CHINA's Growth Story-The Way Forward....

THE BIG QUESTION: Will the economic miracle run out of steam?

China’s growth story so far has been spectacular to say the least. According to data released on 16^th of August, the world’s no. 1 exporter has surpassed Japan to become the 2^nd largest economy; just behind the U.S. -Japan had managed to keep its second spot in terms of economic muscle for the last 43 years, so dethroning Japan was a significant milestone. But “wait” before you think everything’s fine with the dragon economy-it is slowly, but surely losing its steam.

There’s no denying the fact that it had recorded a massive 11.9% GDP growth in the first quarter of 2010. But Q2 figures haven’t been that encouraging-10.3% is the growth rate, a sharp fall of about 1.5%. There are several economic threats that are haunting the Chinese economy.

A major contributor to the slowdown has been the “Real estate bubble” that has been building up. Excessive investment and speculative purchases is driving prices in the real estate sectors to unsustainably high levels. The government has phased out $586-billion stimulus spending, tightening curbs on lending and checking spiraling property prices, and thereby cooling growth in the property sector. Curbs on spending would directly and proportionally affect growth in the coming time.

Second factor that seems to plaguing the Chinese economy is the apparent upsurge in workers who have begun pushing for higher wages and better working conditions. According to estimates by Deutsche Bank –“the minimum wage increase is to be around 20 per cent in most provinces and cities”. Another report by World Bank mentioned that the average rural wages rose 16.4 per cent in the first quarter of the 2010 from a year earlier.

The third problem that China faces is rising raw material prices. China's export growth remains strong, though rising costs for raw materials have eroded the country's cost advantage. It would be worthwhile to note here that during the first half of 2010, the total value of imports and exports, accounted for nearly 37 percent of the Chinese GDP.

Other factors include the steep fall in Industrial Production. It experienced a surprisingly sharp slowdown to a growth rate of 13.7%, down from 16.5% in May 2010. Some economists are also worried that stagflation -- inflation coupled with lower growth -- could emerge, although it seems highly unlikely.

It is imperative for China to raise the bar when it comes to the quality of economic development. In 2009, China’s urban rural divide widened to its highest since 1978. The fact of the matter remains that China is still a developing nation over 40 million below the poverty line. Overtaking Japan in terms of GDP is not going to change the basic truth. China’s per capita income is over 10 times lower than Japan’s and its population is 10 times bigger. It is a rapidly ageing country and its one child policy shows signs of becoming a burden.

China’s growth is not sustainable. It has polluted rivers, severe air pollution & large scale deforestation. By 2020, China is expected to have 400 million tonnes of rubbish, which is equal to the entire waste generated on the planet in 1997.

Despite all this, the Chinese are optimistic about their economy. The government has said that a slowdown is good in the long-term as policymakers try to reduce the country's heavy reliance on exports and investment to drive growth. The government sees this phrase as mid course correction period rather than a slowdown of the economy. The focus is now being shifted to domestic markets to compensate for slowing of export markets. China has more than one million-millionaires today. Relatively strong job creation in the recent times has helped support robust consumer demand which is strengthening China’s inward growth.

A long-term estimate by the World Bank research suggests that China's annual economic growth rate will fall to an average of 7 per cent in 2016-2020 - about the level the government has said is its target for sustainable growth.

So, to sum it all, China faces a lot of economic challenges in the form of above mentioned problems. However through effective policy formulation, they can slowly get back on the track of growth-growth which is both sustainable and inclusive.

-Tejas Singh

Adolf Hitler & His Ideology

"By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise."-Hitler's views on totalitarianism

Adolf Hilter is a name which we all have heard a lot but know quite little. As we all know Adolf Hitler was an absolute dictator of Germany, who was actually extremely patriotic and a German nationalist. He was not only anti- Jew but was a bundle of "anti-" attitudes - anti-democratic and anti-Republican. He was an ardent Social Darwinist, which means that he believed that the process of survival of the fittest by natural selection should be artificially speeded up by the government, for example by killing 'incurables' and various 'undesirables'.

Hitler joined the well known Nazi party in 1922 because he was anxious and furious over the defeat of Germany in World War I and very harsh provisions of treaty of Versailles. And he was of belief that it was entirely because of Jews and republic government of Germany. He through his magnetic and ironic charisma was able to inspire millions of fellow Germans that Germany is in grave danger. He was able to persuade them to take “life or death struggle” to save their country.

