the legendary C.R. Das, a battery of barristers fought the case for the accused. Later, the two accused ordered to be hanged, re-appealed and got their punishment softened by life terms. But as fascinating as the case details is the story of the chance finding of these exhibits. Buried inside an almirah kept in the Nazareth of the Alipore Court for decades, all these evidences and documents were retrieved in 1997 by the Chief Judge of City Civil and Sessions Court of Kolkata. He is said to have taken the help of a thief to open the almirah as its keys had long been lost.

The Supreme Court Museum has gathered the exhibits from many sources including the Police Museum of Kolkata and Alipore District Court Museum. A peek at this vagary of time is worth it, perhaps only to be thankful for the times that we are living in. Long live democracy! (The exhibition is on till August 31 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. all days).

The important task of the communists

Nothing to lose but chains Struggles against class exploitation and caste oppression complement each other Sitaram Yechury (My name at birth was Yechury Venkata Sitarama Rao) Hindustan Times Thursday, June 29, 2006

However, let us move to the central issue: since communists believe that class struggle is the mover of social change, they ought not engage their attention with matters of caste.

• The living essence of Marxism is the concrete analysis of concrete conditions.
• The coexistence of precapitalist forms of production with growing capitalist relations in India means that the process of development of our society, divided into modern capitalist classes, is taking place constantly within the caste stratification that has come down to us over centuries.
• Despite all the refinements and changes within castes and between castes that have taken place over the years, the basic structure, in so far as the oppression of the Dalits or the backward castes is concerned, remains.
• Since the process of class division is taking place within the existing class stratification, the issue is not one of class vs caste.
• To a large extent, the most exploited classes in our society constitute the most socially oppressed castes.
• There is a casteclass overlap. And, to that extent, the struggle against class exploitation and the struggle against social oppression complement each other.
• It is this complementarity that needs to be recognised, and on the basis of such recognition follows the important task of the communists to seek the integration of the struggles against class exploitation with the struggles against social oppression.
• Both these constitute the two mutually inclusive aspects of the current class struggle in the country.

Mahatma Gandhi had coined the term Harijan and appealed for a change of heart in our attitude towards Dalits and lower castes. Among other giants who stand out in the powerful anti-caste movements in the country was Jyotiba Phule. He was a great secular democrat who wielded a significant political influence in his time. The Satyashodhak movement that he launched continues to hold influence today. Baba Sahib Ambedkar, one of the most outstanding and tireless fighters against caste exploitation, had to finally ask his followers to embrace Buddhism to escape the injustices of high caste Hindu socie ty. The powerful Dravidian movement led by Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker roused strong feelings against caste oppression and untouchability. His influence and that of the movement he launched continues to have its impact on presentday politics in Tamil Nadu.

• Yet, despite such tall leaders and the powerful movements that they launched, caste oppression and discrimination continues to plague us.
• Despite the glorious uncompromising role of such leaders, the objective of ending caste-based social oppression could not be achieved. Why?
• The answer lies in the communist analysis of how to eradicate this social curse.
• Mere appeals for a change of heart or behaviour cannot and will not eliminate this obnoxious system.
• In order to do so, we require to bring about a radical realignment in the economic empowerment of these sections.
• This means the implementation of sweeping land reforms that will empower the vast majority of the socially-oppressed sections.
• With economic assets as the basis, the struggle against social manifestations of caste oppression can be conducted.
• Mere moral outrage or even a correct understanding of the social roots of the problem cannot lead to its elimination unless sweeping agrarian reforms are implemented.
• It is precisely this that the dominant political leadership of Independent India did not do.
• It is precisely this that communists seek to achieve.
• The implementation of land reforms in West Bengal and Kerala may not have eliminated caste identity but have surely led to a quantum decline in caste-based social oppression.
• Since we continue to work for such changes elsewhere in the country, our support for reservations, therefore, cannot be seen as the final solution for ending caste oppression.
• Reservations in the present conditions are a necessity that offer some relief to some individuals in these communities, enhance their confidence in their advance and seek to make them more equal in the vastly growing unequal society in India.
• However, by themselves, reservations cannot be the final solution to the problem. The final solution can come only with a sweeping agrarian revolution that economically empowers these sections.
• This is attested by the fact that even after five decades of reservations for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in our country, the overall status of these communities has not radically changed.
• Clearly, while reservations are not the final solution, the benefits of this should naturally reach the most needy sections within the OBCs.
• Introduction of an economic criteria, which the CPI(M) alone had suggested in the Nineties, was mercifully upheld by the Supreme Court in its definition of the ‘creamy layer’.
• This will have to be integrated with the OBC reservations in higher education.
• The CPI(M), while supporting reservations, is engaged in strengthening the struggles on the larger agenda of the economic empowerment of these sections.
• This alone can render the caste system and the associated caste oppression as an ‘anachronism’ in modern India.

VP, march forward, we are with you

V.P. Singh — the man and his politics The Hindu Editorial Wednesday, Jun 28, 2006

At 75, Vishwanath Pratap Singh — frail from battling disease and with a demonstrated disinclination for office — would hardly seem the ideal candidate for serious political action. But the former Prime Minister has enough fire left in him judging from the rush of VIPs to his New Delhi residence on June 25. The visitors were there primarily to wish Mr. Singh on his birthday but surely some of them were there also to suss out his newest baby, the Jan Dal-Jan Morcha combine slated to join the fray in election-bound Uttar Pradesh.

The encomiums showered on the occasion were as much for the man's exceptional personal qualities as for his evidently undiminished grasp of politics. Mr. Singh, `VP' to friends and admirers, is distinguished by an endearing duality that makes him at once political animal and savant, a curious amalgam endowed with battlefield skills as well as a strong sense of right and wrong.

