Topic "Stock market boom..." - Complete analysis

When you think that you don’t know much about a topic, try and draw parallels. Note that the boom in the stock market is similar to the real estate boom and hence you can derive lot of points from there. Read the points below and try to relate to the real estate market and you will see parallels.

About reading up about the markets, I am sure you can find a lot of material on the net. Beware that many analysis on the net may be leaning towards the current market sentiment (bullish). When the market is going up, analysts say it will go up. When it goes down, they say market is booking profits. When I goes further down, they say it was anyway overheated and is consolidating. If it goes down further, they say market sentiment is weak and investor has to be cautious :)

I think we have covered decent number of points here avoiding the clutter. And you can do deeper analysis in the next two years of your MBA

My additional points for the group (I have avoided being too technical and heavy)
Reasons for going up
1. The equity market has matured more. That means that there are enough buyers and sellers. It also means that the price discovery is based on valuation, rather than rumors and sentiments

2. More retail buyers as it is easier to trade than it was a few years ago. Online trading also has come into picture and with a lot of money with the IT industry, good investments have come from the retail investors

3. The consistent strong results across sectors quarter after quarter has fueled the market.

4. There is a lot of bullish sentiment on the future of the economy and the top companies. So strong results and strong outlook for the future have fuelled the growth in the market

5. The futures and options market is maturing well. Hence there are more balancing factors in the market now.

6. Though there have been some scares before, it is not true that FIIs can just pack up one day and leave when they see a better prospect. They are prudent investors and spread their risk. Any other country like China will have to prove themselves for long (like India has done for almost 15 years now). Sometimes, even a small FII withdrawal can cause market panic, which may not have a strong basis.

Concerns
1. The PE ratios are on the higher side even with the confidence. It is difficult to believe that the confidence has doubled in just one year.

2. Though some of these positive factors have been there for a long time, the rise has been recent and sharp adding to the concern that there is some speculation involved

3. There have been many market manipulations that have been caught recently. This may indicate that the market still needs to be cautious

Good points made by the group
1. Strong FII money flow has had a strong positive impact

2. Good monsoon for the last two years.
----- Remember many industries like FMCG, Auto etc are almost directly impacted by monsoon

3. US/European money flowing in search of better returns is a very good point.
----- It is not necessarily coming because of the slowdown though, but because India is in a growth phase and US in a mature stage. (It is like investing in growth stocks Vs Blue chip stocks)

4. There has been a broad based rally. This shows the confidence in the country as a whole rather than an industry or a few companies

5. US trade deficit is a cause for concern.

Topic "Copying western culture"... Complete Analysis

I think the group has done a good job especially with the limitations that the topic had. The topic was chosen because it was very very difficult to rise above average in such a discussion.

My comments
1. Many people in the group gave many examples rather than drawing inferences out of this. Do not get yourself into such a trap. If you give 10 examples for the same thing that you want to say, you will not get 10 points :)

2. Try and summarise from the examples and see if you can make strong statements. That is what catches attention when everyone is talking mundane things. I have attempted that in Point No 1

3. Try and see if you can hairsplit the meaning of the topic. My attempt in point No 2
Try and see if you can bring a twist. The topic does not offer much scope, but that’s when a twist has more value :) I have attempted one twist in ‘My points’ (point No 3)

4. Counter points add value too. When someone talks about an obvious example of negative effect, try and see if there is anything positive even there. I have attempted that in Point no 4 and 5

5. Inspite of all the value adding points above, you would still need to give average examples and make average conclusions :) this is to ensure that you are constantly involved and pick up small points too

6. And as your guys pointed, this could turn to a fish market. I have written about it in detail at How to handle a Fish market GD some time back. If it is not good enough, let me know and I shall make another attempt

My points
1. Culture is what we inherit from our forefathers. But if culture were not to change, we would still have been in stone-age. So any culture is constantly changing. As a society we collectively decide, what to change and what not.

2. Copying is not good, but borrowing is. While we are selective when borrowing, we will not be when we copy

3. When we are talking about the degradation of culture, more individualism, running after money etc, are we talking about ‘the urban India’

4. People talked about growing divorce cases ---- does many divorces mean woman is more empowered now rather than saying that couples fight more now. So probably it is positive for the culture

5. People said there are more extra marital affairs now ---- Note that there has been a reduction in polygamy also (My grand dad had 2 wives). And it could be that people are more open about it these days. So we may be moving from a male dominated culture to the one of equality. I think that is positive.

For detailed analysis of each point made by people Click here

Topic "Real Estate Case..." - Complete Analysis

Hey guys,

Click here to go to the case

Very very good GD. The focus was on both online business, entrepreneurship and real estate. I am sorry that I have not had time to analyze this before and had to do it too late. The points covered were varied and the number of people participating also was good. So the group does take brownie points as whole. So let me keep my analysis simpler by just giving some summary and additional points. One area of improvement is certainly ‘the start’. I will do a write up on how to handle case GDs in a while and will cover that. In the meanwhile, jump into the latest topic at

http://catfundae.blogspot.com/2007/01/topic-for-day-take-12.html#links

I have also tried to give analysis for all the points made in the comments section of the main topic at

http://catfundae.blogspot.com/2007/01/topic-for-day-take-10.html#comments

Marketing
1. In an internet business, you have to build volumes first. Only then comes money factor. In the beginning, you cannot go to Advertisers unless you have some data of people visiting your site. It also helps you sell at a higher price. To start with, they can even use Google Ads.
2. They have three types of customers that they need to attract. Buyers, sellers and builders.
3. The idea of marketing to buyers will be word-of-mouth through emails, yahoo groups, community sites like Orkut etc. It can be done from anywhere. Some sellers will also come this way. For sellers, may be they can tie up with a company like “Free Ads”. Advertisements from buyers come only when you have enough traffic.

Markets they should cater to
1. They should cater to Bangalore market as it is more internet savvy. Note that Bangalore need not be the location for this reason
2. Builders themselves need to have websites if they want to advertise here (That adds to the point of savvy market)
3. You should cater across locations because website development cost does not increase by this choice. Also note that the marketing cost to sellers/buyers also do not increase significantly. So why not have all cities.
4. Lets not even talk about them sticking on to their jobs. You can’t put half hearted efforts into a new venture especially for the greed of a month’s salary. Convince yourself before you jump. But once convinced, make the jump

Location
1. They should not be hiring experienced people for website development. What is their own experience worth otherwise. Since they have to hire freshers, salary difference between Bangalore and Jaipur is not significantly different. It could be in the range of 2000 per person per month leading to 16000 total at maximum
2. The cost of rental is also not significantly different across location. You can get similar rentals in Bangalore if you take office space in outskirts. Again a total difference of 2000 per month.
3. Apart from ‘sales to advertisers’, rentals and salaries are the only two costs. Hence location is actually not making a difference. Go to the last point for a decision on this.

