Trip to Puri-Konark-Chilika

Mid-sems got over at 4pm and we decided to go on a trip at 3:59pm!! After considering many options and brainstorming, we finalized Puri-Konark-Chilika trip. This we did even after knowing that we may not get entry to the dolphin island and Nalbana Island that houses migratory birds..but we didn't have any other option due to heavy rains in most parts of this side of the country..We decided to try our luck at it..

Presenting, the Itinerary (on demand of one of my friends) which we followed:

Well as luck had it, we were not able to go to Nalbana and Satpada Islands but will definitely go once again to fill the gap that remains to be filled..!!

Four-Year Transformation!

Finally, this week marks the end of the first phase of my work-ex that lasted for a total of 4 years as I have decided to overthrow my comfort zone and travel thru the scabrous alleys of a highly respected degree, now-a-days, called MBA. However, when I look back now, I am delighted to note that what a journey it has been. It has all of these called pain, emotions, tears, war, stress, glory, fun, rewards, friendships, etc. And all these things have impacted me considerably to an extent that I feel that I am a much better individual now than what I was 4 years back.

Some of the examples I discovered through introspection:

Before:

Very low self confidence

After:

Duniya ki &%@#!^.. High level of self confidence and belief. This is one lesson that I have learnt as a result of learning from so many failures in almost every field esp. during first serious CAT prep. in 2008 and 1st two projects in CSC during 2008-09. Everytime I failed, I read/listened something motivational. One such quote that is extremely close to my heart is:

"Courage doesn't always roar..Sometimes, it is the quite voice at the end of the day, saying I will again try tomorrow".

Similarly, Chak-de-India movie's title song(hunkar awaz wala paragraph)

And whenever I have tried again and again, almost everytime God has been kind to shower success on me just when I was on the verge of loosing it!
Also, I have experienced this myself that our body imitates our mind. If mind is confident, this will show in the performance by the body and hence, the results. (My first AIMCAT last year was in July first week in which I was not prepared at all so I had nothing to loose. Without any expectations, I went with full confidence that whatever I will do, I will do correct else I will not attempt. Result-98.3%tile, AIR-270 out of 17,000..!)

In this aspect specifically, literally speaking, "Main apna favourite hun"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before:

Extreme immaturity in almost everything, be it relationships, handling tasks, view of life, ability to judge people (Initially, it was like if somebody talked to me with smile, I took his goodness for granted)

After:

Perhaps the most important thing which is developed over these years is “Maturity to think rationally and practically”. Day dreaming is a crime. Learnt this, esp in Kolkata where I made certain mistakes in choosing relationships that taught me that you will never know when your best asset may become your worst one if your eyes and mind are not open.

Generally, most of things went against my wishes during:

1. Last 3-4 months of my 1 year long stay in Cognizant,

2. Two months with a psycho in a single room,

3. Under a super psycho landlord for approx another 2 months

4. And 1st two projects in CSC

These things broadminded my mind to an extent which reflect when you see me today with the perspective of now and then. But a very very important experience I must say, otherwise, I would have never matured to that extent had Cognizant been in Delhi!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before:

Poor emotional quotient

After:

Now, I do any work with full emotions but I don’t do any work emotionally! (Slight difference, only few people will be able to understand).
Please please please remember that if you are into a relationship, then it is imperative to give full space to your partner and respect his/her views, else things will not work out.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before:
Any big responsibility looked like a burden that used to create stress until I finished it

After:

Let’s have a cup of tea first!

-----------------------------WAIT, Tea se yaad aaya....

Before:
Didn’t used to even touch it

After:

At least 3 times a day else mind gets blocked!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before:

Average communication skills when it used to come to relationships

After:

“Express Yourself” is the funda for this! I believe that if you really want to say something to someone, then please go ahead and express yourself to him/her..Don’t think that ‘it is obvious’ or ‘it is a formality’ or ‘it is not my duty’, etc.. Believe me, your few words of motivation can make his/her whole day!

(A very important lesson in public relations)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before:
Average mentorship skills (I used to get miffed easily if other person didn’t understand what I wanted to say. This was the case when I used to teach tuitions to class-10th students while I was in DCE)

After:

Developed patience…Here, special thanks to Abhignan da in Cognizant and Devendar in CSC who were my mentors in the respective companies!! (Consider the case that tomorrow is project delivery and our work is just 60% complete at 9pm. Abhijnan da is cool. Also, we have to train 2 other people till tomorrow. Abhijnan da is still cool. Mainframe gets hanged for 2 hours in between. Abhijnan da is still cool as if he had delivered the project. Suddenly it rains heavily to the extent that no cab is available to go home. Abhijnan da is still cool!!)

How to hold your nerves while mentoring and in high-stress zones was the lesson I learnt.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before:

Car Driving skills – Above average

After:

Min. 2.5 hours daily driving from Delhi to Noida and vice-versa since Oct, 2007.. Need I say more? Aankh band karke bhi chalaunga toh bhi ghar pahunch jaunga!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before:

Laughing loudly and frequently.

After:

This hasn’t changed as yet! People still become victim of that, sometimes!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, these were a few examples of my four-year transformation that I went thru with such a highly enriching experience made possible, perhaps, by the blessings of the almighty!
In the same flow, I hope the learning will continue in my last formal education too and who knows I will be writing another post after 2 years with contents similar to this one but heading something like, "Two states, the story of my ******".
-

Antariksh ki khoj

“Is brahmand ki rachna kaise hui? kisne ki? kyun ki? Yeh itna bada kyun hai? Koi toh batao? And, if there are billions of galaxies and solar systems in the universe then will it be foolish to ask if life is present only on Earth in our solar system? Which is more frightening :- We are alone in Universe OR we are not alone in Universe? Will there be imperialism in universe also for more and more Earth(s) in future? How come Universe is so huge? Will it keep on increasing in size? etc etc”

Sometimes, when I look into clear night sky, there is this whole bunch of questions that gets activated thru my sensory root of vision that keeps on goading my mind for answers. I normally try to evade them by saying that scientists around the world are still trying to find answers to most of them but they never stop from sprouting time and again in my skull’s butter. And the issue is that those questions actually do not have any concrete answers and are still in their Beta phase! In this write-up, I will put light on two such questions to the best of my knowledge acquired thru books, documentaries and internet. These are the birth of Universe and its ultimate fate.

