Reflections

Statement by Bayer's chief executive - Times Of India   http://www.deccanherald.com/content/391614/medicines-rich-patients-only.html "India's controller general of patents angered Bayer in March 2012 when he authorized a local drugmaker to produce a generic copy of Nexavar, saying the German company charged a price that was too costly for most Indians. " We did not develop this medicine (Nexavar) for Indians ," ​Marijn Dekkers said at a little reported pharmaceutical forum last month, according to the January 21st edition of Businessweek. " We developed it for western patients who can afford it ," Dekkers said, and called the Indian regulator's action "essentially theft". Bayer said the statements attributed to Dekkers were accurate and forwarded written comments made later by the German chief executive seeking to explain his remarks. Dekkers said the comment had been a "quick response" at the indu...

The Devyani Khobragade episode is slowly receding from public memory & media attention, on the back of a gag order, behind-the-scenes diplomacy and a wish to move forward from both the involved parties. Having said that, every once in a while, a tit-bit of news or information does reach us that indicates that all is not well, and is in reality very very far from being well. The continued aggression by India on the US Embassy Visa issues and Taxation issues, as well as Salman Khurshid’s insistence on Trafficking Visas, combined with Indian insistence that USA drop all charges indicates that it will be a very long time before things normalize between us and the USA. At this point, it is important that we do a post-mortem on the entire event, and try and determine what went wrong, or at least what the reasons this happened, as well as analyse the USA’s behavior. I have analysed the Indian response in the previous  2 articles on this matter; { Self Respect Vs Trade ; Strategi...

The startling cover, which draws your attention to it and pulls you in; the cryptic back-cover story outline all conspire to create a desire to and an interest in reading this book - especially as it comes in the midst of an almost unprecedented land rush in India alongwith its attendant scams, accusations, tragic stories, stories of greed and criminal nexus. The entire first look of the book in your hands is one of an intriguing battle for land and its attendant schemes, making for an intriguing and absorbing tale of deceit, skullduggery and passion. Nothing could be further from the truth - at least in terms of the land battle. The book is an absorbing, intriguing and passionate story - but it has nothing to do about land, and everything to do about intense human emotions, passions and faults, an unforgettable and tragic tale of errors and of human folly.  CHARACTERS Agastya - A man of integrity - but twisted ideals and morals in terms of personal relations; the anti-h...

http://www.firstpost.com/india/multi-crore-tax-scam-at-the-american-embassy-school-unearthed-1343915.html http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/american-embassy-school-under-scanner-for-visa-fraud/article1-1173596.aspx http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/american-school-email-raises-suspicion-of-illegal-postings/article5584548.ece "An internal e-mail sent by the American School to its teachers here, asking them to be economical with the truth about their visa status, is “a serious issue relating to visa and tax matters,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said on Thursday. “We are examining them carefully,” he said." If the above is true (which I personally dont doubt),  its time for Tit-For-Tat, simple as that. They proceeded legally in a one-off visa fraud case; we should proceed legally in what seems to be a carefully planned, institutionalised visa fraud, which is a far more serious offence, and has many damaging repercussions any...

In this article, I have attempted to analyse our fall from the heights of the past to where we are today, and identify the most critical failings of us as a people - our fault lines POINT 1 - THE CONCEPT OF INDIA There is a massive difference between a cultural union and a political union; the political concept of india is relatively young: not more than a hundred years old, perhaps a little more, going back at the most to the mid-1800s. The cultural concept of India goes back thousands of years. As I have written earlier - "it is high time we Indians took justifiable pride in the crafting of a political identity from a cultural union. Even a crude perusal of Indian History will tell you were were perennially divided; and that we have paid a heavy price for our lack of political unity. Yes - we were one people, and have been so for 8000 years. Yes, we are the ONLY surviving and unchanged ancient civilization - all others have metamorphosed; yes, apart from the gizmos and clo...

A summary of my posts on Retail FDI - presenting a complete analysis Seeing as there is a lot of opinion floating around, let us take a look at some hard core statistics of this trade, as well as current research which  proves quite conclusively that this is just a political brouhaha, and that there is no danger to the Mom-n-Pop store format in India.  "I had occasion to visit the market today to stock up on provisions, and I decided to cross-check my personal hypothesis by talking to a Reliance Fresh Outlet and a couple of my regular Kirana Stores. These are almost next door to me, and more importantly, are less than 100 yards from an EasyDay Superstore The Kirana Owner was pretty candid in his analysis. He said "Dhanda kam hone kaa to sawaal hi paida nahi hota sir. Peheli baat to har cheez ke daam badh rahein hain, doosri baat hum graahak ke baju mein hi baithhe hain. Pichhle teen saal mein humaaraa dhandaa to badhaa hi hai, ghataa nahi. Itnaa zaroor ...