One Year Appraisal

A couple of years ago I wrote this post where I laid out my expectations from my government(s). One year is a fair time to access the performance of a government and comment on its effectiveness. In my previous post I had indicated my preference for the BJP as the party to govern India and I was glad that they got the opportunity last year. I keep having arguments with some of my closest friends (who are staunch Modi-haters) that a fair amount of time needs to be given to a government to show results and now that 11 months are gone am making an objective attempt to evaluate their performance against my expectations.

Expectation no 1:  Focus on development of infrastructure (Highways, Canals, Ports, Airports).
Result: No real progress has been made in this field. The latest budget has increased the allocation to infrastructure by more than 40% but we need to see some serious progress in this field. Ideally I would want us to go back to the 10kms per day last seen in the Vajpayee era. It would be a shame if we cant achieve this in the absence of Mr 10%.

Expectation no 2: A foreign policy which is focused on preserving our national interests and  not influenced by idiotic concerns of allies.
Result: A success on all fronts according to me. Am just going to ignore the so called U-Turns on the Nuclear deal with the US (it deserves a different post). In my last post I argued that the UPA govt had spoiled our relationships with friendly neighbours like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, the new governments has taken many positive steps to undo the damage caused by the previous regime. A lot of work still needs to be done to build trust with Sri Lanka on the fisherman issue (my understanding is very limited and is restricted to basic facts) but the new regime there has made the right noises so I remain hopeful. 

Expectation no 3: A will to fight both internal and external terror and not politicize the issue.
Result: I am informed by very reliable sources that the main difference between the NDA and UPA regime is that the border forces no longer need to show restraint under orders from their political bosses they can retaliate in a way they deem fit when the Pakistani army fires at us. This is the single biggest achievement of this govt on the defence front. A lot of work still needs to be done to tackle internal terror but am sure that a patriotic officer like Ajit Doval who puts the country above everything else (sadly the same couldn't be said about all his predecessors) will do everything to tackle this menace.

Expectation no 4: Fair and transparent allocation of national resources like oil, gas and airwaves.
Result: Full marks on this front. The biggest achievement of this government is the fair and transparent coal auctions. Even the recently concluded telecom spectrum auctions yielded more than expected revenue. Am glad that these ministries are headed by honest and able ministers unlike the scamsters in the UPA era. The Oil dispute with RIL still drags on but as of now I see no sign of the govt favouring RIL. Please read my post about the Gas Wars to see how the UPA govt favoured RIL and acted against the interest of the country.

Expectation no 5: Rationalization of stupid schemes like NREGA, Food Security Bill and Direct Cash Transfer.
Result: Nothing has been done to rationalize NREGA but the government has taken steps to rationalize the Food Security scheme. This is despite the humiliating loss in Delhi to a political party which rode to power on the basis of unreasonable populist promises. This is an indication that the government is committed to reforms.

Expectation no 6: No more reservation on the lines of caste or religion. Affirmative action basis economic status.
Result: No political party (including AAP which was born out of the IAC movement) can help us on this front. It is an unreasonable expectation to have. But I still dream of an India where merit will rule supreme.

Expectation no 7: Modify or repeal regressive laws which curb freedom of speech and expression.
Result: Absolute pathetic failure on this front. Instead of supporting the calls for repealing section 66A of the IT act the government actually supported it in the SC. We only have the judges in SC to thank. After criticizing the UPA government again and again for curbing freedom of speech this government has done nothing at all to ensure an environment where people express their views without fear.

Expectation no 8: Ensure sufficiency in foodgrains and not allow our food to rot in government godowns.
Result: I do not have any data currently to comment on this. We will be able to see the intent and commitment of this government only in the unfortunate event of a bad monsoon.

So go summarize out of the 7 (lets forget the reservation point because it will NEVER happen) expectations, we don't have enough data to judge the government on 1, the government has taken concrete steps in 4 of the remaining 6 points. Which is not bad at all.

However the above expectations were set assuming a coalition government will come to power. Given the historic mandate the BJP led NDA has been given it is fair that we have much higher expectations and the government should exceed them.

Let me spell out the 3 most important things I expect from the government in the next year.

1. 7.5%+ economic growth
2. Complete the promised economic reforms (Land Acquisition, Multi Brand retail etc)
3. Concrete steps taken to counter the illegal immigrant problem in WB and the North-East.

Gas Wars and Crony Capitalism

I just finished reading 'Gas Wars and Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis' by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Subir Ghosh and Jyotirmoy Chaudhuri. Have been following this issue closely over the past few years and have been reading extensively on it. A lot of stuff in the book is debatable (especially the case about higher gas pricing) but a few facts stand out clearly.

1. The Production Sharing Contact (PSC) initially allowed the government to fix the price and allocate supplies of its own share of gas and allowed the contractor (RIL in this case) the freedom to price it's own share and sell to whoever it wanted to.
2. As per the PSC terms assuming that it was free to price and sell its own share of gas RIL participated in competitive bidding to supply gas to the power plants owned by NTPC and won the contract by the virtue of being the lowest bidder at $2.34 per mmbtu.
3. The Ambani siblings had a fallout and their business interests were split. MDA agreed to supply gas to a ADA controlled company at the same price at which it was going to supply to NTPC. This was documented in a family agreement endorsed by both the brothers in the presence of their mother in front of the media.
4. RIL later approached the government and asked it to fix the price at which it could sell gas. It is not very clear according to the documents in the public domain whether it was for the governments share of gas or the entire gas which RIL expected to produce from the KG basin. If it is the later case it is indeed strange and weird because the company should not have participated in competitive bidding earlier if it always intended for the government to fix the price. It might not be illegal but is certainly unethical.
5. MDA's legal team later claimed that the family agreement was invalid because it was not endorsed or seen by the board of RIL. Once again, signing the agreement by MDA and later claiming that it was invalid was not exactly illegal but definitely unethical.
6. ADA challenged this and won in the High Court but MDA appealed and the case went to SC, the  government joined in saying the gas belonged to it and it should be a party to any quarrel over the rights to price or use the gas. The stand taken by the government was correct because technically it does own the gas on behalf of the people of India.
7. The  government argued that it reserved the sole right to price and allocate the natural gas as per national interest. It also argued that only the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) had the right to decide the pricing at which RIL could sell the gas and to whom could RIL sell the gas. This stand was completely against the terms and spirit of the PSC but  surprisingly RIL did not oppose this and agreed to the stand taken by the  government. It portrayed itself as a mere contractor who just extracted the gas and was obliged to supply to whomever the  government asked at whatever price it asked and hence was unable to sell it at previously contacted price to ADA group company (RNRL) and NTPC.
8. Again the above stand was not illegal but definitely hints at some sort of collusion between the  government and RIL to deny cheap gas to RNRL and NTPC. In asserting it's rights to price and distribute a national resource the  government had unknowingly (or maybe knowingly) harmed it's own company.
9. RIL chose not to contest the  government stand on the pricing and supply of gas but did contest many other provisions of the PSC later which related to the recovery of its capital investment in developing the has fields. It did not go to court this time but chose arbitration. Again RIL selectively agreeing and disagreeing with the government when it suits it is definitely not illegal but just raises the question about it's motives.
10. The actual cost of developing the gas field is debatable given the complexity of the terrain. The logic to link gas prices to international rates is again debatable because by definition the  government is the  custodian of the national resources of the nation and should use them for the welfare of the state, this makes a strong case for lowering the has prices but again there is also a case to be made for linking them to international prices to attract foreign investors and be fair to them. It is definitely bad for the reputation of the country among foreign investors if the government were to invite investments but not allow investors to make a profit.
11. The SC did make a very fair and pertinent observation on the governments claim that bids were invited to outsource the gas production because the government does not have the money or the  technology to do this itself. It observed that if this was the case then the bidding should have been restricted to PSUs which have the money (like ONGC) and can buy the technology (if they actually do not have it, which is very hard to believe). If the government genuinely had the best interest of the country in mind and wanted to ensure cheaper  electricity and fertilizers for the people it should have given the contact to PSUs and directed them to sell at a low price.