His sharp political instincts brought him power — from Chief Minister of U.P. through crucial portfolios held at the Centre to Prime Minister, he zoomed up the ladder, gaining rapidly in stature and popular appeal. Yet each tenure was cut short by what seemed an untenable clash between position and principle. His most dramatic exit was in November 1990. The Ayodhya conflagration imposed an impossible choice on Prime Minister Singh: he could keep his National Front Government if he accommodated the belligerence of the Hindutva party. He preferred to let his regime go down fighting on the floor of the Lok Sabha.

With the inner conflict came clarity and a political vision shaped by a growing understanding of India's complex social reality. The evolution was not to the liking of the media and the middle classes. As he was to tell Frontline in 1996:

"I was the knight in shining armour [when he went full throttle against corruption in public life] ... But after Mandal, all my previous resignations, which they once praised, became `gimmicks.' Like B.C. and A.D., there is A.M. and P.M. — Ante-Mandal and Post-Mandal."

Subsequent events showed how wrongly he had been judged. Mandal unleashed an OBC revolution that changed the face of Indian politics. In State Assemblies and in Parliament, previously outnumbered backward caste legislators gained dominance. Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati ruled over U.P. The changes brought a new respect for `VP', by now fighting acute health problems.

In 1990, his political friends abandoned him, accusing him of power-mongering; the media cast him as a villain. Six years later, they were to witness the incredible phenomenon of `VP', the obvious choice to head the United Front Government, going into hiding to avoid the honour. Mr. Singh has since fought several battles — away from the public glare and always on the side of the disadvantaged. As always, politics for him is less about office than about public issues and concerns. Is it surprising then that there should be so much buzz around his next move in U.P.?

21st century — the age of charity

Simon Jenkins The Hindu Thursday, Jun 29, 2006

When the world's second richest man gives most of his money to the world's richest man we do well to count our spoons. Warren Buffett has given $31 billion to Bill Gates to add to his $29-billion foundation. Mr. Gates replied with a quote from Adam Smith on the virtue of philanthropy. He omitted another quote from the great man, that merchants "seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public." What is going on?

The 19th century was the age of capitalism, the 20th the age of socialism. The 21st is to be the age of charity, or so we are given to hope. But as Margaret Thatcher said in her sermon on the Good Samaritan, "Remember, he had to earn his money first." Greed is back, but it is greed with acquired nobility.

Truly large fortunes are fiendishly difficult to dispose of...The geeks of the Internet and high finance may be very rich, but the 21st century appears to have given them a conscience. These children of the 1960s have taken many a short cut at the margin, but they preach freedom and love and are choosing to give back to society rather than to their heirs. They mean well.

But they share one enemy — modern government in all its forms. In Mr. Buffett's words, only a fool gives his money to a treasury. What would once have seemed a slander now seems a platitude. Whether such people will run a better planet, who knows? But they clearly mean to try. - Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

This report deserves careful reading and consideration

The Hindu American Foundation is not affiliated with any religious or political organizations or entities. HAF seeks to serve Hindu Americans across all sampradayas (Hindu religious traditions). HAF has established itself as a well-respected and credible voice for Hindu-Americans. Our focus continues to be on educating the institutions that shape American public opinion and policy in America about the perspectives of Hindu-Americans.

Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora:A Survey of Human Rights 2005

HAF’s second annual report on human rights abuses against Hindus in 2005 covers Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, Pakistan and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The 105 page report individually documents over 500 incidents of murder, arson, rape, desecration of temples, usurpation of property and other forms of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh. According to the report, Pakistan witnessed a spate of Hindu temple destructions, kidnappings and forced conversions of Hindu girls. Outside of South Asia, the report notes that despite comprising 38% of the island nation’s population, Hindus and their religious institutions are routinely attacked in Fiji. The report highlights the persecution of Afghanistan's Hindu minority and the involuntary deportation of the exiled Hindu refugees from foreign nations. The report also addresses the continued ethnic cleansing of Hindus in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir as a result of Islamic militancy.

Executive Summary: HTML PDF Press Release: Second Annual Report on Hindu Human Rights Released on Capitol Hill Press Release: Endorsements of HAF's Second Annual Human Rights Report Campaign: Human Rights Report: HTML PDF Date Released: June 27, 2006

Everyone who is concerned with obtaining the necessary human rights and privileges for people of all religions should be indebted to the Hindu American Foundation for bringing into the light the serious discriminatory practices and unacceptable behavior which in any way makes for insensitive treatment of Hindus and their faith. The impressive scholarship and challenging research in the Hindu American Foundation’s study provides a unique foundation to secure long overdue attention to the concerns of the Hindu community. All of us who are concerned with the true meaning of human rights must lend our support to the Hindu community whenever and wherever ignorant and cruel judgments isolate and demean Hindus and any other minority which is suffering, even briefly, pain, indifference and antagonistic assaults. Ernest H. Weiner Executive Director, Northern California Region American Jewish Committee

Citizens of South Asian Indian origin and/or descent constitute an increasingly important element within the rich tapestry of the American republic, both for their own individual contributions to the communities in which the live and work and for their reinforcement of the strategic links between the United States and India, the two largest democracies in the world. Many of these individuals, as the overwhelming majority of Indians, hail from the Hindu tradition, one of humanity’s oldest expressions of religious aspiration and the third largest religious community in the world.

In this context, the publication of Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights (2005) is a very significant event. As the second such annual report by the Hindu American Foundation, it represents a major milestone in the history of the Indian American—particularly its Hindu American component—community as it joins other ethnic and religious groups in bringing its concerns to the public square. On this achievement, the reports authors and the farsighted civic leaders sponsoring their work should be congratulated.

