June 28, 2002 | 1550 IST
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Money > Columnists > Mahesh Nair June 28, 2002 | 1550 IST |
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The emperor has no clothes!Remember the story of the little boy who said, 'Look, Ma, the emperor has no clothes!'? I think the little chap was right on target when you analyse some of the hottest issues and news in India today. Like: FDI in print Why have successive governments since 1955 banned foreign direct investment in the print media? Because all political parties felt that foreign equity in the newspapers and magazines would adversely affect 'national interests,' i.e. influence people's thinking and cultural values and harm national security. Really? In a country where more than half the population does not know how to read a newspaper? In a country where no paper or magazine can be read/viewed by 360 million people like Doordarshan's Network is? Think about this: If print media was the most important guardian of our national interest why didn't the government own newspapers and magazines, rather than a television and radio network? FDI in print was banned for one simple reason alone: newspaper owners who enjoyed a monopoly did not want FDI. Kalam & DRDO One of the most touted achievements of presidential designate and 'missile man' Abdul Kalam is that he built the DRDO (Defence and Research Development Organisation) as a truly world class defence research organization. Really? Which of DRDO's products are being used by the military in United States, Russia, UK, France, Israel or any other country of the world? Forget world class. Here's the status report on DRDO's 'prestigious' products:
Think about this: If DRDO was a public company, how many shareholders would approve of Abdul Kalam? The real reason why Kalam has been proposed is because he is apolitical, a Muslim, and a popular technocrat, in that order. Another Bhagat Singh Five movies on Bhagat Singh! I am sure even the brave martyr must be squirming in his heavenly abode. But that's not the reason why many people are outraged about Bollywood's depiction of India's freedom fighter and Punjab's most famous puttar. What's got their goat is how can you show Bhagat Singh having a romantic interest in his life? How can you show Bhagat Singh in a good light and Mahatma Gandhi in a poor one? How can Bollywood cash in cheaply on our historical icons? Really? Shouldn't the question be how relevant is Bhagat Singh today? Think about this: On April 8, 1929 two men entered the Assembly Hall and threw a bomb. On 13 December 2001, a group of men attacked the Indian Parliament. The first are called freedom fighters. The second terrorists. Do the ends really justify the means? Goal! Howzatt! World Cup Soccer is the current rage in India. Companies have spent millions on promotional campaigns. It is fashionable for office goers to discuss whether Ronaldo will score over Klose in the Finals or whether Hiddink is a genius who turned around South Korean football. Later this month, after the World Cup finals, cricket will be back in fashion thanks to the triangular one-dayers featuring India, England and Sri Lanka. Think about this: According to FIFA world rankings (as of May 15, 2002), India was placed 123rd. Montserrat was 203 and, presumably, the last. According to the CIA Fact Book, Montserrat is a 100 sq km island in the Caribbean and has a population of 7,574 people. If you think this is a ridiculous example to compare Indian football with, then consider this: Malawi, in Southern Africa, is placed at 122, one ahead of India. It has a population of about 1.05 million and a GDP of approximately $9.4 billion compared to India's one billion population and about $3.3 trillion GDP. And if you think cricket is what India is good at, eat this: the country has won one World Cup so far and is currently placed No. 6 out of 9 in Test Matches and No 5 out of 9 in one-day internationals (source: Rediff Cricket ratings). Software Superpower The world had better take note of India, the drumbeaters sing, because we are going to be the next IT superpower. To support this we have the National Association of Software and Services Companies cheering that the country's software and services exports reached Rs 365 billion (a little over $7 billion) in 2001-2002. Of this figure, IT software services make up about Rs 294 billion and IT-Enabled Services (ITES) Rs 71 billion. The latter is being touted as the blue-eyed boy of the Indian economy. Really? Name one Indian software package that is a global hit? One Indian IT product that the computer population of the world uses every time a computer is switched on? The truth is not so sweet. What is essentially called Indian software exports is basically body-shopping (sending skilled labour from India) and back-end applications (now fashionably called BPO, or business process outsourcing). The growth rate has more to do with the foreign exchange appreciation than with Indian companies really making it big worldwide. Call centers and customer relationship management centres are nothing but a company boasting of skilled telephone operators. Medical transcription is skilled typing. A nation which handles the telephone calls of customers from all over the world, which types medical records of the world's best hospitals - is that what you would call a superpower? ALSO READ:
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