India BlogIndia BlogRead exciting news about India Culture, Sports, Bollywood, Economy and much more. Articles
The Queer Logic Of Security
2008-03-22 14:23:00 It used to be the stuff of science fiction, dystopian visions of a place and state where individual freedom and privacy are quaint concepts, long consigned to nebulous memory. And so far, we’ve felt other countries, say, the US and the UK were already at an Orwellian ‘Big Brother is watching you’ stage. What with their plethora of CCTVs eyeing all except the contents of the kitchen sink, the high-tech, invasive snooping recording the recipe mother relates over the phone et al. Now, the Indian state also seems desirous of making a foray into that hazy world. It’s to do with the potential subversive, anti-national character of BlackBerry devices. A tame start may be, but unseemly eventualities can have a quiet beginning - think of a murder in an Agatha Christie book cascading from, say, a granny having a quiet cup of tea amid well-tended gardens and birdsong. Perhaps not an apt comparison, but hopefully illustrative! The department of telecom (DoT), it is lear... More About: Security , Culture , Logic
EXCISE ON PHARMA; LOAD ON CONSUMER
2008-03-22 08:02:00 In a first-of-its-kind move, the drug price regulator asked pharmaceutical companies to pass on the benefit of the recent excise duty cut to consumers even on medicines that are outside government’s price control. This will reduce prices by 4.58% on brands that account for three fourth of the Rs 33,000-crore domestic pharmaceutical market. While intervening in the control-free segment of the market for the first time to emphasise that excise cut benefit should be passed on to consumers, the price regulator said emphatically that companies “must” reduce prices. The regulator also said it will use a public interest clause in the drug pricing law to enforce Monday’s order. Finance minister P Chidambaram had halved the excise duty on all medicines from 16 % to 8 % in this year’s budget. Excise duty will now be levied on 64.5% of the MRP instead of 57.5% earlier. This works out to a 4.58% cut in the MRP on all medicines. Drug makers have to s... More About: Culture , Consumer , Pharma , Load
MUSIC FIGHTS BACK
2008-03-22 07:25:00 Some singers do not charge fees these days after completing a song in Bollywood . It is not out of a sense of philanthropy; but the knowledge that the real earnings are not from the one-off fee, instead, from the money spinning stage performances that are to follow, as music makes a strong comeback in the new Bollywood. Like a lost diamond, the Hindi movie song has been lying in a film of dust since the late nineties, its glitter fading every year. But it is beginning to shine again. After a decline in sales that began 12 years ago, Indian music is beginning to look up with a return of good lyrics, great music, better promotion, renewed listener interest and bigger margins. For the first time, the music industry is propping itself up again, supported by digital music rather. International movie and music companies are coming to Bollywood, and are set to bring with them a mirage that has eluded composers and writers for long: royalties. But at the heart of it, there w... More About: Music , Fights , Back
LOAN TO WAIVE OFF LOANS
2008-03-22 07:19:00 The Centre is planning to fund the farm loan waiver package over the next 24 months and at least 25% of the total Rs 60,000 crore package will be met through government borrowings. The waiver package will be a part of the supplementary budget that will be presented later this week. Finance minister P Chidambaram has said he will tell Parliament how the government would compensate banks for the losses incurred on account of the farm loan waiver worth Rs 60,000 crore. There is enough headroom for the government to raise Rs 15,000 crore: a source said. The government expects a higher revenue collection by the dose of the current financial year. The size of the expenditure budget of the government is more than Rs 7lakh crore. Sources in finance ministry have hinted that the both tax and non-tax revenues and even proceeds from disinvestment may be some of the options for funding the scheme. State governments will also have a share of the burden. The finance ministry is ... More About: Culture , Loans , Loan
HOW CRITICAL IS FISCAL DEFICIT?