Perhaps more importantly, however, the report raises a number of worrying concerns about one ancient faith community’s experience with contemporary challenges to that most basic of human rights, the unalienable right to freely pursue through the religion of one’s heritage or choice the eternal riddles of the human condition: What is humanity? From whence does it come? To where is it headed? This report deserves careful reading and consideration by scholars, policymakers, and all men and women of good will. Dr. J. Peter Pham Director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs Harrisonburg, Virginia

Ghaziabad grows up to glory

Unlikely Boomtowns: The last half-century was the age of the megacity. The next will belong to their smaller, humbler urban relations. The coming years will belong to a smaller, far humbler relation—the Second City By Rana Foroohar Newsweek International

This rise of Second Cities is dramatically illustrated by our top-10 list, which encompasses the fastest-growing cities in each of the world's 10 most important economies (following stories). Based on an advance copy of the latest U.N. forecasts for all cities with populations greater than 750,000, the list includes only two major capitals—Moscow and London, which continue to outpace smaller rivals for unique national reasons. All the rest are aspiring middleweights like Toulouse, Munich and Las Vegas, or former unknowns like Florianópolis (Brazil), Ghaziabad (India), Goyang (South Korea) and Fukuoka (Japan), which may not remain unknown for much longer. Boomtowns breed ambitious city fathers, so it's hardly surprising that Toulouse is competing with Paris to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, or that Fukuoka is challenging Tokyo for the same honor.

There are several megatrends that get lost on a top-10 list, however. One is the concentration of fast-growing cities in emerging economies: of the top 150 fastest-growing cities in this size class, the most by far, 55, are in China, followed by an intense boomlet of 12 in Indonesia, and 10 in India.

The Ten Most Dynamic Cities

Ring of Change A factory suburb of Delhi, now surrounded by posh high rises. Newsweek

Construction: New development must keep up with demand in Indirapuram

In old Ghaziabad—20 kilometers outside New Delhi in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh—ancient green-and-white three-wheeled Tempos that double as buses career alongside a tangle of bicycle rickshaws, buffalo-drawn wagons and pushcarts. Tiny, no-name manufacturers advertise rubber gaskets, gears, machine tools. You'd never guess Ghaziabad is India's hottest city. But thanks to skyrocketing real-estate prices in the capital, Ghaziabad is emerging as the next popular address for Delhi-bound commuters. In residential pockets on the outskirts like Indirapuram, posh new developments are sold out. The largest developer, Shipra Estate Ltd., has built 7,000 two-, three- and four-bedroom flats, all of which are already occupied, says Vijay Sundar Raj, manager of sales and marketing. Many of the residents commute to IT jobs in neighboring Noida and Delhi.

Strategically located on the old Grand Trunk Road from Bangladesh to Afghanistan, Ghaziabad was targeted by the state for industrial development in the 1980s. Today the city is home to more than 14,000 small-scale industrial units and larger plants run by giants like Coca-Cola and the International Tobacco Co., which still provide most of the jobs in Ghaziabad proper. For all the new luxury high rises, Ghaziabad today is one of the most heavily industrialized cities in Uttar Pradesh.

The forecasts of rapid population growth, however, have more to do with New Delhi. Despite attempts to bar new industry within the capital, Delhi still creates more new jobs per year than the southern Indian IT centers of Bangalore and Hyderabad. "Delhi is a very big magnet," says S. K. Zaman, a top planner for Uttar Pradesh state, ruefully reflecting on the government's failure to contain the capital's population, which has grown by 50 percent every 10 years for the last half century, and now stands at around 14 million.

Authorities are having more success shifting at least some new growth to the outskirts. New roads, concessionary land prices and other schemes are drawing companies like Samsung, Honda and Siemens to satellite cities like Gurgaon and Noida. With its excellent highway connections to Noida and Delhi, Ghaziabad is starting to reap the benefits. Though it still doesn't have the cachet of Noida, it boasts cheaper land, and the completion this summer of the controversial Tehri Dam should help prevent frequent water and electricity shortages. None too soon. The city is already building a village to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games. And plans for both a new expressway and a second Delhi international airport on the east side of the capital should help put the entire region, Ghaziabad included, on the global map. —Jason Overdorf

The state should disinvest from all its business enterprises

You are perhaps aware that I was the first and founding Chairman& Managing Director of the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), one of the prestigious Public Sector Undertakings (PSU). While I was in the Department of Telecoms (DOT) I had struggled in fact, waged a campaign for separation of telecoms from the Posts, constitute telecoms into a corporation and eventually privatizing it after it learns how to compete with p-telcos...These days I am engaged in campaigning for disinvestments in the BSNL and the MTNL also, both of which are very profitable companies...

It is no longer necessary that the state itself should invest and mange in those industries and businesses which could be done by companies invested in by Indian citizens from their savings. A large property and share-holding citizenry alone can ensure the continuance of liberty and freedom and democracy...The Chinese communists being Asians with thousands of years of history and wisdom, have realised the failure of communism and are quietly burying it in a very calculated and planned manner disinvesting from the state-owned industries and businesses. That is a great lesson in realism and pragmatism.

