Dhiraj Shetty

As June 4 approaches fast, PSU stocks have started to rally significantly. Many winning stocks from the previous rally are making a comeback, including those in the railway sector (RVNL, IRFC, IRCTC), defence sector (HAL, Cochin Shipyard), and many other government-owned listed shares. In a post-budget interview recently, India's Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said, "We are making sure that valuations of each PSU entity are kept up, they are improved upon, and markets should view them favourably." Call it their focused approach to improving efficiency or the Indian financial market's buoyancy, PSUs are expected to continue to rally if policy stability continues. Our team at Finding Outperformers recently conducted an analysis on this topic and explained why we continue to prefer 'Coal India' from the pack. Read our analysis below ⬇️ '𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐒𝐔𝐬'- https://lnkd.in/g9uwBVRA (Disc: Not a recommendation, DYOA) #psu #india #elections

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Thankfully Bengaluru woke up yesterday and sought answers from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on the Tunnel Road DPR. Not only did BBMP admit the cut-paste error (they used the bureaucratic term "compiling"), it also imposed a penalty of 5 lakhs on the DPR Consultant. If it continues to do so for every blooper in the report, it can get back the entire 9.5 crore fees! After all, the entire endeavour rests on the bedrock of cut-paste. But BBMP should realise that the report goes beyond "cut-paste" to "crafty-paste" territory. And that can and will mislead decision makers. Do see the attached picture which illustrates the magical transformation of the public transport mode share. The BBMP report while clearly stating that these numbers are sourced from the Comprehensive Mobility Plan, it increases the public transport mode share from 63% to 68% thus overstating the value of road based capacity enhancements. Now, how do you explain this BBMP? PC Mohan Tejasvi Surya - Thank you. I note that Bharatiya Janata Party has sought accountability on this issue from Government of Karnataka. That's a welcome development; more so as institutional checks and balances do not exist. BMLTA is yet to be established. Now it it important that this sharp focus on BBMP's shoddy approach is kept 'on' until the flawed tunnel road project is dropped 🙏

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Its difficult to articulate the emotion behind this picture; I’m standing in the Airforce Museum in Delhi (India) where my paternal grandfather's plane stands proudly on display with his surname (MANGAT) written in the Hindi language. He won the gallantry award for his bravery during war (Mahavir Chakra, MVC); to read more: https://lnkd.in/e6UBpiU8 But this post is not about that narrative. My intent behind posting this picture was to remind myself of many things; a letter to my future self📜. 1. There will be trying times in life; keep your chin up and be brave because it runs in your blood. 2. You will meet people in life who lack integrity and a conscience; never mirror their behavior. Remember your lineage and be true to your family values. At a granular level, it comes down to, what is the “stock of a person”. 3. When people go low, you sore high! (#topgunmaverick 🛫). 4. There are some things money cant buy - like morals, values, loyalty and character. Let that be your signature, your currency, your fingerprint & DNA. (You cant buy Rank & Medals; you’ve got to earn it and that stays pinned on your chest for life🎖️). 5. Never forget where you come from, your roots. Let your humility, self reliance and self respect linger longer than your fragrance. Ego & Arrogance are a sign of weakness; its a slippery downward slope! Harbor no such vices. Apologize when you are wrong; take the high ground for it demonstrates strength. 6. Your confidence radiates energy; let the good vibes flow. Practice discipline, educate yourself, surround yourself with people who inspire you to be the best version of yourself. (The fighter jet has a maintenance crew and my paternal grandfather defied engineering capabilities with the wing of his aircraft completely shot at and he still managed to land safely; a testament to his confidence, educated risks and discipline with many flying hours.) 7. Work hard - be passionate, authentic, practice gratitude and leave a legacy (you were privileged to be born into one 🫡) I often find myself leaning on my roots to navigate the corporate world; my reflections: Growing up across different cantonment's taught me how to navigate change and embrace it. Learning to make new friends with every posting helped me work well in Teams and laid the foundation to collaborate in a matrixed global environment. Discipline instilled since childhood, translated to being consistent in my work deliverables. Respecting hierarchy taught me never to break ranks and follow the chain of command at work. This helped me steer clear of workplace politics and just soldier on. Listening to my father talk about war games helped me plan for contingencies at work, always having a plan B. The unsaid rule of leaving "no man behind" at the time of war translated to helping colleagues by sharing the workload during times of personal struggles. #MaerskLife #introspectionandreflection ⚖️♾️#Legacy