Singularity

Let me begin with the birth of Universe. One might argue that big bang theory has now well established the birth of Universe but on looking closely you will find that it assumes a lot of things and creates more doubts than solving them. It does explain how Universe evolved but it fails to answer how it was born. Let me rewind a little bit.

In 1929, Edwin Hubble, with the help of spectrum analysis and Doppler’s effect, discovered that galaxies were moving away from each other and that Universe was expanding. Hence, moving backwards in time (around 14 billion years ago), everything must have started from a single point (called, singularity) where all the matter and energy was concentrated. From this singularity, the Universe exploded and by this explosion, not only matter and energy was created but also space and time.

My question is that from where does all that matter come? Who created that singularity? Astrophysicists like Stephen Hawking, George Ellis, and Roger Penrose published papers related to measurement of space, time and singularity in 1980s. According to them, “The singularity didn’t appear in space; rather space begins inside singularity. Prior to singularity, nothing existed, not space, time matter or energy.” [Just imagine :)]

They say that it is of no use to speak of the period before the Big Bang as there is no 'before' because time (and space) did not exist! However, my contumacious mind refuses to accept this. It asks that from where did singularity come? In what did singularity appear? Why it was there? The answer is we don’t know.

For the time being, creation of singularity can be supposed to be a supernatural event which is outside our imagination or understanding. Scientists around the world are highly divided on this polemic thought but they don’t have any other alternative at least until further discoveries are made in this regards. (That gives us another reason to make our belief firm in God, though!!)

Dark Matter
Similarly, to predict the ultimate future of Universe is an equally complicated job if not more. According to scientists, as Universe expands, its expansion is slowed down by the combined gravity of all the matter within it (just like a rocket is pulled back by Earth’s gravity). If the pull is strong then the expansion will stop and reverse itself to form singularity yet again else it will continue to expand forever.

In terms of Astrophysics, the future of Universe will depend on its average density and a certain critical density. If the density of Universe is smaller than critical density then Universe will continue expand forever else it will collapse.

The problem is how to calculate the average density of Universe? There are billions of galaxies and trillions of stars. The density of galaxies and stars can be found out as they are visible but what about the matter between them? It was noted that there was an invisible “dark matter” besides the stars and galaxies which was sort of holding the things together and which may also be responsible for slowing down the expansion of Universe.

However, in 1998, the outlandish finding of astronomers in Australia suggested something really strange. Two independent teams of astronomers found that not only is there too little matter in the universe to ever halt the expansion of the universe on its own, but the outward motion appears to be speeding up, not slowing down.!!. (This finding was awarded “Breakthrough of the Year for 1998” by Science magazine.)

Logically, if the Universe was born 14 billion years ago, then its expansion since that time should have been slowed down by huge amounts. But Logics don’t work everywhere! It seems that there is an antigravity force which is responsible for the all this. Even scientists were flabbergasted at this discovery of “speeding cosmic expansion” but they couldn’t find any reason to doubt their work. I noted that back in 1916, even Einstein added an extra term to the equations of relativity called the cosmological constant which amounted to a force that opposed gravity. Though he later discarded it which I think was the biggest mistake of his life.

Currently, there is a lot of research going on around the World on Dark Matter and the nature of particle physics in Cosmos. One such experiment to look forward to is the Large Hadron Collider exp which lies in a 27Km long tunnel beneath Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland. I hope it comes out with some concrete results pertaining to the nature of Dark Matter in next 2-3 years.


As far as the ultimate future of Universe is concerned, well, for now astronomers say that the galaxies which we can see now (like Andromeda galaxy) will zip out of range one by one leaving Milky Way galaxy the only one we are directly aware of. By then, our Sun will have engulfed the nearest 3 planets, Mercury, Venus and Earth in its red giant phase before shrinking to a white dwarf star. Finally, there will be only black holes, burnt planets and an extremely cold and black Universe.

Bid

I don’t know whether scientists will be able to provide concrete answers to these two questions in my lifetime but I have a hunch that at least there will be a few more discoveries in the coming years which will provide more answers rather than creating more questions!

***

Special thanks to Nehru Planetarium, Science Magazine, TIME magazine, Discovery channel, Hubblesite.org, Nasa.gov, Stephen Hawkings's A brief history of Time and Black Holes and Baby Universes. All the information provided here is based on above resources and I am not biased towards any of them.

BUDGET 2010-A Snapshot

This was Pranab Mukherjee's fourth budget of his career as finance minister and the second for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in its second straight term after being voted back to office in May last year. Following are the important items to note in his budget:

1. Slabs for individual tax payers:

• There will be no tax for income upto Rs 1.6 lakh. (This was the same earlier)

• For income between 1.6 lakh - 5 lakh, the tax liability will be 10%. (The older slab was 1.6 - 3 lakh)

• For income between 5 lakh - 8 lakh, the tax liability will be 20%. (Earlier 20% tax was deducted on Rs 3-5 lakh income)

• Individuals with income of above Rs 8 lakh will have tax liability of 30%. (Earlier 30% was deducted on income of Rs 5 lakh and above)

• The government would allow a deduction of up to Rs 20,000 for investments in long-term infrastructure bonds. The deduction would be in addition to Rs 100,000 allowed under Section 80C of India's Income Tax Act.

The government says that it will lose Rs 21,000 crore due to income tax sops.

2. Fuel Price hike

Petrol and diesel prices will go up by Rs 2.67 a litre and Rs 2.58 per litre, respectively, after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today raised customs and excise duties on the two, virtually putting the Kirit Parikh Committee report on fuel price in cold storage. Mukherjee also imposed 5 per cent import duty on crude (currently nil), a move that would impact refiners like Reliance Industries and Essar Oil with their input cost going up.

Components of Petrol price

I decided to find out the Components of Petrol price in India and to my surprise, I found that for a Rs 22 litre petrol at pumps, consumers in India pay Rs 28 tax extra!!

Suppose if the petrol price per litre is Rs 51.90, here the break-up of cost calculated by the government:

• Basic Price = Rs 21.93

• Excise duty = Rs 14.35

• Education Tax = Rs 0.43

• Dealer commission = Rs 1.05

• VAT = Rs 5.5

• Crude Oil Custom duty = Rs 1.1

• Petrol Custom = Rs 1.54

• Transportation Charge = Rs 6.00

• Total price = Rs 51.90

NjoyTV’s view on “Should Fuel price be deregulated?”