In India, in the name of Nehruvian socialism the state entered into areas where it should not. Especially after having created a great number of engineers & managers and economists and entrepreneurs...Indian entrepreneurship was like a tiger caged. With the end to the Nehruvian permit-licence-quota socialism, Indian entrepreneurs are prowling all over the world...Private companies are showing their entrepreneurship and vision and are becoming global players...The latest and the grandest success is Laxmi Mittal's acquisition against fierce opposition of Europe's largest steel maker Arcelor...In the light of the philosophy concerning state-owned enterprises, their past and the present global scenario, I believe that disinvestment in NALCO is very well justified. In fact, the state should disinvest from all its enterprises which are in the nature of business... Dr T.H.Chowdary Director : Center for Telecom Management & Studies

E-Mail: hanuman.chowdary@tcs.com & thc@satyam.com to sachisatpathy@yahoo.com

The role of Private consumption is important for economic growth

Arvind Virmani February 2006 PLANNING COMMISSION Working Paper No. 2/2006-PC LESSONS OF GOVRNMENT FAILURE

The post-independence political and administrative leadership was highly motivated, educated and honest. This situation prevailed for atleast 15 years or half the phase of Indian socialism (after which it perhaps started atrophying gradually). Despite its sincere efforts to develop India and rid it of the scourge of poverty, the proportion of citizens below the poverty increased. Despite drawing on the best development economists in the world and pioneering the concept of mixed economy and non-communist (sometimes referred to as 'Fabian') socialism, development performance as measured by the rate of per capita income was extremely poor compared to other countries...

One of the philosophical foundations of Indian socialism was that private consumption of the rich ('well off' or 'better off') must be reduced and their resources diverted into the public sector (directly through taxes or indirectly through the financial system). The result, contrary to assumptions was an increase in poverty. The puzzle is that poverty increased despite a growth of per capita income! Government was clearly appropriating too much resource, leaving little for the general public...

The second lesson is that, The role of Private consumption in economic growth and poverty reduction can be more important than that of Government/Public Consumption. One of the important pillars of the economic strategy under Indian socialism was to control private consumption(through controls on, production of and investment in, consumer goods and taxation of such goods) and divert resources into the government through steep/exorbitant income taxes...

Faster growth of private consumption has therefore driven the poverty reduction in phase II and probably contributed to the acceleration in growth through increased aggregate demand and consequent higher capacity utilisation and increase inexpected profitability of private investment in new consumer goods.

The third lesson is Government Investment is neither necessary nor sufficient for Growth...The government's thirst for intervention in all spheres of economic and social activity has far exceeded its ability to achieve positive outcomes in any of them...The government is neither omniscient (all knowing) nor omnipotent (all powerful) nor omni-competent. Even with the best of intentions and motivations it can and does fail spectacularly. More commonly it has traits that are the opposite of those commonly assumed by those who expect government to solve any and all problems. REPORTS SER PEO PO&RM Wk-PAPERS ARTICLES PUBLICATIONS

America the Dangerous?

Activist and financier George Soros on the global energy crisis and why he thinks the United States has become an obstacle to a stable and just world. By Susanna Schrobsdorff Newsweek Updated: 9:41 a.m. ET June 28, 2006

June 28, 2006 - George Soros has assigned himself a daunting mission. "Changing the attitude and policies of the United States remains my top priority," he writes in the introduction to his latest book, "The Age of Fallibility" (PublicAffairs 2006). The billionaire investor is set on convincing Americans to renounce the idea of a "war on terror" because he believes that an "endless" war against an invisible enemy is counter-productive and dangerous. He argues that since the attacks of September 11, the Bush administration has suffered from a kind of infallibility complex which impedes progress and obscures reality.

While Soros has promoted political change around the world—particularly in the former Soviet Union—he hasn't yet succeeded in his quest to crack the conservative hold on American politics. He spent more than $25 million trying to unseat president Bush in 2004. Despite that defeat, the Hungarian-born philanthropist is encouraged that American public opinion has turned against the administration's policies in Iraq and says he will throw his support behind the Democrats in this fall's mid-term elections.

Search for the perfect society

In recent times the whole stress has passed to the life of the race, to a search for the perfect society, and latterly to a concentration on the right organisation and scientific mechanisation of the life of mankind as a whole; the individual now tends more to be regarded only as a member of the collectivity, a unit of the race whose existence must be subordinated to the common aims and total interest of the organised society, and much less or not at all as a mental or spiritual being with his own right and power of existence. This tendency has not yet reached its acme everywhere, but everywhere it is rapidly increasing and heading towards dominance.

Thus, in the vicissitudes of human thought, on one side the individual is moved or invited to discover and pursue his own self-affirmation, his own development of mind and life and body, his own spiritual perfection; on the other he is called on to efface and subordinate himself and to accept the ideas, ideals, wills, instincts, interests of the community as his own. He is moved by Nature to live for himself and by something deep within him to affirm his individuality; he is called upon by society and by a certain mental idealism to live for humanity or for the greater good of the community. The principle of self and its interest is met and opposed by the principle of altruism.

The State erects its godhead and demands his obedience, submission, subordination, self-immolation; the individual has to affirm against this exorbitant claim the rights of his ideals, his ideas, his personality, his conscience. It is evident that all this conflict of standards is a groping of the mental Ignorance of man seeking to find its way and grasping different sides of the truth but unable by its want of integrality in knowledge to harmonise them together. A unifying and harmonising knowledge can alone find the way, but that knowledge belongs to a deeper principle of our being to which oneness and integrality are native. It is only by finding that in ourselves that we can solve the problem of our existence and with it the problem of the true way of individual and communal living. The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo Book 2 - Part 2 - Chapter 2-28The Divine Life intyoga.online.fr

Sacrifice and self-giving are indeed a true principle

Altruism taken as a rule of life does not deliver us; it is a potent instrument for self-enlargement and for correction of the narrower ego, but it does not abolish it nor transform it into the true self one with all; the ego of the altruist is as powerful and absorbing as the ego of the selfish and it is often more powerful and insistent because it is a self-righteous and magnified ego. It helps still less if we do wrong to our soul, to our mind, life or body with the idea of subordinating our self to the self of others.

