Interestingly, these two make up a single entry in our occult of 7, and not just because they are monozygotic twins (uh, identical) joined at the hip,

but because they are... them!

“My professional career has been very bizarre… After working for six years, I quit my job in 2001. I was singing at birthday parties and restaurants,” shares Raghu Ram, Associate VP- Shows, MTV India. To try and picture this tough looking bald guy with a guitar in front of a chattering audience, is obviously, not the easiest ask. Especially when he is better known for the carnage of expletives he leaves in his wake in the top rated show MTV Roadies.

Close at hand to share in the endearments is Raghu’s twin brother, Rajiv Laxman, Creative Director for Entertainment, Colosceum Media Pvt Ltd. Raghu and Rajiv come from a pro-education Brahmin family, a family which has been full of doctors, engineers, accountants and lawyers. Their mother has been a working woman – a journalist in the 1980s. “But then came the twist; me and Raghu both dropped out of college,” divulges Rajiv with a distinctive smile, and smiles more “In fact, I flunked twice in the same class.”

And then comes the quick professional training biodata summary from Rajiv, “This was 1994. TV18 wanted to open a training institute called Academy 18. But the problem was they were not experienced in training people. So to train themselves in training people, TV18 decided to pick the largest bunch of losers, train them and learn from that mistake and finally launch the academy one year later. So, the biggest bunch of losers were collected and me and Raghu led that pack. We got the instincts that this is the only place where we might have a chance because there was no need for any formal qualification.”

But during this time, the first real job interview that the two went for was at an equipment rental company where they were supposed to sit next to tripod stands. “That didn’t workout though... I still remember we went there with our Computers Diploma and Graphic certificates,” adds Rajiv laughingly. Finally, the duo was retained at TV18; a mind blowing experience, as they call it, because it gave them a crash course in every aspect of television. For the next six years, they worked together in the Delhi television industry. During this time, they worked with Miditech for a brief period; and also with many other production houses. And in the course of things, they also worked on a few shows for MTV – like MTV Youth, Public Demand, Record Tod etc.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Commercially (De)Vehicled!

The experts aren’t too bullish on the growth as they are of the view point that the company will see some more declines in the domestic sales figure in the next few months. However, they too agree upon the fact that after few months, when the comparable base for the company will be low, it will be back on the growth path. Moreover, the lower prices of raw materials will surely benefit Ashok Leyland; but it needs to clock better volumes to be able to reap considerable benefits. In fact, the company seems to be too cautious in its approach now and has already announced a reduction in its capital expenditure and investment plans for the current fiscal, taking it down to just Rs.1,000-2,000 crore during the next three years. This will certainly help the consumer vehicle manufacturer to save on working capital once it clears the inventories and pipeline stocks.

Though the company has cut costs aggressively, enabling it to record an operating margin of around 9% in the past two quarters, it’s the sharp rise in interest cost that has pushed Ashok Leyland (they had taken loans to increase capacity just before the start of the downturn) to the brink. In fact in 2009, the interest cost rose 139% to over Rs.118 crore. Moreover, the company had adopted pending modification in Accounting Standard 11 (that deals with the effects of changes in foreign exchange rates) by ICAI that placed a gloomy picture among investors this year. Had the earlier practice been followed, profits in the quarter and FY 2009 would have been higher by Rs.1 crore and by Rs.34.6 crore, respectively (as per a report by Angel Broking).

But then, the company isn’t looking too bullish on the product launches during this fiscal unlike India’s largest commercial vehicle maker by sales, Tata Motors that has already announced the launch of six new trucks as a part of its ‘world trucks range’. Tata Motors is trying to change its reputation of being a maker of low payload and fuel efficiency commercial vehicles via its new range. “Launching new products in the slowdown always helps in adding excitement to the market,” explains auto expert Tutu Dhawan.

Certainly, Ashok Leyland will have to look at the option of launching some new products in the market and especially in the light commercial vehicle segment if it wants to escape the avalanche fury. The launch of new vehicles will not only help in infusing excitement in the market but also will be very beneficial for the company in the long-run. Moreover the company should take an effort to augment its presence in the the light commercial vehicle segment too, if it doesn’t want itself to get stuck in the same situation again in future. Though, the experts believe that despite easier access to money, fleet operators may wait for freight volumes to pick up before they invest in new trucks but in the long run there is definitely a great demand for the segment in the market. Overall, as per the industry experts, the current fiscal will be a lot easier for the sales team at Ashok Leyland and who knows they might hit a safe base before the avalanche crushes them to pieces!

