Nitesh Estates IPO: Ignore or Invest?

The about to be launched IPO of Bangalore based developer Nitesh Estates may not be coming at a very opportune moment for the company or investors. Though the market is on a roll after the budget, with listed realty companies also participating in the rally, the time doesn’t feel much favourable for yet another realty IPO. Mumbai’s No.2 developer DB Realty had listed at a discount just before the budget, after garnering barely 0.35% times retail subscription during the Issue.

But the question is whether the offer of Nitesh Estate has something special, whether it has a silver lining among the clouds. The youthful vigour of the company as well as its promoter Nitesh Shetty, and the high brand recall in the super luxury segment are definite pluses for the company. Nitesh Estates had used these advantages to become one of the fastest growing realty companies in Bangalore within a short span of less than eight years.

The downsides are also significant with the company registering a difficult phase in FY09 as far as operating profit (7.6%) and margins (3.2%) were concerned. Subsequently, in the first half of FY10, operating profit has even gone negative. But these developments have more to do with Nitesh’s diversification into low-margin middle-income housing, which is expected to do extremely well in the coming quarters.

The developer has also been smart enough to restructure intelligently before the IPO, shedding some unnecessary weight in subsidiary companies, thereby bettering half-yearly margins in FY10.

Sensing the ongoing dull mood among retail investors, Nitesh has also roped in two Directors with international background to make the right moves in institutional subscription. Nitesh Estates already has a private equity participation of 14.4% by an Och-Ziff group firm.

Rating agencies haven’t been very kind to Nitesh’s books, with CRISIL giving only a 2/5 rating citing below average fundamentals for the IPO. But there are signals that the company is right on to some of the best emerging trends in the industry like co-development with land owners that will drastically reduce investment requirements in the coming years. Nitesh has switched to this model in the majority of their new projects. This, together with their newfound focus on affordable housing should make the Nitesh IPO a value buy, provided the pricing is right.

Watch this space, as Seasonal Magazine would bring updates on the Issue.

Nitesh Estates IPO: Ignore or Invest?

Seasonal Magazine - March Issue

Seasonal Magazine - March Issue

Where Will Financial Crisis Hit Next?

1997. Asian Financial Crisis.

What started from Thailand soon spread like a contagion to Indonesia, South Korea, Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore, rattling these economies for years.

2008. US Subprime Crisis.

What started off as an aftermath of the housing boom, got a shot in its arm with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and most of the world is yet to recover from it.

2009. Dubai Crisis.

First the world reacted sharply. Then all of us arrived at the consensus that we overreacted. But in Dubai itself, nobody is sure anymore how the drama will unfold in the coming days. Still, the consensus is that it will be a Middle East problem at the most, and maybe affecting some parts of India like Kerala, maybe Philippines and Pakistan too.

Dubai wanted to build the tallest building, the largest airport, and the biggest shopping mall. For a while – a short while – it seemed as though the geographically tiny emirate would also stake its claim for the biggest national bust in recent years.

No way. US is not willing to share that credit with anyone any soon. Dubai’s debt is $60 billion, Lehman’s was $600 billion.

Dubai is too tiny a crisis. Or is it? Even if it is, is it masking any lessons?

One thing is common behind these three crises. Sorry, two things. Real estate and the dollar.

Thailand was doing a Dubai in real estate when disaster struck. And the economic epidemic spread to those Asian nations that were following a massive leveraged real estate development program.

And needless to mention that the 2008-09 world economic crisis had its roots in US realty.

And needless to mention that Dubai’s problem is a real estate problem more than anything else. The tiny emirate - if it restarts all the current real estate projects - will double the office space from what it is now, which is but sadly 40% unoccupied now. Dubai was that confident of real estate.

Now the dollar connection. Most of the affected Asian nations in the 1997 crisis as well as Dubai have their local currencies pegged to the US dollar. In other words, these currencies’ exchange rates can’t be directly influenced by the markets on a day-to-day basis like the Indian Rupee or the Dollar itself, but remains static at a conversion rate fixed by these Governments.

In fact, the pegging to the US dollar has brought down other economies too even without an associated realty boom, the best examples being the Mexican economic crisis of the 1990s and the Argentine crisis that spanned from mid 90s to 2005.

But it is when both real estate boom and dollar pegging is simultaneously there that a real crisis of astronomical proportions can result. (As an aside, this is how Abu Dhabi still remains strong.) Dollar pegging makes the interest rates fixed by US Federal Reserve as the default interest rate of nations like Thailand and Dubai. For a while this is good, as the money supply or liquidity grows steadily.

For example in the case of Dubai, money supply grew at an annual rate of 30% between 2005 to 2008. But this has the inevitable result of fuelling inflation and negative interest rates, subsequently.

Now, if at the same time a nation decides to develop its real estate exponentially, it is a no-brainer that people will have all incentive to invest in real estate and forego bank deposits. Who can resist a market that is going up unbelievably? Many Dubai real estate prices had nearly doubled between 2005 and 2008.

Now the only relevant question is whether there are any other markets where both these conditions exist. Eerily, there is one – China.

Though the country’s currency is only partially pegged to the US Dollar since 2005, by all practical measures it still remains deeply connected. The Chinese had unofficially strengthened this pegging post Lehman as a last ditch effort to save its economy from collapse as it battles a real estate splurge that would shame even Dubai on the demand-supply mismatch.

If China fails, it has the potential to take the world with it. And for India, it poses the additional burden of a military provocation.

Of course, even without a Chinese failure, and even without rupee being pegged to the dollar, India needs to tread cautiously as it ‘suffers’ from excess liquidity driven by foreign investments that has overheated the capital markets already much ahead of the real economy warming up.

And not at all comforting is a third attribute that Dubai and China share – non-democratic decision making. The Asian economies and the US were capable of a comeback largely on their administrations’ democratic accountability. Without it in place…

Better not think about it.

Where Will Financial Crisis Hit Next?

How LIC Remains Life Insurance Leader: 10 Strategies

LIC was not self-made. It was chosen from among many, more than 50 years back. Chosen to be made the only operator in life insurance. But the acid test came in 1999. The sector was deregularized, with multiple private operators entering the sector. Most predicted a la BSNL for LIC, if not an untimely demise. But Life Insurance Corporation of India has emphatically proven that it has a long long life ahead. The private life insurers are yet to do a la Airtel or la RCom. A more honest statement would be that they are unable to do it. Unable to even figure out how to stop the LIC express. And then comes the double whammy for them – the worldwide financial meltdown. When even giants like AIG reeled, LIC found opportunity in distress. Their November 2008 launch, Jeevan Aastha, a close ended single premium plan went on to become a smash hit, with a record breaking first premium collection of Rs. 10,000 crore within 45 days. From its long-back status of the chosen insurer, LIC has become the choice insurer. What is powering the LIC juggernaut? Seasonal Magazine identifies 10 of LIC’s winning strategies:

LIC EDGE 1:
Focus on Core Business

In an ever changing business and investment environment, where the temptations for losing one’s way have been numerous for a financial company, it stands to LIC’s credit that it has never lost its focus on its core business – insuring lives. This has ensured LIC’s edge against competing investment platforms like recurring deposits, mutual funds, or equities. Because the pitch is, an LIC policy does all that, but it also insures life.

LIC EDGE 2:
People Power

There is no doubt that people power continues to be LIC’s trump card. Even in 2008-09, LIC registered a 12.66% growth in its formidable army of agents, which now stands more than 13.44 lakh. Even while comparable financial organizations like SBI struggle to have a performance linked pay structure in place, this is a human resource pool that works entirely on performance status. LIC’s Post Recruitment Orientation Training (PROT) is reputed to make top performers from average sellers. It also goes to LIC’s credit that it didn’t opt for VRS or retrenchment for its salaried employee base, instead making them productive through HRD initiatives.

LIC EDGE 3:
Claim Performance

LIC continues to be the most believable life insurer around, based on actual claim performance. During 2008-09, LIC settled over 1.49 crore claims, with 97% maturity claims settled on or before date, and 93% of non early death claims settled within 20 days of intimation. Outstanding claims under death is 2.21% and that under maturity is just 0.26%.

LIC EDGE 4:
Technology Edge

Post de-regularization, LIC had moved swiftly to implement the latest paradigms in the area of IT implementation, so that the new agile competitors don’t have an advantage over it. Lately, LIC has started setting the standards in IT implementation, and its new EDMS project all set to be completed shortly, it will be LIC who is going to enjoy a huge edge due to technology.

LIC EDGE 5:
Alternate Channels

It was once thought that alternate channels like bancassurance would sound the death-bell for LIC. Instead the company quickly adapted to the possibilities of the bancassurance model, and today has tie-ups with 34 banks on corporate agency model, and with 57 banks on referral model. And wonder of wonders, LIC’s alternate channels business is growing at a blistering pace of 32% annually.