To affirm our being rightly so that it may become one with all is the true principle, not to mutilate or immolate it. Self-immolation may be necessary at times, exceptionally, for a cause, in answer to some demand of the heart or for some right or high purpose but cannot be made the rule or nature of life; so exaggerated, it would only feed and exaggerate the ego of others or magnify some collective ego, not lead us or mankind to the discovery and affirmation of our or its true being. Sacrifice and self-giving are indeed a true principle and a spiritual necessity, for we cannot affirm our being rightly without sacrifice or without self-giving to something larger than our ego; but that too must be done with a right consciousness and will founded on a true knowledge.

To develop the sattwic part of our nature, a nature of light, understanding, balance, harmony, sympathy, good-will, kindness, fellow-feeling, self-control, rightly ordered and harmonised action, is the best we can do in the limits of the mental formation, but it is a stage and not the goal of our growth of being.

The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo Book 2 - Part 2 - Chapter 2-14 The Origin and Remedy of Falsehood, Error, Wrong and Evil intyoga.online.fr

Every Indian has equal stake in the Country's resources

From: Mahesh Mahadarshee <mahadarshee@gmail.com> Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 10:32:38 +0530 Subject: Re: Tusar N. Mohapatra : It is simply criminal to oppose NALCO Disinvestment. To: Sachi Satapathy <sachisatpathy@gmail.com>

Sachi bhai, It is with reference to Mr Mohapatra's view about NALCO disinvestment. He himself appears myopic when he can't relate economics to politics. Theories of economics have hardly anything to do with the realities of politics.

Rolling back of State in the name of west defined reforms- be it structural sdjustment or fiscal reforms- doesn't make any sense. Jobless growth in post-liberalisation Indian economy has enriched the rich further at the cost of nearly 50%(500 million) of Indians. India doesn't belong to the rest 50% of populaton. Every Indian has equal stake in the Country's resources. It is the Prime Minister's responsibilty to ensure the equitable distribution of resources. Our Constitution provides in Article 38(PARTIV)-

'The State shall promote welfare of people by securing a social order permeated by social, economic and political justice, minimise inequalities instatus, incomes and opportunities among individuals and groups."

As such policy should not make only economic sense. Mittal's Arcelor take-over is a wrong analogy to NALCO disinvestment. If Prime Minister, like private businessman, looks upon realities from purely theoritical economic perspective, I would say with great courage of my convictions he is MYOPIC. Regards, Mahesh

The peace of the butterflies will return

From President Chavez's Speech to the 6th World Social Forum - Americas
Friday, May 05, 2006 venezuelanalysis.com

Recently reading Chomsky, I fell into this drama again. Chomsky is a thinker, a philosopher, a philosopher who has profoundly studied the human species, and this biologist, this philosopher, said that perhaps the human species was just an error of nature, he said that a species exits for about 100 thousand years on average, then they tend to disappear; he said that in history there has never been a species similar to the human species that has the vocation of self-extermination, he said that cockroaches and leeches have a sense of self- preservation millions of times more developed than our human species.

Bertrand Russell also said – he's a somber figure but he on our same path -, Russell says that one day, one day world peace will return, that for millions of years there have been worms and butterflies, fish and lizards, and there was peace on the planet until the human species appeared and the peace ended. And Russell said that perhaps one day, when the human species disappears, the peace of the butterflies will return… "It's hard to believe, isn't it? Doesn't one resist believing it? It's Hobbes, Thomas Hobbes, the Leviathan: man's wolf-man. I, as a man, deny it, resist it, I prefer to believe in Christ the Redeemer, in mankind, in the hope of mankind, I prefer to and I cling to, faith, and the humanism of the human species.

But there are sufficient reasons for doubt.

Now I believe that we are in the defining century, I believe that in this century it will be defined or decided whether the human species will survive or if the peace of the butterflies of Bertrand Russell will return, that’s what I believe.

I insist in that, we are not here to waste time, we are talking about saving life on the planet, we are talking about saving the human species, changing the course of history, changing the world. From here we have once again raised the banner of socialism to travel the new paths of the 21st century. The construction of a solid, authentically socialist movement on the planet.

The true and authentic anti-imperialist Christianity. Christ was an anti-imperialist, he fought for the poor, for equality, I believe that our socialism, that which we are designing, inventing, promoting, is very Bolivarian, has much of Simón Rodríguez, utopian socialism; it has a lot of Abreu and Lima, the pernambucano; it has a lot of Mariátegui, much of Che, it has much of Fidel, much of Zapata, much of Pancho Villa, of Zamora; our own socialism that has to continue being invented. But this is the way, we haven’t the slightest doubt.

'I'm a socialist. I will infect you'

The World According to Chávez By: Jonathan Steele and Duncan Campbell - The Guardian Friday, May 19, 2006 venezuelanalysis.com

But it is in South America where Chávez has most support. His hero is the great - if ultimately unsuccessful - Latin American, Simón Bolívar: Chávez wants to realise the Bolivarian dream of continental integration and independence. He has already had his country renamed the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, a decision ratified by the electorate in a referendum. But Venezuela is unique in Latin America in being blessed with such vast amounts of oil. Even sympathetic analysts of Chávez's pro-poor policies wonder whether they really amount to a model for the rest of the continent. Surely Venezuela is an exception, with no direct lessons to offer its regional neighbours?

