Finance Minister-LIFE

‘Life for Finance Minister is not easy'


Press Trust of India
Delhi, March 16: “I must be cruel only to be kind.”

Invoking Shakespeare in his Budget speech with these famous words, Pranab Mukherjee tried to soften the impact of some economic decisions, saying some “painful” policy measures which are good in the long run have to be taken by the Finance Minister whose life is “not easy.”
“Economic policy, as in medical treatment, often requires us to do something, which in the short run, may be painful, but is good for us in the long run.
As Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, has said in Shakespeare's immortal words, ‘I must be cruel only to be kind.'”
Though 76-year-old Mukherjee's 110-minute speech marked by deft use of words had a rocky start with the BJP, Left and other parties protesting against the slashing of EPF rate, he had a smooth sailing thereafter with members listening to him in rapt attention.
Before beginning with his tax announcements, Mukherjee reached out to the Opposition.
“The life of a finance minister is not easy. Various players, including policy makers, politicians, agriculturists and business houses, participate in the making of the economy.
“When everything goes well with the economy, we all share in the joy. However, when things go wrong, it is the Finance Minister who is called upon to administer the medicine,” he said.

BUDGET fall

HARD PRESSED FOR TIME .....SOME TWEETS...........

Bammidi.NageswaraRao ‏ @BNRSTOCKS 16-03-2012

STT REDUCED, TAXES RATIONLISED BUT THE EXISE DUTY HIKE WILL HAVE ADVERSE EFFECT ON MARKETS. SO FELL TODAY AND WILL FALL FURTHER, WAIT TO BUY

Bammidi.NageswaraRao ‏ @BNRSTOCKS 13-03-2012

BOLD IN HIKING RAIL FARES AFTER 9 yrs LIKELY TO COST THE POST. NO MATTER WHAT, BE BOLD,LIFE TAKE IT'S COURSE or a game for midterm elections

Bammidi.NageswaraRao ‏ @BNRSTOCKS 11-03-2012


I ASKED TO BUY AT 5180, NIFTY TOUCHED 5170, NOW SELL HOLDINGS. THE STT WILL BE REDUCED,MORE IT EXMPTION WILL BE THERE BUT THE MARKETS FALL

Bammidi.NageswaraRao ‏ @BNRSTOCKS 09-03-2012
NOW USE NIKKEI IS FOR COMPARISON. SO LONG IT STAYS ABOVE 9385, THE MARKETS ARE IN BULL GRIP. THE INDIAN MARKETS MAY SEE BUDGET-VOLATILITY
 
Bammidi.NageswaraRao ‏ @BNRSTOCKS 07-03-2012


THE MAKETS ARE CONSOLIDATING BUT RELIANCE @ 791, IS NOW A CRUCIAL RESISTANCE FOR MARKETS TO ENJOY A BULLS SUPPORT. THE BOTTOM SUPPORT-5140

Bammidi.NageswaraRao ‏ @BNRSTOCKS -06-03-2012

THE ELECTION RESULTS DAMPED THE SENTIMENT BUT POSITIVE IS THAT BJP DID NOT DO IT EITHER BETTER. SO BE HAPPY. WILL RISE, CUES ARE STORED.

Successful AGE..continue...HARDWORK

Age is not a constraint to lead the team to achieve success......
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14 Mar, 2012, 12.10PM IST, The writer has posted comments on this articleIANS
At 84, Parkash Singh Badal begins fifth innings as chief minister
CHANDIGARH: In 1969, Parkash Singh Badal, then 42, became the youngest chief minister in the country when he took over the reins of Punjab for the first time. On Wednesday, at 84 and after 65 years in politics, Badal became the country's oldest chief minister when he took the oath of office for a record fifth time.
To make the swearing-in historic, the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) combine chose the ancient Sikh battlefield of Chappar Chiri near here which has the country's highest victory tower - Fateh Burj. It is dedicated to the warrior, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, who established the first Sikh state by defeating the Mughal forces led by Wazir Khan. Wearing a dark blue suit and a blue turban, the bespectacled Badal looked visibly happy as he mingled with the VIPs at the venue of the ceremony. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil.
Badal had earlier become chief minister in 1969, 1977, 1997 and 2007. In all, he has held office for nearly 14 years. This, in spite of spending a similar number of years in the political wilderness during the 1981-95 period of Sikh militancy in Punjab.
After Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela, Badal has been one of the longest-serving political prisoners in the world, having spent nearly 17 years of his life in jails. He was booked for a civil liberty agitation, sent to jail during Emergency (1975-77) and put in prison during the Dharam Yudh Morcha days of Punjab in the 1980s, fighting for the rights of Punjab and its people.
Badal courted controversy during one of the agitations when he publicly tore the constitution of India. He apologised for the action years later. Ironically, he has taken oath as chief minister five times under the same constitution. Born Dec 8, 1927, Badal, largely owes his fifth term to his son and political heir Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is the Shiromani Akali Dal president. Sukhbir steered the Akali Dal-BJP combine to victory in the just-concluded Punjab assembly polls. This is the first time in over four decades in Punjab that a political party has returned to office for a second consecutive term.
Badal is known for his mild mannerism, wit, grounded personality and his mass connect with people despite the huge security paraphernalia around him at all times.
He entered politics way back in 1947, the year when India got its independence, and has never looked back. Badal, who comes from a landed, farming family of southwest Punjab's Muktsar district, was first elected to the Punjab assembly in 1957 on a Congress ticket. During the run-up to the January 30 assembly polls, Badal clearly told people that this would be the last election of his political career.
Badal was married to Surinder Kaur, who died last year. They have two children - son Sukhbir and daughter Preneet. Badal's daughter-in-law Harsimrat Badal is the Lok Sabha MP from Bathinda. His son-in-law Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon is a minister in his government.

