Researching mobile Phone Industry & India's 3G auction

There are difficulties in doing research related to cell phone market. Cell phone users are widespread across regions and before researching anything related to cell phones, the sample size taken should be well enough to represent all sectors. The validity of the research conducted should be verified. Biased responses should be avoided. The sample size should be large enough to arrive at a conclusion. One may encounter problems when analyzing from small sub samples.

In the case of the article, cell phone usage and political preferences may not correspond to those that are most commonly used to weight polls. It is now very difficult, for instance, to get young people on the phone when using a land line-only sample. More than 50 % of all adults from age 25-29, for instance, are cell phone-only, and two-thirds are either cell phone-only or cell phone-mostly. The numbers are actually slightly better for adults aged 18-24, who are more likely to be living in a college dormitory, or still to be living at home, where a land line will usually be available. Coupling this with the fact that young people have grown up in a call-screening culture, and their response rates are often completely inadequate.

The main problem with the study is that weighting seemed to work just fine for multiple pollsters during the 2008 election when there was a historic turnout of alleged cell phone only demographics.

One of the ways by which Indian cell phone providers can track usage and billing statistics is through concentration on demographics.

Nine telecom companies forked over $14.6 billion to the government for coveted 3G mobile spectrum. The question now is: Will they ever get their money's worth?
The auction further broken India's hyper-competitive mobile market and forces Indian telecoms to make steep payouts even as a price war crushes profit margins.
Moreover, converting customers to 3G in a nation whose work force is still dominated by small farmers could prove challenging. Many Indians in rural areas, which have driven subscriber growth, may be content with affordable, basic voice services for years to come. Many companies feel that they overpaid.
It remains to be seen how companies will tie up or consolidate to provide nationwide coverage to their 3G subscribers.

The auction format and severe spectrum shortage along with ensuing policy uncertainty drove the prices beyond reasonable levels. This fractured auction results, with smaller players would lead to a further splintering of the mobile industry.

It's also not clear to analysts whether most Indians need 3G spectrum. India's mobile market is far from mature, adding 20 million users a month, many of them in rural villages where they have little use for the fancy data services, video calls and high-tech graphic applications that 3G makes possible. Only 5 per cent of mobile owners have handsets with 3G capability.

The telecom industry has been India’s biggest infrastructure success, and the operators would like to see good times continue. To recover their investments, the 3G spectrum winners will have to focus on customers with high ARPUs. In a country where the ARPU is already low, overpaying for 3G will definitely affect the bottom line. Whether telecom can pull off this gamble remains to be seen.

IBM - From Computers to Computer Services

Over the years, IBM Chief Executive Palmisano had built these concepts of revamping customers' operations and even running them into a strategy. His goal is to free IBM from the computer industry, which is growing at just 6% a year. Instead of merely selling and servicing technology, IBM is putting to use the immense resources it has in-house, from its software programmers to its 3,300 research scientists, to transform themselves from a computers and technology services into a business solutions provider. Palmisano had said that they are going to give a transformational process of running the entire business for their clients.
Palmisano expects that within 10 years IBM could build an annual revenue stream of as much as $50 billion in business consulting and outsourcing services. If so, Palmisano will have created a second services miracle and hitched IBM to a crucial growth market. And in the process, his company will be running or managing the majority share of the World’s business.

Rivalry and Competition is one of the Porter’s models which IBM is facing. Over the years, Computing and technology services are becoming more and more like a commodity business. The arrival of rivals in the industry such as Dell Inc. whose services are more efficient also made to think Palmisano on embarking on this journey. Though Dell’s business is small compared to that of IBM’s business, their growth rate of 30 percent a year should be taken seriously. Continuing in this way will result in slower growth and dwindled profit margins. Even in the outsourcing services industry. IBM has to face tough competition from Accenture and couple of Indian players like Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services. IBM had to compete with costs against these competitors as they are offering low cost without compromising on the services which are on par with IBM had promised.

Another Porter’s model which I think IBM has is creating barriers to entry. If IBM were able to deliver what they are promising, they can create an environment where clients could not be able to think beyond IBM for business outsourcing services. They also had their early win in securing ground breaking contracts. As IBM is a kind of company which constantly innovates, they can also venture into new markets and create an environment where they can enjoy monopoly.