LIC EDGE 6:
Rural Reach

Instead of waiting for the urban markets to get more and more saturated, LIC early on diversified its attention to rural markets, and with excellent results. LIC continuously recruits and develops special rural agents, and the insurer has opened a lot of satellite office in rural areas. The recently launched Jeevan Mangal and the repositioned New Jana Raksha plan have been quick hits with farmers and rural people.

LIC EDGE 7:
Widest Portfolio

LIC has more than 50 different plans catering to the different needs of different segments of the society. LIC also has 13 Pension and Group Schemes. Whatever be the need, LIC has a suitable policy to match that need. From conventional plans like endowment assurance, and money back plans to the contemporary unit-linked plans to serve a wider category of customers, LIC offers Unit-Linked Health Insurance Plan, Term Insurance plans, Plans for Women, Pension Plans, and a wide range of children's plans, too.

LIC EDGE 8:
Investment Business

LIC continues to be the country’s largest investor. Even in a difficult financial year like the present, LIC has pumped in more than Rs. 1,00,000 crore of investments, of which over Rs. 22,000 crore is into the capital markets. LIC’s profits from equity this year is fast approaching Rs. 5000 crore, but it remains a net buyer. LIC is also powering the nation’s infrastructure, corporate debt, and government securities. Apart from profits, this gives the organization a lot of leverage with the Government, corporates, and the various funds.

LIC EDGE 9:
Sensing Dangers Ahead

LIC’s response to the Swaroop Committee has been quite rational. The organization reiterated that insurance continues to be a sold product and not a bought one, and as such the agents should not be meted out a bad deal.

LIC EDGE 10:
Credible Ownership

Needless to say, LIC ownership continues to be a major competitive advantage. The 100% ownership by the government makes it risk proof and in the present economic climate, it is a huge advantage recognized by the customers.

How LIC Remains Life Insurance Leader: 10 Strategies

Can Public Make Money From the Coming IPOs?

First, a small quiz. Here is a recent corporate quote. You have to identify who said the following recently:

“As and when I find the market is favourable and I can get good money, I will go for IPOs & FPOs.”

You need not strain. Here are the choices:

A) Anil Ambani B) Gautam S Adani C) Subrata Roy Sahara D) Vijay Mallya E) None of the above.

Since you are smart, you would have zeroed in on Choice E, but should still be hard-pressed to identify who else in the India would match the audacious ambition of the Ambanis, Adanis, Saharas, or the Mallyas.

Beaten? Wait, here are further clues about this Chairman & Managing Director. He presides over a giant diversified conglomerate of 242 companies. He is into oil, he is into power, he is into telecom, he is into infrastructure, he is into insurance, he is into banking, he is into every sector worth placing a bet.

Still beaten? Well, many of you would have guessed by this time, but for those who couldn’t, I am sorry, the marks go to the quiz master.

His name is Pranab Mukherjee. That quote above was by him, as reported by at least a couple of top rung newspapers. Well, not exactly. Instead of “IPOs & FPOs”, he had used the word “disinvestment”. But that would have been a giveaway.

Still, we prefer to believe that Pranab Kumar Mukherjee never spoke these words.

But there is no denying the fact that the clout of the PSUs and its Boss are both on a steady rise.

Today, around 40% of GDP growth comes from PSUs, and while the private sector continues to languish in the financial downturn, the PSUs have collectively achieved more than 20% annual growth. Interestingly, this has resulted in mutual fund companies now making a beeline for launching funds that invest only in PSU equities. Two huge attractions of PSUs as felt by the stock market investors are their monopoly nature and their extremely low debt equity ratio, making them the safest growth opportunities.

During the past several years, huge makeovers and reinventions have been happening in several of the 240 odd Central PSUs. Professional CEOs have been roped in from the private sector, and in some cases, even from abroad. A few turnaround specialists have also turned up from the IAS cadre.

Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), Projects & Development India Ltd (PDIL), WAPCOS (formerly, Water & Power Consultancy Services), Bharat Pumps and Compressors Limited (BPCL), EDCIL (formerly, Educational Consultants India Limited), Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (HSCC) etc are some of the remarkable public sector turnarounds in recent years.

As an aside, it would be interesting to find out who is the real boss of PSUs - the office of the Prime Minister or the office of the Finance Minister. Whoever it is, the point is simple - the modest abandons power, while the assertive usurps it.

Anyway, Dr. Singh and Mukherjee are out to collect a record sum by disinvestment that will be more than what the previous governments have collected in the last two decades. This year alone the collection will be to the tune of Rs. 20,000 crore from top performing PSUs like NTPC, SJVN, NMDC, SAIL, REC etc.

Coming back to the Mukherjee quote, what is wrong with it? Isn’t this what all of us wanted – a public sector that is as ambitious and agile as our private sector?

Well, there is a huge difference. Reliance and ONGC are in the same industry, both are public limited companies, but there is this huge difference. SBI and ICICI Bank are in the same business, both are public, but again there is this discomforting difference.

It can be argued that both sectors run on public money – investors, IPOs, secondary markets etc all apply to both – but companies like RIL & ICICI are always private companies. Call its public investors private investors if you like. They are there by choice.

But is it the same with truly public companies like ONGC or SBI? Forget their private investors, but what about us? The taxpayers? Is our money there by choice? Do you personally believe in recapitalizing Andhra Bank with your money or ONGC drilling that next hole in Iran with your money? Probably not. But you don’t have much choice.

It is easy to confuse things between public and private using stock market lingo. But this is a country where the number of retail equity investors hasn’t reached that high figure - 1% - of the population, still. Agreed, NSDL & CDSL has 1.6 crore demats, but on one end there are significant duplicates, and on the other end a lot of empty accounts.

It is not the same as the taxpayer base. Again, there is a riddle. Only 3% of the population pay personal tax in this country. And only 11% of the listed companies pay tax. But that is just the income tax or corporate tax. What about the numerous other taxes, levies, & surcharges that we pay whenever we buy, sell, travel, invest, redeem, or avail a service? PSUs are able to shine only on capital from these kinds of accruals.

But the media projections are often the opposite. We hear of Bank Chairmen paying hefty dividend cheques to the Government, and organizations providing more than 5% of India’s GDP. SBI has even stood guarantor to the Indian Government once. One can only pity the intelligence of that lender, whoever it is, to believe in the soundness of SBI more than the soundness of India.

But what is the real story behind these PSUs? Many giant PSUs are still 100% owned by the Government and almost 60% of SBI’s ownership is still with the Government. Substitute the word ‘Government’ with the word ‘Indians’ and read that again. Because in one way or other, all Indians are taxpayers too.

That is why whenever anyone in the Government speaks of disinvestment, they should pause and think about whose investment they are disinvesting and to whom? It is the public’s money, and it should go to the public too. If that is not entirely possible due to market constraints and to encourage foreign investments, at least make sure that the public gets a fair pie at discounted prices.

The concept is akin to the cry for issuing equity shares to people whose land is acquired for developmental projects. How good it would have been for Tata, West Bengal, and the people there, if all concerned had heeded to such a call.

Anyway, with some of the biggest IPOs like BSNL & LIC yet to happen, and numerous Nava Ratnas and Mini Ratnas still capable of powerful FPOs, the best opportunity for the true owners – the public – is yet to come.

Governments and Ministers are just custodians of this wealth.

And here is an interesting afterthought. Last month, Minister of State for Finance SS Palanimanickam claimed in Rajya Sabha to have collated a 100-company list that together owe the exchequer an unbelievable 1,41,000 crore in tax dues. While the list is dominated by private sector giants like Coca Cola, Tata Motors, & Sahara India, we don’t have a clue why this list also includes several public sector companies like SBI & IOC. The evaded figure is interesting, as it is the double the guesstimated sum stashed away in Swiss banks, and more than thrice what India spends on NREGA.

Can Public Make Money From the Coming IPOs?

Apartment Buying? Meet India’s Real Estate Ironies

After nearly a year of lull, Indian real estate is fighting back to its lost glory, driven by steadily increasing consumer demand for houses. But many things can still spoil the party, including a tendency to hike prices, and the still-to-pick-up demand for office spaces. A new real estate regulator is also coming to the scene, which can prove to be a real game changer. Where is India’s real estate market headed? Here are several hints from India’s hottest markets like Mumbai, NCR-Delhi, and Bangalore, on the direction.

Lehman Not Around for this Year’s Festivities
Navaratri to Diwali to Christmas is the time when real estate developers register over 30% of their annual sales. Starting from late September and extending till late December, this is the time that many Indian households consider as auspicious to buy a new apartment or villa. Except for last year, when Lehman Brothers collapsed, and pulled with it a slew of global banks, and even India’s credit markets. For the country’s already overheated realty market, the Lehman collapse was the proverbial last nail in the coffin. This time around, there seems to be no more Lehmans to fear – most of them are already buried or have resurrected powerfully in new avatars like Mahindra Satyam & Maytas Infra. The only thing that prevents this year’s festival season better than 2007’s – the best ever till date – is whether developers will hike prices or not.

