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Globe Guru and MNC Dreams! | |||
| Published on April 23rd, 2007 In Movies | Views 405 | ||||
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Globe Guru And Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551 Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com Pl Visit this site to feel COLD HORROR: Abhi-Ash romance revisited Home and the world - The rise of the Indian multinational The centre of gravity of world business is shifting, and India’s MNCs are ready to carve out a good sized chunk of the pie. by Indrajit Lahiri MNC Raj and India Unbound! The Indian Multinational Boom is well expressed by GURU in a Shareholders Meet in a Sports stadium- Do`n you want to be the Number One Company in this World? The mood seem to be very strong as India India joins commercial satellite launch market India will not be hurried into concluding a landmark but controversial nuclear cooperation deal with the United States, despite the latter"s frustration over an impasse in negotiations, an Indian official said on Monday. Globalisation is the new mantra. Countries all over the world are keen to attract Foreign Direct Investment for their development and Mauritius is no exception. But it should beware of big fish swallowing up small fish to create monopolies and cartels. When workers become redundant, they and their families are the only ones to feel the tragedy that has befallen them. In India, where drought and floods play havoc with farmers’ crops, lack of insurance cover has driven thousands to commit suicide, and those who were going to lose their means of livelihood threatened to do the same. The social costs of development have to be weighed against the economic advantages. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai"s marriage has spelled a boon for media houses and advertisers but it has done little to ease worries in trade circles. If anything, film folks are more concerned as they are not sure how the marriage will affect the business of moviemaking. India is a nation satate where citizenship maeans nothing until you get Dual citizenship! Shareholders and Stockplayers are the only previleged ones who represent this India and Guru leads them well. Guru is taking over everything! He may not be stopped at all. India is AshAbhed with blinding glamour and rampshow.We citizens have to pay taxes direct and indirect, for everything to enjoy freedom. But SEZ developers have not only Tax Holiday but they happen to be out of jurisdiction for any Indian Law and IPC! SEZ development commissioner has to enjoy state head status! Developers of large SEZ projects may be in for some respite. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is considering a rural development ministry proposal to allow state governments facilitate land acquisition for multi-product SEZ projects for meeting the contiguity norms. However, the flexibility will be utilised only in special cases and restricted to just 10% of the land required for a project. The facility may be incorporated in the new rehabilitation policy being prepared by the rural development ministry. No vision! Some reviewers interpreted the film as justifying the use of unfair tactics, so long as it creates shareholder wealth. Ratnam, in the south Indian city of Bangalore to attend an industry conference on the need for ethics in business, accepted that the character Gurukant Desai, played by Abhishek Bachchan, is morally ambiguous. “Yeah, but that"s the protagonist"s point of view," the 50-year-old director said, visibly bristling. “… doesn"t mean you have to follow it. “I am just saying there"s somebody, who believed in a particular fashion, who lived in a particular fashion - that"s his kismet (fate). If you are making a film about a particular person, you have to get into his shoes," said Ratnam. Mr Chidambaram, who was opposed to tax incentives during the initial days of the SEZ debate, had said that it would cost the government Rs 70,000 crore. The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) too has said that the government could lose about Rs 1,00,000 crore on revenue in fiscal concessions to SEZs. According to the current rules, export units in SEZs get a 100% tax holiday for 5 years. SEZ developers, on the other hand, enjoy a tax holiday for 10 years. But the commerce ministry was of the view that the projections of the finance ministry were hugely exaggerated. Although all major political formations, including the Congress, had serious reservations over the tax breaks, the government went ahead with the original scheme, offering concessions to the SEZ developers. As a matter of fact, an internal Congress report prepared by Veerappa Moily had gone to the extent of seeking a review of the model as he felt that it would widen imbalances and spur social conflict. The ADB report also said the special tax incentives could open loopholes for tax evasion and undermine investments in firms located outside the SEZs. “The units outside SEZs will suffer from worse infrastructure and higher taxes,” the report said. The report said that the need was for better infrastructure and greater bureaucratic efficiency in SEZs and not tax breaks. Referring to the issue of rehabilitation of displaced persons, the report said, “some of the loudest political opposition to SEZ projects comes from the landless, who may not receive compensation for the land conversion and who lack the capital to become self-employed.” This assessment is not off the mark as protests are raging in many places. While Opposition political formations are backing these agitations, some NGOs have drifted away from their ideological siblings to back the protest