2008-03-22 07:14:00 Is reining in fiscal deficit critical for the macro economic health of the nation? The issue is almost akin to that of a family spending more than it earns, month after month, and year after year. Perhaps the only difference is that the fiscal profligacy of the government does not necessarily result in bankruptcy. Governments can simply print money to support their overspending. However, nations have now become aware that printing money to meet deficits invariably lead to massive inflation. Therefore, governments issue bonds to bridge the fiscal gap. But the entry of a giant-sized borrower into the debt market, leads to three negative fall-outs. First, the interest rate in the market place begins to spike. And this directly hurts investment and capital formation. It also deters those who borrow from banks to purchase white goods, automobiles, or even seek student loans. Second, equally important is what economists’ call “crowding out private investments... More About: Finance , Fiscal , Deficit , Critical
WE NEED EQUITABLE TAX STRUCTURE
2008-03-21 07:43:00 This year has seen an exceptionally high growth in direct tax collection. In the nine months for which data are available, personal income- tax collection has risen by 42 % over last year compared to an estimated 15% rise in the 2007 -08 budget. Corporate taxes have grown by 37% over the last year between April-December. The reasons for this extraordinary direct tax performance are the buoyant economy, more effective and extensive use of IT for widening the direct tax base and improving compliance. These positive trends are likely to continue in the future as well, so the present and future finance ministers could be confident that direct tax revenues will remain on a growth trajectory. This is, then, the right time to introduce some changes that will make the direct tax structure more progressive and thereby more inclusive. These changes should also be such that they encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in the economy. We need to change the existing personal tax ... More About: Finance , Structure
WHAT IS EXPAT TAX?
2008-03-21 07:39:00 There?s nothing like immigration issues to grab everybody’s attention. Especially when you’re the ruling government of Britain and you need something, anything, to divert attention away from disastrous subjects like Northern Rock. Yet another set of ?we?re no pushover, we mean business’ measures were announced last week by the Home minister and Gordon Brown. This one’s got something to do with immigrants being made to ‘earn’ citizenship, and generally guaranteed to be so complex that this country will need more immigration lawyers than plumbers very soon. Usually, I don’t even try to follow the continuous changes, visitors visas, English, fingerprinting that the Home Office announces (and re-announces, each time with a hike in fees) every other week as Britain edges closer to general elections. Mostly, I ignore it because they either make me seriously mad; or want to fall off my chair laughing. To cut a very long story short, ... More About: Culture , Expat
DEOBAND INITIATIVE
2008-03-21 07:30:00 The ulama of the Dar al-ulum at Deoband were the symbols of political radicalism during the anti -colonial struggle in the subcontinent. Most of them were aligned with the Indian National Congress and rejected the two- nation theory. Today, however, the ‘loyalty’ of the same institution is in doubt. In the eyes of its detractors, the seminary at Deobandis supposed to train jehadis or terrorists. Last week, the turbaned men with flowing gowns gathered in Deoband to dispel such false impressions. They put up an impressive show. Their message was loud and clear; first, Islam is unequivocally opposed to the indiscriminate use of violence; second Muslim institutions had no links whatsoever with terrorist groups; finally, Muslims were fully behind the Indian state in its fight against terror. The ulama have done well to take an unequivocal stand, particularly because they have been targeted in the print and electronic media for nurturing the monster of terrorism... More About: Culture , Initiative
SARABJIT MUST LIVE
2008-03-20 16:57:00 New Delhi has done well to indicate to Pakistan that executing Sarabjit Singh - on death row for his alleged involvement in the 1990 bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan - is not the best way to deal with the issue. Reports suggest that India has also sought consular access to Mr. Singh who has been languishing in prison for the last 17 years, and appears almost certain to be executed in April. His family denies he was a spy as claimed by Pakistan and insists he accidentally strayed into Pakistani territory. When Pakistan’s Supreme Court rejected his plea for clemency in March 2006, Mr. Singh apparently sent a mercy petition to President Pervez Musharraf, seeking release on the grounds that he was innocent and wrongly implicated. Indeed, from all accounts, it does seem he was just a poor farmer who strayed from his border village into Pakistan and became a victim of mistaken identity. It appears a reprieve for Mr. Singh, even at this eleventh hour, could be possible if the Indi... More About: Culture , Live
AVOID TAX CASCADES
2008-03-20 07:25:00 Growth means change and pro-active change does involve taking calculated risks for the greater good. Consider, for instance, policy change and reform, which is key to India sustaining the economic growth momentum. The Budget needs to draw up a road map for tax reform and attendant operational changes in vital sectors like banking and financial services. As the recent high powered committee on making Mumbai an international financial centre emphasised, we have indeed dismantled an “autarkic license permit raj” in industry and trade; but we need to do it again in finance. It would step up efficiency and productivity across the board, and lead to better allocation of resources. The way ahead is to have a tax regime in finance that does away with cascading rates, induding stamp duty, registration duty and the securities transaction tax. Instead, what’s required is sound tax design for a goods and services tax (GST) in finance. Given the practical difficu... More About: Finance , Avoid
