Monday, August 20, 2012

Is IRDA fulfilling the duties of a regulator?

Would IRDA have fought with as much vivacious eagerness to better the state of the insurance industry as it is doing with respect to the current ULIP-controversy? Is IRDA fulfilling the duties of a regulator? by Vareen Gadhoke Ray

In 2009, a dismal figure of three new brokers got the license. And this year? Zero till date. On another front, government owned general insurance companies, at the abovementioned low penetration levels, are still suffering huge underwriting losses in the non-life sector, especially in motor insurance claims (companies like New India Assurance – India’s largest general insurer – have underwriting losses that now are 117% of even the premium collected; all general insurers together had 137% losses!). The reason? IRDA has put an iron-hold cap on motor premiums, forcing an administered premium regime (this at a time when premiums in fire, marine, aviation etc have already been left to market forces).

While IRDA refuses to look into the matter ostensibly to support the insured civilian, IRDA refuses to take action on the other hand when insurers flatly refuse to reimburse, quoting myriad contractual issues. For example, in May 2008, a Supreme Court judgement clarified that not even one health claim should be rejected due to the “pre-existing disease” clause. In the same year, 90% of rejected health claims were done so under the “pre existing diseases” clause. Is IRDA worried in a similar manner as it is currently while it protects the interests of 14 ULIP ‘sellers’? Clearly not. Over 91 lakh pure insurance policies (not including ULIPs) aggregating over Rs.100,000 crores lapsed during the year 2009. Is IRDA conducting a research on why these phenomena are occurring and how to help disadvantaged consumers? Till date, IRDA does not have a grievance management system for redressal of complaints. It says it has a “web based system.” Who can access it? Only IRDA personnel. What it perhaps is more concerned with is keeping its finances intact. The Comptroller and Auditor General pulled it up in May 2010 for clandestinely keeping its finances in independent bank accounts out of the purview of the government.

J. Hari Narayan, Chairman, IRDA, told B&E last year, “The honeymoon period is over for the insurance sector.” One guesses the same goes for IRDA too, and it’s about time it starts acting like a professional body instead of basking in glory that was never rightfully earned.




Posted by at 10:06 AM
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Friday, August 17, 2012

POLITICS: VISITS

Need for the right perspective

Karunanidhi, who is known for being noncommittal on LTTE (he had once refused to accept LTTE as a terrorist outfit), criticized the Centre.

Although it might be easy to ignore this current issue as being simply a hyped up affair, one should give a passing mention that irrespective of the lady being Prabhakaran’s mother, there can be no ad hominem argument forwarded that therefore she too is a criminal. To the extent of believing in a human angle, one would say that the Indian government’s move to deport the lady was too fast too soon. But there is a logical angle to this story. If she had been allowed to land, the Indian authorities would have been immediately inundated by the Sri Lankan government’s communique to hand her over to them. India would have been immediately pushed into an unwanted corner, especially given the attempts to improve relations with the Rajapakse coterie. Evidently, Prabhakaran’s mother is not short of money. And the medical treatment she wishes here is available in other countries too. Thus, in all, well ignored.


Posted by at 10:22 AM
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Thursday, August 16, 2012

UK ELECTIONS: QUEST FOR ABLE LEADERSHIP

In times of crisis, UK has had the good fortune of being rescued by charismatic leaders like Churchill, Thatcher and Blair; From the current crop, is Nicholas William Peter Clegg the right man?

After her, there was disappointment as John Major failed thoroughly in preserving the Conservative legacy and protecting UK from the currency crisis known as ‘Black Wednesday.’ Labour’s Tony Blair was the next in the league of greats, who endeavoured to enhance UK’s positive influence over international politics. While his contributions helped to end the 30 years long conflict of Northern Ireland, his support to the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan was thoroughly criticized.

Then the fate of Britain passed over to Gordon Brown. The Labour party not only lost its popularity, but also lost many local elections faster than expected. A poll published in Sunday Times confirms now that Brown’s Labour Party has the support of only 28% of UK’s electorate compared to 44% for Conservatives. Journalist & columnist Benedict Brogan labels Brown “the worst leader since the Heptarchy.”

To that effect, that Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats won the recent election debate with an average of 33% support against 30% for Cameroon and Brown doesn’t even show the tip of how UK is fanatically embracing this radical with a uniquely polarised character. Born in Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire in 1967, with a half-Russian father, Nick holds some unenviable records! He was punished with community service with his friends for burning a collection of cacti belonging to a professor when he was just 16. The quite married Nick (to Miriam Gonzalez Durantez) doesn’t regret disclosing to the media that he has slept with not more than 30 women, a claim even Tiger would find hard to match. In a live BBC interview, when asked whether he believes in God, Nick replied, “No!” While all this would have been enough to sink a hydrogen filled blimp, Nick’s flight is electrifying. And the reason is not hard to find.

