Web 2.0 and beyond

http://www.web2summit.com/web2009/public/schedule/detail/10194

A must read for every technologist and everyone who is going to be affected by the web...

Are We Out Of The Woods Yet?

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Reliance Money - A Hydro Power Company?

Here's finding fault with either the Google's search indexing, or bad meta tags by programmer or my lack of ability to comprehend the reliationship between the two but when I searched "Reliance Money" in Google today @ 04:15 AM, it gave me following in the search results:
"Reliance Money" - Largest Hydro Power Company in India".



(The timing 04:15 AM is very important here as I would want to read this blog when I am 50 or 60 and remember the good old 20s and my present B-School life when I can simply do the things that I want to do at the time I want to do them :-))

Away from Home

I have been staying in Vile Parle for the whole of last year and I will be staying in Santacruz for the whole of next year till 2nd year of my MBA course is completed. Now what makes this seemingly unimportant thing a topic for a blog post is the fact that this was for the first time ever in my life that I stayed away from my home for more than two odd months (which happens to be in Thane – about an hour from my college).

Call it lack of infrastructure or whatever but NMiMS does not provide a residential MBA programme and those who stay in Mumbai are not allowed to stay in the hostel. Last year, around this time when I joined NMiMS all I wanted was a decent residential MBA programme. So, I decided to rent an apartment with a few of my classmates near college. To my surprise, my parents agreed to my proposition of staying away from home while I was still staying in Mumbai (I must admit here that I expected a more emotional farewell like the one that they show in most of those Star plus and Zee serials).

The first problem with renting an apartment in Mumbai is the astoundingly high rent. An advice for those who are hunting for a rented house in Mumbai here – You may at times experience emotions like sheer disbelief, extreme anger for your landlord and may hear numbers of unimaginatively gigantic sizes but get used to it as the homeowners here have been taught numbers beyond 25000 during their kindergarten days and that is where they start quoting from.

So, my pseudo hostel stay began in May last year. Staying with classmates was always fun as I could watch TV at any time of the day, drink gazillion cups of coffee and have other junk food at will, listen to loud music late at night, hang out in the college for most of the time. The direct impact of this liberalization in my life resulted into more frequent viewings of my Friends’ collection and addition of some other sitcoms like “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory” to my collection.

The sad part of staying away from home is when it comes to washing your own clothes which had actually turned a 3 hour long Sunday afternoon grand ritual for me.

I can surely say one thing about staying away from home. You learn a hell lot. I have been seeing several improvements in me ever since I have shifted base. For starters, I realized that there are so many household things that need to be done that were virtually non-existent for me when I was staying at home. This includes taking Doodh from Doodhwalah in the morning, arranging and more importantly managing the maid, paying bills, buying routine household stuff from matchbox to mosquito repellents. I have changed from being a really pathetically lazy person to a more acceptable lazy person and I still continue to show progress. :-D

This post would be incomplete without mentioning my roomies.

Trying to study

Jigar aka Jigga, Saurabh aka Baldy (Ref: Barney from How I Met Your Mother) and Dhawal aka Kanta aka Horney Thorny (Don’t ask me why).

Jigga @ Hareesh's B'day Party

Jigga is the most sincere guy in the class and I had obvious advantages like getting assignments and notes from him. I also managed to read some stuff and study for sometime because of him (Peer pressure you see...). While he was busy in putting up an extraordinarily large family (Details can be obtained on special request ;-)) and challenging the existing rule of "One wife One family" ;-), he has been a true inspiration and pushed me every time from taking CFA to enrolling for different competitions.

Saurabh - Notice that developing spike

Saurabh is somewhat quiet and was like the big daddy of the house. Everyone feared him and we made it a point not to disturb him during his morning ritual of creating one large spike on his head ;-). A warning here - Though he is generally very calm and composed, he will stump you with his occasional one liners. He was the encyclopaedia of our lot and has helped me notice, understand and comprehend things beyond what is called “Mumbai”.

Dhawal on Holi day

Dhawal aka Kanta aka Horney is another being that belongs to the species called “Toppers”. He spent most of his time reading self-help books like The Secret and Vedanta Treatise. A Cricket fanatic and a former Satyamite (I’m sorry but I had to mention this), he was in search of true Gujarati love and tried to find it in many girls including some South Indian girls ;-). He thinks putting a couple of drops of Vodka in a glass full of Sprite is called “Drinking Vodka”.

Managing Household Chores - An attempt at Breakfast

Four of us always made it a point to waste time in trivial arguments, in house cricket matches and other discussions which cannot be mentioned here as this is a family blog ;-). However trivial, it all seems fun in the hindsight.

