Mayawati slammed for Dalit policies

Mayawati slammed for Dalit policies

 With BSP chief Miss Mayawati looking to widen her vote base from Bahujan to Sarvajan, her opponents, who have been vying to make inroads in her Dalit bastion, have accused her of compromising on the interests of the community and ideals of her mentor Kanshi Ram.
President of Indian Justice Party Mr Udit Raj, a known critic of Miss Mayawati, accused the Uttar Pradesh chief minister of colluding with the "Manuvadi forces" by shifting her focus from Bahujan Hitaya to Sarvajan Hitaya. Mr Udit Raj, who is also the general secretary of the newly formed National Dalit Front headed by Union minister and the president of Lok Janshakti Party Ram Mr Vilas Paswan, said that the Front can no longer allow anybody to use Dalits as “political capital” and would “expose the BSP, which has cheated them”.
The NDF, which has also been joined by the Republican Party of India (A) led by Mr Ramdas Athawale, MP, would hold a series of rallies addressing Mr Khatik, Balmiki and Paswans beginning December at Allahabad, Fatehpur and Pratapgarh, said Mr Udit Raj. The Dalit voters are also being targeted by Mr RK Chowdhury-led Rashtriya Swabhimaan Party and Mr Sonelal Patel's Apna Dal.  These leaders, who have been in BSP one time or the other, have now decided to join hands to against Miss Mayawati.

Meet to focus on Dalit alleviation

In MALDA,West Bengal, The Vice-Chancellor of University of Gour Banga (UGB), Prof. Surabhi Banerjee, inaugurated a UGC sponsored two day seminar on ‘Social inequality and Dalits in India:
The changing scenario’ organised by the department of political science of Malda women's college. Principal of the Malda women's college, Dr Chaitali Chattaraj, said that since 62 years of independence the Dalits have remained an ‘excluded’ group in the caste dominated Indian society. “We must nurture with care the growing aspirations among the educated Dalits as an effective means to assimilate them in the national mainstream,” he said.
The V-C of the UGB, Prof. Surabhi Banerjee elucidated how the Dalits were still being denied access to higher education. “We should develop an inclusive education policy in 11th five year plan keeping in mind the objective of Dalit empowerment,” she said. She disclosed that the running of the new university was far from being a smooth sailing.
“Yet in time to come the university would gain eminence,” she hoped.
Several research scholars, academicians, experts in political science from the universities of Jadavpur, Calcutta, Burdwan and North Bengal are expected to present their papers in course of the seminar.

Hill dispute: Intuc calls for Governor’s intervention

Statesman News Service
SILIGURI, Nov. 7: The Intuc Darjeeling district committee has demanded for the intervention of Governor, Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi, to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Darjeeling Hills.
Sending a memorandum to Mr Gandhi through the additional district magistrate (ADM) Siliguri this afternoon, the Congress’ trade union held the Left Front government of the state responsible for the Darjeeling imbroglio and urged the governor to intervene in the dispute, which is ‘taking a toll on the peace, harmony and prosperity of the region'.
“The LF government, particularly the CPI-M is responsible for the touble in Darjeeling. At a time when the state administration has proven to be a complete failure in handling the situation in Darjeeling, the governor during his last visit to Darjeeling was successful in mitigating the agitation, even if it is temporarily.
Hence, we urged the governor to actively intervene in the matter and help resolve the dispute amicably,” the Intuc district president, Mr Aloke Chakrovorty said after serving the memorandum to the ADM.
Earlier in the day, the Intuc brought out a rally in Siliguri stressing on a harmonious relation between the Hills and the plains in view of the ongoing ‘Gorkhaland’ agitation in the Darjeeling Hills.
The rally commenced from the Sukna railway station located in the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) area at a distance of about 12 km from Siliguri and congregated at Court More in the town.
The rally drew a sizeable number of participants putting aside a ‘boycott’ announced by the district Congress president, Mr Shanklar Malakar. Prominent Congress faces like Jalpaiguri Municipality chairman Mr Mohan Basu, Siliguri ward councilor Mr Sushil Roy, Mr Narayan Ghosh, Md Abbas (Seva Dal), Md Mumtaz Hussain (Minority Congress) and others took part in the rally.

Gulf airlines stall Calcutta take-off
SANJAY MANDAL 
 
Grounded for now 
Calcutta, Nov. 8: Two Gulf-based airlines that had thought of starting direct flights from the city sometime soon have shelved their plans, a day after British Airways said it was scrapping its Calcutta-London flight from March.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar Airways had both acquired rights to fly to and from Calcutta.

Today, a senior Etihad official said from Delhi: “There are no plans now to launch flights in the Calcutta-Abu Dhabi sector.”

Etihad had announced it would start Calcutta-Abu Dhabi direct flights but had not fixed the weekly frequency.

Qatar Airways had plans to start a Doha-Calcutta flight but didn’t sound too keen any more. “It does not seem to be happening now,” an airline official said.

Sources have cited global recession and increase in air turbine fuel surcharge as reasons that have compelled airlines to go for route rationalisation that has hit Calcutta the most.

British Airways, which flies Calcutta-London three times a week, will snap the direct link from March 28, 2009. Officials said the route was not making a profitable contribution to the airline.

In October, Air India had stopped services on this route.

German airline Lufthansa has cut its weekly flight frequency to the city from five to three from this winter.

Aviation industry sources said Calcutta was becoming a “non-viable” sector for international airline operators because of shrinking passenger load. Although 2007 saw 20 per cent more international passengers over the previous year, the rate slumped to 5 per cent this year.

“We apprehend a negative growth in 2009 if the trend continues,” said a senior official of an international airline that has flights from the city.

A survey by the Airports Authority of India also revealed a dip in passenger traffic over the past few months.

While the number of domestic and international travellers in the first four months of 2007 grew between 20 and 25 per cent over the corresponding period the year before, the growth was 8 to 10 per cent in the same period in 2008.

“Any long-haul flight needs nearly 80 per cent passenger load to stay viable. But the load factor now is much less than that,” said an official of a European airline.

Travel officials said they were worried. “The withdrawals and deferring of launch plans are sending ominous signals to the travel industry in eastern India,” said Anil Punjabi, chairman (east), Travel Agents Federation of India. “We are appealing to British Airways to reconsider its decision.”

Wrong runway

A Singapore Airlines flight tonight entered the wrong runway while taking off.

“The flight entered the secondary runway instead of the main one,” a Calcutta airport official said. No casualty was reported.
 