Let’s understand first what is regulation of fuel prices and why it is done. As we know that regulation means control of the prices by government to save the consumer from the vagaries of market. For example, suppose the prices of crude increases by 100% in the international market which pushes the input costs of the Oil refining companies in India. Now strict regulation of govt will ensure that they can’t really increase the price of Petrol by corresponding hike in input costs. So, what will they do? They will absorb some of the burden and rest will be absorbed by the government in the form of providing subsidies and financial aid to Oil companies. All this is done to contain inflation (& hence vote bank!!) as prices of many commodities are dependent on diesel and kerosene prices which affect a large chuck of the country’s population.

Impact of Subsidies-

It’s impact on consumer is visible but what a voter or a common man doesn’t realize is it’s impact on fiscal deficit and hence the economy of the country. Consider this: In the Budget estimate for 2009-10, Petroleum subsidy was pegged at Rs 3,109 crore, although it was finally Rs 14,954 crore!! (Business Standard, Feb-26-2010). This huge subsidy bill could have been utilized to improve infrastructure, education, unemployment or health reform measures.

Also state-run oil marketers are expected to lose some Rs 40,000 crore on their fuel sales in 2009-2010 since the government did not allow them to raise pump prices in line with international crude.

Taking a note of the above mentioned impacts, Kirit Parikh committee was set up in last budget year to see if the impact of deregulation of fuel prices. Kirit Parikh report had recommended removal of government control over motor fuels linking the petrol prices with international market, raising cooking gas price by Rs 100 per cylinder and kerosene by Rs 6 a litre, petrol by Rs3.9/litre and diesel prices by around Rs3.2/litre, respectively (at current levels of global gasoline and diesel prices).

So, is it right to deregulate price?

Yes, I think so. First of all it will save crores of rupees (currently doled out as subsidies) which can be utilized by govt for other constructive purposes. Secondly, it will reduce fiscal deficit. Thirdly, it will save Oil companies from being bankrupt and hence it will attract investment in this sector. After deregulating prices, govt can reduce excise duties and custom’s duty on fuel which may be used as a tool to contain inflation in this case. The ministry can always intervene in case of extraordinary volatility to buffer the consumer, the threshold being $100 per barrel of crude price.

As to save farmers and Below Poverty line people, I feel that India should adopt dual pricing system for the simple reason that millionaires using diesel run vehicles don’t need subsidies but farmers using diesel need them. As Business Standard reports, “There has been some discussion on using smart cards to sort the genuine beneficiaries from the pillion riders -- the ministry is not clear how to weed out the non-deserving.”

(NjoyTV Note: This is solely my view based on my learning from news channels and papers. It may be different from yours.. as you know I am an engineer and not an economist (at least now!!) But you can raise your voice in comments section of this article)

3. Impact on Common man

Most FMCG companies including Hindustan Unilever, Colgate Palmolive, Nestle, Reckitt Benckiser and Dabur have large manufacturing operations in excise-free zones which do not get impacted by either an increase or cut in excise duty.

Things getting costlier:

• Soaps, talcum powder, shampoos, hair colour, diapers and sanitary napkins are set to go up 2-5%. Products like diapers and sanitary napkins which were fully exempt from excise will now attract duty of 10%. Cigarettes and gutka also getting very costlier as the weighted average increase in excise duties of around 17%, coupled with the recent VAT hikes in different states, is amongst the steepest tax hikes on cigarettes in recent years.

• Frequent fliers will also suffer with 10% tax now applicable to domestic flights as well. Coaching institutes who were earlier not charging any service tax on accounts that it is non commercial, will not be able to do so any longer.

• For businessmen, there is some bad news: MAT rate up from 15% to 18%; 5%custom’s duty on crude brought back; mean rate of excise up from 8% to 10%.

Things getting cheaper:

• Deodorants and perfumes could get cheaper by 5%, as excise duty on medicinal and toilet preparations act is being reduced from 16% to 10%. The uniform customs duty of 5% plus CVD of 4% on import of medical equipment has been introduced against current general maximum rate of 16.78% which will benefit private hospitals.

• As a green agenda, Solar powered and electric cars to get cheaper.

• For businessmen, there is a good news that he surcharge on Indian firms has been cut from 10% to 7.5%.

• For investors, there is a good news: Deduction of investments upto Rs 20,000/- in long term infrastructure bonds over and above existing Rs 1 lakh limit under section 80C of I-T Act. This is a win-win situation for both investors and government as investors will pay now less tax if they invest in infrastructure and government has now attracted investment in infrastructure which is still lagging far behind 2021 plan.

Impact on IT industry (This is my industry, at least for now!!)

There is some disappointment for the IT sector. The IT industry was expecting an extension of the tax holiday (STPI) for another couple of years as it is struggling due to the global slowdown. No further extension has come as a disappointment for the IT sector, but analysts believe the markets were expecting it.

Also, MAT has been increased from 15% to 18%, it will affect all software companies as this is immaterial of the fact whether they operated under the Software Technology Parks of India or the Special Economic Zones or not. Though companies say that MAT hike won’t matter much as it is offset by lower surcharge!

4. Miscellaneous

• The Advance Estimates for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for 2009-10 pegged at 7.2 per cent.

• Ownership of PSUs like Oil India Limited, NHPC, NTPC and Rural Electrification Corporation, etc has been broad based, i.e. government will divest its investment and allow people to invest in them. This will raise about Rs 25,000 crore during the current year.

• A Nutrient Based Subsidy policy for the fertilizer sector has been approved by the Government and will become effective from April 1, 2010. This will lead to an increase in agricultural productivity and better returns for the farmers and overtime reduce the volatility in demand for fertilizer subsidy and contain the subsidy bill.

• Allocation for NREGA(renamed to Mahatma Gandhi National rural employment guarantee scheme), Indira awas yojna, Raji awas yojna, and other social schemes has been increased

• The moderate increase in elementary education funding from Rs 26800 crore to Rs 31036 crore will ensure that SSA(Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) is well funded for the implementation of RTE(Right to education).

• ISRO’s budget allocation has been increased handsomely by as much as 35%.

• Allocation for UID project has been increased.

• Defense budget increased by a measly 4%, lowest in last 7 years

5. Overall Analysis of Budget-2010

Overall, I would say, it’s a good budget as it is moving forward on reforms:-By equalizing excise and service tax at 10%, broadening Income-tax slabs, reducing surcharge on corporate, lowering of customs/excise duties on green technologies, clarity of implementation on gradual reduction of stimulus, Better management of revenue and expenditures under the global circumstances as the revenue was higher and expenditure was lower acc to revised estimates in 2009-10 leading to fiscal deficit of 6.7%.