Diverging from the topic, among other things happening in my life, last month was one of the most hectic periods of my life... Managing my summer internship @ NSE and preparation of CFA Level 2 examination (Someone please let me know if I have violated the CFA Institute Code of Standards by this reference ;-)) was quite a task and kept me away from all the things which I otherwise like to do... Now that I have sucksessfully (No, it is not a typo) taken the seemingly difficult exam full of fictitious Balance Sheets and Income Statements, I have all the time in the world to get back to things I like the most... Reading, Writing and Imagining. So expect more of these from me...

Time- 03:30 AM... Location- Juhu Beach

Next time you feel like bragging about your achievements in life, next time you feel like you have the power to control and take decisions on behalf of all your subordinates, next time you feel your race or religion is superior to that of others'; just walk up to Juhu Beach at night and stand in front of the vast Arabian Sea. The massive waterbody in front and never-ending black sky above will make you realize how inconsequential you are in this massive universe.

The immensity of the sea and air will make you realize that all your afflictions, worries, pains and egos are really insignificant. The dark, cool breeze will make this all a humbling but magical experience. All I can say is that the experience cannot be described in words but can only be experienced.

PS: A drink or two might actually help you enhance the wondrous experience

Wow... Thats Future...

The Journey with Recession Continues

The flow of grim news continues... Layoffs, thinner bottom-lines, red tickers and bail-out packages. All the markets around the world seem to have rediscovered gravity for themselves and there is no sign of recovery...

The slowdown starts showing in the Balance-Sheets of the corporate...

See the DLF results
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/DLF_plunges_nearly_14_on_poor_results/rssarticleshow/4065321.cms

I think there’s more pain to come. The Jan-Mar quarter will not be better either. God knows where the Sensex is headed...

Look at the scary job cuts all across the globe
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Job_trends_during_times_of_turbulence/Rising_layoffs_9000_job_vanishing_every_day/articleshow/4059166.cms

It is not all that bad if you are an Indian techie though...
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Job_trends_during_times_of_turbulence/Microsoft_Layoffs_for_some_visas_for_others/articleshow/4064164.cms

Assocham demands STPI benefits extension till 2012... Read the Story...
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Extend_STPI_benefits_to_ITeS_till_12/rssarticleshow/4066059.cms

The MSMEs are suffering... Though they have no one to lobby for them as hard... Where’s the relief package for them? Read the story...
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Micro_industries_face_closure/rssarticleshow/4064142.cms

Indian Exports put up a better show in December... Some sign of relief?
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Exports_put_up_a_better_show_in_Dec/rssarticleshow/4063486.cms

Meanwhile interest rates are headed downwards... SBI to lend housing and SME loans at 8%. Way below their PLR... Government pressure or a bold business strategy? Time to short SBI for a couple of quarters it seems...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Exports_put_up_a_better_show_in_Dec/rssarticleshow/4063486.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/SBI_contemplating_further_cut_in_lending_rates/rssarticleshow/4063716.cms

China pushes rural consumption

A novel idea may be... But a non-market force cannot have it all right all the time...Reaffirms my faith that with all the controls and directives by the government, China is bound to fail in a few decades’ time...
http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/02/world-china-spurs-rural-consumption.html

Things to be done before you’re in a B-School for a course in Finance

I know it sounds funny and far fetched but last week a friend of mine asked me for advice on pre-preparation before an engineer joins an MBA Finance course. The advice was for another friend of hers who had just finished engineering and was about to join a B-School. Obviously, she has chosen a wrong engineer for advice but however awkward as it may be for me, I generally never waste an opportunity to impart Gyaan onto others. So here’s my advice for all those engineers who are about to join a B-School and have time for trivial things such as preparation and all...

“Engineers need not study anything before the course has begun. They can manage everything you see... ;-)”, I told her. But, on a second thought, I think I would have had a better time in the class if I had brushed up little stats or read a chapter or two of basic accounting. So here it goes:

Statistics and Mathematics

Most of the part is covered during the 5 semesters of mathematics during engineering. Basic concepts of measures of central tendency (Mean, Mode, Median, etc), graphical representation (Frequency Polygon, Histogram), limits, sequences and series, calculus, matrices is what you are supposed to know

Financial Institutions

NCFM book for Securities Markets – Basic Module is a good read here. Different financial institutions, regulators and intermediaries in the Indian Financial System and their functions is what you need to know (You can download this book from NSE website http://www.nseindia.com)

Word, Excel and PowerPoint

I have seen many of my fellow classmates struggle with this. You at least need to have skills to make a ‘not-so-good-presentation-so-far-as-the-content-is-concerned’ look extremely good with different layouts and animations. For those who are already comfortable using office, some knowledge of macros and VBA programming will prove to be a great help...

