Category: India

  • Is it time to buy then? Sensex Crosses 14k

    Is it time to buy then? Sensex Crosses 14k

    While it was just open and close thing, all that ment was Sensex jumping 2000 points in a matter of 30 minutes. It hit the upper circut and it was gone. To much happiness of all investors. While reports came that US retail sales fell for a second month in April.

    Its an amazing, isnt it this Sensex thing. Keeps going in a zig zag manner. Now for tomorrow, its gonna be either the lower or the upper circut that is going to be breached. Hold your horses.

    If positive, sensex will reach on 15,500 and settle at 15,100 at the end of the day.

    I read on ET that Sensex may even reach to abnormal levels of 29,000 by the end of June. Well, they might have facts and reasons to believe  which is making me wonder how long will the prediction stand logical.

    President of India, Pratibha Patil has invited Manmohan Singh tomorrow to form a government. Who all will be in cabinet is anybody’s guess.

    But one thing is certain, Sensex will beat my predictions but I would like to say that assuming anything that is more than 17,o00 is not a good idea give the global slump. There are lessons to be learnt from the fall and every one should be cautious.

    Trade safely with 16,500 in your minds for June 2009. That would be my prediction.

  • Now the Bulls will roar – Sensex Outlook after elections

    Now the Bulls will roar – Sensex Outlook after elections

    Now that every one knows what happened yesterday all of you people will be guessing what will happen to Sensex, the benchmark index. If you do not know; the Great Indian Elections that were held in four phases last month where the United Progressive Alliance, led by Congress won with majority defeating BJP and others who posed a threat on them.

    Given that Dalal street has a soft corner for Congress and vice – versa, the Sensex will gain more. From my earlier prediction, I said that Sensex will gain up to 15,000 levels by the end of the June. However looking at the volatility in the market, I will revise it to a more modest 13,800 levels. But I would also like to maintain that Sensex may cross the 14,200 mark and may even go up to 15,000 levels.

  • Manmohan is back with a Bang! BJP down, Left Red faced

    Manmohan is back with a Bang! BJP down, Left Red faced

    The Great Indian Elections, 2009 in a nut shell…

    Sorry for not writing for a week. I was so tensed about what out come would be today that I missed my dinner yesterday. Of course, I am kidding.

    Well, its now out that Manmohan will extend his term as the Prime Minister of India. The UPA has emerged victorious as it was predicted.

    BJP called a press meet and announced that they take this loss and voved to come back next time. BJP is now geared to take up the seat of opposition.

    The Left was left Red faced after seeing the results. So much so that, they need more time to think and come up with a reason for their failure.

    The fourth front lived up to their name… stood forth.

    The final numbers stands as follows.

    UPANDAThird FrontFourth Front
    2591637730
    PartyWinsLeads
    INC2041
    BJP1160
    Others260
    SP221
    BSP210
    JD(U)200
    TMC190
    DMK180
    CPI(M)170
    BJD131
    SS110
    AIADMK90
    NCP90
    Independent(s)90
    TDP6
  • Skribit Suggestion: Tata Nano and my Opinion

    Skribit Suggestion: Tata Nano and my Opinion

    Well, one of my readers suggested on the Skribit Widget that I write more about Tata Nano and my Opinion. So, here you go.

    Tata Nano, as I see is a revolution. It may not be a revolution in looks and design, but it is a revolution in the way cars can be cost manufactured. Yes, the quality of Tata Nano is not to compared to a Mercedes – Benz. Nano gives you the comfort of more than a Scooter. But what I feel is that Nano was never to be compared to a Scooter. It is after all a 800 beater.

    Tata Nano is more important to Tata as it can compete right into the war chest of Maruti. Nano offers more space, if far more comfortable than Maruti 800 / Maruti Alto.

    I have had written posts on Tata Nano from the moment it was announced that it is ready for launch. If you ask me on which car would I put my money on, I would love to put on Tata Nano. There are few reasons why I would do so. (more…)

  • Sensex Prediction for May & June 2009

    Sensex Prediction for May & June 2009

    I predict the Benchmark Index of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to go up to 15,000 levels. This is based on the a small revival in the retail housing segment and the effect of the Government Stimulus Plan which has now showing the results.

