Welcome to the Proposals Library of AltKuznets Advisors Pvt Ltd., Your Sustainability Nirvana !

'Optimist'ize Your Life! Ganga Prasad G. Rao http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar “Be an Optimist”, they said “Smile and look around, the world is bright glamorous and beautiful” Persuaded, I have shed my pessimist snake-skin, peeled away my morose face (even shaved my week-long stubble!) And now, sporting a silly smile I have turned, overnight, a 'born-again optimist' livin' the good life, ignoring matters mundane, and anything beyond instant comprehension Wishing away all grey clouds of tomorrow in to the enjoyment of the now I am an Optimist, therefore I am! No longer do I trek weekends run along the beach at dawn Vocational training? Evening college? No, not for me With latest sunglasses, lotsa macho stuff a bike from hell, and boots to fit No book worth the thrill of a babe riding pillion curling her hands 'round me as we zoom away to the mall Gotta meet friends, live up the life, check out movies, the music, the moves and the shakes SMS every gimmick there is ...

Global Warming, the Movie - Cycle III Ganga Prasad G. Rao http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar Ever wondered why no Indian actor or actress ever made it to a James Bond movie? Or, for that matter, an Indian fiction author? Because there is no 'story', no 'plot', no 'real-life conspiracy' to base it on. Get it? So, as a favor to my more illustrious colleagues in the film industry, here is my outline for a 'James Bond' movie. I have named it 'Global Warming, the Movie - Cycle III' (No apologies to Al Gore!). You may want to rename it 'Mother of All Conspiracies'. Once, there were a group of politicians who, for various reasons not related to character, intelligence, performance, principles (too much of it, of course), fell out of grace and power. Not finding any takers, they decided to get together. In trying to accommodate each other's past, they committed to certain wrongs in the future, so no one among them get away leaving the rest behi...

Sane Insane? Ganga Prasad G. Rao http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar What is sanity? A state of mind? Behavior consistent with society's norms and expectations of the inferiors? Following traditions of the majority going about the routine timidly, unobtrusively and unnoticed so not to raise the ire of households, neighbors or the powers that be? Accepting established rules and institutions stacked against the commons? Disappearing and dissolving in to the multitudes of those gone by, in to an oblivion of the ordinary? And, pray, what is insanity? Unmitigated, unexpressed frustration against injustice – stark yet private, gory yet informal; Anger at denials and insults umpteen attempts on life, mail fraud, forgery, intimidation IPR theft, smoking, gassing, witch craft, you name it? Outrage against relatives who sold out to enrich themselves while snaring the family deeper in web? Fighting every stone cast by neighbors while living in the glasshouse of an 'executive test' one did...

IPOs, Lies and Videotape (Yes, Lies, All Lies!) Ganga Prasad G. Rao http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar Ever so often, the media draws our attention to the zooming stock markets and what the sky-high PE multiples portend for valuation and future course of the market. In developed economies, the stock market is so large and so mature, that practically no IPO, no matter what size, dents the market. The story is very different in emerging economies like China and India where large state-run enterprises, fed with government protection and subsidy, are privatised by offering them in IPOs to the stock market. The relative size of these IPOs in relation to the market capitalization, though small, is significant enough to induce market volatility as investors pull out of their existing holdings to subscribe. In developed nations, these decisions are unnecessary, even illegal. Entrepreneurs take their enterprise to the market at a time they judge convenient or optimal. That brings to the fore many ...

Auto Loans! Dime a Thousand Dollars! Ganga Prasad G. Rao http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar 7 years after returning to India, I am still getting used to the way in which policies are set in this country. Recently, I read that the Honorable FM exhorted PSU banks to find ways to lower the interest rate on loans. Specifically, he sought lower interest rates to stimulate the auto sector growing at less than the 'target' rate. That got my old moth-balled brain whirring. Isn't that what the doctor ordered for our beleaguered transport sector? Apparently, what we need is not investment in good roads, road-widening and flyovers, more buses, an MRTS or a better traffic management, but more vehicles on the road. More vehicles for urban traffic that moves at a snail's pace negotiating congestion and snarls. More cars, more smoke-belching RAVs, more vans and more trucks on narrow roads getting narrower by the day. Wonder what motivated the FM's request. Does the Government's I...

Rate (C/G)ut the Earth! Ganga Prasad G. Rao http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar I am no macro-economist, at least not with the credentials of Greenspan, Bernanke or Dr. Reddy. But I do know that lower inter-bank interest rate set by the Fed cascades down as lower interest rates on home loans and credit card loans on one hand, and to easier credit for businesses on the other. A surprise decision to lower interest rate ultimately means more real disposable income in the hands of the working class and induces higher consumption which in turn spurs production and investment, not to mention a spurt in stock markets globally. Not surprisingly, the boost in consumer confidence and higher economic activity augurs well for the incumbent party that seeks to 'soft-launch' the economy in its campaign to retain power. So what could be wrong with this tried and tested strategy? Nothing, if one did not care beyond the boundaries of one's nation and this generation. But in today's global e...