VC
1. If they really need money, why shouldn't they go for a loan. That way you need not give away equity. Go to next point to see why.
2. They may not want significant money to start with. But they should go to a VC after the basic stage not just for money, but for the experience and expertise in managing such businesses. Note that these people are good in technology and project management only.
3. You need to go at stage 2 since you would have more clarity on your idea

Parting Shot
Note that once they go in for VC, the location decision may not rest with them alone. Especially since they are not gaining much by moving to Jaipur and VCs are usually biased for Bangalore (helps them to sell it better later. A Bangalore based IT company sells better than a Jaipur based one), Puru and Shuru may not have a choice.

Some time pass
They can have website development office in Jaipur and marketing office in Bangalore. One headed by Puru and other by Shuru.
Should they be targeting NRIs by giving value added services? Many NRIs buy through brokers in India. So you can make the brokers/sellers meet NRIs. Or NRIs can check the website and tell their parents about the picks they should check out
Allow users to put photographs so that people don’t have to visit the place unless they have a basic interest

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Topic "Bribery..." - Complete Analysis

I am not happy with the GD. The topic was very mundane and that was the trap and the group fell in en-masse with a few exceptions. You need to raise above the easy topics. Do not keep giving more examples and more obvious statements. If one says, police are corrupt, somebody else says it is there in military too. What is the value you are adding there. The group has agreed on the point that bribery exists in the Indian scenario. They also seem to fairly agree that most of the times it does not distinguish between rich and poor. So lets move ahead and use the rest of the GD time in talking something more rather than repeating the same stuff in different forms.

Only Himanshu made an attempt to see if it is an economic balancing factor. The rest just dismissed the idea with only one argument of lack of distinction between rich and poor. No one even tried to raise the bar and talk about the differences between salaries and incentives in Government and private sector. No one even took a strong stand saying that higher salaries may prevent bribery. When you don’t bring strong arguments, they don’t get discussed in detail by the group. You do a passing mention, then the group will not even notice.

My points
High salaries itself may not prevent bribes. There are so many top officials receiving good salaries and having good properties still taking bribes. This shows that bribery in engrained in the system and hence we need to wield a strong stick apart from giving the carrot of higher salaries in Government jobs.
Do we get bribed by companies in form of incentives? ---- I would have liked someone doing some introspection and comparing incentives with bribe. Understand that they are different, but if you don’t even analyze hard, it wont come out
Can bribe be looked as a transaction cost from economics point of view? The problem could be it is like a flat tax and everyone gets affected to the same extent. ----- You are all aspiring MBAs. Think economically especially when the topic urges you to
If we really think that bribery is such a menace causing such a problem to the whole nation, can we atleast pledge to make an individual contribution by not paying it at all ‘at any cost’? ---- I am sure most in the group would disagree with this 
People say it has dented the country’s image. As a Government servant earning a pittance for a salary, with rising costs of basic things especially in urban centers, do I care about my family or do I care about my country. And this is the country, that is ready to extend tax break to the booming IT sector, but takes years to implement pay commission recommendations

Parting shot
Bribes have helped in creating an economic balance in a country like India where, with the sudden economic boom, the private sector boomed leaving the Government salaries far behind. Though such sudden growth causes unintentional economic imbalances and bribes have helped reduce the imbalance, this is not an efficient system and hence unviable in the long run


