Reflections

In the first part of the budget analysis, I looked at Health, Education and the Rural Economy ; in this, let me move onto the remaining aspects and points raised in the budget, leaving the Fiscal and Number aspects for the closing article to be taken up later. The first part dealt with the basics of a nation – these parameters are what establish Human Development, which is fundamental to any nation. Now, let me start the analysis with the MSME sector, which is, alongwith the unorganized sector, the largest contributor to employment as well as GDP. MEDIUM, SMALL AND MICRO ENTERPRISES {MSME} AND EMPLOYMENT {Pt 71-82} The budget, in points 71 & 72 on page 14, starts off with highlighting the credit aspects to MSMEs. This is where the disillusionment starts in my mind; having just perused the credit offtake scenario to the MSME segment {given in the Bibliography link nos 1 & 2}, which categorically makes a set of hard hitting points : a low proportion of manufactu...

This is the first part of a 3-part analysis on the Union Budget 2018-19, in which I propose to go into the basic strategy behind the budget, and look at its  pluses and the minuses pointwise – in two parts;. The third part will be the background, history and Macro-Economic Framework analysis, which has been my standard approach in studying the budget. And my first impression of this budget, was listening to it / reading about it, was “ interesting ”, but requires deeper analysis. My second impression, after talking to various people, reading extensive opinions, and going through the entire set of budget documents : “ Excellent Budget ” THE UPPER AND MIDDLE CLASSES A lot of my friends are disappointed in the budget; all of them are highly educated, and are from the top 10% of the population – exceptions prove the rule, so please excuse me. To them, I can only state: India is about the rest of the 90% as much as it is about us, privileged top of the heap. We, the people...

Origin… another from the pen of Dan Brown. Wish I could be as excited about reviewing this one; truth be told, even after reading it, I have precious little confirmed idea or thought as to what to write about this book. I am taking it as it goes, writing in one flow; letting my instinct rule. The book has both good points and bad points; but being a Dan Brown fan, I was disappointed. This is not one of his best works, nowhere near it… the book is well written and all the rest of it; but it lacks his usual panache. I cant put it any better than that… I rate is 2 stars overall, not more. THE BOOK The book is about a crackpot eccentric scientisty type person who believes God does not exist; and has the skills and the intellect to put up a theory behind it. That doesn’t make him a crackpot, by the way; his eccentricities do. The person is eccentric in the extreme, which is a different and interesting characeterisation. He conjures a theory which apparently he manages to prove...

This is the 3 rd book from Prachi Garg I am reviewing, and each has added value to me as a professional. It has also given deep insights into what the new India is doing, as well as given me a fascinating insight into the minds of today’s youth. 20 case studies on youth enterprises can be shrugged off; 40 can be dismissed as the product of research and hard work on the part of the author, but when it reaches 60, and the third book, {added to the other books now emerging in the market} it all comes together to create a picture of a new India that is slowly beginning to emerge from the shadows of the older more staid India we are all used to seeing… THE BOOK The book is a series of 20 stories of 20 startups founded by brothers and / or sisters. The concept itself is riveting and fascinating; it is hard doing business within family, and can cause serious issues and misunderstanding simply because the expectations are much higher in such cases, the demands more strident. T...

In the first week of December of last year I received a question in response to an article I penned: " would be good if a simple method could be created to inculcate it in kids " by a reader from the Corporate World; a question asked nearly 49 days ago, asking how can we ensure that our children get these habits ingrained in them. I had no answer then; I still dont - but I am beginning to get closer to an answer, which I will pen in today's write-up.... The article in question is Speaking From The Heart - 2 : SkillsRequired, Path, Pluses and Minuses.... MAKING SENSE OF THE PATH: THE BEGINNINGS Here, when I say “The Path” I refer to the transformation from flippant, frivolous, or double meaning, or downright false uncaring speech to one of strong character, morals, values and absolute truth. If we are to get to unlocking the answer to the question asked above, the first and foremost requirement becomes understanding the transformation, and learning lessons fr...

This is one of the better known management books to be written – Frugal Innovation: How To Do Better With Less ; thus I was actually looking forward to this, in the hope that I can draw some lessons, practical real world lessons, from this book; and enhance my understanding and knowledge. In a nutshell, that was only partial. As a concept, the book does its job – that of frugality being essential. But, for the rest, it is by and large an acecdotal book with little relevance outside a limited circle of applicability. This does not meant the book is bad; just that it is a niche book, limited to Western Markets and Technology Intensive Manufacturing. I rate it 3.0 stars maximum. That said, there is a lot to be learnt – if you can look beyond the stated, and draw conceptual learnings for yourself . In fact, that is the only reason this 2 stars worth books gets to 3.0 stars. THE BOOK The theme of the book is around doing better with less; it sticks to this theme throughout – laying ...

BLACK MONEY AND TAX HAVENS Black Money has been the hot topic of discussion on Social Media as well as in the regular Media for several years now; yet, few books have come to my notice that deal with this topic. The current book under review – Thin Dividing Line : India Mauritius and Global Illicit Financial Flows by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta & Shinzani Jain is one book that breaks this trend, and takes a deep and in-depth look at at least one aspect of this matter in a no-holds barred factual and detailed analysis of Global “Hot Spots” aka Tax Havens. This is not easy territory to tread on; quite the reverse in fact. This is a complex topic at the best of times – in fact, it is more than complex. It does not make for easy study, or compilation, or sources, or indeed availability of facts and resources. You cant pick your facts easily; you have to hunt, study, research and go deep, be a miner and dig deeper than deep. This is also an approach that is bound to cause exce...