Can Indian Goods compete with its Foreign Counterparts??

Our country is the second largest in terms of population; we have around 66% of the population in the working age group and with a literacy rate of ~74%, India is a fast-developing country or apparently so. Ironically we are also the country with an unemployment rate of ~10%, one of the highest amongst countries. We are excessively dependent on foreign goods, starting from mere toothpaste to fashionable clothes; we find the imprints of foreign brands. The adoption rate for locally made products are very limited compared to branded goods which is indeed a dampener for our economy. Whereas going by the positive statistics, this shouldn’t have been the case. But time and again 2 key indices has been ignored – ‘Quality’ and ‘Durability’. Local products score very low in terms of these two most important parameters; we have little or no faith on domestic goods. In a country where quality and customer satisfaction often takes a back seat, how can we hope to progress?

It is high time we start addressing these stumbling blocks or else we will risk losing out entirely on the growing consumer base. With the ever increasing demand, our country should try on increasing and retaining customers by improving the quality and standard of products. Quality norms must be stricter and should leave no ground for customer complaints. Customers should be encouraged to come up with complaints; a reward system should be in place so as to make the process ‘actually’ work. Although in the current scenario this looks like a far cry, but am hopeful of a day when we also will be proud to own something which is ‘Made in India’.

Green Shoots – Is it really an indicator of recovery?

“Bull-markets are born in pessimism; grow on skepticism, mature on optimism, and die of euphoria.”

The term ‘Green Shoot’ is used to refer any signs that point towards recovery or renewal. The phrase gained popularity after Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, told CBS Program ‘60 Minutes’ in mid of March that he sees green shoots of recovery in the economy and that the recession will come to an end ‘probably this year’. This interview is one of its first kinds by any sitting chairman of Fed in last 20 years.
Let’s now look at the points that support this hypothesis.

First and the most important indicator of economic recovery is the health of the financial markets. Financial markets worldwide had been largely volatile and reacted negatively in the last few months of recession. But slowly it’s getting stable in the recent weeks with improved confidence amongst the participants. Government has gone to great lengths to infuse liquidity in the cash starved system and ensures that the market sentiments are restored. Some steps taken by the government includes:
1) US Treasury chief Geithner had announced a scheme to buy back $1 trillion toxic assets and bad mortgage loans.
2) Several rounds of Fed rate cut: 50 basis points cut on October 29, 2008 followed by the large 75 basis point cut made during a special January 22, 2008 in response to the stock market turmoil that January, as well as a 50 basis point cut on January 30, 2008, a 75 basis point cut on March 18, 2008, and a 50 basis point cut on October 8, 2008.
All these measures taken by the government helped to improve the market confidence to some good extent. Lately banking firms such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase had posted better than expected earnings report which played a great role in restoring the market confidence.

The second most important pointer of revival is the recent shape of Housing Sector. Real estate sector has been developing in Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong. US housing sector has also started showing signs of recovery. New home sales went up for the third consecutive month in June to an annual pace of 384,000 homes (In January, the figure stood at 329,000, showing a rise of 16.7% in less than half a year, which is a significant improvement) the most November 2008; also the number of new houses fell to the lowest amount since February 1999, according to the Department of Commerce. The housing sector in the UK also points towards a rebound especially as the nation's biggest residential property and most used real-estate web site, Rightmove, posted that prices in London rose on an annual basis for the first time this year. Rightmove, released its house prices for the month of July coming in at 0.6% which is higher than the prior decline of 0.4% while on the year they also eased their pace of decline to -3.1% from the previous -5.5 percent.

Though green shoots are evident in only some particular sectors, but the belief that the worst has happened, has given fresh new hopes to the investor class and Equity markets is witnessing signs of resurgence.

Aadhaar…..will it really change the face of India???

The 16 digit biometric Unique Identification number which is to be assigned by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is named as Aadhaar meaning foundation.
The issue of UIDs is mainly aimed at the poor section and will provide identification to that segment of Indian population which needs it the most. With UID cards, they can now gain access to a variety of banking services which had been previously difficult since they couldn’t open any bank accounts. Not only this, they can also have a way in to a number of government schemes. It will serve as a single and exclusive measure of identification and Ration Cards, Voters ID, Driving License, PAN cards etc will carry UID number. Once rolled out, UID numbers are intended to make the basic government services hassle free. It would also enable the government to channelize the subsidies to the right recipients and if used in an appropriate manner, will minimize frauds. It is expected to stop the illegal immigrations and thus thwarting terrorist activities.

In spite of all these advantages, there is still a hint of apprehension which overshadows the whole system. Since UID numbers will be also issued by Government, it remains to be seen whether the process would be clean or will be dimmed by manipulations. Another challenge would be constant upgradation of the whole procedure once the issuance is complete. Considering the diverse nature of Indian population and the fact that the majority of population still resides in rural areas, implementation of the whole project would be the biggest challenge. Firstly, there should be a widespread awareness across the nation and then it has to be ensured that 100% of the population has registered to this system.

It is really an excellent initiative taken by the Indian Government and if implemented successfully will no doubt transform the entire system and make life easy.