Oil Companies - Best / Worst of Times

This is a letter I wrote to the Editor of The Indian Express after reading Mr. Vikram Mehta [Chairman, Shell Group of Companies, India] in which he claims that private oil companies all across the world are at cross-roads of the best and the worst of times. The article can be found here: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/305822.html

Dear Sir,

This is in reference to the OP-ED article Two stories of oil by Mr. Vikram Mehta.

The author is trying to build a case for oil companies by saying that they [oil companies] are facing hardships in the current market scenario. This could not be any farther from the truth. Consider the following points:

1. Although oil prices are increasing [due to lowered availability and increased demand] there is increasing research in the fields of fossil fuel recovery. Fossil fuels these days are being recovered from sources which were "economically unviable" till a few years ago. This is because of the increased demand of petroleum products.

2. There is lack of sufficient funding in the renewable energy sector and hence a major ground-breaking, fossil fuel industry shaking invention is nowhere on the horizon. That the world has slowly begun to take notice of the ill-effects of fossil fuel utilization is thanks to the relentless efforts of environmentalists all over the world. Yet, given the proliferation of the fossil fuels, acceptance of renewable energy is still low and is likely to remain that way in the near future.

3. Oil companies express concerns over global warming and depleting natural resources cause them sleepless nights and furrowed brows. Yet, barring a few exceptions, how often do we see oil companies sponsoring research in the renewable sector? It might be worthwhile for all oil companies to start a future fund for renewable sources of energy. That way, they will ensure a "sustainable" business for themselves and also cleaner environment for future generations.

I find it hard to agree with the author's assertion that oil companies are facing the hardest of times. They are in the best of times and stand to face better times if they decide to invest in the future.

Regards,

Govindraj Umarji

Indian Institutes of Technology and Engineers

This comment is a response to an article which I read here:
http://helloji.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/iit-insufferable-indian-tribe/

(quote) engineering by definition is mediocre science at best. Try to come up with a name of a great engineer and you will see how far short it falls from a great mind (end quote)

Whoa! Hold your horses, my dear friend. I am not against you taking a swipe at my "tribe". In fact, the very fact that someone is taking out time to write about us is proof enough that we possess qualities which are worth writing about! :)

Till such a time as you are speaking about IITians [IITans, whichever way you spell it, it harldy matters] and making generalizations left, right and centre under the pretext of humour [correct, UK english spelling] you are treading a well trodden path. But the moment you make a demeaning statement about engineering, you are showing the hollowness of your thinking and the limited capability of your brain to process information fed to it.

Consider this: the very PC/laptop that you are using to rant about IITians was created by an Engineer. The Internet, which you are using to spread the ramblings of your "jaded" mind [nice name, very fitting] is likewise. Consider all the good things in life: a house to live in, quicker travelling, availability of medicines, ability to communicate over large distances, et al., and you will realize that there is an engineer responsible for it and proud of it. What you don't realize, and probably your own "inflated" ego prevents you from doing so, is that engineers contribute to society as much as any chartered accountant, medical professional, airline pilot, sea diver, army man, etc. does.

You might have apologized for this statement of yours. I see that some people have already made references to this. It's alright even if you don't apologize though. We, as engineers, are content with the satisfaction we derive from the utility of our creations. After all, it takes a lot of creativity and effort [which this post could have used] to convert an idea into a practically usable item.

I see that your post is quite popular, and you might take a moment to reflect that many posts are by IITians. This might suggest that we have a lot of time on our hands! :)
But then, that also means either that we can find time to write/comment on things that matter to us or we are so financially well off that we don't have to slog like mere mortals do!

Arsenal achievements (unparalleled)

21st February, 2006 - First English team to defeat Real Madrid at the Estadio Bernebeau

04th March, 2008 - First English team to defeat AC Milan at the San Siro

The Frail Human

There is a story about Yudhishthira, of Mahabharata fame. When asked what is the most beautiful thing on this planet, he says it is “Maya”, which is the magic that keeps the world running. Everyone knows that death is inevitable, yet the will and desperation to live is so intense that each person thinks that s/he is invincible. That bad things can happen only to other people and not to them and their near and dear ones. And then one fine day, the bubble bursts…

The frail nature of the human flesh was revealed to me just yesterday, in quite a grotesque way. On the way to my office, I came across a traffic jam. Initially the source of traffic jam was not apparent. However, as the vehicles on the road inched forward, the reason became evident. There were police men visible, not traffic police, but regular police. And they were directing the traffic. That can only mean one thing: an accident further up the road.

