Two statements stood out. One from a blog, and the other from the column. Both statements describe to a very large extent, India's outlook, and problems.
*Indians are attracted to Mr. Buffett as he is wealthy. Pure and simple. Indians are of course good at doling out good advice and not really listening to them. They won't mind Mr. Buffett giving advice about giving up wealth. It' just that Indians are not about to give up their wealth any time soon. http://explainingindia.blogspot.com/ - Sachi Mohanty, a blogger * And this from the column: *Mr. Buffett’s newfound interest in India is at odds with much of the rest of the world. Foreign direct investment in the country dropped by more than 31 percent in 2010, even as it rose in other emerging markets. Headline-grabbing corruption scandals and the huge Indian tax bill of Vodafone<http://dealbook.on.nytimes.com/public/overview?symbol=VOD&inline=nyt-org>, the British telecommunications company, are scaring investors, analysts say. Still, companies from BMW<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/bayerische_motoren_werke_ag/index.html?inline=nyt-org>to Levi Strauss continue to expand in India, hoping to sell products to the country’s growing number of consumers with disposable income. * --Ram ______________________________ March 25, 2011, 5:12 pm Buffett Draws Fervent Fans in India With His Folksy Advice By HEATHER TIMMONS<http://dealbook.nytimes.com/author/heather-timmons/> Pankaj Nangia/Bloomberg NewsWarren E. Buffett, right, drew the rapt attention of his audience in New Delhi on Friday. With him was Ajit Jain, the Indian-born head of Berkshire Hathaway’s reinsurance business. NEW DELHI — The billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/warren_e_buffett/index.html?inline=nyt-per>capped off a weeklong visit to India by doing one of the things he does best, after investing — doling out folksy sayings and sensible advice to an appreciative crowd. While Mr. Buffett’s first trip to India comes years, or even decades, after many Western investors and businesses have put down roots in this country, the delay does not seem to have dampened his reception. In recent days, he traveled from the technology hub of Bangalore to New Delhi, meeting with students, politicians, businesspeople and India’s wealthy, and seeming to win new admirers everywhere he went. “The greatest man on the planet,” one audience member yelled Friday, as Mr. Buffett moved to the front of a ballroom in a five-star hotel here. Mr. Buffett has “completely charmed all who thronged to get a word of wisdom,” The Times of India wrote earlier in the week<http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-24/india-business/29182749_1_warren-buffett-sari-alpana> . Mr. Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway<http://dealbook.on.nytimes.com/public/overview?symbol=BRK.A&inline=nyt-org>, spent Friday night with hundreds of new insurance customers at a town hall-style meeting, where he gave advice on topics as diverse as government bonds (don’t buy them now), parenting (“You start out as your child’s hero and you don’t get a second chance”) and social networking stocks like Facebook (“I wouldn’t buy them, but I wouldn’t short them”). India is among his top four or five investment destinations, he said Friday, and he hinted he was scouting for candidates. “I’ve been dropping my phone number around as I cover the city,” Mr. Buffett said. “I hope someone rings me Monday morning with good news.” Still, he added, “My advice to anyone with a good business is to keep it.” Mr. Buffett’s newfound interest in India is at odds with much of the rest of the world. Foreign direct investment in the country dropped by more than 31 percent in 2010, even as it rose in other emerging markets. Headline-grabbing corruption scandals and the huge Indian tax bill of Vodafone<http://dealbook.on.nytimes.com/public/overview?symbol=VOD&inline=nyt-org>, the British telecommunications company, are scaring investors, analysts say. Still, companies from BMW<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/bayerische_motoren_werke_ag/index.html?inline=nyt-org>to Levi Strauss continue to expand in India, hoping to sell products to the country’s growing number of consumers with disposable income. Mr. Buffett’s company recently entered India’s insurance market, albeit tentatively, as an insurance agent. Berkshire Hathaway started selling car insurance<http://topics.nytimes.com/your-money/insurance/auto-insurance/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>policies online in India in a partnership with Bajaj Allianz, the Indian insurance company. Regulations in this country prevent foreign insurers from selling their own policies unless they have become a minority partner in an agreement with a local company. But there are no limits on being an agent. “We’ve been looking at the India space for a long time,” Ajit Jain, the Indian-born head of Berkshire Hathaway’s reinsurance business, said during an interview this week. Online insurance sales are rare here, with most policies handled by a string of in-person visits. Eventually, Berkshire Hathaway hopes to reduce the overall cost of insurance in India by relying on the Internet, Mr. Jain said. Right now, though, it is starting with an investment of just $5 million. “It’s a small step that can serve as a springboard to a giant leap,” he said. Berkshire Hathaway has been mum about how many new customers it has signed on in India, but one representative said the company had “30 times” the number who came to Friday’s meeting with Mr. Buffett. The ballroom where Mr. Buffett spoke holds about 1,000 people. On Friday, it was decorated with giant posters sporting Buffett quotes like “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who has been swimming naked” and “Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.” Attendees got gift bags printed with the title “Wit, Wisdom & Warren” and were treated to plenty of all three. At one point, Mr. Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway kept about $10 billion in cash on hand just in case “Ben Bernanke<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/ben_s_bernanke/index.html?inline=nyt-per>runs off to South America with Lindsay Lohan<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/lindsay_lohan/index.html?inline=nyt-per>,” a remark that of course drew laughter. “We have to be prepared for anything.” Earlier Friday, Mr. Buffett, 80, met with India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/manmohan_singh/index.html?inline=nyt-per>, 78, as well as insurance regulators and planning commissioners. Mr. Buffett did not give details about the conversations but said Friday that he felt Indian markets would continue to open to foreign investment. At least one businessman at Friday’s event paid Mr. Buffett a lofty compliment, noting that his pledge to give away most of his fortune showed he has a “Gandhian approach to wealth.” This was quite possibly the first time the billionaire stock-picker was compared to Mahatma Gandhi<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/mohandas_k_gandhi/index.html?inline=nyt-per> . Mr. Buffett proved so popular on Friday that planned handshakes with the audience at the end of the meeting with customers had to be canceled. A throng of mobile phone-wielding men surrounded him, snapping shot after shot of themselves and Mr. Buffett, together in the same frame, frightening his handlers. Instead of mingling with the crowd, the Oracle of Omaha was muscled away backstage, not to be seen again. _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