Points by the group:
The extent to which bribery has crept into the society that that a guy taking bribe has been himself bribed by others....its more of a balancing phenomenon, where the general ledger of public sums up to 0. So does that justify a menace like this? Of course not ----- Point taken, but the final stand is not supported by the previous statement.
Bribery is reciprocal i.e the person bribing an official too has vested interests. So, citizens too encouraging bribery
Bribery by Judiciary is the biggest sin of all. If judiciary indulges in bribery, democracy would turn into anarchy. crimes would shoot up ---- Crimes shoot up, agreed. But it takes more to turn a democracy into an anarchy. Avoid passionate and over-arching opinions. Also a little diversion from the topic
India is booming, and private-sector wages are soaring. So civil servants are justified in feeling left behind ---- They are feeling left behind, but not sure if they are ‘justified’.
With the pittance the govt employees are awarded, bribery on their part is fair to some extent. Dont they dream to send their kids to quality public schools
Pay the public sector employees private sector salaries if you want to see quick action and no bribery ---- does that mean that people getting top pays do not receive bribes?
People with any sort of responsibilities in govt. positions right from peon to administrative officer had a miscalculated sense of job responsibility which included harassing common people endlessly with their official power
On top of all these, while government job meant job security for life, the payment of government employees was not in sync with markets as such. While it was good enough to survive, it wasn’t good enough monetarily to bring them in sync with their aspirations. With all the power in hand, it was a matter of time that this financial gap in pay check was filled in by accepting a cut or percentage for whatever official duty they were executing
Some of the staring challenges associated directly/indirectly with bribery are lost productivity, bankruptcy of almost all Public Sector Undertakings, loss making State Electricity boards, bankrupt state governments, high budget deficit of the Govt of India, delayed or poorly executed projects of national importance
Many Indians take public services for granted, if there is any and don’t mind paying bribery for avoiding their monthly electricity, water bills etc
The end result is that a legitimate tax payer end up subsidizing a corrupt one and resources which could have been utilized on health services, education, defense and other priority sector are diverted to fund these utilities/activities
In short, bribery causes immense opportunity cost to our nation in forms of resources being denied for future generations because of mismanagement of current resources ---- mismanagement may not be the direct result of bribery though bribery adds to it
Bribery can be described as an act of giving some incentive to carry out a particular work ---- I thought it was called salary 
is it just limited to government employees ---- Good question
Bribery is nothing but our mere act of procrastination ----- REALLY!!
As we have seen in the movie "Lage Raho Munnabhai" regarding the pension thing, we sud really take strong steps to prevent people taking bribes ---- ‘better examples please’, many may not have seen the movie, however popular
Bribery is the menace which breeds inefficiency and favourism in the working culture of the country. It makes working with the govt. difficult and may worsen the law and order situation in the country ---- Oh, doesn’t it cause floods and famines too. Keep your passions in check and take stands that only derive from the points that you have made.
Considering it as a means to curb t he imbalances in the economic gap is like suggesting a wrong solution to a right problem ----- Very Good point. But why are there no strong supporting arguments
A person demanding bribe doesn’t differentiate between the rich and the poor ---- Mostly true.
It increases corruption and redtapism which has a negative impact on the image of the country hindering FDI investment and global operations --- Good point too. But bribery is corruption, it does not increase corruption
Had such rampant bribery not been there, India would have eradicated poverty long ago ----- SURE?? What facts to support it
Bribing can b taken s a means of reducing the economic gap partially, looking from a different perspective. For eg, the distribution of TVs, gas stoves by Karunanidhi in the recent election acted as bribing the poor to cast votes...At least with this kind of positive bribing, the poor people got something they dreamt off for years ---- Good point. Though Karunanidhi may not have been correct
Since its inception, India is facing the problem of bribery and now a days when private sector salaries are soaring, the corruption has actually come down ----- Corruption may have come down, has bribery come down? Also what do you mean since India’s “inception”
To say that bribe becomes impediment in doing things done isn't entirely correct. In fact, Businesses always account the bribery costs while applying for licenses and getting things done
What i mean to say is, all other things remaining same, you just remove the bribery from the system, Does anyone frankly believe that the government system will start working fast ----- Good perspective
Since opportunity cost of bribery is already widely known mostly, it can be argued it is just a tool of making system work
Bribery equivalent to the practice of payola in North American countries, where music bands pay radio stations a certain amount of money to play their songs on radio. Opponents argue that poor bands are disadvantaged due to this but there are few poor bands which have said that their music was a bit difficult and people wouldn't have liked their songs initially ---- Cool point
In fact, a lot of aspirants for Government jobs apply for these jobs only for the lure of power and income from bribe. Perhaps, it is only due to bribery that still we are getting the cream of the students in UPSC jobs ---- Wonderful perspective. Though it is a sad truth
If we want to remove the ill-effects we attribute to bribery, We must remove our archaic laws, host of middlemen between government and common citizen, introduce accountability and a proper appraisal system in which those performing their duties responsibilities are duly rewarded and not punished, as it often happens in India.
paradoxical nation, that is willing to pay to get out of trouble, but resists otherwise
The government officers, who dont distinguish between rich & poor while quoting their "rates" ---- I am not sure of this. Go in a car with tie and a blazer and I am sure you will get fleeced more
The cause of this menance, is the permanent employee of the government, who cant be fired, transfered, or downgraded. He has no performance measures, & as long as his manager agrees, they have an amicable relation ---- may not be true again since there are lot of temporary staff who still receive bribe
If the government employees, had some incentives for the quality of work done, or the speed of it, they would also have to gain from doing work efficiently ---- They do have a system of ‘Confidential Reports’ used for promotions, but it may not be the best system
One positive thing that comes of it, is that we can pay to get "deluxe" service for jobs that would take the designated time otherwise. If you want it fast, pay for it! Very captialistic in that sense.
Bribery follows a vicious cycle..wherein by bribing a person 2day 2 get ur work done...u r actually giving him an impetus 2 repeat d same wid d others at large --- Good point
Individually speaking ,we have absolutely no qualms in accepting or giving bribe..but when d matter cocerns our MP's ..the alleged cash 4 query scam...we fret at d plight of our country --- good again
Another way 2 use it as means of correcting economic imbalances..is 2 make it legal 2 charge a fixed sum of money from those who want 2 hurry up wid their work..nd at d end of d month..distribute d amout so collected evenly among all d members of a department --- very cool point
Himanshu..by saying that bribes serve as an incentive 4 d govt. clerks 2 pass files..nd that if we undo wid it..d work will actually slow down..i guess u r forgetting that they r not offering free services...they draw salaries at d end of d of every month --- good counter, though you missed the caveats

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All GD Analysis at one place

Here are the list of topics on which I have given my analysis till now. Go on, read them and enjoy the treatise.

Red Vs Blue
Is copying western culture good for Indian culture
Is the stock market boom for real
The case of Online Real estate Entreprenuership
Bribery - Menace or Economic balancing factor
Judicial intervention in Parliament
The case of Abhi and Kabhi
Censorship of the internet
The world with no Sundays
Nuclear issue - US Hypocrisy
Farm loans at low interest
24/7 Channels - A bane to the society
Alternative Solutions to the infrastructure problems

Also take a look at the fundaes for handling GDs
How to handle a vague topic
How to handle cases GDs
How to handle a fish market GD
How to handle topics you have no knowledge on

Topic "judicial intervention..." - Complete Analysis

Hey guys,

Some people suggested that the analysis takes too much space in the main page of the blog and some may miss the ongoing GD topics. So I thought that i will just give links to the complete page here so that people can go and see my comments.

Note my comments are at the end of the page.

Link is http://catfundae.blogspot.com/2007/01/topic-for-day-take-8.html

let me know if this is inconvinient and let us see how we can make it better. And lets see some good inputs for the real estate case. My next topic will also be linked to the real estate. So read up on it too.

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Topic "Abhi n Kabhi" - Complete Analysis

Hey guys,

Good analysis of the case. Though people hovered around the average many times, they were able to get in a few very good points and that made the case worth it. My analysis goes thus.

1. Kabhi’s family is concerned about his financial security (Please note not about ‘job security’). He can be compensated with the salary in the new venture. It is important to understand such subtle nuances

2. Since they are the crème-la-cream of the country, they can get a job anytime. So they need not 'join' jobs rightaway and hence it is not a concern. Kabhi’s father may be satisfied for now by Kabhi picking a job at campus

3. If Kabhi’s father was fine with him going to MBA, it means that there is no financial ‘crisis’. Only that he is concerned about financial security, which can be taken care of anyway. So Kabhi’s father’s concern becomes almost irrelevant after some discussion

4. Most of you seem to have decided that Kabhi is risk-averse. Please note that it is his father who is risk-averse and Kabhi has agreed only to "sit for campus placements" (not to join a job) due to family pressure

5. CAT or MBA is also an irrelevant piece here. Since they have less time and MBA takes two years, they can take it again after 2-3 years of experience. MBA certainly may add skills to them, but it will be too late anyway.