Conclusion:

• It will be very tough to prove that RIL or the government acted illegally, it is very clear from the documents available in the public domain that RIL supported the  government when it suited it and opposed it when it's profits were in danger, which again is not illegal, being a publicly traded company it has a responsibility to maximize profits for its shareholders.
• ADA did get a raw deal and RIL / MDA acted in bad faith, the government also indirectly supported MDA in this corporate battle. Nothing illegal done so no case here and if we are taking about unethical behavior than RIL is not the only corporate to behave in such a manner, scores of companies across the world would do the same to protect their profits and maximize them. ADA's lawyers should have read the fine print or thought of various eventualities. 
• The government definitely didn't act as a responsible custodian of the national resource (gas in this case), if it had acted in the interest of the nation then the gas would have been priced cheaper and the production from the KG basin might have been higher (debatable again).
• Because RIL has acted unethically and in bad faith earlier it is giving the impression that it is deliberately delaying / reducing production from the KG basin to maximize its profits. This is an unproven allegation but past behavior and current circumstances point to the fact that it is indeed doing this and has the active support of some elements in the government. I doubt if any of this can be proven in the court of law.
• RIL is an extremely smart operator and has covered it's bases very well. It has taken advantage of the grey areas in policy and legal contacts and turned them to it's advantage. If I were an investor ( I do not own any shares in RIL), I would be very inclined to invest in the company (provided I look at the situation objectively).

Your views and comments are welcome.

Note: I have read many articles written by renowned experts which argue for the case for lower gas pricing. I have also had a heard a highly respected former head of a PSU who sits on several government committees regarding hydrocarbons and energy talk on this matter where he argued for linking gas prices to international rates. I am hundred percent convinced that he is not pro RIL and his view was an independent one. I still remain confused on the matter and hence didn't delve into it deeply.

Khobragade and the Chamber of Secrets

Am sure most of us have read enough on this issue. Am trying to add my two bits of wisdom.

Issue no 1: Devyani Khobragade was arrested on charges of violating US labor laws and Visa Fraud. She was handcuffed, strip searched and allegedly a body cavity search was also done. According to India this is not how a diplomat should be treated according to the Vienna Convention. India insists she has diplomatic immunity (US state department begs to differ), however it is clear that she was treated like a petty criminal. This is the most important issue currently.

Issue no 2: Kobragade's maid (Sangeeta Richards) was underpaid (as per US laws). When she complained, a case was filed against her family (including her) in Delhi. The High Court passed an order against her and for a short period of time her husband and son were detained (I could not come across any source which confirmed that they were arrested). This is a separate issue and I definitely feel that it should be investigated, if she (Richards) was illtreated then she deserves justice. But it should not be confused with issue no 1 nor should we form opinion basis this.

Issue no 3: There are allegations that Khobragade and her family illegally acquired properties across the country. They were also allocated a flat in the infamous Adarsh Housing Society despite the fact that they owned a property in a MHADA housing complex. Assuming for a second that this is true, how exactly does it make the allegations in Issue no 1 less serious is something I cant understand. And those who say that 'She deserved it because she is corrupt', I think you have extremely low IQ and cannot distinguish between issues.

Basis whatever I read on this subject, am drawing a few conclusions and have a few questions which I would like to ask the US and Indian governments.

 - Khobragade was mistreated, this was NOT in sync with her position and they way a foreign diplomat is to be treated in ANY country.
 - It is not very clear if this is she had complete diplomatic immunity (she was a Consular officer).
 - Her maid's passport was revoked by the Indian government and she is currently living in the USA illegally. As of now USA has not granted her formal asylum, so her status is illegal.
 - Khobragade did NOT submit any of the so called fraudulent documents personally, they were submitted by her maid in her visa application. The maid is claiming that Kobragade instructed her to lie and faisify documents.
 - There are reports that officers in the Russian embassy took part in a medical insurance scam, some of them were junior consular officers (as compared to Kobragade), however no action was taken against them by the US government.
 - Mr Preet Bharara believes that this falls under the category of a heinous crime,
 -  US government granted visas to Richards' family and made them come to America, so that they do not have to face persecution in the case filed against them in India. This is a blatant interference in India's internal issue. Mr Bharara goes a step further in justifying it.

Some Questions for the US Government:

1. One of the allegations against Khobragade is Visa Fraud and falsification of documents, what document did she falsify and submit to the US government?
2. Is violation of US labor laws is a heinous crime, under what category would you classify living illegally in USA? What actions have you taken in cases where you have discovered that a person has been staying illegally in USA for 5 months?
3. Have you in any previous instance granted visas to family members of people who have been staying illegally in the US to reunite them with their family?
4. As per the State Department, what is a greater crime: defrauding the money of US taxpayers through medical insurance schemes or paying low wages to a foreign national (which are much higher than the standard wages paid in Asia for such jobs)?
5. There are media reports that Richard Davies was granted full diplomatic status AFTER he murdered a pakistani citizen, still US insisted on full diplomatic immunity for him. Why exactly is the US State Department saying that since Khobragade has been given full diplomatic status after her arrest, it wont be considered?
6. Does the US government justify the act of assisting foreign nationals escape their country so that they do not have to stand trial in the cases filed against them in their home country?
7. A request was made to the State Department in September-2013, informing them that Sangeeta Richards' passport has been revoked, hence she should be extradited to India immediately, why was this request not honoured?
8. A complaint was lodged with NYPD by Khobragade against her maid claiming theft, was this investigated, if yes, what was the outcome?
9. There are a lot of Indian and Mexican workers in USA who are not paid as per US Labor laws, are all their employers arrested? Are all the families of these workers given US visas? If not, then why was Khobragade singled out for such treatment?

Questions for the Indian Government:

1. Was a full background check conducted on Khobragade before she was appointed to represent India in USA?
2. The State Department claims that India was informed 3 months ago about the case against Khobragade, what actions were taken at that time?
3. Why was Khobragade not given full diplomatic status 3 months ago, when GOI was made aware of this case, to prevent this into escalating into such a big mess?
4. If media reports are correct why were the husband and son on Sangeeta Richards detained / arrested by Delhi Police?
5. Why is there a disconnect in the statements made by the US State Department and Mr Salman Khurshid regarding a discussion between Mr John Kerry and Mr Khurshid?

The Unforgivable Sins

It is very hard for the citizens of India to like their government. In a country of a billion people there are bound to be many problems and it is impossible for any sort of leadership to address them effectively. I have been very vocal about my dislike for the present government and think it is the worst ever in the history of this country. My yardstick for comparison is the previous NDA regime and other Congress governments, none of the previous governments were perfect and they had their share of flaws but the sheer magnitude of screw ups and mistakes made by the present regime ensures that all previous instances of misgovernance in this country pale in comparison.

It is nearly impossible for me to write down various instances where the government has taken wrong decisions which are not in favour of the general well being of the people of this country. However, I would like to point out 5 simple areas where the government has failed us completely. These sins are unforgivable in my opinion and it will take a long time before any regime manages to undo the damage done by UPA here.

5. Mismanagement of Foreign Affairs: I am not even going to mention the episode where the idiotic foreign minister (Mr S M Krishna) read out the speech of his Portuguese counterpart by mistake at a UN gathering. It was just a silly mistake and does not compare to the huge blunders made by the UPA in all areas. With an aggressive China flexing its muscles all over Asia and Pakistan up to its usual tricks in Kashmir it makes sense for India to engage its traditionally friendly neighbors like Sri Lanka and Nepal with whom we have a shared history and heritage. We go ahead and vote against Sri Lanka despite a specific request from them to not interfere in their internal matters to keep the stupid old man from Tamil Nadu and his bunch of corrupt spoilt kids happy. We ignore Nepal and give mixed signals to its Maoist leadership and ensure that it embraces China and willingly allows its land to be used for anti-India activities. Even in Maldives, first we sit quietly when a hostile government takes over, we ignore the previous India-friendly regime which requests help and then we cry foul when the hostile government takes decisions which harm Indian interests.
Our foreign policy and be summed up in a single sentence: 'Clueless and corrupted by idiotic coalition compulsions'.

4. Rewarding mediocrity: Just 2 examples are more than enough to explain how we are endangering the future of this country by having such people in top offices.
Sushilkumar Shinde: Claims that he has 2 biggest qualifications to to be the Home Minister: 1. He is a Dalit and 2. He is loyal to the Gandhi family. Before becoming the Home Minister his main accomplishments were being involved in the Adarsh scam when he was the CM of Maharashtra and presiding over the biggest power failure in the country when he was the Power Minister.
Pratibha Patil: She has singlehandedly lowered the dignity of the highest constitutional seat in the country. From stealing artifacts to sponsoring free trips for her family members the lady has done it all. To add a nice cherry to the cake she pardoned mass murderers and child rapists while refusing to act on the petitions of known terrorists like Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru who continued eating biryani at the taxpayers expense.

3. Punishing Protests: From beating up sleeping women and children in the anti-corruption protests to beating up students in the protests in the Delhi gangrape case our government has matched several other countries like China and North Korea in snatching away democratic rights of the citizens. To top it all NSUI goons hijack the protests and the government ensures that the news of 'students' meeting Sonia Gandhi and she promising to take strict action is plastered all over the media. Simply put the UPA government has mastered the art of killing popular protests by using every dirty trick in the book. Anna, Kejriwal and the students protesting the rape have all been effectively marginalized.