A Better System of Controls Needed
2008-03-14 16:46:00 The government says Indian banks had Rs 127lakh crore exposure to derivatives as on December 2007. This is sure to set alarm bells ringing, coming close to ICICI Bank declaring mark-to-market losses on foreign credit derivatives and fixed income investments and L& T declaring that it could be taking Rs 200 crore hit on its commodity hedges. Quantifying the exact risk is difficult, but it’s certain that the entire amount is not at risk. A substantial portion of the reported Rs 127lakh crore exposure is likely to be plain forex hedges. A large chunk of the headline figure are bank-to bank derivatives, i.e., a bank writing a derivative contract for a corporate does a back -to-back contract with another bank. Nonetheless, the over 20% drop in the NSE’s Bank Nifty against the 11.5 % drop in the Nifty in the current month suggests that markets expect the worst. However, there is no denying that currency gyrations and widening credit spreads could cause serious problems w... More About: Finance , System
AIR PRESSURE
2008-03-13 16:19:00 Show us someone who thinks that new airports are not the desperate need of the hour, and we will show you a political party that doesn’t care about Airport Authority of India (AAI) employees. With air traffic growing exponentially, it is a no brainer that expanding existing airports alone will not do the trick. Greenfield airports have to be built and built fast. In this context, the forthcoming inauguration of the two new airports catering to Bangalore and Hyderabad is welcome. But with the two new airports will come the closure of the two old ones. The AAI are opposed to this replacement scheme - something that had been decided upon by the Civil Aviation Ministry and the two companies, Bangalore International Airport Ltd (Bial) and GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (Ghial). And there lies the crux of the agitation by some 20,000 AAI employees across the nation, who wants both old and new airports to be operational. On the face of it, having both old and new airports... More About: Culture
Movie titles to cost more
2008-03-12 19:25:00 You may have to pay a little more for the DVD and VCD. After a short spell of price cuts, home entertainment majors have deeded to change their pricing tack. Now, they will hike prices, despite the competition. Less than a year ago, the entry of Moser Baer triggered a dramatic cut in DVD/VCD prices. While the low-price strategy of Moser Baer pulled the average price range in the market from Rs 250-400 to the Rs 100-150 mark, players have realized that this model is not viable. In the last six months, VCD/DVD prices for new Hindi titles have gone up. Even as players like T-Series, Shemaroo and others dropped prices significantly, there was surge in volumes. Tighter margins and high acquisition rights for titles are now driving home entertainment players to revisit the old strategy of higher prices. Shemaroo dropped its rates last year by 30% in the hope that volumes would make up the gap. However to ensure same levels of returns, we were looking at volumes going up by 2.5 times. Th... More About: Bollywood , Movie , Cost , Titles
SAARE ZAMEEN PAR?..
2008-03-12 14:37:00 When you invite two irreverent superstars to be the Masters Of Ceremonies, at the 53rd Fair One Filmfare Awards, you run the risk that they will distract from the main event, in this case the presentation of the awards. When the duo is the notorious 52, Shah Rukh Khan and Sail Ali khan, there’s no uncertainty - you can be 100% sure they will steal the show. Of course the only competition for the duo were from the lovely ladies Preity Zinta, Priyanka Chopra, Gauri Khan, Deepika Padukone and Suzanne Roshan, among others dressed in their Chanel and Valentino gowns and Jimmy Choo shawls, holding their Gucci evening bags. The event started staidly enough, with compere Vidya Balan efficiently seeing the awards through the technical categories. But as soon as the S2 duo made their entry into venue, Yash Raj Studios, the event took a turn for the hilarious, After that, every award winner and quite a few of the presenters had their few moments of glory cut short as th... More About: Bollywood
INDIA MUST NOT MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY
2008-03-12 14:34:00 In recent years, there has been a dramatic rise in international trade in services. But the gains so far are dwarfed by what the world could achieve. A recent World Bank Handbook of International Trade in Services estimates that if international trade in communications, finance, transport and business services is reformed, the benefits could be over five times more than those from the comparable liberalisation of trade in goods. Yet, there is a risk that the critical services sector will not receive the attention it deserves in current WTO negotiations, where agriculture and manufacturing have occupied centre-stage. For a country in India ’s position, this will be a tremendous opportunity lost. India’s services exports have increased nearly fifteen fold from just $5 billion in 1990 to $74 billion in 2006. Export of business services - in which India has a particular advantage - have grown at a remarkable 25% per annum, faster than those of any other count... More About: Finance , Opportunity , Miss
Why Blame Cricket?
