….that could well be the harbinger for the entire 21st century belonging to India. From Taj Mahal to Chicken Tikka Masala, everything Indian sells now and is fast becoming global icons with dismantling of economic and travel barriers around the globe.
It was not long back in 1999 when the world predicted a doom because of a Y2K bug and India lapped the opportunity to assert it’s dominance in software and eliminated the threat. On the dawn of the 21st century, everything worked as usual; power plant kept on working, banks were not paralyzed and the mass transportation system didn’t blink it’s eye during the cutover.
India arrived at the international scene and there was no looking back. While China might count more achievement in it’s quest for supremacy, it is no denying that being world’s largest democracy, desire to break the shackle of poverty, mass adoption of English, mastery of mathematics and a populous but having more young people, India is fast catching up on China. The entrepreneurial base that is getting built in India will slowly overshadow the small business revolution that made USA the world’s wealthiest nation. It’s no surprise that there are three Indian in the Forbe’s latest list of world's 100 wealthiest people.
The backlash against outsourcing remains a very real threat, intensifying amid 10% unemployment in the US. But outsourcing - and the idea that companies must operate cheaply, efficiently, globally - has come to be an accepted, inescapable reality. The anti outsourcing lobby in US while crying hoarse over the job getting lost to countries like India has not even open it’s eye to understand that India while serving the IT needs in US can also buy the products coming out of US. Once the ever increasing and dreaded population growth in India has now turned into world’s youngest population and a mad race by giant corporations to exploit the growth. Every multinational US corporations has made India almost their second home to lap up the needs of a fledgling middle class and to be present to serve probably the biggest market the world has ever seen.
I was talking to my Dad the other day and was pleasantly surprise to hear from him that young boys and girls must pursue what they dream and not blindly follow the path of choosing some career for sake of others, if one is not interested. When people in their 60’s and 70’s are changing their views and adapting to the new order, a burgeoning young population is just waiting to explode to embrace change. This was just unthinkable even in late 80’s. The pace at which the thinking has changed in India really amazes me.
It was aptly summarized in WSJ in US that “What will distinguish India in the decade that begins Friday is its ability to now look inward, to clean its government, to uplift more of its population, to foster the businesses and innovations ... and make their success of the last 10 years the norm across regions and industries. That might just clinch more than the next decade - it could well pave the way for an Indian century”,
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Perpetuating the Poverty of Developing Countries
This seems to be the line of thought during the recent climate change meeting in Copenhegan. Otherwise, how else can the developed world including US ask countries like China and India to commit to emission cuts that puts disproportionate burden on developing countries?
The stakes for the Copenhagen summit have been building up over the last few weeks, but with China declaring a voluntary deduction in carbon intensity by 40-45% by 2020, the pressure on reluctant players like the US to act and commit just got higher. The Chinese move to voluntarily reduce its carbon intensity days ahead of the summit in Denmark has large implications. One, it will be difficult for developed countries like the US and Obama’s Congress to oppose commitments to reduce greenhouse gases.
China and India have often been cited as examples of countries that are unwilling to play their part in addressing these global concerns. Second, China has made it clear that it would go ahead with reductions in carbon intensity only on its own terms as per the requirements of its economic needs. This will come as a major boost to India as it echoes New Delhi’s stated position on carbon emissions.
Close on the heels of China, India has announced its decision to set a target of cutting down its carbon intensity by 20-25%, domestically. This is achievable even with a GDP growth of 8-9% with the application of right technologies and fiscal measures that encourage energy efficiency. The crucial differentiator in the stand taken by China and India is that of setting an individual target that is not bound by an international or external cap.
While India with its 1 billion plus population is rising to break the shackles of poverty, the developed world cannot take the excuse of climate change to perpetually keep Nation like India remain poor. It is so easy to see how lavishly people in countries like US are contributing to global warming. In stark comparison, 60% of Indian population still lives in villages with hardly the scope to add any meaningful contribution to climate change
Majority of India is still not integrated with the world economy. The lifestyle is so simple that almost all life sustaining task are still done with simple and green means. More than 80% of the Indian population still don’t use toilet papers and prefer water thus saving millions of tree each year. More than 60% of Indian lives their life without using much of electricity and gasoline powered automobiles. The public transport in India vastly reduces our contribution to global warming. Our eating habits are far simpler than the energy hugging food habits of the western world. Till almost 15 years back we had hardly use plastic bags to carry groceries. Even today the majority of population living in villages barely uses any plastic for day to day living.