Though there are some negatives also like sudden increase in the prices of fuel, increasing MAT from 15% to 18.5%, Food inflation (above 17%), etc. which the finance minister needs to have a close look.

***

Courtesy:

I would like to thank the following websites/channels which helped me compile this article: indmusings.blogspot.com, economictimes.com, moneycontrol.com, trak.in, business-standard.com, businesstoday.indiatoday.in, Rahul Bajaj’s interview, indiabudget.nic.in, pagalguy.com various threads.

Economics Week: Part-2

Economy of India

1. Introduction

The economy of India is the twelfth largest economy in the world by nominal value and the fourth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). India's large service industry accounts for 56.4% of the country's GDP while the industrial and agricultural sector contribute 28% and 15.7% respectively. Agriculture is the predominant occupation in India, accounting for about 52% of employment. The service sector makes up a further 34%, and industrial sector around 14%. India's per capita income (nominal) is $1032, ranked 143th in the world, while its per capita (PPP) of US$2,932 is ranked 130th.

Indian Economy Statistics(2009):

GDP: $1.242 trillion(Nominal) or $3.528 trillion(PPP)

GDP per capita: $1,032(Nominal) or $2,932(PPP)

Population below poverty line: 22%

%age of population who live in villages: 60%

Unemployment: 9.5%

Exports: $155 billion (till date in 2009)

Imports: $232 billion

2. Agriculture in India

Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm output. India is the largest producer in the world of milk, cashew nuts, coconuts, tea, ginger, turmeric and black pepper. It also has the world's largest cattle population (281 million). It is the second largest producer of wheat, rice, sugar, groundnut and inland fish. It is the third largest producer of tobacco. India accounts for 10% of the world fruit production with first rank in the production of banana and sapota.

India has 3 harvesting seasons:

• Rabi (winter crop) :- Wheat, Barley, Gram, Mustard, etc.
• Kharif (summer crop) :- Rice, Jowar, Cotton, Bajra, etc.
• Zaid (In between Rabi and Kharif) :- Watermelon, cucumber, muskmelon, etc.

Agricultural reforms required:  

• Need for improved irrigation
• Better seeds & fertilizers
• Consolidation of land holdings
• Land reforms
• Better access to credit:- Banks need to make loan procedures simple and accessible
• Extension of marketing facilities:-Rural Marketing involves delivering manufactured or processed inputs or services to rural producers or consumers so as to soak up the huge size of the untapped rural market
• Improving water management, rain water harvesting and watershed development
• Bridging the knowledge gap through effective extension services
• Diversifying into high value outputs, fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs and spices, medicinal plants, bamboo, bio-diesel, but with adequate measures to ensure food security.

 Microfinance:

Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services. More broadly, it is a movement whose object is "a world in which as many poor and near-poor households as possible have permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers." Those who promote microfinance generally believe that such access will help poor people out of poverty. Unlike commercial loans, no collateral is required for a micro-loan and it is usually repaid within six months to a year.

Micro finance programs are funded by loans, grants, guarantees and investments from individuals, philanthropists, social investors, local banks, foundations, governments, and international institutions.

(NjoyTV note: It is a huge topic in itself which will run into pages if addressed here. So, only brief idea is provided herewith.)

NABARD

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development(NABARD) is set up as an apex Development Bank with a mandate for facilitating credit flow for promotion and development of agriculture, small-scale industries, cottage and village industries, handicrafts and other rural crafts. It also has the mandate to support all other allied economic activities in rural areas, promote integrated and sustainable rural development and secure prosperity of rural areas.

Loan Waiver Scheme

India’s ambitious loan waiver scheme for small farmers was extended by nearly 20%, to more than Rs 71,000 crore from the Rs 60,000 crore announced in the budget(Feb,2009). Over 40 million indebted Indian farmers got some financial relief as the massive loan waiver scheme for small and marginal farmers officially came into effect on June 30.

Though there is some news of corruption in the implementation of this scheme too because of which most farmers had not got the expected relief. (Need to confirm this!)

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)

The Planning Commission in its approach paper to the Eleventh Five-Year-plan has stated that 9 per cent growth rate in GDP would be feasible during the Eleventh Plan period. However, Agriculture, that accounted for more than 30 percent of total GDP at the beginning of reforms, failed to maintain its pre-reform growth. On the contrary, it witnessed a sharp deceleration in growth after the mid-1990s.

A major cause behind the slow growth in agriculture is the consistent decrease in investments in the sector by the state governments. While public and private investments are increasing manifold in sectors such as infrastructure, similar investments are not forthcoming in Agriculture and allied sectors, leading to distress in the community of farmers, especially that of the small and marginal segment. Hence, the need for incentivising states that increase their investments in the Agriculture and allied sectors has been felt. Hence, RKVY was launched in 2007.

Basic Features of the RKVY include: Achieving 4% annual growth in the agriculture sector; To incentivise the states so as to increase public investment in Agriculture and allied sectors; To ensure that the local needs/crops/priorities are better reflected in the agricultural plans of the states; To maximize returns to the farmers in Agriculture and allied sectors; etc

3. Service Sector in India

As we have seen, Service Sector in India today accounts for more than half of India's GDP. The various sectors that combine together to constitute service industry in India are:

• Trade
• Hotels and Restaurants
• Railways
• Other Transport & Storage
• Communication (Post, Telecom)
• Banking
• Insurance
• Dwellings, Real Estate
• Business Services
• Public Administration; Defence
• Personal Services
• Community Services
• Other Services 

Economic reforms brought foreign competition, led to privatisation of certain public sector industries, opened up sectors hitherto reserved for the public sector and led to an expansion in the production of fast-moving consumer goods.

Some examples: 

• 
  
  Textile manufacturing is the second largest source for employment after agriculture
• 
  
  Dharavi slum in Mumbai has gained fame for leather products
• 
  
  Tata Motors' Nano attempts to be the world's cheapest car

The boom in the services sector has been relatively "jobless". The rise in services share in GDP has not accompanied by proportionate increase in the sector's share of national employment. Some economists have also cautioned that service sector growth must be supported by proportionate growth of the industrial sector, otherwise the service sector grown will not be sustainable.

