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The film showcases the lives of people, who under difficult circumstances, decide to end their lives. Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Koel Mallick are playing the lead roles in the film while veterans such as Sabyasachi Chakrabarty and Barun Chanda will also be seen as important characters.
Though the film is a work of fiction, its inspiration comes from an actual organisation called 'The Hemlock Society'. This society was the brainchild of an American citizen Derek Humphry who founded the organisation in Santa Monica, California in 1980. The society's mission was to provide information to people at their death-beds and giving legislative support to permit physician assisted suicides. The society merged into another organisation with the same motive in the year 1992, after the publication of Derek Humphry's book 'Final Exit'. Derek Humphry left the organisation in the same year.
Humphry was inspired to make this society after receiving a great response to his memoir 'Jean's Way' which was his account of helping his terminally ill wife taking her own life in 1975.
In 2003, the society renamed itself again and merged with another organization called 'Compassion and Choices'. However, several unaffiliated local organizations continue to operate under the name of the original Hemlock Society.
Currently, three registered societies with the names Hemlock Foundation of Florida, Hemlock of Illinois, and Hemlock Society of San Diego are operating.
Parambrata Chattopadhyay is a well known face for the Hindi film viewers also who have seen him recently in 'Kahaani'. The heroine of the film Koel Mallick is one of the busiest actors of Bengali films. With these two in the lead, director Srijit Mukherji would be hoping for the story to turn out to be a good celluloid presentation.
The report was released on June 8. In response to the Veritas report, Reliance Communications told CNBC-TV18 that the report "lacked credibility", was "full of factual inaccuracies, baseless allegations masquerading as research" and that Veritas was destroying investor confidence through sensationalism.
Veritas had published a report on similar lines on the stock last year too.
Following is the gist of the latest Veritas report:
* Exceedingly high financial leverage, accompanied with debt repayment obligations of approximately USD 2.2 bln over the next twenty-four months, at a time when EBITDA in core business operations is stagnating, is a significant challenge for the management team.
* We believe that RCom has been scaling back its capital expenditures (capex) and has put assets on the block. However, given the weak competitive position of the Company in the Indian wireless sector, we believe that curtailed capex will be detrimental to the Company’s prospects going forward.
* We do not foresee any significant improvement in the tower market over the next 12-18 months, given the stampede by all players in the telecommunication tower market in India to monetize assets. Moreover, we estimate that at best the Company can monetize its Reliance Infratel tower asset at a diminished value of Rs 12,500 crore, compared to rumors in the marketplace ascribing a valuation upwards of Rs 22,500 crore.
* We are also skeptical of the Company's ability to reduce its financial leverage meaningfully by undertaking an IPO of Flag Telecommunication , given that equity of Reliance Globalcom Bermuda-whose only assets is FLAG as per Federal Communications Commission Filings-has been pledged by its holding company, Reliance Globalcom BV Netherlands, to secure debt of USD 500 mln.
* We believe that the Company's accounting policies are whimsical and do not provide a clear picture of the underlying operating and business trends.
* Given significant exposure to un-hedged foreign currency denominated loans, we find the risk management and governance practices of the Company sub-optimal. Moreover, the write-off Rs 950 crore in FY11, which was advanced to a supplier,
suggests either incompetence or chicanery.
* For FY12, the Company reported a profit before tax profit of Rs 882 crore, whereas in our normalized estimate we believe the company incurred loss before tax of Rs 1529 crore.
To summarise:
-Lewis maps out how he joined Salomon Brothers in the mid-eighties purely by chance , and how that experience sowed the seeds for his literary ambitions, commencing with the publishing of his best-selling book Liar's Poker which sold a million copies, making him a successful author at the age of 28.
-While the world eulogised his writing skills, Lewis knew that what was more critical to his success was a series of chance events, illustrating that "success is always rationalised" and that people typically don't like to hear that success is due to luck – especially successful people.
-In his book "Moneyball" he showed that the poorest professional baseball team (Oakland A's) was winning as many game as its richest team – the Yankees. This is because the rich teams did not understand who were the best players, and were routinely misvaluing them because they were not taking into account the role of luck in baseball success.
