of inflation,oil prices and other trivial matters...
Inflation: currently pegged at 11.89%.its projected to rise further.and finally bring about a fiscal yr avg of around 9% . in lay terms, a 100rs note i have today, will be worth only 98.11rs next yr. or a product tat costs me 100rs today, will cost me 111.89 next yr.
not scary enough for the average individual like you and me??
ok..lets just say i want to buy that new flashy bmw5 series..approx 42 lakhs (on road,mumbai)..
next yr, it will cost me 46.6lakhs (approx)...
(and thats assuming the inflation remains 11.89%!!!)
currency strength: the rupee has been slowly BUT consistently sliding downwards, with the dollar currently 43.23..in lay terms..if you're working in an IT company..god news!! u will be making more money!!! if you're a net importer, boohoo.business will suck (if it wasnt already in the dumps yet!)
indian travellers: postpone those exotic vacations to a more suitable date (not anytime in the near future if u ask me!)unless offcourse, you have a rich papa to foot your bills.
oil prices: 140$.. i remember last year, when it touched 60$ a barrel. people complained. now it has touched 140$.. and with it projected to touch 170-180$ by september, phew , you would have expected there to be riots, failed govts, international instability everywhere!!!
but, lets see, what is the aftermath of the much despised rise??
The traffic at every road still seems the same.
I still see a rise in sale of fuel guzzling SUVs and Monster trucks.
And i still see no improvement in the public transport system, which is often to be blamed for the continued dependence on personal means of transport by most of us.
Offcourse, many were the reports that claimed that with this increase in price, the demand for oil will decrease. Coupled with the increase in the oil produced by OPEC, the fuel price should gradually settle down to a more realistic 80-100$ a barrel.
hmmm, so what went wrong? i suspect the govt grossly underestimated the buying power of the average indian. the current 60rs/litre is not high enough to burn a hole in his pocket. Maybe a 80rs/litre might do the trick! who knows!! lets try it (in case mr.deora is reading this..)
now, dont get me wrong here. i'm also a fellow hypocrite who leaves an incredibly large carbon footprint (professional hazard i guess!!!)
but then, i do believe if i cant afford something, i wont use it. (hehe.. elementary my dear watson!!)
i find it hard to believe that the only development in the last 100 odd years of internal combustion technology, the only advancement is an increase in the mileage of 2-3 kmpl(in the days of the ford model T).. to the 16kmpl of the Santro!
im not from Alibaug, you know!
And finally, the N deal. Now here is something that everyone is talking about, but nobody ( n here i sometimes suspect even Karat!!) has any idea of what the real issue is. Lets accept it, we've been sleeping all these years. Nuclear technology in other countries is eons ahead of us. We need to borrow tech know-how from countries like france, united states etc.
Also, mining for nuclear fuel in uranium rich areas in india is not feasible till the day we have a strong single party govt at the centre that doesnt need to pander to the taste of the multitudes of tiny regional parties that inevitably are the crutches of the typical indian govt.
So, bottomline being, we borrow reactor tech AND the fuel to run them. get ourselves some cheap energy. in return we grant IAEA certain liberties (only in civilian nuclear establishments!!!)..
now if we're not doing anything illegal and have nothing to hide, why should we NOT sign the deal??
Practicality, truck loads of it if you ask me, needs to be dumped on the policy makers in India.
not scary enough for the average individual like you and me??
ok..lets just say i want to buy that new flashy bmw5 series..approx 42 lakhs (on road,mumbai)..
next yr, it will cost me 46.6lakhs (approx)...
(and thats assuming the inflation remains 11.89%!!!)
currency strength: the rupee has been slowly BUT consistently sliding downwards, with the dollar currently 43.23..in lay terms..if you're working in an IT company..god news!! u will be making more money!!! if you're a net importer, boohoo.business will suck (if it wasnt already in the dumps yet!)
indian travellers: postpone those exotic vacations to a more suitable date (not anytime in the near future if u ask me!)unless offcourse, you have a rich papa to foot your bills.
oil prices: 140$.. i remember last year, when it touched 60$ a barrel. people complained. now it has touched 140$.. and with it projected to touch 170-180$ by september, phew , you would have expected there to be riots, failed govts, international instability everywhere!!!
but, lets see, what is the aftermath of the much despised rise??
The traffic at every road still seems the same.
I still see a rise in sale of fuel guzzling SUVs and Monster trucks.
And i still see no improvement in the public transport system, which is often to be blamed for the continued dependence on personal means of transport by most of us.
Offcourse, many were the reports that claimed that with this increase in price, the demand for oil will decrease. Coupled with the increase in the oil produced by OPEC, the fuel price should gradually settle down to a more realistic 80-100$ a barrel.
hmmm, so what went wrong? i suspect the govt grossly underestimated the buying power of the average indian. the current 60rs/litre is not high enough to burn a hole in his pocket. Maybe a 80rs/litre might do the trick! who knows!! lets try it (in case mr.deora is reading this..)
now, dont get me wrong here. i'm also a fellow hypocrite who leaves an incredibly large carbon footprint (professional hazard i guess!!!)
but then, i do believe if i cant afford something, i wont use it. (hehe.. elementary my dear watson!!)
i find it hard to believe that the only development in the last 100 odd years of internal combustion technology, the only advancement is an increase in the mileage of 2-3 kmpl(in the days of the ford model T).. to the 16kmpl of the Santro!
im not from Alibaug, you know!
And finally, the N deal. Now here is something that everyone is talking about, but nobody ( n here i sometimes suspect even Karat!!) has any idea of what the real issue is. Lets accept it, we've been sleeping all these years. Nuclear technology in other countries is eons ahead of us. We need to borrow tech know-how from countries like france, united states etc.
Also, mining for nuclear fuel in uranium rich areas in india is not feasible till the day we have a strong single party govt at the centre that doesnt need to pander to the taste of the multitudes of tiny regional parties that inevitably are the crutches of the typical indian govt.
So, bottomline being, we borrow reactor tech AND the fuel to run them. get ourselves some cheap energy. in return we grant IAEA certain liberties (only in civilian nuclear establishments!!!)..
now if we're not doing anything illegal and have nothing to hide, why should we NOT sign the deal??
Practicality, truck loads of it if you ask me, needs to be dumped on the policy makers in India.
posted by rahul nair | 7:30 AM
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