IT/ITES:

Business services (information technology, information technology enabled services, business process outsourcing) are among the fastest growing sectors contributing to one third of the total output of services in 2000. The share of India's IT industry to the country's GDP increased from 4.8 % in 2005-06 to 7% in 2008. In 2009, seven Indian firms were listed among the top 15 technology outsourcing companies in the world. In March 2009, annual revenues from outsourcing operations in India amounted to US$60 billion and this is expected to increase to US$225 billion by 2020.

NASSCOM: NASSCOM® is the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce of the IT-BPO industries in India. NASSCOM is a global trade body with more than 1200 members, which include both Indian and multinational companies that have a presence in India. It is a not-for-profit organization, registered under the Indian Societies Act, 1860 & headquartered is in New Delhi, India. Current president of NASSCOM is Mr Som Mittal.

NASSCOM was set up in 1988, at Mumbai to facilitate business and trade in software and services and to encourage advancement of research in software technology. Other goals include accelerating trade development efforts, improving talent supply, strengthening local infrastructure, building partnerships and driving operational excellence. It also boosts the process of Innovation; IT workforce development and enhanced cyber security.

4. Infrastructure

Says Infosys Chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy: "If our infrastructure gets delayed, our economic development, job creation, and foreign investment get delayed. Our economic agenda gets delayed—if not derailed."

The infrastructure deficit is so critical that it could prevent India from achieving the prosperity that finally seems to be within its grasp. Without reliable power and water and a modern transportation network, the chasm between India's moneyed elite and its 800 million poor will continue to widen, potentially destabilizing the country. Jagdish N. Bhagwati, a professor at Columbia University, figures gross domestic product growth would run two percentage points higher if the country had decent roads, railways, and power.

more on infrastructure coming up in Economic week part-3....

5. BSE and NSE

The Bombay Stock Exchange Limited (formerly, The Stock Exchange, Mumbai) is the oldest stock exchange in Asia and has the greatest number of listed companies in the world, with 4700 listed as of August 2007. It is located at Dalal Street, Mumbai, India. On 31 December 2007, the equity market capitalization of the companies listed on the BSE was US$ 1.79 trillion, making it the largest stock exchange in South Asia and the 12th largest in the world. Historically an open-cry floor trading exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange switched to an electronic trading system in 1995. It took the exchange only fifty days to make this transition.

BSE Sensex

BSE Sensex is a value-weighted index composed of 30 stocks that started January 1, 1986. It consists of the 30 largest and most actively traded stocks, representative of various sectors, on the Bombay Stock Exchange. These companies account for around fifty per cent of the market capitalization of the BSE. The base value of the sensex is 100 on April 1, 1979, and the base year of BSE-SENSEX is 1978-79.

Nifty

The National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE), is a Mumbai-based stock exchange. It is the largest stock exchange in India in terms of daily turnover and number of trades, for both equities and derivative trading. NSE has a market capitalization of around Rs 47,01,923 crore (7 August 2009) and is expected to become the biggest stock exchange in India in terms of market capitalization by 2009 end. Though a number of other exchanges exist, NSE and the Bombay Stock Exchange are the two most significant stock exchanges in India, and between them are responsible for the vast majority of share transactions. The NSE's key index is the S&P CNX Nifty, known as the Nifty, an index of fifty major stocks weighted by market capitalization.

6. Economic Liberalization

License Raj, also the Permit Raj refers to the elaborate licenses, regulations and the accompanying red tape that were required to set up and run businesses in India between 1947 and 1990. The License Raj was a result of India's decision to have a planned economy where all aspects of the economy are controlled by the state and licenses are given to a select few. Up to 80 government agencies had to be satisfied before private companies could produce something and, if granted, the government would regulate production. Because of this, by the 1980s, the country was left with: low growth rates, closure to trade and investment, a license-obsessed-restrictive state, inability to sustain social expenditures, macro instability, indeed crisis.

In the 1980s, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi initiated some reforms which are referred to as Liberalization of Indian economy. In 1991, after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had bailed out the bankrupt state, the government of P. V. Narasimha Rao and his finance minister Manmohan Singh started breakthrough reforms. The new policies included opening for international trade and investment, deregulation, initiation of privatization, tax reforms, and inflation-controlling measures. Liberalization has done away with the License Raj and ended many public monopolies, allowing automatic approval of foreign direct investment in many sectors.

7. Subsidies in India

You must have gone through the basics of subsidies in Economics Week Part-1. Let's have a look at India specific data of subsidies. Overall, a 2005 article by International Herald Tribune stated that subsidies amounted to 14% of GDP. On the other hand, India spends relatively little on education, health, or infrastructure. Urgently needed infrastructure investment has been much lower than in China. According to the UNESCO, India has the lowest public expenditure on higher education per student in the world.

Example: The case of LPG

Partly because of inadequate infrastructure facilities for import, storage and handling, the government decided to throw open the LPG business to private entrepreneurs in 1993. Many players entered the field. However, their entry was constrained because of rise in international prices of LPG, ostensibly because of purchases by China and the government's inability to reduce subsidies. Several entrants withdrew having failed to exploit the willingness of consumers to make cash deposits for service connection.

In April 2002, the government announced that subsidies for all petroleum based products would be phased out except for LPG and kerosene which the government pledged would see their subsidies phased out within a 3 to 5 year period. LPG and kerosene are used as domestic cooking fuels by a large portion of the population. Also concurrently in 2002, LPG subsidies will be paid out of the government funds as opposed to APM pools and subsidies were revised upwards by Rs 67.75 per cylinder.

The issue is not resolved because subsidies will have to be removed by a future government which may not have the will to undertake that action. There are several issues of great concern for any government in India: the implication of higher petroleum prices in states far from the coast; the market’s ability to ensure adequate inventories and timely supplies to remote areas; and the protection of consumers from the effects of fluctuating prices.

8. CII

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry led and industry managed organisation, playing a proactive role in India's development process. Founded over 115 years ago, it is India's premier business association, with a direct membership of over 7800 organisations from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 90,000 companies from around 396 national and regional sectoral associations.

CII catalyses change by working closely with government on policy issues, enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and expanding business opportunities for industry through a range of specialised services and global linkages. It also provides a platform for sectoral consensus building and networking. Major emphasis is laid on projecting a positive image of business, assisting industry to identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes. Partnerships with over 120 NGOs across the country carry forward our initiatives in integrated and inclusive development, which include health, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill development and water, to name a few.

Complementing this vision, CII's theme for 2009-10 is 'India@75: Economy, Infrastructure and Governance.' CII's focus this year is on revival of the Economy, fast tracking Infrastructure and improved Governance.