2008-03-11 17:27:00 It was perhaps just as well that Sunday’s match where the UK knocked out India’s hopes of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics hockey event was played in Chile at a time well past midnight IST, when the fans back home were fast asleep. The sad spectacle of the UK brushing aside India’s past pretensions of being a hockey superpower would have been too much to take! It was evident from the earlier group game where the UK beat India 3-2 that our midfield trapping of the ball left much to be desired compared with our opponents. And so, for the first time in 80 years, India has failed to qualify for the Olympic hockey event. The blame game was on in full swing when one tuned in to the TV news-channels on Monday, with the most logical culprit being Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) president K P S Gill, during whose tenure the men’s national team’s performance has touched new lows. Two years ago, the Indian hockey team failed for the first time to reach the semi... More About: Cricket , Sports , Blame
SECURITISATION OF INSURANCE RISKS
2008-03-11 14:30:00 Securitised risks have slid into a crisis of confidence and they have taken the financial market with them. There is a great deal of uncertainty around because players have invested in securities linked to US subprime mortgages without properly checking out the risks involved. Packaging risks, syndicating them and offering them on capital markets is still the right way forward. Capital has to be put to work and earn us both prosperity and economic growth. What we are seeing in the current market is “teething problems”. Investors paid too little attention to a correct pricing of credit risks. Financial institutions assumed that the risk would not remain on the books for long and were over-reliant on rating agencies. Today’s developments are taking place against the backdrop of a relatively solid real economy as has been the case in the financial industry in recent years. Wherever there is excessive growth, misconduct arises. But as during the dotcom bo... More About: Finance , Insurance
SANITY RETURNING TO MARKETS
2008-03-11 14:26:00 February has been a nightmare for the Indian primary market. From IPOs getting pulled out, issues not getting subscribed despite lowered price bands, deferred IPOs and disastrous listings, we have seen it all. Under such terrible conditions, it’s refreshing to see a well priced IPO come through, with a reasonable chance of getting fairly oversubscribed. Interestingly; Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) comes from the government stable and with the exception of Isec, does not have the privilege of being stewarded by any of the top five “blue blooded” investment banks. REC, like it’s primary market predecessor, PFC is a power sector financier. It has a reasonable track record and a healthy Return on Equity (RoE) of 20%. There are question marks over how it will access low cost funds to grow in the future as avenues such as 54EC bonds and ECBs may no longer be available. REC will have to find a way around these funding constraints. It is per... More About: Finance , Markets
BIG STRIDES BY RELIANCE AND AIRTEL
2008-03-11 14:23:00 Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group company, Reliance Communications has consolidated its global telecom business under a new entity, Reliance Globalcom. This entity will bring under a single umbrella services such as its global voice business (including international voice calls), managing net-works for companies, Internet services and undersea cable systems that it single face owns under the FLAG brand. Further, Reliance Globalcom’s operations will be headquartered in London and will be headed by Punit Garg along with 1,000 employees. With the consolidation, Reliance Globalcom expects revenues of Rs. 5,279 crore in 2007-08 and FLAG will be rebranded as Reliance FLAG. It has plans to plans of coming out with an IPO in the near future, according to Garg. This consolidation is primarily due to the company’s need to bring together Reliance Communications different entities like its recent acquisition of Yipes Enterprise Services, FLAG and Reliance Communica... More About: Culture , Reliance , Airtel
Let Banks Decide Home loan Rates
2008-03-10 15:53:00 The finance minister, P Chidambaram’s barely-veiled hint to banks to lower the interest rate on housing loans up to Rs 20 lakh is distressing for a variety of reasons. Notably because it suggests the government is determined to continue with the process of emasculating the banking system; a process set in motion with the farm loan waiver. For votaries of finandal sector reform - and the prime minister and the FM could once be counted among them - it is as if the dock has been turned back and the painstaking progress in moving towards a competitive banking system wasted. The objective of the 1991 Narasimham Committee report on financial sector reform was to liberate the banking sector from the shackles of the command and control regime of the pre- reform days. And, barring a few hiccups, successive governments had followed its broad agenda. Till now, that is. The tragedy is that this is happening under a reformist prime minister and finance minister. Many would also question ... More About: Finance , Banks , Home , Loan , Rates