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An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Tata’s Jhingalala year

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Brand: Tata Sky
Agency: Rediffusion Y&R

Hrithik’s inclusion promoted such huge brand recall that the year saw Tata Sky’s DTH services experience a mammoth growth in numbers. Subscriber base crossed 1 million; an achievement that Tata Sky did not fail to peddle using small spots on TV featuring Paresh Rawal, Kirron Kher et al. All in all, a smashing success; Tata Sky’s subscriber base is sitting pretty above two million now, with newer services in its kitty.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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What’s tall, macho & still sexy?

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Brand: Mahindra Scorpio
Agency: Interface

Mahindra’s stylish Scorpio transformed not only India’s SUV market but also the auto major’s brand image - from a sturdy carmaker for the rural markets to one that can offer sexy machines for the urbane few. M&M spent close to Rs.20 crore on its ‘car plus’ launch campaign. The segment, growing at 14% till 2002, grew at 51% from July 2002 to March 2003.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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A good ‘Idea’ for the Tatas

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While it was a good idea on part of Birlas to buy out Tatas’ stake in Idea (as discussed earlier), Tata’s exit wasn’t bad either. It was now that they could focus entirely on their solo telecom venture, Tata Teleservices. In fact, Tatas gained a cool return of Rs.29.85 billion out of an investment of Rs.14.21 billion over a 12-year period in Idea. Moreover, Tatas were able to pocket a whopping Rs.44.06 billion (Rs.40.51 per share) by offloading the stake, which could now be infused in to Tata Teleservices. But that was not the only reason avers Harit Shah, Telecom Analyst, Angel Broking, “Tata’s decision to opt out of Idea Cellular was also prompted by their love for CDMA technology.” In fact, today the company offers CDMA services in all the circles of India. What’s more Tata Teleservices now plans to be a dual technology company offering both GSM and CDMA services in all the 23 circles by the end of this year. Wasn’t that a good idea for Tata, Sir ji!

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Shivers during summers?

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Samsung and Sony are not the only exceptions though... Almost all durable giants are working in the same fashion and are launching a host of products under their name. Whirlpool has recently launched many new products across categories and has also revamped its range of washing machines with 11 new models in the top-load and front-load range, with innovative features like 1-2-3 wash and ‘Sports Wash’. It has also launched new models of frost-free refrigerators and ACs with unique MPFI technology. LG is also betting high on a wide range of LCD TV and Commercial ACs this time. Similarly, Panasonic India is making efforts to promote green technology and is focusing heavily on office automation product like projectors, laptops and telephone and cameras (with swilling capabilities). Asserts Sabiha Kidwai, General Manager – Marketing, Panasonic, “We are investing almost Rs.10 crore this season and the key growth drivers for Panasonic will be high-end televisions and washers. Besides that, ACs and refrigerators are forecasted to show tremendous growth too!” Shantanu Das Gupta, VP – Marketing, Whirlpool of India also echoes out, “We are focusing on consolidating the already significant presence in ACs and increasing our presence in water purifiers & microwave ovens.”

But besides technology and innovation, raw materials contribute to a significant chunk of the operating cost structure for this industry. But here’s a relief – in 2009-10, declining prices of copper, steel and plastics are expected to drive down raw material prices. This will lead to improved overall operating margins for the companies. Moreover, the excise duty cut, CRR cuts and reduction in petrol prices are playing the fairy for the sector. Citing the benefits from the cuts by the government, Mahesh Gupta, Chairman, Kent RO Systems Ltd, explains, “To keep intact the existing customers and woo potential buyers a further cut-off of 2-5% would help keep the sales up and going. Moreover, we even expect that this cut in excise duty from 14 to 10% would prove beneficial and help us emerge strong from the crisis situation”.