Problems faced by IBM include completion in this business outsourcing industry and other Indian players. They offer the same kind of services as IBM plans to offer at lower cost. So in order to overcome this problem IBM should offer business services at competitive costs. As it is transforming into services industry, IBM faces the big challenge of making all their salesmen to get accustomed to the tricks and trade of the business solutions industry.

IBM should research on what are the services their competitors are providing, their business strategy and what is the future of this business outsourcing industry, how well it can sustain in the long term as it would help them to gain advantages over their competitors.

Analysis of WTO against China's limits on imports

The time has come to recognize that EU, Japan, China practice trade policies that can only be called mercantalistic. The United States has tried to use the WTO for years to force these parties to change, but nothing has happened. The time has come for policy makers in this country to abandon the notion of free trade and begin the re-industrialization of this nation. Unfortunately, special interest groups which profit from the present economic rules to the detriment of ordinary hard working Americans will block such policies.
China will never compete fairly and will always act in bad faith. China’s trade policies (including currency) are very protectionist and aggressive which they justify as necessary to make up for past disadvantages. No one wins in a trade war - but a country can only be pushed so far before it realizes that it is being beggared by trade counterparty. The USA has been among the biggest advocates of free trade - but has rarely evaluated whether that trade is fair. With constant enormous trade deficits, it appears that several countries (including China) have taken advantage of the US open trade policy.
China continues to amass a huge trade surplus over U.S. They then use these funds to not only buy our distressed and bankrupted corporations but to also acquire our own indigenously developed high technology.

U.S - China trade - Win-Win for China

China is a growing economic power, 2nd only to the US in size. Both the countries stand to reap substantial economic rewards by reducing the costs of business, eliminating tariffs and working cooperatively.

China must do more to protect IP rights, and the government needs to divorce itself of ownership interests in industry .The most pressing dangers to US economic competitiveness come from inside their own borders. The most promising item for US exporters is the rise of a Chinese middle class, hungry for U.S products. Billions of people wanting to spend their hard earned wealth on U.S products.
America is at a great disadvantage economically from China’s unfair trade policies and U.S should move to cancel your membership to the WTO because of non-tariff import restrictions and unbalanced currency manipulations, and exploitation of copyright laws. China only looks after its own interests and is the ultimate free rider on the world stage.
China wins by exporting cheap Chinese products which helps employment in China and China wins because those exports in turn allow China to amass huge forex reserves which China invests in US treasuries.

US looses domestic jobs because of imports of cheap Chinese products and US looses because US digs an ever deeper debt hole in favor of China with Chinese investments made from Chinese exports.

There is no clear picture how long this one-way trade with China having huge trade surpluses with US can continue and how much deeper debt hole can US dig for itself before it realizes that free-trade mantra is its own graveyard?
On the whole, I feel US - China trade is a win-win game for China.

Airtel's innings in Africa

Competition and unexplored avenues which can bring in possible potential revenues pushes the companies to spread their wings globally. This article is the analysis of Bharti Airtel’s expansion to Africa by acquiring Zain, a Kuwait based telecommunication firm which has operations in 15 countries in Africa. Airtel was foraying into Africa again after their earlier attempts to gain foothold in Africa through MTN deal resulted in failure.

Zain was not doing brisk business in Africa compared to their operations in the Middle East. Airtel saw the potential profitability in acquiring Zain as their entry to African market. In India, Airtel is the pioneer in making the best use of technology in providing communication services. It was their superior technology and minute based revenue which fetched them 33 % market share. Airtel strongly believed that integrating their technology with Zain’s existing platform would be cost effective for them.

Airtel also benefitted from Zain’s Zap, a mobile money service which enables the payment of groceries bills via mobile which in India is still in very nascent stage. They can implement this in India to further strengthen their market share. Low procurement cost, high market penetration, and replication of low cost business model provides ample scope for growth in Africa but at the same time, they also have to contend with operations overhaul and integration challenges. Each percentage increase in tele-density in a continent like Africa brings a GDP growth to India.
The competition is also less in Africa compared to India. In Africa they have the advantage of competing with only 4 competitors where in India every now and then a new service provider is coming into the market.

I will say that slowly but surely Airtel is moving in the right direction to tap the potential in African telecommunication market which is on an upswing. But still it is going to be a big challenge for Bharti Airtel to make money out of Zain's African assets.