6. Abhi and Kabhi may not have many skills like finance. Marketing etc. But they can hire people for this. Abhi’s father can also help them in searching for the right talent

7. They can pick up jobs in the campus so that they have more options at the end of the final year. But they have to make the in-principle decision of trying for the venture rightaway since they have 1 year to work on it during college. The Nokias and yahoos will still be waiting for them :)

8. If the group really thought that the experience with Nokia and Yahoo was relevant, then one of them could have joined Nokia and the other yahoo to maximize their learning

9. Note that many ventures only have some portion to start with, in this case a technology idea. The idea is to get other complementary things from the market by hiring or giving a small stake to the key people. Anyway they do not have the concerns of finance, which is a problem for most new ventures


Important points made by the group and my comments on some
1. Though the idea may look great, it may still be in its infancy. One of the option to hone it up is to pick up the yahoo/Nokia opportunity
2. Abhi should focus on pursuing his dreams since he has good support and potential
3. Both should take up the idea and further develop it in their final year project. If they see potential at the end of it, they should think of pursuing further
4. Abhi may not be wrong to start without Kabhi, since Kabhi dropped out by his pwn will ---- Has Kabhi really dropped out ??
5. Kabhi should not and cannot sell the idea to yahoo/nokia since it belongs to both of them
6. The ability of Abhi to implement the whole thing alone is doubtful --- nice point, though it is an assumption
7. Abhi’s father would support him irrespective of when he wants to start --- may not be factual, but may be a fair assumption.
8. Abhi and Kabhi may join Yahoo/Nokia and tell about their idea. The companies have immense experience and marketing power and both may benefit from this ---- these companies will own the IP and the whole point is lost. The product could be a better success, but abhi and kabhi may not be
9. Abhi can even consider dropping out of college and pursuing his idea ---- One, his father may not support. Two, the risk is too high and probably unwarranted
10. Abhi could go on his own and may share a part of the profit with Kabhi if he succeeds on his own ---- you should have dug it further and discussed the roles of IP and entrepreneurial aptitude in the success of a company
11. Abhi can also look at the option of giving CAT next year and try joining a good B school as management experience will also be an important ingredient for the success of their idea --- question of how important is education in success
12. Abhi and Kabhi needs to understand the interest of Abhi’s father and details of his support to them
13. Understand if Kabhi can be accommodated on a salary + stake basis ---- Wow point, it takes the trophy and makes the solution so simple. One thing is they need not check this with abhi’s father but need to inform him of the same. If not willing, they can check with a VC. It is equivalent of having an employee, which they will be having anyway.
14. Abhi`s father, in light of being enthusiastic about the proposal can provide them with initial seed money for further market study --- brownie point argument
15. The idea may not sell after 1-2 years since technology space is fast moving ---- a half trophy point. Management jargon like ‘Time to market’ could have been used :)
16. if one goes ahead and succeeds, the other may not have a claim since there is too much gap from ideation to execution
17. Pick up a job and continue on developing the product and release it on internet in Beta version under some free licence form. If it succeeds, many companies may become interested in buying it off
18. Kabhi may not sell the idea to Nokia/yahoo since their friendship would suffer and there is nothing for him to gain
19. The preparation of CAT can be put on backburner this year if both are willing to take risk
20. Job opportunities can land in your lap many times but enterprenurship requires a level of courage and a chance to perform
21. Abhi can offer Kabhi a minor share and go ahead with the venture ---- Good point. Share proportional to the role IP in the success. Complementary to the point b2b made
22. Neither Steve jobs, nor Bill gates or larry page from google has a MBA degree. So CAT is irrelevant ---- Oh really!! And you have the guts to say this sitting in an IIM campus :)) Note that these successes are not generic and hence are not supportive of your point, though your point may be true.

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Topic "Censorship...." - Complete Analysis

Hey Guys,

It was surprising that a group that came up with such a stellar performance on a vague topic came out so mundane and average in this one. I had deliberately put a topic which had so many obvious points. But the group did move beyond the obvious points.

Here are the consolidated comments.

1. The group on the whole did not rise above pornography, terrorism, hatred sites etc. Some attempts like democracy, parental control were there but I wanted to see more of that.

2. Most starts revolved around the Indian constitution. Read the topic carefully. It does not say "Indian Govt"

3. Please be clear on the difference between monitoring, controlling and censorship. If you dont, then you will talking 'off' the topic

4. Most of you have just made points on how the internet has been misused etc etc but haven’t told if "censorship" would be effective in preventing that

5. Many of you said that though Governments blocks many things on the internet, it eventually crops up somewhere else. Good point, but very sad that the conclusion to this problem was ‘so why bother to censor’. Rather it should have been how to make censorship effective. Good points with bad analysis ends up nowhere

So the learnings are:
1. Understand the topic carefully and STICK to it
2. Generate arguments. Facts are good, but not if they dont have conclusions
3. Do not get sentimental, opinionated
lets carry them to the next round and not repeat mistakes.

My Start:
Govts across the world always had censorship on television, movies, newpapers etc though it has been limited in democracies. With the advent of internet the borders of countries have been broken and govts are grappling to understand a way to control it. Though internet has heralded itself as 'free for all', it is clear that it has been misused for many things. So it is important to control and monitor, but the necessity of censorhip itself may be questionable.

Points in the middle
1. US censored the beaming of the Iraq war and restricted the media. Internet took the mantle of showing us both the sides of the war
2. Mass media like internet doesn’t come by pull, but many times by push. So it is important to control
3. Why leave everything to the govt. There shud be self restraint to some extent. Didnt google know that its google maps cud be misused
4. People say, one has right to express what he wants and can post any video on youtube and the end user shud use his discretion. But what about invasion of privacy here. And who else can protect individuals, if not the law of the land
5. Even though Govt shud not censor, they shud have the ability to do so. This may be needed in case of national emergencies
6. Why only talk about terrorist groups. Some newspapers in their zeal to dig deeper have written articles on the internet describing in detail how bombs are made. Shudnt the govt rap their knuckles and make them behave
7. On the whole, monitoring and control by Govt is not only necessary but important, but they shud restrain from censorship.
8. There are groups on social networking websites which say they hate India. So what. Should the Governments be telling people what is should be loving, hating or be angry about
9. Everybody is harping on porn. So why not make it difficult to access. Making them payable will help. Age control, parental control, technology control can be used. Agreed they have not been effective, but the quest shud be to make it effective rather than censor