-The message from the "Moneyball" story were at two levels – from a practical aspect, it was about finding value by analyzing better data and exploiting market inefficiencies. At a deeper level, it was about luck being the critical component in determining life's outcomes.
-A recent experiment conducted at Berkeley University was very informative – a group of six students was broken into two groups of three students and a person was arbitrarily appointed to be the leader of the group. They were then assigned some complicated moral problems to solve. Every thirty minutes the experiment was interrupted and four cookies were brought into the room for the group to eat. The process was then restarted.
-Incredibly, the person arbitrarily appointed the leader consistently ate the fourth cookie – and with a lot of gusto. The leader performed no special task and was randomly appointed just thirty minutes earlier, but still felt he deserved the extra cookie. The experiment provides an insight into the issue of Wall Street bonuses and CEO pay.
-It also has a lesson for the young graduates of Princeton University, as they have been given the extra cookie and will be given even more over time. It would then be easy to fall into the trap that they start believing they deserve the extra cookie. But they will be happier, and the world better off, if they at least pretend that they don't deserve the cookie, and realise that they owe a debt to the unlucky.
A refreshingly honest and thought provoking piece! As the work of Nobel winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman and others convincingly demonstrates, we are constantly undervaluing the role of luck in our lives – and treating our successes with more humility would go a long way in making society (and our minds) more peaceful!
Looking at the year-to-date performances of the major equity markets around the world leads to some surprising observations – after the Nasdaq (up 9.72%), the second best performing market is India (up 8.2%) – despite all the negative news on India! China (up 3.7%) ties at fourth. So our year-end theme of "reversal of fortunes" for 2012 seems to be intact!
We are entering into an important period for global financial markets, with the Greek and French elections this Sunday, the Fed meetings on the 19th and 20th, culminating in the euro summit on June 29th &29th. The scope for supportive policy action has moved higher significantly as this comment from Goldman summarises (they estimate a 75% chance of Fed easing at their meeting):
At the same time the Financial Conditions Index has shown a substantial tightening.
The chart below shows the Fed's easing probability as a function of GSFCI, which puts the probability for the next FOMC meeting at around 75%.
Greek election is just the first step in latest phase of euro crisis
Greek conservatives' victory in elections Sunday brings with it a likely new set of demands from the resulting coalition government. Among other things, more time to implement mandated spending cuts and a spending package to restore the least generous pensions are on the agenda. These and other requests are likely to puncture any euphoria over the election and dim the outlook for a speedy resolution to the euro crisis.
G20 gathers with euro crisis firmly at top of agenda
The first order of business for Group of 20 leaders meeting in Mexico is the euro crisis, with the focus on Spain for a time as Greece forms a coalition government friendly to staying in the common currency. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama were meeting Monday, with Merkel expected to repeat demands for restraint in government spending. Obama, meanwhile, and others are expected to press Germany for more flexibility.
As borrowing rate tops 7%, Spain's market access appears at risk
Spain's market access was in jeopardy Monday as borrowing costs surged past 7%, the point at which other sovereigns in Europe have had to seek bailouts. The sell-off came as the central bank reported bad debts held by Spanish banks climbed to an 18-year high in April.
India's central bank stays the course on rates
Maintaining that high interest rates are not the problem restraining growth, the Reserve Bank of India elected not to cut rates Monday, counter to widespread expectations. The central bank says it is up to the government to take action, though the scope for that is narrowed by the country's fiscal deficit. Meanwhile, Fitch lowered its estimate of India's sovereign credit outlook from stable to negative.
Chinese cities see cooling housing market in May
China's restrictions on the nation's housing market appeared to be achieving the desired end, as prices declined year-on-year in May in 54 of the 70 cities tracked. "China’s property market is approaching gently the bottom of its decline path, and I expect we'll see a touch-down sometime over the next three to four months. They've definitely succeeded in slowing the market down," said Peter Churchouse, managing director of Portwood Capital, a Hong Kong-based property investment firm.
