Budget 101...

Not being from economics background is a handicap around this time of the year when all that people want to talk about is “budgetary implications”, “fiscal tightening”, “fiscal deficit”, and other such stuff which is “almost-Latin” to my ears. Here are excerpts from a Budget 101 article that I recently read somewhere and found really helpful in my constant struggle to “sound knowledgeable” in Budget-related conversations…

- The government needs money for its huge expenses. We can broadly divide government expenses into two types: revenue expenses and capital expenses.
- The government incurs revenue expenses in running its day-to-day business, whereas capital expenses include all expenses incurred by the government for creating assets. The money spent by the government for paying salary to its staff is revenue expense, and the money spent for constructing a hospital is capital expense.
- Some of these expenses ultimately come out of our pockets. But taxes alone can’t take care of all the government’s expenses. So, there are other sources through which our government earns money.
- We can broadly divide the sources of government earnings into two categories: tax and non-tax sources. Tax sources include all the direct and indirect taxes, and non-tax sources include revenue receipts and capital receipts. Revenue receipts consist of a variety of things such as dividends received from public sector companies, fees, fines forfeitures, etc., received by the government. Under the category of capital receipts, we keep the money received from the disinvestment of public sector undertakings, recovery of loans, borrowings of the government, etc.
- The main difference between revenue receipts and capital receipts is that revenue receipts are recurring in nature, which the government can expect to receive year after year, whereas capital receipts are a kind of one-time income.
- The government borrows money to cover the crack between its income and expenditure. But, to see the true picture, you need to put aside the borrowed amount. So if you remove government borrowings from government income, you will see the gap between what the government is spending and what the government is earning. This difference is what we call fiscal deficit. It is expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product.

I Finally Complete My Web Site on Renewable Energy

I have been away from my blog for the past few days (or rather nights) spending time cranking HTML code (sounds “nerdy”!) to complete my Web site – www.newenergyindia.org. It is finally up and running (and I am so proud of it). I can almost feel like a proud father as I see my first “almost living” creation on the Web.

The www.newenergyindia.org Web resource simply aspires to provide latest and comprehensive information to build awareness on all aspects of renewable energy in India. The mission of the Web site is to create a vibrant Web community that uses and exchanges renewable energy information and opinion. It is a not-for-profit initiative, has no commercial objectives, and does not aim to endorse any product or sell any service.

Well it was a lot of hard work to say the least. But I hope I can create a community of RE enthusiasts through this Web site.

If you are passionate about renewable energy, visit the site and become a member of the New Energy India community.

The Countdown has Started…

It is finally sinking in. Today I start the countdown on my last 30 days at my work place (well 22 if you discount the weekends!) before I head out for a one year sabbatical. The place has pretty much been my second home for the last four years. After three office moves and four role changes, and after having worked with seven bosses and countless colleagues, it is hard to imagine that I will miss the “action” for the next one year. The pain and anxiety of leaving the “safe and secure” environment of the office which I have seen grow from 3 people to 160 odd is suddenly weighing on me.

As it sinks in that I will be away for a year (or maybe more) everything in the office looks good and exciting. The office building that I loved to hate till recently looks beautiful, my cabin and work station which always seemed too inappropriate (too large, or too crowded, or too cold, or too hot; depending on my mood) looks good and comfortable, the office lunch (really unpalatable at times) suddenly tastes good, the window that I sit next to (my window to the world – Gurgaon in my case) which I always complained was too much of a distraction seems like a blessing, my work which I sort of always liked seems even more interesting and fulfilling!! And, all this makes me tentative and unsure about my idea of taking a one year break from work (which till recently I thought was grand and very forward-looking at my age).

Also, as I prepare to head out of Gurgaon for a year (hopefully), a town (and a very chaotic one) which has been my home for six years now, I am strangely beginning to enjoy little nuances ("nuisances" till very recently) that it has to offer -- little walks to the chaotic and crowded local bazaars, spending time at the shopping malls (which I used to hate till recently!), watching movies at the several almost-always-packed theatres (I hated that too), and the crowded park where my wife and I go for morning/evening walks.

Suddenly my grand idea of a sabbatical to do something different – studying, starting a Web community on clean energy, writing on renewable energy – does not seem that smart to me! Or is it my nerves, I don’t know!

It is crazy that when you are looking forward to something for such a long time, a one year break from work in my case, it is strange that you feel sort of intimidated, unsure, confused, tentative, when you finally get it. I think god has designed mortals to almost always run after something or the other, and when there is nothing to run after (only briefly till you identify the next thing that takes your fancy) the human mind is confused. I am going through that emotion at the moment. And, I hope I handle it well.