SEBI August 30, 2009

do you know about SEBI?
The government of India created the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) with a view to control and regulate the foreign investment in the capital markets, new issues of capital brought out by the companies and grievances of the companies and the investors. In addition, SEBI has been created with the broader aim of protecting the interests of the investors in securities and promoting and regulating the securities markets in the country.

Based in Mumbai, SEBI has eight divisions and departments which look after several functions to achieve the above mentioned broad objective. The Depositors and Custodians Division looks after the work of registration of depository participants/custodians, as well as their renewal of registration or cancellation of registration. Foreign Institutional Investors Division, on the other hand, deals with registration/renewal of registration of such investors. FII Division looks after the FIPB proposals and the government correspondence connecting with this function.

While Collective Investment Schemes Division deals with registration and renewal of the registration for collective investment schemes, Secondary Market Department is the major department of SEBI which carries out the functions like registration and renewal of registration of the credit rating agencies in the country, in addition to the registration of the brokers and sub-brokers, registration under the Stock Lending Scheme and deposit of various fees by the brokers and refund of fees to them.

With a view to protect the interests of the investors, Investors Grievances and Guidance Division has been set up which carries out the registration of the Investors’ Associations, looks into the grievances of such associations and other investors and carries out the tasks of guiding the investors through the registered Associations or otherwise.

Mutual Fund and Venture Capital Division of the SEBI looks into the tasks like registration of trustees for Mutual Funds, processes the applications for foreign securities, ADRs/GDRs, allow changes from closed ended to open ended schemes, observations on offer documents etc. Primary Market Department is also an important department of SEBI and deals with the matters like fresh registration/cancellation of intermediaries, observations on the offer documents and list-related matters pertaining to the new issues.

The complete control and regulation by the SEBI has enhanced the confidence of the general public in the securities market of the country.

Zero Inflation August 30, 2009

short notes on Inflation and Impact of Zero Inflation on the Economy.

Inflation is the measure of rise in general prices in any economy over a given period of time. Normally inflation is measured every week, but for the policy purposes its annual measure is taken into account. Inflation is measured by the government by considering the changes in wholesale price index and those in the consumer price index over the given period of time.

Inflation is of several types and the ‘creeping’ or ‘walking’ inflation of upto 5 per cent per annum is called functional inflation and considered good for the health of growing economies. Running, galloping and hyper inflation is bad for the economy as it also erodes the real income level of the poorer sections of the emerging economies, thereby making their livelihood even more difficult. Hence, in a developing economy, the government policies aim at keeping the inflation rate within the functional limits.

Due to increased prices of the food items, India, along with most parts of the world, faced high inflation rate in double digits during the middle of 2008, which could be termed as ‘running’ inflation. The government took several monetary and fiscal policy measures to control it and succeeded to bring it down. But in early 2009 a peculiar phenomenon was experienced. In March 2009, the inflation rate in the country went down as low as 0.44 per cent, a sudden drop from 2.43 per cent during the week prior to that.

This has given rise to the speculation that the country may experience zero inflation rate. The apprehensions are that zero rate of inflation would act as discouragement to the new investors, who are likely to put on hold their new projects, which would affect the growth rate of the economy.

Zero inflation reduces the level of profits drastically. Such a situation, though may be cheered by the consumers and benefit the poorer sections spending most of their earnings on consumption, yet may actually reduce the economic activity in the economy to the minimum. This may be harmful to the economy in the medium and long run

Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement August 30, 2009

note on the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement.

After the agitation against the government decision to partition Bengal, the most important national level movement against the British Empire was the Non-Cooperation Movement (1919-22), also called the Khilafat Movement.

The unique feature of this movement was the united action by the Hindus as well as Muslims. Muslim community was attracted to the Khilafat Movement because of the shabby treatment meted out by the British to the Ottoman Empire and the Caliph of Turkey.

The position of the Sultan of Turkey, who was regarded as head of the Muslim community (Caliph) all over the world, was also undermined to a great extent.

