Byapaar.com -The Indian Business Blog

Following post has been written by a guest blogger. So, the tone/flavor of this blog might not reflect in it. This blog also has no bindings with the guest blogger. All views expressed there is his/her own.

Raju ban gaya ….

It gives me no joy to make fun of some one facing adversity.

It is ironical indeed that the promoter of a company whose name truth has admitted of having committed massive fraud the result oriented culture has rejected the Gandhian philosophy ENDS ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANTthe attitude CHALTA HAI, any thing goes , has made people brazen once a person has committed adultery once the bohemian life style of bed hopping comes naturally what surprises is that a fraud of such magnitudes involving many persons at various levels remained hidden for so long.

Further it is also a question mark on the standards of audit! I am sure that another Arthur Anderson may happen. Having made fun of sub prime crisis India Inc has been presented with a equally audacious corporate scandal I wonder if there are skeletons in every cupboard having a mahogany exterior.

What if tomorrow Infosys or liver is accused of some thing similar ?

The need of the hour is that instead of lingering litigation of Harshad Mehta variety the scam is investigated promptly & in an objective & transparent manner the guilty (ies) not scapegoats are identified & are handed with deterrent punishment & assets are unlocked & put to productive uses.

I am sure the image of IT sector of India or India Inc per se has taken a severe beating & lots of efforts will be required to repair the gaping hole in our credibility

I wonder what happened to the quality control policy & peer review mechanism of audit profession

I am sure a case of rotation of audit firms or a system of joint auditors will to some extant work as a check

Also we need to have a real internal audit & an effective audit committee so that the criminal minds do not find it easy to have a band of followers to share the crumbs

I am sure the soul of Gandhiji will have many a sleep less nights

Hey Raam

Satyam is neither shiv nor sundar

This post was written before Dewali Festival which was celebrated on 28^th October.

True to the title, there is a huge turbulence in the Indian airline industry what with Jet Airways laying-off 1900 workers although it had to re-instate 800 of them after huge pressure was applied by none other than Mumbai politician Raj Thackerey. Serving termination notice to many workers at a time is not very common in India – but Jet Airways had to do the unthinkable to save itself by reducing operational cost soon after it tied-up with another private play Kingfisher Airlines. Most of those workers are probationers and include flight attendants, pilots and ground staffs. Jet announced that due to the rising fuel cost and dwindling passengers, the amount of loss was ever increasing. So they had to lay off the surplus staff hired for expansion plan they undertook in the past. This is not only the case of Jet Airways. Other airlines too are facing similar problems. The government though is not sitting idle and made an announcement that would definitely help private players. According to a recent move by the government, airlines could pay the bulging fuel bill (that stands around Rs. 160 billion) in phased manner so that they get some breathing space.

On the other hand the Prime Minister of India Mr. Manmohan Singh had to address the parliament to re-assure the growing public worries caused by liquidity crisis in the financial sector worldwide. The PM assured the nation that Indian banking and insurance sector will not face similar turmoil like others as they are on more sound footing and not dependant on international market. He assured the people that all their deposits are safe and will remain safe. He also warned the industry about the imminent slowdown of the economy during this financial year but assured that Indian economy will still grow at more than 7 percent and remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The over-all foundations of the economy remain sound despite stock market crash and slowing industrial output. Economic experts have welcomed this honest move by the PM and predict the slowdown is temporary and growth will again pick-up by net year. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the slowdown in the overall world economic scenario, Indian IT companies are undeterred by the bleak business prospect. In fact they are using this as an opportunity to expand their overseas businesses. This became clear when Infosys, India’s second largest provider of IT enabled business services with an annual operating profit of around $1.25 billion announced its bid to acquire Axon Group of UK in an all-cash deal of $814 million.

According to analysts, Infosys is paying a premium of 33.1 percent to the average value during 6 last 6 months of Axon’s 67.85 million shares. The bid price is also 19.4 percent higher to the price the share was last traded on 22^nd August.

There is no surprise in the bid as according to G. Gopalkrishnan, CEO of Infosys, the company is looking to leverage the Systems Application and Products (SAP) expertise that Axon offers.

“This strategic combinations of our groups will accelerate the realization of our common aspirations – that of becoming the most respected provider of business transformational services in the global market place.”

Read the rest of this entry »