WEEKLY COLUMN

·        MONEY CAN’T BUY HAPPINESS  ! ?

Recent New York Times : Broadly speaking, the data now indicate that as people get richer, they report getting happier too. Though , it’s not quite simple. Justin Wolfers, an economist at the University of Michigan who helps advise the U.S. government on happiness statistics, told that poor people in poor countries are not unhappy simply because they don’t have wads of cash. They are more likely to have fewer choices, more children who die in child-birth and other grave problems. And wealthier nations are generally happier, there is no evidence, Wolfers says, that an artist would be happier, if she became a hedge-fund trader.

·        INDIAN CURRENCY : MOST UNDERVALUED

India has the most undervalued currency amongst the major economies of the world. The Index, that forms its exchange rate based on the price of a standard McDonald burger in each country, is of the view that an exchange rate of Rs 20.4 to the dollar will buy you the same burger in US that you buy in India. Thus, undervaluation is as high as around 60 %. On purchasing power parity basis, India does punch above its weight in the economic packing order.

·        COGNIZANT EXPECTS 17 % REVENUE GROWTH IN 2013

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.  posted a 16 % rise in December quarter profit and forecast revenue growth at 17 % for 2013, confirming expectations of a potential recovery in India’s $ 70 bn software exports sector.

·        INDIA’S GROWTH SEEN AT 5 % !

In an unpleasant shock, India’s economy is projected to grow at 5 % in the current financial year, the lowest in a decade and substantially lower than the 5.7 % projected earlier by the finance ministry.

·        BHARTI AIRTEL SPLITS INDIAN OPERATIONS INTO EIGHT SEGMENTS

In a major organisational restructuring, telecom firm Bharti Airtel Ltd recently split its business into eight segments with a view to build a more connected organisation.

·        ARGENTINA FREEZES PRICES

Argentinal announced a two month price freeze on supermarket products, recently – in an effort to break spiralling inflation. The price freeze applies to every product in all the nation’s largest supermarkets – s group including Walmart, Carrefour, Colo, Jumbo, Disco and other large chains. The companies’ trade group, representing 70 % of the Argentina market, reached the acoord with Commerce Secretary, the government’s news agency Telam reported.  Earlier, Argentina government said, inflation was only 10 %, turned out, like 30 % !

·        BILL GATES : INDIA LESS DEPENDENT ON AID

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is of the view that India is becoming less dependent on aid. The country may no longer require in the future. Strong growth by the India Inc. and rise of the middle class with more disposable incomes may be the reasons. However, India has a long way to go while tackling the issues of infrastructure, corruption and politics.

·        CHINESE STEEL COMPANIES – NO MORE CASH COWS FOR GOVERNMENT

An article in the Financial Times reports that cash-strapped local governments started demanding taxes upto 2 year in advance from steel companies. Chinese steel mills account for nearly 50 % of the total global steel production. These were the cash cows for local governments. Slowdown in the economy has adversely affected the fortunes of these companies. Some biggest Chinese companies reported about 98 % yoy drop in profits last year.  Some unprofitable mills saw losses zooming sevenfold.  It is said that companies that have not conformed to these demands have been subjected to audits, investigations and fines.

·        FOREIGN RETAILERS, YET TO COME IN INDIA

As per a daily, four months have passed since the green signal to retail Foreign Direct Investment and not a single investment proposal has been received, yet. Some of the riders are indeed tough for the retailers to wrap their hands around. There is the independence given to states to reject the FDI in their states. This clearly puts restrictions on the number of cities foreign retailers can expand to. Thus, in view of these issues, FDI front takes a long time to come.

Dear Readers :

I am Minesh Gandhi, the Managing Director and founder of MIRA INFORM, a company that has been actively involved in Credit Management Services, Background Check and Collection of Overdue Accounts over the last 30 years. In this short e-bulletins I would like to share my experience, with some important and summarized excerpts from my day to day reading. This is a complimentary WEEKLY COLUMN for all the well-wishers of MIRA INFORM, 

Today, this is my 57th WEEKLY COLUMN !  .

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JOKE

A young Law Student, having failed his 3^rd year Law exam, goes up to his crusty old professor, who is renowned for his razor-sharp legal mind. Student : “Sir, do you really understand everything about the subject?”  Professor : “Actually, I probably do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be a professor, would I?”  Student : “OK, so I’d like to ask you a question. If you can give me the correct answer, I will accept my marks as they are. If you can’t give me the correct answer, however, you’ll have to give me an “A”. Professor : “Hmmm, alright. So what is the question?”    Student : “What is legal but not logical, logical but not legal and neither logical nor legal?”   The professor continues to wrack his brain over the question all afternoon but still can’t get the answer. So finally he calls in a group of his brightest students and tells them, he has really, really a tough question to answer : “What is legal but not logical, logical but not legal and neither logical nor legal ?”.  To the professor’s surprise, all students immediately raise their hands. “All right”, says  the professor, and asks his favourite student to answer. “It’s quite easy, sir” says the student, “You see, you are 75 years old and married to a 24 year old woman, which is legal but not logical. Your wife has a 20 year old lover which is logical but not legal. And your wife’s lover failed his exam but you’ve just given him an “A”, which is neither legal nor logical!” Professor becomes comatose !

INSPIRATIONAL

Success is almost in any field depends more on energy and drive than it does on intelligence. This explains, why we have so many stupid leaders. – Sloan Wilson

                                                                                                          With warm personal regards,