The Khilafat Committee formally launched the Khilafat Movement on August 31, 1920. Immediately after this, the Indian National Congress convened a special Session in September 1920 in Calcutta, where Gandhi presented a plan for non-cooperation with the government till the wrongs in Punjab and those in Turkey were mended by the British.

Congress agreed with the plan of Gandhi and gave a call for boycotting the government educational institutions, offices and law courts. Call was also given to boycott the foreign cloth and adopt Khadi.

The programme included the actions like resigning from the government jobs, surrendering the government conferred titles etc. Gradually, the movement also included mass civil disobedience and refusal to pay taxes.

Nagpur Session of the Congress held in December 1920 endorsed the decision of the Congress and decided to reach the villages with the message against the imperial British rule. The Movement took off with a lot of euphoria and turned into a catalyst for national struggle against foreign rulers.

After the Chauri Chaura violence incident in 1922, the Movement was suspended by Gandhiji. But despite this, the Movement could achieve several positives. It provided a platform for all the religious communities to come closer and jointly oppose the foreign rule in a united voice.

Further, it provided to the nationalist movement the required impetus and mass support for future agitations and movements. The people of the country, who were otherwise scared of the might of the British became fearless and lost their sense of fear against the mighty British.

The Movement gave tremendous self-confidence to the common men and filled them with the feeling of self-respect and self-esteem. Muslim community which was not fully represented in the nationalist movement received the required representation and the community became fully involved in the struggle for independence.

Grid Computing. August 28, 2009

Definition of grid computing

A parallel processing architecture in which CPU resources are shared across a network, and all machines function as one large supercomputer. It allows unused CPU capacity in all participating machines to be allocated to one application that is extremely computation intensive and programmed for parallel processing.

Peer-to-Peer and Distributed Computing

Grid computing is also called “peer-to-peer computing” and “distributed computing,” the latter term first coined in the 1970s, which had no relationship to this concept. Grid computing is also known as “utility computing,” although that term is more widely used with third-party data centers that supply raw computing power.

There Is a Lot of Idle Time

In a large enterprise, hundreds or thousands of desktop machines sit idle at any given moment. Even when a user is at the computer reading the screen and not typing or clicking, it constitutes idle time. These unused cycles can be put to use on large computational problems. Likewise, the millions of users on the Internet create a massive amount of wasted machine cycles that can be harnessed instead. This is precisely what the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program does with Internet users all over the world in which PC users worldwide donate unused processor cycles to help the search for signs of extraterrestrial life by analyzing signals coming from outer space. The project relies on individual users to volunteer to allow the project to harness the unused processing power of the user’s computer. This method saves the project both money and resources.

Special Security and software

Naturally, grid computing over the Internet requires more extensive security than within a single enterprise, and robust authentication is employed in such applications Grid computing does require special software that is unique to the computing project for which the grid is being used. The Globus Toolkit is an open source software toolkit used for building Grid systems and applications. It is being developed by the Globus Alliance and many others all over the world. A growing number of projects and companies are using the Globus Toolkit to unlock the potential of grids for their cause.

Peer-to-Peer and Distributed Computing

Grid computing is also called “peer-to-peer computing” and “distributed computing,” the latter term first coined in the 1970s, which had no relationship to this concept. Grid computing is also known as “utility computing,” although that term is more widely used with third-party data centers that supply raw computing power.

Utility

Grid computing appears to be a promising trend for three reasons: (1) its ability to make more cost-effective use of a given amount of computer resources, (2) as a way to solve problems that can’t be approached without an enormous amount of computing power, and (3) because it suggests that the resources of many computers can be cooperatively and perhaps synergistically harnessed and managed as a collaboration toward a common objective. In some grid computing systems, the computers may collaborate rather than being directed by one managing computer. One likely area for the use of grid computing will be pervasive computing applications – those in which computers pervade our environment without our necessary awareness.

Some of the enterprises using grid computing in India include the Gujarat Electricity Board, Saraswat Bank, National Stock Exchange, Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation, General Insurance Company, Syndicate Bank, Ashok Leyland, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad.