2. Unparalleled Corruption:  Let me first state that I do not think that there has ever been a completely honest government in this country and I don't expect it in another 50 years. The problem here is that that not only is this government completely corrupt, it is also shameless and arrogant. It laughs at you in the face and says that 'we will continue looting you, do whatever you can'. People like Sibal and Chidambaram mock the CAG and the people of this country by claiming that there has been no wrongdoing in various scams and no public money has been lost. Time and again the world laughs at us because of our greedy politicians. From screwing up the Commonwealth games to selling away precious natural resources of this country taxpayers are being taken for a ride everyday. But apart from indulging in large-scale corruption in the name of stupid schemes like NREGA, Right to Food and Direct Cash subsidy our government actively shields corrupt alliance partners by calling off the IT and CBI teams whenever they get too close for comfort. Using these teams as a tool to achieve their devious means is another topic which we should discuss in detail sometime.

1. 26 /11: I stay in Mumbai and this attack took place a stones throw away from where I work. I visit these places regularly and I was lucky that I was not at CST station that night. I am not blaming the government for the attack, I am blaming them for what happened after the attack. Apart from hanging Kasab after protecting him and feeding him on our expense for 2 years there is almost nothing the government has done to secure justice. Forget securing justice, none of the promises made 3 years ago about having an elite anti terrorism squad or enhanced security have been fulfilled. And to add insult to injury we invite the leaders of the country which did this to our country and gush about their designer bags. Our response to almost every terror attack which has taken place in this country has been lame-duck. It follows a simple 3 stage process formulated by the Congress think tank. 1. Strongly condemn the attack 2. Make promises to retaliate 3. Blame internal elements or the RSS for the problem and go back to looting the country.
My home was attacked, the attackers still roam free in their country and threaten me again and again on TV. My leaders address them using salutations which denote respect (Ji or Sahab). My leaders ignore my protests and need for security because they want the entire police force to protect them and their family. My leaders also make idiotic statements from time to time on TV which makes my attackers happy and tweet their concurrence. Should I be angry? I risk getting arrested if I express my anger on Facebook or Twitter.

What I expect from my Government

I keep ranting on twitter about the bad state of governance in the country and criticize almost everything which our Congress led government does. Some people say that I hate the government just for the sake of hating it. Maybe its because of a deep rooted bias against the Congress in my mind. The idea to write this post came to me after having a conversation with a some friends and colleagues who generally had no clue what would they expect from a government except for the usual need for less corruption and economic development.

I am a very practical person, I know corruption cannot be eradicated from our country. I am guilty of bribing several government officials many times in the past and wont shy away from it in the future if it means my work gets done faster. A small service charge or a facilitation fee is not the problem according to me, the problem is at the highest levels where taxpayer money is being squandered on frivolous schemes and shady deals which benefit a few corrupt politicians. With this post I am trying to clarify what exactly do I expect my elected representative to do t make my life better. These are the issues on which I will go out and vote.

At Municipality level:
The lesser I expect from the BMC the better it is for me. A useless organization full or idiotic people working for it in my opinion. My expectations can be summarized in just 2 points:
 - Better Roads 
 - Cleanliness

At State Level:
I do not want to sound pro-BJP or pro-Modi here but since my dads family is from Gujarat I have no other state to use as a reference. I used to hate going to my village when I was a kid. It used to have power cuts for 10-12 hours, no roads, 2-3 televisions in the entire village and water for just 4 hours a day. In comparison my house in Mumbai had 24 hour electricity, excellent approach roads and 24 hours water. Today after 15 years when I compare my village to my city, my village has decent approach roads, 24 hours electricity and water, excellent cellphone and cable connectivity. My house in Mumbai has a really bad approach road which is full of potholes, we have electricity round the clock but for the past 3 summers there have talks of a power cut due to the bad power problem in my state and we get water only for 4 hours a day (supplied by BMC, building has a water tank so no real problem). It is very difficult to ignore the progress made by my village which has a population of a thousand people against the steadily deteriorating quality of life in my city. 6 simple things which I expect from my state government are:
 - A solution to the power problems in Maharashtra
 - A solution to the water problem in Maharashtra (both irrigation and drinking water)
 - Ability to assure citizens of their safety and continuance of business during sensitive situations (riots, deaths etc)
 - Better educational infrastructure in the state
 - A responsible and friendly police force whom the citizens are not afraid to approach.
 - Reduce duties on petrol and diesel.

At National Level:
My wishlist is really really long here. It is very difficult to support one political party because on many issues all of them have the same regressive views (reservations, caste based politics etc). I have tried to be as objective and practical as possible in shortlisting the below mentioned issues which I think should be the topmost priority for any government which comes to power in the Centre.
 - Focus on development of infrastructure (Highways, Canals, Ports, Airports).
 - A foreign policy which is focused on preserving our national interests and  not influenced by idiotic concerns of allies.
 - A will to fight both internal and external terror and not politicize the issue.
 - Fair and transparent allocation of national resources like oil, gas and airwaves.
 - Rationalization of stupid schemes like NREGA, Food Security Bill and Direct Cash Transfer.
 - No more reservation on the lines of caste or religion. Affirmative action basis economic status.
 - Modify or repeal regressive laws which curb freedom of speech and expression.
 - Ensure sufficiency in foodgrains and not allow our food to rot in government godowns.

These are just a few basic things which I would want my leader to look at. I would be willing to give my vote  to any national leader who is committed to focus on these issues. What I have seen till date is the absolute failure of the current UPA government on all the above fronts both in Delhi and in Maharashtra. Some leaders from the opposition have repeatedly spoken about a few of these issues, it remains to be seen if they can translate their words into action. As of now I am inclined to give a chance to these leaders who are at least talking about the right things rather than trust a government which has repeatedly ignored all the above issues for the past 8 years.

Why I still admire Lance Armstrong

I do not know if Lance Armstrong doped or not. Present evidence overwhelmingly points to the fact that he doped to get an unfair advantage over his competitors. I do not support cheating and I agree that cheaters in any sport should not be allowed to compete.

As I had mentioned in my previous blog posts, Lance Armstrong is the reason I started following cycling as a sport. Over the past 3 years I found it to be a really interesting team sport. Here is my two bit take on Armstrong and his career.

The first reason I admire him is because he is a cancer survivor who overcame the disease and went on to compete at the highest level in one of the toughest endurance sports in the world. That itself is quite an achievement. He started a foundation which spread cancer awareness and gave hope to millions of patients across the world. All this was obviously funded by his sponsors but his influence and charisma furthered the cause and gave it much more publicity.

He was the face of cycling in the first half of the last decade. He was one of the inspirations for a generation of young riders to enter the sport. He might have been a dominating and bullying teammate but he always delivered the goods when it mattered the most in July every year.

Now coming to his Tour de France titles. The Tour de France is arguably the toughest cycling races in the world and is the most popular of the Grand Tours in cycling. It consists of 21 stages with at least one third of them consisting of mountainous routes through the Alps or the Pyrenees. It is obvious that the race is won or lost in these mountains and the Time Trials. No individual can singlehandedly conquer these peaks. A team effort is needed to ensure that the team leader (Armstrong in this case) conserves his energy, stays at the front of the peleton and is a part of all the decisive breaks in the final kilometers of the every stage.

So to win the Tour de France a rider needs to do the following things and have the following attributes:
 - Exceptional bike handling skills (to avoid crashes, handle the technical TT course, descend without crashing)
 - Peak at the right time (follow the right training and racing regime to ensure that the body is in peak physical condition in July)
 - Avoid Injuries (healing from a fracture or a cracked bone may take months and even after healing riding competitively may be difficult)
 - Stay away from crashes (one bad crash and the race is over)
 - Have the right amount of power to excel in Time Trials
 - Have the right weight and power to conquer the summits
 - Stay at the front of the peleton at most times (to ensure that you make all the decisive breaks or be in the front if the wind splits the peleton)
 - Have a strong bunch of domestiques (who can bring in the attackers, shield the leader from the winds and deliver him safely to the base of the major climbs)

Doping can help you only in a couple of areas above by giving you the right amount of power and stamina to conquer climbs and Time Trials. Now getting all the above things right in one season itself is a tall order. A lot of things need to fall in place both for the leader and his teammates. The course also needs to suit the strengths of the rider, his teammates also need to be in good physical condition, he should be in good health etc. That is the reason why most major teams design their entire program towards conquering this race and ensure that their leader is on the podium. Just take a moment to consider the sheer magnitude of Lance Armstrong's achievement, for 7 consecutive years he got all the above factors right and won the race.