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Yesterday there were two incidents in Mumbai 1) Two airplanes ended up on the same runway 2) A local train was erroneously directed onto a wrong track at Wadala station Both incidents stem from human error. The issue I am trying to highlight here is that whereas it is important to appropriately deal with mistakes and not be harsh - but what we are seeing these days is that people are excusing errors - even glorifying errors. In my 15 odd years career, I have strived to not make errors and when I do, I feel sick to my stomach - I do everything to learn from the error and strive harder to not repeat them. With this extremely liberal outlook to making mistakes - glorifying them - are we creating careless individuals who don't care about the consequences of their errors. We need to find a balanced approach to deal with errors - not to be harsh - at the same time making individuals completely aware of the consequences of their errors. #mistakes #errors #responsibility #accountability

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Why do Business Leaders Pontificate on the Indian Bureaucracy, With Their Limited Insights and Wisdom ? Narayana Murthy had the unfortunate capacity to commit yet another gaffe - which is not only baffling but shows enormous shortsightedness on his part . Close on the heels of the death of the E& Y young intern Anna Sebastian , he went on to say that the young Indians should put in a 70 hour work week at least . And now this latest pearl of wisdom - About recruiting IAS and IPS officers from business schools . Having served in the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration for many years and having seen the young officer trainees of the IAS and the IPS and other Civil Services at very close quarters , I can say with absolute certainty - that they represent the best and brightest minds of a composite yet diverse country like India . No other examination and selection and training system across the world , can be compared with the gold standards - which the UPSC has set for itself for recruiting these Civil servants , best suited for the needs of India and the training standards evolved by the DoPT over the decades . Just to put things in perspective, The Times and the Guardian newspapers in the UK , have often carried news of the British Cabinet Secretary , imploring Civil Servants to stop remote working from their homes and report to office at least three days a week ! In the United States of America , President elect , Donald Trump has brought in Elon Musk to head the department of Government Efficiency and Also To Put a Stop to Remote Working of at least 50 % of the bureaucracy! Contrast these standards with that of India , where Civil Servants reported for work - for each single day , at the height of the pandemic. Remote working or Work From Home three years after the pandemic .. as demonstrated by the US and UK bureaucracy, is unthinkable in India . And there are no hefty annual bonuses , foreign junkets and extra salary incentives as a reward for exemplary devotion to duty , for the Indian bureaucracy . Just the absolute satisfaction for getting an opportunity to deliver public service ! Trains shut down for a couple of days around Christmas, in the UK -as train drivers also need to celebrate Christmas! In India , extra trains are pushed into service during festival times with the loco pilots denied leave , because of the huge surge in the demand for train services. There can be hundreds of such examples of the Civil Service Work Ethics , practised in India on a daily basis. These examples are just pointers. For the wiser Indians , it should be a travesty to suggest that the hard working young men and women representing the higher bureaucracy of India , should be recruited through the business schools ! No , thank you please . We serve our country well and shall continue to do so .

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#analysis Many people who travel in confirmed reserved coach of Indian Railways do not always book their luggage. Rather they take the backpack/bags, etc with them and keep it either under the bunks or at the top racks. A passenger of AP Express travelling from Delhi to Nagpur also did the same. Unfortunately his backpack contaiing laptop, bank ATM cards, eyeglasses, etc got stolen while he was asleep. So he filed a FIR with Nagpur Government Railway Police (GRP). When the bag still could not be located, the passenger filed a case with district consumer commission and subsequently the case was tried at Delhi State Consumer Commission and National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC). The district consumer commission and Delhi state commission both found the Indian Railways at fault, however NCDRC overturned both the rulings and cited the Railways Act, 1989, as per which this passenger should get no compensation for such a theft of his personal bag. Now why this happened? ​NCDRC said: "Undisputedly, the Railway policy requires passengers to declare valuables and book luggage to ensure some degree of responsibility on the part of the Railway administration. In the context of Railway travel, "booking" luggage means declaring it to the Railway authorities and having it formally registered as cargo or baggage, often accompanied by a receipt or some form of documentation. When passengers do this, the railway assumes a degree of responsibility for the safety of that luggage. Evidently, what the Complainant carried was personal baggage which has not been declared. Thus, Railway authorities cannot be expected to assume responsibility for the safety of the said back-pack." As per Saumya Brajmohan, ​As per the Railways Act, 1989, particularly sections 93 and 100, when passengers declare and formally book their luggage, they receive a receipt, which serves as proof of the railway's responsibility for that luggage. However, if passengers choose to carry personal baggage without declaring or booking it, the railway's liability significantly diminishes. As per Ketan Mukhija, ​"In accordance with the Railway Act, of 1989, the Railway's responsibility for luggage only arises when the passenger has declared and booked it with the authorities. The NCDRC's order underscores the policy that "booking" luggage is essential for transferring responsibility to the Railway administration." Read the story to know more such legal insights which can help you incase a similar situation happens. Solomon & Co., Advocates & Solicitors Burgeon Law #ncdrc #law #bagtheft #railways

