Day: April 13, 2012

Categories
Personal

RIP Dr. Patil

Dr.R.H. Patil , the architect of the National Stock Exchange, died yesterday.

I had the opportunity to see him work at NSE, Mahindra Towers, Worli and then later at the Clearing Corporation, Kamala Mills,Lower Parel.

He was the rarest of rare individuals-a top class technocrat with phenomenal leadership and people skills.

His achievements were extraordinary and it would be fair to say that he was one of the builders of modern India

When the history of Capital Markets is narrated, his name will be written in golden letters

Categories
Observations

An owl on every branch

Now the President’s office has come under fire for a land grab (see here)

Now practically, every branch of the Government-President’s office, the Army,the Executive, the Legislature and even the Judiciary is embroiled in some controversy or the other.

Am reminded of  a couplet of Akbar Allahabadi:

“Barbaad Gulistan karne ko,

ek hi ullu kafi hai,

har shaakh pe ullu baitha hai,

anjame gulistan kya hoga?’’

 

To destroy a garden

One owl (colloquial for fool) is enough

There is an owl on every branch,

What will be the fate of the garden?

Categories
Observations

Friend or Servant?

An old joke about Reliance goes like this:

“There are two types of people in government-friends of Reliance and servants of Reliance”

 

The truth behind this joke has now become evident.

Along with Natwar Singh, Reliance Petroleum was named in the Volcker Report as a beneficiary of the oil-for-food scam.Yet it was let off scot free

When the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was asked why,he replied “After all, what can I do? It is India’s largest corporate.” (source:Caravan)

 

Categories
Links

Linkfest: April 13, 2012

Some interesting morning reads:

Different prices for the same cigarettes ? (BusinessStandard)

LIC India to invest 60000 Crores in equities this year (Mint)

RBI rate cut may not cheer markets (FinancialExpress)

Do fixed deposits beat stocks? (Moneylife)

Fake degrees led India to build an Ivy League (Bloomberg)

3 Big Ideas for the financial services industry (Forbes)

A shout out to Myanmar (DailyReckoning)