Doping might have helped him in some climbs, but was it luck which kept him in peak condition or ensured that he avoided all crashes for 7 consecutive years? Doping is of no use if your body and mind is not in the right condition for the race. Doping cant help you plan the strategy for race nor can it tell you when to attack or sit back. Recent reports indicate that most riders were doping at that time and it was a dark period for the sport, so by that yardstick he doped and raced with a bunch of similarly equipped riders and beat them for 7 consecutive years!!

On paper he has not had a single positive test in his career though there are many reports of hushed up positive tests and rescheduled tests to help him escape. The larger problem here is not him but the system (read UCI which governs cycling internationally), if UCI indeed knowingly covered up his positive tests then it has done the greatest damage to the sport. For a few extra million dollars in sponsorship money they have demoralized an entire generation of young riders who want to race and win cleanly.

What is astonishing is the single mindedness with which USADA pursued this case and painted the picture of a well organized cheating machine. Although I have not read the report and evidence submitted to UCI, I find it very tough to believe that almost everybody: coaches, fellow riders, team officials, doctors, administrators and lawmakers willingly helped one man cheat repeatedly to achieve glory. Everything worked with clock-like precision to enable Mr Armstrong get his much needed drugs right when he needed them and then hide / destroy the evidence right when it needed to be and all this went on for almost a decade!!

We all love heroes because they inspire us, we also like the examples of fallen heroes because they tell us what not to do. It is easy to call him a fallen hero and discard all his memories in this case but you cannot deny the popularity he brought to the sport. You cannot deny his social work or his spirit of survival.  Most importantly you cannot deny the single minded pursuit and conquest which combined all elements of strategy, power, planning and teamwork and delivered 7 consecutive Tour de France titles. In my book Lance Armstrong will always remain a cancer survivor, inspirational figure, a world class athlete and 7 time Tour de France champion.

One Year Later - Part 1

In the past I blogged about my experience of selling my old house, shortlisting a new one, getting a home loan and finally buying the dream house where I stay currently. Thanks for all the feedback regarding my earlier posts. Now that I am settled in the new house I thought it might be a good idea to write a bit about the experience of living in a big housing society. These are a few simple issues which are relevant to most new / 2-3 year projects which have been completed in Mumbai.

Quality of construction:
No matter what the reputation of the builder, you will NEVER get world class construction. Although my builder is a smaller guy, I spoke to friends who bough houses in complexes constructed by Rahejas, Hiranandanis and Runwals, and all of them had the same issues. In the age of increasing interest rates and high costs of conducting business most builders cut a few corners here and there. Most try to do it in a manner which is not very visible. One year down the line you will have peeling paint in your house, a few leakages here and there, nothing serious which threatens the building structure but lots of small issues which will need to be addressed in the long, if not short term.
Most builders will send maintainence people to attend to your complaints (at least till the time the society is formed), but these people will just do a cover up job which will mask your problem and not actually solve it. The aim of the builder here is to procrastinate as much as possible and avoid buyers till the time the society is registered and he hands over the day to day functioning of the building to them.
Nothing much you can really do here, if you are still looking at houses and close to shortlisting one, please insist that the builder fixes all the visible flaws BEFORE you get possession of the house. If you have already bought the house the your best bet is to highlight these flaws to the builder AND the provisional / managing  committee of the building society, you will need to do a lot of follow up to actually get some work done.
Parking:
The thumb rule here is that most builder force you to buy 1 parking at least for a 2bhk house and 2 for 3.5/4 bhk houses. If you want more than one parking while buying a 2bhk house, the builder will discourage you by saying that you can buy it later or that some open parking is available. Here lies the catch, the builder has limited parking spaces for sale and by hoarding this precious commodity he is trying to maximize returns for himself. When you actually approach him later on for that additional space, he will quite a price 1.5-2 times the original rate.
Another common problem you will face is that the open parking (which is supposed to be free to all residents / visitors) is sometimes much smaller that what was actually committed, because the builder hardly earns any money from this he is not really interested is providing this facility. A scarier version of this problem is when your builder runs out of covered / basement parkings and starts selling open parking spaces. Technically this is illegal according to BMC, but rarely is any action taken against builders. The only option here is that you and your managing committee take this issue up with the builder aggressively and threaten legal action. I don't predict a very high success rate with this action but it worth taking a chance.
Society Formation / Managing Committee:
Am sure most of your will agree that the most entertaining part of living in a large building complex is the society meetings. Usually when people start coming to stay in the building/s the residents form a provisional committee amongst themselves to coordinate with the builders office on various issues and to pass on information to other residents.
Most of the times, the initial committee will find itself at loggerheads with the builder. This is mainly because the builder takes advance maintainence for 12 / 18 / 24 months from you at a particular rate but the actual maintainence cost is much lesser. Secondly in most cases this advance maintainence money is supposed to include property tax for the first year at least. When the committee brings this to the builders notice, he will come up with some opaque explaination which usually does not make any sense. Then the builder will question the validity of the committee and ask if they enjoy the full confidence of the members of the society. I saw the same script being repeated at 3 different building complexes.
Most common area where the builder cons you are:
 - Not paying maintainence for unsold flats
 - Not paying  / negotiating the property tax with BMC and leaving the residents with a high bill in the end.
 - Claiming that the money for maintainence is over and trying to pass on all responsibility to the society.
 - Not paying any maintainence / tax for the flat in the building which he uses as a sales / admin office.

In the end there is nothing really which you can do to force the builders hand if he has decided to screw you. Your only recourse is complaining aggressively to your society and maybe taking legal action which will drag on for ages. The bigger builders will be slightly more careful here because they have other upcoming projects, so they would not want negative feedback from present ones to affect them. However that does not mean that they will be completely honest and fulfill all their promises. It is in the DNA of a a builder in Mumbai to take buyers for a ride and he will do so. This is simply because the laws and the administration in Maharashtra are completely skewed in favour of the builder's lobby.
Let this not discourage you, if you keep your eyes and ears open and fight for your rights you will end up with a decent deal.
Hope this advice helps. Feedback most welcome.

My Take on the IPL Auction and a dream for a better tomorrow.

The recent auction of players for IPL 4 gained a lot of media coverage. Some segments were happy that players are getting paid as much as their counterparts in other global sports, some were unhappy at this commoditizing of players while some emotional fans were upset at injustice meted out to their favorite players when they were not bid for by any of the franchises. Most criticism however is not fair unless one can provide a better alternative; I shall humbly try to do the same in the next few paragraphs.

Let us go back to how IPL began. It was envisaged on the lines of EPL with franchisees owning teams and getting a share of advertising and television revenues from the board. However that was where the similarities ended, IPL had a series of auctions to sell city based franchises and players to maximize revenues. They went about signing opaque (sometimes bordering on shady) advertising and television deals. Finally in a so called attempt to create a level playing field they capped the budget available to recruit players and capped the salaries of domestic players. In between there was a lot of tinkering with the player retention rules and many changes were made to favour certain teams.

A lot has been written in the media about brand IPL and its value. The concept of value was mainly based on the money received for television rights and the amount for which minority stakes were sold in some teams. No one really knows exactly how much money does a franchise makes in a year or what is its profitability. EPL has been around for a long time and has evolved as a brand, the main thing which creates value for a franchise there is the performance of a squad and its fan base. The big teams have created revenue streams for themselves (apart from revenue share and ticket sales) over the years in areas like themed restaurants, merchandise and appearance money for international tours.

Now lets look at the IPL model, we started with 8 franchises who won their team licenses for a period of 10 years by bidding (BCCI’s patented formula to maximize revenues). 2 more teams were added with even higher valuations. Since the term for which a franchise holds a team license is relatively small, for most businessmen it was a difficult proposition to make money, hence some chose to divest some shareholding to strategic investors who in turn invested big bucks hoping for an exit when teams would be allowed to go public. However the stake sale rules and future exit options remain a grey area for the teams currently, so lets assume a team owner is stuck with his / her investment for the next 10 years (7 now).

My model to allocate players for various franchises is based on 3 basic tenets:
- Free and Fair remuneration to for players in line with their capability and popularity.
- Freedom for teams to structure their squad without any ad-hoc / random rules about spending caps and transfers.
- Level playing field for all teams and players.

It is basically a mix of rules used in EPL and Pro-Cycling. Following some rules used in EPL / various European Football Leagues will ensure that the price discovery mechanism and recruitment of players is fair. A fair bit can also be learnt from rules in Pro-Cycling which ensure that teams adhere to moral and ethical criteria also apart from financial criteria to retain their franchise licenses.