Then there are also revamped retail plans that makes tomorrow appear better than the current gloomy now! For instance, Sony has changed the branding of its exclusive retail store from Sony World to Sony Centre. Then there is Das Gupta of Whirlpool who claims, “We work very cohesively with all our trade partners including traditional and modern trade formats. We have increased our presence to more than 12,000 outlets across India and are continuously increasing the same”. Similarly, other durable giants plan to increase their presence in the interiors of the country and are looking at increasing the number of channel partners. They also plan to leverage the shelf-space provided by major retail outlets like Big Bazaar, Reliance Retail, et al, to increase visibility by manifolds. LG is also targeting a robust 15% growth, focusing on tapping the bottom of the pyramid – the rural markets, through low-end range products.

But the bottom-line remains - summers this year are surely not going to be cool. Credit availability will haunt the customers, and for the companies, it will become more difficult to customise products without passing on the cost to consumers. And yes, if current exchange rates continue, the consumer durable giants will not be able to avoid increase in price thereby stifling consumer demand further! After all, dear consumer, the consumer durable industry isn’t proving so durable, eh?

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An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Fixed Money Plant

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While markets are at a mess, FMPs offer a great solution to investors not only for returns but also for saving taxes

Skepticism is one word which amicably describes the investors’ investment plans with regard to equity or equity related funds. Cautious investors are readily looking to bring down the risk percentage in their portfolio and as stocks continue to be amongst the most hated lot, debt investment avenues such as Fixed Maturity Plans (FMPs) which combines small investment, tax savings and assured returns seem all the more appealing. FMPs as the name suggests, come with a fixed maturity period ranging from 3 months to 3 years. These are debt schemes, where the corpus is invested in fixed-income securities. FMP helps in the mitigation of interest rate risk as they invest in instruments held till maturity and maintain the portfolio return throughout the tenure of the fund. It carries minimal liquidity risk as it is designed to encourage investors to remain invested till the maturity of the scheme. Of late it has been giving good competition to fixed deposits (FDs), PPF and NSC. It is no wonder that with an indicative yield of 10.6 – 11.75%, FMPs moped up a whopping Rs.440 billion of investor wealth in 2008 alone.

Lower tax incidence and assured returns are the key to the success of FMP. In the case of fixed deposits, the interest earned is added to the investor’s income, which is taxable at the rate applicable to the investor’s tax bracket (which means an outgo of 33% of tax for deposit holders in the highest tax bracket). However, with FMP, the investor can choose to treat the interest/gain from the FMP as capital appreciation, which has a lower rate of tax (about 10% without cost indexation and 20% with it). This is especially beneficial for FMPs with tenure for more than a year. Longer tenure FMPs can avail the double indexation benefits while FMPs with a duration of less than one year can benefit if the investor cashes the gain as dividends. This way the investor is taxed at just 12.5% of the returns. This is one of the primary reasons why this scheme is beneficial for investors in high tax bracket.

Meanwhile, with fund houses launching this product with a minimum investment of Rs.5,000 it is becoming a favourite among small investors as well. As far as assured returns are concerned the time horizon needs to be considered; an investor with one month horizon should opt for liquid funds while those with say 3-9 month time frame can opt for FMPs. However, a word of caution from K. Sitaram, Head of Crisil Fund Services, “Fund houses use higher indicative yields as a marketing gimmick but they end up investing in low-grade paper.”

With the stock market and mutual funds yielding very little to zero returns FMPs are offering a breath of fresh air. Risk - averse investors, especially those falling into the higher tax bracket should opt for FMPs as their portfolios do not change much.

Gyanendra Kumar Kashyap

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An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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“The hoopla is because of money, not quality”

Four-time National Film Award winner, Girish Kasaravalli, is a well known face in international cinema.

Would you say that in terms of cinematic excellence, is "Slumdog Millionaire" a perfect movie?
I would say it is very well shot, well acted and full of life. But in terms of content, it’s not at all a perfect movie. It starts of very well. As the film proceeds, it becomes slightly contrived, concocted and unrealistic. At one level, I felt that it is like cataloguing India which has slums, prostitution, communal tension, rich using the poor…like this. The first half-an-hour of the film is very interesting. Rest is pretty ordinary, even though it is an okay movie.

