16.09.2008

• Mayhem in the financial world
• It was just yesterday that a reader was asking me whether sensex would touch 20K. Read my answer in the shout-box. It could not have been more prophetic. The very next day, we find all the financial world shocked!
• "Lehman failed, Merrill sold and AIG trying to raise $50 billion before the opening bell” -- this was the sum and substance of the mayhem that has been unleashed on the financial world.
• Writings about Wall Street being never the same again are only betraying the fears. But it is a matter of time before the shreds are picked up and the markets take these developments in their stride and move ahead. Sure, it will take time. Don't jump and ask me when? My answer for such a question would be "the wise never time the market."
• The oldest and the fourth-largest investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings filed for bankruptcy, while Merrill Lynch, famous for its iconic bull statue in the New York City financial district, sold out before it was too late. With stunning speed, two of the most storied investments banks faded into history, with Lehman headed for the biggest ever bankruptcy filing and Bank of America (BankAm) buying Merrill in a $50-billion stock deal. Another world titan, the largest US insurer, American International Group (AIG) has been given special permission to access $20 billion of capital in its subsidiaries to free up liquidity. AIG had asked the US Federal Reserve for a bridge loan.
• If you are asked to comment on the impact of the subprime crisis on the financial world, could you have guessed that such high street financial institutions as Lehman, Merril and AIG would be hit? Hardly likely. It will be a couple of years before the crisis runs its course and the financial world finds its feet again.
• Look at this graphic which gives basic info about some of the biggest financial debacles in the world.
• BTW who is the CEO of the troubled Lehman Brothers? Richard Fuld.
• I have my sympathy for Mr. Sivraj Patil
• News reports about his donning three different suits on a single day (in a space of just a few hours) while appearing before TV cameras and that too when there were terrorist attacks in Delhi, appear to have done him in.
• On this count alone he ought to have qualified for the gubernatorial appointment in Raisina Hill! Instead of choosing him for that post, Congress party thought otherwise. Isn't it paying the price?
  
• Today's ET editorial gives us a good titbit in this context: The novelist Gavin Lyall once wrote that “if you can remain calm when everyone around you is losing his head, then you obviously don’t have a clue of what’s going on!”
• What next on the nuclear deal front?
• Now that the deal is likely to go through the US Congress, what next? What steps should India take to derive the maximum benefit out of this? An excerpt from a very good article that appeared in today's ET is worth our noting:
  
• While doing business with Russia and France, it is also important for India to get American companies like General Electric and Westinghouse to do joint ventures with Indian big business so that they develop a long-term stake in, and a revenue stream from, nuclear commerce. That is the only way to evolve a stable long-term relationship of trust, which will lead to easier flow of both nuclear fuel and dual use technologies.
  
• For this India will have to further open up its nuclear energy industry to the private sector, and even joint ventures with established foreign companies. We could even consider giving foreign companies a stake in the nuclear energy projects in which the Nuclear Power Corporation could be majority stakeholder. Long-term trust in nuclear commerce cannot be built by suspicious State players. It can only come from credible interaction between business entities across nations who, in turn, demonstrate to their people and elected representatives that such relationships are possible.
  
• Finally, India must think big and see itself as a civil nuclear exporter in future. Nothing stops India from collaborating with Russia or France to develop on a commercial scale its thorium to uranium technology and reap huge benefits in future.
• In this context, let us look at the take on the deal by three experts in the field. It is here.
• Why do we fare so poorly in the ease of doing business rankings of the World Bank?
• Look at this article. Worth a read.
• Those of who are short of time to read the article, can do with a glance at this graphic which gives a summary of the reasons.
• Remember the Khairlanji incident?
• This is a small village in Bhandara district of Vidarbha that was exposed to the worst-ever communal killings on September 29, 2006 when a mob of about 50 villagers attacked the house of Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, a Dalit farmer, over a petty land dispute. The violence ended only after four of his family members, including his wife Surekha, daughter Priyanka and sons Dilip and Roshan, were stoned and then burnt alive. Mr Bhotmange survived as he managed to flee to a neighbouring village.
• Now, nearly two years later the trial court on Monday held eight of the 11 accused guilty. Three people were acquitted after the court deduced that the killings were not the result of caste atrocity.
• What is MNS? Managed Netword Services, in the context of telecom and IT.
• Managed network services typically include voice/data integration services, virtual private network (VPN) services, network management, performance management, guaranteed service levels, fault management, change management, configuration management, security (firewalls), application outsourcing and data centre services.
• Clinical research segment in India to get a booster dose from government
• THE government has begun speeding up approvals in the area of clinical research which is set to boom in India.
• The clinical research industry in India is currently $200 million, but is expected to reach $1.5 billion in just two years.
• Alexandra Kosteniuk
• "Beauty with brains" is an apt description of this petite woman. Look at her picture here.
• She stormed into the finals of the finals of the Women’s world championship in Nalchik, Russia. It is very rare to see beauties in the game of chess. But she is a model too.