• Sensex down 1132 to 8640. Nifty (worst fall ever) down 386 to 2557. #

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Rajesh Jain picks up some gems from past (5 years ago on his blog!)

He writes: The start of a new venture is always filled with equal amounts of excitement and trepidation. But if one can set aside the fear of failure, there is an absolute delight in taking new ideas to the market. Of course, many will not work. But as many entrepreneurs will tell you: It is the journey which also matters.

Thanks Rajesh for the thoughts.

T T Ram Mohan has some kind words for Investment Bank/ers.

They had high burn-out rates among employees and the work-life balance was terrible. But these places gave you at least a theoretical chance of quitting when you were 40 or so and turning to other things- collecting art, kayaking, setting up a nursery. And many did.

In “The Search for Social Entrepreneurship”, Paul Light writes, “If the idea matters, so does management…to the extent that management is essential for scale-up and impact, socially entrepreneurial organizations need to embrace it.”Light’s idea that high performing organizations should invest in management and organizational development systems makes sense, but in order for many social businesses to do so, the philanthropic landscape will need to change.Read the full post

1. The Falling Rupee and the FCCB problem

from The Indian Investor’s Blog by Deepak Shenoy

1. What was the problem with financial regulation?

from Marginal Revolution by Tyler Cowen

Atanu Dey’s blog completes 5 years  where he challenges our core beliefs with amazing frankness and clarity. An excerpt which I found insightful:
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The greatest change the world has seen of late has occurred in the information and communications technologies (ICT). The tools it has made possible have become accessible to billions of people. Its impact on development will be profoundly transforming — most of it will be for the better. Why ICT matters for development more than other technologies is that ICT transforms the marketplace of ideas. It increases the supply by reducing all sorts of costs related to the generation, storage, transportation, and distribution of ideas. Cost-reducing technological change in competitive markets always implies a reduction in price. Lower prices imply greater quantity consumed. Better ideas in more heads mean greater possibility of good things. Hence development.

·  Oil prices clawed back deep early losses to stand about 50 cents lower on Wednesday after OPEC formally agreed to return to its 2007 production target of 28.8 million barrels per day (bpd). (ET)

·         In order to make the prices of jet fuel and bunker fuel competitive for international airlines and shipping lines at the Indian airports and seaports, the government is considering fixation of all-industry rate of duty drawback on the supplies of petroleum products. (FE)

·         Government may impose a 25 per cent cess on big diesel cars and charge bulk users other than railways and state transport corporations Rs 22 a litre more for diesel as part of a dual fuel pricing policy. (FE)

• With the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) granting waiver to India, the 123 agreement is expected to be presented before the American Congress in the next few days for its approval, required as the final step to conclude the Indo-US nuclear deal. (BS)

·         Mr. Subbarao, governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), sounded positive on growth and a little less hawkish than his predecessor on inflation and said that the central bank was sticking to its earlier estimate of 8% growth. (ET)

·         The government has decided to put its plan to amend export duty structure of steel products on hold. Changes would now be considered only after evaluating the current market conditions and resolving the tussle between miners and steel makers over iron ore prices. (ET)

·         Union steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan is rooting for a five-percentage point hike in export duty on iron ore from the present 15% to 20%. The move is aimed at arresting domestic steel prices and ensuring that ore is used to feed local demand first and only the surplus is exported. (ET)

Everyday I spend some time updating my web channels with news and information that interests me. Check them out and let me have your feedback.

Personal Finance:

• Smart Steps to Raise your Financial Vibrations
• Do You Have Difficulty in Tracking Your Investments?
• Why Can’t we handle Personal Finance properly?

Insurance

• Term Insurance gets Attractive
• Mis Selling of Insurance Products

Stocks, Mutual Funds

• Valuation of Banking Stocks
• Discounts in Online Investing in Mutual Funds

We await your feedback. Thanks.

Zoho is the most comprehensive suite of web-based programmes for small businesses, including even services to keep track of a firm’s employees and its customers.

What is more, although Mr Vembu does not want to earn money with advertisements, he wants to keep prices for business customers rock-bottom. Zoho’s application for customer relationship management (CRM), for instance, starts at $12 per corporate user per month.

And at some point firms in the rich world will ask whether they are paying too much. As Mr Vembu puts it: “The India or China price will effectively become the world price”

Check the post here and the article by The Economist here