Chennai Super Kings - staring down the barrel

Barring some spectacular comeback, it looks like its all over for Chennai Super Kings in this year's IPL. Weird selection coupled with a non-functioning bowling line-up has doomed Chennai Super Kings. For the first two IPLs, they some how managed to qualify for the semi-finals, but this time it looks increasingly difficult. Joginder Sharma, who except for the last over in the world T20 Final, thanks to Mishbah ul haq, has done nothing worth mentioning, to keep figuring in the team time and again. Except for the odd good delivery here and there, he keeps delivering Four-balls. He is similar to Ajit Agarkar, who is known to bowl 2-3 poor deliveries every over. It is time this average cricketer, who is not fit for T20 cricket, especially in flat batting wickets, where his bowling lacks bite, variety and what not, is shown the door.

Another glorified player is Parthiv Patel, who as we all know is the single biggest reason for India not winning down under in 2003, where he put down quite a few easy catches and stumpings. He finds a place in this team regularly for no apparent reason. He is not capable of scoring quick runs and is not a good fielder either. Just because he scores an odd 30, 40 by wasting equal amount of balls, which is a bit too much for this form of cricket, he keeps his place in the team. It is better, if players like Abinav Mukund, who performed exceedingly well in the last domestic season gets a look in. Then there is Balaji, who it must be said, with a great deal of sadness is not quite the same bowler he was before his career threatening back injury. The foreign players except for a few, are either physically beyond their expiry date, or injury prone. Players like Flintoff, Jacob Oram, do not figure regularly in their national squad, even though they are very talented, for the simple reason that they break down every alternate day with injury.

As for the team selection, Murali Vijay is picked and is not played in his usual opening position, where he is known to time the ball very well and picks the gaps, but instead is played down the order. It is just the opposite the way Laxman was treated in his initial years, when he was asked to open the innings, which he was not comfortable with. Hemang Badani, does not get a look in.

Today especially, it was really funny to see Tyagi, who bowled well in the previous match, getting dropped. Balaji, who was carted around the field, gets a look in. Ashwin, who did bowl well, considering the situation, in which he was forced to operate, with Uttappa going besark, was inexplicably dropped. And in the end, the team did not jell together and fell flat on its backside.

It is high time the CSK bosses sit down and change the side drastically in the ensuing auctions by going for players who are fit and currently playing rather than picking some star players, who are injury prone or players, who dont have the wherewithal to perform at this less, lest, it loses the support of its supporters. It is high time they learn a lesson the way the Mumbai Indians had ringed in changes in their team. MI looked like a team in dire straits in the first IPL and now look where they are placed.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

It's time Sourav Ganguly is thrown out of the Kolkata Knight Riders team. His batting is woeful and his captaincy is bordering on selfishness. How else would one describe KKR's loss to the Royals by 30 odd runs with 5 wickets in hand. The only player other than Owasis Shah, who is capable of scoring runs at a faster clip, Angelo Mathews, was sitting in the dug-out dusting his pads, while our Sourav Ganguly, was merrily wasting lot of balls in the death overs, without rotating the strike and leaving Owasis Shah to do little too much at the end. Watching Sourav bat at the end was an eyesore. Having no concern for the team's cause, he was simply whiling away his time with gay abandon. Angelo Mathews was itching to get on the field. Poor soul, after enduring all the pain, he ended up being run out without facing a ball. Even in local gully cricket, the in-form batsmen would be sent in up the order, but it is not so in the case of Sourav Ganguly. He would ensure that he will only bat at the opportune moment and spoil the whole thing. He has the audacity to criticize his bowlers and fielders, at the end of the day, quitely forgetting his contribution to the downfall. Thankfully, Chennai Superkings does not have any such players in its ranks.

Taxation of IT Companies

It is high time, the IT companies are brought under the Tax net.  For far too long, the IT companies have been enjoying the benefit, while other companies in the manufacturing and other sectors are paying hefty taxes. Given the present day scenario, I feel everybody should be treated on an even keel.  One indirect beneficiary of the tax exemption is Satyam.  As per the voluntary disclosure made by Mr. Ramalinga Raju, it seems that Satyam's profit was being inflated artificially for years together along with non-existent cash balances.  Had some amount of tax levied on the IT firms, it would not have been possible for Mr. Raju to inflate the revenues artificially, as he would have had to cough up money for the payment of the taxes and coupled with the fact that there was no money in their kitty, he would have been forced to a corner in the first place.  Such a situation could have been avoided.

