(Published in Banking Services Chronicle March 2009)
Wealth can be generated at a rapid pace even through ethical means. This was a faith instilled in the Indian mind by the meteoric rise of the information technology (IT) sector. Narayanmurthy and his ilk became the guiding stars in the firmament of wealth creation. Brilliant minds were engaged in scoring music for the software symphonies. It seemed next only to heavenly bliss.
Until the fraud at Satyam shattered our faith in innocence. Though IT angels are bright still, one of the brightest fell. B Ramalinga Raju, the founder of Satyam Computer Services, was no more the gentleman he was supposed to be. There was some saving grace in the fact that at least he confessed to the fraud he committed. But even the confession now seems to be a thread in the web of lies Satyam has weaved for itself.
Whether it was the fudging of balance sheets, as he made it out to be, or a blatant pilfering of the company’s money, the bottom line is that faith in Indian business has been shaken. People would become cautious especially of family-run businesses so that there is no repeat of siphoning off of funds to pure family entities like Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra.
We are forced to ask if corporate governance has any maturity worthy of turning ourselves into a developed country. The so-called independent directors have made a mockery of themselves. If professionalism can reach its nadir in the fourth largest IT company of India, one wonders what happens at ordinary mortal companies.
The auditors have also come under scrutiny. The Satyam scam is being branded as India’s Enron. If the fraud at the American energy company led to the demise of Arthur Andersen, the current crisis has raised questions on the integrity of Price Waterhouse, the Indian arm of giant auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers.
It is not enough that conman Raju languishes in Chanchalguda jail of Hyderabad. Foolproof measures need to be implemented to cleanse the system as a whole. But above all, we need to take a lesson in ethics. Only then can our success dream of enjoying some kind of permanence.
Monday 2 February 2009
Tuesday 6 January 2009
High time Pakistan acted
(Published in Banking Services Chronicle February 2009)
It is evident that no amount of evidence will suffice for Pakistan to agree that it is sponsoring terrorism, whether by omission or commission. The knee-jerk reaction of any wrongdoer is to deny that the wrong act has been perpetrated. In case that is not possible at all, as in the case of 26/11, the next best thing is to distance oneself from the act.
Pakistan may have “doubts” whether the persons involved in the act were from there. But the world this time is not ready to give a sympathetic hearing to it. This in spite of our neighbour’s best attempt to blow things out of proportion. If our external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee makes any strong statement, it begins to cry “escalation” wolf.
Our neighbour should rest assured that bombing Pakistan would be the last thing India would resort to. They are no Gaza and we are no Israel. And targeted bombing, if people suggest that, is not easy as the world learnt when the US attacked rogue nations. Besides, India seems to be in no hurry as we are yet to impose even sanctions.
India would continue, it appears, to put its diplomatic foot forward, reminding the world how the “epicentre of terrorism” is a global threat. There would be more of talks and less of action. Somewhere in our Gandhian unconscious, we still think non-violence is the best means to tackle terrorism.
But any soft stance from India should not make Pakistan complacent. At some point of time it has to make a strong decision. The “failed state” status it has obtained has been bred by its confused stance. The country has allowed both state and non-state actors to kick it as a football.
The leaders – both civilian and military – in our neighbouring country need to rise to the occasion. They must rescue their own country from falling into the abyss of despair. They need to guide their citizens to make their country a better place to live in. Needless to say, the effort would make India and the world all the happier.
It is evident that no amount of evidence will suffice for Pakistan to agree that it is sponsoring terrorism, whether by omission or commission. The knee-jerk reaction of any wrongdoer is to deny that the wrong act has been perpetrated. In case that is not possible at all, as in the case of 26/11, the next best thing is to distance oneself from the act.
Pakistan may have “doubts” whether the persons involved in the act were from there. But the world this time is not ready to give a sympathetic hearing to it. This in spite of our neighbour’s best attempt to blow things out of proportion. If our external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee makes any strong statement, it begins to cry “escalation” wolf.
Our neighbour should rest assured that bombing Pakistan would be the last thing India would resort to. They are no Gaza and we are no Israel. And targeted bombing, if people suggest that, is not easy as the world learnt when the US attacked rogue nations. Besides, India seems to be in no hurry as we are yet to impose even sanctions.
India would continue, it appears, to put its diplomatic foot forward, reminding the world how the “epicentre of terrorism” is a global threat. There would be more of talks and less of action. Somewhere in our Gandhian unconscious, we still think non-violence is the best means to tackle terrorism.
But any soft stance from India should not make Pakistan complacent. At some point of time it has to make a strong decision. The “failed state” status it has obtained has been bred by its confused stance. The country has allowed both state and non-state actors to kick it as a football.
The leaders – both civilian and military – in our neighbouring country need to rise to the occasion. They must rescue their own country from falling into the abyss of despair. They need to guide their citizens to make their country a better place to live in. Needless to say, the effort would make India and the world all the happier.
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