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081109/jsp/bengal/story_10085113.jsp

  
 
  
Malaria death amid grim health forecast 
A STAFF REPORTER
 
Calcutta, Nov. 8: The health minister today said a late winter could increase the chances of vector-borne diseases spreading in the city that recorded its 12th malaria death in two months this afternoon.

Rajesh Mallick, a CMC casual worker who stayed in quarters allotted to civic staff in Chetla, died in Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital.

“He had fever for the past two days. We first took him to Bangur Hospital where blood tests confirmed malignant malaria,” said Rajesh’s friend Dhananjoy Singh.

The 28-year-old was taken to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital after his condition deteriorated last night.

The toll from vector-borne diseases has now reached 26 in the city, including three in ward number 81, where Rajesh stayed.

Health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra said the situation could deteriorate.

“We cannot afford to be complacent. Winter is late this year. If it rains in between and there is fresh accumulation of water, the situation will become worse,” he said.

“Everyone involved in vector control needs to work harder.”

Mishra laid stress on early diagnosis, vector control and personal hygiene if the spread of mosquito-borne diseases had to be checked.

“All the three points are equally important,” the minister added.

He said the health department was conducting a case-by-case audit where there were confusions over the cause of death.

“We are studying each case where there is doubt about the exact cause of death,” the minister said.

He said malaria had already killed more people in the state this year than last year.

While 76 people died in 2007, the toll is already 81 this year.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081109/jsp/bengal/story_10085111.jsp
 
France offers new missiles

Press Trust of India
Paris, Nov. 7: France has offered to upgrade India's 51 frontline Mirage 2000 fighters in a “compressed delivery time-frame”, which could prove a boon to New Delhi in the backdrop of Indian Air Forces' force levels depleting to an alarming all time low of 32 Squadrons.
As part of the up-gradation deal almost at the final stages of conclusion, the new Mirages would come armed with longer range Air to Air Missiles to enhance the fighters capability in beyond visual range combat.
The fighters would be armed with new MICA missiles with a range of taking on targets almost 40 kms away, almost double the range of present missiles on Indian fighters.
“The time scale of upgraded fighter deliveries can be compressed and worked out according to IAFs needs,” Mr Francois Quentin, senior vice-president of the European Aerospace, Electronics and services Major, Thales, told visiting Indian newsmen here.
The Paris-headquartered company is leading the consortium of four companies comprising Dassault, the manufacturer of the fighter, Snecma, the engine makers and European Missile leader MBDA, which would undertake the Mirage upgrade, estimated to cost over 1.5 billion Euros.
India and France have been in negotiations for the past two years on the Mirage upgrade and the deal almost now in final stages could be the last major defence contract to be concluded by the government before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Under the proposed deal, for which technical and weapon proposals have been finalised, 51 Mirages of the IAF will get a fresh lease of life for another 20-25 years, get an extended range of almost 800 km without re-fuelling and longer range detection capability to confront and take on four to five targets simultaneously both on ground and in air.

Top 10 firms gain over Rs 20,000 cr in market cap
9 Nov 2008, 1805 hrs IST, PTI

MUMBAI: Breaking its six-week long losing trend, country's top 10 club added over Rs 20,000 crore to the combined market valuation in the past week, even as Reliance Industries and Infosys suffered losses.

The top 10 companies together gained Rs 23,273 crore in market cap last week, while country's most valued firm Reliance Industries alone lost Rs 24,063 crore from its valuation.

Also IT bellwether Infosys' valuation declined to Rs 6,371 crore in the past week.

At the end of Friday's trade, the total market value of the 10 most valued firms, comprising six from public sector and four private sector entities, stood at Rs 10,15,150 crore, up from Rs 9,91,877 crore a week ago.

Mukesh Ambani-led RIL saw its market value plummeting by Rs 24,063 crore in the past week to Rs 1,91,664 crore.

During the week, the shares of RIL witnessed a slump of over 15 per cent, which brought its valuation down from the crucial Rs two-trillion mark. However, it retained its numero uno position.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel slipped one place to the fourth position in top 10 club, whose gain of Rs 189 crore in market cap was offset by state-run NTPC's gain of Rs 8,781 crore.

Country's largest lender SBI grabbed the fifth spot, overtaking Infosys which suffered a decline in its mcap. Also state-run ONGC showed the highest gain of Rs 15,357 crore, followed by SBI's (Rs 8,872 crore) and NTPC (Rs 8,781 crore).

As per the elite list of top 10 firms, RIL is followed by ONGC (Rs 1,58,619 crore), NTPC (Rs 1,24,671 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,23,379 crore), SBI (Rs 79,312 crore), Infosys (Rs 72,728 crore), BHEL (Rs 68,782 crore), MMTC (Rs 68,726 crore), ITC (Rs 65,908 crore) and NMDC (Rs 61,810 crore).

China okays $586 billion stimulus to boost economy
9 Nov 2008, 1918 hrs IST, REUTERS

BEIJING: China's cabinet has approved a massive stimulus package worth 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) through 2010 to boost domestic demand, the official Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.

Investments will be targeted at infrastructure, social welfare and other key sectors as part of an "active" fiscal policy, Xinhua said.

It did not say how the extra spending would be financed.

China ran a consolidated budget surplus in the first half of the year of more than $170 billion, but tax revenue growth is slowing sharply as the economy reels under the impact of the global credit crunch.

The cabinet also announced an explicit shift in monetary policy, which it now described as "moderately easy."

The People's Bank of China has already cut interest rates three times since mid-September and scrapped lending quotas in a bid to support the economy.

Lending to small and medium enterprises will be increased as part of the plan, Xinhua said.

Officials have been flagging measures to pump up demand since gross domestic product growth slowed unexpectedly sharply to 9.0 percent in the third quarter from 10.4 percent in the first half.

Indicators for October have been even weaker.

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Giving details of the package, Xinhua said China would invest an additional 100 billion yuan in national construction this quarter and would earmark an extra 20 billion yuan next year for reconstruction in areas hit by major natural disasters.

Sector that will benefit from the extra spending include affordable housing, rural infrastructure, transport networks, environmental protection and technical innovation, Xinhua said.

The cabinet also confirmed a long-awaited reform to the way value added tax is calculated. The result will be to reduce companies' tax bill by 120 billion yuan a year, the agency added.

 Brown to introduce 15 billion pound package to end UK economic slump

9 Nov 2008, 1736 hrs IST, AGENCIES

LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is planning urgent tax cuts in a 15-billion-pound package of measures to combat the economic slump in 
the country.

