Qutub Minar In 1199, Qutub-ud-Din raised the Qutub Minar either as a victory tower or as a minaret to the adjacent mosque. However, only the first story was completed by Qutb-ud-din. The other stories were built by his successor and son-in-law, Iltutmish (1211-36 AD). The two circular stories in white marble were built by Firozshah Tughlaq in 1368, who used marble to face the redstone. From a base of 14.32m it tapers to 2.75m at a height of 72.5m. It is a red sandstone tower covered with beautiful and striking carvings and is inscribed with verses from the holy Quran. Its projecting balconies with inscriptional decorative bands on different storeys heighten its decorative effect. With a height of 72.5 m and 379 steps, it is the highest stone tower in India, as well as one of the finest Islamic structures ever raised and Delhi’s recognised landmark. Qutub Minar is the tallest brick minaret in the world, and an important example of Indo-Islamic Architecture. The tower is in the Qutab complex in South Delhi, India. The Qutab Minar and its monuments are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Qutub Minar is 72.5 metres high (237.8 ft) and requires 399 steps to get to the top. Although formerly closed, visitors can reach the top of the tower by paying a fee of Rs.500.00 or about $12.00. The diameter of the base is 14.3 metres wide while the top floor measures 2.75 metres in diameter. Surrounding the building are many fine examples of Indian artwork from the time it was built in 1193. A second tower was in construction and planned to be taller than the Qutub Minar itself. Its construction ended when it was about forty feet tall. Inspired by the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan and wishing to surpass it, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the first Muslim ruler of Delhi, commenced construction of the Qutub Minar in 1193; but could only complete its basement. The developments of architectural styles from Aibak to Tuglak are quite evident in the minaret. Like earlier towers erected by the Ghaznavids and Ghurids in Afghanistan, the Qutub Mahal comprises several superposed flanged and cylindrical shafts, separated by balconies carried on Muqarnas corbels. The minaret is made of fluted red sandstone covered with intricate carvings and verses from the Qur’an. The Qutub Minar is itself built on the ruins of Lal Kot, the Red Citadel in the [...]
Archive for January, 2008
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BETTER DAYS ARE AHEAD
January 29th, 2008 
krishna Last week there were two important developments: the stock market crash and Reliance Power IPO response. The stock market crashed with the Sensex down by 8.70 per cent and Nifty by 7.98 per cent. The Sensex slumped from 20,827 points on January 11 to 19,013 points on January 18. Nifty, which touched 6,388 points at its highest some weeks back, closed at 5,705 points, down by 6.9 per cent. In the Sensex list of 30 shares, 25 shares closed in the negative. In the 50 listed Nifty shares, 45 shares closed negatively. All the BSE sectoral indices were down: High losses were in the oil and gas (-5.88 per cent) realty (-5.87 per cent) and bankex (-5 per cent). Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. The market crash was due to a number of factors: the slowdown in the US economy, heavy sales by the FIIs, slowdown in the inter-bank call money transit due to some fault in the Reserve Bank’s transfer system software, heavy losses to traders in the future and derivative market due to market crash and the demands for higher margins by the banks. Another factor was that the Indian market with the high valuation in the P/E ratios was considered expensive by the FIIs, who shifted funds from the Indian market to the other relatively cheaper markets. It was also on record that correction was on the way in the overheated stock market valuations. The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council also brought down the target of economic growth in the fiscal year 2008-09 from 9 per cent to 8.5 per cent in view of slowdown in the US economy, high crude prices and slow infrastructure development in India. The Reliance Power IPO was oversubscribed by 72 times. It set up a new record. The retail investors’ subscription is estimated at 15 times. This may be good for Reliance Power Company but it led to heavy profit taking in the stock market by the retail investors who collected funds for subscribing to this IPO. A major question today is when would the market recover? The market has already corrected itself by a fall in market indices between 8 to 9 per cent. Some of the top blue-chip scrips have suffered in the Sensex. Reliance Industries is down by 6.57 per cent, DLF by 7.37 per cent, ICICI Bank by 5.78 [...]
