Encounters in the Wild

I was woken just before dawn by the persistent calls of warblers and sunbirds. Emerging sleepily from the confines of the ancient forest bungalow, built during the British Raj at Dimbhum in Kerala's Satyamangalam forest block, the first sight to greet me through the light mist was a bevy of small minivets adorning the compound trees like so many scarlet and yellow Christmas decorations. The freshness in the air, the sounds and the ethereal ambience created by the mist enveloped me and transported me to days when all of India must have been as verdant, as invigorating.

Lost in thought, I was shaken from my reverie by a bird which flew low over my head from behind me to settle on a nearby banyan tree. Through my binoculars I saw its flaming-orange and black coloration and leafed through the Salim Ali's Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent to discover its flycatcher identity. I quickly added another `tick' to my lifetime tally of 210 species of birds and settled down in the short grass, a steaming flask of tea for company, to observe the bird from a distance of less than 20 metres....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Assam Blasts - Ominous Bloody Thursday

Harekrishna Deka
ex-DGP, Assam & Sr Journalist

India has increasingly become the target of terrorist bombings in the recent past, with blasts in Jaipur, Gujarat, Bengaluru and Delhi taking the lives of scores of people. Had the explosives not been recovered in Surat in time, and had the conspiracies in Mumbai and Chennai not been detected, the catastrophe would have only been greater. That organisations such as Indian Mujahideen that could in reality be a form of SIMI, and that there is a form of jihad that a section of communal extremists now subscribes to as a means of revenge is becoming more apparent by the day.

So, is there a foreign hand that now extends from a neighbouring country, in so far as the blasts in Assam on October 30, 2008 are concerned? One must mention in this context that the needle of suspicion in India’s blasts over the past months has often pointed to Harkat ul Jihadi Islami (HUJI), an organisation that has its roots in neighbouring Bangladesh. The blasts in Assam have meanwhile been claimed by an outfit called the Islamic Security Force of India (ISFI-Indian Mujahideen). The IM suffix, one gathers, could link the outfit to both HUJI and SIMI.

Significantly, the ISFI is not an organisation that has appeared suddenly out of nowhere. It was way back in the year 2000 that the Special Branch (SB) of Assam Police had gathered evidence regarding the existence of such a group. There is enough such evidence to establish that the ISFI at that point in time attempted to organise the Muslim community against Bodo ultra groups such as National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), which operated in the lower Assam districts. It was then that the name of Muhammad Mushtaqil, the secretary of ISFI, first surfaced as a terror element who had the support of the al-Qaida and was associated with the al-Omar, an outfit that operates in Pak Occupied Kashmir (POK). One could analyse that the ISFI, which then kept itself beyond the radar of the country’s intelligence agencies used its time to broaden its base of operations. While there were then no established links of the ISFI with HUJI, one shouldn’t overlook the fact that Bangladesh’s HUJI is a creation of the al-Qaeda and that the HUJI called itself the “Bangladeshi Taliban”. One, hence, could believe that the ISFI comprises a sleeper cell of the al-Qaeda.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Faced with near total isolation, DMK is trying to woo PMK

IIPM Publication
Inside DMK, there are intra-party and family feuds. Meanwhile, continuing power shortage in the state is a thorn in DMK’s flesh. Karunanidhi took an aggressive stand in the Lankan issue and even he won the support of PMK. Ramadoss participated in the human chain organised by DMK and both leaders met each other briefly then. But after that the softer line on the Lankan issue – penned by a Central diktat – found Karunanidhi become the whipping boy of all state parties, including the PMK. Perturbed by all these, there was a strong rumour last week that Karunanidhi might quit Chief Ministership!

This is why the PMK is now crucial for DMK. Ramadoss has not immediately extended the olive branch. The ongoing Assembly session, perhaps will throw some answers to the future course of the party. “There is speculation that our leader would like to meet the Assembly elections midway, along with the general elections. Meanwhile AIADMK wants to upset us in the Assembly by causing defections. Till parliamentary elections, it is tough time for us,” a senior DMK functionary told TSI. But Karunanidhi has weathered many a storm in his career. He may come out successfully this time too!....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

IRDA: INSURANCE REFORM

Performance of VC funds has always been under scanner. Kalpana Jain, Senior Director, Deloitte India (for those who do not know, Deloitte handles more than 50% of the PE deals worldwide) avers to B&E, “Only three out of every 10 PE deals turn out to be a success.” On the other hand International Finance Corporation in one of its working papers titled, ‘Commercial Discipline for Development Impact’ has mentioned, “Even well-performing private equity funds tend to have only 10%-20% winners.” That simply means when insurers will put investors’ money in VC funds, they will actually be betting on a less than 30% success ratio. So, now on investors must keep their fingers crossed while paying premium for the safety of their future.

However, supporters of IRDA may argue that the regulator has not allowed insurers to put in a large share of the investors money in VC funds. But then, when the government and the regulator are moving forward together to bring in the much needed reform in the sector, what makes them allow to experiment in an area where they cannot go big even in the future. This may be considered as a step taken by the regulator to add some momentum to the flow of funds.....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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