Letter to Captains...

To ,
Anil Kumble – Royal Challengers Bangalore
M S Dhoni – Chennai Super Kings
Sachin Tendulkar – Mumbai Indians
Adam Gilchrist – Deccan Chargers

Subject : Selecetion of playing 11 for Semifinals

Hi All ,

To make the IPL 3 journey more exciting , I would like to suggest you the best playing 11 for you guys…

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Manish Pandey
Jacques Kallis
Kevin Pieterson
Robin Uthappa
Ross Taylor
Virat Kohli
Rahul Dravid
Anil Kumble
Dale Steyn
Vinay Kumar
Praveen Kumar

Mumbai Indians

Sachin Tendulkar
Shikar Dhawan
Saurabh Tiwary
Ambati Rayudu
Keiron Pollard
J.P.Duminy
Dwayne Bravo
Abhishek Nayar
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan
Lasith Malinga

Chennai Super Kings

Matthew Hayden
Murali Vijay
Suresh Raina
M.S.Dhoni
S.Badrinath
Albie Morkel
R.Ashwin
Shadab Jakati
Sudeep Tyagi
Doug Bollinger
Muttiah Muralitharan

Deccan Chargers

Adam Gilchrist
Herschelle Gibbs
Mohnish Mishra
T Suman
Rohit Sharma
Andrew Symonds
Venugopal Rao
Pragyan Ojha
Harmeet Singh
Chaminda Vaas
R.P.Singh

This line ups are a suggestion to bring out the best of entertainment and game of cricket from IPL.

Regards
Venky

IPL 3 - One hell of a journey

The final four for the semis were decided with just one league match remaining in the tournament. That itself tells you how competitive the matches and the teams have been.

All tournaments have their ups and downs and so did this one. But you could not ask for a better last week with four teams trying their best to get a place in the semi-finals which are have been relocated to Navi Mumbai due to unavoidable circumstances.

We’ve seen many tournaments and series where teams are forced to play inconsequential matches, which is neither good for cricket nor for fans. Many of these matches, not surprisingly, fail to attract a good response in terms of fans coming to the stadium. It is heartening to see that with just two league matches to go, we still don’t know who the fourth semi-finalist will be.

The tournament has been on for over a month now and full of surprise victories and sudden failures. Changes in team form, player form and pitches have kept the tournament alive. What is interesting here is that teams that were struggling earlier did find some form and those who started off extremely well are now finding it difficult to book a place. Mumbai Indians are the exception here, impressive for their consistency. They have won 10 of their 13 games so far and qualified for the semis with three games in the kitty.

Delhi and Chennai are the ones who started well, fluttered in the middle and now are back to roaring form. Deccan Chargers were the strugglers who have now suddenly taken the tournament by the scruff of its neck and have gone on to win five matches on the trot.

The Delhi pitch has improved from a few matches ago while the Chennai track has started providing a lot of turn and bounce. M Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bengaluru is not as quick as it was at the start of the tournament. And the ground at Dharamsala has been a welcome entry to the IPL. It has lived up to expectations which is no mean achievement considering it was being compared to the Newlands cricket ground at Cape Town famous for its backdrop of the Table Mountain.

The three strongest teams have made it to the semis – Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Mumbai Indians seem to be the strong favourites to win the title, yet on their day, Chennai and Bangalore too can trounce the side led by the little champion.

This is what makes IPL even more interesting and has the entire nation on its feet. Every match from now on will be watched even more keenly and it will be interesting to know what team fans will support, especially those whose favourite team has been ousted from the tournament.

Whoever wins, one thing is for certain, its been one hell of a journey. And the IPL Awards are the perfect conclusion to a highly engaging series.

I back Chennai Super Kings to take the championship.....

India's T-20 Squad

MS Dhoni (capt & wk)
Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Yuvraj Singh
Suresh Raina
Yusuf Pathan
Dinesh Karthik
Ravindra Jadeja
Zaheer Khan
Praveen Kumar
Ashish Nehra
Harbhajan Singh
Piyush Chawla
Vinay Kumar
Rohit Sharma

Though most of the big shots pick themselves, there are few selections that is surprising.