An accident it was and it was not a sight for the squeamish. The body of the deceased was covered with a white cloth. However, the reason for the death was evident from the mess that lay around the body. Suffice to say, that the person driving a motorcycle (for the last time) was not wearing a helmet. My estimate is that the bike slipped and …

This incident lead me to think about the frailty of the human body. A severe blow to certain sections of the head, or a pin-prick, strategically executed. And life is converted to after-life. In the everlasting battle of life and death, eventually death does triumph. Every day, life does its best to come out tops. Life gives small victories which lead the living to believe in invincibility. And yet, therein lies life’s biggest paradox: the longer you live, the greater your probability of dying with every passing day.

I am sure the person who never made it to office/home yesterday did not know that it was not meant to be for him to reach his destination. I am sure he never thought about it. Neither does anyone of us when we are performing everyday activities, such as crossing the road, boarding a train, switching on an electric appliance. All these activities have the potential to be life threatening. Yet the living remain oblivious of them.

And that is exactly what Maya is: the living wish to live indefinitely, though death is the constant force surrounding them.

/Radgovin

Safe Haven

Safe Haven

"I told them, I know who planted bombs in the train!" exclaimed Rahul to the crowd, which was watching him with glazed eyes and unwavering awe.

"I went on to describe them. One had orangeish hair, with a scar down his cheek. The second guy had pink hair. He had grotesquely coloured blue-red eyes. The third was a female, or so she seemed to me, and she was wearing no clothes!"

Silence in the gathering.

"Its amazing, isn't it? But their response was more incredible. 'Are you crazy, you lunatic?' they said"

A few appreciative chuckles ruffled through the gathering.

"You are certifiably crazy, one of them said. I denied that. I told them I was not drunk. Their tests confirmed that. They took me to a shrink, where I repeated my story and also rattled off my other heroic; how I saved the world from drowning by drinking a lot of the flood waters from that gutter of a river"

Clapping from the assembly.

"That's how I ended up here" finished Rahul, pointing towards the seven storied building housing the mental asylum.

Later, Rahul was joined by another person of similar standing, Rohit.
"You love blabbering, don't you? However, I wish you'd stop that. I fear, one day, they are going to realize our game and chuck us out of this safe haven"

"Safe haven is right. Where else in this city can you get free food, clean clothes, and good medical care? Better live a secure life in an asylum than as a destitute roaming the unsafe streets of the metropolis" said Rahul.

"What if they catch onto us?"

"Who cares? I am sure both of us can cook up another tall story to come back to this particular tall story!" said Rahul, again pointing towards the aslyum building.

[This story has been submitted for consideration in the Flash Fiction contest being conducted by Caferati as part of the Kala Ghoda Festival. More details can be found here: http://caferati.blogspot.com/]

Finance Basics

Everyone can do with understanding the basics of Finance. Same is applicable for me too! :)

Sr. No.	Term	Meaning
1	Liquidity Ratio	It shows the ability of a firm to pay its short term debts as they mature
2	Current Ratio	Current Assets / Current Liabilities
3	Quick Ratio (Acid-test)	Quick assets / Current Liabilities where, quick assets = current assets - inventory
4	Profitability Ratio	It is used to measure a firm's efficiency & ability to generate profits
5	Gross Profit margin	Gross profit / Sales
6	Net Profit margin	Net Profit (PAT) / Sales
7	Ownership Ratio	This helps to analyze the present and future investments in a firm & to compare the investments with factors such as Debt, Earnings, Dividends & Stock price
8	Return on Equity or Net Worth (RONW)	RONW = Net Profit / Avg. Equity
9	Earnings Per Share (EPS)	EPS = Net profit / No. of shares outstanding
10	Price Earnings Ratio (P/E)	P/E = Market price of shares / EPS
11	Debt Equity Ratio	Total debt / Total Equity
12	Debt Service Coverage Ratio	(PAT + Depreciation + Non cash expenses + interest on loans) / (interest on loans + Repayments)
13	Average Net Funds Employed (ANFE)	ANFE = Average Net Working Capital + Average Net Fixed Assets
14	Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)	ROCE = (PBIT - TAX) / ANFE
15	Economic Value Added (EVA)	EVA = (ROCE - WACC) x ANFE

For further reading: http://www.dsm.com/en_US/html/invest/glossary.htm

Movie Review: Taare Zameen Par

All the citizens of this great country that we live in, i.e. Bharat, will agree with me that some of us, or even most of us, are the biggest hypocrites in the whole wide world. Not only that, we are among the worst racist and non-secular people in the world. There is ample proof of all these qualities everywhere. I will cite a few examples:

• Policy formers emphasize the need for increase in female to male population ratio. Policy formers reside in New Delhi. India's highest rate of female infanticide occurs in the northern states of India.
• We talk about equality for all. And then we go ahead and have reservations for backward classes and women, when economic concessions are the need of the day.
• We talk about equality and yet when the time comes to implement a uniform civil code, we make hasty reversals in policy.
• We crib about how the west has zero respect for women, how women are treated as objects in the west and how, traditionally, India has always been kind and generous to women. And then we have incidents such as rapes, molestation and groping that take place every day.
• Worst of all, we have got a very poor media: one which is interested in marketability of the news as opposed to the impact. A media which excels in doling out sensationalist oeuvre as opposed to journalistic excellence. A media which leaves no stones unturned when gets an opportunity to calumniate any individual/organization - an opportunist media, in short.

Therefore, it does not come as a surprise that cinema has chosen over the last few years to make movies which deride this phenomenon of rapacious journalism. Also, movies over the years have criticized the attitude of the Indian masses: the chalta hai attitude, the over dependence on fortune as opposed to hard work and the ineptitude of the junta to realize plights of differently abled people in this country.

The movie Taare Zameen Par, which speaks about learning disabilities, comes as a breath of fresh air. For me, there was serendipity in how I came across to seeing the movie. Me and MsF had gone to watch Welcome [which by the way is a good brainless comedy to watch and forget about your worries for a while]. Since the theatre we went to was not playing the said movie, we decided to watch TZP. This was what we call a run-time-decision (RTD). And like most of my RTDs this proved to be an amazing experience.

TZP is the story of a boy Ishant Avasti, born to middle class parents in the city of Mumbai. Therefore, that puts him into a category of millions. He is, therefore, no different than any other kid roaming the streets of Mumbai and that is exactly how his parents treat him. What his parents do not realize though is the fact that their child is unique. He has abilities that very few other people on this planet possess. That of looking at the world in a different way than is taught at schools, imbibed by parents and reinforced by interactions with peers. He is a dyslexic: he has learning disabilities. Unfortunately for him, even his parents do not realize this disability. However, with this disability he is also in possession of a wonderful gift - that of an amazing ability of capturing what he sees as pictures - pictures which range from tranquil colourful panoramas to intense, soulful paintings showing the pain in his small heart.

TZP scores maximum points for the rendition of the lead character's emotions. The movie revolves around the child actor [sometimes a tad too long!] and Aamir Khan plays a wonderful supporting actor role. He lets his lead actor direct the pace of the movie, involving himself just at the right time when he feels the movie might be losing some steam. Although the movie has a running time in excess of conventional hindi cinema, at no point is the viewer forced to think about taking a breather. The musical score by SEL is brilliant, especially the track "Kholo Kholo". This depicts the state of mind of "the brash and confident child who loses his confidence because his parents don't understand his plight and send him to training school where he meets a teacher who helps him understand himself and regain his confidence so that he can shine in this materialistic world".

A must watch movie for people who have been deprived of good viewing fare over the last year, with ostentatiously crappy movies such as OSO and Saawariya hogging the limelight. 4.5 stars to this movie out of 5!!!

Good Reading

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-501866.html

This article by Jay Leno makes for great reading!

/R

Deepavali Greetings (continued)

Radgovin's 10 musings for Diwali

1. If Deepavali or Diwali is supposed to be the festival of light, does it mean it also has to be the festival of noise?

I don't when the transition from light to sound occurred. I don't think I was around at that point of time. My guess is, sometime in the eighties i.e. in general, before my time. I am not claiming that I did not burst firecrackers or jump gleefuly for joy when the "rassi" bomb or the "laxmi" bomb exploded. All I am saying is that, to quote Billy Joel, "We didn't start the fire" [or firecrackers for that matter] Human beings have long since been fascinated by beautiful display of colour and light, with the aurora borealis and aurora australis capturing the imagination of generations of explorers. For some breath-taking images of the aurora borealis, please visit this site:

Michigan Tech Aurora Page

The human made firecrackers are probably a fallout of people trying to emulate nature by creating the brilliant displays of light artificially. Unfortunately, the route they chose was the conversion of chemical energy into light and sound energy [because its cheap and can give satisfactory results]. Anyway, since this was the preferred route, we are now faced with the dilemma of losing sleep and peace of mind because of some elements of our society which derive pleasure from bursting crackers till late in the night or early in the morning.

2. If Diwali is the festival of "light", why do people become "heavy" after this particular festival is over? [Probably because of the chaklis, chivda, laddoos, etc.!]