IN 1933 Hitler became the chancellor of Germany and took power in his hands. In 1934, upon the death of German President Hindenburg in August 1934, he consolidated himself as absolute dictator.

Hitler had two dreams. The first was to bring together all Germans in a vast 'Greater Germany'; the second was the expansion of Germany into the virtually 'boundless' territory of the Soviet Union. After all, Germany has briefly defeated Russia in 1917-1918, but this victory had been of no practical use while they faced defeat in Western Europe. In Operation Barbarossa he gambled all - and lost disastrously.

In fact during second world war also , when Germany was facing huge success initially and had already defeated and captured the arch rival France and huge portions of east Europe including Austria , Hungary ,Czech republic , Slovakia ,Poland , Hitler’s main concern and anxiousness was to taste the rich fruits of Soviet Union .

This was in February, 1942 when German army attacked Stalingrad, a city in Soviet Union that turn out to be the turning point of the war. The people of the city come out in support of army and German army faced one of its major defeats. It was amongst the bloodiest in the history of warfare, with the upper estimates of combined casualties coming to nearly two million.

Hitler completely underestimated the power of Soviet Union. Then the Soviet Union bounced back and turned out to be the main reason for defeat of Germany in Second World War. Germany faced forces from both sides, Soviet Union from east and Britain with other allied powers from west. And on 30th April 1945, Russian army entered Berlin and Hitler committed suicide on the same day with newly wed wife Eva Braun. And with this come the end of the most terrified dictatorship ever in the world.

By: Aman Maggu

Five MYTHS about IMMIGRATION

Keeping in view the latest Bill by Barack Obama penalizing firms having more than 50% people working on job visas, here a reality check. Its an older post of kaleidoscope but is more relevant now. 


Source- HT
(The author wrote addressing the US citizens)
Despite the fact that US is a nation of immigrants  or perhaps because of it  immigration continues to be one of America’s most contentious topics. The new law in Arizona authorising police to arrest individuals who cannot show documents proving that they are in the country legally has set off a fresh bout of acrimony. But as in the past, much of the debate is founded on mythology. Here are some of the myths:

1.)Immigrants take jobs from American workers

Although immigrants account for 12.5 percent of the US population, they make up about 15 percent of the workforce. They are overrepresented among workers largely because the rest of our population is aging: Immigrants and their children have accounted for 58 percent of US population growth since 1980. This probably won’t change anytime soon. Low US fertility rates and the upcoming retirement of the baby boomers mean that immigration is likely to be the only source of growth in what we call the “prime age” workforce  workers ages 25 to 55  in the decades ahead. As record numbers of retirees begin drawing Social Security checks, younger immigrant workers will be paying taxes, somewhat easing the financial pressures on the system.

Immigrants tend to be concentrated in high- and low-skilled occupations that complement  rather than compete with  jobs held by natives. As a result, immigrants experience higher employment than natives during booms  but they suffer higher job losses during downturns.

2.)Immigration at an all-time high; most came illegally

The historic high came in 1890, when immigrants made up 14.8 percent of US population. Today, about two-thirds of immigrants are here legally, commonly known as “green card” holders. And of the approximately 10.8 million immigrants who are in the country illegally, about 40 percent overstayed their visas.

It’s worth noting that although the unauthorized immigrant population includes more people from Mexico than from any other country, Mexicans are also the largest group of lawful immigrants. Apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border have declined by more than 50 percent over the past four years. This decline is largely due to the recession, but stepped-up border enforcement is playing a part.

3.)Today’s immigrants are not integrating into society

The integration of immigrants remains a hallmark of America’s vitality as a society. Although some people complain that today’s immigrants are not integrating into US society as quickly as previous newcomers did, the same charge was leveled at virtually every past wave of immigrants, including the large numbers of Germans, Irish and Italians who arrived in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Today, as before, immigrant integration takes a generation or two. Learning English is one key driver of this process; the education and upward mobility of immigrants’ children is the other. On the first count, today’s immigrants consistently seek English instruction in such large numbers that adult-education programs cannot meet the demand, especially in places such as California. 

However, the unauthorised status of millions of immigrants can interrupt integration. For example, illegal immigrants are ineligible for in-state tuition, making higher education  out of their reach. 

4.)Curbing illegal crossings will make us safe

The job of protecting the nation’s borders is immense, encompassing nearly 7,500 miles of land borders, 12,380 miles of coastline and a vast network of sea ports, international airports, ports of entry along the Mexican and Canadian borders and visa-issuing consulates abroad.