I don't know how many chances will Rohit Sharma get? Robin Uthappa or Manish Pandey or Virat Kohli should have been picked.

The selection of Piyush Chawla looks baffling..I would prefer to fly with Pragyan Ojha.

Vinay Kumar deserves the chance and he should make use of it.

Selectors should have waited for another week or 2 to pick the team as IPL is throwing up talents such as Saurabh Tiwary, Rajagopal Satish, Ambati Rayudu.

Hayden unveils Mongoose in style

File under "Sights I Never Expected to See": Matthew Hayden clobbering bowlers all around an international stadium with what looked like a baby's brass rattle in those paws of his. Here's introducing Matt the Bat, now with a longer handle, aka the Mongoose bat.

For the uninitiated, the Mongoose is a something of a miniature version of a normal cricket bat, but it has two distinguishing features: the handle is as long as the blade and the splice, which normal bats have in the blade, is built into that handle to guarantee a clean hitting surface on the bat. Its USP - if you've been following events in the build-up to the IPL - is that it essentially allows a batsman to hit harder and further without changing the way he plays. On the basis of what Hayden achieved at the Feroz Shah Kotla today, the Mongoose suits Twenty20 to the T.

Its short, stocky frame - the base is reportedly five centimeters - allows for sweet timing and that was as evident as crystal. The first sign that Hayden, after two poor games, was roaring back in to form came in the second over when he slammed three boundaries in four balls.

The Mongoose made its debut in the second ball of the fourth over, after Hayden had already muscled some good shots with his normal blade. He's has always wielded the bat like a club, but here was Hayden with a big handle and small blade. To the naked eye, the Mongoose looked silly in his bear hands. In fact, at first it just didn't look right. Surely he would mishit one, inside-edge one onto his stumps, fail to reach out to a spinner, or be caught short of his crease while putting in a dive? None happened.

The first shot Hayden played with the Mongoose was a letdown. He went for an ugly heave and got a streaky single to the leg side. You can't time a cricket ball at pace with that toothpick. Then Rajat Bhatia came in to the attack for some military medium stuff, only to feel the full effect of what Hayden and his buddy could do. Bhatia to Hayden was never going to be a key contest, but this was too one-sided. Hayden swept four to fine leg, slammed a straight six, tickled another off the pads for four, and slogged four to long-on. Bhatia was nonplussed.

Right, so this thing can do a bit, you started to think. But what about against spin, when the pace is taken off and the pitch plays a bit slow and low? The answer came all too soon, as Tillakaratne Dilshan was called on for some offspin in the eighth over. Hayden was back at his furious best: Dilshan tossed it up and the punishment was immediate - three sixes stung Delhi and sent the crowd into raptures. The second was a mishit but still soared into the stands. You marveled at the distance the ball travelled after it struck the blade of the bat.

The Mongoose didn't restrict Hayden in any way, as you might have expected it to. What it lacks in reach, it more than makes up for with effect. Length balls were swatted over the infield nonchalantly; those that hit the edges ran away to fine leg or third man; two balls that came off the toe end sped past extra cover; those that hit the sweet spot just disappeared. A low full toss from Dirk Nannes - and it's for this specific delivery and the yorker that the Mongoose could prove to be most crucial - was sent speeding past short fine leg.

The Mongoose didn't require Hayden to change his grip or style, but it did allow him to smack the ball harder and further. It was the perfect remedy for Hayden to strike form and Chennai to canter home. On the evidence of what we saw this evening, its power really is phenomenal.

Watching Hayden in full flow is one of the more delightful viewing experiences today, his brute force and style elevating him above many currently active hard-hitting batsmen in international cricket. But watching him with that little thing in his hands was something else. Cricket has traditionally been averse to change and innovation, but watching Hayden bludgeon both pace and spin around the park, you cannot help but wonder - will the Mongoose make its way onto the international scene?

In 1983, Tony Montana blasted through a door firing his automatic machine gun and screaming six words that went on to become part of cinema lore - "Say hello to my little friend!" Twenty-seven years later, a man who has already etched his name cricket's history with a pivotal role in how openers approached the game unveiled a small piece of willow that threatens to further revolutionize batting. Talk about creative mojo.