PETRO PRICE HIKE: A DROP IN OCEAN
2008-03-10 14:09:00 The increase in retail price of petrol and diesel by RS.2 and Re. 1 per litre would reduce the revenue loss (under recovery) of public sector oil marketing companies by Rs. 840 crore in the remaining weeks of the current financial year. Inspite of the price increase, the under recovery on petrol is Rs.7.25 per litre, Rs. 9 for a litre of diesel, Rs. 19.89 in kerosene and Rs. 331 for a 14.2 kilogram cylinder. The government estimates under recoveries in the current financial year to be Rs. 71,800 crore. The increase in revenue from the hike in petrol and diesel prices constitutes a bare 1.2 per cent of the under recoveries. Sources said Finance Minister P Chidambaram opposed the petroleum ministry’s demand for a Re one per litre reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel. Petro leum secretary M.S. Srinivasan said the under recoveries would have touched Rs. 90,000 crore, but for the appreciation of rupee against dollar and increase in gross refining margin in th... More About: Ocean , Price , Hike
OUR CHILDREN ARE NOT AMUSED
2008-03-10 14:04:00 The oldest and possibly the most accessible entertainment centre for youngsters in the capital, Appu Ghar, down its shutters forever. A brainchild of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Appu Ghar, named after the cherubic mascot of the 1982 Delhi-Asiad, was set up in 1984. The closure was in the offing after the Supreme Court in January ordered the Urban Development Ministry to hand over the land, which the park’s management had taken on lease from the International Trade Promotion Council in 1984, to the apex court and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. - The land lease had expired in 1999. While the footfalls had decreased over the years and prices of tickets were not as attractive as before, Appu Ghar’s closure will mean the end of one of the last surviving open spaces for children in this city of over 14 million people. In fact, much before Mumbai’s Essel World, Kolkata’s Nicco Park and Kerala’s Veega Land were set up, this amusement ... More About: Children , Culture
CHANGE THE GEAR NOW!
2008-03-10 13:56:00 Globally the automotive industry is a key economic sector and drives the emergence of a strong employment-led manufacturing sector. India is no exception. We are the second largest two-wheeler, the 11th largest passenger car and the fifth largest commercial vehicle producer-in the world. In fact, this sector can enable the government to fulfill its two promises: promoting manufacturing and generating employment. An additional car manufactured generates five jobs, a commercial vehicle 13. The current share of employment in the manufacturing sector is around 12 per cent as against 50 to per cent in Malaysia, 62 per cent in Korea and 31per cent in China. Growth in the automotive sector could significantly change this. The government’s Automotive Mission Plan 2006-2016 (AMP) in aims to make India a global automotive hub, accounting for 10 per cent of the GDP and creating 25 or million additional jobs by 2016. The industry is investing over Rs 75,000 crore, of nearly 50 per cent ... More About: Travel , Change , Gear
For The Next Government?
2008-03-09 17:28:00 The Economic Survey is, for the most part, a dour defence of the UP A government with occasional flashes of exdting strokeplay, contained in a section cautiously titled ‘policy reform options’. Most of the reform options are likely to enrage the Left and are thus likely to be implemented by a future government. These include-measures intended to bring about a supply-side response such as amending the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act to allow private investment, and privatising old mines. These also call for transparent and quick award oflicences and faster environmental clearance. Reforms which require legislation, such as raising the FDI limit in insurance to 49% are right now not feasible, many other supply-side measures like selling old oilfields to attract FDI, bundled with advanced oil recovery technologies, can be carried out by the executive. Listing of unlisted PSUs, such as BSNL, should also be possible. The bold proposal for 100% FDI in private banks prepared... More About: Government , Culture
UGC GIVES NO MARKS FOR INNOVATIONS
2008-03-09 11:13:00 When in doubt, set up a committee to prepare an action plan. This is the way our education establishment works and the University Grants Commission (UGC) is no exception. It has been directed by the HRD Ministry to work out; you guessed it, an action plan on the modalities of establishing 16 new varsities and 370 new colleges in backward blocks. The UGC, it would appear, has suddenly woken up to the fact that universities with 500-600 affiliated colleges are facing difficulties in monitoring quality. Like delimitation, the UGC also wants to carve out smaller universities from existing ones. Nothing wrong with all this; we do need more central universities and colleges. But will this really solve the problems in the higher education sector? Going by past experience, the answer would be no. The 11th Five Year Plan is to increase - outlay in higher and technical education ten times, an amount of Rs 84,743 crore. This is a positive step and could, if utilised effectively... More About: Culture , Finance , Innovations , Marks