Luring Pent-up Luxe Desires
What disappeared from realty markets – even faster than jobs - were luxury features. When everyone from columnists to bankers to policy makers blamed developers’ appetite to dish out unaffordable luxury features for the realty crisis, many developers – not all of them – had scrambled for cover by launching affordable projects. But with credit returning, stocks booming, and sectors like IT, banking etc again in growth mode, developers are again resorting to wooing customers with luxury features. They can’t be blamed too with customers with pent-up desires lapping up luxury projects like anything. The 65-storeyed Indiabulls Sky, Primero by Lodha, and Terraces by South Mumbai specialist Orbit Corporation are all witnessing strong demand according to these developers. A recent launch of 1250 luxury homes by DLF in NCR was also a quick sellout, even if it used an army of brokers to pre-sell before the launch.

Northwards or Southwards is the Real(ty) Question
Where are prices headed is the million dollar question. Some say prices will hold up to Diwali, some say up to Christmas, and some say it won’t, and it all depends upon what these developers are selling – new or stalled projects. Developers like Niranjan Hiranandani has put up a reasonable stand that prices may not go up for the next six months, while many others like DLF head Rajiv Singh has opined that it will be determined by pure market prices a.k.a. demand. A lot also depends on whether the projects are new or ongoing or re-launches. Most developers are expecting a 15-30% hike on new projects, while some like DLF are already claiming a 50% hike in select projects.

Land is Getting Freed Up, Again
In the country’s economic capital, it is more a question of where to build. That question has lately started getting game-changing responses with corporate houses like Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Mafatlal, and many others putting up coveted properties for sale. Deals have started finalizing with some of the biggest names like DLF & Unitech waking up to the opportunity, as well as many medium sized builders. But the one fear from this development is whether it will provide a natural excuse for hiking up final product prices, as the valuations for these corporate properties are already sky high. There are already feelers in the market that many of these properties are only fit for commercial development, if at all. But it remains to be seen how commercial development is feasible in an already oversupply situation of offices in Mumbai.

Realty Competition is About to Change
Last time many conglomerates missed the real estate bus. The boom that rode from 2003 to 2008 changed the entire corporate landscape of India with two development firms even entering the list of 30 most valuable companies – the BSE Sensex. But this time, many in India Inc are not willing to let go of this opportunity – of opening a real estate division. Following Godrej Properties and Mahindra Lifespace models, corporates like Raymond, Bombay Dyeing, & Century have recently forayed into the sector with mega residential projects. Expect the Hiranandanis and Nahars to compete with the Singhanias and the Wadias. And the new entrants are playing the game to the book, complete with Hafeez Contractor designs for the first Raymond project. First movers Godrej and Mahindra are also gearing up for the challenge.

RBI Monitoring Real Estate?
What has Reserve Bank of India (RBI) got to do with real estate developers? Everything, if recent directives from the country’s Central Bank are any indication. Jokes apart, Reserve Bank is zeroing in on those banks that have a flourishing business with realtors. First RBI came up with a directive for such banks to ensure that all publicity material from associated realtors should carry clear indication whether the property has any lien with the concerned banks. Quick on it heels, RBI has also come up with a detailed directive on preventing real estate projects becoming NPAs, and in case they do, what to do about it. This is a welcome move as RBI was largely credited with preventing Indian banks from following suit of Western banks during the recent financial debacle.

Foreign Money Flowing, Despite Poor Transparency
India’s biggest three realty firms, DLF, Unitech, & Indiabulls, and dozens of others are attracting serious investments from US institutional investors. Listed property companies have attracted $3.5 billion in foreign investment this year, despite the fact that Unitech stock has multiplied 95 times within 52-weeks and Indiabulls is still to complete their first project. The reason is simple. A recent report puts India’s housing demand to cross 75 lakh units within the next 5 years.

Project Specific Escrow Accounts Arrive
In many western countries this was the norm, industry body Assocham recommended it for all developers not too long back, and Bangalore based developer Lalith Gangadhar Constructions Ltd (LGCL) has become the first in the country to offer a project where the customer money for developing that project will be kept in a separate escrow account that can be utilized only for constructing that project. LGCL promoter Girish Puravankara is implementing this for LGCL Ashiar, a 63 villa luxury project at Bangalore. LGCL has attracted investments of around Rs. 50 crore from Kotak Realty Fund. Many developers are expected to follow suit soon as diversion of customer funds for non-construction purposes, land buying, and completion of older projects, has been a major cause of dissatisfaction with customers, banks, and other stakeholders.

And Finally, a Real Estate Regulator
The draft bill to establish the much-awaited real estate regulator has come, and developers and their industry associations like CREDAI have not taken kindly to its terms. Which is a good sign to start with, as it shows that the draft bill would have addressed many of the longstanding customer concerns. At the same time, developers shouldn’t be squeezed too much, as they already have to obtain close to 30 permits to build. The proposed terms in the regulator bill include registration of the project with the regulator, documentary proof of land ownership, preventing collection of advance before sale deed, a 5% bank guarantee by the developer, provision for full refund with interest in case of failing to meet deadlines, provision for taking over the project by the regulator in case of default, prevention of cancellation of allotment, and many more. The complete verified details of each project will also be available from the regulator’s website. It seems that the principal aim behind the draft bill is to prevent a US style housing bubble that can take the Indian economy itself to its heels during the next boom.

Apartment Buying? Meet India’s Real Estate Ironies

Reliance ADAG IPOs Coming: Will Markets Soar or Crash?

With Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (Reliance ADA) Group trying to launch three IPOs this year, the moot question will be whether the markets will soar, or crash, as after the much hyped Reliance Power IPO in 2008.

India’s third largest private business conglomerate, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADAG), is planning to launch the initial public offerings (IPOs) of three group companies – Reliance Infratel, Reliance Life Insurance, & Reliance Mutual Fund – this fiscal.

In tune with Reliance ADA’s and Chairman Anil Ambani’s larger-than-life ambitions, these IPOs promise to be big affairs, with Reliance Infratel pegged at Rs. 5000 crore, and the size of Reliance Mutual Fund & Reliance Life Insurance expected to be equally big.

But so was the IPO of Reliance Power last year. In fact, it was bigger – at Rs. 11,700 crore, it is India’s largest IPO till date.

Reliance Infratel Ltd is a subsidiary of Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM), the flagship company of Reliance ADA Group. It is in the business of creating and maintaining wireless communication towers to RCom and other mobile operators. Reliance Infratel’s IPO was originally planned for 2008 to collect Rs. 6000 crore, but was abandoned due to adverse market conditions.

Reliance Life Insurance and Reliance Mutual Fund, the other two Reliance ADAG companies planning IPOs this year are subsidiaries of Reliance Capital Ltd, the Group’s financial business wing. Reliance Mutual Fund is India’s largest, while Reliance Life Insurance is the fourth largest private insurer.

As per existing rules, Reliance Life Insurance can’t go for an IPO now as there is a 10-year lock-in period before private insurers can divest their stake. Reliance Life Insurance has completed only 5 years in operation, but has applied for a waiver in this regard. Central Law Ministry is understood to have taken a favorable view in this regard, while Finance Ministry has referred it to the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA). Though IRDA had earlier rejected Reliance Life Insurance’s application on existing rules, there is a high probability that the Government would clear it after coming up with a new set of rules for IPOs of private insurers.

But the debatable point is how these mega IPOs from the Reliance ADAG stable would impact the stock market.

It was on January 15th 2008 that Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group opened the mother-of-all-IPOs to collect Rs. 11,700 crores of public money to do business. With BSE Sensex scaling highest ever heights of 21,000+ on January 8, the whole of India thought, why not? Regulators and authorities facilitated wholeheartedly with extraordinary tools for this fund collection, and by the time Reliance Power IPO closed on January 18, it had mopped up over Rs. 1,00,000+ crore from the market as application money alone, with investors submitting 72 times more applications to be a part of the Ambani empire.

But where did this money come from?

January 18th was a Friday. The very next Monday explained everything. On January 21st, the Sensex dipped the highest ever in its history – by 1408 points – and on Tuesday registered the highest ever intra-day fall of 2273 points, calling for a halt in trade twice, and FinMin intervention. The official reason for the fall? US recessionary reports, and not any liquidity-crisis due to IPOs in progress.

During February first week, Reliance Power refunded around Rs. 1 lakh crore to unsuccessful bidders. But within those two weeks Sensex had lost nearly 4000 points to trade at 17,000+. The rest was left to the listing of this scrip.

On February 11th 2008, Anil Ambani – before sounding the opening gong at BSE - apologized to around 4.5 lakh investors for being unable to consider their application to make them rich. But by the end of the day, they were thanking him, while the chosen 41.7 lakh were licking their wounds when Reliance Power closed its first day on the bourses at 373, down Rs. 77 from the issue price, with Sensex also registering an 834 point fall. Brotherly bears had been assigned to wrap up the task.

India’s biggest IPO today closed trade at 164.85. Its 52-week low is 82.

It wasn’t always like this with the Reliance Group. Before the Group split into two conglomerates led by brothers Mukesh & Anil, Reliance and its founder Dhirubhai Ambani had a reputation for wealth creation among lakhs of investors.

