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financial voICe
Asian Voice - Saturday 17th December 2011
Amit Patel has over 15 years experience in the field of Leadership and Human Resource Management
Maria Fernandes
maria@abplgroup.com
Is it time to declare an amnesty? Recently the government has announced that biometric cards are to be extended to more categories and that the benefit of this is that it will enable employers to check the status of individuals more easily than is currently the case and it will also have the added benefit of deterring and squeezing out those who are illegal. Illegal immigrants are nameless and faceless and accordingly when discussing them they are treated as non persons and de-humanised as a result. Where people have personal contact with individuals their opinion is often very different. The childrens author Michael Murpugo wrote Shadow which humanises the pain of being an Immigrant through his characters. There are many children of illegal immigrants unable to make progress because of the status of their parents. The public currently believe that there are too
many immigrants and that the trend should be reversed. Their views are tainted by their perception of immigrants. It is clear that most immigrants either take jobs that no one else wants to do at the lower end and those that the local population are unable to do at the higher end of the scale. The public are also barraged by the political capital that each party seeks to make about the value of immigrants. It is particularly disturbing that in an attempt to play the numbers game the benefits which can enhance the applicant and the country are discarded for unachievable political gain. The Bangladesh Caterers Award ceremony last week attended by over 1000 people was testament to the success story of the immigrant using their skills to create business opportunity. Boris Johnson was right to speak out about the need to grant an amnesty to immigrants
and to be able to collect taxes. There are more disturbing reasons for the small minority who may have criminal tendencies. Imagine this scenario. A child abuser, a violent mentally ill person, or a murderer who lives on the on the fringes of society. They are more of a danger because they are not on any radar and would not be able to be traced. There is now sufficiently advanced technology to prevent a deluge of illegal immigrants as has happened in the past. However those who are already here need to be regularised. The fact that it is unlikely to happen is not reason enough not to discuss this openly. Maria Fernandes has been in practice exclusively in immigration for the past 25 years. Fernandes Vaz is based at 87 Wembley Hill Road Wembley in Wembley and can be contacted by telephone on 02087330123, by email on info@fernandesvaz.com.
India’s industrial output slumps 5.1 per cent India's industrial output fell in October for the first time in more than two years as capital goods investment slumped, ramping up pressure on the RBI to ease monetary or liquidity conditions. Production at factories, mines and utilities plunged 5.1 per cent from a year earlier, far worse than expected, another blow for the embattled government of prime minister Manmohan Singh that is struggling to combat a slide in the economy. "It is a lot worse than we expected. The nearly two years of monetary tighten-
ing is clearly being felt," said Tim Condon, head of Asian economic research at ING in Singapore. "While India may not be a manufacturing-driven economy, more data prints such as this would be a worrying sign. While we expect a status quo in terms of interest rates from the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) this week, the pressure is clearly building on them to start easing," he said. The fall in industrial output was 10 times greater than economists had forecast in a Reuters poll and marked the steep-
est drop since March 2009. An upward revision in September's increase to 1.99 per cent offered little consolation. India's economy is contending with 13 rate rises since early 2010, a policy tightening that has hit growth but done little to counter near double-digit inflation. Meanwhile, the finance ministry slashed its growth forecast for the fiscal year ending in March to between 7.25 and 7.75 per cent from 9 per cent estimated in February. l it to bring forward its course reversal.
Caught in a Compromising Position ‘Compromise’ is a most intriguing concept. One can never be totally sure if compromise is a good thing or a bad thing. In relationships, it is said that compromise is a vital ingredient for happiness. A strength. In battle, it is considered to be an admission of the inability to win. A weakness. The Oxford dictionary definition is, ’to give up some of your demands after a disagreement with somebody, in order to reach an agreement.’ When the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agreed to join hands and form a coalition government one of the most spoken words was ‘compromising’. Everything was about c o m p r o m i s i n g . Compromising is a basic negotiation that takes place in all businesses. The ideal scenario is when a ‘win – win’ situation can be reached, in that each party gets something that they wanted, albeit by sacrificing others. Often leaders and managers can be weary of compromising as it can be seen as giving in, which in view of their ‘power’, they shouldn’t have to do. This
Indian rupee hits record low against the dollar The Indian rupee on Tuesday hit a record low against the dollar due to continued demand for the US currency, amid concerns over eurozone debt as well as weak domestic data. The local unit dropped 35 paise to 53.29 against the greenback in early trade on the foreign exchange markets after tumbling 81 paise during Monday's session.