    This prediction may fall back to 14,000 to a sub 13,400 levels if the BJP comes to the power or the a Government where the Left is a co – partner.

  • Hamilton Escapes Liar Gate Scandal unhurt

    At the scheduled extra ordinary meeting of the Motor Sport Council held in Paris on 29 April 2009, Team Principle of McLaren Mercedes Benz team addressed all the members himself.

    The controversial conversation on which the decision had to be taken was “Lewis, you need to allow the Toyota through. Allow the Toyota through now.” To this effect, the Toyota of Jarno Trulli had to pass Lewis during the safety car period when it is not allowed to Overtake a car. Trulli was disqualified in the event, however reinstated with honor.

    Lewis Hamilton: Lucky

    The sport’s governing body found the team guilty for the breach of Article 151(c) ISC for a consecutive five times the team lied on.

    The result was reinstated when Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes – Benz was disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix, 2009. Also, the team was handed the penalty of suspension from three races of the F1 World Championship for 2009.

    However, the governing body showed lighter part of their hearts by showing solidarity after being impressed in the way the Team honestly co-operated in the investigations and a from how the Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh addressed the meet.

    The team now stands too bear the penalty in the following two cases.

    1. Further facts, if may emerge, that are relevant to the breach by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 team.
    2. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 Team breaches again, the Article 151(c).

    Vodafone has the right to appeal, but if they do, it will do more damage than good for the team. And the team is not expected to do that as well.

  • Mumbai: A Shame

    I was surprised to know that Mumbai did not turned up for voting in full force. Terrorist Strikes, the financial melt downs and other events does not seem to bother an average Mumbaikar.  Infact the voter turnout was less by 3.5% as compared to the pervious General Elections.

    Mumbaikars are known to love holidays and the since this is the longest weekend of year, people are tempted to go out for a holiday to the near by hills to cool off the summer. Today 30th was announced by Maha Govt as a holiday. 1st (Maharashtra day), 2 and 3rd are Saturday and Sunday. Some where, the heat has played spoilsport this time since the temperature levels are on a high.

    Sikkim is currently the national leader which is at 65.30%. Mumbai Voter turnout for 2009 General Elections was a measly 42% on an average.

    The overall voting phase turned out to be 50% for the second phase of Great Indian Elections.

  • The Great Indian Elections

    The Great Indian Elections

    And since the Great Indian Elections for the year 2009 is underway, I thought who should actually win. So what do you think about this Great Indian Elections. Your Comments and Suggestions / Feedback are welcome.

    Let us take things by one political party.

    Indian National Congress (Congress)

    INC is again front runner this year to win the elections but it will only be able to form a government in collision. The choice of Collision partners should be carefully undertaken. Congress had received setback in the last elections tenure after Left had revoked their support for the Government.

    Good Bits: Increased Youth participation, Rahul Gandhi
    Bad Bits: Still reliance on Oldies, Bad Economy.

    Prime ministerial Candidate: Manmohan Singh

    Kingmakers for Congress: Praja Rajyam, JMM, TDP, SP

    Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

    BJP this time around is sounding different, but looks same. With more than required promises, this year they have even encompassed Congress. What’s more is the claim that BJP will bring in the money from Swiss Bank to fund its ambitious plan for the Great Indian Family.

    Good Bits: Good IT runway vision for India, Narendra Modi
    Bad Bits: Non Transparent Performance, Very old leaders, Varun Gandhi, Larger  than Life Promises

    Prime ministerial Candidate: Lal Krishna Advani

    Kingmakers for BJP: Left, TDP

    The Third Front

    These guys are largely seen to become the spoil makers, with Buddhadeb claiming that he is largely hopeful of this front coming to power. With the formation of a third political vertical, the things will become more chaotic. However, interestingly this front will be a group of several small political parties.

    The front is being leaded by the Left and is followed by NCP, AIADMK, JDU and like minded similar parties. It is also largely possible that a Left Prime Minister

    The Prime Ministerial Candidates:

    Apart from Manmohan Singh and Advani, Sharad Pawar, Mayawati and Nitish Kumar are in race for the Indian top post. If the third front comes into power, then there is a strong possibility that Buddhadeb Bhattacharya will move in for the top post.