Let me explain this in detail, my proposed model for player recruitment is as follows:

- No auction, teams to contact players individually and make offers for a 1, 2 or a 3 year contract. A list of all players available to play for IPL (part time or full time) to be made available by BCCI.
Why should a player be forced to play for any franchise? Even if it pays him the maximum amount of money. The first principle of this model is to treat the players with respect and give them choices, and not dictate terms to them. It’s a player’s prerogative that which team he wants to play for, if he is able to negotiate a good offer with that team fine, else he can consider the offers made by other teams and select the one which suits him the best. Do you think a Sachin Tendulkar will agree to play for a Kochi or a Rajasthan team even if he is paid double the amount Mumbai is paying him currently? Brand Sachin has a strong association with Mumbai and am sure both Sachin and the owners of the Mumbai team understand that, so no matter what the money am sure he will continue playing for the Mumbai Indians.

At the end of every season, a list of players whose contracts are expiring plus new players who wish to be a part of IPL will be circulated to all franchises and they can accordingly renew / renegotiate contracts with existing players and offer new contracts to others.

The absence of auctions will also ensure that no party (read N Srinivasan) can rig the auction to suit his or her dubious motives. It obviously will upset BCCI and Set Max because the advertising revenue will come down. A lot of seniors and young players will be spared the humiliation of no one bidding for them.

- No upper cap on team salary purses, teams can pay as much as they want. Exit clauses to be included in player contracts, so in case a player wishes to change teams mid-way through his contract another team can buy him out for an agreed transfer fee (similar to rules in European Football Leagues)
Most people will argue that this rule is not fair and will heavily favour teams which are flush with funds like Mumbai. I say no, simply because at the end of the day Cricket remains an investment for Mr Ambani. He might pay a huge sum of money to the entire Indian cricket team and make them agree to play for Mumbai, but will he recover his investment? It takes a crazy cricket fan or an egoistic fool to keep pumping money into a team to buy the top players and not get the expected returns.

The BCCI started by making us believe that IPL will be great for players and will popularize cricket in the country. It is great – but only for a bunch of top players. The domestic players who performed very well got their dues, but as far as earning money is concerned, only the ones with an India cap are eligible to appear in the auction and discover their market worth. The rest have to follow the diktat of the BCCI and get paid peanuts. The number of places in the national cricket team will always be finite, and most of these places will be occupied by existing players, so essentially we have a bunch of talented domestic youngsters vying for 3-4 open spots in the team and most of them will only warm the benches. Some might get a few endorsements due to the fact that their performances on field have made them known faces on television, but a vast majority will still not get paid what they are worth.

Taking a leaf out of pro-cycling, the teams should provide a financial guarantee to prove that they have more than enough funds to cover player salaries and administrative expenses to avoid situations like Punjab and Rajasthan where players were not paid their dues on time. Any instance of a player not being paid on time should be penalized and repeated offences should carry an even stricter penalty like cancellation of team license.

The stipulation about minimum number of under 19 players and players from the catchment area can take care of the balance of the team and ensure that it is not loaded with international superstars.

- In order to maintain the regional flavor of the tournament and to help build team fan base around the city / state, a minimum number of players (between 6-8 preferably) to be stipulated which have to be hired from their catchment area. However these domestic / capped players to be paid as per the terms they negotiate with the team.
Am sure most of you will agree with this argument. I still can’t understand why should a Venugopal Rao be paid Rs 3 crore and a Manish Pandey be paid only Rs 20 lakhs. Would this situation arise if players are allowed to negotiate their own terms? My guess is as good as yours.

- Present rule of having 3-4 (am not sure) under 19 players from the catchment area players for each team should stay, but once again the franchises are free to negotiate terms with the players
- A minimum base salary to be stipulated for any player who wishes to play in the IPL (domestic or international), say $15000 - $20000, this ensures that players are not exploited.


Most franchises made big noises about helping develop cricket in India by setting up training camps and youth academies. Am not sure how much has been done on this front (maybe the media finds this kind of reporting boring), but it would do a lot of good if BCCI makes some of these activities mandatory to retain the franchise. Similarly an anti-doping clause and one preventing mis-reporting of player ages also needs to be drafted in somewhere to ensure that clean, fair cricket is played. Somewhere down the line the BCCI needs to take a call if its objective is to maximize revenue from Cricket in India or to promote the game. If a Guthka baron is ready to pay $100M to own a team which he will use as a vehicle to promote his brand of mineral water in a form of surrogate advertising and an ex Cricketer is ready to pay $75M to own a team and plans to set up a youth academy along with the franchise I am sure the BCCI will opt for the former, they might even debar the ex Cricketer and stop his pension to ensure that he does not have the guts to bid against a corporate entity which will help BCCI earn lots of money.

Well that’s my take on the IPL auction and the franchise system. I still believe that IPL is a good concept and has definitely done a lot of good for Indian Cricket. A lot more can still be achieved if the scumbags who control BCCI see reason and stop monetizing the game at the expense of talent.

Your feedback will certainly be appreciated.

Sporting Moments of 2010

With the Football World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in the same year, it was bound be an exciting one for all sport lovers. Apart from the standard Cricket, Tennis and Football fare my 'must follow' sporting list has grown to include Chess and Cycling also. But I still remain a believer and religiously follow the expolits of my fellow countrymen in other sports like Boxing, Wrestling, Billiards, Snooker and Hockey where I feel we still have a chance to be world beaters.

Am trying to analyse some noteworthy performances below mainly from the Indian point of view. The list might be biased towards some sports which I like and enjoy much more than others, but what the hell..whats the point of writing a blog when you cant glorify your sporting heroes :-)

Most Promising Performance of the Year: Ashish Kumar (Gymnastics) and Virdhawal Khade (Swimming)
These have traditionally been events where nations like USSR  / Russia, USA and China have built their Olympic dominance (apart from Athletics). India has been amongst the weaker participants in these sports and we usually participate only to make up numbers and to gift a sport administrator and his family a trip abroad. This is what makes their performance significant. Competing against and winning against the Chinese sporting machinery is no mean feat, especially when your own nation hardly follows the sport or cheers for you. Lets hope this means a new dawn for Swimming and Gymnastics in India.
Other Noteworthy Performances: Bimoljit Singh and Sandhyarani Devi (Wushu)

Disappointment of the Year: The Indian Shooting Team at the Asiad.
Technically speaking this should not even count as a disappointment. Barring Ronjon Sodhi and Gagan Narang none of our shooters are in the top 5 rankings of their respective disciplines. However we choose to glorify them after their performance in the CWG against average or mediocre teams like Australia and England. Their true test was always going to be against China and the Middle East Countries and this is where they fell flat. NRAI is also to blame. Faulty selection process, cumbersome process to import guns and ammunition added to the woes of our shooters. However all said and done, Shooting still remains one of the most promising events where India can expect an Olympic medal.
Other Disappointments: Tiger Woods (Golf), Lance Armstrong (at the Tour de France)

Indian Performance of the Year: Vishwanathan Anand and Sachin Tendulkar
Playing against one of the strongest players in the world in his home town can be a daunting prospect for anyone. Add to that a 30 hr car journey (due to the Volcanic erruptions in Europe) and psychological warfare by the Topalov camp in not wanting to give Anand an extra day to prepare for the match can be enough for any top sportsperson to crack. Things got even worse when a miscalculation in moves cost him the first game, things could not have been worse for the reigning world champion and it looked like Topalov would run away with the match. But like a true champion Anand won the next game flawlessly and went on to beat Topalov with Black in the final game to retain the World title.
I dont think I need to write anything about Sachin's 200 at Gwalior. It is definitely amongst the top 3 global sporting performances of the year according to my list (am sure a lot of sport analysts and journalists would agree). But our great man didnt stop at that, he continued tormenting his opponents and had a fantastic year in Test Cricket as well capping it with his 50th Ton.
Other Noteworthy Performances: Saina Nehewal (Badminton), Sushil Kumar (Wrestling), Vijender Singh (Boxing), Womens 4 x 400m relay team

Match of the Year: Holland vs Brazil (World Cup Football) and Ranji Trophy Final (Mumbai vs Karnataka)
Well I am not a football fanatic and do not watch the Premiership or La Liga regularly, I do try to catch the important matches. However the World Cup and The Champuions Trophy knock out stages are a different matter and I try to watch each and every match. I am a big Brazil fan and expected them to win this year. Simply because it is one of tose teams which plays its best on the big stage. They are capable of raising their game at the appropriate moment. Be it a terrific free kick or a brilliant save from a goalkeeper, the Brazilians always find something special at the World Cup.  So to see them outplayed was a shock, but I enjoyed every moment of the match. I think the football played was of the highest quality and Wesley Sneijder had that extra bit of special play in him to deny the samba boys.
Talking about Cricket, one can quote dozens of interesting T20 matches or ODIs, but for the sake of the game and purists I have confined my search to Test Matchs only. The first test of the India vs Australia Test series was a prime candidate for this title, but the patriot in me won. We rarely watch domestic cricket because the matches are boring, pitches are lifeless and the big stars rarely play. I do not remember any domestic match (barring the IPL) in the last 10 years generating so much excitement. A perfect pitch, some brilliant performances by youngsters (Abhimanyu Mithun and Vinay Kumar deserve a special mention) and a nail biting finish made this match a memorable one. Lets hope the trend continues in domestic cricket.

