Structurally, it is analysed in terms of:

• Political ideology
• Expenditure
• Revenues
• Specific Tax Proposals
• Impact on Financial Markets

Clearly, it carries on with its appeal to the masses - the aam aadmi message. This comes in the light of expenditure programmes and allocations to social sector, rural as well as urban. Spending on urban transport infrastructure is one of the biggest factors that will enhance quality of life. By hiking excise on petrol and cars, the message is - use public transport. Big ticket infrastructure spending is welcome - this is largely how US grew in the post world war era.

Expenditure management has been done admirably. It solves the budget deficit containment at the very root. Expenditure has been chosen on merit. Also, the one-time arrears in government salary hikes and farmers' loan waivers are settled issues of the past. In light of what has happened in Portugal, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain, India's ratings will certainly bounce back to investment grade from the current 'Ba'.

As a result of reduction in expenditure, the finance minister was not too desperate to raise revenues in a hurry. There was some restructuring of personal taxes, infrastructure bond investment credit. MAT enhancement will force companies to focus on topline and operational efficiency rather than juggling with taxes. Excise enhancement is one last chance of earning before the GST rollout - in which case all central revenues will have to be shared with the states on a formula. Most announcements on direct and indirect taxes are in tune with the proposed rollout of DTC and GST. These steps, next year, will place the tax environment in India at par with most emerging economies and a few developed countries.

The impact on the debt markets are favourable on account of contraction in expenditure. Crowding out is prevented. The government also does not want to be a party to adverse capital market conditions in light of its own disinvestment programmes. Lower crowding out from G -Sec could result in a general decline in interest rates. Infrastructure spending acts as a stimulus to most other parts of the economy, directly and indirectly.

In summary, by prudent expenditure management and focussed investment targeting, a disciplined budget was already assured. Coupled with that, a clear direction towards DTC and GST established the credibility of the Finance Minister. The honesty and candour have also gone down very well with the citizens of the country.

Over 1,00,000 students take the Common Admission Test (CAT) in a quest to obtain a seat in some 2500 seats at the ivy league B'Schools in India. Preparation for CAT commences the moment an engineering student enters the hostel. The rest of the crowd - students from arts, science and commerce - bright though they may be, settle for some other b-schools. However, it is only after the completion of an MBA - ivy league school or not, that the realization dawns - of too little coverage of the securities markets. This results in another scramble for CFA or FRM. In all, it is 3 wasted years - 1 year for CAT preparation and 2 years of MBA, and at the end of it, one hasn't scratched the surface of secutiries markets. Career counselling is needed much more today than before.

Precisely to address this educational need, the National Institute of Secutiries Markets, established through a parliamentary announcement and supported by SEBI was constituted. NISM has launched the One-Year, Full Time Certified Securities Markets Professional (CSMP) programme. Unique features are:

• Curriculum focused solely on Securities Markets (as compared to an MBA Finance/PGDM)
• One year full time (as opposed to 2 years of MBA/PGDM)
• Internships and Placements
• Best faculty, a blend of academicians and practitioners.

By diverting focused students away from the CAT-rat race, this programme is indeed, the need of serious students pursuing securities markets careers.

Securities markets are associated with high profile, high decibel activities. The so-called ruthless analysts grill corporate czars and CEOs with mirco-questions on fringe issues like forex hedging losses. Why? To fuel and feed the public craze for sound-bytes, and probably take a call on whether to buy, sell or short-sell the stock in the next few trading sessions. By contrast, corporations that engage in gimmickry and financial chicanery at the expese of running a good factory - that earn praise from the media - no questions asked. Is this because of the media budgets they control? It is surprising that such a myopic view of markets or company fortunes have not been sufficiently addressed by other stakeholders. In the western world, Warren Buffet, Robert Shiller and, of late, Nicholas Nassem Taleb have exposed the inadequacies of the financial press.

It is left to academicians to remedy the situation by raising pertinent issues. From an educational point of view, securities markets are not about trading! It is all about stock selection, investing with a time frame in mind, attending annual general meetings, supporting sound and sincere managements and building a portfolio brick by brick. No one reports how much 'traders' have lost by following the voodoo scientists promoted by the media. In the long run, all traders lose money. They pay for the losses from the gains made from sound, long-term investment they made only a fraction of the time. Food for thought? So double check your market activities before you call yourself an investor -- you may be a trader or a pseudo investor. Caveat emptor.

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