LET SUN NOT SET FOR IT
2008-03-09 11:08:00 Information technology and telecommunications are the key sectors supporting the country’s phenomenal growth. We expect the finance minister to give due importance to the sector while finalising his Budget. One of the top concerns is the expiry of tax concessions available to the IT industry after fiscal 2008-09. The industry gets tax exemptions under the section 10A/10B of the Income-Tax (1- T) Act under the software technology parks of India (STPI) scheme. The scheme, however, would come to an end in 2009 under the sunset clause mentioned therein. The finance ministry should realise that the software sector is one of the largest employers in the service sector and is growing at over 33% year. Employment by the sector is growing at 26 % a year. It is also a major contributor to export earnings. Total export from the sector is expected to touch $40 billion this year and $60 billion by 2010. Also, the sector contributed 5.3% of the country’s GDP in fiscal 2... More About: Finance
RIGHT CODE FOR NRI?s
2008-03-09 11:05:00 There are real life encounters which defy legislative solutions. The huge Indian diaspora in 130 countries abroad, today exports from their foreign homes unique family law problems in the Indian domain which do not find ready answers in existing Indian matrimonial legislation. Hence, judicial innovation to carve out individual relief in distinct NRI family disputes is necessitated on a case-to-case basis. But these are not consistent statutory remedies. In a unique recent decision of the Delhi High Court, the order of the matrimonial court in the wife’s divorce petition in India, granting her monthly maintenance of Rs 11 lakh besides awarding her Rs 1lakh in litigation expenses to be paid by the NRI husband living in the US, was set aside on two grounds. Firstly; the husband was denied opportunity to contest proceedings in India and secondly; because the matrimonial court had treated the income of the husband in USA as the measure to grant monthly maintenance ... More About: Culture , Code
LET BYGONES BE BYGONES
2008-03-08 16:00:00 The visit to Wagah border was supposed to make me feel good as an Indian. ‘The pomp and pageantry of the Beating Retreat and the Change of Guard within handshaking distance of the Indian and Pakistani forces at the Wagah border make a charming spectacle: says the official website of Amritsar. I’d heard a lot about how the soldiers of the Border Security Force march so erect, how they raise their legs so high it’s a marvel they manage to stay on their feet without losing their balance etc, so was looking forward to Wagah as one of the high points of my visit to Amritsar last week. Then why did I come away strangely disturbed, with mixed feelings, on balance more of sorrow than of pride or joy? Was it because of the sheer bedlam that preceded the actual ceremony? The indisciplined manner in which the mass of humanity at the barricade some 50 yards ahead of the venue surged forward when it was lowered, causing a virtual stampede? Was it the chaotic clo... More About: Indian History
CAN WE HAVE A DURABLE RALLY?
2008-03-08 15:57:00 Market Sentiment has been on the mend this week. After that initial dip towards 5000, the Nifty rallied to 5350 before encountering some resistance there. The big question is whether this is the beginning of a durable recovery or a brief flash that fizzles out around 5500, like last time. The two obvious reasons for this week’s strength are global market stability and some pre budget sentiment, in that order. The key to the sustainability of this market rally lies in these two outcomes too. Investor expectations are low this time so it is entirely possible that if the budget doesn’t have anything specifically bad for capital markets we could see the March series opening up well. A sensex move to 19,000 cannot be ruled out then. Global market stability is more important though. There too, a contrarian move could be shaping up against the wall of pessimism that abounds. That, more than anything, could be the most important driver of any global equity rally o... More About: Finance , Rally , Durable
CAN CRICKET FOLLOW FOOTBALL?
More articles from this author:2008-03-08 15:53:00 Since the dawn of international cricket, the game has essentially been played between countries. All the glamour has been associated with international contests like England playing Australia for the Ashes or India taking on Pakistan in either the five-day Test matches or one day internationals (ODIs). International football is, however, essentially either a quadrennial (once in four years) event when the World Cup takes place between nations across the globe or biennial when countries within a continent compete in tournaments like Euro 2008. If Manchester United has fans throughout the world, it is because of the popularity of club football in the English Premier League. It is the football clubs which hire the best players in the universe every year and release them to play for the national teams. The success of the game is based on the annual turnover of clubs like Manchester United which made a whooping 245 million pound-sterling in 2007. It is the clubs which dev... More About: Cricket , Sports , Football 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
|
 |
|
 |