However, we don't know.  Looking at the sheer audacity of Mr. Ramalinga Raju, it is definite that he would have devised another plan to defraud the investors.  Taking into consideration the number of IT firms around in this country, it sends a chill up my spine to imagine how many such similar cases are there.  It is high time, the Government along with the ICAI bring about a systemic change to prevent such incidents occuring in future.

One more thing which is pestering me for quite some time is how come on the one hand Merril lynch came to know about the financial irregularities immediately on it being appointed as investment bankers to enhance shareholders value, while on the other hand PriceWaterhouseCooper could not detect the irregularities for years together.  There is something fishy about the same.

Regarding the bail-out of Satyam, quite a few voices have come out against it.  Just because it is Satyam, the corporate sector wants a bail out.  What about the numerous companies which have become sick due to genuine problems. What happened to their employees.  No body bothers.  Just because an iconic company has fallen, it does not mean that tax payer's money should be used to bail the company out.  It would definitely send a wrong signal to all the wrongdoers.   By letting the company fall and taking stringent action against the perpetuators who commit such frauds, the world at large would definitely appreciate India

Satyam Saga

I doubt if the entire truth is out in the ongoing Satyam Saga.  How is it possible for a big IT firm like Satyam to survive on a 3% operating margin as per Mr. Raju's email, when the other top IT firms are operating at more than 20% margin.  It appears that the entire facts are not out in this case.  The one thing, which comes to my mind is the operating margin of the company would be more than 20%, except for the 3%, the rest of the money would have been illegally diverted.  This is only speculation.  Only time will tell.  No company would try to run a loss making business for years to gether that too a company with no physical assets to match for.  There is a strong possibility that money would have been diverted, god knows to whom.  It is also intriguing to note that the actual employee strength of Satyam is not 53000 but way below that.  We'll have to wait till the investigations are complete to know the facts.

Satyam Fiasco

   It is shocking and utterly disgraceful to learn about the fiasco at Satyam.  During the past few months, quite a few cases of corporate frauds /companies collapsing like nine pins, especially in the financial domain, throughout the world has come to notice.  Coming back to Satyam, the email, which is said to be from Mr Raju reveals quite a few astonishing things.  It is hard to believe that an amount of more than Rs. 5000 crores was non-existent.  It is not known as to how their accounts were certified by the Auditors concerned.  

  

 Now that the fiasco has come into the open,  everybody is baying for Mr. Raju's blood.  One of the newspapers had in its editorial said that the Government should try to rescue Satyam.  Seeking Bail-out from the Government has become the order of the day for the past few months. One of the quotes which really impressed me was the one about capitalism, which was heard during the peak of the financial crisis in the US.  When Wall street was begging the US Government to bail them out, it was quoted by someone, i don't remember who, that capitalism is nothing but "Profits are privatized and losses are socialized".

Coming back to the editorial that the Indian Government should try to bail out Satyam,  I totally disagree with it.  Being a Government Employee, I often get irritated the way this paper trivialises the Government Employees especially calling them babus.  This is the very same newspaper, which ridicules the Government quite often, especially the so called babus and tells the world that they are totally inefficient, ineffective, so on and so forth.   Now to hear from the very same paper that the Government should bail out Satyam, is indeed poetic justice.  Apart from ridiculing the Government, this paper goes on to lavish praises on the corporate sector, saying that the corporate sector is capable of just handling anything; that they require no rules or regulations; that they are capable of being self-regulated; that Government should keep away from such things as it was incapable to handle such things.  Thanks to the fantastic self-regulation, trillions of dollars have simply vanished into thin air.  Had it been the Government, I think the situation would have been far better.  

The events unfolding in the last few days have clearly demonstrated one thing.  Nobody is perfect in this world and everything needs to be regulated properly.  It is just not acceptable that people keep on swindling money and the Government should come and bail them out.  The people who commit such frauds should be taken to task and put behind bars.

Coming to the question of regulation, it is deplorable to think that a reputed Auditing company (based on reports in the media) was not able to detect such a fraud being perpetuated for years together.  How come the amount of more than Rs. 5000 crores, said to be the cash balances, simply be not available in the banks.  Do they not check the bank balances etc.  Come on guys, they are fooling around with the gullible public.   Had it been done by any Government department, the media would have come down heavily on it.  Shame on such people.