BEARS UNLIKELY
January 29th, 2008 krishna It has been a traumatic couple of days for our market. Stocks of well-established companies have lost between 50 and 70 per cent of their market value in less than a week’s time. That is the kind of damage that investors, and particularly traders, take a very long time to recover from. Most of the pain has played out in stock futures where traders have been butchered. While a considerable portion of the open interest has been wound down, there is still quite a bit of outstanding positions left: perhaps the reason mid-caps failed to recover as much from their lows as index stocks did: The purging continues there. Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. Point to point, the Nifty crashed 30 per cent from the recent high to its intra-day low of sub 4, 500. When an index collapses 30 per cent in a week, the question about the possibility of a bear market has to be raised. It is an uncomfortable, even scary, thought but it is best not to be in denial and sweep it under the carpet. Let me begin by sticking my own neck out. I believe the case for a prolonged bear market is not very strong. That does not mean a thing as I could be wrong, my view coloured by four years of utter bullishness that one week of mayhem cannot alter easily. There are many risks to this hypothesis. Local sentiment could be one. After a fall of such proportions domestic participation in equities could certainly die down for a long time. We have seen that after May 2006 when mid-caps underperformed for many quarters and individual portfolios languished. Globally, things are murky and there could certainly be panic withdrawals by global investors from equities as an asset class. It may be short-lived, but could happen. Coinciding with all this is some slowdown in our earnings trajectory before the ongoing capital expenditure begins to spur growth again in 2009-10. Having said all this, India seems much better placed than most other economies and markets. Our economic growth is robust, most of our key sectors are not expected to decelerate significantly on account of a global slowdown and domestic consumption should not be affected much by a financial market meltdown. My own feeling is that we may now need to consolidate in a lower price [...]
BANKS CASHED ON THE RELIANCE IPO
January 29th, 2008 krishna The biggest ever Initial Public offer (IPO) in the history of India’s capital market has not only made Anil Ambani the richest man in India and probably in the world but has also helped the issue’s bankers make a killing. On conservative estimates, bankers to the Reliance Power issue will make more than Rs 180 crore from overnight interest payments ‘on the application money they have received in the IPO before refunds are given to applicants who could not get their full intent fulfilled. Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. The refunds do not carry interest payments but banks parking the funds get some. However, investment bankers say that a part of the profit from the application money is being used for bearing some costs such as registrar fees or postage fees. and retail investors would be to be tune of Rs 112,063 crore. The issue had received bids for Rs 745,676 crore. The company came out with 26 crore equity shares. Of this 3.2 crore was reserved for the promoters. The net issued to the public was 22.8 crore shares. Of this, 30 per cent, or 6.84 crore shares, were reserved for retail investors at the rate of Rs 430 per share. The actual issue size for the public was Rs 10,121 crore, not counting the 3.2 crore shares subscribed to by the promoters. The issue has demonstrated the fact the Indian market has the ability to raise resources of any magnitude if the company has right projects and the promoters have right background. It also proves that the promoters need not to cross over the Atlantic to raise money. Rather, investors from across the Atlantic are willing to do that in search of good opportunities. Although the call rate in the money market is currently hovering around 8 per cent, even at the rate of 6 per cent, bankers would make Rs 18.4 crore per day on the money garnered but intended to be refunded without interest payment. And on an average basis this money lies with banks for around 10 days before they start giving refund to the investors. This, in turn, translates into a floating income of around Rs 184 crore for “the bankers as a whole. There are seven private sector banks – ICICI Bank, ABN Amro, HSBC, Standard Chartered, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank – [...]
ADVANI’S FRONT
January 28th, 2008 krishna Leader of the Opposition Lal Krishna Advani has climbed one more step in fulfilling his ambition of becoming the Prime Minister when National Democratic Alliance endorsed his candidature. Earlier, the BJP had announced its intention to fight the next Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of the former Deputy Prime Minister. The NDA decision disproves fears in certain circles that the endorsement of his candidature would not be a smooth affair. With health preventing Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee from playing an active role in politics, BJP leaders did not have much of a choice when they opted for Mr. Advani. On his part, Mr. Advani also played his cards well by persuading his party to announce that he would be the prime ministerial, candidate just before the results in Gujarat were announced. It was a clever move to ward off any possible threat from Chief Minister Narendra Modi. It was Mr. Advani’s calculated attempt to make himself more ‘secular’ and thereby more endearing to the NDA allies that he made that statement about Mohammed Ali Jinnah while on a visit to Pakistan. He seems to have managed to win back the confidence of those sections of the Sangh Parivar who were upset with him on the Jinnah issue. Even so, he has a long way to go before achieving his ambition. It is true that the string of assembly elections in the recent past have been favourable to the BJP. But before the next general elections are due, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan – ruled by the BJP – will go to the polls. Rajasthan – ruled by the BJP – will go to the polls. By-election results from these states do not suggest that the voters are happy with these governments. Equally important, the BJP continues to be in bad shape in Uttar Pradesh which accounts for the largest number of seats in the Lok Sabha. The NDA is no longer as cohesive and large as it used to be when Mr. Vajpayee was its leader. Of course, its decision on Mr. Advani provides clarity to the political situation. This will force the Congress to announce its own candidate for the post of prime minister. Last time it contested the elections without any such candidate. It was Mrs. Sonia Gandhi who nominated Dr. Manmohan Singh for the post. It remains to be seen whether the party [...]