According to The Mirror, Brown is considering extending tax credits to help more low-paid families as Britain teeters on the brink of recession. He is also looking at extending the stamp-duty "holiday" on more modestly-priced homes to help first-time buyers and revive the crisis-hit property market.

Other possible measures include a "significant" increase in winter fuel allowances and a further delay to rises in petrol duty.

According to The Mirror, Chancellor Alistair Darling is working on the rescue package which he will unveil in his Pre-Budget Report this month.

Brown will spell out his determination to build on Thursday's 1.5 per cent cut in interest rates in a major speech tomorrow.

And at the weekend he will meet President Bush in Washington to discuss the global crisis at the G20 world leaders' summit. Brown has already phoned Barack Obama to discuss the slump and the President-elect's plans for a "stimulus package" to boost the US economy.

Brown and Darling are keen to work with Obama and are looking at drawing up proposals which they hope will be copied across the globe.

Swiss economy could fall into recession-Econ Min

9 Nov 2008, 1601 hrs IST, REUTERS

ZURICH: The Swiss economy could enter a recession but the government is still confident jobless rates will not rocket, the country's economy 
minister said in an interview published on Sunday.

"We could fall into a recession, with negative growth for two successive quarters," Economy Minister Doris Leuthard told SonntagsBlick. "But I am still confident about the labour market. We still do not think there will be a rapid increase in unemployment numbers, partly because immigration will fall off," Leuthard said.

The Swiss National Bank cut interest rates for the second time in a month last week and might have to lower credit costs further soon to fight an economic slowdown and to stem the Swiss franc's rise.

Leuthard had said two weeks ago the government would probably cut its growth forecast for 2009 to under 1 per cent due to the slowing European economy, but that there were no signs of a recession.

Global turmoil hits gambling industry

9 Nov 2008, 1359 hrs IST, PTI

NEW YORK: The ongoing economic downturn has hit the gambling industry, a media report says. For Las Vegas Sands casino operator, a full-blown financial hurricane may be brewing, Time magazine reported, pointing out that in a November 5 filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company had revealed its cash was drying up.
For the first six months of 2008, according to the filing, the casino's earnings were "insufficient to cover fixed charges" by USD 80.1 million.
This gaping shortfall, astonishing for a company that was throwing off more than USD 600 million in free cash flow annually just three years ago, could trigger defaults on its USD 8.8 billion in long-term loans.
Controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas Sands is yet another high-flying company that has been caught out by the global credit crunch and crashing economy, Time said adding, with the US economy entering recession, gamblers in Las Vegas are growing more reluctant to part with their money.
Adelson, who is credited with helping to revitalise Las Vegas with his lavish Venetian and Palazzo resorts, has become a well known figure in Asia in recent years after he has spent billions building new casinos and hotels in the Chinese enclave of Macau.
The company, Las Vegas Sands was tapped to build an anchor casino and resort complex on Marina Bay in Singapore, when the country, several years ago, had decided to boost its economy by becoming a tourist destination.
The government of the conservative little city-state had then taken the controversial step of legalising gambling, the magazine said.
"In light of recent turmoil in the global markets," the 75-year-old Adelson, pledging to personally ensure the "success" of the Singapore casino, said in a statement released November 7, "I felt the need to personally reaffirm our commitment to the success of Marina Bay Sands."
Analysts were quoted as saying that the casino is too important for the economic diversification of Singapore, which is overwhelmingly dependent on electronics exports and trans-shipping, for it to collapse.
The Singapore Tourism Board may step in either with an infusion of cash or an agreement to assume a sizable chunk of the troubled casino operator's debt, the paper said.
"We are working closely and are in dialogue with Marina Bay Sands [Las Vegas Sands' Singapore subsidiary] to facilitate the completion of the project," says Margaret Teo, Assistant CEO of the Singapore Tourism Board.
She declined to provide further financial details. The statement from Adelson also did not specify what steps are being taken to bolster the finances of his company or its Marina Bay project, apart from announcing that executives from Las Vegas Sands had met with officials from the Singapore government over the last week, the paper said.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands, the news magazine said, has also been grappling with an unexpected problem -- Chinese government, increasingly alarmed by the profligacy and gambling debt of its citizens, had recently imposed visa restrictions on mainland tourists to Macau, reducing the anticipated cash flow from the company's Asia operations.

Manipulators stock it up in volatile market

9 Nov 2008, 0344 hrs IST, Shantanu Nandan Sharma, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: We have been hearing about it for a while but it seems to be official now. The recent volatility in the stock markets appears to have made manipulators active.

A number of brokers, based in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Ahmedabad, have colluded with promoters of small companies to manoeuvre their stock prices, an Intelligence Bureau (IB) report analysing India’s financial and commodity markets has said.

The IB report in its sub-head “market activity in specific stocks” has mentioned the detailed plans of manoeuvring stock prices of a number of companies. These include a Kolkata-based financial company, an Ahmedabad-based chemicals company, a Bangalore-based technology company, a Hyderabad-based chemicals company, a Mumbai-based mid-sized steel company and a large metals conglomerate. It also mentions names of around a dozen brokers and market intermediaries who have played an active role in the manoeuvering.

In fact, finance minister P Chidambaram had earlier warned that strict action would be taken against market manipulators. Meanwhile, market regulator SEBI has also decided to strengthen scrutiny to weed out manipulators during this volatile period.

According to the report, which tracked manipulations in September 2008, the types of market manipulations included placement of shares in benami and front entity company names, granting contracts to brokers to play with their shares and entering into agreement to indulge in circular trading thereby leading to price manipulation.

Highlighting the alleged insider trading in a large corporate house, the report mentions how the company had announced its decision to restructure it into three vertical companies before the decision was revoked. The report has also mentioned how the share price of the company first declined and then rose dramatically despite negative views expressed by analysts.

The IB report said the stock prices had already risen by 25% on the day the company announced the revocation of its earlier restructuring plan. SundayET mailed a questionnaire to the company, but failed to get any response.
When contacted, the official spokesperson of the ministry of home affairs (MHA) refused to comment on the IB report.

“Intelligence Bureau may come under our ministry, but I am not authorised to speak anything on IB reports,” he said.
The IB report also tracked commodity trends during the period and analysed the rising prices of onion and pulses, which has a bearing both on inflation and coming elections.