U.S. Fed may move to stimulate as outlook darkens
With an expected switch to a lower outlook for U.S. growth for the year and a jobless rate pegged above 8%, the Federal Reserve may be prepared to adopt a risk management strategy as officials meet this week. The question is whether to extend the Fed's program of selling short-term debt and buying longer-term bonds in its so-called Operation Twist.
Market Activities
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS OVERVIEW
Global markets ended the day mixed Monday after early optimism over Sunday's election outcome in Greece yielded to sustained concerns over the euro crisis. Many investors, meanwhile, waited for any indications that might emerge from the Group of 20 summit in Mexico. Here is a continuously updated list of global stock indices.
Economic Trends & Outlook
Credit Suisse report sees emerging markets slowing globally
Lagging exports in a sluggish world economy are putting a damper on emerging markets globally, a Credit Suisse report says. But previous efforts to restrain inflation also are having an effect. Stimulus in several countries may be in order, the report says, although the scope for such action is more limited than in 2009-10.
China experiment would free up bank funds for lending
In a bid to free up funds for lending, Chinese banks will be allowed to turn loans into securities in a trial program expected soon from Beijing. As much as $7.9 billion could be removed from banks' balance sheets in a move that would take China another step toward reform in line with market forces.
Cooling economies are cited in 2nd sub-3% growth outlook for Taiwan
A second forecast for sub-3% growth for Taiwan has been issued, this one from the Taiwan Research Institute as it cites slowing economies domestically and overseas. The prediction of 2.52% growth is in line with Taiwan National University-Cathay Group's outlook for 2.45% growth issued last week.
China offers 600 billion yuan in loans to Taiwan companies
Taiwanese businesses struggling to obtain bank loans will get a lift from China, which has pledged to extend 600 billion yuan in loans over the next three to four years. The planned lending is part of a package designed to improve ties and ease tensions between Taiwan and the mainland announced by Wang Yi, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, during the Strait Forum in Xiamen.
Philippine growth outlook brightens on domestic strength
A variety of factors in the Philippines, including robust private spending and strong employment numbers, are cited for a higher 2012 growth forecast in the 6%-to-7% range by First Metro Investment and the University of Asia and the Pacific. The report also says inflation should moderate to 3.2% to 3.4% for the year.
New forecast slashes Malaysia growth outlook to 2%
Even absent a global recession, Malaysia's growth is likely to come in at about 2% for the year, according to Manu Bhaskaran, CEO of Centennial Asia Advisors. The estimate is considerably lower than an earlier forecast of 4% to 5% growth by Bank Negara Malaysia. Manu cites poorer prospects in China, the U.S. and Europe.
Capital Markets & Financial Products
Chinese firms may help fund British nuclear power project
Chinese firms may help fund British nuclear power project
A new nuclear power project in Britain is likely to get a big infusion of Chinese cash as two Chinese state companies join with Western investors to bid for the $24 billion development, according to sources in the industry. Areva and Westinghouse have selected China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding to help bid for the Horizon project.
HKEx shares extend slide on prospect that LME bid will win approval
With the prospect that Hong Kong Exchange & Clearing's bid for the London Metal Exchange may win regulatory clearance, HKEx's shares extended their sharp decline since the bid was disclosed in February. The offer price, at 180 times the LME's net income for 2011, is considered "extremely expensive."
Japan reassures U.S. on dollar holdings
Despite some recent slippage, Japan says it intends to maintain substantial dollar holdings for the foreseeable future. The reassurance comes at an opportune time for the U.S., as China continues its moves to diversify its holdings away from U.S. assets.
Industry & Regulatory Update
S. Korea's hedge fund restrictions are termed too strict
South Korea's rules for the newly launched onshore hedge fund industry are coming in for criticism from the industry, which is urging liberalization. As the rules stand, only 10% of financial institutions qualify for the market because of capital restrictions and other restraints focused on operating and servicing a local hedge fund.