Has the film been made to cater to western audiences?
I think they have not deliberately done that. That is their perception of India. After all if you say if it is done by an Indian filmmaker, then I can say that he is trying to cater the western minds. But, in this case the director himself is westerner and his perception of India is entirely different.

If it’s not a perfect movie, why has this kicjed up such a hue and cry?
See, even "Gandhi" got plenty of applause when it won Oscar awards. If you compare "Slumdog Millionaire" with "Gandhi", it’s no match! Even other Indian films like "Salam Bombay", "Bandit Queen" and "Water" which were nominees at Oscar were much, much better than this movie and much more accomplished. We have classic film like Shaji N Karun’s "Piravi". What was happening here is that is entirely different. When it comes to popular cinema, Oscar is taken as the highest achievement. When it comes to serious cinema, Cannes is considered the Everest. I think hoopla is because of power and money not because of virtue of "Slumdog Millionaire" as a movie. And it is not just the Oscar: anything connected with the United States gains popularity in India and all over the world. For example, just look at the US presidential election's coverage in Indian media. We don’t see the same kind of coverage of the French presidential elections. In case of cinema, Hollywood is more powerful as far as marketing and money is concerned and hence the gaga. When it comes to intellectual content, French Cinema is in a higher strata. So, Cannes becomes much more important. The second thing is marketability, which can be noticed in Booker Prize too.....Continue

Jiah Khan: Terrified of dancing with Shahid Kapur

The much talked-about dance for Ken Ghosh's untitled film choreographed by Justin Timberlake's choreographer Marty Kudelka almost didn't happen. Reason? Jiah Khan got two cold left feet when she realised that she would have to match steps with Shahid Kapur for one of the most intricate dance items ever shot in this country. Finally, Jiah took a deep breath and took the plunge.

"It was the most fabulous experience of my life. Shahid looked like Justin Timberlake and I looked like Britney Spears. We even danced in their style," Jiah exults. "Learning my steps from such a well-known choreographer was a dream come true. Marty has definitely brought in a freshness to our song and dance routine."

In her film with Shahid Kapur, directed by Ken Ghosh, Jiah Khan plays a choreographer. "It is a dance film, and my first film with a co-star of my own age. So, I finally got to romance someone of my own age. Shahid is an amazing dancer. I don't know how he does it. I was scared because I had to match his steps. I knew I would not be able to match him. But I know I can hold my own. Two days before we shot the song, I stopped sleeping. I was terrorised."....Continue

Maha home problem

Since 1977, Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (Mhada) has been synonymous with affordable housing. Although the last few years did not really see ‘affordable’ housing coming up, the situation changed drastically three months ago when Mhada came out with its first ‘one-room-kitchen set’ at Malad-Malvani. Around 850 flats were sold, with almost a lakh Mumbaikars trying their luck at the lottery. The last year ended with a bang when Mhada announced its ‘town plan’ of 3,500 flats for lower and middle-income groups at Sion, Vikhroli, Ghatkopar, Dahisar and Chembur and high-end premium flats at Versova.

But that's the end of joy. Buyers would get their keys only after making full and final payment. Presently, the least expensive LIG flats available at Dahisar and Ghatkopar are priced at Rs 3.5 lakh, the expensive HIG Versova flats at Rs 32 lakh to Rs 42 lakh and the MIG flats are priced between Rs seven to 16 lakh, and a one-time payment might push people to avail of bank loans.....Continue

Licensing policies continue to stifle India

All across India, adulteration of fuel oil by mixing petrol with much cheaper and subsidised kerosene is a common practice, thanks to the major difference between the price of the two. As a result, the highly subsidised kerosene, meant for the poor, ends up being sold illegally in the open market; while the oil retailing firms continue to lose billions of dollars every year due to the subsidy, which continues to be a tool for vote-bank politics even when it’s no more a secret as to how it is misused and how much pollution it causes.

Forty-five years of license raj had done much harm and stifled this nation. Though things have changed for better in the last seventeen years of an 'economically independent' India since the advent of liberalisation, the remaining reminiscence of licensing continue to stifle the path to prosperity of the aspiring common man and put him at harm's way. After all, there’s no other economy where the price of junk scrap would be in lakhs and the prohibitive pricing of the quality liquor would drive the poor man to drink things equal to poison. Time to allow the invisible hand of the market economy do the talking.....Continue

‘Minus-avarice’ Antony

AK antony, congress mp, kerala

Even for his ideological rivals, one scene will always remain in their minds as vintage AK Antony stuff… then Kerala Chief Minister, now Union Defence minister, vacating his chief ministerial bungalow with just a picture of his mother. The man, who a few people uncharitably call parsimonious, has few belongings even now.