Lifestyles in these developed countries still remain largely unchanged as the wealthy continue to live in large villas, drive around in gas-guzzling SUVs and use energy-intensive equipment for daily household chores. India may be the world’s sixth-biggest greenhouse gas producer, but it has a per-head emission of just 2 tonnes of carbon dioxide — 66th in the world — whereas US is the fifth in the world with a per-head emission of 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent. This is precisely 10 times that of India, which is expected to have the same caps on emissions as developed countries like the US. This is totally against the principle of ‘differentiated responsibility’.
India with its aspiration to bring its population out of poverty has in fact seen a decline in carbon intensity over the last decade. It is probably one of the few countries in the world that has seen the reverse trend with development. The solar mission, national water mission, sustainable habitat mission and urban transport mission are among the basket of programs that the government and India Inc are working on to meet some of its carbon-intensity reduction targets. More importantly, India has made it clear that it is not ready to subject itself to international verification. The targets set by the country will be in accordance to its resources and social and economic priorities.
We need to continue on the path of sustained development without mimicking the habits of Industrialized Nations and yes, voluntary make effort to curb emissions and take other voluntary steps to minimize our contribution to global warming. This cannot be dictated by the Western world. Climate change cannot be addressed by perpetuating the poverty of the developing countries.
The stakes for the Copenhagen summit have been building up over the last few weeks, but with China declaring a voluntary deduction in carbon intensity by 40-45% by 2020, the pressure on reluctant players like the US to act and commit just got higher. The Chinese move to voluntarily reduce its carbon intensity days ahead of the summit in Denmark has large implications. One, it will be difficult for developed countries like the US and Obama’s Congress to oppose commitments to reduce greenhouse gases.
China and India have often been cited as examples of countries that are unwilling to play their part in addressing these global concerns. Second, China has made it clear that it would go ahead with reductions in carbon intensity only on its own terms as per the requirements of its economic needs. This will come as a major boost to India as it echoes New Delhi’s stated position on carbon emissions.
Close on the heels of China, India has announced its decision to set a target of cutting down its carbon intensity by 20-25%, domestically. This is achievable even with a GDP growth of 8-9% with the application of right technologies and fiscal measures that encourage energy efficiency. The crucial differentiator in the stand taken by China and India is that of setting an individual target that is not bound by an international or external cap.
While India with its 1 billion plus population is rising to break the shackles of poverty, the developed world cannot take the excuse of climate change to perpetually keep Nation like India remain poor. It is so easy to see how lavishly people in countries like US are contributing to global warming. In stark comparison, 60% of Indian population still lives in villages with hardly the scope to add any meaningful contribution to climate change
Majority of India is still not integrated with the world economy. The lifestyle is so simple that almost all life sustaining task are still done with simple and green means. More than 80% of the Indian population still don’t use toilet papers and prefer water thus saving millions of tree each year. More than 60% of Indian lives their life without using much of electricity and gasoline powered automobiles. The public transport in India vastly reduces our contribution to global warming. Our eating habits are far simpler than the energy hugging food habits of the western world. Till almost 15 years back we had hardly use plastic bags to carry groceries. Even today the majority of population living in villages barely uses any plastic for day to day living.
Lifestyles in these developed countries still remain largely unchanged as the wealthy continue to live in large villas, drive around in gas-guzzling SUVs and use energy-intensive equipment for daily household chores. India may be the world’s sixth-biggest greenhouse gas producer, but it has a per-head emission of just 2 tonnes of carbon dioxide — 66th in the world — whereas US is the fifth in the world with a per-head emission of 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent. This is precisely 10 times that of India, which is expected to have the same caps on emissions as developed countries like the US. This is totally against the principle of ‘differentiated responsibility’.