It said that onion prices were rising in the period July-September, 2008, on account of more demand for exports, higher stocks in storage and expectations of delayed kharif arrivals because of late sowing. In fact, the report cautioned that prices of pulses were likely to strengthen on account of a sharp decline in acreage resulting in lower production.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Analysis/Manipulators_stock_it_up_in_volatile_market/articleshow/3690435.cms

Promoters go the right(s) way to hike stake in cos

9 Nov 2008, 0354 hrs IST, Aman Dhall, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Despite rights issues failing to woo investors, India Inc is looking at raising money via this route. Companies such as Religare Enterprises, Dish TV, Tayo Rolls and Jaiprakash Associates are all set to come out with rights offerings this calendar year.

Analysts says Indian promoters are trying to take advantage of the loopholes in Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) guidelines which exempts this route of stake enhancement. Indian companies are expected to raise around Rs 7,000 core through rights offerings during the rest of 2008 from 26 issues.

It must be noted that promoters usually hike their stake in a company via preferential allotment or creeping acquisition that is capped at 5% in a year by SEBI. However, for Indian promoters, subscribing to the unsubscribed portion of a rights issue is a relatively unrestrained route to increase stake. And this clearly is the flavour of the season among promoters who want to raise stake in a company dramatically.

Recently, promoters of companies such as Tata Motors and Hindalco Industries took advantage of investors shunning their rights issue to raise stake in their respective companies. Post-issue, while promoters stake in Tata Motors went up to 42% from 33%, Hindalco promoters’ stake went up to 35.1% from 31.9%. Both the rights offering (Tata: Rs 4,145 crore & Hindalco: Rs 5,000 crore, respectively) received tepid response from the retail and institutional investors.

Interestingly, two other major Tata Group companies, Tata Investment Corporation and Indian Hotels, also received a lukewarm response for their rights issue from retail and institutional investors recently, and eventually the promoters had to intervene to save the blushes. Despite the indifferent response, promoters are planning another rights issue for its group company, Tayo Rolls that is expected to hit the capital markets next month.

The merchant banking community doesn’t rule out the possibility of these companies intentionally timing their rights issue during the current volatile times. And now Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, promoters of Religare Enterprises, have set the ball rolling by deciding to underwrite their entire rights issue (Rs 1,802 crore), which means that they will subscribe to their issue in case of non-subscription. This can result in their stake going up from 54% to 73%.

Religare Enterprises, in fact, would be the major beneficiary of SEBI’s new guidelines that relaxes the creeping acquisition norms and allows promoters to raise their stake through the route to 75%. Analysts unanimously agree that for a rights issue to be fully subscribed, it should be offered at a discount of at least 25%, given the current market conditions.

Opportunity for cash-rich companies

A senior merchant banker told SundayET that unless a promoter wants to increase his stake in the company, that too without unruffling a few feathers, nobody will raise money in the current depressed market.

“The markets are still not out of the woods yet. And why will an investor subscribe to a rights issue when he can probably buy shares of these companies at discounted rate from the secondary market. For the promoters, on the other hand, it’s a win-win situation in the longer scheme of things (unless they are cash-starved ),” he said.

According to him, a rationale promoter will either postpone the rights issue or offer at an attractive price to finance his plans. “But nobody is willing to offer a rights issue at a big discounted rate, since they don’t want to drive down their valuations in the market. That leaves a promoter with no other option but to withdraw the rights issue, which happened in the case of Suzlon Energy,” he said.

Recently, wind turbine maker Suzlon suspended its Rs 1,800 crore rights issue after Tatas and Birlas rights issue in the market got devolved on the underwriters. He said Religare Enterprises, which has recently announced plans to come out with a rights issue, also fits in the same league.

“Even if their offering is partly subscribed by retail and institutional investors, the Singh brothers’ have enough cash pile-up (recently sold Ranbaxy Laboratories) to bail it out. They will be more than happy to own additional stake in the company. Probably, that’s the reason why they are offering their rights issue at Rs 355 per share, a premium of Rs 25 over the current price of Rs 330,” he said.

Rohit Kapur, head of corporate finance, KPMG India believes that investors still don’t have appetite to take risk in the capital markets. “Investors don’t see themselves making money in this market. And financing for India Inc is a big challenge right now. However, in case of Religare, the promoters’ by fixing the rights issue price at a premium have made their intent very clear, they are more than willing to up their stake in the company,” he said.

For starters, in a rights issue, a significant portion of the offering is supported or underwritten by the promoter. Further, there are no conditions to be satisfied in terms of subscription levels as compared to an initial public offer (IPO) where 90% subscription is necessary.

Interestingly, India ranks sixth in the world in terms of funds raised through rights issue this year. India Inc has raised $6,867 mn in proceeds till date this year, which is almost six times of the amount amassed in the same period last year.

In case of Tata Motors, the promoters had to bail out around Rs 3,000 crore of the total issue. JM Financial Consultants and Citigroup Global Markets India, the offering’s underwriters, also absorbed Rs 300 crore of the total offering. Similarly, Hindalco Industries, the flagship company of the AV Birla conglomerate, was only subscribed 17% of the Rs 5,000 crore issue.

Forget stock gains, you may lose dividends too

7 Nov 2008, 0708 hrs IST, Vijay Gurav, ET Bureau

MUMBAI: After job cuts and pay cuts, India Inc is now wielding the axe on dividends. Several companies are expressing inability to pay dividend at 
the proposed rate, attributing it to factors like liquidity crunch, earnings slowdown and capex plans. They are either reducing the rate of dividend from the proposed level or even deciding not to pay any dividend, causing a double whammy for shareholders who have already suffered a huge capital loss since the start of this year.

The trend has so far been evident among small and medium-sized companies. However, analysts feel even shareholders of large-sized companies may have to be content with lower payouts, after having been pampered on fat dividend cheques in the last few years. The list of companies slashing dividends includes Atul Auto, Cambridge Technology, OM Metals and FCS Software Solutions. Another company Novopan Industries, in fact, has cancelled the dividend which was earlier recommended by the company’s board.

An increasing number of companies are expected to adopt a conservative dividend policy and plough back profits to maintain healthy cash position. “More and more corporates would now look to conserve cash in the wake of severe liquidity problem. Even shareholders may not be expecting higher dividend payouts, considering that it would be difficult to maintain profitability amid the ongoing economic slowdown,” said Karvy Stock Broking vice-president Ambareesh Baliga.