WADING THE BUSY SEASON
January 28th, 2008 krishna The year has begun on a somewhat strange note for our stock market. It is neither running away nor breaking down, simply gyrating in a range. Sessions have been volatile, mid, and small-caps have sold off while large caps have taken turns to hold the Nifty up. Almost running to stand still. The Nifty seems in a broad range of 6,100-6,350 while the broader market skims off some of its recent excesses. Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. It is important to understand the backdrop for such a market. There is an overload of material information for the market at this point, information that is pulling it in all directions. Globally, the cues from the US are disastrous, yet the expectations from the US Fed have moved swiftly from 25 to 50 and now even a 75 basis point cut in January. The crashing Dow may be affecting sentiment may but the prospect of much more liquidity coming this way is balancing that negative trigger. Take the primary market. While the large IPOs of January and their runaway grey market quotes are bolstering investor sentiment, the fact that they have sucked away a lot of money from the secondary market is clearly visible in the stress on small-caps. Technically, the futures market is extended but the carrot of a good budget is keeping trader sentiment afloat. There is some discomfort among professional investors about the gay abandon with which lofty valuations are being ascribed to dreams and Excel sheets but a new breed of retail investors is neutralising this skepticism with the weight of money. Finally, there is the earnings season. The market has one eye on all these varied pulls and pressures even as it focuses on earnings that are tumbling out every day. Add to this global commodity swings, the dollar, local interest rate expectations and one can begin to understand why the market is not making a decisive dart in either direction. The triggers are mixed and finely balanced, there is almost a violent equilibrium almost a violent equilibrium that has been struck out. Also, the valuation aspect is important. Having reached where we are with stock prices, it may be becoming a struggle to climb to even higher PE platforms without the crutch of delivered earnings growth, probably the reason why the market could be pausing to see [...]
VIOLENCE IN KENYA-WHAT TO DO?
January 28th, 2008 krishna Violence, political or otherwise, is part of life in Kenya. The irony is that Kenya is also one of the mature democracies in Africa: Multiparty elections are held regularly and even though politics is based on tribal divisions, the judiciary, Parliament and the vibrant Press apply correctives on the executive. With tolerance of corruption and violence as part of society, Kenya has found its own brand of democracy. The current tribal warfare on account of alleged rigging of elections had begun long before the polls were held. Even the meetings held for determining party candidates were marred by bloodshed. Having had to fight incessantly with wild animals for survival, physical battle for political survival is a natural extension of Kenyan life. Human life is heavily discounted there. Political calculations, rather than fear of further loss of human life, will bring about a compromise in the end. As the High Commissioner of India to Kenya, Mr. T. P. Sreenivasan happened to be with the Kenyan Foreign Minister in his office on the morning after the severe beating of a handicapped opposition leader. The newspapers that morning had carried graphic pictures of the incident. He could not but mention the incident to the minister. Mr. T. P. Sreenivasan thought that he would describe the incident as an unfortunate one, which was being exaggerated by the Press. He shocked Mr. T. P. Sreenivasan when he said: “He will be killed one of these days!” He added in good measure that violence is part of politics in Kenya and that people joined politics with full knowledge of the t attendant risks. He offered no apology, not even regret. Kenyan elections of 1995 left Mr. T. P. Sreenivasan with broken limbs and ribs as the opposition to President Moi thought that the Indians in Kenya should be given a message that they were not safe without the patronage of the opposition. Mr. T. P. Sreenivasan had ignored messages that Indians should make financial contributions to the opposition parties also, not just to those in power. The best way to demonstrate this was to hit the Indian High Commissioner himself. After three assailants broke into their home and attacked his wife and Mr. T. P. Sreenivasan, President Moi said publicly that the Indian High Commissioner was the victim of political violence in the country. The opposition said promptly that Moi had done it to discredit [...]
DO WE HAVE A THIRD ALTERNATIVE?
January 28th, 2008 Tejinder The CPI (M)’s wish to form a third alternative at the Centre – minus the Congress and the BJP – is an effort aimed at preserving its separate identity. This effort, however, could end up strengthening the BJP and its allies because the public still sees the CPI (M) as a sympathiser of the Congress and the UPA, even though the Left party has opposed the Indo-US nuclear deal and some other decisions taken by the UPA. Prakash Karat, the CPI (M)’s General. Secretary; is desperate to convey the impression that his party has never supported the UPA but agreed to do so on the promise of a common minimum programme and also because it wanted to isolate the communal forces led by the BJP. But he and his colleagues know that it is important to maintain the CPI (M)’s ideological profile in order to motivate its cadres. Karat is accustomed to taking the high moral ground on issues and his detractors have often accused him of pursuing an agenda that ignores the practical realities of politics. The CPI (M) knows that the general elections may be round the corner and if it persists with its threat of withdrawing its support from the UPA on the nuclear issue, it will find it very difficult to align itself with either the UPA or the NDA after the poll results are out. Therefore, it has little choice – but to float the idea of a third alternative, comprising regional parties. In fact, apart from qualifying as a national party by down by the Election Commission, the CPI (M) has also been reduced to a regional outfit. It has limited presence outside West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Its objective is to cobble up an alliance of the TDP, DMK, Samajwadi Party and National Conference, with the hope that some others like Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal, Sharad Pawar’s NCP and Ramvilas Paswan’s Janshakti Party would join it. But the question is whether such an alliance would provide the third alternative, which in electoral terms has never worked out in Indian politics as long-term option. Post-poll alliances are always fragile as V.P. Singh, H.D. Deve Gowda, I.K. Gujral and A.B. Vajpayee (during his 13-day stint) had discovered. It is unlikely that some of the parties that the CPI (M) maybe eyeing for a third alternative may join me hands before the elections are [...]