9. Five Year Plans

The economy of India is based in part on planning through its five-year plans, developed, executed and monitored by the Planning Commission. With the Prime Minister as the ex officio Chairman, the commission has a nominated Deputy Chairman, who has rank of a Cabinet minister. Montek Singh Ahluwalia is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Commission. The tenth plan completed its term in March 2007 and the eleventh plan is currently underway.

The Planning Commission (est. in 1950) was charged with the responsibility of making assessment of all resources of the country, augmenting deficient resources, formulating plans for the most effective and balanced utilisation of resources and determining priorities. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Chairman of the Planning Commission.

10. Below Poverty Line

Below Poverty Line is an economic benchmark and poverty threshold used by the government of India to indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals and households in need of government assistance and aid.

Measurement:

It is measured in two ways:

(a) Income based poverty line: The poverty line was originally fixed in terms of income/food requirements in 1978. It was stipulated that the calorie standard for a typical individual in rural areas was 2400 calorie and was 2100 calorie in urban areas. Then the cost of the grains (about 650 gms) that fulfil this normative standard was calculated. This cost was the poverty line. In 1978, it was Rs. 61.80 per person per month for rural areas and Rs. 71.30 for urban areas. In 2005-2006, it was Rs 368(rural) and 560(urban). This income is bare minimum to support the food requirements and does not provide much for the other basic essential items like health, education etc.

(b) Parameter based: In its tenth five-year plan (2002-2007) survey, BPL for rural areas was based on the degree of deprivation in respect of 13 parameters, with scores from 0-4: landholding, type of house, clothing, food security, sanitation, consumer durables, literacy status, labour force, means of livelihood, status of children, type of indebtedness, reasons for migrations, etc. The Planning Commission fixed an upper limit of 3.26 lakh for rural BPL families on the basis of simple survey. Accordingly families having less than 15 marks out of maximum 52 marks have been classified as BPL.

  

...End of Part-2...

So that was it for now. I thought that I would be able to complete this in 1 week but lot's of things are still left esp. the economy of India in comparision with major countries and the world.. So, I have decided to celebrate another week as Economics week part-3 sometime in the last week of Feb..

Till then, enjoy stuff and do write to me or post your comments here..

Courtesy:

Before ending, I can't dare to forget the resources which helped me compile this article:

Wikipedia; investopedia; T.I.M.E. GD/PI briefcase; beg.utexas.edu; answers.com; microfinanceindia.org; krishiworld.com; india.gov.in; cii.in; timesofindia.indiatimes.com; iloveindia.com; planningcommission.nic.in; nasscom.in; economictimes.com; businessweek.com; and finally google.

Coming up next: Budget 2010

Economics Week: Part-1

Introduction
Sometimes, when you want to learn about everything around you, you find yourself nowhere when it comes to the point "From where to start?"..That is why I have decided to celebrate every week as a curriculum for learning some of the most basic and mind boggling things around me. In this way, I will be giving utmost attention to every aspect of the topic in detail. So here goes, the first of this series: Economics Week.
I celebrated (self-made) Economics Week from Feb-1-2010 to Feb-7-2010 to learn some basic economic terms and then went on to learn the economics of India and the World. As it will be quite cumbersome to present it in a single post, I have divided this into 2 parts.

Here's presenting the first part:

Basic Economic Terms

1. Macroeconomics and Microeconomics
Macroeconomics looks at the total output of a nation and the way the nation allocates its limited resources of land, labor and capital in an attempt to maximize production levels and promote trade and growth for future generations.
Macroeconomics is focused on the movement and trends in the economy as a whole, while in microeconomics the focus is placed on factors that affect the decisions made by firms and individuals. The factors that are studied by macro and micro will often influence each other, such as the current level of unemployment in the economy as a whole will affect the supply of workers which an oil company can hire from, for example.

Microeconomics looks into similar issues, but on the level of the individual people and firms within the economy. It is the branch of economics that analyzes the market behavior of individual consumers and firms in an attempt to understand the decision-making process of firms and households. It is concerned with the interaction between individual buyers and sellers and the factors that influence the choices made by buyers and sellers. In particular, microeconomics focuses on patterns of supply and demand and the determination of price and output in individual markets (e.g. coffee industry).

It tends to be more scientific in its approach, and studies the parts that make up the whole economy. Analyzing certain aspects of human behavior, microeconomics shows us how individuals and firms respond to changes in price and why they demand what they do at particular price levels.

2. CRR Rate in IndiaCash reserve Ratio (CRR) is the amount of funds that the banks have to keep with RBI. If RBI decides to increase the percent of this, the available amount with the banks comes down. RBI is using this method (increase of CRR rate), to drain out the excessive money from the banks. The upper limit of CRR is 15% while there is no lower limit.

3. Repo rate in India
When the banks have any shortage of funds they can borrow it either from Reserve Bank of India [RBI] or from other banks. The rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks is called repo rate. A reduction in the repo rate will help banks to get money at a cheaper rate. When the repo rate increases borrowing from RBI becomes more expensive. The repo rate in India is analogous to the discount rate in the US. It is an instrument of the monetary policy.

4. Central Excise duties
These duties are levied by the Central Government on commodities, which are produced within the country. But commodities on which State Governments impose excise duties (as for instance, on liquor and drugs) are exempted from Central Excise Duties.

5. IMF
The International Monetary Fund was conceived in July 1944 during the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference. The representatives of 45 governments met in the Mount Washington Hotel in the area of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, with the delegates to the conference agreeing on a framework for international economic cooperation. The IMF was formally organized on December 27, 1945, when the first 29 countries signed its Articles of Agreement

6. Stock Market
A stock market is a public market for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately. Actual trades are based on an auction market model where a potential buyer bids a specific price for a stock and a potential seller asks a specific price for the stock. When the bid and ask prices match, a sale takes place, on a first-come-first-served basis if there are multiple bidders or askers at a given price.

Importance of stock market:
The stock market is one of the most important sources for companies to raise money. Also, the stock market is often considered the primary indicator of a country's economic strength and development. Rising share prices, for instance, tend to be associated with increased business investment and vice versa. Share prices also affect the wealth of households and their consumption.