Review of Constitution August 27, 2009

“The working of our Constitution over the years has exposed various weaknesses of the Indian political system and a comprehensive review of the Constitution is necessary.” Do you agree? Give arguments. Immediately after independence, the Constituent Assembly and its Drafting Committee prepared and adopted the Indian Constitution, which with some changes over the years, has been continuing. Last about six decades of working of the Constitution has exposed certain weaknesses of the Indian political system. At times it is felt by many that a comprehensive review of the Indian Constitution must be carried out to tackle the weaknesses. One of the major weaknesses is that the multi-party system has given scope for so-called ‘horse trading’, which could not be stopped even by the constitutional amendment facilitating the enactment of the Anti-defection Act. Further, it has resulted in evolution of coalition culture, which has increased the political instability of the government. Further, considering the present-day overlaps resulted by the legislative and judicial activism, there has to be a clear demarcation of the boundaries of jurisdiction of the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. Several people feel that with a view to have strong executive at the national and State levels, the present system of Parliamentary democracy must be replaced by the Presidential form of government where the President (Head of the State) is directly elected by the people, who also becomes the functional head of the State as well as that of the government. In addition, the empowerment of the States with the overall aim of strengthening the Indian federation is another area on which many political thinkers are unanimous. It is believed that the Indian federal system must also be as close as possible to the US system, so that the regional aspirations of the people are met. It is also felt by many that it is high time that the protection available to the public servants under Article 310 of the Constitution is done away with, so that work culture is inculcated among the government employees. With a view to strengthen the Constitution, most of the above amendments are necessary. But one has to keep in mind and ensure that none of the proposed amendments actually violate Supreme Court Judgments about the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution. For effecting the change beyond the basic structure, it would perhaps require the prior approval of the Supreme Court and the process may have to be undertaken under the close scrutiny of the apex court.

Role of Gandhi in Independence Struggle August 27, 2009

Bring out the role of Gandhi in the struggle for India’s independence.

The struggle for India’s independence is replete with outstanding contributions from various luminary nationalist leaders. The contributions of leaders like Jawahar Lal Nehru, Gopal Krishan Gokhale, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Lala Lajpat Rai, etc have been laudable. But if one were asked to name a leader who undisputedly contributed the most, the name of Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi would undoubtedly be at the apex. Before he came to the Indian scene in 1915-16, the nationalist movement was progressing very slowly. There was no leader with the mass appeal and the nationalists were sharply divided in two groups i.e. the moderates and the extremists. The methods adopted by the pre-Gandhi nationalists were too democratic to have any material effect on the colonial power ruling the country.

The advent of Gandhi changed the very complexion of the nationalist movement. His methods included the involvement of people in a big way and adoption of non-violent methods of agitation.

Gandhi’s role was primarily that of a leader who identified himself with the Indian masses. He gradually emerged as a natural leader of the masses and took complete control of the movement against the imperialist force. It was mainly after the British became aware of the strong character of Gandhi and complete involvement of the masses in the Movement that they finally decided to quit India in the year 1947.

The methods used by Gandhi can be broadly classified into the following categories:

(a) Involvement of Masses: Prior to Gandhi, the nationalist movement was being run by a handful of intellectuals and the masses were neither involved nor adequately informed of the developments of the nationalist movement. This trend was reversed after Gandhi came on the national scene.

(b) Non-Violence: One of the important Gandhian methods was the adoption of complete non-violence during all his satyagrahas and movements. He knew that the poor Indians could not match the might of the British government and adoption of any violent means would only result in more casualties on the Indian side.

(c) Truthfulness: Just like non-violence, truthfulness was the hallmark of Gandhi’s personality and methods. He not only preached it but also practiced absolute truthfulness and sincerity. Truthfulness not only gave him the inner strength to fight the mighty British but also convinced the masses of his honest and sincere intentions.

(d) Non-cooperation and Satyagraha: One of the most common methods used by Gandhi was non-cooperation with the civil authorities and Satyagraha. Satyagraha, as explained by Gandhi himself, was different from the passive resistance and was fearless agitation based on the principles of non-cooperation, fearlessness and truthfulness. These three methods were employed by Gandhi to bend the civil authorities more than once and to accept the genuine demands of the Indian people.