Never scared to take a principled stand, even opposing late Indira Gandhi on imposing Emergency, Antony has been known always as a ‘people’s politician’. In fact, commoners in Kerala admire him as the Lal Bahadur Shastri of the South. “Political differences apart, Antony is among the very few admirable politicians in Kerala. Though he belongs to a bourgeoisie party like Congress, all of us respect and adore him as a leader of the masses,” says CPI leader and MLA from Cherthala, the native place of Antony, P Thilothaman. That says something, coming from a partisan Red politician!

Antony has always been famous for his values and simplicity. While he was the Kerala CM, Opposition members joked about his elaborated simplicity: lunch at the Secretariat canteen, travelling by an Ambassador car. Veteran journalist Harihar Swarup once wrote about Antony’s austere living in Delhi: his sole possession at the ministerial residence was a transistor. And for Congress Vichar Vibhag vice-chairman and KPCC member Jayaprakash Panicker, Antony is a seed that Congress can sow anywhere without worrying about the crop.

His wife Elizabeth, who works as a bank officer, owns some land and a few gold ornaments. Antony has no other wealth of his own. He was born in a poor Roman Catholic family and had to struggle at every step, hardships that steeled him. Despite his religious background, he fought the church and its ills all his life, so much so that he was branded as a heretic....Continue

Only a united world can fight global terrorism and usher in peace

Take for instance, GPS and satellite phone that can be used from any part of the world, making it unfeasible for the victim country to track the devices. In such cases, almost all countries need to come together and share information about any susceptible movements.

A report released on December 3, 2008, titled 'World at Risk' talks about possible WMDs attack on US soil in the next few years to come. The same report states that "were one to map terrorism and weapons of mass destruction today, all roads would intersect in Pakistan" and bluntly singles out Pakistan as a prime suspect.

Rice's recent visit was primarily aimed at decreasing the chances of next attack on the US soil. However, it also acts an opportunity for Pakistan to undo its age-old image of being a pro-terrorist country. But will Pakistan, with the help of Ms Rice and thus US, eliminate its domestic terror camps and further help the world fight against terrorism? Time can never tell, but the sooner it is, the better!....Continue

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What is the point in creating when there’s so much of pain and uncertainty around?

And, if you leave out some of these mad men, we do have a reasonably stable democracy that is now being repeatedly invaded by barbaric medieval folk whose every act is redolent of Stone Age cruelties. Snuffing out innocent lives is their idea of life. This “idea” is not about living, it is about dying! You have to confront this at close range to feel the hurt and angst that we in Mumbai do.

The only kind of reflection that makes any sense after all this is the one that promises to throw up credible solutions. What civil society needs is to find actionable inputs – and to ask those who are responsible for our safety, why on earth have they failed to create terror-proof mechanisms? Why are cops still armed with World War I rifles and defective gear, while the terrorists have no trouble barging into high-security areas armed with sophisticated automatic rifles, grenades and RDX? How come there was no attack in America after 9/11 and why is it that China never sees such acts of terror?

The civilised among us live in inclusive societies built around all kinds of freedoms. Without these rights – including the one that helps us create – life for us is meaningless. Yet as we are today, we feel thankful if we manage to survive till the next day. And make a note of this: we are weighed under this collective sense of hopelessness despite being in the majority. Yes, this is not resilience; this is, if anything, the powerlessness of the majority.