This is quite a well known phenomenon. Binging on the "faral" or the sweets that are characteristic of this particular festive season, causes people to put on weight and may lead to further problems like obesity. It is no wonder then that post Diwali, the maximum number of advertisements in local newspapers / handouts are those pertaining to gymnasium and weight loss programmes.

3. Does air pollution have to accompany the brilliant display of light due to fireworks?

As I said earlier, firecrackers are nothing but a conversion of chemical energy to light and sound energy. And since material cannot be destroyed, there is a conversion from solid form to gaseous form, which leads to air pollution. On this website here: Environmentally Safe Diwali you will find information about how you can celebrate Diwali without causing too much damage to the planet. During Diwali, the rise in the respirable suspended particulate matter [lovingly known in air pollution environmental study cirlces as RSPM] shoots up. As it is, in a city such as Mumbai, the RSPM levels are high. In Diwali, there is a booster dose of RSPM for all the residents. Considering the fact that sulphurous compounds present in the gases piggy-back on the RSPM, we have the background for all sorts of respiratory ailments. Which is probably why doctors have their hands full after an eventful Diwali.

4. Who invented bursting firecrackers? What thrill does one get from hearing deafening noises created by gases expanding so fast, that they destroy the "container" they are in?

I don't think I need to elaborate on this. As they say, to each his own [and I'd like to add here, his/her forms of pleasure!]. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy it [bursting crackers, of course!] myself at some point in time. However, ever since I have realized the damage that firecrackers cause to the environment, I have done my bit to try and control the damage.

5. When will Indians, and all other people on this planet who celebrate by bursting firecrackers, realize that we share this planet with other species and since we are more intelligent than they are [this part is debatable] it is our responsibility to keep this nurturing planet intact?

Bursting firecrackers disturbs not only human sleeping patterns but also animals and birds. Dogs are blessed with an acute sense of hearing and this blessing turns out to be a curse during the Diwali period. Birds too are similarly affected. Since we are responsible for the safety of the animal kingdom also, we should make sure that we lessen the damage caused to the world that we share with them. And that is, if we cannot just do away with the damage.

6. Why does an educated parent/s of the 21st century buy firecrackers for his/her child/ren?

And this includes my parents also. As a kid, I was not aware of the hazards of firecrackers. My parents were, though. Why didn't they educate me at an early stage in life? Maybe they tried, but I gave in to peer pressure, from seeing my friends having a blast [literally] from bursting firecrackers. I am not saying that I am blame free or guilt free. I just hope that when I become a parent, I will have enough courage not to give in to the demands of my child for firecrackers.

7. Why are the firemen the most busy during the most happiest time period of the year for the rest of the country? Don't they deserve to celebrate Diwali too?

This is probably the most gross of all imjustices. Diwali is supposed to be a time for rejoicing, for going out and meeting family and friends, for taking out time from work. Why is it then that we deprive these already overworked national servants of their well-earned holuiday? Why is it that firemen should work over time during Diwali? Don't they deserve a holiday too?

8. Does anyone spare a thought for the children who are forced to make the firecrackers in some dark nook/cranny of some ramshackle factory?

Although the number of child labour cases in India has gone down drastically, it is not non-existent. Case in point, the recent film made by a Korean broadcaster, about the life of two youngsters working in a fireworks factory. You can read the article here: Indian Express Article
Obviously, no one gives a second thought when purchasing a box of sparklers as to how many children have been posioned by the seeping of chemicals through their skins when they were making the sparklers, chakras or showers. Simply because, its not their children who are being forced to work.

9. Isn't bursting a firecracker equivalent to [literally!] setting fire to your money?

Its the ultimate stupidity: buying something and then setting fire to it and on top of that, deriving merriment out of the whole fiasco! Money takes time and effort to earn. Ergo, it does not make sense to burn it. In fact, for people wanting to burn firecrackers, here is a bit of advice: burn a hundred rupeed note instead of buying hundred rupees worth of firecrackers. That way, the pollution will be less and it will hurt you and make you think twice about spending money on firecrackers.

10. Why is it that the louder the firecracker, the popularer [if there is such a word] it is?

Again, no comments here. Only a personal complaint. The most popular crackers are the rocket that goes higher, the chakra that spins longer, the shower that rains longer, while simultaneosly rotating on its own axis, the list is endless. But the basic question is: why have a firecracker in the first place? If there are no firecrackers, or as in the United States of America, the bursting of crackers is prohibited, we will have none of the problems that I keep musing about every year come October/November.

/Radgovin