New Philippine laws target money laundering
Two measures aimed at curbing money laundering and terrorist financing have been signed into law in the Philippines. The laws will also help bring the country into line with standards set by the Financial Action Task Force of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
Ethics & Standards
Gupta verdict may inspire more vigorous enforcement
The conviction of former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta is considered likely to encourage further vigilance on Wall Street by regulators and prosecutors. The U.S. Justice Department is said to have a young staff eager to pursue such cases, finding in the Gupta outcome a particular incentive, given that the case was based on circumstantial evidence
The tablet will come in two versions, one running on traditional Intel Corp chips, and another using ARM Holdings. Both will have a fold-out cover that becomes a keyboard. A prototype was demonstrated by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer at an event in Los Angeles. The tablets will be available when Windows 8 ships later this year, according to a Microsoft statement.
No details on pricing were mentioned, except that it would be "comparable" with current ARM tablets and Intel-powered Ultrabooks.
The Israeli facial recognition company Face.com has just agreed to be acquired by Facebook. Dedicated to finding "new and exciting ways to make face recognition a fun, engaging part of people's lives" the company promises to maintain support for the many third-party developers who use its technology. Rumors of the purchase first surfaced in May, and according to TechCrunch the acquisition price was around $100 million. The move is the latest in a mini-acquisition spree by Facebook, fueled by its IPO cash injection.
Facebook has dallied with face recognition in the past, notably in 2011 when it opted-in hundreds of millions of people to the feature only to turn it off shortly after. This buy will raise inevitable questions about privacy, although both Apple and Google have already integrated face recognition technology into their products as well.
The New York Times, BuzzFeed Partner For Online Political Video Series
BuzzFeed's recent strategy to mix chunks of serious reporting in with cute animal memes has landed the blog a (strange?) new partner, the New York Times. The two news outlets will work together on an online video series covering Democratic and Republican convention events in the coming months. The series is an extension of the TimesCast Politics video series the Times began last month. The video series will feature Times Opinion writers, New York Times editors and reporters, as well as BuzzFeed's new political reporting crew led by its recent recruit, ex-Politico star Ben Smith.
Political Content Removal Requests To Google On The Rise
Google has released the latest version of its Transparency Report, in which it reveals data retrieval and content removal requests from governments bodies and by court orders around the world. Google has been disclosing government takedown requests every six months since January 2010 and observes that a global trend to target political speech has been on the rise. Google says it complied with 65 percent of court orders and 47 percent of the "more informal requests" it received for information removal over the last six months. The U.S. government led the list with 6,321 data requests (a 37 percent increase since last year), which Google agreed to 93 percent of the time. Other active governments included those from India, Spain, Germany, and the U.K. Google has posted raw data broken down by request type, origin, on its Transparency Report site.
Shenzhou-9 Docks With Tiangong-1 Space Lab
China's manned Shenzhou-9 capsule successfully lined up and docked with the Tiangong-1 space lab at 2 a.m. EST today. The Shenzhou-9 carries three Chinese astronauts (or, as China calls them, taikonauts), including Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut. This space mission will last 13 days, during which time the crew will perform a second manned docking. China is the third country to send a human crew to space, and this is their fourth manned flight. Near-earth space saw another historic linkup less than a month ago when Space X's Dragon became the first commercial space craft to dock with the International Space Station.
Facebook Launches Its Olympics Offensive
As the London 2012 Olympic games approach, Facebook has made a big play to capitalize on the PR opportunities and has launched its official Page for the games as a frontpiece to the sports, countries, and athletes taking part. It's pushing the message by suggesting that users "like these Pages to get the latest from inside the games." At the time of the last Olympics, Facebook's membership was surging past 100 million users but recently, and perhaps controversially it's said its membership is around 900 million people around the world. That's an indication of how much higher the Olympic stakes are this time around, just at the same time its rival Twitter is making its own play for tighter sports integration with deals like theNASCAR coverage one. Facebook may have to tread carefully, however, as the heavily branded and controlled event in London may not permit certain types of information to be shared by athletes or spectators over social networks
• NeoStem, Inc. Signs a Definitive Agreement to Divest Its 51% Ownership Interest in Suzhou Erye Pharmaceuticals Company Ltd. More...
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Rescue supporters win close victory in Greek election
A pro-rescue party won a narrow victory in Greece's parliamentary election, heading off a confrontation with the EU regarding terms of the country's financial bailout. The New Democracy party, with the most votes in early estimates, is expected to form a coalition government with the Panhellenic Socialist Movement party, which came in third.