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THE NATURE OF PUBLIC PROBLEMS - abridged from my column in Deccan Herald that was published yesterday. ============== Where in India are citizens most actively involved in trying to improve their city and its governance? For quite some time now, Bengaluru has ranked reasonably high. Across the city, individuals and groups do plenty of things that are in the public interest. In some cases, they've come together to build coalitions and federations for their advocacy and activism. But is it working? One self-evident answer is that without them the city would be much worse. They are doing whatever they do without much support from the government. It's fair to say that it is working to ensure things aren't much worse, and that's a small mercy. But there is a limit to what can be achieved this way. Citizens often they also felt they were hitting a wall in many of these efforts. What could be done differently? There is no magic bullet, no kind of certain answer to this question. But there are three pointers one can use to navigate our way forward. One, we need to accept the true nature of the problems we face and not reframe them in other ways. The majority of solutions put forward by citizens' groups and development organisations are technical and managerial. But such solutions can't really get to the heart of problems that are social and political in nature. Unless we see things are they are, we are bound to be exasperated by what we see around us. It is better to be angry. The second point follows logically from the first. Politics is a contested space, and in a contest one has to take sides. Many interest groups and community organisations, however, believe that they should not take sides in electoral politics because that will make it difficult for them to work with whoever wins. This view is simply wrong. Nearly all the people who have any influence at all on governance are political in some way or the other. Which brings us to the third pointer. Local communities and NGOs usually speak up about problems that directly affect them or the populations they serve. This is to be expected. People in a particular locality want things to improve in the area where they live. Each person in the development sector works on the purpose for which their organisation has been set up. But there must also be more. We have to care about improving neighbourhoods in general, not only ours. We have to care about governance in general, not only the governance of education. In my experience, both elected representatives and public officials respond more favorably to those who accept the political and social nature of public problems, they don't mind if people take sides, and they have some amount of respect for those who try to make others' lives better. If we're trying to be heard better by netas and babus, we should embrace these things. They won't guarantee we'll succeed, but without them we surely will not.

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When Nitin Gadkari said few years back he will do away with the away with physical toll barriers, it wasn't a vision in a very far fetched future. And see few days back we have the EOIs floated for GNSS based tolling. This is what makes him one of the best ministers in our country. In an official statement issued, NHAI said - "Initially it will use a hybrid model where both FASTag-based and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) will operate simultaneously. Dedicated GNSS lanes will be available at toll plazas, allowing vehicle using GNSS-based tolling to pass through freely. As GNSS-based tolling becomes more widespread, all lanes will eventually be converted to GNSS lanes." As of March 2024, more than 98% of user fee payments are made through FASTTag and amount collected is around Rs. 54,750 crores. Article Link - https://lnkd.in/edEpK4xs #nhai #toll #tollplaza #gnss #fasttag #roads #transport

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"Amidst acute shortage of walkie-talkie sets, which are essential for crews operating passenger and goods trains, the Indian Railways have relaxed the “Make-in-India” norms to procure the Very High Frequency (VHF) communication system from the global market. The move assumes significance in the backdrop of the preliminary investigation report of the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety, Janak Kumar Garg, who probed the tragic Kanchanjunga train crash in Darjeeling district of West Bengal on June 17, 2024 that left 10 people dead and many others injured. Mr. Garg noted that there was heavy shortage of walkie-talkie sets in Katihar Division of Northeast Frontier Railway. While the total requirement of the VHF gadgets in the division was 732, only 303 were available, including some in inoperative condition. The Loco Pilot and Train Manager (Guard) of the goods train that rammed into the rear of Kanchanjunga Express were not given walkie-talkie sets. The crews of 137 goods trains were working without wireless communication systems during the period June 12-17, 2024, he said. Though the issue of shortage or malfunctioning of walkie-talkie sets has been faced in the recent months, the gadgets could not be procured as quality products meeting the required specifications were not available with local manufacturers. With the facility not being available, the Loco Pilots and Train Managers were communicating over mobile phones which was against the rules. In the Kanchanjunga Express crash, the analysis of the mobile phones of the Loco Pilot and Train Manager revealed that they had made or received calls while on duty. “The walkie-talkie sets supplied with the approval of the Research Design and Standards Organisation are not working properly thereby defeating the purpose of providing them to the crew. Wireless communication involving the Station Master, Loco Pilot and Train Manager is very important in the operation of trains, especially during signal failures. The only option is to procure good quality wireless communication systems from the global market, which the Railways have approved now,” a senior railway officer told The Hindu on Wednesday. In a recent order to General Managers of all zones, the Railway Board said wireless communication was very crucial for train operations and non-availability of VHF sets was a “serious safety concern”. Instructions were given to provide fully charged 5 Watt walkie-talkie sets with a spare battery to the crew across the railway network. However, the safety advisory could not be implemented due to the shortage of the equipment, the officer said." Full report: https://lnkd.in/gnYh_Wwt