Factors affecting Stock Market:Market sentiment, the performance of the industry, The earning results and earning guidance, take-over or merger, New product introduction to markets or introduction of an existing product to new markets, Share buy-back, Dividend, etc

7. P/E ratio
The P/E ratio (price-to-earnings ratio) of a stock (also called its "P/E", "PER", "earnings multiple," or simply "multiple") is a measure of the price paid for a share relative to the annual net income or profit earned by the firm per share. It is a financial ratio used for valuation: a higher P/E ratio means that investors are paying more for each unit of net income, so the stock is more expensive compared to one with lower P/E ratio. The P/E ratio has units of years, which can be interpreted as "number of years of earnings to pay back purchase price", ignoring the time value of money. In other words, P/E ratio shows current investor demand for a company share.

Interpretation of P/E ratio:

N/A A company with no earnings has an undefined P/E ratio. By convention, companies with losses (negative earnings) are usually treated as having an undefined P/E ratio, although a negative P/E ratio can be mathematically determined.
0–10 Either the stock is undervalued or the company's earnings are thought to be in decline. Alternatively, current earnings may be substantially above historic trends or the company may have profited from selling assets.
10–17 For many companies a P/E ratio in this range may be considered fair value.
17–25 Either the stock is overvalued or the company's earnings have increased since the last earnings figure was published. The stock may also be a growth stock with earnings expected to increase substantially in future.
25+ A company whose shares have a very high P/E may have high expected future growth in earnings or the stock may be the subject of a speculative bubble.

8. PPP-Purchasing Power Parity
The exchange rate adjusts so that an identical good in two different countries has the same price when expressed in the same currency.

For example, a chocolate bar that sells for C$1.50 in a Canadian city should cost US$1.00 in a U.S. city when the exchange rate between Canada and the U.S. is 1.50 USD/CDN. (Both chocolate bars cost US$1.00.)

9. InflationIt is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and, subsequently, purchasing power is falling. Central banks attempt to stop severe inflation, along with severe deflation, in an attempt to keep the excessive growth of prices to a minimum.

Measuring Inflation:
A number of goods that are representative of the economy are put together into what is referred to as a "market basket." The cost of this basket is then compared over time. This results in a price index, which is the cost of the market basket today as a percentage of the cost of that identical basket in the starting year.

10. WPI and CPI

CPI is a measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food and medical care. The CPI is calculated by taking price changes for each item in the predetermined basket of goods and averaging them; the goods are weighted according to their importance.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) in India comprises multiple series classified based on different economic groups. There are four series, viz the CPI UNME (Urban Non-Manual Employee), CPI AL (Agricultural Labourer), CPI RL (Rural Labourer) and CPI IW (Industrial Worker). While the CPI UNME series is published by the Central Statistical Organisation, the others are published by the Department of Labour.

Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was first published in 1902, and was one of the more economic indicators available to policy makers until it was replaced by most developed countries by the Consumer Price Index in the 1970s. WPI is the index that is used to measure the change in the average price level of goods traded in wholesale market. In India, a total of 435 commodities data on price level is tracked through WPI which is an indicator of movement in prices of commodities in all trade and transactions. It is also the price index which is available on a weekly basis with the shortest possible time lag only two weeks.

11. Fiscal Deficit

When a government's total expenditures exceed the revenue that it generates (excluding money from borrowings). Deficit differs from debt, which is an accumulation of yearly deficits.

12. GDP & GNP

GDP:

The monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period, though GDP is usually calculated on an annual basis. It includes all of private and public consumption, government outlays, investments and exports less imports that occur within a defined territory.

GDP = C + G + I + NX

where:

"C" is equal to all private consumption, or consumer spending, in a nation's economy

"G" is the sum of government spending

"I" is the sum of all the country's businesses spending on capital

"NX" is the nation's total net exports, calculated as total exports minus total imports. (NX = Exports - Imports)

Importance of GDP:

GDP is commonly used as an indicator of the economic health of a country, as well as to gauge a country's standard of living. Critics of using GDP as an economic measure say the statistic does not take into account the underground economy - transactions that, for whatever reason, are not reported to the government. Others say that GDP is not intended to gauge material well-being, but serves as a measure of a nation's productivity, which is unrelated.

Nominal GDP:It is a gross domestic product (GDP) figure that has not been adjusted for inflation. It can be misleading when inflation is not accounted for in the GDP figure because the GDP will appear higher than it actually is. For example, if the nominal GDP figure has shot up 8% but inflation has been 4%, the real GDP has only increased 4%.

Real GDP:

This inflation-adjusted measure that reflects the value of all goods and services produced in a given year, expressed in base-year prices.

Nominal GDP Growth vs. Real GDP Growth*
GDP, or Gross Domestic Product is the value of all the goods and services produced in a country. The Nominal Gross Domestic Product measures the value of all the goods and services produced expressed in current prices. On the other hand, Real Gross Domestic Product measures the value of all the goods and services produced expressed in the prices of some base year. An example:


Suppose in the year 2000, the economy of a country produced $100 billion worth of goods and services based on year 2000 prices. Since we're using 2000 as a basis year, the nominal and real GDP are the same. In the year 2001, the economy produced $110B worth of goods and services based on year 2001 prices. Those same goods and services are instead valued at $105B if year 2000 prices are used. Then:
Year 2000 Nominal GDP = $100B, Real GDP = $100B
Year 2001 Nominal GDP = $110B, Real GDP = $105B
Nominal GDP Growth Rate = 10%
Real GDP Growth Rate = 5%

GNP:

Gross National Product is the total value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a particular year, plus income earned by its citizens (including income of those located abroad), minus income of non-residents located in that country. Basically, GNP measures the value of goods and services that the country's citizens produced regardless of their location. GNP is one measure of the economic condition of a country, under the assumption that a higher GNP leads to a higher quality of living, all other things being equal.

13. FDI and FII

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a measure of foreign ownership of productive assets, such as factories, mines and land. Increasing foreign investment can be used as one measure of growing economic globalization.

Methods of FDI: By incorporating a wholly owned subsidiary or company, by acquiring shares in an associated enterprise, through a merger or an acquisition of an unrelated enterprise, participating in an equity joint venture with another investor or enterprise.

Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) is used to denote an investor - mostly of the form of an institution or entity, which invests money in the financial markets of a country different from the one where in the institution or entity was originally incorporated.