Nick – brilliantly similar to Barack Obama – is a master of speech construction and delivery. Nick was awarded the Financial Times David Thomas Prize for his writing in remembrance of an FT journalist killed in Kuwait. Add this to the fact that Nick is multilingual fluent in English, Dutch, French, German, and Spanish, and you have a celebrity playing to the gallery and winning steam-rolling popularity. Will he succeed in the final elections? For that, Nick would have to seriously work up his election agenda much better than what he’s doing right now, because a country like UK, which has 99% literacy levels, even while celebrating a celebrity during live debates, would ravage him during the hustings if sense does not mix with flamboyance. But one suspects this great great grandson of a Russian Tsarist aristocrat knows that fully well!


Posted by at 10:58 AM
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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

“How can Presidents deny the Holocaust?”

Mark Sofer, Ambassador of Israel to India, in an exclusive conversation with B&E talks about Iran, terrorism, Palestine, and a solution in West Asia

B&E: How does the present generation of Israelis look at the Holocaust? Do they still get impacted by that?
MS: Well, undoubtedly, throughout history, the persecution of Jews had a profound influence on the nature of Jewish people. The most recent manifestation of the same has been the persecution of Jewish people in the last century or what you call the Holocaust; and perhaps that is also the worst manifestation. While the Holocaust survivors are still there, it is the age of the second generation. Yet, even for the third generation of Jews in Israel, the trauma of Holocaust is very much part of the national psyche. And especially with the kind of denial of the Holocaust emanating from the likes of Ahmadinejad in Iran, it only aggravates our collective pain as a nation. We get hurt and wonder that even today there are presidents of nations who can still stand and claim that the Holocaust never happened.

B&E: How does Israel perceive the changing geopolitical paradigm of the world?
MS: I think the 20th century was one of the least stable centuries of the last many hundreds of years. But clearly, there is something new abounding. The world has been witnessing the rise of religious extremism, which is attempting to throw-back human civilization to middle ages – where logic, ideology, politics would mean nothing – and there is blatant misuse or abuse in the name of religion. To a large extent, half of the world is being partitioned into moderation and extremism rather than on political or territorial issues, which is also visible in south Asia. Clearly what happened in Pune a few weeks back or what happened in Mumbai a year or what has been happening in several other parts of the world vindicate this very thing. Even among the seemingly homogeneous societies like Palestinians, you have the pragmatic moderate Palestinians on one hand, like the Fatah, and on the other hand the extremist sects, which have overtaken Gaza and state that they are drawing inspiration from God; or they tend to create that perception.

When you reach that level, then you start wondering how are we going to get all these moderate forces to act together against extremism.

B&E: Can the issues of Middle East ever be settled?
MS: Clearly, we have to solve the political dispute in West Asia not just because ‘we have to solve the political dispute of West Asia’, but because it can work as a spin-off in forging an alliance between the moderate Arab world, Israel, civilized nations in Asia and Europe against extremists, especially the Islamist extremism. And I use the word Islamist and not Islamic as there’s a lot of difference between the two. Countries like India, Israel – even the civilized Arab world including countries like Egypt – are frightened by the rise of the extremist Islam.

B&E: But your relations with Germany? Have they improved over time?
MS: Well, I think it’s very much a personal issue. In other words, everybody remembers and everybody knows not just in Israel but in the Jewish world as a whole what happened there during World War II. Nonetheless, sixty five years on, we have very good relations with Germany – economically, politically and culturally. Germany, at least, has taken part of the blame of what happened in the Nazi era, while others haven’t. On a personal level, some people still find it very difficult to work with Germany. But on a State level, today, our relations with Germany are very strong.

B&E : Has with time the relation between Israel and Germany improved?
MS : Well I think it’s very much a personal issue. In other words, everybody remembers and everybody knows not just in Israel but in the Jewish world as a whole what happened there during the 2nd world war. Nonetheless, 65 years on, we have very good relation with Germany -economically, politically and culturally - Germany at least has taken part of the blame of what happened in the Nazi era while others haven’t. On a personal level some people still find it very difficult to work with Germany. But on a state level until today our relation with Germany has been very strong.

B&E : Does the declining law & order situation In Pakistan the chances of Pakistan's possible disintegration worry Israel?
MS : We are not a world player. We are a small country situated in west Asia. We have limited amount of resources; we can apply at different parts of the world. But what is happening in Pakistan is really worrying. The threat on India emanating from there and threat on Jews and Israelis in India emanating from there the way it happened in Mumbai showed and clearly, I think, any civilized place has to be worried. Any normal country has to be worried of what is going inside Pakistan. However I do think the response and possible responses to the development in Pakistan has to be worked out by Indian authorities themselves with no possible advice given by us, as no two situations are identical. We have the fullest trust in Indian authorities and we stand behind them 100 per cent