Our southwest border is more a classic law enforcement challenge than a front line in the war on terrorism. Antiterrorism measures rely heavily on intelligence gathering and clandestine efforts that are unrelated to border enforcement.

The seasoned enforcement officials  contend that if we provided enough visas to meet the economy’s demand for workers, border agents would be freed to focus on protecting the nation from truly dangerous individuals.

5.)Reform cannot happen in an election year

The politics of immigration can be explosive, especially as elections near, with the result that Congress infrequently updates immigration laws. However, all the significant immigration bills enacted in recent decades were passed in election years.

This list dates back to the Refugee Act of 1980, which established our system for humanitarian protection and refugee and asylum admissions. Next came the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which made it illegal to hire unauthorised immigrants and provided amnesty for 2.7 million illegal immigrants. The Immigration Act of 1990 increased the number of visas allotted to highly skilled workers. And the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act charged immigration agencies with implementing significant new law enforcement mandates.

Legislative attempts to make urgently needed changes fizzled in the House in 2005 and in the Senate in 2006 and 2007, and the to-do list for this Congress is substantial. But ruling out immigration reform, whether because Congress has other priorities or because it’s an election year, would be a mistake. The outline for immigration legislation that Senator Charles Schumer (NY) and his Democratic colleagues unveiled last week, together with the uproar over the Arizona law, may help convince lawmakers that there’s no time like now.

METER JAM IN MUMBAI AND Other Major Cities

Today I felt and understood the real meaning of "One India One Practice". I felt that the auto drivers of Delhi are rude and so choosy about which passengers to ferry, where to go and what to charge because of huge demand for such services in a place like Delhi where people are tripping off its brink. Most of you must had such bitter experiences where auto rickshaw driver wasn't going in the direction where you wanted to go (oh! my bad luck), overcharging ( dear see the inflation rates) and his meter seems to have died a premature death with no chances of revival. But now I know, its a universal practice here in India. You could find those rude and overcharging rickety autos and taxis in all major Indian cities.

Its what the METER JAM organised today, 12th August showed. People from around the country told their stories of when the auto or taxi drivers refused to carry them when they needed to be at some place urgently or when the little pocket money saved by the students for the next movie is demanded by the drivers because he will settle for no less. People pledged on www.meterjam.com not to hire the autos and taxis on Thursday to show THEIR unity against the auto and taxi unions. Ones who had cars ferried others to their places and many took buses and Metros to their destinations.Well, a staggering 37,000 people in Mumbai alone joined the campaign with Delhi being the second city from where large number of people also participated along with people from Bangalore and Chennai.

It was the first time that the harassed passengers around the county had a way of showing their anger and protest against these injustices happening everyday in every corner of the country. Our state governments issue special helpline numbers and guidelines against such illegal practices of the auto and taxi drivers but these numbers are defunct or inefficient everytime. Maybe it has just become another source of earning dirty money by our cops and transport officials. The campaign has given hope to the people and are already asking to hold such campaigns every month or even every day till such malpractices are weeded out.

If you also want to show your protest and be a part of this campaign against the dadagiri of auto and taxi drivers, voice your views and log on to meterjam.com and tell those rude drivers that they can no longer take us for granted and we are not at their mercy. Suffer No longer, No more.

By Rahul Bansal

US bleeding due to Wikileaks!

Forget Osama Bin Laden. US latest obsession must be Julian Assange, the man behind Wikileaks, who with a handful of others is day by day putting online more records and information depicting the hollowness of the claims made by the powerful leaders of the world, with the major target being the US.

US is running for cover since a massive leak of more than 92,000 top secret documents titled- "Afghan War Log" containing day to day reporting of the soldiers and intelligence reports. But now US is trying to show a bold face, telling the world that they had nothing to hide and all the info contained in those leaked documents was already shared with the concerned countries including India. But what they are failing to explain is why billions are poured into Pakistan when they have sufficient proof that ISI is funding Taliban or why civilian causalities were reported as enemy deaths. The documents clearly show the failing US led NATO forces there and why the war was not merited from the beginning.

But the world attention is also on Julian Assange, a former computer hacker from Australia who decided that he wanted to do his best to make all secrets public. His special attention is on US, but their website has also revealed documents about the toxic materials being thrown in the oceans alongside African coasts, affecting elections in Kenya by exposing corruption among many other projects.