    While it is easy to understand the support for Singh and Advani, others’ possibility is a complex alliance and support. Which brings us the to the new alternative political pot-boiler at a national level, The Fourth Front.

    Fourth Front

    This game will be played around Nitish Kumar of JD (U), the current Chief Minister of Bihar. If ever this situation arises (Cong, BJP and Left ruled out as incapable to form Govt.), he will be supported by TDP, AIADMK, BJD, AGP, NDA allies with support of BJP. It would be crucial for him to take Left or BSP in his side and convince them so that he can take the top post.

    Conclusion:

    Ideally, full national parties should come to power. That means, a Congress or BJP powered party should come to power. However, it is highly unlikely. I would favor a Collision between BJP and Congress, again which is highly unlikely. If performance of Nitish Kumar as the cheif minister of Bihar is anything go by, then I think that is an option we should be more open towards given that there are no two National Parties getting a chance to form a government.

    A Full 752 Political Parties

    There are a total of 752 Political parties in India. Are you wondering that this much even exist? Yes, this much political parties are registered with the Election Commission.

    (more…)

  • Are Indian elections a slug fest?

    Are Indian elections a slug fest?

    When elections come near, the whole country’s news channels start broadcasting the SlugFestival of 2009!

    L. K. Advani of , Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi, Arun Jaitely and almost all of important leaders of the polical parties in India were exchanging ire in a bid to voo voters to vote. While some of these are famous, some were relatively unknown till now. Few high points have been the Weak PM remark BJP’s Advani, the Shoe Gate, Kandhar Hijack on Advani and BJP by Congress (INC) etc…

    As Soumyarka Gupta (wrote in DNA, Mumbai today) put it “It’s been five years and the circus is back in town”

    You can see it in full force with all bells and whistles blowing hard and long. Its only during these elections that you find new friends and foes. People from your own party turn foes when they don’t get a ticket. Even if you are the brother of ex chief minister of Bihar. And the rivals are just waiting to offer you a ticket.

    How much of these ever do succeed? I wish I had the answer.

    A Change!

    My Foot. Every body is saying that we will give you a change that you need. Every one is promising that they can.

    If they could have, why not do it when they had the power. Neither the parties are clean, nor their candidates. Why do you allow a criminal to fight elections? And those who have clean records are not entertained. The guy who is contesting elections have never visited our locality (is what i have known). I did get a letter which was delivered by a “Karyakarta” on his behalf. But there was no one who could listen to what I wished to say. I had went to the offices of the two parties which are in our locality only to find that there is no one around. Every one is busy with some work or attending the promotion meet.

    Most of the constituencies still witness chores of complaints from Voters who do not figure in the list. The government appointed nominess do not speed up the process of validatating the electroll list and including those who have been missed out. While they are not delibrately doing it, but they are delibrately lazy.

    Hope you guys go and vote for the Indian Elections and excersise your franchise (who ever can).  Vote for the sake of next five years.

  • Aircel now in Mumbai

    Aircel now in Mumbai

    With the launch of Aircel in Mumbai, the telecom competition has certainly getting heated up. For my dear readers to get a fair view of the services of Aircel in Mumbai, I decided to get hands on one. The following are the few details I have been able to get. The connection will be active from tomorrow so you may just have to wait to know more about its overall performance.

    The First Glance

    Aircel was launched with a big bang in Mumbai at the Gateway of India and now the advertising banner shout very loudly about the arrival of a new competition. The branding of Aircel had always been different and with Dhoni now jumping as the brand ambassdor things look a lot better for Aircel.

    Costing and Ease

    The Aircel sim and connection costs Rs. 99 as opposed to Airtel’s Rs. 20. Connection comes with a default talktime of Rs. 10. The biggest difference is that Aircel has launched the card in Mumbai as a full lifetime card only. That means, no validity recharges.

    Other attractions include more talktime than the value of the voucher it self. For a recharge of Rs. 199, you get the value of Rs. 250. That is, a full Rs. 51 extra. Top that with Rs. 1500 Aircel to Aircel local call free every month for first three months and 300 local and National SMSes free.