SUCCESS AND SUCCESSION.....NOT AN EASY TASK..!!!!

11 MAR, 2012, 10.38AM IST, 

Lesson's from AM Naik and L&T's leadership change 

Managing leadership succession is very challenging for all organisations, tougher for more complex entities. Unfortunately, in several cases, neither the incumbent nor the board wakes up to address this challenge early on.
Typically, in their hurry to grow the organisation, they either forget or do not devote adequate attention to such a strategically important matter before it becomes a crisis. The leadership change at L&T has attracted a lot of attention precisely for the same reason. There are several lessons from this experience.
Every Lap Counts
Leadership succession is like a relay race. Choice of the runners for each lap depends on the challenges ahead, the first and last runners being the fastest. There has to be adequate preparation and perfect understanding between runners about the timing of passing the baton.
The person handing over the baton should feel confident that the person receiving it has caught hold of it. The two runners have to have perfect understanding between them about each other. In a well-trained context, this happens in split seconds. Played out in slow motion, the same thing happens in leadership succession in corporations.
In this highly professionalised organisation, the board and management have always been aware of the need for finding a successor to Mr Naik, who is already 70. In fact, media reports that appeared about two years ago had described the dilemma that the company was going to face.
It is unfortunate that the board did not do much then or earlier about choosing the runner for the next lap with all the appropriate capabilities, and prepare the ground for a smooth change over. This was in spite of the fact that the entire team of executive directors was over 60 then! 

Start Early
The board should have started the process of identifying the successor at least five years back with a definite deadline, and intensified the search especially when it was clear then itself that there was no obvious choice available.
The company would have been better off with a younger top leadership to steer the organisation to achieve the 25 percent compound growth planned in the next several years. Such an approach would have guaranteed smooth transition of leadership at L&T, with an over lapping phase for the baton change to be trouble free.
Doubles Game
The current decision to split the responsibilities between chairman and managing director appears to be a convenient decision. The new duo of chairman and MD/CEO is going to face sharing the responsibilities of shaping the destiny of the organisation. It may not be easy for the new entrant to flourish when Mr Naik's shadow continues to loom large as the executive chairman.
Given that Mr Naik and Mr Venkatraman will play a doubles game for the next five years, it is critical for them both as well as the board to objectively discuss the roles they will actually play independently and jointly. The new MD should not become a figure head

Prepare Next Runner
Mr Naik has built L&T into a giant organisation, fighting several odds. He has a larger than life image. In such a scenario, it is for the incumbent to remind himself of the trusteeship role he is playing and prepare the organisation for the next leader. It appears that Mr Naik did not do it early enough.
By asking Mr Naik to continue as the executive chairman, the board has signalled its lack of preparedness for a change which is inevitable for anyone. Many leaders in business and politics do not believe that their time for retirement would ever come; they tend to think that they alone are capable of running subsequent laps. They do not recognise the need to prepare the next lap runner early on. Mr Naik and the board failed in their trusteeship responsibility.
Insecurity of Retirement
The longer a leader stays and the bigger the success, the greater is likely to be the challenge for his departure. Individual egos play a dominant role in refusing to accept realities. This is where some of the basic teachings of this country such as detachment, contentment and feeling of duty become all the more helpful. This is when leaders show their maturity.
National Institution
L&T is a national institution, respected and regarded for its professionalism by multiple stakeholders. The top team, representing all the stakeholders has a responsibility to ensure that it starts preparing for the next lap runner now itself. As trustees, they have to constantly remind themselves that no individual is indispensable.
(The author is Thomas Schmidheiny Chair Professor of Family Business & Wealth Management, Indian School