Why is FDI better than FII:

FDI is preferred over FII investments since it is considered to be the most beneficial form of foreign investment for the economy as a whole. Direct investment targets a specific enterprise, with the aim of increasing its capacity/productivity or changing its management control. Direct investment to create or augment capacity ensures that the capital inflow translates into additional production. In the case of FII investment that flows into the secondary market, the effect is to increase capital availability in general, rather than availability of capital to a particular enterprise. Translating an FII inflow into additional production depends on production decisions by someone other than the foreign investor — some local investor has to draw upon the additional capital made available via FII inflows to augment production. In the case of FDI that flows in for the purpose of acquiring an existing asset, no addition to production capacity takes place as a direct result of the FDI inflow. Just like in the case of FII inflows, in this case too, addition to production capacity does not result from the action of the foreign investor – the domestic seller has to invest the proceeds of the sale in a manner that augments capacity or productivity for the foreign capital inflow to boost domestic production. There is a widespread notion that FII inflows are hot money — that it comes and goes, creating volatility in the stock market and exchange rates. While this might be true of individual funds, cumulatively, FII inflows have only provided net inflows of capital.

FDI tends to be much more stable than FII inflows. Moreover, FDI brings not just capital but also better management and governance practices and, often, technology transfer. The know-how thus transferred along with FDI is often more crucial than the capital per se. No such benefit accrues in the case of FII inflows, although the search by FIIs for credible investment options has tended to improve accounting and governance practices among listed Indian companies.

14. Subsidies

The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidy as “money granted by State, public body etc to keep down the prices of commodities etc”

Objectives of Subsidies

Subsidies, by means of creating a wedge between consumer prices and producer costs, lead to changes in demand/ supply decisions. Subsidies have a tendency to self-perpetuate. They create vested interests and acquire political hues.

Subsidies are often aimed at :

• inducing higher consumption/ production

• offsetting market imperfections including internalization of externalities;

• achievement of social policy objectives including redistribution of income, population control, etc.

15. Oligopoly*
A situation in which a particular market is controlled by a small group of firms. It is a market situation in which producers are so few that the actions of each of them have an impact on price and on competitors.
An oligopoly is much like a monopoly, in which only one company exerts control over most of a market. In an oligopoly, there are at least two firms controlling the market. Because each firm in an oligopoly knows its share of the total market for the product or service it produces, and because any change in price or change in market share by one firm is reflected in the sales of the others, there tends to be a high degree of interdependence among firms; each firm must make its price and output decisions with regard to the responses of the other firms in the oligopoly, so that oligopoly prices, once established, are rigid. This encourages nonprice competition, through advertising, packaging, and service-a generally nonproductive form of resource allocation.

16. Cartel*
A small group of producers of a good or service who agree to regulate supply in an effort to control or manipulate prices. The best known example of a cartel is probably the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

*Added later on NjoyTV

This is the end of Part-1.

Delhi Metro-A case study

DMRC started operations in 2002. As the network expanded, high ridership and technical snags in new trains have led to increasing instances of overcrowding and delays on the Delhi Metro. Nowadays, there is no space to even rest your foot in the train. And worse, this is happening even after the frequency of trains has been increased to 1 every 3 minutes! This is causing extreme discomfort and roller-coaster ride to all the passengers. And this has also led to increased theft and eve-teasing cases.

What would you suggest should be possible solutions to the problems mentioned above?

Ankit, Abhishek, Rakesh and Saurabh and I- All five of us discussed the issue with some possibly pragmatic soultions. Following is the un-edited version of the chat we did via gmail:

I feel lack of civic sense in metro travelers is a major cause of "roller coaster" ride (as rightly pointed by Rahul) and a possible solution is "education". If people can be educated to stand in queues on Rajiv Chowk underground line, even if it took couple of men with a rod in hand, then few lessons on metro travel etiquette can definitely help.

-Ankit Goel
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Ankit,
I agree 100% with you on this.. We can't blame police and government every time.
Consider this: The situation is just next to "stampede" at the peak hours. What will 5 or 10 policemen do in this situation?
Though I think increasing the coaches in a train to almost double may help to certain extent but it will also be saturated after some months or so. However, that will require expansion of all the existing stations as currently they are designed to handle only a certain length of train. This will require some investment from DMRC but I think it will be worth it.

-Rahul Aggarwal
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Ankit and Rahul,

Both of you have highlighted the very key concerns regarding the issue. Kudos! Adding to your viewpoints, I would like to suggest to the DMRC, the following inputs:

1. First of all there should be a separate compartment for ladies because women suffer a lot in these kinds of situations and they are literally sandwiched between men while commuting.

2. The crowd can be managed and it's just a matter of strong will and strict governance.
Solution: How the crowd can be managed:
We can have load sensors in the metro compartments beyond which a signal with sound and light is flashed indicating that no more people can be accommodated like we have in lifts. In this way the person entering last has to move out.
Also, to maintain this there should be at least one or two guards at each and every station so that a queue is maintained and if a guy/gal is not able to make it to the last train, he is assured that he will be the first one to enter in the next train.

3. The frequency should be increased but the destination of trains should also be altered.
Like every train should not start from station A, some should start from station B, some from C depending upon the statistics we can manage the crowd.

4. In few of the compartments we can remove the whole seating arrangement. In this manner we can increase the capacity. For a short journey there is no need of making people seated. Metro is a comfortable journey and we should bear the standing arrangement for the betterment of this particular commuting system.

5. Last but not the least, people should be charged for the size of their luggage. In this manner we can minimize the size of the luggage creating more space.

-Rakesh Thakur
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Having read all of your comments it makes little sense for me to enter the discussion at this point, but still I would like to compliment you guys for some noteworthy suggestions. I though have a few of my own to add to this list. They are:

1. Instead of load sensors, the metro should have a maximum capacity of people that can enter as opposed to all that can fit currently. For this guards are needed to be placed at every gate on the metro. This means 2 guards per door for 16 doors. But this need not be for all stations. It should be maintained on only those stations that experience heavy volumes during the day. The metro can have a counter running telling you how many people can enter the train at a particular station, streamlining the process.

2. We can't eliminate seating arrangement as elderly, physically disabled people would need seats.

-Saurabh Gupta

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To me the only solution looks like, educating the people or may be having a public grievance cell which redresses the grievances urgently. Something like, a fasttrack investigation in case of pick pockets. Other culture that might help is "the queue culture", this culture can be seen in abundance in Kolkata ( though not on metro stations!) but this brings about some discipline in people which can be witnessed when u travel in the metro rail in Kolkata.

-Abhishek LNU

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I have sent important points from this chat to DMRC complaints/suggestions and to a leading daily. Hope, some concerned authorities do take a note of this and act accordingly. Feel free to comment and give suggestions.