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Novopan Industries, a B-group company, recently informed the Bombay Stock Exchange about the cancellation of 18% dividend recommended by the board for 2007-08 in the meeting held on October 14, 2008. The company said the decision was taken with a view to conserve resources. Novopan posted lower net profit of Rs 5.5 crore on sales of Rs 83 crore in 2007-08, compared with Rs 6 crore and Rs 81 crore, respectively, in the previous year. The company’s profitability, in fact, took a hit in the quarter ended September 30, 2008 when it recorded a loss of Rs 5.9 crore on sales of Rs 22 crore. From its peak of Rs 85 on January 10, the stock has slipped 80% to close at Rs 18.6 on Thursday.

In another example, FCS Software slashed dividend from 25% to 11% for the year ended March 31, 2008. The company attributed the decision to its infrastructure expansion plans. It posted a net profit of Rs 32 crore on sales of Rs 204 crore during the last year, while figures stood at Rs 8.2 crore and Rs 52 crore, respectively, in the second quarter of the current year. The stock has fallen 77% from its high of Rs 145 touched on January 1, 2008.

Apart from FCS Software, companies like Atul Auto, Cambridge Technology and OM Metals have halved dividend to 5%, 5% and 10%, respectively. Justifying its move, Atul Auto, in the notice to BSE said, “By reducing the dividend outflow, the company will be able to maintain liquidity and will make necessary investment in R&D to give better results in future and, in turn, give better returns to its stakeholders.”

Despite a sharp fall in shares since January this year, many long-term investors are expected to have stayed invested in the market in anticipation of good dividend returns, according to analysts. If companies lower dividend because of earnings growth concerns, that may affect the sentiment, particularly towards such companies which had been offering good dividend yield in the past.

Indian companies climb on B-schools' wishlist

8 Nov 2008, 1240 hrs IST, Sujata Dutta Sachdeva, TNN

NEW DELHI: There may be a silver lining to the dark clouds of the meltdown for Indian corporates — top-notch talent is available, and willing to 
settle for reasonable packages.

A survey conducted among final year students of India's best MBA schools — including the IIMs, XLRI Jamshedpur and Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management — shows that 71% would rather work in India than abroad, and don't expect a rise in average compensation packages from last year.

Besides, leading Indian groups like the Tatas and Reliance are among their most preferred employers, following the fall of top investment banks like Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan.

The study, ‘B-school Pulse' done by leading staffing company TeamLease, global research company Synovate and management portal MBA Universe throws up some interesting results. Traditional favourites like McKinsey, Hindustan Unilever, Boston Consulting Group and Proctor & Gamble make up the top four, while the MBA students shrugged off recent rumours about ICICI Bank to make it their fifth most preferred employer.

Tata Group moved up four places in the list of ‘Top 25 Most Coveted MBA Recruiters of 2008' to the sixth most coveted company to work for. A similar survey done in 25 B-schools last year ranked Tata Group at number 10.

The rise of Reliance Group is even more remarkable. It moved up a whopping 10 places and has become the seventh most attractive place to work for. Last year, the Reliance Group was ranked number 17. The Aditya Birla Group moved up two notches to No. 19 while Mahindra and Mahindra debuted on the list at No. 20.

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"The recent meltdown of the financial markets has made a significant impact on majority of the B-school graduates. They prefer to tread cautiously in making career choices,'' says Sampath Shetty, VP, Permanent Staffing, TeamLease Services.

The fall of big investment bank like nine pins has meant they have lost their sheen among MBAs. Lehman Brothers, ranked number four last year and JP Morgan ranked number 11 last year have fallen off the list. Other foreign banks like Deutsche Bank and Barclay's Bank, too are no longer part of this coveted list. The void created by them is being filled by strong Indian brands like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HSBC and others.

In fact, MBA graduates feel that the sectors most likely to benefit and pull more quality talent due to the meltdown is: Management Consulting, FMCG, Telecom and Retailing. Diversified and Manufacturing is also likely to benefit. Interestingly, the meltdown has also meant compensation package which hovered between Rs 6 to Rs 15 lakh last year has not really changed. Their expectations have not risen at all this year.

MNCs hire private detectives to snoop on business partners

7 Nov 2008, 1330 hrs IST, Shreya Roy Chowdhury, TNN

NEW DELHI: They call it “due diligence.” An increasing number of corporate firms, especially multinationals, are hiring private detectives to check out the credentials of prospective business partners.

Top sleuths in the capital say the number of companies seeking such information has increased significantly over the last two years. Globe Detective Agency director Sachit Kumar says the number of “due diligence” cases has gone up by nearly 40-45 % in the last couple of years. Similarly, Ravi Kapur, director , Ace Detectives, says companies making enquiries for such work has almost doubled over the same period.

Detective Bhavna Paliwal cites the example of a design company that wanted its promoters ’ details probed. On enquiry, it was discovered that they had a reputation for blocking payments and had done it with other designers . Similarly, an MNC dealing in insurance hired sleuth Kunwar Vikram Singh’s Lancer’s Network to do a background check on its promoters . During investigations, they found one of them was a former smuggler. One of Singh’s more notable cases was of a Japanese manufacturing company that had bought land for a factory in south Rajasthan. The detectives found out that the plot was on the bed of a highly capricious river that changes course every few years making the region flood-prone . The Japanese moved their factory to Maharashtra.

 

Sleuths say a majority of the companies hiring them for due diligence are MNCs. “They don’t know the ground reality,” as Singh, also president of the Association of Private Detectives and Investigators, puts it. However, they refuse to divulge their names. According to Kapur, nearly 65% of the companies approaching them for such information are MNCs. Among his clients are a multi-national automotive giant and another entering into a joint venture in cosmetics. “The MNCs are dependent on their Indian partners. They want to know if they can trust their Indian partners and promoters,” he says.

 Singh feels a company’s ‘character’ can be gauged from its attitude to money and the nature of its litigation. “Many companies prosper through the evasion of a variety of taxes and due to the blessings of political parties who facilitate the obtaining of permits. Financial accounts are available in the public domain but Indian businessmen have mastered the art of manipulating them. An MNC will not know this. They can’t possibly understand that the future of their venture may depend on which party is in power,” he says.

Community-building, rather than compensation, is the new corporate mantra

8 Nov 2008, 0000 hrs IST, Moinak Mitra, ET Bureau

The sweltering month of June often cradles conversations that can best be termed ‘heated’. While the mercury outside reflected its planetary 
namesake, it was no different within Agilent Technologies’ well-manicured lawns, playground and bossa nova workstations in Gurgaon. That is, only when shrink Sanjay Chugh threw up the ‘Men-Are-From-Mars-And-Women-Are-From-Venus-Or-Are-They?’ dialectic to an open house. As the crowd gathered, clouds cleared. Suddenly, ‘alienation’ seemed a ten-lettered monster as the genders spewed out preconceived notions. And for the ever-Agilent HR, it was an opportunity to resolve the battle of the sexes. Once and for all, colleagues got to know each other better until it percolated down to the staffs’ personal lives.