movements. Addressing a press conference in the Capital, activist Medha Patkar opposed the SEZ policy and said it can only be implemented through state repression. The Nandigram violence has given further impetus to the anti-SEZ campaign. Remember that Mani has a weakness for basing his films on real life characters like Velu Nayakan of Nayakan that delved into the life of Bombay underworld dreaded Tamil don of the 70’s and 80’s Varadaraja Muthaliar. Similarly 10 years back Mani shot Iruvar under top secrecy as it was the story of MGR-Jayalalithaa-Karunanidhi. He did it at a time when Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minster of Tamilnadu! Who can forget his portrayal of the Mumbai riots and the depiction of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray played by Tinnu Anand in Bombay? With the hype and hoopla surrounding the matrimonial alliance between two of India"s biggest names in entertainment behind us, it is time to turn our attention to the not-so-rosy economics of film trade. Like Ambani, Desai is born in the western Indian state of Gujarat to a schoolmaster, goes abroad to work in the oil business and returns home after 10 years to start his own company with 15,000 rupees (BD132) of seed capital. Desai doesn"t hesistate to cut corners as he goes on to build his business, the Shakti Group, into one of the country"s biggest companies. Ratnam has however denied basing the story on Ambani"s life. The climax has Desai, recovering after a paralytic stroke, justifying to a court numerous breaches of the law to build his Shakti Group by pointing to the wealth he created for people. Guru, released in January, has been declared a box-office hit and a career-defining movie for Bachchan. Guru (2007 film) Synopsis Set in 1951, Guru tells the story of a ruthlessly ambitious villager who moves to Turkey first and Mumbai later with his wife Sujata (Aishwarya Rai) and brother-in-law Jignesh (Arya Babbar) to fulfill his dreams. In Mumbai, truth dawns upon Guru that the business world is a closed community ruled by a handful of rich and influential people who don"t believe in giving opportunities to new players. Despite barriers, he starts a company called Shakti Trading and climbs the ladder of success at a furious pace. Manik Dasgupta aka Nanaji (Mithun Chakraborty), who publishes a newspaper Swatantra, treats Guru as his son. But when he learns that Guru"s means to make it big are not right, he along with the Editor of his newspaper, Shyam (Madhavan), decide to expose Guru"s unjust ways. Historical Similarities Historically, the media war waged against Dhirubhai Ambani was fought by Ramnath Goenka"s newpaper The Indian Express. In the film, the paper is named the Swatantra Sarkar, and is headed by Manik Das Gupta (Mithun Chakraborty). The reporter portrayed by Madhavan"s Shyam Saxena resembles S. Gurumurthy. Another image that resonates historically are the Contractors mentioned in the film, who closely resemble the Wadias. The younger Contractor shares similarities with Nusli Wadia. Characters Gurukant Desai - Guru Kant Desai, simply called as Guru, belonged to a small village called Idhar situated in Gujarat. Coming from a humble background which comprising a headmaster father, he was always taught to be content with what one has got rather than aspiring for something that may not be achievable by any means, whether it is materialistic or non-materialistic. But Guru had different plans. He wanted it all. So whether it was dreams, house or a village to live in, Guru always dreamt of something bigger. And all this since he was confident that he had it in him to achieve that, especially with a belief that he was the one who would be writing his own destiny. And soon a simple villager was en route to be one of the biggest visionary ever. Indian Multinationals and SEZ Saga The Central Indian government then decided that henceforth State governments should no longer buy the required land for private developers, but that the developers should purchase whatever land they want directly from the owners. Governments should not be brokers but facilitators. Small farmers and small businessmen have no option but to modernize and stick together to face competition from multinationals. Their hard work, friendly approach to their customers and treating their employees as human beings will bring them greater dividends than the aloof and impersonal approach of multinationals. Indian Multinationals are supported by Hindu Zionist ruling class which also support Imperialism and Feudalism with fascist color! The greatest Indian multi nationals is though not any particular company, but a hypothesis named Hindu nation! The super power. This hypothesis and all damned Sen Sex dreams are portrayed in Maniratnam`s Guru followed by much hyped real life fairy tale marriage of two top bollywood Icons, Ash and Abhi! The Indian economy is expected to post a robust growth for the fourth straight year, expanding by an accelerated 9.2 per cent in 2006-07 as against 9 per cent in the previous fiscal. The acceleration in growth during 2006-07 is driven by continued momentum in the services and manufacturing sectors, growth of which are expected to be in double-digit figures, the RBI said in its macro-economic and monetary developments review-2006-07, today. Agriculture and allied activities growth, however, slowed down from 6 per cent in 2005-06 to 2.7 per cent in 2006-07. The Centre"s plea came up for hearing before a bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and L S Panta, which had stayed the implementation of certain provisions of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act enabling a quota in institutions like IIMs, IITs