Good/ Decent points by the group
1. Government intrusion in blogging would defeat d entire purpose of blogs
2. People ought 2 b left free 2 deide wat 2 view nd wat not
3. The onus is on us 2 develop a socity where everyone says.."I may not agree wid u ,but i'll defend till death ur right 2 speak "
4. Censorship may be needed when it concerns the security of the country
5. Censorship should be something which says what is wrong rather than spoonfeeding what is correct
6. Censorships can atleast avoid kids unintentionally getting exposed to such kind of unintended stuff. Definitely kids dont have the self discretion of not getting effected ----- Stretch beyond a little bit and you could have brought a good perspective. You should have brought in the funda of ‘parental control’
7. It should be taken care that the decisions are always reviewed for the implementation
8. True that the right to "freedom of speech" is enshrined in our constitution, but it is equally counter-productive in a "confused" democracy....where people have rights, but don't know how to use them ---- My personal opinion on this is that it is elitist opinion, but a good view nevertheless
9. If we have one source which is spewing hatred. We have numbers of others which advocate restraint and mention fault with that paricular hatred filled site
Every act of freedom comes with a caveat involved. Freedom of speech is no exception. No doubt, acts of terror, pedophiles and suchlike have to be kept in check But still it doesn't allow absolute rights to the governments. The difference between a dictatorship and democracy is that, In dictatorship, the leader is accountable to none and therefore every action of his, whether right or wrong becomes the law. A government with infinite powers will bring alive the Orwellian world of '1984' alive. In short, Who is going to watch the watchdog
10. There should be no censorship on expression of views. Just because a person holds an opposing view, it doesn't gives you a right to strangle his voice. How does it matter if someone maintains "I Hate India" community on orkut? India is not going to vanish from world map due to this. In fact, it will give us a chance to know about the negative perspectives as well
11. Yes, Censorship of websites is required to stop trading of children. Censorship is required to check pedophiles trading children on net. But this is not an expression of opinion or view, but rather an act unacceptable in any society
12. A possible solution might be, If government is going to block a particular website or blog, then this action should be contestable in courts. A government site must mention the name of the blogs or sites that have been blocked along with reason for being blocked and this action must be contestable in courts. Every action of government must be in purview of RTI act.
13. Internet in itself, has become the best medium of communication, it is a valid extension of speech. So applying the same idea, if the government cannot stop people from saying what they want, how can it stop people from writing & reading what they want?
14. It is an unnerving thought of the power of such ideas, laid down by powerful people, can have such a large impact on us


Points on which people would take trophis for counter points
1. The area where regulation is most perceived i s that of ponography...but even here we fail 2 realise that those who view it wud find one way or d other 2 do that regardless of whichever regulations n restrictions r imposed --- what are you trying to say here. That we should stop porn, but we wont since we cant??

2. indian govt asking google to remove pages on orkut conataning hatred against the nation by pakistan etc... is fine…. But China asking Google to pack off for showing hatred articles on Tiananmen Square is wrong ---- Lack of consistency? Patriotism? Or sheer Hypocrisy?? :)

3. Some politicians/govt. may make misuse of these censorships by controlling the media to safegaurd themselves . Instead there can be an anonimous panel formed to control the internet ---- people in the group would eat you like lions for making such points :)

Global Gyan
1. There should be a clearly defined limit to the degree of censorship – Global Gyan. How can there be “clear” limit when the thing is subjective

Points that cud have been better
1. All good things come with a pinch of salt and controlling them lies a solution. A soln might be to give the entire detail of the Internet user so that tracking becomes easy and this idea is rightly brought abt by the government wherein each cyber user needs to furnish his/her details before logging --- Good point, but where is the conclusion. Add the sentence, ‘So I would say, rather than censoring, Government should exercise better control’ and you have a fair and strong point. The group may not agree with you but you have brought a good view

2. There have been some views about google earth maps showing sites of critical importance to indian security. Well, Majority of terror attacks in India are planned by ISI. They already have access to satellite pictures taken by Pakistani satellites. It would be naive to assume that ISI would be waiting for these google earth maps for performing their operations ---- Don’t get carried away. It sure prevents less sophisticated enemies (home grown terrorist groups for instance). Anyone bringing such a counter point would take away the credit. Don’t give away such credits for free, make them work hard for it

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Topic "The world with...." - Complete Analysis

Guys,

The topic for today will come tomorrow :)) So till then I will keep the censorship topic open for people to dig in. It is a very open ended topic and I want to see people bring in strong points and taking good stands.

And for the Sunday topic -- Oops! so many people getting senti on Sundays being gone:). The perspectives were amazing and I would give credit to the whole group for coming up with such a good GD. So I have done a different kind of analysis for this. Not much of a critique I guess. And I have also just added the points that I would have added and the start that I would have made.

Good starts by ANYA, PS, 2B, Himashu, Atul, Ronak, Aparna. Good to see that almost all of them were different and yet good ones.

Some comments
1. Though the group as such came in with various angles, note that some of you stuck with and revolved around a set of ideas. It could be because of the nature of the blog discussion, but do keep in mind to individually bring in various points

2. Avoid Hindi or other language proverbs/poems because all in the group may not understand the language. Will not get a negative from the panel, but it is better to translate to English and also keep it short

My START (was tough to be different from the group, but I have tried)
A world without Sundays, I would see, as a world without holidays and holy days. Though I am not a religious person, I feel that holy days are important for a peaceful human mind. And holidays are important for a cheerful mind. And without peaceful and cheerful minds, the world is would surely go to dogs.

My Points in between
1. God anyway seems to have had very low expectations from humans. He had to designate one day in a week as a holy day. And, with even that gone, things will be pretty grave

2. Probably a world without Sundays is a world that god would create or probably god has created for all the ungrateful animals he put on planet earth. Is that what they call hell

3... Some stole my other points :))


What the group came up with goes below. Took a lot of time to consolidate :)WoW paradigms (trophy section)
1. Another way of looking at the topic is how much importance we put to protocols. How comfortable are we if there were no rules to define when to work? when to rest? and when to have fun? --- this is what a top notch ‘consultant’ would have put

Cool points (brownie points section)
1. From another perspective...it wud absolve us from the so called "MONDAY BLUES "...since every day will b a working day....getting up 4 work on monday morning or 4 that matter any other day..wud no longer b a big deal
2. No Hefty price tickets for bars and movie halls on weekends
3. We will def have to find an alternative for the famous F1 races which are held on Sundays
4. Taking the topic reframed as "World without a SUN-DAY" that is we can say that if there is a day for the entire earth wherein we dont see a sun on one of the day than what can be the conditions – you snatched it from me and you get half trophy for this point
5. We can expect large additions being made 2 d already existing list of national holidays by the governments of respective countries of d world.... coz that will b imperarive from d point of view of making life worthwhile
6. It would be an unnerving thought to sleep on saturday night & wake up on monday morning
7. A world without Sunday can also be seen in the perspective of - A World without Bombay, A World without Bangalore, A World without Madras, I hope you are getting what i mean. Some of our patriot citizens might find the word 'Sunday' offensive as the Gregorian calendar was imposed on us by the British. So, instead all around India, we might instead start using some different calendar system altogether. So, end of Sundays, Mondays an all other weekdays for Indians – Half a trophy fort this too