That was a one-off from Agilent Technologies’ ‘Life Is Beautiful’ initiative that the company launched late last year to keep its 1,800-strong workforce visibly engaged. In a downturn, such creative solutions are required to stay the course, particularly in the case of Agilent, where 60% of the employees sport the Gen Y tag. “We also re-looked at the external environment and increased compensation mid-term by 5-15% since August,” says Jayanti Dave, director-HR of Agilent Technologies.

Employers are increasingly modeling their policies to suit their employee demographics. And community-building, rather than a drastic hike in compensation or whacko promises (read Google massage bars), seem to be the mantra of the times to tide over a slowdown. To that, adds Gangapriya Chakraverti, business leader at Mercer Consulting, “Good companies nowadays allow flexibility in work hours, location, the ability to design benefits (gym memberships, pension funds, etc.) and lots of learning.” Organisations are constantly benchmarking their people function against the best, to evaluate where they stand on the employee happiness index.

Also Read
 ? Corporate bands rock on to keep staff in high spirits
 ? MNCs hire private detectives to snoop on business partners
 ? Corporates pull out all stops to cut costs

During a slowdown, Chakraverti claims that organisations look at long-term prospects. “Good quality talent retention is important in times of low growth as it gives opportunity to groom talent,” says Anita Ramachandran, CEO of Cerebrus Consultants. Paying peanuts doesn’t help, buying peace does. A downturn is often a time of learning when the employee-employer engagement should be at its zenith, ensuring zero room for crib talk. “A slowdown is often the best of times to create leaders of the future,” observes Ramachandran. Some better workplaces across India are reflecting just that. In the face of modest growth, they seemed determined building on the employer brand and creating a sense of camaraderie within the ‘branded’ community—for the uninitiated, that’s retention.

Historically, IT has been at loggerheads with manufacturing and engineering. While the former attracted the newest of new-generation talent, the latter wallowed in blue-collar mechanics. For Santrupt Mishra, director-HR at AV Birla Group, a behemoth straddling both IT and manufacturing, the effects of a slowdown sink in “much later”. He contends that if there’s a sustained slowdown, companies become careful on discretionary costs. “Workplaces can only be buoyant, even in the most difficult of times, by continuous communication (employer-employee engagement).” India Inc’s people managers are busy doing everything to ensure that.

Slowdown casts gloom on natural resource buys by Indian companies

7 Nov 2008, 0959 hrs IST, Gargi Pareek, ECONOMICTIMES.COM

MUMBAI: Indian companies have rapidly acquired coal, iron ore, copper and other base metal assets in Indonesia, Africa and Latin America over the 
last two years. The concerns of supply security and volatile prices have been the main reasons for these acquisitions. However, the current scenario of demand slowdown and production cuts world over, may spell trouble for these companies.

Global metal majors have announced production cuts in the range of 30-35 per cent in the past few months leading to a steep fall in raw material prices. This may prove to be disadvantageous for metal companies since they have bought these mining assets for higher valuations.

Tata Steel acquired 7.3 per cent stake in Riversdale Mining, Mozambique for $120.7 million, taking its total stake in the company to 42 per cent. Last year Tata Steel had bought 35 per cent stake for $100 million. JSW Steel acquired mining assets in North Chile for $52 million. Global metal major Vedanta bought 28.4 per cent stake in African Konkola Copper Mines for $213 million.

Tata Power also acquired 30 per cent in coal mining unit in Indonesia worth $1.3 billion. Interestingly, another firm which had acquired 35 per cent stake in the coal mining unit for $3.4 billion recently sold off their stake for about $1.3 billion, indicating that valuations for these mining companies have come down significantly since prices of coal and ore have fallen sharply over last few months.

Coal prices have fallen from their peak of $300 per tonne a few months back to about $200 per tonne, a fall of almost 50 per cent. Iron ore prices have also seen a sharp decrease from $130 per tonne to about $60-65 per tonne. Iron ore and coal prices are usually contracted for a year for the metal manufacturing companies. In FY09, prices of both iron ore and coal went up sharply by about 100 per cent and 200 per cent respectively.

This had driven metal companies to aggressively secure raw material sources in India and abroad to insulate themselves from such price volatilities. However, under the current scenario, these investments may turn out to be bets that have gone wrong.

(Blue) Chips Are Down: Brokerages turn bearish on salaries

7 Nov 2008, 0135 hrs IST, ET Bureau

MUMBAI: There is more gloom ahead for employees in the broking industry. With all cost-cutting measures yielding limited results and no improvement 
in the business environment, broking firms are resorting to the most painful austerity measure: most of them are either reducing employee strength or salaries, or, in some cases, both.

Many broking outfits had deferred their decision to cut pay till Diwali. Now that the festive season is over and there are no signs of improvement in sentiment, broking firms have decided to go ahead with pay cuts. For instance, Motilal Oswal has cut salaries of its employees in the retail broking business by 10-20%. Those drawing over Rs 6 lakh as annual salary face a cut of 20% while those drawing below the figure see a reduction of 10%.

Confirming the move, Motilal Oswal Securities chairman and managing director Motilal Oswal said, “We have cut salaries of a few people in the retail broking business.” The company also plans to rationalise its branch network in certain cities to cut costs.

“However, branch rationalisation will not lead to job cuts,” says Mr Oswal. Last month, retail broking house Sharekhan cut salaries across the board by 5-15%.

Anand Rathi Securities group chairman Anand Rathi says the times are tough and cost-cutting is a continuous exercise. “At our end, we are restructuring business and combining two branches which are close by, but, at the same time, opening new branches as well. There has been no downsizing of an abnormal nature in our firm. If people are leaving on their own, we are not discouraging them,” Mr Rathi says.

Executives across several levels at B&K Securities, which is primarily into institutional broking, have seen their pay cheques shrink by 20-25%.

“A big part of the problem was broking outfits building fancy research teams, hiring for future, and paying higher-than-market salaries to retain talent,” a broker familiar with the developments says.

According to market sources, India Infoline is looking at restructuring the package of its sales staff to lower the burden of employee cost.

