World Economic Forum at Davos -2011

http://profit.ndtv.com/video/show/189539

Please find a wonderful recap of the World Economic Forum, meet at Davos - 2011
2005 leaders,all at the same place and same time ideating about the world's future!

Thats what really makes World Economic forum click.

2010 WEF had a question -Would the global economy recover?
The 2011 WEF had the question"Is recovery real and stable?

Gerard Lyons: Cheif econmist - Standard Chartered - we are starting to see a supercycle!
Ist super cycle -  Emergence of America
IInd super cycle - Emergence of Japan

India China Indonesia and a host of nations needed to be talked about.

Governments vs Banks.
What saw the tussle between Sarkozy & Dimon from J.P.Morgan over the whole issue of regulation.

Shared norms for the new reality:
2 speed global economy, and to fend this there is a "Call for a Global Trade Pact" - especially by Pascal Lamy - the director of WTO.

Corporate India tried to push the Governance deficit , and a lot of discussion about inflation, Espeically food inflation. Food inflation a growing global concern.
A good point raised by Harish Manwani, President of Unilever ASIA was to address not just the short term issue of food inflation, but to solve the demand supply problem fundamentally. To holistically address the concerns of small farmer, water,climate change and Infrastructure.

Final word goes to George Soros(London school of Economics Alumni) Global warming translates to persistant high food prices. Droughts, Fires & Storms are a great danger to the world and not enough is being done to stop it, and is one of the most disturbing issues.

One thing that also clearly comes out of the meet is that India is making its presence felt, even if its with the contemporary Indain art on the latest meeting hall at Davos.

Peter Sands of Standard Chartered Bank
Single largest profit market for SCB in the world.
If you are not in India, you have missed the bus!

http://profit.ndtv.com/video/show/189539

Google's Nikesh Arora - consumer pheonmenon has not taken off as well as it could have, perhaps due to the infrastructure. But is happy with the ramp up done by the telecom companies in putting up the infrastructure in place.

Time to loosen the purses - Melinda Gates Co-Chair Bill & Melinda Gates foundation.

Swiss banks to provide information of Black-money?

Nouriel Roubini Professor of Economics at NYU Stern and Robert Shiller, Professor of Economics at Yale University still seemed mildly concerned..both predicted the 2008 Crash. Especially Shiller, concerned about the US stock markets, the quick rebound would have an impact in the longer run and that crash would have a bigger impact on India. He infact could predict that the P/E ratio is quite high according to his calculations over a longer run,something which is not good for the markets.

A senario where FII inflows are more than FDIs Paul Fletcher, Senior Partner,Actis however bring some cheer by saying that Private Equity is willing to invest both in equity and infrastructure.

Stephen Schwarzman , Chairman & CEO Blackstone group, gives his perspective of the current happenings in India. How usually, growth brings with it inflation and with it the markets are toned down with a check on interest rates, and the markets somehow do not like that and they go down. Ending his note on a quote from  Shakespeare "one man's tragedy is another man's comedy"

30,000 foot high perspective of things!! Perspectives don't get better than that!!

Reflections from a day of Festivity and thoughts about "The Statue of Unity"

Navratri or the "Nine nights" festival is and ode to Goddess Durga,

a Hindu deity who killed demons and brought peace and prosperity to India.

The festival is marked with rituals & prayer offerings to the Goddess.

In the western part of India especially in the state of Gujarat this nine week festival is celebrated by the traditional dance festival, the 'Garba'.

Here Navratri and Garba are synonymous. This popular dance festival is not only performed by the classes, but is widely popular in rural and urban masses.

Its an occasion for young men and women to socialize and meet, its an occasion for roadside kiosks to big businessmen to do brisk business, its an occasion for people to pray and cleanse their past sins and its often an occasion for politicians to forward their agenda. None the less whatever be the reason for majority of the people to participate in this big cultural extravaganza, its something nobody is going to miss.

This year on the state tourism department organized the "Vibrant Gujarat Navratri Festival" in its biggest city Ahmedabad.

Yes, with atleast over 1 square kilometers of area, the huge Garba grounds did provide the youth a chance to mingle and dance to their hearts.

Over 200 shops did provide for brisk business to the rural craftsmen and urbane entrepreneurs.

The larger than life idols and miniature temples did inspire people to worship as well as get themselves clicked on their mobile-phones.

The display was also of strength of India in general and Gujarat in Particular.

The State Government showcased its ambitious plan to build the world's largest/tallest Statue, "The Statue of Unity".

The Statue is of "Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel" the Iron man of India. "The Statue of Unity" has been correctly named so as it was Vallabhbhai who had pioneered in unifying India on its Independence in 1947. The fate of the 182 small princely states was sealed by this one man and his work can be paralleled to that Abraham Lincon during the Civil War.

Standing at 182 meters the statue shall be as tall as a 60 storey building and taller than the tallest Statue in the world  of Buddha at "Spring temple" China.

The monument shall be two times as large as the Statue of Liberty and 5 times as large as the redeemer and the tallest in the world.

Standing in the Sardar Sarovar dam's basin it would be 1.5 times higher than the Sardar Sarovar dam, India’s largest dam.

It would provide a view which can be paralleled to that of Niagara Falls.

The plan first time unveiled to the general public brought in long queues of viewership and gained more popularity than the Garba festival itself.

The best part is that the plan is permitted for the common man.. and in that sense, the politicians owe it to their taxpaying public.

This display reflects the Indian Mindset. "Megalomaniac" Biggest, Largest, Tallest!!!

The recently concluded Common Wealth Games too showed the same kind of mindset.

But in its pursuit to show that it is the best, should it not work on being the best?

Is INDIA forgetting what it should also invest in?

i.e. in Better Education, Nutrition, Security  & Climate ?

After all can the public live with the best figures in illiteracy, poverty, economic disparity, crime, malnutrition and pollution?

Perhaps more and more young people like us MBA aspirants should work more towards the betterment of the society, to try and apply ourselves each day to better the Climato-Techno-Socio-Politico-Economics of the society, country and the world. And perhaps that day we could live each day as a festival, without guilt.