Book Review: Desh Deshpande, On Entrepreneurship and Impact

“Every article highlights a value, principle, mind-set or an approach at the foundational level rather than providing a popular tip or a technique. The focus is on the long-term rather than gaining from a fleeting advantage.” 

N R Narayana Murthy, Founder Infosys 

Entrepreneurship is an adventure which attracts perhaps everyone but a very few could actually commit themselves to it and reasons are none but the risk and uncertainty involved. When it comes to writing about entrepreneurship with real life experience and wisdom, it is possible only when you tread the water yourself. This small orange book has been written by a serial entrepreneur who has been successful in establishing big corporations if not the biggest. 

There are a number of books on entrepreneurship by professors and many successful entrepreneurs on this subject that deals with large number of issues that entrepreneurs have to face on the ground. Those books have written either on the basis of observations and theories or experiences. There are really very few books that uses all these three; theories, observations and experiences. This book stands out there by using all these three. 

Jet Airways: Perhaps Insolvency Proceeding at NCLT is not the End

The share prices of troubled Jet Airways on 20th June 2019 increased by more than 120% in one day while the case of airlines was to be admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for the resolution under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016. Even today, the share prices are sustaining the previous day’s closing price. The tribunal has accepted the case for insolvency proceedings and also approved the appointment of Insolvency Resolution Professional (IRP) to oversee the insolvency proceedings. Declaring this matter to be of national importance, the tribunal has ordered to complete the insolvency resolution process within three months instead of six months that law allows to resolve cases relating to insolvency and bankruptcy. Apart from this every fortnight the insolvency resolution professional is required to submit the progress report to tribunal. 

WTO Questions India’s Plan to Revive Farm Sector

The farm support plans announced by India and the United States have created a lot of noise, mainly among the developed nations with surplus agriculture produces. These are under the scrutiny by the World Trade Organization members in WTO’s quarterly agriculture committee meeting on June 25-26. Specifically the European Union and Australia has asked India to explain the Modi’s proposal to spend Rs 25 lakh crore on agriculture and rural development and doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022 as part of Rs 100 lakh crore, five-year infrastructure development plan. Even the US is out asking questions about India’s 5% export subsidy for non-Basmati rice as well as increasing purchase of wheat at higher minimum support prices by the Indian Government even when India has record wheat stockpile.

Jet Airways: Options Limited but Can be Revived

Led by SBI, the lenders to Jet Airways have been exploring all the possible options to revive and resolve insolvency crisis at the grounded airlines outside the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Including salaries of staff, dues of operational creditors and lenders, the total liabilities of airlines is about ₹ 15,000 crore. It is expected that if the matter goes to NCLT, lenders would be able recover a very small fraction of their due or no recovery out of ₹8,400 crore which airlines owes them. 

On World Environment Day

Across the entire world we have been championing the cause of economic growth and development and have presented it as the only solution to the socio-economic misery of men and women of the world. To achieve it all the possible stones are being turned and obviously it has benefitted billions of populations across world and brought millions of people out from miserable poverty (OECD, 2008; Rodarte & Verbeek, 2015). Though, still billions of people have been left out from this growth (Ebunoluwa & Yusuf, 2018) and development bandwagon while lavishing all the possible luxury to a few million people in this world (Kwatra, 2019). But the cost to this has been so high and irreparable and no country in this world is exception to this. So is India.