Market watchers say the scenario is quite grim across securities firms, be it domestic or foreign. The industry may witness a 5-10% reduction in workforce over two quarters if things do not improve from hereon, they say.

Till last year, broking firms had been on a reckless expansion spree, adding branches and manpower across cities. The move was partly driven by the lure of high valuations, as overseas players were keen to buy stakes in domestic broking outfits. With turnover having dropped sharply, the outfits are now struggling to sustain their branch networks, some of which were not profitable to begin with.

Quite a few of these players are said to be in the process of scaling back on their franchisee network and, in some cases, reducing manpower in some departments. ET had earlier reported how some broking houses had started converting branch offices into franchisee offices to tide over infrastructure costs.
 
Indian financial crisis may end in next 2 years:Bakul Dholakia

9 Nov 2008, 1723 hrs IST, PTI

AHMEDABAD: Former director, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad(IIM-A), Bakul Dholakia on Sunday said the Indian economy will be back on 
normal tracks in two years time.

Outer limit for Indian economy to come out of the financial crisis is two years, it wont be surprising if its done in one years time, he said.

Dholakia was addressing the delegates at inaugural session of 46th All India Kharif Convention-Kharif Oilseeds, Oil Trade and Industry here.

"The economic scenario of India is not as gloomy as it appears today, buoyancy in 2010 will be back," he said.

"Governments all over the world such as that of France, Britain, China and India acted so swiftly this time that it has enhanced our capabilities to bounce back fast," Dholakia said.

Going forward, India and China will be the two fastest growing economies of the world, he added.

According to Dholakia, although the Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) in the country have declined, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows continue to be positive.

The country is poised to achieve 8 per cent GDP growth in next two years, and emerge as an economic superpower by 2020, he said.

Indian economy was in recession between 1991-94 with just one billion dollar forex reserve. But it quickly rebounded within three years, Dholakia added.

"So when the economy can rebound in such a crisis, the chances of bouncing back with mountain of 300 billion dollar forex reserves are far better," he said. 'IMF growth forecast for India is below its potential growth'

9 Nov 2008, 0824 hrs IST, PTI
WASHINGTON: Appreciating measures taken by India to deal with the global financial crisis, the IMF has said the 6.3 per cent growth forcast for the country is considerably below its potential growth.
"For India we have marked our forecast down to 6.3 per cent of 2009 calendar year. That is considerably below what we consider to be India's potential growth," IMF Deputy Director for Asia Pacific region, Kalpana Kochhar, told media.
"There is a specific meaning to "potential"-- it is the rate at which you can grow without causing inflation. And for India we estimate that to be 7.5 per cent to 8 per cent. Our forecast of 6.3 per cent would put it quite a bit below the potential," Kochhar added.
Kochhar was talking in the context of the latest update issued by the Fund on the Global Economic Outlook which spoke of a deep dive in the economic growth of several advanced countries as well as countries in the Asia Pacific taking a hit on account of the global financial tumult.
She said that measures taken by the Indian government and the RBI to tackle the financial crisis were in right direction.
"In terms of policy measures taken in India so far,I think they have all been in the right direction-- the easing of the cash reserve ratio and the statutory liquidity ratio combined with the lowering of interest rates have been in the right direction. It is the direction of providing the market with liquidity. The Reserve Bank of India has announced the facility to provide dollar liquidity and that is also in the right direction" she said.

PM confident India will grow between 7-7.5 pc next year

9 Nov 2008, 1351 hrs IST, PTI

MUSCAT: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he expected India's economy to grow by a healthy 7 to 7.5 per cent in 2009, despite the global financial crisis eroding output across sectors.
"Due to the current financial crisis, growth rate may come down somewhat next year, but I am still confident that we will be able to achieve a rate of between 7-7.5 per cent," he said addressing the Indian community in Oman.
His forecast is a tad lower than the 7.7 projected in the Reserve Bank's survey of forecasters released earlier this month.
The International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook Update has pegged growth at a much lower 6.3 per cent for next year.
Already, the industrial production growth for August was a poor 1.3 per cent, followed by a modest 5.1 per cent growth in six core infrastructure industries in September. These are measures of how the industry has been expanding and tell us what to expect.
Besides, high cost of borrowings has made credit unattractive, thus hitting investments - key to robust economic growth. While the RBI has lowered key short-term lending rates, the government has goaded public and private sector banks to slash lending rates to increase money supply.

A crusader and a cavalier
07 Nov 2008
PETER ROEBUCK on India’s two departing heroes.

ANIL Kumble and Saurav Ganguly will be missed, but both retired at the right time. All good things come to an end. Now it is up to the younger fellows to take the next step. Within a few years, India should be the dominant force on the field as well as off it. Nothing else ought to be acceptable. The time for delirium has passed. As far as India are concerned, the era of hope has been replaced by a period of expectation.

Kumble was a cricketing colossus. A man of the highest integrity, yet also a fierce competitor, he did not so much surpass his supposed abilities as transcend them. In his youth he was a medium pace bowler and handy batsman, nothing out of the ordinary. One day he was called for throwing and asked the umpire about switching to spin. Permission was granted and thereafter, with unyielding spirit and unfailing determination, the Bangalorean made the most of his ability.

At first Kumble was a worn-pitch specialist, a relentless inquisitor on parched surfaces, a match-winner in his own backyard. Another man might have settled for the glory and acclamation that came his way as the crowd chanted his name. But Kumble was a perfectionist. He did not want to be a prince at home and a pauper overseas.

And so he reinvented himself, improving flight and change of pace, learning to take wickets on hard pitches. Often he was to be seen practising taking catches off his own bowling. The quest never ceased. Towards the end, he was working on a “carom” ball flicked from his fingers, but never did get to try it in Test cricket. Doubtless he will bring the same outlook to his photography, his main enthusiasm outside cricket and family.

Two memories linger from Kumble’s career. First comes the press conference at the SCG when after 15 questions the scribes finally managed to coax anger from the dignified, proud but sorely aggrieved competitor. Inwardly seething, Kumble said that “only one team was playing in the spirit of the game”. It was a devastating remark. Everyone knew he is not a grizzler.

Wherever he went, he commanded respect. The visiting press corps burst into applause. The only other time a Test captain had used such words was in the middle of the Bodyline series. At once his manager pressed his arm, lest his captain go further. Previously, they had agreed that Kumble must leave the fury to him. But he could not hold back that one remark. It was at that moment that Australia knew they were in the wrong.