Chávez takes issue with that. Countries with natural resources have to take control of them, he says; narrow ruling elites and foreign investors have exploited them for too long, making super-profits for themselves. The Venezuelan governments which were in charge during the last era of high world oil prices in the 1970s wasted much of the revenue on patronage, corruption, macro-economic mismanagement and boom-bust spending. Washington's hostility to Chávez began when Venezuela's president sought to take control of his country's oil industry and stopped it being privatised. He thoroughly applauds Bolivia's new president Evo Morales for nationalising Bolivia's gas fields...

Some supporters suggest that the Venezuelan president's government is classic top-down paternalism, heavily dependent on the energy, charm and goodwill of the president himself. Chávez denies this. "Our participatory democracy is getting more solid every day," he says. "We have urban land committees, health committees, environmental committees, groups running savings banks, as well as elected local councils. Never in our history has Venezuela had such autonomous powers as we have today. It is different from the former neo-liberal model."

At an enthusiastic rally in London's Camden Centre on Sunday afternoon, Chávez delighted the crowd during his marathon three-and-a-half-hour speech by taking the same metaphor further. A few years ago, few people dared to call themselves socialists, he says. Now it is different. "We have to marshal our ideas for a better world. We have to infect people. Let's have a badge, saying, 'I'm a socialist. I will infect you'."

Bolivarian Alternative

ALBA: Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean Friday, Jan 30, 2004 By: Teresa Arreaza This document is a summary of information on the ALBA published by the Banco the Comercio Exterior (Bancoex) venezuelanalysis.com

The ALBA (Alternativa Bolivariana para las Américas), as its Spanish initials indicate, is a proposed alternative to the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA, ALCA in its Spanish initials), differing from the latter in that it advocates a socially-oriented trade block rather than one strictly based on the logic of deregulated profit maximization. ALBA appeals to the egalitarian principles of justice and equality that are innate in human beings, the well-being of the most dispossessed sectors of society, and a reinvigorated sense of solidarity toward the underdeveloped countries of the western hemisphere, so that with the required assistance, they can enter into trade negotiations on more favorable terms than has been the case under the dictates of developed countries.

By employing more effective mechanisms to eradicate poverty, ALBA—as proposed by the Venezuelan government—provides a counterweight to the policies and goals of the FTAA. This alternative model also identifies the most crucial impediments to achieve a genuine regional integration that transcends the prerogatives of the transnational corporations. One of the obstacles to confront is the deep disparity that exists in development between the countries of the hemisphere, whereby poor countries such as Haiti or Bolivia are compelled to compete with the world’s leading economic power. In order to help overcome trade disadvantages, ALBA pushes for solidarity with the economically weakest countries, with the aim of achieving a free trade area in which all of its members benefit (a win-win alliance).

Venezuela has voiced the need for identifying the economies with the greatest deficiencies and their principle requirements, arguing for a transfer of resources to the most underdeveloped countries so that these may develop the economic infrastructure they require to compete on more favorable terms with more developed economies. In order to do this, the corner stone in the design of the ALBA is the proposal for a “Compensatory Fund for Structural Convergence,” which would manage and distribute financial aid to the most economically vulnerable countries.

The ALBA favors endogenous development and rejects the type of employment that the sweatshop (maquiladora) industry generates because it does not contribute to the upsurge of the agricultural and industrial sectors of the poor countries and does not contribute to the elimination of poverty.

While not operating as a mere export-oriented activity under ALBA statutes, agriculture instead would prioritize the food self-sufficiency of every country before focusing on profit-making processes. The agricultural sector cannot be deliberately subjected to market liberalization, while developed countries maintain policies based on multi-million dollar subsidies and high import tariffs to protect their own internal production, thus flagrantly contravening the principles of free trade.

Center for Promoting an Equitable India

India is a vast country with more than a billion people with 29 states and 6 union territories. Originally many of the states were created on a linguisitic basis. India has 18 scheduled languages, most of which even differ in their scripts. The states of India are uneven in size, the smallest being Sikkim with a population of .0571 crores (571,000) and the largest being Uttar Pradesh with a population of 17.1829 crores (171,829,000). There is vast inequity across India.

• The goal of this Center for Promoting an Equitable India is to point out these inequity, analyze some causes behind it, and try to contact people who may be able to change this for the better.

India's political system is a kind of democracy. Even though the states in India have Governors and the country has a President; they have very little real power. Effectively, Inidia's government has two branches: the legislative branch which not only makes laws but also functions as the executive; and the judiciary.

The legislative branch (which also contains the ministers, that head the executive branch) of the Indian government, called the parliament has two parts: the Lok Sabha and the Rajya sabha. The Lok Sabha has 543-545 members and the Rajya Sabha has 245 members; both unevenly distributed across the states. For example, while Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha members and 31 Rajya Sabha members, Orissa has 21 and 10 respectively, and many states have 1 each. The number of members from each state is approximately based on population of the states. This unevenness across states gives more power and clout to the bigger states.

Moreover, in the Indian parliamentary system, the ministers are selected from the ruling coalition. Thus if a state's MPs (members of parliament) are not part of this ruling coalition then that state has a much lesser clout. Finally, a government sponsored bill, if it fails in the parliament, then the government has to resign thus forcing ruling coalition MPs to vote for their government bills or risk being thrown out of their party. Thus after an election the ruling coalition does not need to care what the MPs of other parties think; it can give more resources to the states which have more MPs aligned to it or is ruled by an allied party and ignore or even punish states which have only a few or no MPs aligned to it and are not ruled by an allied party.

Despite this flawed system many ministries of the Indian government pay attention towards equitable distribution of resources. However not all do. The aim of this center for promoting an equitable India is to identify blatant cases of misuse of power... Chitta Baral 3/24/06

Traditions cannot be looked at as being engraved in stone

The Burden of Tradition Mohit Malik Businessworld anoovaconsulting.bizl

What I am trying to highlight is that traditions need to be looked at as the means, and not an end in themselves. The well being of the business that supports these traditions comes first. Traditions without a viable business are not going to be of much use to anybody.

