Recent news about a Russian court hearing a petition to Ban "Geeta"provoked me to write this post. In today’s ‘Fast food   -   Twitter’   world if one is asked to interpret Gita it would translate as:   For the sake of religion (Dharma) you are justified to kill your brothers. Is it not the same thing that the Islamist (Jihad) and Christians (Crusade) talk about? It is not what the holy books talk but ‘Who’ and ‘how’ the words of the holy books are interpreted, that determines the understanding of Religion. To understand Mahabharat, Gurcharan Das did not go to Ayodhya, Mathura, Varansi or Kasi or make the Char Dham yatra, but he went   to the institution of Liberal art thinking, University of Chicago.!!! Ancient Indian Culture followed the Verbal method of telling stories / Mythology. Written works are fairly recent, and there are various version of Ramayana where the core thoughts remain the same but the body around it changes. (Valmi...

Indians move from necessities to luxury Spending On F&B Comes Down While Expenditure On Health & Tourism Jumps  According to recent reports although consumption is on the rise in India, a shift in pattern is clearly visible. In urban areas, food and beverages (F&B) is witnessing a declining share of the consumer’s wallet, while spends on tourism and health are going up. Even within categories, there is a shift in consumption. For instance, in foods, people are consuming more fruits and vegetables, meat and milk as compared to pulses and cereals. On the other hand, rural India is seeing a different pattern of consumption. Although rural consumers spend half of what urban consumers spend on cosmetics and toiletries annually, the lines between urban, semi-urban and rural areas are fast blurring with growing connectivity. In short, the geography of consumption is changing rapidly.     According to a Citi India report on consumption, spending i...

    There is growing euphoria over America’s energy future. Energy experts around the globe have been claiming that the US will gain energy independence in the next eight years. Optimists have even gone on to claim that America’s energy independence will lead to global energy independence. The primary basis for the first of these two claims is a series of technological breakthroughs, the most important of which is the application of what is called shale gas technology to extract oil from rock. Experts and journalists are so impressed by this technological breakthrough that they have credited it for lowering US dependence on imported oil by a quarter from 60% of the country’s overall oil consumption a few years ago to 46% in the current year.  Oil forecasts have been notoriously slippery; we hope that the current forecasts on US energy independence are based on firmer grounds. Experts claim that within the next eight years, shale reserves in the US wil...

Now a days, I have lot of rush in my clinic! I see more MR's (Medical representatives) than patients. While the  patient load has not gone down ( Thanks God!); The number of MR's has increased drastically, what with so many new companies in the market, selling the same drugs. Remembering symptoms of rare syndromes is a easier task, then remembering the different brand names of the same drugs. This observation about the fierce competition in the domestic market along with other indicators like: 1. Two major Pharma promoters ( Ranbaxy and Piramal) cashing out. 2. No new drugs to copy by process patent 3. Difficulties faced by Indian firms to launch Generic versions of off patent drugs in the Western market, that too after spending a fortune on legal fees. 4. Prolonged recession in the West coupled with reduced Medicaid spending. It makes me wonder if it is the end of growth of Indian pharma. Do they deserve the rich 20+ P/E valuations.? While I may be skeptic abo...