How Wikileaks operates

WikiLeaks, which runs on funding from donors, has been rather secretive about how it operates. But essentially the idea behind the site is this: People who have access to controversial or classified documents can send them to the site, either through the internet or through the mail. Then a group of volunteer editors for the site decides what information is authoritative, what information is important, and publishes it accordingly. In this way, the site differs from traditional "wikis," such as Wikipedia, which can be edited and changed by anyone at any time. Only approved information ends up on the WikiLeaks site, but anyone is free to submit documents he or she believes should be made public. WikiLeaks offers these whistle-blowers anonymity and, to a degree, legal protection.

Technical backbone

Since WikiLeaks is in the business of publishing information that governments and multinational corporations want kept secret, the site employs some technical tricks that aim to keep it from crashing or being hacked.

The site keeps servers on multiple continents, and its sensitive information passes through countries -- such as Sweden, Iceland and Belgium -- that have offered WikiLeaks a degree of legal protection.

"We use this state-of-the-art encryption to bounce stuff around the internet to hide trails -- pass it through legal jurisdictions like Sweden and Belgium to enact those legal protections," Julian Assange said. The fact that WikiLeaks' servers and volunteers are all over the globe makes it, in effect, the "world's first stateless news organization." This is key to the site's ability to protect itself.

"WikiLeaks is organized so that if the crackdown comes in one country, the servers can be switched on in another," he writes. "This is meant to put it beyond the reach of any government or legal system." Assange reportedly has spent his life developing the tech skills needed to set up such a system.  "As a teenager in Melbourne, Australia, he belonged to a hacker collective called the International Subversives."  He eventually pleaded guilty to multiple counts "of breaking into Australian government and commercial websites to test their security gaps, but was released on bond for good behavior."

Julian Assange is on a mission and world is waiting to see his next revelations. But what should be also noticed here is the continuous failure of successive US govts to achieve their slated targets- capturing Osama, eradicating Taliban from Afghanistan, finding nukes or chemical weapons from Iraq, or now getting hands on Julian Assange. It seems their bad luck is just not stopping. 

The Curious Case of Chinese Currency-Yuan..

These days, i have been catching up on a lot of news concerning China. I have been fascinated by the astute manner in which they come out with different strategies-be it politics, economics or foreign affairs.

There are many strategic instances which can be quoted, like how smartly China has slowly and steadily made Tibet as part of their territory. And very recently their have been talks between Zardari and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to build a railway line from China to Pakistan which would enable China to have a stronghold on the Indian border [with increased military base to attack if needed]

But, what i am going to discuss in detail is the changing phase of Chinese economy. Their currency, Yuan [Also known as Remnibibi] was in the spotlight recently. As we all know Chinese products are known for being cheap and quite a large chunk of the Chinese economy relies on exports. It had been pegged 6.83 to the USD since July 2008. Recently it was under heavy criticism from the US for not allowing Yuan to appreciate. China was accused of being a monopolist in the export industry [as they were literally stealing away the export business of other countries]. But things are slowly changing. I read a lot in the newspapers about how China is under pressure from other countries including India and US to allow Yuan to appreciate. Come to think of it, is China really "losing out" if Yuan appreciates? If you got your economics right- not so much, especially not the people of China. Read on, you will know why..

Ask yourself a question, essentially what are exports? They are -global demand for goods and services in the economy. Too much reliance on any component of demand is bad, in this case it is the exports. For instance, if there is a slump in global demand due to recessionary trends, Chinese exports will suffer and therefore the demand. Now if Yuan appreciates, the domestic demand would increase as the purchasing power of people in China would increase [taking the assumption that the Chinese are purchasing imports to satisfy their domestic consumption]. This would help the Chinese economy to reduce its dependence on exports. This would also mean more income in the hands of poor labourers which are paid abysmally low [which is how the Chinese are able to export products at such a cheap rate].

Now, it remains to be seen at what rate People's bank of China allow the Yuan to appreciate. China can play a clever game here, if the rate at which their currency appreciates is low, they can still maintain their world leader status as far as export market is concerned. Side by side, they would also steadily increase their domestic demand. This would further strengthen the Chinese economy. It's because of such clever strategies that i like to address China as- "our shrewd neighbour-China!!"