Global Sporting Performances of the Year:

1. Rafael Nadal: Rafa capped a brilliant year by winning the US Open title to complete a career slam. Barring Roger Federer no one has displayed this kind of brilliance on the court lately. Even Roger would agree that this has been one of the most dominating performances in recent times by any tennis player. Although Roger will always be the GOAT in my books, Rafa is getting closer and will rank quite high when he hangs up his boots.
2. Fabian Cancellara: Winning the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix back to back, Wearing the Yelloe jersey in the Tour and winning the World Time Trial Title for a record 4th time, this man had a fantastic season and looked nothing short of invincible in the cobbled classics and TTs.
3. Spain: Rarely has a team come back and won the world cup after losing their first match. A team known for its attacking style of football scored only 7 goals in the entire tournament but still played brilliantly, lifting their game to the highest level when required and won their first World Cup. With the Euro and World Cup trophies they have finally shed the underachievers tag.

 Note: I dont follow a lot of Baseball and Basketball so many noteworthey performances in these games might have been overlooked.

Tales from The Metropolis: The War begins

Haroun looked across the vast expanse of the lands of the Shire and saw his force. Finally it was time for him to fulfil his destiny, the one the Oracle made to his mother. It was said that he would be a warrior greater than his father, Alexander the Great, and would lead the worlds largest force in the war that would end the world. His battle hardened face carried many scars, but none of his expressions gave away the pain he felt for the great sacrifices he had to make to reach the position he was in. This was no time to feel the pain, he was a man on a mission, he was leading the largest force the world had ever seen in the mother of all battles. He was the commander in chief of the armies of Odysseus.

It was a three pronged combination, the left flank was led by the Witch King of Angmar, the fearsome head of the Nazgul, he led about 3 battalions of human soldiers along with 2 battalions of Druids led by their Master Sorcerers, he also had his main strike force - The Nazgul, led by his deputy Khamul - The Shadow of the East. The Nazgul were deformed men with mysterious magical powers, it is said they descended from a line of humans and socerers. The Nazgul rode on huge flying creatures called the Furies, who belonged to the line of Great Fire Dragons form the erstwhile kingdom of China. The Nazgul riding on Furies were almost impossible to fight, apart from the spells of fear they cast on their opponents, they could also shoot energy beams and were excellent swordsmen. The Furies were the unmatched lords of the sky, they could fly at speeds no bird had ever known, the only thing that could match them was the wonderful flying machine built by the Jedi. They could also breathe fire and were mentally connected to their lords the Nazgul, they didn't need any verbal instructions, their mental bond was enough to relay information.

The central formation was led by Haroun himself, it consisted of 8 battalions in total, each led by a great warrior, fighting monk or a magician. This formed a bulk of their army and consisted on the most powerful fighters ever seen in the world. The winners of Tekken and the Mortal Kombat tournaments were also fighting for Odeyssus under the personal supervision of Haroun. Haroun himself was protected by the elite andorid force provided by COBRA - the worlds biggest terrorist organization. How COBRA came about to help Odysseus in this quest is the subject of another story to be told in time.

The formation to the right was the slowest moving. However it was the one which packed the maximum power. The Robots from Megapolis with their seige machines were the ones who would break down the walls of Sattelite City. Apart from the machines, the Robots had at their disposal some of the deadliest guns and missiles which the world had never seen before. They were a peaceful science loving community which mostly kept to themselves, till Odeyssus made them the offer which would determine the future of their race some months ago. They were here to play their role in the world changing events which were about to unfold.

Markus the gatekeeper was the one who first noticed the seemingly never ending army marching towards their gates. The army was almost 3 miles long and stretched to a mile and a half in breadth. Just the sight was enough to scare any man to death, but Markus was made of sterner stuff. The chief gatekeeper had fought many battles alongside Achilles himself. He sounded the war horn. Within minutes the war council of Satellite city begin its first meeting in over 5 years. They never needed to fight, the fear of their army was enough to scare enemies away, and when they fought, they never lost. The only undefeated standing army of the world might have to go to war now. Grandmaster Yoda headed the meeting, Ajax, Achilles, Hercules, Thor, Obi Wan Kenobi, The Bride and Abhimanyu were in attendance.

Grandmaster Yoga was the spiritual leader and healer who had guided Achilles all this life, and now when the city Achilles had built was facing its greatest test, it was only natural that he turned to the wisest man in the world for advice. 'Powerful it is, their army' spoke Master Yoda, 'But fear you must not, The Force is with us, our greatest advantage'. ' How long do you reckon we could hold out before Lord Achilles will have to join the battle?' asked Ajax. 'We could easily hold out for 4-5 days on our own and push them back, but if Haroun enter the fray, the rules of the game might just change' said Hercules. They deliberated on battle strategies and tactics for some more time, till Achilles spoke. ' Thank you my brothers and colleagues, and Master Yoda, for always believing in me. Today our city, our land, the one which we built with our love and care faces its greatest test. 7 days is how long the war will last. I don't expect anything from anyone here, but I just want to ask you of one thing. Go out and fight like you have never fought before in these 7 days. Our destinies as warriors were written long ago and many of us are expected to perish. But no one can take these 7 days away from us. Let us fight together one last time for the City which is mother to all of us.' With these words he walked away from the hall to start his preparations for the war and Ajax gave instructions to the deadliest fighting force in the history of 4th age to assemble.

So Long and Thanks for the House..

I have been writing about my experiences in searching for a house and buying one over the past few weeks. This is the final post in this series when I finally get the keys to my dream house.

Story so far: After unsuccessfully searching through property portals I finally found a buyer for my house in Navi Mumbai. I started searching for a house in Chembur in Mumbai and found one within my budget, had a traumatic experience in getting a home loan.

Once a bank gives you a sanction letter for that elusive home loan, do not under any circumstances think that all your troubles are over and the bank will easily disburse the amount sanctioned. The bank still has a couple of tricks up its sleeve, namely the legal and technical evaluation of the house.

The legal is a straightforward step where the bank just goes through your registered agreement with the seller (in case you approach them for a loan after registering) or examines the draft sale agreement, this is mainly to ascertain the agreement value and the facilities / amenities and space included in it. Banks have a panel of legal advisors who do this and it takes 1-2 working days. Since most agreements are in a standard format, this should not give you any trouble.

Then comes the killer, the technical evaluation and the valuation. Technical evaluation means examining the building plans and permissions and determining if it matches what the seller is offering you. Typical documents which are checked are the municipal corporation / relevant authority approved building construction plans showing the areas of the flats and the Occupation Certificate given to the builder by the relevant authority (BMC in Mumbai). An OC (currently in news because of the Adarsh scam) is granted to the builder only when the entire construction is done as per the approved plans and all the relevant approvals are held.

Now if you are buying an under construction property, the OC is not required, just a copy of the commencement certificate (a document which allows the builder to start construction as per the approved plans) is required. Once the banks technical team (or an outsourced firm) checks these documents and ascertains they are in order they send a technical team to visit the house and confirm if its built as per plans and specifications. Be very very scared if you are buying a house in Navi Mumbai, because most builders here use their own concept of super built up area (to charge you extramoney), and usually it never matches the super built up area they are claiming to sell you. That’s one of the reasons why most agreements have carpet area (the actual usable area) mentioned. This is a problem typically with the smaller builders, none of the big guns will screw around like this because they depend of the banks to fund them as well as their customers.

Once the banks has checked the approvals and physically matched the specifications a bank appointed firm does a valuation of the apartment. This is where most of us get screwed. The banks sanction letter has a killer line in the fine print ‘ Bank shall disburse 80-90% (whatever is approved) of the agreement + stamp duty and Registration value OR 80-90% of the valuation conducted by a bank appointed firm whichever is lower’. This is the line which killed me both the times (in 2007 as well as 2010). Most of the times the valuation done by the banks valuers is lower then the agreement value. However most banks are accommodating here and have some sort of an understanding with the valuers and manage to get the desired valuation. Once again MNC and PSU banks screw you here and they refuse to manage this aspect leaving you in the lurch in the last minute.

Just imagine your situation when your bank informs you at the last minute (just a couple of days before you have committed final payment to the seller) that they will disburse Rs 4-5 lakhs less due to valuation issues. If you are on a tight budget like me, managing to arrange this amount in just 2 days is a tall order and can cause immense stress. Its too late to even go to another bank because the process of approval takes 5-6 days minimum. In some cases the seller has a clause in the agreement which enables him to charge you a penalty or interest on delayed payment screwing you further.