India inches closer to crisis as rupee retreats India may face its worst financial crisis in decades if it fails to stem a slide in the rupee, leaving the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with a difficult choice over how to make best use of its limited reserves to maintain the confidence of foreign investors. If the RBI is too timid, it risks adding fuel to the ire of portfolio investors, which India relies on heavily to cover its imports tab. Aggressive intervention would leave the central bank open to criticism that it is wasting precious money on problems that are beyond India's control
anyhow, notably Europe's debt crisis. Unlike most of its Asian peers, India has recently been running large current account and fiscal deficits. That means it must attract sufficient foreign money - namely US dollars -- to close the gap, and a weaker home currency makes that costlier. This is a perennial problem for India. The current situation is so worrisome because India is grappling with big internal and external economic threats simultaneously. Growth is slowing. Inflation remains high.
Political paralysis has stymied domestic reforms. The RBI, the last line of defence against a currency meltdown, has cautiously begun to support the rupee, but its firepower may be more limited than its $300 billion in reserves would suggest. Beyond India's borders, Europe is the biggest worry. As its banks deleverage, investment money has flooded out of India's markets. If Europe's debt troubles deteriorate, India could be hit with a balance of payments crisis as severe as the one that forced a sharp devaluation in 1991.
India's central bank has said that it would act to prevent a further downward spiral of the rupee, which has been hit by global financial uncertainty, as investors exit abandon emerging market currencies for safe havens. The rupee has fallen about 14 per cent against the dollar since the start of this year and is the worstperforming of Asia's 10 most-traded currencies.
can result in confrontation and eventually a breakdown in relations. On the other hand, compromising can be a means to reaching agreement and consensus which can foster trust and commitment. This week we witnessed the first significant incident wherein compromising was not an option. When David Cameron decided that the UK would not agree to the terms of the Eurozone rescue package he finally stepped out of the ‘coalition bubble’ created by himself and Nick Clegg. While the early statements were that Clegg had been fully consulted and agreed with Cameron’s actions, the deputy Prime minister later clarified that he did not and could not agree with what had been done. The fear of appearing weak can often supplant the hope of being a respected leader. Good leaders have always been able to recognise when to compromise and when to stand firm, even at the expense of their personal popularity. Nick Clegg decided that now was the
By Amit Patel
time where he had to stand firm and while he could not alter the outcome, he may just have restored some of the credibility lost when he first agreed to join the Tories. Compromising should never be done for the sake of compromising. Sometimes is ok to just agree to disagree. While this is often easier for mature adults to do rather than politicians in the Westminster playground it seems that perhaps Clegg and Cameron are actually demonstrating that it might just be possible. Some are suggesting that this is the beginning of the end of the coalition. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Whatever happens, Clegg and Cameron have ensured that they wont be caught in a compromising position. Amit Patel has over 15 years experience in the field of Personal Development and Human Resource Management. He has delivered speeches on People Management and Development throughout Europe, North America, and Asia. To contact Amit, email him at amitpatelmail @gmail.com
India finally clears Cairn - Vedanta deal India has given final approval for Cairn Energy's $6.5 billion sale of a majority stake in its Indian assets to Vedanta Resources, the company said. The longdelayed deal has served as a reminder of just what many foreign investors don't like about India. Over 15 months of negotiations resulted in a punishing contractual change over royalty payments. “Vedanta has confirmed that it has now satisfied the conditions under the Sale and Purchase Agreement for the acquisition of a controlling shareholding in Cairn India,'' Cairn India said in a filing to Indian stock exchanges. Vedanta is paying $6.5 billion for 58 per cent stake in Cairn India. The London-listed parent company, Cairn Energy Plc, will retain a 22 per cent stake. The companies announced the sale back in August 2010, but wrangling over royalties and government approvals threatened to sink the deal in India's notorious
bureaucracy. To win government approval, the companies agreed to alter their production sharing contract. Under the original contract, Indian governmentrun Oil and Natural Gas Corp. bore full responsibility for royalty payments from a key field in Rajasthan, even though its ownership of the field was just 30 per cent. Those generous terms were negotiated back when investor interest in the unproven oil and gas assets of the Rajasthani desert was scant and the government was eager to attract foreign capital and expertise. Royalties will now be split, with Cairn India paying 70 per cent and ONGC paying 30 per cent. Cairn India also agreed to make a payment for back royalties of $545 million.