-Tejas Singh

BREAKING NEWS: There is No Indian Cricket Team, and there Never Was

Alas! But true. There is only one team, BCCI ki team, and not India ki team. BCCI has time and again proved that the only thing that matters to them is money, and not the national pride, or India, for that matter. You may have also noticed several times when their members have given preference to monetary contracts instead of options which may have been a pride for India.

First, there was the IPL. One may argue that it was the best option at that time but simply postponing the IPL after the Indian democratic elections could have been an option also. It would have been a nice thing to do, giving the largest democracy in the world respect for the democratic functions it performs, instead it became a matter of one person's ego and he was even praised for that. But that is understandable. Millions were at stake due to contractual obligations, and why does it matter to BCCI if the INDIAN Premier League actually happens in India or not, when the democracy of India was given second preference after the "billion dollar baby".

Second, India is not playing in the Asian Games. IOA president, Mr Suresh Kalmadi, has openly said that BCCI is not participating in the Asian games because there is no money in that. "It has become commercial...cricket has become very commercial. (In Olympic and Asian Games) There are only medals, no money. So, I don't think anybody from cricket world will be interested in taking part," he said. BCCI cited international commitments for not taking part in Asian games, where cricket is debuting in T20 format. "They (BCCI) had done it in Malaysia Commonwealth Games also. They sent a second string team there. So I was never keen and I did not put cricket into Commonwealth Games. I knew they won't make it, they will back out at the last minute. They said they would come to Asian Games, but they backed out. I knew this," he said.

Kalmadi was referring to the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur where India sent a second-string squad, while most of the frontline cricketers played against Pakistan in Canada. I need not add further.

Third, BCCI not agreeing to pre/postpone the India-Australia 2 tests to be played between Oct 2-14 in India, clearly clashing with CWG. Three ODIs are also to be played after the tests. CWG schedule was decided four years ago and BCCI was clearly informed about the time table of the event. But, hey, BCCI has control over 75% of the money in the world cricket. How can anybody tell them to adjust to the CWG, even when it is a matter of national pride for Indian citizens. Instead, we should thank them for giving us the option of either watching the world athletes fighting to get a medal for their country or the BCCI squad fighting it out on a cricket pitch, winning thousands as prize money, lakhs as salaries but zero medals. Mr. Kalmadi has clarified that a year ago, he had requested the then BCCI president Sharad Pawar not to schedule any cricket series on Indian soil during the Games. But, its highly unlikely that without any serious order or threat of disbanding them, BCCI will change their schedule to adjust India in it.

So, we were mistaken for a long time that the team for which we were cheering was an Indian team. But it was a team of a billion dollar enterprise called BCCI(Billionaires Control Cricket in India), run by billionaires to make more money. So never again say its India ki team, its BCCI ki team. R.I.P. Indian Cricket Team.

By- Rahul Bansal

Passing over the baton-all about the CWG 2010 baton..

CWG 2010

As we all know this time common wealth games are scheduled to be held in Delhi in month of October between 3rd and 14th October. So I thought of sharing with you some interesting facts about this year’s games baton.

The Queen's Baton relay began when the baton containing Queen Elizabeth II's message to the athletes, left Buckingham Palace on 29 October 2009. Our President Pratibha Patil herself joined the ceremony in London and received the baton from the Queen.

The baton, packed with high-tech cameras, sound-recorders and LED lights all made in India, contains a message to the athletes from the queen that will be opened and read out loud at the launch of the Games in New Delhi on Oct 3 at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium at the opening ceremony. And you know what is the most interesting part, even we can send a message to the baton.

The baton was designed by Michael Foley, a graduate of the National Institute of Design. It is a triangular section of aluminium twisted into a helix shape and then coated with coloured soils collected from all regions of India. The coloured soils are a first for the styling of a Queen's Baton. A jewel-encrusted box was used to house the Queen's message, which was laser-engraved onto a miniature 18 carat gold leaf – representative of the ancient Indian 'patras. The Queen's baton is ergonomically contoured for ease of use. It is 664 millimetres high, 34 millimetres wide at the base, and 86 millimetres wide at the top and weighs 1,900 grams.

The baton has already travelled 70 nations and has entered India on Friday through wagah- Attari border in Amritsar. The baton’s entry is marked by hope and message of Peace for all. This unique and soothing moment saw school children exchanging peace messageswritten on hundreds of handkerchiefs.