Kumble’s last scalp typified his attitude. Already, he had taken 418 wickets in an astonishing career. Moreover, the match was petering out. Then Mitchell Johnson had a swipe. Kumble was sore of paw and hoof, but he smelt blood. At once he knew no fieldsman could reach the landing zone so he turned, ran full pelt and grabbed the ball. It was going to earth over his dead body.

Kumble had the power brought by absolute commitment, total focus, unquenched desire. And then, in his last rage, he feigned to hurl the ball at the stumps. He had wanted that wicket as much as his first one all those years ago.

Ganguly was funny and fearless. Every now and then, a fellow feels like tearing off his shirt and waving it around like Mick Jagger with a microphone. Of all places, Sourav Ganguly responded to the urge at Lord’s. He might as well have burped in St Paul’s. Every now and then a fellow feels an insult coming on. Ganguly was rude to Steve Waugh, captain of Australia, the mightiest foe of all.

It has been an astonishing career. Some men prefer to follow a predictable path and their stories tell of a slow rise to the top and an equally measured decline. To that end instinct is subdued, contention avoided and risk reduced. That has been altogether too dull for Ganguly.

Throughout he has toyed with his fate, tempting it to turn its back on him so that once again he could surprise the world with a stunning restoration. Something in him rebelled against the mundane and the sensible. He needed his life to be full of disasters and rescues, comebacks and mistakes, and memorable moments.

To hell with the prosaic. At heart he is a cavalier, albeit of mischievous persuasion.
Taken as a whole, his contribution has been a triumph. It is no small thing for a boy from Kolkata to make it in Indian cricket. Till then, local players were regarded as soft touches. Ganguly changed all that. Indeed, it was one of the many tasks he set himself. Always he pitted himself against presumption and always he prevailed. Along the way, he scored a brave captain’s hundred at the Gabba, led his team to victory over Australia, and took India to a World Cup final.

Best of all, he brought his country back from the brink and turned it into a formidable force. And he found in Kumble, in so many ways an opposite, a man prepared to accompany him all the way on that long and winding road.
•International writer Peter Roebuck, who is based in the KZN midlands, is currently in India for the Test series against Australia.
http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global%5B_id%5D=15836

Ganguly stands tall in the middle of a relatively non-sporting race - Boria Majumdar column
by Boria Majumdar
Oct 22, 2008
 
 
 
"When I was sick I didn't want to die. When I race I don't want to lose. Dying and losing, it's the same thing."

Lance Armstrong
With 'sport' central to national lives and emerging into sustained symbols of national unities across the world, players are some of the most written about and sought after men and women.

And among these special men and women there are some who defy laws of science, make a joke of modern techniques and infrastructure, reduce critics to silly novices and in the process prove that raw talent and determination, more than anything else, still reigns. These icons are special for they continue to inspire, to amaze, to startle, to enthrall and to top it all continue to win laurels for their nation. Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly are such icons. And here, as in many other spheres, they are in real elite company with legends like Andre Agassi, Zinedine Zidane, Lance Armstrong and the like.

It is established that Saurav Ganguly is no Sachin Tendulkar. In fact, Sachin is unrivaled and chances are cricket will never see another Sachin within the next decade or more. Saurav, by contrast, wasn't born with greatness. For him India has never stood still. Unlike Sachin, he is dispensable on occasions and when he is indeed dispensed with only Bengal mourns for him. Andre Agassi, similarly, was never a Roger Federer or even a Pete Sampras. Yet when Agassi played Federer, entire stadiums were seen praying for a miracle. Agassi, unlike Federer, had the unique distinction of plummeting to 140 or so in the world rankings and then staging a miraculous comeback. It is the stories of these fairytale comebacks, full of romance and passion as they are, that make these men special. Zinedine Zidane is another such icon. He is no Pele and had to face serious flak when the French were knocked out in the preliminary stages of World Cup 2002. However, like Saurav and Agassi, he proved the entire soccer fraternity wrong when he guided France to the final of world cup 2006.

What is most significant in these stories of iconicity are the intriguing abilities of these men to uniquely combine talent and discipline, a mesh that inspire them to triumph over modern registers of science and technology considered central to modern sport. Ask anyone why India doesn't win more Olympic medals and prompt comes the answer, "We lack the infrastructure of the West." Yet when it comes to Saurav, who is 35+, is a rank bad fielder and has a weakness against the rising ball, top opposition like the Australians and the South Africans could exploit none of these between December 2006 and October 2008. Unparalleled determination coupled with grit and talent has seen him through, a rare combination that was once again on display at Mohali when he grafted his way to his 16th Test ton and in doing so led India to an unassailable position in the match.

The truth -- and sometimes statistics is not the ass we think it is -- will demonstrate that Saurav Ganguly had amassed 1000 runs in calendar year 2007. He was Man of the Series against the South Africans earlier this year and he is India's highest scorer thus far in this series. Yet, he has to retire for there isn't a soul in the BCCI who will step up to urge him to reconsider. The cardinal cricketing maxim that performance is the ultimate watchword has given way to a strange belief in India- it is age and not performance that matters. You need good fielders and fast runners. May well be Indian cricket will soon be a forum in which 100 m sprinters will take a real fancy.

As he waits his turn to play his last Test match, there's little doubt that he stands tall in the middle of a relatively non-sporting race. For icons like Agassi, Saurav and Zidane have proved time and again that infrastructure and cash rich facilities don't make champions. Rather, they make themselves.

And when Saurav finally retires, nothing, not even the frenzy associated with Sachin can take certain truths away from him. In fact, even at the cost of sounding a biased provincial, it can be suggested that he will continue to be one of the most awe inspiring Indian sporting icons of all time. Without being in the Sachin masterclass, he turned the tables on Australia in 2003-4 with that amazing 144 at Brisbane. Without being blessed with Rahul's technique, he saved India the blushes at Bangalore against Pakistan in November 2007 and once again against Australia at Mohali. A standout patriot in the Leander Paes league, he could confidently say before the 2003-4 tour of Australia, "Most people see an Australia tour as pressure. For me a tour down under lifts me up".

Finally, one of the accomplished of all cricketing comebacks in history helps mock the cardinal notion that modern sport is for the young and that the thirty plus generation are old discards. What it proves and proves once and for all is that part of modern gladiatorial sport continues to be played in the heart and in this real passionate sporting realm nothing is impossible. Not even an Indian series victory against Australia with men like Sachin, Saurav, Rahul, VVS and Kumble in the team. Here's wishing them all the best. 
http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/news.hspl?nid=10368&ntid=4