LET’S BEGIN A NEW WEEK
January 28th, 2008 Tejinder Last week proved as the most eventful week on the stock markets. What started as a bloodbath on the street ended with a solid recovery? The markets witnessed unprecedented volatility last week, with losses and recoveries of a 1,000 points becoming par for the course. The magnitude of the volatility could be gauged from the fact that the last week was witness to both the highest ever single-day loss as well as single-day gain on an absolute basis on the Sensex. Bears in the end triumphed, pulling the Sensex (18,361) down by a little more than 3 per cent and the Nifty (5,383) down by nearly 6 per cent. Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. Credit crisis in the US and fears of a US recession caused bloodbath on the domestic bourses at the onset of week with share prices falling like nine pins. Margin calls created havoc on the bourses in causing a steep decline in share prices that was initially triggered by a setback in global markets and selling by foreign institutional investors. Reserve Bank’s review of its monetary policy is due this Tuesday, which would set the tone for markets. After a surprise 75 basis point cut in Fed rate by the US central bank, market men expect a 25 basis point cut in repo rate by the RBI. Though the corporate results have been in line with expectation, any adverse news from overseas may further dampen the sentiment. OnMobile provides value added services (VAS) in the telecommunications space and software products in India with an expanding international presence, particularly in the emerging markets in Asia. It has a broad range of applications delivered by its carrier customers (telecom service providers) to their end-user subscribers. These products include ring-back tones, voice portals, ringtone downloads, subscription manager, contests, music messaging, on-device client software, mobile radio, dynamic voicemail, voice SMS, and missed call alerts. OnMobile was incorporated as Onscan Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. in September 2000 by its promoter OnMobile Systems Inc (OMSI) that is a startup firm of Infosys to develop telecommunications software platforms and applications or the mobile telecommunications industry. Subsequently, it was renamed as OnMobile Global Ltd (OMGL) in August 2007. Its customers include the major telecommunications carriers or operators in India such as Bharti Airtel, BSNL, Idea, R-com, Tata Teleservices and Vodafone Essar. Due to competitive [...]
THE VIRUS OF ORGANISED CRIME
January 27th, 2008 krishna Organised crime is not unique to India. In the advanced West also, where huge profits are available in the flesh trade, drug peddling, money laundering and arms and human trafficking, thousands are organised in criminal syndicates ready to kill or maim for profit. However, the extent to which hardened criminals have found entry in our legislatures, ministries and big businesses of late and accumulated power, prestige and apparent immunity from the rule of law in populous states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh is a matter of immense concern for the whole nation. According to the Intelligence Bureau‘s latest estimate, nearly one-fourth of MPs and MLAs from the two states have heinous criminal cases registered against them. In this context, the introduction of the Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act (UPCOCA) by the Mayawati government to counter the menace of a well-entrenched mafia should have been widely welcomed. Yet, the cancer of criminalisation has spread so far today that any reckless surgery also threatens to aggravate it further now. The opposition to the wide ranging powers bestowed by the above legislation on police and magistrates has thus emanated from all political parties in Uttar Pradesh barring the ruling BSP. The criminal-politician conundrum in our society needs to be examined very closely in this complicated scenario. The N.N. Vohra Committee, appointed in the wake of the 1993 bomb blasts, had observed that in several parts of the country “the mafia is virtually running a parallel government, pushing the state apparatus into irrelevance — criminal gangs and armed senas have developed extensive contacts with bureaucrats, politicians, media persons – (and) even the members of the judicial system”. A decade after the publication of this report, even this alarming portrayal appears rather dated as the virus of criminalisation seems to be crippling not only the polity today but also the civil society as a whole. The Deol Committee Report submitted by the Intelligence Bureau to the Prime Minister’s Office spells out the same in some detail. Till the early sixties, for example, criminals could hardly dare to stand in elections. However, today, in some states, they have graduated from aiding politicians to controlling them. Honest officers are transferred, promoted and sometimes murdered at their instance. Their henchmen can run kidnapping and extortion rackets even from jails while agents from enemy states use them for unleashing terror, riots and separatism at [...]