To cut a long story short, I faced this issue but luckily I am a bank employee and knew some people around, so a few emails and phone calls later the home loan department agreed to increase my valuation basis the podium parking (a 1st or 2nd floor parking area) which my builder had allocated to me (god bless him) which in the eyes of the valuation agency is much more expensive than a stilt (which is a standard covered ground floor parking) or a basement parking (I thought a basement is more expensive to build with the digging and all).

A few tips to tackle the final leg of this loan disbursal journey:

- I would strongly suggest going in for a bank approved project (if under construction) simply because the banks have all the documents required and wont pester you for it and also because the valuation is not an issue here because of an implicit agreement between the bank / financial institution and the builder.
- If you are buying a ready possession property directly from a builder, please go through a bank which has funded transactions in that building, makes life easier.
- Some banks / institutions agree to check the valuation upfront and let you know if there might be a problem with disbursement. Notably ICICI (in some cases) and HDFC. This is great news because the stress later on is just not worth it.
- If you are buying a ready possession property which is more than 2 years old from a seller and the society is not formed then you are screwed. MNC and PSU banks wont fund you. Private Banks will take a call on a case to case basis. Your best bet would be NBFCs like Deewan Housing, Indiabulls etc.
- In the above case if the society is not formed a NOC from the builder is needed to complete the sale. Most builders charge a fee for it. Currently in the Mumbai market the buyer and seller pay this fee jointly (usually in a 50-50 ratio).
- If you are buying a flat from a seller and a society has been formed, please check beforehand that the society has all the relevant documents which your bank / NBFC might require. In case the society is very old and has lost documents, please don’t bother wasting time with banks and head to NBFCs.

Wait my dear prospective home buyer, if you tackle the valuation leg do not think that disbursement is just a day away. Banks in this country still have some ridiculous rules to screw you. Some idiotic banks insist that the builder submit his KYC (not the firm of the builder like Raheja Constructions but Mr Raheja himself), obviously the builder will ask you to take a hike if you ask for it because he does not have any dealing with your bank and is not expected to share his personal documents without any rhyme or reason. In such a case, please scream at your bank, threaten to drag them to RBI and make a huge noise so the bank will finally relent and waive this condition.

Some general tips which I might have forgotten in my earlier posts:
- HDFC rocks in the business of giving home loans, they have been doing this business successfully for many years and is fair and transparent to its customers. In case you are looking at speed (occasionally with some errors) go to ICICI Bank.
- Please avoid MNC Banks as far as possible as they are very rigid with their rules and will give you attention only if you are a private banking or a client who gives them lots of mutual fund and insurance business.
- Go to PSU only if you know the branch manager very well and the rates are low enough to justify the long wait for approval and disbursal.
- Please make enquiries with prospective neighbors about the builder, if possible read the society notice board. You might find out something you didn’t know. Please discuss it upfront and get a clarification from the builder before signing on the dotted line.

So finally after two months of struggling with banks, agents, property portals and builders I finally paid off my builder and got possession of my new 2BHK house in Chembur. Hope the blog posts are helpful and make you prevent the stress and sleepless nights which I spent in this process. Your feedback and suggestions are hugely appreciated.

The Househunting Chronicles - Part 3 - The return of the Banker

Story till now: I had purchased a property in Nerul on the outskirts of Mumbai in early 2008. I finalized a sale transaction for the property recently and started looking for houses near Chembur in Mumbai close to where my parents stay. Had shared a few observations about the entire process in my previous blog posts.

Having finalized my dream home and paying a token to the builder, I started another painful process called 'Searching for a Home Loan'. Having taken a loan for my last purchase in 2008, I was quite experienced with the process and was aware of the various steps and processes. Since I had spent many sleepless nights in 2008 worrying about my loan disbursement I decided not to take any chances this time. My plan was simple - Apply to 2-3 banks at the same time and take the loan from the one which gives the best deal in terms of interest rate and speed of disbursement.

For the uninitiated let me first take yo guys through the process of a home loan sanction and disbursement in India. (Disclaimer: This is not a moronic Economic Times type articles meant for the retards)

Step 1: The collection of documents. Since I belong to the salaried class I shall cover aspects mainly related to my clan. If you have less than 2 years of work experience, please don't bother applying to a Private, MNC or a PSU bank for a home loan, you are better off trying with a NBFC.
Basic documents you will need are:
 - Salary Slips (3-6 months depending on the bank which you are applying to
 - Form 16 (1 - 3 years depending on the bank which you are applying to)
 - Bank Account statement (6 months minimum, and this is for the account into which your salary is paid)
 - PAN card copy (everyone needs it)
 - Identity and Address proof (Driving License or Passport Copy)
 - Photographs (1-4 depending on the bank where you apply)
 - IT returns (1-3 years, usually Form 16 should do, but some banks insist on this)

These are some basic documents which every bank asks for. I suggest that you make 3-4 sets and keep them ready. Please ensure that you sign on each and every page of all the documents. Most banks do this to confirm that the documents received are from prospective customer only and not someone else (to prevent fraud).

Now for the silly document requests.
 - Copies of degree / post graduation certificates (some PSU banks)
 - Copies of repayment records and closure letters of past loans (once again PSU banks and some NBFCs)
 - Recommendation letters from branch managers where you took education loans in the past (Bank of baroda actually asked me for this)
 - Appointment letter from present employer (some private banks and most PSU banks ask for this)
Tips:
 - If you are applying for a joint loan with the wife / husband, please keep a copy of your marriage certificate ready. if you haven't bothered getting your marriage registered forget about applying for a joint loan. (more tips about obtaining a marriage certificate in a later post)
 - If you have any personal loans / educational loans / car loans please mention it truthfully in the application form, else the bank credit will get back saying you withheld information from them.
 - There is a difference between a co-applicant and a joint applicant. A co applicant is a stupid concept introduced by banks to ensure that someone takes over the liability in case you die, the co applicants financials wont be considered for loan eligibility and he / she need not be a joint owner of the property. A joint applicant is also a joint owner of the property and his / her financials are considered to increase your loan eligibility.
 - If your loan amount is small (below Rs 25 lakhs) even Sales executives will throw attitude and collect your documents according to their convenience.

Step 2: Logging in the documents
This is where the home loan executive collects your documents and creates a file in your name. The file is checked for discrepancies like missed signatures, information missing from the home loan application form etc. In case there is any discrepancy then the executive will contact you again and get it rectified. Finally when your file is complete in all aspects, it is logged in the operations department of the Home loan vertical. This process is almost uniformly followed by most banks.

Tips:
 - The worst time to log in your file would be the last five days of a month. The executive will keep avoiding you on one pretext or the other. Most of them have disbursement targets and they are running around to get the disbursals in the cases which are already sanctioned. The best time to send your documents for processing would be the first 10 days of the month.

Step 3: The Verifications
This is a two part process, the first part consists of verification of your home and office address and telephone numbers. The second part consists of verifying your CIBIL records to check for any past defaults in loan payments / credit cards.

Tips:
 - In case you have a friend working in the credit card department of any bank please use your charm and get a copy of your CIBIL report for free beforehand. You can also get it through a painful process through the CIBIL site which is best avoided. Usually banks look for a CIBIL score of 750+ to sanction a loan
 - If you have some late payments in your credit card or personal loan accounts worry not, they are unsecured loans and a home loan is a secured one so the late payments don't matter so much. However a default is a serious matter and might result in you application being declined.
 - Many a times (especially with PSU banks) you repay a loan and they forget to update the CIBIL records. Always ensure that you have documentary proof of a loan repayment (statement / closure letter). This is important because outstanding loans on your CIBIL file will reduce your loan eligibility.

Step 4: The Approval
This is where the people in the credit department approve your home loan amount and give the go ahead to another department to issue the sanction letter to you.

This is just the start, we still have 2 more painful processes lined up which I shall cover in my next blog post. The technical and legal evaluation of the property can make or break your deal.