A.R.Rahman & S.Tendulkar - Icons of our Lifetime

Sachin And A.R.Rahman - Icons of our Lifetime

I know there are many people here who does not want Sachin to be compared with anyone else.. People... I am not making any comparison here.. I am just wondering how the runs of Sachin and the music of Rahman has influenced myself and millions of others....

These two icons have always influenced my life someway or the other... I go crazy about both of them.. They are two inseparable names in my world...

What Sachin is doing withe bat Rahman is doing with his music.. There are quite a few similarities between them too...

--> Both of them become famous during the 90's.. Many people who become fan of Sachin during the 90's also become fans of Rahman.

--> How they stood out from others?
ARR: First to bring digital touch to Indian music and compose fusion that no one else dares to think off.
SRT: First to explore the first 15-over restriction, score centuries at bouncy, tough tracks like Perth

-->As time moved on:
ARR: Stopped producing blasting music, instead delivered Classical melodies like Taal, Swades, Bose, Meenaxi and Tehzeeb out of maturity.
SRT: Stopped going over the top to bowlers, instead played exquisite drives and late cuts and produced innings with a lot of maturity.

-->Character similarity:
ARR: Shy towards media and lets his keyboard answer his critics
SRT: Shy towards media and lets his bat answer his critics

-->International attention:
ARR: Admired by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Micheal jackson (who wore a t-shirt having Rahman’s photo on it) and many other international music reviewers who want him to compose for Hollywood films.
SRT: Adored by the man himself the “DON” Bradman and Mike Atherton(who compared Sachin to W.G.Grace) and a never ending list of Australian, English, Kiwi, WestIndian players.

-->Records:
ARR: 4 national awards, 17 filmfare awards, his music sold 210 million copiesaround the world (more than Britney and Madonna put together!!) and success rate of 80%+ album sales in Indian movies.
SRT: I need another ten pages to fill this up!!!

--> Popularity:
ARR: Has a huge fan following in India and in south he is a demi-god and captures the imagination of NRI’s throughout the world
SRT: According to a survey, he is the most popular man in the Country edging out the Prime Minister and Shah-Rukh-Khan. He is popular even in places like U.S where the game is not that popular (featured in an exclusive article in an American sports magazine)

--> Duplicates:
ARR: Has a duplicate called Harris Jeyaraj who not only copies ARR’s music and composing style but also his hairstyle and way of speaking in interviews.
SRT: Virendar Sehwag, a natural duplicate of sachin with looks and batting style similar to him

-->Where will they end up?:
ARR: Probably will put India into the world map of music and create records which upcoming Indian M.D’s can’t even dream of.
SRT: It would probably take an android or a special species of human being to erase his record in Cricket. Will always be remembered as the greatest ever batsman of modern era.

But at times i used to think, who is better than the other.. Is it Rahman for his heartmelting music or Sachin for his skills and passion he shows for our country..?

Whenever i had sad times i used to put my music player on and play some Rahman songs in it.. I still remember a day when i went to beach alone at noon....and sat in the hot sand listening to Newyork Nagaram song again again and AGAIN!! When Rahman won the oscars i thought " Ahh he has bought glory to our country.. And Sachin should win worldcup for us likewise.. "

But then a single innings of Sachin and the character which he shows would change my point of view!!! And the feeling he gives me while batting like he did in hyderabad is unexplainable... Believe me.. I got goosebumps atleast ten times while he was displaying his character and skill.. I thought after the match "This knock is equivalent to ten Oscars.. What else do we need from him" I got the same feeling when i heard Rahman singing Vande mataram.. Awesome!!

The same passion which Sachin shows in cricket, Rahman shows in music.. Both of them are not doing it for money.. They are doing it for the passion they have towards our country!!!

JAI HO!!!

Will it divide or unite....

For a concept that went so far as to bring international cricketers together, the IPL, through no fault of its own, faces the prospect of being a vehicle that will ultimately cause friction rather than harmony. I post this blog piece today, deliberately timed so it gets published before any decisions have been made and diplomatic wrangles occur.

It's clear that security issues will continue to affect the IPL in years to come, regardless of how this year's event pans out. The relocation in 2009 to South Africa, prompted by security issues involving the national elections in India was managed admirably, making the best of a difficult situation. The 2010 situation is a bit more serious because it has the potential to reduce the international flavour of the tournament that makes the IPL such a unique dish. Sure, even if some international players pull out, the event might yet be a modest success, bolstered by patriotism and India's domestic strength but regardless of the brave spin that may be put on it, it will lose some of its lustre. No sense in denying that.

