TCS - the forgotten hero

all lights are on ratan tata and his team for having pulled off the takeover of Corus steel, which will catapult tata steel into the global top 5 in terms of size. i know nothing about the steel industry - whether the tatas have overpaid to buy Corus , which was a penny stock a few years ago or its is truly a show of tata's mettle and benefits will be visible to all in a few years.

but what i do know is that the real heroes of this deal are far away from the spotlight and overseeing an army of programmers , which has created the wealth for mr tata to buy corus and consolidate his holding across group companies. yes, the boring programmers and the sober management of TCS to me are to the true heroes who have enabled tata's bold overseas moves.
from tata tea buys to the corus one, the debt component guaranteed by tata sons , which is primarily the holding company for TCS, has made these takeovers possible. that is, the cash flows from TCS, are being used to fund and guarantee the takeovers. in the Corus case, they even sold some TCS stock worth $2 billlion , i think.

now the issue i have with this is why sell parts of a great software company or keep it in bondage for many years to buy into steel companies or coloured or colourless water. TCS will have a market value equal to Infosys at least if listed on the Nasdaq - thats $33 billion or thrice what tatas have paid Corus. and TCS surely has a great future while larger mergers are always shrouded in uncertainties.

It is not just what you buy that counts but what you sell to enable the buy.
and in this case, the tatas , i think, have sold stupid and in the best possible scenario bought smart.
and maybe its time they acknowledge the real heroes.

global quality healthcare = global costs

But indian affordability needs critical illness insurance for global quality treatment

the indian middle is aspires for global quality in almost all aspects of daily living - from cars to overseas holidays.
but a crucial aspect in this whole scheme of thing is health care - whose costs have largely been affordable to the middle class for minor illnesses.
but in the area of critical illness, the aspiration to get global quality treatment comes at a global costs as most equipment and medicine are pricey even by western standards -such as the latest treatment for types of cancer , which can cost a few thousand dollars a month.
and family member often have to make the choice whether to provide t such treatment or not.
this is tough decision and emotionally a tearing one.
there is an interesting insurance policy from tata insurance which meets this need and it i think it is a very good idea for especially the young to take one. more details here

five ways to ride the india wave!

First, Name change :
Change the company name to include India. like to **** (India) Ltd from just the boring *** Ltd. If you are creative enough put India right in front of the name like India Intel (bangalore) Ltd ! this will lead to a 25% increase in m cap and never mind the results!

Second, Indian CEO:
hire an indian CEO. that will show how serious the company is about india. and in some ways only an indian truly knows how to do business in india - like the Vadafone chief who heads straight to delhi to buy something owned by a guy sitting in hong kong!

Third, Small Large India office
set up a small office in india with large plans and a large piece of land. like say a 1000 sf well furnished headquaters headed by a son of a indian minister surrounded by 1000 acres of greenery. you can be assured morgan stanley and goldman sacs will buy a part of your firm for rs 600 crore. hey, didnt they buy DSQ and pentamedia too!

Fourth , India food
make sure to serve only indian cuisine at those boring day long investor conferences. it will surely spice things up and let everyone know you are really hot on india!!

Last, List in India
then move for the kill. list your indian operations by following cairn's example. they added India to their name - Cairn India ltd . got an indian CEO with merchant banking experience .... and made some money in the process! sadly, if you cant find anything to sell to indian investors, try listing your indian head's mumbai residence in Indiaproperty.com, it may take care of a quarters profit requirements!

begin tagging children

tagging children is the only solution to protect children from such acts like the incidents in Noida,
and its need can be felt more than ever. concerned citizens and corporates are wondering what can be done. this best thing, is to bring out an low cost embedded tagging solution which can be easily tracked across vast regions.
those who wish away such devices, please note the Noida crime was cracked only because an adult victim was carrying a tagging device ( a mobile phone) , which took more than half an year to track down. surely, lower cost more effective devices can be easily brought to the market.
i wrote about this many months ago. here. and hope will never have to write about it again in such sad circumstances.