India with its aspiration to bring its population out of poverty has in fact seen a decline in carbon intensity over the last decade. It is probably one of the few countries in the world that has seen the reverse trend with development. The solar mission, national water mission, sustainable habitat mission and urban transport mission are among the basket of programs that the government and India Inc are working on to meet some of its carbon-intensity reduction targets. More importantly, India has made it clear that it is not ready to subject itself to international verification. The targets set by the country will be in accordance to its resources and social and economic priorities.
We need to continue on the path of sustained development without mimicking the habits of Industrialized Nations and yes, voluntary make effort to curb emissions and take other voluntary steps to minimize our contribution to global warming. This cannot be dictated by the Western world. Climate change cannot be addressed by perpetuating the poverty of the developing countries.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Camry XLE V6 & 838
This is the name of the new car that I bought today and 838 is my credit score that I found while buying this vehicle. After searching and surfing the internet I finally decided to buy the car today from Walnut Creek Toyota. I find this Camry totally amazing. The model that I bought is top of the tine for Camry and has most of the luxurious feature that you can expect at a Toyota price.
I bought it from Dave Holts (my daughter says he looks very similar to Santa Claus)), the intenet sales manager with the Walnut Creek Toyota. He gave me the first quote and sticked to it till the end. I must agree that I tried looking for this car at most of the bay area dealer but none could match or beat the price from Dave. I only wished that Dave would have given me the break up of final price he shared with me a day before earlier. But guess that’s how the car sales is done.
Since I was looking for a black colored camry and Dave said he does n’t have one, I got a little disappointed (...talk about emotion for a color. Crazy!) At the end I reached out to Sunnyvale Toyota (came to know that they are the only ones who has black color Camry in bay area) to see if they could give me the black colored car for the same price as was offered by Dave. Unlike others, John from Sunnyvale Toyota came close to the price offered by Dave of Walnut creek but still was almost $300 off. I offered him to pay $100 more over the price of Dave for Black color but it seems John underestimated my resolve to buy at the lowest price I could find. He thought that since he was the only dealer in Bay area that has black color in stock, I would relent and buy from him paying $300 more over the price offered by Dave. I am glad that I sticked to my price quoted from Dave and rejected the lure of buying Black colored Camry from John for $300 more and ended up saving an overall $500 including taxes etc. You put your bet on the wrong guy, John.
Just a couple of quick word about Dave. He looks to me a quintessential cars sales man. He was not too warm and over polite but seemed a balanced guy. He seems to know his trade well and looks quite experienced. He also answered to one of my questions that this was his 5th car sales this month (a car a day – good for him). If I need to buy another car then I think I will give Dave the first right of refusal as I still would be wedded to someone who gives me the lowest price. Overall I remain very satisfied with my experience with Dave. Additionally, I would like to suggest that Walnut Creek Toyota keep some things that helps to keep the kids engaged, otherwise the entire car buying process except the brief spin in the car before buying is quite boring for them. While I was there with my wife and my younger daughter, I saw quite a few kids in the showroom.
I also found out while finalizing the Toyota financing option that I have a credit score of 838. I couldn’t be happier. Moreover, white color Camry looks stunningly beautiful. Everything about this car so far has been amazing.
Hope this car remains with me for ever free of any accidents.
My Experience in Car Buying
1. Always finalize your car before you start to ask for quotes – This will help you to keep focused
2. Internet is amazing place to shortlist your car
3. Visit a couple of dealers to get the sense of the car you want to buy and get a quote from the dealers
4. Never commit to any dealer in your first visit.
5. Find out the invoice price of the car including all the options that you want. Never buy any car for MSRP listed on the window in the lot.
6. Arrive at your price based on your due diligence and then sent out request through site such as Edmunds and Car direct to get quote from various dealers. You can put all the cost together in an excel sheet that is available as a free download from Car Buying Tips. You will be amazed to find out how dealers extract double profit (charging the customers for a few things that they get reimbursed from the manufacturer)
7. Try to buy the car as close to your final price as possible
8. Make sure that you go to the dealer only when you have a firm price and you have arranged for the finance.
9. Take advantage of the internet to ensure that you finalize the price as much as possible without even stepping into a car showroom.