European leaders are expected to face pressure at G-20 summit
European leaders will head to a Group of 20 summit this week in Mexico amid mounting pressure to resolve the sovereign-debt crisis. Greece's election eased immediate risk that the eurozone will break up, but politicians, market participants and others worldwide have indicated growing exasperation with Europe's crisis-fighting efforts.
Socialists win a clear majority in France's National Assembly
The party of France's newly elected President Francois Hollande won an absolute majority in the lower house of parliament. The Socialists got 314 votes in the National Assembly, compared with the conservative Union for a Popular Movement's 191, according to exit polls. The left already controls the Senate.
Rolet works quickly to transform and update LSE Group
London Stock Exchange Group is at a critical juncture as financial regulation is changed worldwide. Xavier Rolet, who became CEO in May 2009, has been striving to ensure the company changes with the times. "We had to get the house in order, and the three things we were determined to do immediately were sort out the technology, repair relations with clients and cut the cost base," he said. Such efforts were only the beginning of realizing Xavier's long-term vision for the company.
Sector SPDRs carve the S&P 500 into nine sector exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that conveniently, efficiently, and affordably provide sector exposure while giving investors the unique ability to customize the S&P 500 to meet specific investment objectives.
See sectorspdrs.com for complete details.
Market Activity
Greek election results touch off rally on most Asian-Pacific markets
See sectorspdrs.com for complete details.
Market Activity
Greek election results touch off rally on most Asian-Pacific markets
Most Asian-Pacific share markets surged Monday after a pro-bailout party in Greece won the most votes in a parliamentary election. South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 and Taiwan's Taiex each rose 1.8%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1%. China's Shanghai Composite moved up 0.4%. Bucking the trend, India's Sensex was down 1.5% in the afternoon.
Fed signals possible move toward "risk management" strategy
With the outlook for the U.S. economy muddied by often contradictory data, the Federal Reserve is expected to move toward the "risk management" strategy of containing high-cost threats that was first put into use by former Chairman Alan Greenspan. Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen and William Dudley, who heads the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, have used the phrase recently.
FX investors adopt fresh strategies amid volatility
Currency-market investors are forced to try different strategies as central banks cut interest rates and continue easing monetary policy. Record Currency Management, a specialist foreign exchange investment firm, closed its Pooled Plus fund after incurring heavy losses and opened the Euro Stress fund to capitalize on volatility in the eurozone. Insch Capital Management, a Swiss hedge fund manager, also changed its money-management algorithm for trading forex strategies.
Economics
U.S. industrial production unexpectedly fell in May
The output of U.S. factories, mines and utilities posted an unexpected decline of 0.1% in May, on the heels of a 1% increase in April, the Federal Reserve said. Economists were expecting a 0.1% advance.
Long-term deficits depress GDP by 24% for many years, study finds
A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research of government deficits and economic growth in several nations and over centuries found that persistent deficits are associated with a 24% reduction of gross domestic product that lasts for years. The authors warned that their paper isn't a call "for rapid public debt deleveraging in an environment of extremely weak growth and high unemployment."
Executive pay keeps getting more generous, report says
The amount U.S. companies pay executives remains controversial, but that isn't having much impact on the size of their pay packages, according to research by Equilar for The New York Times. The median compensation for the 200 highest-paid CEOs was $14.5 million last year, 5% more than 2010's amount, the compensation-data firm said.
Bond dealers are split over possible stimulus by the Fed
Twelve of the 21 primary dealers who trade with the Federal Reserve expect central bankers to announce fresh efforts to bolster the economy. The other large bond dealers expect the Fed to hold steady. Some market observers question whether such efforts would have much of an impact. "The bottom line is the Fed's activity would have limited effect, and there is a question of how much lower does the Fed want to drive rates," said Larry Dyer, an interest-rate strategist at HSBC Holdings.
Analysis: Political uncertainty might be enoug`h to cut growth
Economists such as Ben Bernanke and John Maynard Keynes have long said that uncertainty about what policies governments plan to pursue hurts economic growth by discouraging investment. Researchers recently concluded that policy uncertainty in the U.S. between 2006 and 2011 cost the nation 2.3 million jobs and cut real gross domestic product by 3.2%.