However, the ongoing tussle between Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani continues to be of concern to India Inc and the stock markets.

Reliance ADAG IPOs Coming: Will Markets Soar or Crash?

What Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, & Microsoft Does Right…and Wrong

From cloning to bear-hugs to street-fights, every trick in the trade is being employed in the new fight for mindshare between the internet giants and the wannabe giants. But it is also really amazing how little they learn from each other.

Who is fighting whom, and who is cloning whom in this newly intensified fight between the net giants? Facebook is cloning key Twitter features like micro-blogging and publishing, as well as bringing Google-like search capabilities into their until-now private user pages. Twitter is aping Google with an integrated search of tweets on their homepage, while Google is cloning Twitter’s real-time features with their now easily accessible ‘Recent Results’ as well as with Followers in Blogger. Yahoo and Microsoft have forever been following Google’s moves in the internet space, and Google on their part was wise enough to quickly incorporate some of Bing’s only advantages like news results and newer results into their search.

But what they miss out in reading others strengths is also amazing. Here is a list:

WHAT FACEBOOK DOES RIGHT

1) Asking Your Email Password

It was not Facebook that invented this audacity, but it was they who made maximum gains from the impudence of asking for your email password. They won’t spam or scam with your email account, but be prepared for Facebook’s neat bag of tricks with your address book. Thanks to this feature, even if you haven’t logged on to Facebook yet, the day you do, be prepared to receive many real-world friend-requests waiting – whether you like them or not!

2) Sophisticated Interface

If some web service has defined the Web 2.0 interface, it is Facebook. It not only wins in sophistication, but in sheer beauty. Facebook’s appeal before the young has a lot to do with its subtle cleverness in interface design that requires young brains to figure out. It is something still missing in competitors.

3) Spam Proofing

If you love spamming, you will hate Facebook. And if you hate spam, you will love Facebook. The efforts and controls that have gone into making Facebook spam-unfriendly are commendable. Most competitors are still to learn of its importance.

WHAT FACEBOOK DOES WRONG

1) A Ticking Privacy Bomb

Facebook might prove to be a major privacy problem in the not too distant future. With access to millions of address books, and clever ways of finding friends and friends’ friends – whether the user needs it or not – Facebook’s current levels of ensuring privacy might not be enough.

2) Too Much Sophistication

Facebook is a bit too sophisticated for older users, who entered internet in the email-age or even before. Not too evident navigation, and almost-hidden key features are not attractive to even people in their 30s.

3) Too Much Friend Focus

Facebook’s focus on friends, friends, friends, and nothing else, might prove to be a dampener in the long-term. People also get on to internet for escaping real-world friends! Facebook is yet to awaken to this fact.

4) Lagging in Search

Facebook with search used to be an oxymoron until recently. Now there is a better search feature in beta, but it is no match to Google Search, and tons of content is lying waste in Facebook, undiscovered.

5) Lagging in Tweets

Similar to its attitude towards search, was Facebook’s attitude towards tweets. But they can’t be blamed for this. Much like most internet giants they too underestimated the power of a 140-character tweet. They are trying to remedy it now, but it is too little, too late.

WHAT TWITTER DOES RIGHT

1) Believing Limited is Valuable

We all thought that something needs to be unlimited for it to be valuable. The web was about unlimited-ness – unlimited space, unlimited emails, unlimited search, and what not. But the guys at Twitter realized that for something to be valuable, it has to be limited first. Enter the 140-character tweets. It was a paradigm shift like no other in recent web history. The 140-character limit forced the twitterers to at least think before they type, and edit before they send!

2) Focus on Real Time

Twitter also deserves credit for inventing the real-time web. While Google, Yahoo, and other search engines focused on delivering more credible but historical results, tweets represented the current buzz around everything – at least everything worth tweeting about. Agreed, tweets are not exactly reliable as search results, but what the heck if what you want is just buzz?

3) Followers

Another of Twitter’s almost original ideas, the concept of followers is the most blatant self-promotion tool that exists in the web today. With its clever mix of chosen celebrities with huge followers, Twitter gives off the impression that you too can be a guru, thought-leader, or celebrity whom others follow. Getting more followers is the craze in social networking today, much like the once popular link-exchange and click-exchange in search and web advertising. It doesn’t matter that many of your followers are automated porn-peddling robots. The concept of followers provides Twitter with something most other competitors don’t have – a reason to use it regularly.

4) Developer Support

It looks like this is a lesson Twitter directly picked up from Microsoft. Much like the simple DOS which kick-started Microsoft’s huge success with developers, Twitter was something too simple to have a developer community around it. But just like DOS, Twitter too came with a neat and well-defined Application Programming Interface (API) that enabled a huge community of developers writing programs and hosted services for all kinds of devices to access and extend the core Twitter service. The advantage? Tomorrow, somebody might invent another clever way to extend Twitter.

WHAT TWITTER DOES WRONG

1) Spam Hell

Competition won’t kill Twitter, but spam would. If spam on Twitter continues to grow unabated as of now, it will soon be Spitter, not Twitter. Almost every other tweet you meet is to sell some junk. And it won’t be long before a twitter snapshot looks like your spam mail folder.

2) Got nothing to say?

This is a problem peculiar to Twitter. For many people, there is nothing to say to anyone. They don’t need Twitter. Even worse, they will never understand Twitter. The service is unattractive to such an audience – and that audience is the biggest - and Twitter needs to urgently invent something enjoyable in Twitter - as passive as checking your inbox or viewing television.

3) Too much focus on Followers

In Twitter, life is not worth living if you don’t have an ever-increasing follower list. It is a good initial bait, but it can be tiring too. Soon, twitterers are going to wear themselves out in trying to be a bigger Guru. This too much focus on followers is bad for Twitter, as even without many people following you, what you say has a reasonable audience on Twitter.

4) Tweets are not everything

Tweeting was a good invention, as it married micro-blogging with instant publishing before a sizeable audience. But micro-blogging is not the end, but just another tool that aids more established communication channels. Tweeting was a paradigm shift, but to believe that it is going to stay unchallenged forever would be foolish on the part of Twitter.

WHAT YAHOO DOES RIGHT

1) Bells & Whistles

Trust Yahoo to deliver the best interfaces. Filling up any Yahoo form is not only a breeze, and not only pleasing to the eyes, but surprising for its user-friendly features like intelligent suggestions and pleasant instructions. And these bells and whistles are available across their wide range of products.

2) Identifying & Nurturing Great Services

As things stand today, Yahoo’s only business strength seems to be this – they have been very successful in identifying and nurturing great services. Just two examples are enough – Flickr and Yahoo Answers. Both were pioneers in their category while Yahoo identified and bought them, but it is to Yahoo’s credit that they are still undisputed leaders in their segments.

3) The Best Spam Filter

Yahoo Mail’s spam filter continues to be the best spam filter around. While some competitors still bring some spam mail to your inbox, some others filter it to your spam mail folder, it is Yahoo Mail that blocks most spam mails from even entering your account.

4) Content

Yahoo continues to be the leading news aggregator, and their bet with content is not at all misplaced. At Yahoo, you will never be short of content – almost all of the world’s best content is syndicated there. Content will be one of Yahoo’s last bastions to fall.

WHAT YAHOO DOES WRONG

1) Search is Getting Worse

Something is going wrong with Yahoo Search, or something is going great with Google Search. Once the de facto leader, then a viable alternative, and now just an also-ran, Yahoo needs to invent something big in search before they will be forgotten as a search company.

2) Portfolio Now Seems Smaller

Once the web’s largest portfolio of services, Yahoo is shrinking or competition is expanding. Yahoo can’t be pardoned for the too many missed buses. Blogger, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, or even Google could have been theirs, once.

3) Poor Tools for Small Businesses & Publishers

Yahoo is fast ceasing to be of any use to the websites of small businesses and small publishers. Yahoo just doesn’t seem to have the tools or interest to support the new entrants into web. On the other hand, Google is quickly building up an unimaginably complex network of services for small businesses.

WHAT MICROSOFT DOES RIGHT

1) Focus on Sales

Microsoft first figures out how to make money. Then they do whatever it takes to make that money. Their model is a far cry from the first-free-then-struggle model of internet entrepreneurship. The core focus is sale, and on that focus they have built up the formidable Windows and Office franchises that are not going to die anytime soon.

2) Focus on Developers

Microsoft not only make money themselves, but through their support for developers and computer-makers have enabled thousands of software and hardware companies to make money. Once an also-ran in even the Windows Application Development space, today their portfolio of .NET has become the most preferred development platform not only in Windows, but several cross-platform niches.

3) A Different Take at Free

So, what if Linux is free? Windows was always free in some of the biggest emerging markets like China & India. Through a clever strategy of ignoring piracy for long, Microsoft ensured that Windows is the platform for the PC, worldwide. Now, with an equally clever strategy of bundling with computers, and a strict anti-piracy stance, Microsoft is making up for all that lost sales.