10. Try to find at the dealer if there are any other better financing available than the one you have taken – take advantage if you are offered one but ensure that the financing option that you chose has no pre-payment penalty
11. Always remain polite and courteous to your sales person and other people in the dealership. Courtesy pays and has no cost.
I will be more than happy to share with you in more detail if you want to utilize my personal car buying experience to help you find a good price for your new car.
I bought it from Dave Holts (my daughter says he looks very similar to Santa Claus)), the intenet sales manager with the Walnut Creek Toyota. He gave me the first quote and sticked to it till the end. I must agree that I tried looking for this car at most of the bay area dealer but none could match or beat the price from Dave. I only wished that Dave would have given me the break up of final price he shared with me a day before earlier. But guess that’s how the car sales is done.
Since I was looking for a black colored camry and Dave said he does n’t have one, I got a little disappointed (...talk about emotion for a color. Crazy!) At the end I reached out to Sunnyvale Toyota (came to know that they are the only ones who has black color Camry in bay area) to see if they could give me the black colored car for the same price as was offered by Dave. Unlike others, John from Sunnyvale Toyota came close to the price offered by Dave of Walnut creek but still was almost $300 off. I offered him to pay $100 more over the price of Dave for Black color but it seems John underestimated my resolve to buy at the lowest price I could find. He thought that since he was the only dealer in Bay area that has black color in stock, I would relent and buy from him paying $300 more over the price offered by Dave. I am glad that I sticked to my price quoted from Dave and rejected the lure of buying Black colored Camry from John for $300 more and ended up saving an overall $500 including taxes etc. You put your bet on the wrong guy, John.
Just a couple of quick word about Dave. He looks to me a quintessential cars sales man. He was not too warm and over polite but seemed a balanced guy. He seems to know his trade well and looks quite experienced. He also answered to one of my questions that this was his 5th car sales this month (a car a day – good for him). If I need to buy another car then I think I will give Dave the first right of refusal as I still would be wedded to someone who gives me the lowest price. Overall I remain very satisfied with my experience with Dave. Additionally, I would like to suggest that Walnut Creek Toyota keep some things that helps to keep the kids engaged, otherwise the entire car buying process except the brief spin in the car before buying is quite boring for them. While I was there with my wife and my younger daughter, I saw quite a few kids in the showroom.
I also found out while finalizing the Toyota financing option that I have a credit score of 838. I couldn’t be happier. Moreover, white color Camry looks stunningly beautiful. Everything about this car so far has been amazing.
Hope this car remains with me for ever free of any accidents.
My Experience in Car Buying
1. Always finalize your car before you start to ask for quotes – This will help you to keep focused
2. Internet is amazing place to shortlist your car
3. Visit a couple of dealers to get the sense of the car you want to buy and get a quote from the dealers
4. Never commit to any dealer in your first visit.
5. Find out the invoice price of the car including all the options that you want. Never buy any car for MSRP listed on the window in the lot.
6. Arrive at your price based on your due diligence and then sent out request through site such as Edmunds and Car direct to get quote from various dealers. You can put all the cost together in an excel sheet that is available as a free download from Car Buying Tips. You will be amazed to find out how dealers extract double profit (charging the customers for a few things that they get reimbursed from the manufacturer)
7. Try to buy the car as close to your final price as possible
8. Make sure that you go to the dealer only when you have a firm price and you have arranged for the finance.
9. Take advantage of the internet to ensure that you finalize the price as much as possible without even stepping into a car showroom.
10. Try to find at the dealer if there are any other better financing available than the one you have taken – take advantage if you are offered one but ensure that the financing option that you chose has no pre-payment penalty
11. Always remain polite and courteous to your sales person and other people in the dealership. Courtesy pays and has no cost.
I will be more than happy to share with you in more detail if you want to utilize my personal car buying experience to help you find a good price for your new car.
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