If it comes to pass that players from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and England withdraw, the risk is that it will create an East-West divide that will take many years to repair. And that will be the ironic legacy of the IPL if it does turn out that way: what started off as a global event may descend into a Cold War drawn along traditional and predictable lines. There will be accusations of cowardice and double standards, of plotting to steal World Cups and of the supposed arrogance of cricket's major powerbroker. One can only hope that the cricketers themselves will be spared the pain and vitriol that will inevitably flow from all disappointed stakeholders.

Already, there is innuendo that the Australian camp is divided. The ex-players are apparently keen to make the event, spurred on no doubt by advancing years and the promise of a last golden handshake. Let's not pretend otherwise - despite all the talk of great challenges and being part of a global event, it ultimately boils down to money. Plenty of it. An IPL without the big cheques would simply not be on the radar of these retired warriors.

The current Australian players are reputedly less keen, weighing up a long career in Australian cricket against the promise of a quick but uncertain payout. They are not in that much of a rush to make their fortunes and one can understand their reluctance to risk their safety when time is on their side. What makes this clash unique is that it will eventually come down to a question of whether the various player unions can exert enough influence over a membership that also includes ex-players who are essentially beholden to no one but themselves. If the advice is that they should not attend the IPL, how can they enforce that ruling on any 'retired' player who wants to act independently?

Next year's World Cup question is a bit easier to resolve because it involves playing for one's country and that will mean that the decision will be taken by the respective governing bodies, thereby not putting the players in the invidious position of making the call themselves. What is clear though is that it is patently ridiculous for any government, in any country, to offer guarantees and assurances of safety. If it was that easy to guarantee such a fluid concept, why can't everybody do that across all walks of life, not just for cricketers? I mean, how does one ever claim on such a ridiculous guarantee?

Perhaps the answer is for all parties to take the emotion and guilt out of the whole situation and genuinely leave it up to the individual's discretion with no threats or talk of lifetime bans or blackballs. All that sort of loaded comment does is to create guilt and resentment when none of this is really the fault of the IPL or the players. It's a function of the world we live in where terror threats are seen as a legitimate way to push a political cause. India is not alone in facing this problem but she should not view it as a personal betrayal if some cricketers make a personal choice based on their own family circumstances.

And that's pretty well what it boils down to. Some individuals are less risk-averse than others, some are less fazed by terror threats than others and no one deserves censure or praise for making a personal decision. It's really no different to any other risky job. It's up to each individual to decide whether the risks are worth the rewards and make choices accordingly. The IPL is not about representing your country with pride - it's purely about being a highly paid entertainer in a commercial venture. So let's hope they take the nationalistic jargon out of the diplomatic posturing and just treat it like any other job offer. Weigh up the risks and rewards, consult with your family and do what's right for you. It need not be a national insult or cowardice or any other loaded value judgement. Whatever the decision, let's hope it doesn't become a divisive issue that splits the cricket world across the cultural divide. The game is not big enough to survive that sort of pettiness.

Few Highlights of Union Budget 2010

1. The tax slabs for both male and female has been increased. This shows Finance Minister is sensitive to the needs of the common man.

2. In line with the policy of boosting the infrastructure sector by promoting investments, an individual who invests in long term infrastructure bonds (to be notified by the Government) will now get an additional deduction for the amount invested in such bonds to the extent of Rs. 20,000. This is a good measure as presently there is a tax deduction limit of Rs 100,000 which is anyways having various investment options all lumped up together. An individual who invests in these infrastructure bonds will also be able to get incremental tax relief’s. This in turn increases the GDP.

3. Jewelleries will become costlier as FM has raised the duty on imports of gold and platinum to Rs 300 per 10 grams from Rs 200.

4. Infrastructure and Social sector get a major share of allocation which is a positive sign. Infrastructure needs to improve big time for our country which is projected to take over as the second best economy in the world in near future.

5. Renewable energy resources have been given a big boost.

6. This budget is a boon to Small enterprises earning annual revenue up to Rs 60 lakh or a independent professional with gross receipts up to Rs 15 lakh as they no more have to get their accounts audited.