4) Never Stops Trying

Nobody believes that Microsoft stands a fighting chance against Google in search. Still, Microsoft carries on the fight. Bing might be just another round of effort, but remember, it is their best effort yet. And it never stops trying – after Bing’s lackluster performance comes a further effort to see whether pairing with Yahoo would help.

WHAT MICROSOFT DOES WRONG

1) Everything can’t be bought

There was a time when Microsoft thought that anything fancy on net could be bought with hard cash. But Hotmail remains the only major consumer product successfully bought by the software giant. It missed out on major buys like Blogger and YouTube, and now finds itself faced with smart developers like Facebook and Twitter who won’t sell that easily, especially to Microsoft. Similarly, there was a time when Microsoft thought that a cloned piece of software could be given away for free to kill competition. But the anti-trust case has ensured that Internet Explorer is the last such victor, and Netscape is the last such vanquished.

2) Can be outwitted

The biggest blow to Microsoft in the web space is the fact that a much smaller and less resourceful company like Google could outsmart it. And that shows a great vulnerability. If Google can do it from a startup status, many other startups or reinvented companies have a fighting chance against Microsoft.

3) Where is the innovation?

Though Microsoft is trying hard in bettering search and other such problem areas, the company continues to suffer from a lack of groundbreaking innovation. If it needs to fight with the likes of Google and Facebook, they have to be very innovative.

WHAT GOOGLE DOES RIGHT

1) The Biggest Provider of Free

Is there any other company offering this much for free? It continues to be Google’s ace. The fact that their services are largely free, doesn’t affect their quality a bit. In fact, the quality is more because they are free, as the free status is for a bigger aim – to conquer the world of information. Coming second in their core business of search is unthinkable at Google.

2) Active Where the Action is

Google has been successful in identifying some of the web’s biggest trends like text ads, video and social networking. And when new services like Twitter and upgradations like Bing appear, Google is quick to upgrade their own features for being competition ready. The length and breadth of Google’s offerings are unparalleled.

3) Well Integrated Offerings

All Google products are tightly integrated with the concept of Google Accounts and seamless transfer of information. For users it translates to an unbelievable ease of access to all Google services, and when the services become more complex like AdSense or AdWords, this integration is mightier.

4) Supporting All

Google is not just there for the big business websites or big publishers. In fact, small businesses and publishers will be pleasantly surprised at the Google tools at their disposal. That too, for free.

WHAT GOOGLE DOES WRONG

1) No Bells & Whistles

Don’t expect many bells and whistles in the Google interfaces. Google excels in the core functioning and not the interface. In fact, the slow upgradation of the Google products’ interface is now more noticeable due to slickly designed competitors like Facebook and Yahoo.

2) Too Many Missed Buses

Google too has missed many important buses. If any company could develop such runaway successes like Wikipedia, Facebook, & Twitter, it was Google. But the fact that it didn’t happen that way should be troubling for the company.

3) Great Features Remain Undiscovered

Google is not too good at teaching its customers how to best use their services to the full. Users often have to stumble upon key features, despite having an extensive help as well as discussion forums.

What Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, & Microsoft Does Right…and Wrong

Will India Become a Superpower? Here are 12 Hints

With its abysmal poverty levels, its rampant corruption, and surprisingly low per capita income, India still doesn’t come across as a superpower in the making. But a closer look at recent developments hints at several unique strengths that can offset these intrinsic disadvantages for India in the coming days.

World’s First CEO-Style Prime Minister
Who introduced professional leadership in politics? Barack Obama? Of course not. For all his NGO work, his oratory powers, and his professional education, the fact remains that Obama is a political leader and not a seasoned professional in economics or governance. He has to consult Ben Bernanke and others economists to understand the complex challenges. Contrast this with India’s once makeshift Prime Minister. He will never win a Nobel Prize for Economics, but Dr. Manmohan Singh’s Oxford education, and his professional career with UNCTAD, India’s Ministry of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Finance, and as the Governor of Reserve Bank of India, make him more than enough to understand the complex economic challenges on his own. In a world where the political challenges are all increasingly economical, that is a definite plus for India. More than that, Dr. Singh’s repeat success in 2009 has forced other political combinations like the BJP-NDA too to consider professional leadership, which is a development that can transform India into a superpower much earlier than anticipations.

Family Values Drive Savings & Entrepreneurship
Nobody knows for sure whether family as an institution will survive as long as the earth, but if it does, India will be family’s last bastion. It is not just a matter of allowing or not allowing gay and lesbian sex, but a matter of children, children’s children, and transcending one’s existence. Struggling to have children, struggling more to bring them up, and struggling even more to keep them from fighting each other like Kokilaben, and forcing them to have families of their own are all chapters of the Great Indian Story. 22 years is considered late for a girl to get engaged, even if she is Sania Mirza. Here children never grow up, at least for their parents. And reverse mortgage will never become fashionable. Here homes and houses are for keeps, for generations. How this will translate to a booming India is simple – India’s entrepreneurship and its savings culture are rooted in its family. Grandparents, uncles, or parents run joint families almost like a small business. Family is India Inc’s smallest unit. And family keeps India young. If nations like USA, UK, & Japan had once reached superpower status relying on their strong families, and started withering based on their weakening families, India has an unbeatable long-term edge in this regard.

Cricket Fosters the Competitive Spirit
Yes, it is India’s cricket. Not an Englishman’s game anymore. Don’t be fooled by Pakistan and Sri Lanka battling it out for top honors recently, while India watched on the sidelines. That is Indian complacency, Indian overconfidence. But India will rebound. If Ramayana, Mahabharata, & Gandhiji were the only things holding this diverse nation together once, today India has cricket. Whether you like it or not, Sachin and Dhoni are as revered as characters from the epics or India’s freedom struggle. And not without reason too. It was cricket that defined India’s competitive spirit. The man on the street can’t understand India’s philosophical uniqueness or the country’s software prowess. But the moment he watches Dhoni & Co playing the Australians, he realizes – India can! India’s population strength will ensure that the cricket industry will be more and more India centric, even while forcing traditional sporting giants but non-players like USA, Brazil, and the European nations to adopt the game. Cricket is something that made India shrug off its non-competitive attitude from the ancient times. Every superpower needs its brand of nationalism, and cricket is India’s version.

Passionate About Information Technology
If anybody thought India’s information technology is only about business applications programming and outsourcing, they are going to be wrong. TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and the hundreds of smaller IT companies are only part of the story. Indian engineers have a noticeable presence, if not a dominant presence in the world’s top IT products and consumer applications companies like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle, IBM, HP, Adobe, and lots more. Imagine a scenario where India somehow taps into this talent base. That day we will wonder what we used to call IT until now. Information Technology will achieve for India what automobiles did for making USA a superpower, what electronics did for making Japan a superpower, and what military manufacturing did for making Russia a superpower.

No Enmity With Any Nation
Not exactly Gandhi’s non-violence, but India still is one of the most non-violent nations on earth. And it is a mature, seasoned non-violence. Because, India had its experiments with strategic violence, be it Bhindranwale or Prabhakaran. But India was fed up soon. Violent means to achieve anything is not just Indian. India is interested in the world, but not terribly interested in Middle East, Afghanistan, or North Korea, thereby freeing enormous energy and resources for development. Even the response to the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks was superb, something only India was capable of. Had India responded immaturely then, Pakistan would have been torn apart into two nations by the Taliban, which would have been an even dangerous scenario for India. India's patience with Pakistan has ultimately forced the world and Pakistan to admit its experiments with terrorism, including owning up the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. The country’s eventual superpower status will be unique in that India will be the first non-violent superpower, not resorting to violent means in its past, present, or future.

Of The People, By The People, For The People
The good news is that the world’s largest democracy is working. If showing the door to the flashy types is one parameter of a vibrant democracy, Indian democracy is alive and kicking. Lalu, Mayawati, & Buddhadeb learnt it the hard way. Indian voters can’t be fooled easily. They reiterated many things that were always true. Like for example, Advani is no replacement for Vajpayee. Best performing Chief Ministers from all sides led their parties to thumping victories in the last general elections. With 33% and 50% reservation coming for women in parliament and local governments soon, India’s democracy looks just unstoppable. Isn’t it just a matter of time before the world’s largest democracy becomes one of the world’s superpowers too?

Communalism is Getting Weaker
Leaders like Gandhi and Nehru harped on about secularism with a definite agenda. Because, they were smart enough to realize that communalism is the country’s only bane. But India is finally showing definite signs of growing up on this front. The miserable failure of the Ayodhya Temple plank during the recent election is a definite sign that the people are more Indian and less Hindu or Muslim now. With one of the largest Muslim and Christian populations in absolute numbers, India’s secular credentials will only get stronger by the years. Ongoing economic development will make secularism stronger and stronger, thus taking India closer and closer to superpower status.