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Dollar, US debt, US bond, over capacity in China, Indian state elections and more !India still is in a sweet spot ,however in net seems like a Bear Market in India for sometime till the FIIs come back and the dollar weakens,time to be cautious ! #India #USA #China #Indianmarkets #FII #Valueinvesting #Valueinvestor #Globaleconomy

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"Sky's the Limit! ✈️ Adani Group is gearing up to transform India's aviation landscape with strategic partnerships and innovative solutions. 🚀 1. "Adani Group Takes Off: Exploring New Horizons in Indian Aviation with Bombardier!" 2. "Flying High: Adani Group Eyes Major Expansion in Aviation & Defense Sectors!" 3. "Soaring Ahead! Adani Group and Bombardier Discuss Transformative Aviation Partnerships." 4. "Adani Group’s Big Push in Aviation: Strategic Talks with Bombardier for MRO and Defense Growth!" 5. "Ready for Takeoff! Adani Group’s Strategic Move to Boost India’s Aviation and Defense Sectors." #TakingFlight #AviationRevolution" Here are some relevant hashtags: #AdaniGroup #Aviation #SkyIsTheLimit #Innovation #StrategicPartnership #Growth #AviationIndustry #MRO #Defence #AtmanirbharBharat #BusinessExpansion #AviationGrowth

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Happy to see this book review made by me, is published on X-PM India website. It is an excellent piece to read and understand how capable are the Indian leaders and in a very innovative manner , built an institution with many fundamental strong foundations that are living till today. At the core of it , was the people strategy and focus on people development . I read this book recently and got huge insights about the reasons for NTPC becoming 3rd Best Employer of the country and how it remained as Top Ten Best Employers for a decade or more, and still rules the roost . a must read indeed Barttanu Das

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"When Rajat's Arora Apple iPhone was stolen in bustling Chandni Chowk market in Delhi, he smirked, and told his friends to remain calm. The police were able to track the device within 30 minutes as it had an embedded SIM (eSIM) which cannot be physically removed from the phone unlike a normal SIM. An eSIM can be tracked even when a phone is switched off. In another instance, a large oil refinery in Assam was able to fix leakages and prevent accidents within a few seconds as several Internet of Things (IoT) devices with eSIMs sent live alerts to a centralised provisioning system. Virtual SIMs or eSIMs offer several advantages to retail and enterprise phone users. However, the pace of adoption in India has been sluggish so far, mainly due to a Chinese government policy, say experts. While Apple offers eSIM capability in its entire iPhone range, others such as Samsung, Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi have started enabling eSIMs in their premium flagships. But the incentive to offer it in the affordable segment is still lacking as China, their primary market, has barred its use citing security concerns. Brands therefore can’t gain from economies of scale as adding eSIM compatibility for Indian phones will inflate the bill of materials (BoM) cost of devices, experts said. Telcos though are pushing smartphone brands to offer eSIM capability in the affordable segment as it will allow them to reduce costs, executives and market experts said. As of December-end, only about a tenth of all smartphones sold in India (around 14-15 million) supported eSIMs, according to data from Counterpoint Research. With affordable handsets continuing to lack eSIM capability, the market researcher predicts the share to grow at a tepid pace to 20% over the next five years. In comparison, eSIM penetration in the US has reached 70%. “Globally, 400 telecom operators (out of 800) provide eSIM coverage on their networks and Indian operators were among the leaders to offer coverage to 1.1 billion subscriber populace as well as IoT applications such as cellular smartwatch, telematics in vehicles,” said Neil Shah, founding partner at Counterpoint Research. “However, it’s the handset makers which are lagging. Besides Apple, Google and Samsung, Chinese device makers like Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi have slowly started rolling it out in their flagships.” He added that in the affordable category, handset makers do not have the incentive to add eSIM support as China, which is a key market, does not allow it. Sachin Arora, head of connectivity and IoT for India at Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), a global security tech company, says offering eSIMs across affordable smartphones in India may weigh on the total production cost of a handset." Full article: https://lnkd.in/gxuzmjsA

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Indian elections World's largest democratic exercise is over and people's verdict is in. It is as impressive and measured as one could have imagined. BJP's wings have been clipped though it has been given mandate to form the government; but it needs its alliance partners' help to do that. No run away, over the top mandate to muck with the constitution. Opposition has been given a big boost to provide a semblance of opposition. Above all, the election shows the limits of Hindutva politics. https://lnkd.in/ghNZ4cEt

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An interesting perspective on Indian budget covering the key elements like private capex, fiscal deficit, pandemic stimulus , demand,consumption, Chinese excess capacity , hostile global trade scenario and its impact on Indian Economy and budget 2024! #India #Budget #Budget2024 #Indianeconomy #acetrustin

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