7. Educational Development receives comparatively less increase.But due to relaxation in FDI, more foreign universities can tie up with Indian Universities and increase the quality of education.

In a league of of his own..

Cricket lovers are obsessed with records and stats - Indian fans notoriously so - which perhaps explains why the entire country went into paroxysms of delight when Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to score 200 runs in a 50-over match. The penny seemed to have suddenly dropped. What had been discussed for almost a half a decade in muted tones for fear of blasphemy, had acquired a brazen overtone: Move over Sir Donald Bradman, Tendulkar is now the greatest batsman of all time.

Tendulkar's spectacular run over the past two years has obviously given a fillip to this argument. I suspect that the despair arising out of the 2007 World Cup disaster has something to do with him getting a second wind and batting with the energy, ambition, competitive edge and run hunger that had defined his cricket in the first decade of his career. At 36, in his 21st year in the game, he has been playing with the enthusiasm of a 16-year-old again. I reckon he wanted to prove something to himself, and his performances of the last two years show he has done this mind-bogglingly.

I am chary of statistics leading to outrageous conclusions, but unlike Mark Twain I don't damn them. I find them fascinating and infuriating, but at all times stimulating, and have found profuse use for them in writing on cricket. Stats play a big and useful role because they provide significant tangible value to a player's worth. But they can also be quirky and deceptive, often giving misleading clues about a player's true qualitative worth.

And yet, paradoxically, Bradman's perceived greatness stems almost entirely from statistics, in particular his dazzling Test average of 99.94, which has remained unassailable for more than 60 years. Looked at every which way, it is a numbing, humbling statistic. No batsman, either before Bradman or since, has come remotely close to it. Every effort to rationalise it for contemporary evaluation has come a cropper.

So while it would be fair to say that superior fielding and better opposition would reduce Bradman's prolific run-getting to say 70-odd per innings, if you consider that batsmen today play on covered wickets with all kinds of protective gear, it would climb back into the 90s again and bring the debate back to square one. The assessment, ergo, must use other parameters.

Let's revisit the Gwalior match. Suppose Tendulkar had somehow not got the strike in the last over and remained unbeaten on 199, would he have been a lesser player? Suppose Virender Sehwag had got his third triple-century in Mumbai against Sri Lanka, would he have hurdled over Lara and become a greater batsman than Bradman? These are impossible questions to settle purely in statistical terms.

A large body of work is, of course, essential to eliminate those who flicker very brightly but very briefly. But the more compelling argument according to me is to assess the impact a sportsperson has on the consciousness of his era, how he has shaped the milieu of his times, what he has meant not just to his sport but also his country and the world. That's where the twain - Bradman and Tendulkar - meet, despite the vast statistical difference that will remain when Tendulkar retires.

For, like Bradman, Tendulkar has not merely been a cricketer but a symbol of sustained excellence, not just a role model but a metaphor for his country's aspirations; not just a sporting genius but a sociological phenomenon. The pressure, the burden of expectations they have had to endure throughout their careers, finds no parallel in their sport, or their country's ethos.

It is almost impossible to compare greats from different eras. In my opinion, purely from a sporting point of view Tendulkar today stands on par with Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Michael Schumacher. If that still doesn't resolve the issue, let me approach it differently.

If Tendulkar were to retire tomorrow, a long queue of the game's greatest batsmen would await him near the dressing room: Hammond, Hobbs, Hutton, the three Ws, Richards, Gavaskar, Dravid, Sehwag, Ponting, Lara, Chappell, Miandad, et al. And at the head of this queue would be Bradman, first to shake his hand and say, "Gosh, you little bonzer, I would have loved to play an innings like that!"

The director who escaped Kamal's brilliance

When the final analysis of 2009 was carried out there were a few films that kept repeating themselves in almost all the lists. One among them was Unnaipol Oruvan. It was arguably the best movie, had the best performances and had the strongest impact on the audience. Of course, this result was expected from the movie because the man behind it was Kamal Haasan. That is a fair enough claim. But aren’t there more people who also deserve to be called the ‘man behind the film’. I am not talking about Mohanlal or Neeraj Pandey or UTV. Perhaps you might have noticed the trailers and promos of Unnaipol Oruvan which said loud and clear: A Film by Chakri Toleti. This name seems to have been rather unceremoniously forgotten once the film was released and went on to become a big success in all aspects.