Not a Lawless Land Anymore
One of 2009’s most startling Indian images is of Maya Kodnani, a Gujarat Minister, getting arrested for her alleged involvement in post-Godhra communal violence. Whatever be the court verdict on her eventually, that simple act proved a profound lesson – this country which is often tarnished for its lawless pockets, is not just the same anymore. Kerala’s CPM Party Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan also learnt the bitter lesson recently, when CBI charge-sheeted him on a major corruption case. India sometimes resorts to strange tactics to ensure rule of law. Prabhakaran was wanted for killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and India maintained an aggressive silence when neighbor Sri Lanka finished off Prabhakaran and his LTTE systematically. A similar tactic is now pursued by US against Taliban , Al-Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden, by using Pakistan. The fact that India can decisively move against the guilty, however mighty they might be, and whether they are inside or outside the country, speaks about the country’s emerging superpower-class power.

A Talented Race
It is not just APJ Abdul Kalam, AR Rahman or Saina Nehwal. Indian talents are getting noticed in diverse fields like business, technology, governance and what not. It is a sort of coming off age for Indian talents now. Agreed, not many like Ram Charan, Indra Nooyi, Padmasree Warrior, Arun Sarin, Sanjay K Jha, or Rajiv Ouseph are working or playing for India. But the message is clear. Indians are supremely talented. If USA became a superpower by attracting talents from worldwide, India has plenty inside.

Native English Speakers, Almost
One hundred years from now, there is every reason that English will be identified with India and not England or US. With a population more than double that of English strongholds like USA, UK, Canada, & Australia combined, this should be a reasonable projection. Middleclass Indian youth are not learning English anymore; it is almost their native language. If English is the international language of business and collaboration, this poses some problems to India’s competitors like China & Brazil to be the next superpower.

Natural Aces Like the Himalayas & Coastline
The natural resources of India are still to be realized. Just two examples would suffice – the country’s long coastline and the one and only Himalayas. Today’s technology may not be enough to fully tap these resources, but a day will come when India will be looked upon as a much more resourceful country than ever thought before. And just as in the case of USA, natural resources will be an ace up India’s sleeve in the days to come. India’s possession of two-thirds of the global occurrence of thorium, the alternate nuclear fuel to uranium, is just one hint.

International Competition is More Like Tug-of-War Now
Yes, there was a time when India used to think of her children as one billion mouths to feed. Not any more. Today it is like playing tug-of-war. Each nation’s youthful working class is their team. And India has a pretty growing team. With a burgeoning working middleclass – that is larger than USA’s population - it is only a matter of time before many teams slide against India. For the second-largest population in this globe, becoming at least the second-most powerful superpower might be easier than imagined.

No other aspiring superpower has all the core drivers of a superpower – population, democracy, leadership, nationalism, talent, youth, language, and resources – as much as India has. If India takes on its triple challenges of alleviating poverty, eliminating corruption, and ensuring growth, it will enter the superpower league effortlessly.

Will India Become a Superpower? Here are 12 Hints

Confused About Diabetes Symptoms?

Are diabetes symptoms too vague or too late? Here is how you can be more precise with the classic diabetes symptoms, as well as about more reliable ways to be sure whether you have diabetes or not.

We have all heard the list – fatigue, thirst, hunger, urination, weight loss – all in excess. Yet, it will be interesting to analyze how many people have actually found out about their diabetes through such symptoms.

55-year old Theresa was shocked not as much with the news that she had diabetes, but when her doctor told that she had probably contracted it 15 to 20 years back. A pregnancy that happened in her late 30s would have sounded it off, but she had suffered an early miscarriage.

And finally, when she came to know it, it was not due to recognizing any diabetes symptom on her own, but her ophthalmologist getting alarmed at her eye condition. How could she probably have missed all the symptoms for 20 years? On hindsight, she did recognize many diabetes symptoms, but all of which she had put down on aging.

Anthony was 42 when he went for a varicocele operation. His pre-operative diabetes test was fine, but the incision failed to heal even after a week. Suspicious, the doctors tested him again, and were alarmed at what they saw. Anthony was quite fit, not feeling any diabetes symptoms at all.

The problem is that while some of the diabetes symptoms are vague, some other diabetes symptoms appear too late, and some other diabetes symptoms don’t appear at all.

Take for example diabetes symptoms like excessive fatigue, thirst, or hunger. Any or all of these diabetes symptoms can appear due to a variety of reasons, of which hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) is only one reason. But a diabetologist can help you be more precise – is your fatigue increasing in evenings or getting worse with sugary stuff? That kind of fatigue is a defining diabetes symptom.

On the other hand are diabetes symptoms like blurred vision, tingling sensation in the extremities, erectile dysfunction etc – none of which appear as soon as you develop diabetes. It might take years to develop these serious diabetes symptoms, as they are not direct symptoms due to hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), but symptoms arising out of organ damage brought about by diabetes. But by the time one diagnoses through such diabetes symptoms, the damage is done.

Some other commonly mentioned diabetes symptoms like excessive urination or weight loss may not appear in everyone with diabetes. Even worse, many people who develop Type 2 diabetes are overweight, not underweight.

Some quirky diabetes symptoms like irritability and dry mouth are harder to pin down, but a physician can educate on the typical diabetes breath. Type 1 and Type 2 diabetic patients are often found to have different smelling breaths. Similarly, a physician’s help is needed to ascertain whether wounds that refuse to heal or peculiar skin infections are diabetes symptoms or not in your case.

The nature of diabetes symptoms being such, the question is whether there is any easier way to know for yourself. Nowadays there are many inexpensive home glucose monitors and their test strips are also cheaper now. They are ideal for self-use and don’t require drawing blood into a syringe. A simple prick with the lancet would do.

If you prefer not to invest in a home glucose monitor, you can check for diabetes at a local clinic or hospital. It would be ideal to check for HbA1c and not the usual fasting, postprandial (PP), or random blood glucose tests. Unlike these regular tests that give only a snapshot of the current glucose level, checking for Glycosylated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) gives an estimate of how your blood glucose levels have been over the past 1 to 3 months. HbA1c is also ideal to detect insulin resistance or pre-diabetes, much before the actual disease sets in.

If you think you have one or two diabetes symptoms, you need to verify it by visiting a doctor or going for a test at your home or clinic. Though not all reasons behind developing diabetes are known, some factors make a person more susceptible to the disease. These risks include genetic factors (mom or dad or both having diabetes), obesity, lethargic lifestyle, high stress levels, and existence of other diseases like high blood pressure or high cholesterol. People with such multiple factors should never rely on self-diagnosing diabetes symptoms and should check their blood sugar often (every three months or so) and seek medical help if tested positive.

Confused About Diabetes Symptoms?

Recession Strategies From Ram Charan & Other Top Gurus

COVER STORY

1) RAM CHARAN: “Raise Cash to Weather the Storm”

ABOUT RAM CHARAN:
As a poor boy growing up in a village near Delhi, Ram Charan helped his mother by making cow-dung cakes for fire. Later, he would consult for some of this world’s most powerful CEOs including Jack Welch. As a high-schooler, Ram Charan helped his father and uncle in their small shoemaking setup. Today, Fortune 500 companies pay him more than Rs. 10 lakh a day ($20,000 / day) for consulting. As a teenager, Ram Charan had his teachers visiting his small home, coaxing his parents to send him to college. Later, while doing his MBA at Harvard Business School, he would be specially invited by the faculty to prematurely enrol for their PhD. As an engineering student in Banaras Hindu University, Ram Charan was two years younger to his classmates and more than two generations poorer. Later, he would become Harvard Business School’s first Indian faculty. Emigrating to Australia, and later US, Ram Charan would fret over his lousy English. Later, he would write several management bestsellers (2 million copies sold) and script two cover stories for Fortune – ‘Why Companies Fail’ and ‘Why CEOs Fail’. Ram Charan is the antithesis of a corporate guru. He doesn’t believe B-Schools can create leaders. Better leaders are crafted in military, sports, and the workplace, says Ram Charan. Nor does he claim that he has something special to teach CEOs or possess an array of readymade tools for success. So, what does Ram Charan do that other consultants can’t, that earns him $20K a day? It has been one of corporate America’s biggest riddles. The riddle is all the more complex because he is not a man of theories or jargon, but of old-fashioned profit-and-loss strategies and execution. Ram Charan is basically a problem-identifier, a problem-solver, and a solution-execution specialist. Perhaps, a couple of clients and former clients would explain more of what he does. Says Jack Welch, former Chairman & CEO of GE, “Ram Charan has this rare ability to distill the meaningful from the meaningless and transfer it to others in a quiet, effective way without destroying confidences.” Says Richard J Harrington, Chairman of Thomson Reuters Foundation, “Ram Charan knows more about corporate America than anybody.” Says John Reed, former Citicorp CEO, “Ram Charan is like your conscience.” Says Ivan G Seidenberg, Chairman & CEO of Verizon, “I love him. Ram Charan is my secret weapon.” Says Jack Krol, former Chairman & CEO of DuPont, “Business is Ram Charan’s whole life.” Indeed it is. This guru doesn’t own a car, because he hasn’t had time to learn driving. In his late 60s now, he bought an apartment only a couple of years back, until then living in hotels every night, for nearly 40 years! Needless to say, he is not married nor having kids. He rarely stays in any city – US or international – for more than a day, and in last year alone clocked 50,000 air miles, flying around the globe every day for meetings with CEOs. Legend has it that he has never visited his own office or moved in to his apartment. But his office couriers him fresh sets of clothes and accessories three days a week, to wherever he is.