Accounting Basics

If you don’t want to be in a position where you don’t have a clue what your accounts or FSA (Financial Statement Analysis) professor is talking to other commerce background students, you need to grab an 11-12 standard commerce book for basic accounting.

Laptop and Basic working knowledge of computers

Decide which laptop model are you comfortable with. Is it a Mac or a PC? Check out different models out there. See which one are you comfortable with. Another must have is a USB Drive or preferably a USB hard disk. If you are not comfortable with computers/ Internet, spend some time exploring and using the Internet. 

Meet-up with Friends

This is the best thing you can do during the holidays is that you can meet up all your friends. When the course will start you will not have time to do such things. The presentations, projects and other such activities will keep you occupied for your two years in the B-School.

I think you’re all set once you are through with the things I’ve mentioned here... Have I missed anything? Fellow capmarks students can chip-in with their suggestions...

Bogie Number B2 / Seat Number 6

Team Fintellect

My IIM Lucknow sojourn is almost over now. As I sit comfortably in Bogie Number B2/ Seat Number 6 on my way back to Mumbai, it is almost compelling to look back at the experience. It has been a couple relaxing and still busy days at IIML. For the uninformed, I was at IIML campus for last 3 days for ‘Call for Arms’ – a team event to adjudge the best B-School in India. We finally finished as eighth best B-School in India (I am aware that the B-School rankings are controversial and subject matter of a lot of debate, but eighth spot will do for me :-)). IIML guys had planned the event well and did all they could to make sure that we had sleepless nights.

Talking about IIML campus, the first thing that came to my mind when I reached the IIML campus was that it was damn spacious with greenery and over capacities observable everywhere. Large lush green grounds, smaller buildings spread wide apart from each other, large canteen, large library, large classrooms and large ‘almost everything than can be large’. For a guy who comes from a crammed B-School having a few tall buildings and no more than a few hundred square meters of campus in space starved Mumbai, this was an overwhelmingly overwhelming experience. In fact I wonder how IIML guys manage to study in such serene and scenic surroundings

Talking of ‘Call for Arms’- Different shortlisted B-Schools across India, three days, eleven events... It was an action packed venture... I could see the commending and commanding IIMs, long established XLRIs, FMSs, SPJIMRs, MDIs and NMIMSs all fight in the same arena for the best B-School title. The contrasting cultures of different B-Schools were apparent at each step of the tournament and it was indeed a learning experience for me.

Throughout the tournament, I observed the differences between ‘a winner’ and ‘a loser’. A loser cribs, attempts rationalization and most important of all misjudges his abilities whereas a winner regrets, analyses and most important of all is well aware of his abilities as well as weaknesses. Being a winner is as much a part of one’s attitude as it is of one’s abilities.

Another important thing which was observable was the rivalry between B-Schools and their willingness to go to any length to achieve the supreme spot. So much so that add Madhur Bhandarkar to a B-School fest and the outcome would be a Bollywood flick on the B-School rivalry.

I also got a chance to see the Rock competition at IIML. It was the first time I attended one. With all due respect to those who love rocks of any kind, I really could not digest the whole thing. Being in Mumbai, I had numerous opportunities of visiting rock shows. But I managed not to visit any of them somehow. Here at IIML, on a chilled grey Saturday evening, I finally decided to attend one while I was passing by the brilliantly lit competition area with people screaming and loud guitar accompanying their chorus. My first impression when I entered the competition arena was that it was insane but Power-packed. The lead singer (Though I am calling him a singer for the lack of a better word, most of the time he was screaming in a language I could not comprehend), was moving his head as if he had the shaft of a generator attached to his head and the power supply of the whole campus will go down if he stops. The guitarists and the drummer were louder than the singer and the show could have gone on even without the lead singer. As I watched them perform and watched people near the stage go crazy here’s an excerpt of my conversation with Jigar (Jigar, by the way, is my roomie and is one of those guys who believe they understand and like Rock...)

Me: Nice show... Seems interesting but I can’t understand why...

Jigar: Hmmm... (Giving me a ‘I-am-Harsha-Bhogle-and-you-are-Navjyot-Singh-Siddhu’ kind of a look

Me: Those people near the stage have gone crazy... They are mimicking the guy on the stage... This guy must be like very famous... Who is he?