A major problem concerns the scores of competing identities in India. We continue to be divided along caste and religious lines. There are so many languages and castes and sub-castes, and in recent months we have seen all sorts of regional identities receiving disproportionate space in the media. Yet for the superficial and gullible folk, all this passes for democracy! And this fragility of ours is known to the entire world – especially those who have more homogenous populations and scientifically thought-up systems to counter the omnipresent threat from global terrorism. Why can we not close our ranks and strengthen our porous borders and so-called soft terrorist targets? What’s so soft about these that, even though we claim to be the world’s largest democracy, we are unable to put foolproof security systems in place? And ah, well, the Taj Mahal and Oberoi-Trident hotels were certainly not soft targets! Is it not a shame that our security forces could manage to catch just one terrorist alive – who too, by the way, could have died had he been more grievously injured than he was? What have our security agencies done – apart from passing the buck? Surely we deserve to be told why they failed to get wind of the meticulously planned attacks?....Continue

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Army ignores all politicians in Pakistan’

Captain Alok Bansal, a serving Naval officer and Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, tells Mayank Singh that politicians in Pakistan want peace, but not the Army and ISI

What lies ahead in Indo-Pak relations?

I feel that developments will affect Indo-Pak relations but not very significantly, if the US manages to pressurize Pakistan adequately. Recent developments have indicated that Pakistani Army and its rogue intelligence agency, ISI, are not under political control. The US might either take action against Lashkar (Jamaat ud Dawa) unilaterally or force Pakistan to hand over some of the people demanded by India to diffuse the situation.

Do you foresee any military options being exercised?

That possibility now is bleak but if the 20 men are not handed over and the issue does not fade from public memory, India may be forced to carry out a surgical strike on LeT HQ at Muridke or even target killing of its leadership by covert action.

Is Pakistan involved in the carnage?

I personally feel the recent attacks have been carried out by terrorists from LeT who have been influenced by Al Qaeda and trained by sections of Pak Army and ISI. The political government was neither consulted nor aware of the operations. The political leadership in Pakistan genuinely wants to improve relations with India but there is a strong bureaucratic-military resistance.

What according to you is the internal state of Pakistan?

Pakistan is a withering state and is being kept together by its Army. If the Army is weakened the state will wither away. The economy is in bad shape. The entire Pakhtoon belt has been affected by the virus of Islamic radicalism and the other ethnic troubles.

What can be done to control such activities?

Maritime security needs to be beefed up, at present the politicians and bureaucrats do not understand matters maritime. We need to set up an elaborate coastal security infrastructure, with coastal radar stations, transponders on fishing boats and marine police. Fishing needs to be regulated and vessels operating beyond a certain distance must have some communication equipment. There are multiple agencies dealing with maritime issues, to begin with an expert on maritime security, serving or retired, must be appointed as maritime security adviser with a maritime security advisory board. Delhi being so far off from the seas, not many security experts understand the peculiarities of maritime operations. ( Logistically, Karachi to Mumbai is three hours by a speed boat)....Continue

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Developmental Imperative - Known response, sans solution

Rana Nayar, Prof. of English, Punjabi University

Though terrorist strikes are always unpredictable, our response to these has become egregiously, hideously predictable. Every time such an incident rocks Bangalore, Ahmedabad or Delhi, leaving a few scores or a few hundred dead and many more injured, the respective state governments immediately go on the backfoot. The opposition suddenly turns offensive and starts making well rehearsed noises. Of course, the victims and their families are not even left alone to stitch together their tattered lives or absorb the daily growing influence of violence. After the Delhi blasts, the politicians (we have no statesmen left!) were, as usual, back to their games. Ironically, it was Narendra Modi who, having failed to contain terrorism in his own state, made a claim that he had forewarned the Central government. Rather than act, our former Home Minister Shivraj Patil was busy showing off his sartorial elegance and scoring brownie points by claiming that he had prior information on it, much before Modi chose to communicate it to him. No one seems to have thought it to be worthwhile to ask the Home Minister as to what he really did with the information he claims to have had.

Later in the day, when the Cabinet met to discuss the situation, the usual shibboleths were trotted off about how terrorism is a threat to the unity and integrity of our nation; how it is a law and order problem that demands more stringent vigilance on part of the security forces, but definitely no stringent laws to back them up in their fight against it. Of course, there was nothing startlingly new or refreshing about the response of the government. Over the years, our politicians have repeatedly been saying that terrorism is a ‘law and order problem’ or a ‘global phenomenon.’

Whenever our political leaders or decision-makers are either not able to deal with something or just want to shrug it off peremptorily, they often label it as ‘global.’ It sure is a refusal on their part to recognise the specifically local and national character of ‘terrorism’.....Continue

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