Good points (some points that were repeated in another form have not been included, but were nevertheless good)
1. Since time immemorial,we have been attuned 2 our daily lives in such a fashion that we work 4 six days..wholeheartedly..coz there's a sunday at d end of it...if this string of hope is taken away ..there will b no incentive left 2 work with full zeal.
2. "ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY "- This maxim will aptly apply in a world with no sundays...proverbially speaking sunday is meant 2 b a "fun day"..and if such a day is crossed out from d list..we'll have a stockpile of " dull jacks "...that wud not b productive 4 d world at large...
3. World without Sunday can be looked upon by 2 perspective. One wud b from a workaholic view who wud regret a Sunday coming while one can be from a normal person's point of view who wud love a Sunday coming.
4. what does a sunday mean? It has different connotations to different people. To a professional, it is a day of relaxation, fun, shopping. To a religious christian a day to go to mass and pray. But it may also mean nothing to some people, like your maid and your watchman. Thus having no sunday would have impacts ranging from "no impact" to "heavy impact". These impacts could be on recreational, professional or ritual-based.
5. Life doen't stop for anything. Even if sundays just vanished, this world will still function. Combined wisdom of te world will readjust and find another way to balance work and fun.
6. The Christians and Jews will cry blasphemy as there will be no Sabbath to pray to God. The Atheists will be relieved world over.
7. Labour Unions world over will become charged like a nuclear fusion reactor going out-of-control at all times. Walmart Executives will become underground with their reputation already in tatters!! In countries like India, like their usual populist election manifestos, parties will commit eight days holiday weeks to all the voters if they are elected to government --- just because it was a different perspective
8. the increased productivity will mean that the "Bottom of the pyramid" will get more chance to earn the money and the world will become a more equal place to live!! --- he he heee, really???
9. A world with continuous productiveness and creativity
10. a world with a routine schedule from which there is no respite for the things out of track. Man needs a diversion from troutine tasks in order to relax and rejuvenate. A break from routine tasks provide colours and spice to his life
11. Sunday is just a idiom for a holiday during a week. A world without sunday will probably be consisting of just 6 days with one day lets say wednesday as a holiday. So we will have to work one day less every week and will get holidays more frequently. What else can we ask for
12. Sunday is a special day for food buffs. Special meals are cooked on Sunday
13. Some people like working in calm environments and hence go to offices on Sunday to complete work. Such people will have to get used to working in crowd
14. Also for the point i mentioned earlier A day without SUN in the entire world..... this would be quite ominous as per spiritual standards as Sun stands as a Power against the Evil Spirit....A day without the Sun will allow the Ones with the Evil Spirit to take immense power
15. They say,a Rose by any other name would smell as sweet..So,if there are no Sundays but any other day to take place for the sunday..will it make much difference
16. The problem of procastination will b greatly curtailed in aworld with no Sundays
17. The world with no sundays will not get 2 experience sunny weather...coz d sun will b upset with d world 4 having crossed his day
18. The world will have a tough time deciding as 2 who will b d first day of d week..as of now SUNDAY being distinct from d remaining clearly stole d trophy....but in a world with no sundays where each day will b d same as d other..a normal working day..the world will have a tough time deciding..." WHO'S D BOSS "
19. without sundays...does it mean the world without the holiday sunday , or the world left with 6 day week
20. There go the weekend getaways as well, for who can afford a trip to Kodaikanal & back in one day
21. Monday blues would grow worse


Average and amusing ones
1. Just like d last day of a year is spent 4 making resolutions 4 d coming year..sunday serves that purpose 4 d coming week...its a day when an individual can take stock of his life..and chart out his course of action 4 d upcoming week...the world wid no sundays will have no scope 4 this..it wud resemble a world with people who r running...with no idea as 2 where they r heading...
2. Sunday is usually used by people to come back to life from the tiresome week and to gather a little energy...
3. Looking from an optimistic point of view, if not for Sunday, we cud have kept any other day as a holiday
4. What is so special about sunday? would it matter much if it was a weekly holiday on thursday instead?
5. There will perhaps be many sting operations revealing a link between the politicians and corporates telling how corporates want to suck the life out of poor employees for increasing their profits. For the first time in History, Mallika Sherawat, Rakhi Sawant and Big-Boss will be overshadowed by Economic issues on News channels on India. --- what was this :)
6. In places like Bihar, Government babus will get increased salary for the same amount of work (or, No work!!). Anyways, they rarely go to their office --- downgraded for the parochial comment :)
7. Stock Markets will be open for a day more and that gives us more opportunity to trade --- logic ka fight hai
8. People working in US will miss the concept of long weekends in Western countries. --- would have upgraded if you had put it as ‘we will miss the concept of long weekends’. Usage of US, western unnecessary
9. Taking "SUNDAY" as the GOD of the PAGANS – were you trying to say “Taking "SUNDAY" as the day of GOD of PAGANS” Well as per the researches have found the King who believed in the SUN as the GOD was very skeptical about JESUS coming as an Enormous power to control peoples thoughts and beliefs and so he actually tried to Hide the Holy Grail and latter developed CHRISTIANITY as an optimized approach which was the combination of those who worshiped SUn and the sayings of JESUS. By adopting this approach he still remained in Power with his religion having more prominence and not going against the holy power of Jesus prevailing in People at that time --- not sure about the fact, but a very good input. But this has been downgraded since you have made no argument 
10. In Bible it is said...God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th...So,Sunday means to do nothing and so is MOnday named(meaning after do-nothing) – so what are you trying to say
11. The world with no sundays will have an additional working day --- And what day is that or am i not getting the logic?? :))
12. the world with no sundays will have countries boasting of 2..n who knows even greater rates of GDP growth... ---- really??

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Topic - "Nuclear...US..." - Complete Analysis

Nuclear issue - The hypocrisy of USA

There were only three people participating, but the points brought in were pretty good. All the starts were good too and that raised the quality bar. Good show guys.

I did not know that this was a tough topic. And please note that you have to pitch in even if you don’t know anything on the topic on your GD day. So if you have nothing to talk on a topic check the article http://catfundae.blogspot.com/2007/01/topics-you-dont-have-knowledge-on.html#links and do pitch-in in future.