General Tips and Observations:
 - The first thing you need to be aware is how much loan you want and for how long. Private Banks usually finance 85% of the property value (this includes agreement value + stamp duty + registration). ICICI bank goes up to 89% in some cases. Banks like Kotak do this for their employees but not for external customers. PSU banks are generally more chindi and sometimes do only upto 80%. MNC banks also usually do 85%, for some senior employees they go upto 90%. So if your agreement value is 90 lakhs ad stamp duty and registration works out to Rs 10 lakhs. Most banks will want to give you only Rs 80 lakhs to Rs 85 lakhs. Rest has to be paid from your own pocket BEFORE loan disbursal. Bank will also ask you to show your account statement to evidence that the payment was indeed made from your own account.
 - In case you wish to get 90% funding, ICICI Bank or an NBFC (Indiabulls / Reliance / Dewan Housing Finance) would be your best bet. The interest rates in the NBFCs will be slightly higher (0.5% to 1% more thank bank rates).
 - Please make it very clear to all bank executives that you are negotiating with 2-3 banks for rates and approval terms, ensure that they give you an option to stop processing your papers once you have finalized something with a competitor. Once the sanction letter is out, no one will refund your processing fees.
 - Some banks (like HSBC) give 25 year loans, this is really helpful to increase your loan eligibility and reduce EMIs.
 - Some banks like Standard Chartered and HSBC have an interest saving product called Smart Home / Interest Saver. Its a very good product where all your savings go into a savings account linked to your home loan account. The tenor of your home loan keeps increasing according to the savings kept in your account.
 - Most banks have a tie up with General / Life Insurance providers to provide you with a term cover on your loan which reduces with your outstanding. Simply out, if you die the insurance company pays off your home loan and the property belongs to your family. However some banks force you to buy the insurance product and some even club the premium amount with your loan amount hence reducing your payout to the builder. Make it very clear to the sales executive if you want the insurance or not and ensure that the premium amount is kept out of your loan sanction.
 - Loan eligibility norms of most banks differ, however from experience I can safely say that PSU banks will show that you have the lowest loan eligibility. Private bank sand MNC banks are better.
 - If you are looking for low interest rates only please go to a PSU bank, however be warned that the sanction process takes 10-15 days there and largely depends on your relationship with the Branch Manager. Disbursal takes a further 15-20 days as their technical and legal evaluation procedures are too lengthy.
 - If the project is pre-approved / approved (for under construction properties) by a bank it makes a lot of sense to apply for a loan there as the legal and technical evaluation is already done. For a property which is for ready possession and if you are buying through a builder please enquire and find out which banks have financed flats in the building and approach those to reduce the time to disbursal.
 - Resale properties (where you are buying from the house owner) are slightly trickier. Most banks wont touch a flat if the building cooperative society is not formed yet. If the society is not formed please talk to the sales executive upfront and give your papers for processing only if he confirms that his bank finances such projects. Better still, give a copy of the previous sale agreement and related documents to the sales executive so that he can check and confirm.
 - If you are buying a property in Navi Mumbi be careful, two main issues: firstly the way the builders calculate super built up there is totally different from the way Mumbai city builders calculate it. As a result my 865 sq ft Chembur apartment is larger than my 970 sq ft Nerul one. Secondly there are two types of building plots Gaothan plots where the builder has purchased land from a villager who used to own it and CIDCO plots where the developmental authority (CIDCO in this case) sells the plot directly to the builder. Most banks will easily finance the second case and stay away from the first one. This is simply because in a Gaothan plot other family members of the villager might stake a claim to the plot in future and demand money from the builder and the property might get involved in a legal dispute. However a Gaothan plot becomes cool once a society if formed.

Enough gyan about the loan approval part for now. Please to let me know your views and feedback.

Coming Soon: So Long and Thanks for the House (where we evaluate the technical and legal aspects of a loan disbursal)

Previous posts about Househunting:
The Joke called Property websites
The Broker strikes back

The Househunting Chronicles: Part 2 - The Broker strikes back

In my last post I mentioned how property portals like MagicBricks and 99Acres have been useless in helping me find a property to buy which fits within my budget (upto Rs 90 lakhs). I was resigned to using the neighbourhood brokers to continue my search. So armed with the numbers of some brokers me and my dad started doing rounds of their offices.

Stop 1: A fat lady who claims to have sold many many houses in the area asks us point blank if we have the money to buy a property. I felt quite offended by the rude question and offered an irritated response saying that why else would we come to her. To this the lady said that she merely wanted to confirm if the deal for my Nerul property had been concluded and if I had the money to make a downpayment. That angered me and we walked out. I hated her attitude and made a mental note to ensure that I mention this to all my friends and acquaintances who were planning to buy a property in Chembur.

Stop 2: The real estate brokerage arm of one of the leading MNC banks of the country. This one was recommended to me by the wife. Their executive calls us to Diamond garden and promises to show us a 2BHK flat near Amar Cinema at Chembur, the cost of the flat isRs 75 lakhs. We reach at the given time, wait for 15 mins for the guy to show up, he leads the way on his bike and we follow in my car. Instead of taking a left turn to go towards Amar Cinema he takes a right and starts leading me towards Basant Cinema. I wonder if we heard wrong. He stops at a building there and says he is showing us a 3BHK flat now and will show us the 2BHK after that. We point out that we dont want a 3BHK becuse its not within my budget, he gives me the usual broker bullshit 'Sir dekh to lo, kya pata pasand aa jayega'. We see the house and like it a lot, but its quoted at Rs 1 cr so obviously beyond my budget. I once again mention my budget to the guy and tell him that I want to see house that are below this or equal to this amount. He nods his head. Next to took me to a building in the middle of nowhere and showed me a tiny pigeonhole which had rooms as big as my kitchen (seriously, I am not joking). The quoted price for the house was Rs 75 lakhs. No way on earth was I even going to consider it. The executive later called my wife and offered to show similar good properties, thankfully she politely declined.

Stop 3: My parents then went to the broker who had helped my Dad rent an office in Chembur. He showed them around 5-6 properties which either they did not like or were way beyond our budget. Finally he showed them a project which quoted an affordable rate and he claimed that he had done a deal a month ago at a rate which was Rs 200 per square ft lower than the amount quoted by the builder. Parents loved the property and told me about it. I too was kicked about it because it was a 16 storeyed tower with a swimming pool, club house and all that jazz. However I wanted to approach the builder directly and negotiate a rate. Here I made a big mistake, in my eagerness to get that Rs 200 discount, I told my Dad that we should inform the broker and tell him that we will give him a brokerage only if he manage to get us substantial discount.
A time was fixed and we headed to the builders office, the broker didn't bother calling us before the meeting. However when we were looking at the flat which we wanted to book, he called my Dad. Now I was irritated with him because he didn't bother calling us before and also because my friends recommended I deal directly with the builder, so I asked Dad to make an excuse and cut him out. Dad said he was out and would call him later. After looking at the flat we walked back to the builders office and our beloved broker was waiting for us there.
We began our negotiations with the builders representative, Mr Broker just kept quiet. My Dad finally told him to get us a good discount else he wont get his brokerage, so his highness finally 'requested' the builder "Sir, thoda kam kar dijiye please". I was irritated beyond my wits. Somehow we concluded our negotiations with Dad and My best friend (who is quite knowledgeable about property deals) being the major participants and managed to get a price which just about fitted into our budget. However the discount which we got was nowhere close to what the broker promised my dad.
Later on we found out that in fact this particular broker had not even closed the deals he was mentioning. And the price at which he quoted he closed the deal was also incorrect, the actual price was much higher. It seems he just made up the story to impress us and ensure that he gets something out of this deal.

We finalised the property and paid a token to the builder directly, Mr Broker-Who-wanted-a-small-cut was nowhere to be found and we decided to cut him out of the deal. If he comes back to fight Dad might give him a small token amount simply for the effort he put in to show them some properties.

Learnings:
1. Most brokers wont even show interest in you if your budget is small, they will throw massive attitude and behave as if they are doing you a favour by showing you some houses.
2. A lot of brokers tend to boast about the deals which they have done and their great contacts. Ideally you should make discreet enquiries within your circle, if that's not possible observe the broker closely. How soon can the broker get the keys to a flat, how soon can he get you a meeting with the owners etc will tell you a lot about how effective the broker is.
3. If a builder still has a site office in a ready possession project, do not even think of going through a broker. The builder will obviously give you a bigger discount as he does not have to pay the broker. Going through a broker makes sense only when the broker can ensure you a fixed discount over the last quote of the builder.
4. For under construction projects, ALWAYS talk to the builder directly.
5. A broker will usually try to show you flats which he wants to sell not what you want to buy. So if you want a 2BHK within a budget of 80 lakhs, he will show you a 3BHK with a budget of 1 cr first. Some brokers do this to show you how property rates are high and your budget is ridiculous, some do it in the hope that maybe you will like the property and might exceed your budget in trying to buy it.
6. The brokerage of the broker is ALWAYS negotiable.

Services you should insist your broker provide:
1. Negotiating the rate as per your budget not a compromise between what the owner wants and whats your final limit.
2. Helping you resolve any payment disputes / delays with the owners
3. Helping you with documentation (property related) for bank loans

There is a breed called as a 'good' and 'effective' broker, although its in danger of extinction. Finding one of this species will take some time and you might have to deal with lots of assholes