Jigar: He’s a participant... Not famous at all... In fact these guys must be watching him perform for the first time...

Me: Oh... It is the song then... The song he’s singing must be like very famous in the world of Rock.

Jigar: Not a famous song either... It is his composition...

Me: Then, how on earth are these guys near the stage able to understand what that hairy and swinging guy on the stage is screaming and enjoying it?

Jigar: No answer... Just a laugh

Giving it a second thought, if I get drunk like crazy and have a lot of worries in life regarding my placement, exams, scores, etc even I can enjoy the thing called ‘Rock’.

I kept the conclusion to myself as the hairy and swinging guy promised the crowd for third time that it was going to be his last performance and the crowd raised their hands in the air as they did for his earlier performance...

More on IIML, the event and my take away from the trip once I reach Mumbai... Right now, the battery promises to die in a few minutes and thus time for me to go play some ‘Teen Patti’ in the train...

B-School, Bad news and a trip to Lucknow

Third trimester has begun... Before I realize it, first year of my MBA experience is almost over... I realize that I haven't really jotted down anything on my B-School experience as yet and now is the time to do so.

After more than two years of work experience (Or whatever experience that was), I finally joined a B-School. I must admit that given the fierce competition, what people say about different B-Schools in India and different B-School rankings floating around, mine qualifies to be 'A B-School' and not 'The B-School'. The experience has been value adding and interesting nonetheless.

After working in the field of stock market for real-time trading software development at TCS, I, like any other mortal who likes money, got hooked onto the market. A few certifications and I started thinking that I know how the world of finance works. Finance seemed the most obvious choice for my MBA specialization. I knew I was made for Finance. I was born for Finance. As a matter of fact, I believed that I was born for Computers and everything there is about computing back in 2001 when I had to choose my specialization in engineering ;-). (Fortunately for me it turned out to be not so wrong and I still think I like technology and everything there is about technology and I hope it turns out to be true again this time too)

So I became a student again and after a big gap of three years, attending lectures and submitting assignments was quite a task. The strangest part and a significant difference between MBAs and Engineers comes from the fact that unlike Engineers that are programmed to mass-replicate the assignments, MBAs seem to be less into team work... This means that I have to do all my assignments on my own. Working hard throughout night, passing on work to group members, last minute changes, pretending to know everything during presentations is fun nevertheless.

Other important difference is the improved quality of the pedagogy. With all due respect to the teachers in my engineering colleges (Last time I visited my engineering college, my professors still remembered me... I am dead sure that none of them reads this blog though...), I can safely say that teachers in the B-Schools know what is teaching. Here, there's more to teaching than reading out of a book when you know that no one around is listening. Here, most of the students listen to what the professors have to say and most of the professors know what they are teaching. (The word most is of utmost importance here ;-))

The title of the post also says something about bad news. The bad news this time comes from a probable scam in the Munis Bond market in the US. Read this story in New York TImes

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/business/09insure.html?_r=2&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all

After Satyam, it is turn of Wipro to get punished from the World Bank. Read this Bloomberg story

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=a9JU.qfdvJ08&refer=india

The disclosure came almost 18 months after the actual ban was imposed. After world bank made the information public, the company did whatever it could to assure market of its negligible share of revenues from World Bank project but the scrip was still hammerred down 10 percentage points. In the context of the overall grim sentiments, markets seem to be in the mood of punishing even the slightest mistakes of the corporates. This also brings out the fact that disclosure norms in India need to be improved.

For the last part of the title, I am going to IIM Lucknow a couple of days hence to represent my college for an event there. Visitng an IIM campus was always a dream and I have a chance to put it into reality and that too as an all expenses paid trip by IIML :-). As I am packing my stuff and deciding things to do and movies to wathc during the 24 hours long train journey, I find this post that lists great business related movies of all time

http://financialrounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/great-list-of-business-related-movies.html

Now that I have covered the whole title, I can hit the bed...

PS: Song Playing - Kahin to hogi woh - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na....

The tale of A Satyam Computers

In what promises to be India’s biggest corporate scandal till date, Mr. Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of Satyam Computers, one of India’s four premier IT companies, admitted of a fraud through a letter addressed to the board of the company. The controversial and seemingly absurd acquisition proposal of Mytas, an infrastructure company of Satyam promoters by Satyam computers a few weeks back suddenly started making sense once the letter by Mr. Raju to the board of the Satyam was out.

Here’s how the story unfolded...