B&E : In spite of the common perception that Israel stand against the Arab states, the relation between Turkey and Israel has been pretty good.
MS : Firstly, Turkey is not an Arab state. Second of all I don’t want to portray Israel as the enemy of Arab world. I would try my hardest and may succeed to some extent in also stating that the Arab world is not the enemy of Israel. We are pleased with 2 countries – Egypt and Jordan- 2 most important countries. We have ongoing relationship, sometimes more and sometimes less, with number of other Arab countries. So, I think we should try to be a little bit more nuance in that approach. We have good relationship with Turkey, but they have been little bit undermined recently for 1 reason or the other, and we have to get back the way they were. But Turkey is a crucial country and is the bridge between Europe and Asia; between Middle East and Europe. It is one of the major player and a very important country. We used to have before the rise of regime in Iraq and their relationship with Iran. We look forward to the fact that Ahmadinejad would no longer be terer, and Iran can play and should play a major role in the international arena. Iranian people are great people who contributed most in the civilization of the modern world, almost as any other. And yet, they are being taken over by holocaust denying, terrorist supporting, Ahmedinejad who is killing his own people now because they didn’t vote for him. But if you look around the Middle East – not everyone is Arab or not every country is an Arab country. And even among the Arab countries themselves, there are differences in approach. You have number of pragmatic states in the North African Arab world – Morocco, Egypt- you have number of hardliners, like Syria for example or Gaddaffi’s Libya; and Palestinians themselves are divided between pragmatics and extremists.




Posted by at 11:26 AM
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Monday, August 13, 2012

A tryst with the Nawabs!

In the heart of ‘babudom’, the city of nawabs is still being built by the government, while private players remain on the periphery, says avinash mishra

In this ‘City of Babus’, commercial plots have never managed to catch the fancy of the masses, or elites for that matter. The real estate sector of capital Lucknow, has witnessed manifold increase in prices of the housing plots. Nevertheless, going against the trend, a number of real estate players invested heavily in commercial properties and launched several malls, multiplexes and commercial complexes prior to the recession. Despite these efforts, they invariably failed to create any buzz in the market or incite any curiosity. And then came the meltdown. Whatever little demand it had been able to elicit got buried altogether.

Nonetheless what proved to be a loss for commercial plots’ proved out to be a gaining ground for housing plots’. In fact, it appears that the city is on a shopping spree for housing plots’. It is almost bordering frenzy; so much so that government housing organizations such as Lucknow Development Authority and Housing Development Board have run out of housing plots altogether. They are trying to utilize whatever space is left by constructing flats and auctioning it. This scarcity of plots has led to a sudden spurt in the price of plots owned by the Authority and Housing Development Board. For instance, in the prestigious Gomati Nagar Project, the Authority is selling plots at the rate of Rs 7,500 per square meters, up from Rs 4,000 per square meters last year. The same plots are going for Rs 25,000 per square meters, up from Rs 15000 per square meters in the resell.


Posted by at 10:12 AM
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Saturday, August 11, 2012

“The sport needs to be marketed”

What other sports can learn from Indian Cricket, and replicate it!

We need about a billion rupees atleast. Yes sure you need a few rupees for infrastructure, a few for nurturing young talent, a few to start academies. But the real serious buck needs to go elsewhere.

Sure, the hardcore sports buff will tell you that winning matters, and as far as cricket is concerned, it was India’s win in the 1983 Prudential World Cup that started the whole revolution in the first place and put cricket firmly on the money map. Over the years, it is the winning ways of team India that has kept it on the radar of fans and sponsors alike, but lets not forget that they have had their fair share of losses as well. So that cannot be the answer. Even when the Indian cricket team had one of its lowest ever points, the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, sponsors didn’t walk away. So what is the answer? The billion rupees need to be sunk into marketing other sports to compete with cricket. Marketed and dressed up in a way that has the sex appeal of cricket. Sex sells is one of the basic principles of advertising, but it is also a universal truth. Would even the most hardcore hockey loyalist have a poster of Dhanraj Pillay on his wall? What about Koneru Humpy or Vishy Anand for chess lovers? In truth, the sport and sportspersons need to be marketed like any product. Sport is a product. It is big business. And it is a competitive business. One that is happening with cricket at the moment.

Lets have a look at some non cricketers (male and female) who have become icons recently. You will find that 90% of them have some sort of sex appeal. Look at what Vijender has done for the image of boxing and Olympic Sports (how come we remember him more than say Sushil Kumar who also won an Olympic medal?), Sania Mirza has done for tennis, or even Lee and Hesh. Similarly Saina Nehwal for badminton (imagine if Deepika Padukone followed her Dad’s footsteps!). Look at the new generation of chess in Tania Sachdeva. Jyoti Randhawa in golf (a complete package with sizzling wife Chitrangada). Again, someone who has achieved so much but still does not inject glamour, thanks to his personality is ace shooter and Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra. Likewise with someone like Anju Bobby George, who has all the makings of glamour but chooses to downplay it.


Posted by at 11:35 AM
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