The baton will travel across 100 cities of India before reaching Delhi on September 30, 2010. And the Baton’s journey will end on 3rd October at the opening ceremony in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

So like me I know u all must also be waiting eagerly for common wealth games to start. And also for our lovely shera, the official mascot of 19th commonwealth games.So lets take a pledge to make this games a success and the best ever commonwealth games. After all its nation’s call and nation‘s honour is at stake.

-Shared By: Aman Maggu

For facts about CWG: see

http://kaleidoscopeonline.blogspot.com/2010/02/contributed-by-vishal-suri-commonwealth.html

Saina (not Sania) Nehwal- World's 2nd

In the times when Sania Mirza was getting all the attention of the media, Saina Nehwal was having trouble pressing the fact that her name is not Sania and its S-A-I-N-A, and she plays badminton and not tennis. Now the stars have turned opposite and while Mrs. Malik may be enjoying her days with her hubby-chubby, and flying out of the competitions in the initial stages, Saina is making India proud by winning third international tournament in a row and becoming the World 2nd best badminton player now.

Today, she won the Indonesian title by successfully defending it, beating Japan's Sayaka Sato by 21-19, 13-21, 21-11, in the encounter which lasted 45 minutes. Saina had won Singapore Opens before by thumping Tsu Ying Tai of China 21-18, 21-15 with in just 29 minutes. She had also grabbed the India Open Grand Prix title before the campaign in Singapore and Indonesian open 2010 is the third Super Series which she achieves.

So who's she? Saina Nehwal (born March 17, 1990) is an Indian badminton player. Currently ranked number 2 in the world by Badminton World Federation, Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the World JuniorBadminton Championships. She has also won two Gold Medals.

Saina's rise follows back-to-back title triumphs at the India Open Grand Prix and the Singapore Open Super Series respectively. She is first Indian woman to win a super series tournament (equivalent to Grand slam in tennis) when she annexed the 2009 Indonesia Super Series.

Previously coached by S. M. Arif, a Dronacharya Award winner, Saina is the reigning Indian national junior champion and is currently coached by Indonesian badminton legend Atik Jauhari since August 2008, with the former All England champion and national coach Pullela Gopichand being her mentor.

After a long time, now she is getting the attention of Indian media and people, which she was deprived of in the past.

Nokia-Losing Ground?

Recently one of my friends wanted to purchase a low end phone, so I went with him to the one of the mobile stores in my locality. My friend, like many of us, has great faith in Nokia as a brand. So he straight away asked the shop keeper to show only Nokia models. You know what was the shopkeeper’s reply?-he said, “Arrey sir, No one buys Nokia now, have a look at Micromax, Karbonn & Samsung mobiles, they are value for money, with so many features at such a low price” At first I thought he might get some sort of commission by selling the cell phones of the above mentioned brands. But keeping the commission part aside, there was definitely some truth in his statement. A research published recently confirms this. According to the data collated in the research about the performance of Telecom firms in India-Nokia has lost a big chunk of market share from 2008-09 to this fiscal year [i.e. from 64%, its market share has slipped to 52.2%]. Nokia’s loss has been the gain of rival companies like Samsung and other local firms like Lava, Karbonn & Micromax. Other established players like Sony Ericsson and Motorola have also severely lost out on market share.

Other way of looking at the results of the research is that no telecom firm can boast of holding the majority of market share for such a long time. Also Nokia can be accredited for "introducing" mobiles in the Indian market back in the late 90’s and the early 2000’s. After all who can forget the 5110-brick model with the antenna sticking out! In those days 'a cell phone' and 'Nokia' were almost used synonymously. It brings alive those nostalgic memories...!

The major problem that Nokia is facing now is that it is facing severe competition from the low-end and high-end segment; it is squeezed like a sandwich in between. As far as the economical segment is concerned, local players give the customers value-for-money as many of them import cheap parts from China [In this way they can give more features at a lower price]. So many, local companies have emulated Blackberry and QWERTY keypad model types now, which was previously available only at a high price. In the high end segment, a lot of customers prefer iPhone and top Blackberry models to its Finnish counterpart.

The second problem is that Nokia has not been able to come with a revolutionary product in recent times which would suit the pocket and would provide superior customer satisfaction. It has been taking cues from the market and following the trend. Take for example, Blackberry’s QWERTY keypad phones were a hit, then Nokia thought of coming with its own version of the phone.

Now let’s see what the future has in store for Nokia, will the co. be able to bounce back, what do you think?