Full Text of Mr. Raju’s letter to Satyam Board

http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-satyam-full-text-of-rajus.html

Mr. Narayanmurthy reacts... It is important to remember that one Satyam does not make the entire Indian software industry. I believe it is an isolated case

http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-satyam-case-is-warning-for.html

ICAI, ICSI say they are working on the facts of the case... Will soon take action

http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-indiaicai-moots-strong.html

Satyam to be thrown out of NIFTY, SENSEX?

http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-satyam-may-be-removed-from.html

The Fraud

There is Rs. 5040 Crores worth inflated cash and bank balance

Non-existent accrued interest of Rs. 376 Crores

Understated liability of Rs. 1230 Crores

Overstated debtor position of Rs. 490 Crores

For last quarter,

Overstated Revenues by Rs. 588 Crores and overstated operating profit by Rs. 588 Crores

Added together, it is a discrepancy of Rs. 7724 Crores on the face of it for a company having annual revenues of Rs. 10000 odd Crores, a gigantic fraud by Indian standards. 

The After-effects

• Satyam Scrip on NSE, BSE crashed 77% to Rs. 40.25 on the news and the great story for a seemingly successful Indian IT company ended. Fingers were pointed, concerns were raised, complaints were filed and dreams were shattered. What happened at Satyam and why it happened will be contemplated by regulators and chewed by business media for days to come but I think it is time for some quick action on part of the regulators, corporate India and the government
  
• The event has left Satyam with virtually no board as most of the independent directors have resigned and promoters will be kicked out. The Acquirer or the government must appoint able directors quickly to ensure business sustainability
  
• There are about 53000 able employees of Satyam which need to be taken care of. They are at no fault for the current crisis at Satyam and still make Satyam a valuable enterprise
  
• Many customers of Satyam still expect to be serviced and in case of an unfortunate event of bankruptcy, the contracts should be sold to other Indian companies (By the government of course) so as to make sure that Indian IT story is not dented
  
• The auditors and their inability to verify even the cash balances of Satyam is a fact that concerns me. There should be higher accountability or responsibility on part of the auditors and those found guilty should be severely punished
  
• Other Indian IT companies should do all that they can to prevent their image from denting. This includes assuring customers and investors about sound corporate governance (If it exists that is) and introducing transparency and stringency in the disclosures
  

Finally, my first recession gives me my first big scam in India. The crisis times like these separate good companies from ordinary ones and expose ill-managed organizations. The crisis could dampen India’s image as a good investment destination. It could affect badly, the businesses of Indian IT, BPO, KPO firms. We should remember that the position India is in, as an emerging and promising market, we cannot afford such mistakes and this event should and hopefully will have enough impact to trigger India’s Sarbanes-Oxley so that such mismanagement can be prevented in the future

PS: The word 'Satyam' means 'The truth' in Sanskrit whereas 'Asatyam' means a lie.

My First Recession

There is a special place for all the firsts in our lives... First day at school, first day at college, first drink, first job, first salary and many other firsts... These firsts in a way are milestones that define the journey of our life. As I was going through the newspaper in the morning today (which was full off grim business outlook, layoffs, etc) it struck me that this happens to be my first recession... Not something to be celebrated but interesting nonetheless... As far as the facts and figures go there has been a recession in India during 1996 but this one is the first one ever since I have become literate in economical sense and thus deserves its share of attention...

The times are exciting. Yes, I dare to say so and I say so during a recession at that... Living in this part of the world, I should call it a slowdown rather than a recession as India will still continue to grow with estimated GDP growth rate of anywhere between 5-7% in the next couple of years. I think as a student of the subject of finance the opportunity to learn is immense during these times. Not that there are no opportunities to learn when there is a general feeling of well being all around or when financial system around the globe is operating smoothly as it should unlike in the past few months but because there are a lot of things happening around which I may not seen again in my lifetime. Take for example the historic 700+ billion dollar bailout package in US, historical fall of the stock markets around the globe, the Iceland crisis, the historic rise and fall of crude oil prices and so on...

The good thing about slowdowns, recessions and bad times in general is that they help in weeding out the weak and unwanted excesses and result in many reforms or at least that is what we’ve seen in the past... I intend to look at this recession from an emerging markets’ perspective and focus on following aspects as India rides on this trough of the business cycle:

• The action in the Indian stock markets
• Actions of RBI in relation with the FED
• The policy reforms in India
• Indian businesses pre and post recession

Every week I will be taking up one important event pertaining to these aspects and discuss it at length. Your views, comments and inputs are welcome as always...