and AIIMS. Here is a news for you! The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is down with the SEZ flu while cricketer Saurav Ganguly is out of the upcoming Bangladesh ODI series.However, it was an opportunity both of them didn’t want to lose. Bhattacharjee and Ganguly shared the same platform for a common cause on Sunday- children’s health care.The politician and the player now seem to be looking up to a common cause for survival- the industrialisation of West Bengal. State pulse: West Bengal: Farm vs factories Farmers in Orissa, Maharashtra and Haryana have already taken up cudgels against the decision to acquire farm lands for setting up SEZs. In Orissa, confrontation between the villagers to be displaced and the State Government is growing what with the opposition taking cue from the violence in West Bengal. They have taken a hard stance against the Tata Steel project to be set up at Gopalpur and also protested against the Aluminium project in Rayagada district. Up in the North, a farmers" lobby, headed by former Chief Ministers Om Prakash Chautala and Bhajan Lal, has taken up cudgels against Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda for his Government"s decision to acquire farm lands for several SEZ proposals. Similar lobbies have also cropped up in Punjab and Maharashtra, even as trouble is brewing in the other States. Lending strong support is the statement of the IT Czar, Narayana Murthy, from Bangalore opposing farmland for SEZs. Following the directive from the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on SEZs that state governments should not get involved in the process of land acquisition, SEZ developers such as Reliance Industries and the Salem group have been lobbying hard for relaxation of the rule. The rural development ministry is of the view that state participation in the land acquisition process should not be completely ruled out. “State governments may be authorised to facilitate purchase of not more than 10% of the land in special cases, with the only intention of helping the developer in striking contiguity. There too, the state government will have to ensure that the special authority is exercised only in getting rid of vested interest groups working with the intention of stalling a project,” an official in the rural development ministry said. Citing the examples of Nandigram, Singur in WestBengal and Pantnagar in Uttarakhand, where agriculture lands were being acquired for SEZ, Joshi said, “There is a need to formulate an agriculture land policy that makes mandatory for the state governments to fix a certain percentage of land for agriculture purposes." The new policy should be such that fertile land cannot be acquired for industrial or SEZ purposes. SEZ issue still not over: Medha Patkar WIP labs to set up 4G technology centre in Kolkata Boris Yeltsin dead: Kremlin Kremlin spokesman Alexander Smirnov said that Yeltsin died, but gave no cause of death or further information. The Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified medical source as saying he had died of heart failure. Although Yeltsin initially was admired abroad for his defiance of the monolithic social system, many Russians will remember him mostly for presiding over the steep decline of their nation. INDIA UNBOUND If it comes through, it will be a triple whammy, marking India’s decisive break with Socialist-era insularity. Let the world buy in, let us buy out, is the latest buzzword in Indian boardrooms. No, India has not become very hot with global brand merchants. Not yet, at any rate. No one is saying that the world will now instantly recognise an Aditya Birla Group logo on a billboard in Manhattan or a Tata logo in the periphery of Hyde Park. To many in the US and Europe, names like Reliance, Ranbaxy and Mahindra probably do not even ring a bell. But neither, for that matter, do other relatively new global giants like Cemex, Galanz or Embraer. Guru is reflection of reality: Mani Ratnam Interview Vasuki (Dr. C. Abraham Varghese) *All nations practice Economic Nationalism unashamedly and unapologetically. * *Multinational is a misnomer. *The degree of corruption is directly proportional to the distance between the decision and the action points.* Dr C. Abraham Varghese, is a renowned Management Expert. He took his M.Scand Ph.D from the University of Manchester and worked as Deputy Chairman of Brooke Bond India, and President of Rallis India, Bennett, Coleman " Co. Ltd, and Batliboi and Co. Now retired, he heads his own Management Counselling Services. Inspite of his spending years abroad, Dr Varghese is not over whelmed by the West. A staunch nationalist, he puts his bold and frank ideas about Swadeshi and Management of our country"s economy in this booklet. He writes under the pen-name of VASUKI the God Snake who served Gods and Rakshasas as a rope for churning the sea. His revolutionary approach will make the ideologues and economists sit up and take notice of this new perspective. Succinct and precise, he touches the most sensitive and yet conveniently overlooked important points. Ever since the Indian economy treaded on the path of globalisation, the maximum focus of the Government has been towards giving fiscal reliefs for inbound investments. However, after more than a decade of globalisation and with the Indian economy doing exceedingly well in the recent years, several Indian companies or multinationals are going global, or in other words, venturing for outbound investments through acquisition of foreign companies or setting up green-field projects abroad. Increase in the number and volume of outbound investments is a correct in |
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