Yet, during the course of our consulting work we see organizations, not merely in the corporate world, but also in government, public sector and not-for-profit sector becoming prisoners to their past and struggling for survival as a result. Of course, at times, their state is due to apathy. But often it is an obsessive attachment to the traditions that becomes a drag in the journey forward. The longer an organization endures, more the traditions; more deeply ingrained they become, and tougher the journey.

Having said that, I am not trying to suggest that traditions are the organizational equivalent of vestigial organs. Not at all. Traditions are important. You cannot build a sustainable business without them. If you grow too fast and don’t have positive traditions to hold your organization together, it is likely to implode. Also, a business run by the force of will of the leader (often the founder), without traditions to provide cohesion, is not likely to survive for long after the leader leaves.

Traditions cannot be looked at as being engraved in stone. They, too, need to evolve, in sync with the environment of the organization. What is required is a pragmatic approach. The worst thing one can do is to throw out the baby with the bathwater. If it makes sense to retain the tradition, keeping in mind where you are, where you want to be and where the world is likely to be soon, keep it by all means. Rather, strengthen it. But if it doesn’t fit with what is needed today, or tomorrow. Kill it… before it kills you.

A quiet revolution?

Here we have over 1800 people drawn from 40 different nations. Each individual, if we are to believe Mother, has been drawn here for a special purpose, each is engaged, either consciously or unconsciously, on a very personal journey which also impacts upon and influences others – a bewildering web of interconnections. And working through all this is a Force, infinitely wise, which takes up now this element, now that one, moulding, excising, pressing, releasing, as the infinite complexity and richness of Auroville unfolds.

Given this, who but a fool would attempt to diagnose the state of Auroville's collective health? And yet....sometimes through the haze we seem to glimpse something new, a realignment of energies which may ultimately lead to a fundamental shifting of the community's tectonic plates. - Alan Auroville Today > June - July 2006

Weight of hang-ups and cultural conditionings

The first thing needed - Alan Auroville Today > June - July 2006 Current issue Archive copies

When it came to advising Aurovilians, Mother didn’t beat about the bush

“The first thing needed is the inner discovery, to find out what one truly is behind social, moral, cultural, racial and hereditary appearances. At the centre there is a being, free and vast and knowing, who awaits our discovery and who should become the active centre of our being and our life in Auroville.” (The Mother)

The problem, I suspect, is that while every Aurovilian sees other Aurovilians staggering under the weight of hang-ups and cultural conditionings, poor things, none of us seem to believe we're carrying any baggage ourselves. I used to believe this, until...

I'll tell you a story. I was educated at a school whose purpose, back in the 1850s when it was founded, was to train its pupils to rule and administer the British Empire. By the time I reached its ivied walls that Empire had vanished. However while we boys were no longer exhorted by winey-faced Colonels at the annual Speech Day to take up the ‘white man's burden', in other, infinitely subtle, ways my school inculcated me with an image of the world and my place in it which reached back to that previous age. There was still the unquestionable assumption, for example, that Britain (well England, actually) was best, and that Queen's English was the only language one needed to master (apart, that is, from Latin and classical Greek) in order to master the world.

Now, fast forward to around 1980. I'm riding my cycle along a path near Utility canyon. A villager on a cycle approaches from the other direction. We meet. We stop. I ask him to move out of the way as the only navigable part of the sand at that point is on the left side of the path: I know my Highway Code. He refuses. I ask him, rather more strongly, to move out of the way. He refuses. We start pushing each other. Finally we have to be separated by a passing Aurovilian....

O.K. there were plenty of mitigating circumstances, there always are. But I ask myself – if the man I had met on that narrow path had been an Englishman who addressed me in Queen's English, would I have reacted in the same way, however unreasonable his behaviour? I think not. At some level, my public school conditioning had clicked in.

This sounds like something horribly akin to racism and I hope, I really hope, that I wouldn't behave in the same way today. In fact, I think there is very little conscious racism in today's Auroville. On the other hand, I think there's quite a lot of what I would term ‘unconscious culturalism' – thought patterns and behaviour influenced by unconscious attitudes and assumptions inherited from our cultural upbringing.

These assumptions may differ dramatically from culture to culture. So when a group of Aurovilians of different nationalities meet together, they may think they are speaking the same language, but the meaning they give to certain terms and the behaviour they find appropriate may be quite different. This, needless to say, can cause problems....

The great Deshbandhu C R Das

V SUNDARAM newstodaynet.com/06jun

As a Lawyer, C R Das first came into prominence in 1908 as Counsel for Defence in the trial of Aurobindo Ghose, the Editor of the 'Bande Mataram'. The partition of Bengal in 1905 had let loose a tremendous wave of nationalist agitation and revolutionary activity and the Government resorted to unusual repressive measures. The Bande Mataram was the foremost nationalist paper of the day, and Aurobindo Ghose was tried on the charge of sedition before the Chief Presidency Magistrate of Calcutta.

This was the turning point in his career and this case brought C R Das to the forefront both professionally and politically. Aurobindo Ghose was honourably acquitted. This is how C R Das concluded his defence of Aurobindo in 1909; it was a unique blend of passion and argument and masterly prose: 'Long after this controversy is hushed in silence, long after this turmoil ceases, long after Aurobindo Ghose is dead and gone, he will be looked upon as the poet of patriotism, as the prophet of nationalism and the lover of humanity. Long after the mortal in him has perished, his words will be echoed and re-echoed across distant seas and lands'. Aurobindo Ghose, the Mother, the Aurobindo Ashram and Pondicherry have become household words in all the continents today as prophesied by C R Das.