    Call cost per minuite has gone in a decreasing mode as call time increases. For example, if you call someone, the first local minute will cost you Re. 1, second minute will cost you Ps. 50, and the third minute ownwards will cost you Ps. 30.

    For STD, the call rate for First minute will be 1.50 ps, second minute the cost comes down to Re. 1, and the from 3rd minute ownwards, Aircel will charge you with .75ps.

    I have not been able to get more details on how the VAS charges are, but believe that would also be market shattering.

    Wait for the full review as I start to explore serviecs of AircelMumbai.Network remains very important to me than any other parameter.

    Welcome to Mumbai, Aircel.

    Update 1:

    Aircel Customer Care in Mumbai is not equipped with much information. I called up Aircel customer care to find out what are the charges for GPRS on Laptop and she was fumbling for an answer. I then had to switch my language to Hindi to make her understand what exactly I wanted. Not an issue as such since I know both the languages very well, but for those who speak English more often might just find the going though.

    Anyways, the girl said that browsing internet on an Aircel phone using it as a modem will cost you 10ps. per 10kb. Oouch! That is too much.

    Update 2:

    SIM activation has taken 3 days which is very bad for a new company to start off with. The customer care continues to be pathetic and not well versed with products and services. On IVR, you cannot go back to menu by pressing 8 as the lady’s sweet voice tells you!

    Network remains the biggest issue. Though voice clarity is on par, but the connection is not constand while on the move.

    Update 3:

    Network in closed areas goes to Zero. Network in Mumbai local keeps fluctuating, hence not consistant and more chances for call drops.

    Hemal Shah’s List of Current Best Mobile Service Provider (GSM) in Mumbai:

    Vodafone reigns on the top even after Reliance and Aircel came with onslaught with cheapest charges and more talktime. A distant second is Airtel in Mumbai which still has a negative network in Mumbai, though it runs on 1800/1900 Mhz.

    Third position is shared by is Loop and Reliance, followed by MTNL and Idea at fourth. Aircel cannot be counted in the ranks because it has not got a fair amount of time to show what it can do.

  • Its Tech Mahindra finally: The Satyam aquirer

    Its Tech Mahindra finally: The Satyam aquirer

    The Government nominated board of Satyam Computer Services has choosen its acquirer. It is Tech Mahindra.

    The future of Satyam now will be Tech Mahindra as they out bid L&T by 9 INR per share. According to what I have read in Times of India website, Tech Mahindra bid for INR 58 while L&T bid for INR 49 per share. B. K. Modi’s spice group did not submit the final bid because of a difference of opinion in the way the auction should have proceded.

    With this development, what is assured is that the future of the employees of Satyam Computer Services is now.

    Satyam Computer Services: No longer this Logo will be used? I hope not!!!
    The new Owners: How long they will be able to drag Satyam
  • India will recover first: Recession may not last long

    India will recover first: Recession may not last long

    The Recession which has crippled the whole world will see its effect coming down by the end of June,09 claims a report by Nourma.

    I had earlier predicted that the Sensex, if it manages to go past the 11k mark India will be the First country in the world to have come out of this recession thing.

    In India, the word is taken for granted and only the very big companies apart from share broker and equity share holders were actually struck by Recession. Other industries were mere the cats that were being asked to meaow. There are lot of companies which are downsizing their staff levels in the name of recession, which is just a reason.

    The cost cutting initiatives from companies overseas may have effect on the Indian Economy, but since the domestic market is so strong that the whole economy can withstand it.

  • Satyam to fend off US Pension Fund suites

    Satyam to fend off US Pension Fund suites

    Satyam Computer Services, which is in the news for country’s biggest corporate and family fraud will limit its liability by saying a pension fund cannot join US litigation due the scandel.

    Not only US funds, but England, Norwegian and Danish funds are seeking compensation against losses they have made due to the Satyam fraud.

    Who ever the buyer of Satyam is, will have also to bear the liability and the number of law suits it brings in.

    In all, an estimated loss of close to $100 million will be claimed from the company and the buyer will have to bear atleast 80% from his pocket directly. L&T who has keen interest in buying Satyam Computer Services after the fraud came to light, already owns close to 14% stake in the Company.