RAM CHARAN'S RECESSION STRATEGY
What does Ram Charan think of this downturn? Firstly, he feels that the recession will drag so long in the developed markets that it will seem permanent. Even after recession ends, according to Ram Charan, leverage will remain out of favour with the public, with nobody ready to commit serious investments. He also puts the political solution before the corporate solution. Says Ram Charan, “It is largely out of corporate hands. Washington needs to come up with a coordinated plan. I just came back from India, and government action there is much more coordinated.” So, what should corporate leaders do? “Leadership is judged in times of crisis. They must be optimistic about weathering the storm, that solutions will be found. But they need to raise cash, and not take risks, especially with cash. Those who can’t raise cash should consider mergers without waiting for the 11th hour,” feels Ram Charan.

BOOK'S BY RAM CHARAN
Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty
Execution
Every Business is a Growth Business
Know How: The 8 Skills That Separate People Who Perform From Those Who Don’t

Watch This Space For The Full Cover Story. Bookmark Below.

Coming Up Soon:

2) AMARTYA SEN: “Time to Address Neglected Issues”

3) CK PRAHALAD: “Provide Products as Services”

4) VIJAY GOVINDARAJAN: “Innovation = Creativity X Execution”

5) TARUN KHANNA: “Don’t Believe in Labels”

Recession Strategies From Ram Charan & Other Top Gurus

Do a Satyam-Rescue on the Economy

EDITORIAL

Amidst election madness and recession blues, a good thing went unnoticed. That is, for its goodness.

Satyam found a suitor. And a good suitor at that. Willing to pay more than the fair price.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Kamal Nath, and Prem Chand Gupta can be proud.

The 6 guys that they entrusted ‘Truth Computer Services’ with, did a splendid job. From Chairman Kiran Karnik to Directors Deepak Parekh, TN Manoharan, Tarun Das, C Achutan, & SB Manik, all worked overtime to save India’s fourth largest IT services company and its 40,000 employees, and more importantly, thwart India Inc from feeling Satyam’s ripple effects.

Most of these guys already had their hands full. Still they found time for Satyam. They systematically divided the tough task between them, according to their core strengths. Karnik looked after panicked clients, Parekh negotiated with the banks, Das selected consultants, Achutan took on legal compliance, and Manoharan & Mainak managed the forensic audit to clean up India’s largest corporate fraud to date.

It was not an easy task. On one side were the Big-3 hawks who found high ethics in not absorbing Satyam employees, but no ethical problem in poaching Satyam clients. On the other side were hard bargainers like BK Modi and Wilbur Ross who wanted Satyam for a song. And to complicate things, AM Naik who wanted to correct L&T’s earlier investment blunder in Satyam.

That is why the Satyam Board deserves kudos. It was a near miracle that they pulled off, that Anand Mahindra agreed to buy 51% in Satyam for Rs. 2890 crore, at Rs. 58 per share.

What a far cry from how the Tatas were allowed to take over a clean, booming operation like VSNL in 2000. That was for a song.

TechMahindra was the better fit for Satyam, in more ways than one, because the combined entity is something that is nearer in size and capability to compete with the Big-3.

Even Ramalinga Raju would have smiled in his cell. All through the years, his distant-fourth operation was left breathing hard, unsuccessfully trying to compete with the shrewdly sophisticated Big-3. In fact, there are analysts who feel that this unfair competition and the subsequent margin-cuts contributed much to Satyam’s problems.

The lesson from the Satyam rescue episode is simple. There is no limit to what we can achieve if there is honest political will to appoint people with integrity, and if those people work hard to live up to the trust.

Indian fiscal 2009-10 calls for such a team. India has produced many capable brains. But many of them are in US universities, consulting for America Inc and American politicians. Seasonal Magazine presents five such gurus who share their views on how to tackle this downturn.

Let us hope for a decisive government and a decisive economic team.

John Antony

Do a Satyam-Rescue on the Economy

How Google Stays Ahead of Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft, Wikipedia, MySpace, & Twitter

15 Lessons From a 3-IN-1 Leader - Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt

His last part-time job was to advice Barack Obama during his campaign. His next part-time job is to advice David Cameron on how to become UK’s next Prime Minister. Between such temporary assignments, Dr. Eric Schmidt holds a regular job – Chairman & CEO of Google Inc. While screening the then 45-year old Dr. Schmidt for the Chairman’s job in 2001, founders and wonder-boys Larry Page & Sergey Brin – both not yet 28 then – are said to have expressed a unique reservation – “We need you in the future, but not now.” But encouraged by their venture capital partners, Larry & Sergey would take aboard Dr. Schmidt as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Just five months later, experiencing Dr. Schmidt’s calibre directly, Larry & Sergey would hand over the CEO post too to this IT industry veteran. Ever since then, this unlikely threesome has gelled like anything, in creating what is arguably the world’s most powerful brand, most ambitious business, and, even more importantly, a hitherto unknown corporate culture that is designed for success. This triumvirate’s synergy has amazed observers so much, with ‘PC World’ considering them as one person while naming them #1 in Web’s 50 Most Important People. The culture that they fostered in Google is something that took the company from zero to hero in less than 5 years. Within 1 year of its incorporation, Google encountered the dotcom burst. It had no revenue model then, but it survived. In 2009, they have a solid revenue model but due to its 97% reliance on routine advertising, Google is again at crossroads. Or is it? Anyway, this is also a time when Google faces some of the smartest competitors ever - ranging from groundbreaking innovators like Facebook and Twitter, to awesome communities like Wikipedia and MySpace, and of course, old giants looking at regaining lost glory through an intelligent alliance - Yahoo and Microsoft. Still, most analysts believe that Google does so many things so perfectly that they will outlive and outsmart this recession too. How Google does this should be essential feed for all companies. Seasonal Magazine brings you hot tips from this triumvirate – through the mind of Dr. Schmidt - that should help any business survive this round. He is a leader who volunteered to learn how to fly a jet, so that the mission-critical nature of leading an organization is never forgotten. He draws $1 as salary, and is one among a few non-founder, non-promoter, non-inheritor CEOs who became billionaires on stock options alone.

LESSON 7:
Going Against the Wind

Dr. Schmidt has always been amazed at how entrepreneurial brains work. Founders of organizations look at the industry structure quite differently, says this CEO. It is as though when all others look, they see a structure; and when these entrepreneurs look at the same industry, they see a radically different structure. Part of this difference is that ordinary mortals see the industry as it is, while entrepreneurs see what the industry could be in the coming years and their company’s role in it. It is a trait Larry & Sergey shares with other great founders like Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs, and many others, says Dr. Schmidt. Three decades back, looking at a formidable hardware dominated industry, Bill Gates, instead of getting daunted, had the audacity to dream that software would dominate hardware in the coming years, and that his then tiny Microsoft could dominate software like no other company. Oracle’s Larry Ellison pinned all his hopes on relational databases, even when database major IBM pooh-poohed the idea. Ellison says his single-most important success trait was that he always questioned the experts. Steve Jobs dreamt of not only a superior computer, but a playful, colourful computer, when the rest 99% of the industry was dreaming in only shades of grey. For this, Jobs knew that the Apple’s working culture needs to be changed, and that is why he started wearing jeans-tees-sneakers to office, says Dr. Schmidt. Google’s history is also dotted with this kind of different thinking, of going against the wind. During 1999 and early 2000, Larry & Sergey had a splendid window-of-opportunity to opt for an IPO, by riding the unprecedented dotcom bubble. Both were in their mid-twenties, and would have ended up multibillionaires. All dotcom companies powered by VC funds were doing exactly that, and Google’s VCs too wanted Larry & Sergey to follow suit. But they resisted going public like anything, arguing that a better opportunity would come. It was incredible patience, says Dr. Schmidt, taking into account its fledgling revenue model then. And soon the bubble burst and the IPO market would not resurrect for the next 3 to 4 years. Yahoo! meanwhile offered to buy Google for a fair price of $1 billion, which Larry & Sergey turned down, by demanding an absurd price of $3 billion! But in 2004, proving their stand, these co-founders together with Chairman & CEO Dr. Schmidt would take Google public, thus giving it a valuation of $23 billion! (at current prices it is around $100 billion).

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Coming Up Soon:

LESSON 1:
Are Your People Knowledgeable?

LESSON 2:
Innovation is Daring to Fail

LESSON 3:
Incredible Focus on Your Business Model

LESSON 4:
Build-it-Yourself is the Culture

LESSON 5:
Opportunity Costs

LESSON 6:
Iterative Decision Making

LESSON 8:
Shorter Meetings, Larger Meetings

LESSON 9:
Meetings With Dissidence & Deadlines

LESSON 10:
Who Sets the Agenda?