The next landmark case which C R Das handled was the Manicktolla Bomb Case, one of the most sensational political trials in modern Indian history. Following a bomb outrage in Muzaffarpur, the police unearthed a bomb factory in Manicktolla, a suburb of Calcutta. 36 Bengali youths, including Aurobindo Ghose and his brother were tried in this case. C R Das endeared himself to the heart of nationalist Bengal. From this time onwards, he became the richest lawyer in India earning a massive amount of more than 50,000 Pounds per year. C R Das associated himself with the new Nationalist Movement that began with the partition of Bengal and with its two new organs, The New India and Bande Mataram.

No one should pretend that he knows more economics than the Prime Minister

It is simply criminal to oppose NALCO Disinvestment

Tusar N. Mohapatra <tusarnmohapatra@mail.com> Mon, Jun 26, 2006 at 11:24 AM
To: Sachi Satapathy <sachisatpathy@gmail.com> Cc: tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com

Today when the newspapers have splashed Mittal's victory over Arcelor,
it is simply criminal to oppose NALCO Disinvestment. To see it as an
injustice against Orissa is absolutely myopic and ill-informed. No one
should pretend that he knows more economics than the Prime Minister.
Let not 20th century rhetorics stop the juggernaut of 21st century's
possibilities. Let's be led by reason and not by fanatics.
Tusar N. Mohapatra

-- Sachi SatapathyCoordinator, Orissa Politics Platform (For Details Log on towww.orissapolitics.cjb.net) Editor, Orissa Vision 2020, Youth Vision 2020.
Winner Infosys Young Achiever's Finalist Award-2005 (Social Work) Mobile-09945410345

From: lalit pattnaik <lmpatnaik@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 00:56:09 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: Tusar N. Mohapatra :It is simply criminal to oppose NALCO
Disinvestment.
To: Sachi Satapathy <sachisatpathy@gmail.com>

Dear friend Tushar,
 I hope you own the statement which you have given. And afterwards, don't refer that so and so has told.
 First fanatics are those who blindly believe in two to three line sermons and act accordingly without any logic or rationalities.  Mittal's victory over Arcelor in Europe, which has been highlighted by National media is in which way comparable to opposition to Nalco disinvestment in Orissa.

  Mittal is an Indian and has made a name and is going to rule in Europe economically is a pride for India, hence high lighted. In fact Europe has ruled us economically and politically and as of now it is difficult to rule any country politically, rulling economically is a matter of pride. Therefore we are all proud of him.
  Dr Manmohan singh is a economist of great stature, no body denies that but the problem is he is not a great politician, who actually should be the Priminister. The pathetic thing is he is a salaried officer and not the Leader of India. Had he been a real Leader than he should have given more to the deprived state than the privilaged
states.Forget about withdrawing sharemoney from a deprived state's only able and prominent PSU.
  Like last time, in this Ratha Yatra which is happening to-day in Puri, Orissa, the juggernut of Arun shouri's philosophy, which you have indoctrined, will be again crushed by the wheels of Lord Jagannath's Rath.

I think this much will be sufficient as an answer, as i believe you are not in a position to understand the realities of your home state Orissa, if you are a mohapatra of Orissa.
 Lalit Mohan Pattnaik

From: arun patnaik <patnaik_101@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 22:54:14 +0530
Subject: RE: NALCO's Senior Executive Lalit Pattnaik :Manmohan Singh
is a salaried officer and not the Leader of India.
To: sachisatpathy@gmail.com Cc: lmpatnaik@yahoo.com

Dear Friends,
I agree to Mr Lalit's statement that Dr Man Mohan Singh is a salaried officer and not the true leader of the country in any sense. He might have studied in the best business school but he lacks the vision and leadership qualities. Moreover he got the job by default not for his economics degree or because of his past contributions as a governor to RBI. He clearly lacks the enigma and courage and compromise with all neagtive elements to satisfy
his Madam and the Party. To summarize, a great doctorate can not make a great leader and visionary, we must not be carried away by this illusion.
Our people have come of ages, they can clearly see through everything. I still believe in Democracy and we must respect the people's voice and demands and decide everything on a case by case basis. And this is a hollow
statement from Tushar " Let not 20th century rhetorics stop the juggernaut of 21st century's possibilities. Let's be led by reason and not by fanatics". There is no fanatics here, there is full of reason, we have to understand that. We cant call the people fanatics just because they oppose your ideas. In a democracy this is the beauty-the people's support an oppositon ! Best regds
Arun (Beijing)

From: Mahesh Mahadarshee <mahadarshee@gmail.com> Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 10:32:38 +0530 Subject: Re: Tusar N. Mohapatra : It is simply criminal to oppose NALCO Disinvestment. To: Sachi Satapathy <sachisatpathy@gmail.com>

Sachi bhai, It is with reference to Mr Mohapatra's view about NALCO disinvestment. He himself appears myopic when he can't relate economics to politics. Theories of economics have hardly anything to do with the realities of politics. 2:17 pm

Obsession deludes Tusar N. Mohapatra tusarnmohapatra@mail.com

At a time when Marxists of all hues are ganging up with the Hindutva bandwagon to stall the proposed 10 p.c. disinvestment of NALCO, Baral's ambivalent and conditional support sounds as a mere mockery. These are the times when you stand up for the principles you believe in, and not fall to sleep with the enemy by default. In any case, the demand for setting up an Institute is highly elitist, and there are hundred other crying priorities in Orissa, if money is at all made available. It is simply criminal to oppose Rolling back of State Private consumption Disinvestment is justified at 4:40 pm at 9:39 pm