Ultimately, it is the hapless small investors, who lose out in the entire episode.  Most of the small investors base their investment decisions on the numerous brokerage reports that are dished out regularly.  It is surprising to know that none of them had a wind of this mega fraud.

One more report I read was how due to greed such a fraud was committed.  It is quite detailed and it appeared to reveal the modus operandi of the fraudster.  As per the report, due to greed in land transactions, such a messy situation came to arise.  Where were these people, when everybody was gung-ho about Satyam.

Today was another shocker.  During the press conference held by Satyam, one of the reporters asked the interim CEO whether the total employees of Satyam was indeed around 53000!  He revealed that when part of the Audited report was stated to be totally false, it was difficult to believe everything that was reported.  It is so cynical.

Now atleast, please dont ridicule the babus.  Keep your house in order and then throw stones at others.  

  

Short Sellers - a different tribe altogether

  The past week was a tumultuous one in the Global Financial Markets.  Financial Tsunami must have been the most used word this week.  One after the other, the so-called icons of Wall Street started collapsing like nine pins.  First, it was Bear Stearns followed by Freddie Mac, Fanny Mae, Lehmann Brothers, Merrill Lynch and then AIG.  For once, the Americans were caught with their pants down.

  Everybody, from the person on the street to office colleagues, friends etc were totally engrossed with the events that took place in the USA. I was also following the developments closely on TV.  The happenings at Wall Street was being telecast by the minute.  The day before the FED came out with a bail out package, the stocks of some of the financial companies were getting thrashed down by the Short Sellers.  As a panic reaction, the SEC banned Naked Short Selling.  This took the wind out of the sails of the short sellers and they were forced to cover up.  The Short Sellers, as a tribe are one with a view quite opposite to the one held by the majority of the investors.  I get fascinated by the way Shankar Sharma, considered to be one of India's leading Bears, comes out with his opinion during such demoralising times.  He just goes on and on about all that is bad about the markets and this just sends shivers down one's spine.  If anybody gets a chance to hear him, please listen to him, it is amazing.

  In these times of utter dispair, one famous quote by John Templeton, which was shown on one News channel should act as a soothing balm to all troubled minds.  It goes like this

"  Bull Markets are born in utter dispair

    They rise with skepticism

    They mature with optimism

    Then end in mania".

Chennai's MRTS

   Ever since, the Mass Rapid Transit System (MTRS) was introduced a few years back in Chennai, I was really fascinated by the Railway Stations.  I have travelled probably 10 times.  Every time there is a match at Chepauk, I travel by MRTS.  Even though the route is quite a eyesore (it rises just above the Cooum river, passes through the nearby slums),  it is indeed a pleasure travelling right on top of everything, literally.  

Google's Knol

  Google's Knol launched very recently, is quite similar to wikipedia.  I do think there is a fundamental difference between the two.  In wikipedia, I think, there would be only one page on any article and that can be edited by any person apart from the originator.  Whereas, when I tried searching in Knol, I found several articles on the same subject written by different authors.

  Recently, when I was searching for information about a particular item, I found the one in wikipedia to be the most accurate and the most updated one.  The feature of allowing anyone to edit any wikipedia page is the main reason behind wikipedia's success.  The contents of wikipedia would therefore most probably be the latest one on any subject.

  On the other hand, on searching Knol, one gets the feeling that the contents are individual-centric and can be edited / updated only by the individual concerned.   There is however a feature wherein any individual with a google account can edit any article, which would be sent to the owner of the piece for acceptance by him.  

  Let us wait and see how Knol can rival wikipedia. My feeling is that wikipedia is well established and it would rather be very difficult for knol to overcome wikipedia.  Wikipedia's success stems from the feature of allowing pages to be edited by anyone, which would invariably result in the pages getting updated immediately.  Just like, when Abhinav Bindra won the Gold at the Beijing Olympics,  I was rather anxious to find more details about him in the net.  To my surprise, I found that wikipedia had already updated the fact that he had won a Gold medal.

  Knol, can be successful, if the contributions come from experts, thereby enabling Knol to be become a truely reliable source of information.  But, that is a long way to go. By the way, wikipedia has already got Scholarpedia, which appears to be more or less similar to Google's Knol rather knol is similar to scholarpedia, since it was started much earlier than Knol.  

  Anyway, for people like us, it is boon that we have so many reference material available for free on the net.