LESSON 11:
Rephrasing Challenges

LESSON 12:
Risk Taking

LESSON 13:
Setting the Mission

LESSON 14:
Superior Strategy

LESSON 15:
70/20/10 Rule

How Google Stays Ahead of Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft, Wikipedia, MySpace, & Twitter

Frontier Mediville From Frontier Lifeline

Designing the Future of Healthcare

The future of healthcare is not happening in US. But in a hitherto nondescript village called Elavur, 45 km from Chennai, South India’s biggest metropolis. India’s first medical SEZ is happening here on 400 acres of land, and refreshingly it is not by real estate giants or corporate hospitals. And surprisingly, not named a medi-city too. Frontier Mediville is the brainchild of Dr. KM Cherian, one of the world’s most accomplished cardiac surgeons. A medical entrepreneur who is building one of the largest medical facilities in the world, but who still prefers to be a surgeon to his patients from over 21 countries. Mediville has no role model in the world, not with components like a National Medical Science Park and a Bio Hospital. Instead, Mediville will be the role model for the future.

Read Full Story Here -> Seasonal Magazine - April-May 2009 -> (Page 26)

Frontier Mediville From Frontier Lifeline

MIOT Grows 10 Times in 10 Years

THE 'MAYO OF MADRAS' TO GROW 25 TIMES IN NEXT 2 YEARS

Padmasri Dr. PVA Mohandas led MIOT Hospitals of Chennai is celebrating its 10th anniversary in style. From 40 beds to 400 beds, and from a single speciality to a multi super speciality, MIOT has grown unbelievably fast in its first 10 years. The further vision of Dr. Mohandas and Chairman Mrs. Mallika Mohandas is even more challenging – to grow 25 times by the 12th anniversary by starting MIOT International, a new hospital-inside-hospital with 600 rooms and 15 operation theatres.

Read Full Story Here -> Seasonal Magazine - April-May 2009 -> (Page 36)

MIOT Grows 10 Times in 10 Years

NATUROC From NITCO

After Vitrified, What?

After ceramic and vitrified, and after glossy and matt, Nitco is pioneering a 3rd category of tiles in the country – Naturoc. The Gres Lapato range in Naturoc gives the best of both worlds- it’s a matt tile and yet has a glossy finish. It addresses all needs the customer looks for in flooring – natural looking designs, anti-skid properties, and easy to clean as well. Inspired from the nature around us and crafted in association with design studios in Italy, Naturoc is being launched at an investment of Rs. 100 crores, but expected to bring in an additional Rs. 150 crores to Nitco. Naturoc is being launched at affordable price points.

Read Full Story Here -> Seasonal Magazine - April-May 2009 -> (Page 6)

NATUROC From NITCO

Buying a Branded Home in India? Think Again…

Driven by the downturn, expensive apartments and villas have ceased to be high-return investments in India, thereby finishing off the only remaining reason for buying one such unit in the country. The only exceptions are ultra-low-cost homes and the high-value offerings from a few national developers.

First, a little history.

Late 2007. Seasonal Magazine issued an advisory to homebuyers:

‘AVOID BUYING APARTMENTS NOW’

It was also the cover story for our August 2007 Issue.

Needless to say, those who heeded this advice saved lakhs of hard-earned money. Those who didn’t, lost millions. Some lost crores.

We still get mails from some unexpected part of this globe, thanking us for this advice. NRIs are everywhere these days, but when it comes to a home, they want one in their mother-country.

Our cover story was no run-of-the-mill feature. It was well-researched and contained the distilled essence of our extensive interactions with developers and homebuyers across India, for more than 7 years.

And it was whistle-blowing at its best. Imagine predicting the market a good 14 months ahead! It was at the right moment in time, because homes tend to be long-drawn affairs for most homebuyers, thanks to the exorbitant prices that can only be financed through 10, 15, or 20 year loans.

And it was not only for the benefit of homebuyers. Many developers too gained by listening to this predictive story, and turning their products more homebuyer friendly.

We cited 8 rock-solid reasons why it was foolish to opt for a branded home then. If you haven’t read this story yet, we have posted a synopsis for you here:

Seasonal Magazine – August 2007 – Cover Story - AVOID BUYING APARTMENTS NOW

You will find that many of these 8 reasons are still valid, if not more valid.

Buying a Branded Home in India? Think Again…

Homebuying Advisory For Kerala - 2009-10 - Seasonal Magazine

With the Kerala real estate market soaked in uncertainties, here are the only safe options for buying a home during 2009-10:

READY-TO-MOVE-IN HOMES @ BARGAIN PRICES
Fully ready to occupy homes make some sense. That is, if you get it for bargain prices. Not at fancy rates like Rs. 2500 per sq ft. Yes, that is fancy these days. Especially, if it is from a local, Kerala-only builder. Rs. 1000 per sq ft for the 1 or 2 cents of undivided share in the land, and another 1000 per sq ft for the construction. Surprised? Yes, that is what it really costs them, including decent profit. Need you pay for their overheads? If you have 10 or 20 lakhs to spare for their overheads and ‘brand’, donate to them. But remember, it is no BMW or Merc you are getting. Our advice is to ask for Rs. 1800. It is a bargain. Let them take it or leave it.

HIGH VALUE HOMES FROM NATIONAL DEVELOPERS

Nationally branded homes still make some sense. Because, even if you want to go for a distress sale, the buying community will be wider. The design, amenities, and build quality are also much higher. We don’t know of any local, Kerala-only builder who measure up to this level. According to the location, a good price for a nationally branded home can range from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 4000 per sq ft in Kerala. When buying above that, you should be sure that you really need it. Like, for owning a piece of Marine Drive or such luxe desires. Try for projects that are racing to completion, say, 6 months or so, from now.

ULTRA-LOW-COST APARTMENTS & VILLAS
These units make immense sense, even if they are ongoing projects. But make sure that they are big enough for your current requirements, and, if it is a villa, extensible enough for your future requirements, say, five or ten years down the lane. Also, ensure that the lower prices are achieved by lower per-sq-ft rates and not lower sq-fts. Good prices to look for are in the Rs. 1250 to Rs. 1500 range. That way, you can own a 1000 sq ft apartment for Rs. 12.5 to Rs. 15 lakhs. If it is a 1000 sq ft villa, look for prices between Rs. 1900 to Rs. 2200 per sq ft for a 3 to 5 cents unit. It will come up to Rs. 19 to Rs. 22 lakhs. Villas also have the advantage of better completion times, as there is no need for a superstructure.

BEWARE OF PRICE CARTELS
Home prices across India have shrunk by 30%. Banks are pressurizing builders to cut costs further to realistic levels. But if these lower rates are not reflected in your locality, a price cartel might be working. They come in different forms, industry associations or forums being one. The strategy is simple. You want a home in a particular suburb. You go to Builder A; you are offered Rs. 3000 per sq ft. Pretty sure that it doesn’t cost that much for a home there, you go to Builder B, but is again met with Rs. 3000 per sq ft. You may continue visiting C, D, or up to Z, but the response will be the same; Rs. 3000 per sq ft. Finally, you are convinced that the running rate at your favourite suburb is Rs. 3000. Such cartels often have non-competitive clauses in their charters, which will include mechanisms to maintain prices at exorbitantly high levels. Thankfully, there are still many honest high-volume developers who are not part of any such cartels. Always, opt for them first.

DO-IT-YOURSELF HOMES
With the organized market in uncertainty, do-it-yourself homes are making a strong comeback in Kerala. Even in a dense district like Ernakulam, you can still get pristine land for Rs. 1 lakh per cent. And that too within a 30 minutes to 45 minutes travelling distance from the city centre. With building material costs down, even posh construction will cost only Rs. 1000 per sq ft. So, for a 1000 sq ft independent villa on 5 cents of land, all it costs is Rs. 15 lakhs. But a do-it-yourself home is not for the faint-hearted. Nor does it require much courage. Some hard work, and that is it. Your home, according to your dreams, in your favourite location. You can avail loan to buy property, take another loan later to build, or build it in a staggered way on your own funds. Another definite plus is the very low pollution in the affordable suburbs. Savings will also come on hospital bills. If you can afford 10 cents to plant a couple of fruit trees, that is what we call luxury. Not shared spas.

CONTINUE ON RENT
If you don’t have an ancestral home to live now, but still feel uncertain to commit to a home loan or home, we don’t blame you. Continuing on rent still makes immense sense. When the interest rates are high – as it is now – home loan EMIs don’t make much sense. An FD of Rs. 25 lakhs will fetch Rs. 20,000 per month for the rest of your life, in this interest regime. Building such a nest egg is also a viable option during these times. But be on the lookout always for that tipping point when home EMIs make better sense than monthly rent payments. In any case, investing in a small piece of land for future use is a wise decision. Homes – branded or not - never appreciate like vacant land.

To read the full advisory, subscribe to Seasonal Magazine at www.seasonalmagazine.com

Homebuying Advisory For Kerala - 2009-10 - Seasonal Magazine