Points that the group discussed:

1. US should not dictate terms to other so-called rogue nations since its own behavior in Vietnam/ Iraq etc have been far from exemplary
2. US has been hypocritical in its stand on nuclear issue. One stand for Iran/NK while another for Israel ----- I would have liked someone club India with Israel too
3. US also looking at its economic interests and lobbies
4. No commitment to bring down nuclear arsenal
5. US is preventing many countries from procuring nuclear material for energy purposes ---- I would have liked someone also take a positive note on the same point
6. US needs to behave less like a Big-brother-say-all
7. US hypocrisy – it does not conform to NPT and doesn’t do what it preaches
8. It has a large pile of weapons that it has not depleted ---- Some numbers would have put things in better perspective. US has more than 10000 war heads
9. US may not be so bad afterall as it has prevented many from acquiring the weapons - Is there any reason to say that a world with the US as sole superpower is better than multiple power centers
10. USA's stance in certain countries like North Korea, does seem reasonable, & for peace purposes. But its insistence on having a tight control over every country's nuclear program & its merciless attitude towards potential threats, causes alarm bells to ring in our head
11. China has openly declared its plan to develop more nuclear plants & continues enrichment, but USA does nothing to oppose it

My comment (Apart from the appreciation that I have already mentioned)
I am surprised that no one took a stand saying that ‘ultimately nuclear weapons should be completely eliminated from the world’ – though it came in bits and pieces, I thought would have been a good start since it provides a huge umbrella to discuss under

Additional points that could have been discussed:

1. Hypocrisy could have been shown in how the US, with other countries, categorized ‘Nuclear Group’ within the UN as countries having tested nuclear weapons before 1964

2. Though US has been shouting hoarse on nuclear weapons, it has done nothing to encourage nuclear power generation since it has its own oil interests even within USA. This is inspite of the growing environmental concerns worldwide and US is one of the biggest gas guzzlers in the world

3. US has not punished Pakistan for being a nuclear proliferators since it is helping in its fight against war on terror

4. US has made a nuclear deal with India since there is so much economic benefit out of it. This inspite its repeated concerns over India-Pakistan being a nuclear flashpoint. Note that when India moved its troops to the borders after parliament attack, US issued a travel advisory to all its citizens to move out of the country fearing a possible nuclear war

Parting Shot
What my start would have been
US has been hypocritical in its stand on the nuclear issue when it comes to various countries that it chooses to categorize as ‘nuclear group, ‘responsible countries’, ‘axis of evil’, ‘politically unstable’ etc when you look at their actions. But looking it in a bigger perspective, their actions seem to have just one thing in mind – The interests of United States of America and nothing else. The interest of the world in general, which would be better off without any nation having nuclear arsenal does not even cross its mind.

On the whole, good show guys.

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Topic - 'farm loans...." - Complete Analysis

I am deeply disappointed. I am sure that the group made very good points but did not take your arguments ‘forward’. Rise above the shallow waters and swim deeper. You are competing for the top B-Schools and you are the cream of the country.

I want to believe that it was the weekend lethargy since Aparna came fresh on Monday evening and made some straight forward simple arguments to clinch the crown. Her slogging in the last overs has saved the group some embarrassment. Go through the analysis at the end. Though there were some economic fundas that wud add to your knowledge base, most of the ideas would come just from Thinking.

Consolidation (There was lot to do in commenting). Unusually, My start/points have been intertwined

1. Famer Suicide and a need to avoid such situation by active intervention
2. Active participation of the Government in partnership with organization to educate farmers better
3. Farmer cess like education cess to support famer subsidies and lower interest loans
4. It can encourage ‘entrepreneurship’ among farmers
--- Good point

5. Rather than trying to do the whole good work itself the Government should engage the help of other organizations
6. The farmer may engross himself in more debt and hence the whole idea could have an adverse effect
--- Good perspective

7. The scheme may create a burden on the economy
8. Government should think of improvising ways to minimise the impact of erratic rainfall
--– very good point. But should have concluded with a better solution. May I suggest farm insurance for instance

9. Have a plan to phase out the subsidies over a period of time
--- Good point. But subsidies are not what we were talking about :)

10. Government should try and prune the middlemen
---– Guys, middlemen also are effective market forces and most of the time a necessity. Don’t demonize them. There are middlemen everywhere – real estate, job market and even in flesh business. Their duty is to make the customer meet the producer and they get paid for it. Some do get benefited more, but don’t hang them for it. Btw, e-choupal is a kind of middleman.

11. Access to good credit is important for farmers to free them from the shackles of zamindars & local lenders. Lower interest rates will make it possible for them to repay & make a profit on their investment
---– Why couldn't anybody else think of this. Should such an obvious point win a trophy?

12. India needs progress at grass root levels. Unless the farmers & rural people , who make up 1/2 of India's population, rise above their current living standards, we cannot call our nation developing in the true sense
---– Can I see Aparna sweeping the GD with some basic common sense arguments here. Kudos Aparna.
----- Re-phrase the point thus and this cud have been a wonderful START. "Prosperity of a nation does not just happen by wealth generation, but also by an equitable wealth distribution. Farm loans at a lower rate is one attempt at uplifting the sector on which more than 70% of the nation is directly dependant and from where more than 50% of the nation's GDP comes from. The important thing is 'Is it effective', and is so 'Is it effective by itself' and 'If it is effective, how to implement it better'"

13. Vote bank may be a motive behind this move, but we can make it a productive process by introducing accountability
---– ‘Accountability’, A brownie point for that

14. It is a right thought that it is the tax payers money going into a political move, but unless we help our rural compatriots, India shining shall remain the elusive aim ever.

15. In addition to low interest rates, a measure in tandem that could improve a farmer's credit, would be letting the price of a crop be decided by market forces rather than set by the government. Pegging of prices at artificial lows or highs causes a lot of losses both ways.etc – The crown goes to the lady.

Parting shots and some economic fundaes (Oh so many of them !!)
1. Please understand the subtle difference between the subsidy and low interest loan. From an economic perspective, subsidy is a clear-cut Government “expense” to support farmers while a low-interest loan is a Government “investment” for the upliftment of the farmers. In a loan, there is a collateral (land, future crop etc) and the farmer has taken it specifically to invest in something (land or crop) and thus expects a return out of the investment which he shall use to repay the debt.
--- Simple economic funda - Investments are better than expenses

2. Giving low interest loans is akin to tax-free regime for software companies and SEZs. It is a deliberate market anomaly brought in not as an SOS but as an encouragement for development. Don’t treat the farmers as taking away Government money. Remember, many other industries are not happy with Government giving tax free regimes to software companies, but thats the way it is.

3. Remember, interest on house loans are also lower than industrial loans. Because of the collateral and the encouragement of the Government. It may have distorted the real estate market a little bit with inflation, but that is an ‘understood’ side-effect and is not so bad.

4. Farm loans are not sympathy instruments. They are instruments of encouragement to the agriculture sector. Support to Vidharba farmers (remember there is a drought situation there) is akin to flood/tsunami relief. Low-interest loans cannot solve that. ‘Loan waivers’ may. And there is a difference between low-interest loans and loan waivers.