Technically speaking, Chakri Toleti is the most important person in the movie, its director. But, his name was hardly mentioned or remembered in the aftermath of the movie’s success. Everyone talked about Kamal, Mohanlal and the rare few noticed Ganesh Venkataraman and even lesser
number took note of Shruthi Haasan. How often does it happen that a director gets almost no credit for a movie’s success? Never! But, Unnaipol Oruvan was a special case and Kamal got all the limelight and applause. Wait, is this the case only for Unnaipol Oruvan or have we seen something similar before. Yes, similar things have happened before. I had written something more than a year back which had carried almost the same idea. The only difference was that the name Chakri Toleti was substituted by K.S. Ravikumar and the movie was Dasavatharam. Even as illustrious director as K.S. Ravikumar had found it tough to get his share of attention and applause from the audience for a movie like Dasavatharam. It is almost always the case with Kamal Haasan movies that the director is forgotten in the torrent of praise and accolades that are showered on the Universal Star. It can be said that the sheer brilliance of Kamal often blinds us to the efforts of the director. Sometimes (as is the case of Unnaipol Oruvan) the amount of attention focused on Kamal and his brilliance and the relative oblivion of the director gives the impression that the movie could have in fact been ghost directed by the man himself. We have many examples which prove that it is extremely difficult for a director to create an impression with a Kamal starrer because of the overwhelming skill and popularity of the star. The thing to note here is that all the credit of a movie, even the discredit goes only and only to Kamal. It is funny to see how even the flaws in a movie are seen as Kamal’s responsibility when somebody else is actually the director. Remember the amount of doubts and criticism that Dasavatharam had to face; not one of them held KSR responsible, everyone was taking it out at Kamal.

But, this tendency of Kamal’s sheer brilliance to overshadow the skills of the director is not new. This can be traced as far back as the days of Thevar Magan. I am not sure how many people actually know that the film was directed by Bharathan, everyone sees it as a Kamal film. So is the case with Mahanadi or Guna or Michael Madana Kamarajan. The classic example maybe Anbe Sivam, directed by Sundar C. Now, how many of you will dare call Anbe Sivam a Sundar C movie? I bet even the director himself wouldn’t do that.

It can be said that all Tamil cinema fans are like devotees and their idol is Dr. Kamal Haasan. The devotees tend to attribute anything that happens in their life as the will of God. Similarly, Tamil cinema fans attribute everything that happens in a Kamal starrer to Kamal himself, irrespective of whether he is the director or not. Such a comparison might be viewed as an antithesis to Kamal’s thoughts and (non)beliefs, but I couldn’t find a better analogy.

But, it is not Kamal Haasan’s fault that his directors don’t get noticed much. It is his high standards and perfectionism that attracts all attention towards him. It can never be said that Kamal tried to usurp credit from his directors. In fact, there is a school of thought among Kamal fans that most of his classic films have been directed by him. The official director has directed the film in naught but name. That is a very lofty claim, something that Kamal himself will refute. But, knowing his talents and brilliance, it doesn’t look completely unbelievable too.

Yes, it is tough for a director to create an impression with a Kamal starrer even if he does a good job. But, there are a select few who have managed this tough feat. We don’t have to go all the way back to Nayagan and Mani Rathnam. Even in this decade there have been a few instances when directors have managed to garner attention with a Kamal starrer. KSR sort of pulled it off with Panchathantiram (but that was because it was a multistarrer), Saran too had a fairly close shot with Vasool Raja. But, the man who did it without a shadow of doubt has to be Gautham Vasudev Menon with Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu. It was not a multi-starrer, it was a well executed movie, it showcased a stylish and restrained performance from Kamal and in spite of all that it is remembered as a Gautham Menon movie. Yes, Kamal’s brilliance did shine throughout the movie, but never did anyone forget that the entire movie was directed by the man who gave us Kaakka Kaakka. That is perhaps the only instance in the decade when Kamal’s brilliance has not overshadowed a director’s contribution. In fact we can say in jest that Gautham is one of the few directors who escaped the effects of Kamal Haasan’s brilliance. Let’s see who does it next.