Geopolitical/Regulatory
EU, Japan and U.S. make progress on derivatives reform, FSB says
The Financial Stability Board prepared a report outlining progress toward implementing tougher rules for derivatives markets. The Group of 20 nations task force said regulators in Europe, Japan and the U.S. are making good progress, but there is a long way to go. "Broadly speaking, the jurisdictions currently with the largest markets in [over-the-counter] derivatives -- the EU, Japan and the U.S. -- are the most advanced in structuring their legislative and regulatory frameworks," according to the report. "They expect to have regulatory frameworks in place by end-2012 and practical implementation within their markets is well underway."
Rules aim to lure more participants in China's QFII program
Regulations for China's Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor program are designed to speed up approval, ease requirements and expand investment areas. The steps are expected to pull in more investors to the mainland market and might "allow investors under the QFII scheme to invest in China's interbank bond market and start the securities margin trading and short-selling business," an official with the China Securities Regulatory Commission said.
Financial advisers prefer SEC user fees over SRO, survey finds
A majority of financial advisers support letting the Securities and Exchange Commission impose user fees to pay for examination over shifting advisers' oversight to a self-regulatory organization, according to a survey by InvestmentNews. SEC user fees received support from 58.7% of survey participants.
IOSCO advises developing countries about institutional investors
The International Organization of Securities Commissions released recommendations to help regulators and policymakers in emerging markets establish a strong base of institutional investors. IOSCO suggested that they create a multipillar pension system, develop a strong system to monitor markets and guarantee that foreign and domestic groups operate on a level playing field.
Financial Products
Db X-trackers introduces 8 ETFs investing in CDS indexes
Db X-trackers introduces 8 ETFs investing in CDS indexes
Deutsche Bank's db X-trackers brought to the London Stock Exchange eight exchange-traded funds investing in credit default swaps indexes. The ETFs offer individual investors unleveraged or 200% leveraged long or short exposure to the Markit CDX North America High Yield and the Markit CDX North America Investment Grade CDS indexes.
Ethics
Wall Street should take Gupta's conviction as warning, ex-judge says
Successful use of wiretap and hearsay evidence to convict Rajat Gupta of insider trading is a warning to Wall Street, said former U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell, who made the first wiretap ruling in the case. People who share inside information can never be sure they won't someday hear their conversation played back to a jury, he said.
"According to the study commissioned by Dell, we have found the ideal country for a woman starting a business in 2012 could well be India," Dell Chairman (Global Emerging Markets) and President (Asia Pacific) Amit Midha said.
In Dell Women's Global Entrepreneurship Study conducted across 450 women entrepreneur across India, the US and the UK by research firm Penn Schoen Berland found that Indian women entrepreneur are confident on their business growth compared to counterparts in the US and the UK.
The study found Women Entrepreneur in India expect 90 per cent growth in their business over period of five years compared to 24 per cent and 50 per cent growth in business expected by entrepreneur in the UK and the US respectively.
In terms of technology usage to promote their business, 74 per cent Indian women entrepreneur said that their technology need is getting more complex compared to 45 per cent in the US and 51 per cent in the UK.
Around 90 per cent of women entrepreneurs in India said they are using technology to support day-to-day operations. However, this trend was low in women entrepreneur in the US and the UK at 80 per cent and 70 per cent respectively.
The study found that getting fund for business has been biggest challenge for business across geographies.
"Women across geographies struggle to get fund for their business. The difference between funding issue between them and male entrepreneur is that they have issues even in approaching for fund," Dell's Chief Marketing Officer Karen Quintos said.
Women entrepreneurs in India needs an average of $9,376 in start-up capital for business, compared to $8,060 required in the UK and $19,985 in the US, the study said.
Women entrepreneurs in India and the US find banks or credit unions as most difficult source for obtaining funds.
Easiest source for getting funds for women entrepreneur in the US is family members, the UK is friends and for Indian women entrepreneur it is Angel investors.