5. There has been lot of points on educating the farmers. Very elitist thinking. Please understand that the farmer knows about the issues with crops better than the Government or the NGOs. They just may not be in a position to resolve those issues. So it is fine that the point is made once, but not fine being repeated because that means that the group is not thinking further. Remember, the Britishers wanted to teach Indians ‘democracy’ once upon a time :)

6. Burden on the economy argument – it is an investment by the Government like that on defense, roads, industry tax waivers etc. It is the duty of the Government to take that burden.

7. The very reason 'tax' exists is for better distribution of wealth. And what better than for it to go to improve the bread-earners who are to be uplifted. There is nothing else that the Govt is doing for them anyway unlike its support for so many industries.

8. Statistically, rural loans have lesser bad debts as compared to urban ones.

I am sure I have missed on some points that I could have added and I have also taken a very strong pro stand. I would not have taken such a strong pro-stand if the group had been a little more pro :)

Understand that you can take the best value out of my guidance if you can cover all the points and make me work hard to give additional points. So it is in your hands how much you take out of me.
In the end, do not get disappointed with the extra bitter critique. It was intended to shake up your dust. Let us see people fighting back with some good points for the next topics. Can I already hear a ‘Har har mahadev’ battlecry ?? :)

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Topic "24/7 channels..." - Complete Analysis

End Game:

Here are my comments on the GD. Summary of the whole discussion and my points/ideas will follow.

Comments:
1. The group fell into the negative trap that I had set with the topic. Beware. The group is expected to look at all angles and generate views/counter-views. I am sure lot of people will have positive things to say about media once you read a few of my points

2. Good to see people countering some arguments.

3. On the whole the group covered a wide number of points, if not wide number of angles

4. Couple of points like 'social conciousness thru citizen journalist' by Anya and 'viewers responsibility' by Hope and the thought of how to make the media better by Rosogolla get brownie points.
Note - Only brownie points do not help you crack GDs. So dont feel that I am looking for only such points

5. One important lacking was in the usage of good phrases. Remember good phrases helps you make your point crisp and conveys more than a few examples can do. I wud have liked to see phrases like 'better access to information', 'informed decision', 'invasion of privacy' in the discussion.

Summary of the discussion:
1. Competition/commercialization has led to quicker but sometimes wrong/exaggerated news

2. Better accessibility to information has led to greater awareness among the society

3. Sting operations have been good to the society
Counter - Media has not followed up

4. The media shud also add documentaries and become more educative rather than concentrating on the news.
--- Shud have given the example of BBC, which wud have made your case stronger since it is one of the best independent news services in the world

5. Media shud be more sensitive to privacy

6. Attempt of media to increase social conciousness by citizen journalist.
Counter - Mms clips of Mumbai blasts were in bad taste
---- I wud have liked to see a counter-counter-argument saying atleast the attempt is great :)

7. Strong/Quick stands taken by the media in cases like Mumbai blasts, Saurav case and sting operations were very good. Even though there are some drawbacks, they shud be given a thumbs up.

My points:
Since many things have been covered, I have only a few points to add. You would see that most are positive points, mostly because you have covered all the negative points and I wanted to have a positive 'parting shot'

1. 24/7 channels has led to better and faster access to information to the larger public. And democracies being the voice of people works better only when the society is well informed.
--- Bringing the angle of democracy is going a step higher in the analysis (Taking a broader look)

2. I agree that there are many problems with the 24/7 channels that the group has discussed, but 24/7 channels being a new phenomena in India, they are going thru a learning phase. Mistakes are bound to happen and they will get corrected over time with increased competition, public feedback and may be to some extent government censorship
--- This point puts all the negative points about media in one wrapper and tries to throw it out. So it is a kind of counter argument against almost all blames :)

3. Though we can blame the media for videos of Saddam execution etc, we shud also have to look deeper into ourselves. There are so many of us who have watched it on the net even when we knew it was not right. So the media is just a reflection of a society
---- This was a learning from the last GD where I had said that you shud also look at solving the issues at individual level

Parting Shot:
4. 24/7 channels have many things that leave a bad taste, but looking at the big picture, they are leading to the creation of an informed and stronger society. In spite of the little potholes, the path looks fine. So i would rather sit and figure how to correct the small issues rather than blame them for it.

Good to see a healthy discussion. I want people to comment on my comments, which i think wud add more value. I wud appreciate if people come up with strong points to disagree with me.

Keep them coming and lets take the learnings to the next GD

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Topic "Alternative Solutions to infrastructure..." - Complete Analysis

End Game:

Hey guys, really appreciate the effort you are putting in your preparation. And good approaches and points too. So here is the conslidation of the topic "Alternate solutions to solve the growing pressure on infrastructure in the big cities in India".

Additional points that cud have added value are at the end of the topic

1. Start - As I noted in my previous comment, it shud give a structure to the whole subsequent discussion. One possible start - "The problems of infrastructure can be approached in two ways. One in enhancing the infrastructure and the other is to reduce the pressure by controlling the build up. With constant efforts being made by the authorities to enhance the infrastructure, the focus now should shift to 'CONTROL' for the measures to be more effective"

2. A planning committee/authority responsible to forecast and implement. Sub-dividing the committee to handle smaller areas would help.

3. Expand infrastructure to have better roads, subways, Metros to tackle. Private participation wud help in taking care of the fund situation.

4. Spread development to smaller cities (Decentralize industry growth) to dissipate the pressure.

5. Control the expansion of traffic. Means could be bypasses, curbing and destroying illegal construction, moving slums to outskirts, toll, increase taxes, green belts and parking areas

6. Maintain the existing infrastructure better and consistently

Note that most of the times one person can be asked to summarize the GD. Above points have done the job.

My Points:
1. Govt shud put efforts to understand "Migration to urban centers from rural places" and deal with it to tackle the pressures on the cities. Note that a recent UN study said that most of our population will be in urban centers in a few years. So creating more opportunities at the rural level can curb this trend

2. Decongestion ideas
2.a) Strict imposition of traffic rules
2.b) Using scientific methods for smooth traffic flow. Like signals based on amount of traffic, straight through signalling etc
2.c) High rise parking lots to avoid road side parking

3. Generate ideas with companies to encourage car-pooling etc. Many people drive cars and mostly they are the only passenger

Parting shot:
4. Encourage social conciousness among citizens to use autos/bus/trains once or twice in a week instead of personal transport (Especially cars)
--- I wud have liked somebody bringing in this point saying, "Apart from what we wish the Govt shud do, we shud also analyse what we can do individually to make things better. Such social consciousness at grass root levels goes a long way". Just one such point and you wud take the trophy home. I insist on various approaches rather than just various points; that is what adds Value.


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