Vistara and Air India to Merge

 This was bound to happen, and makes eminent sense. My Ph.D. was on Diversification Strategy (a long time ago), based on American company data. Synergy through mergers and acquisitions was also a small part of that.

Running three different airlines is not a joke. So it makes a lot of sense after acquiring Air India, for the Tatas (and Singapore Airlines, the partner) to merge the two similar premium value airlines into a single entity. Hopefully, this will make it a much more efficient operation, and might help profitability in the long run, though in India that tends to be a long road.

With Jet showing no sign of coming back, Indigo also needs a serious competitor, even if it's not a low cost one. This merger might just give the customer that much-needed option, as the routes operated by the combined entity in the domestic market would rival Indigo to an extent. 

Governance Made Simple

 In school, we were asked to write essays such as "If I Became President/Prime Minister/Chief Minister.." etc. where you could write about your childish fantasies, and be happy. I am no longer a child, and I am not writing an essay. Just bear with me. This is one and only one Mantra for Successful Governance, in my view. Ok, we'll call it Customer or Citizen-oriented Governance, maybe.

The Mantra is just this- Keep it Simple. Air Deccan used to have a slogan- Simplifly. I would recommend the same. For instance, why need people to go stand in line? Most government services can be home-delivered, if there is a will. A small additional charge is cheaper than wasting a citizen's time, energy and effort in finding which office to go to, and waiting endlessly with file pushers and gatekeepers looking for excuses to delay everything. If we want to progress from being a third-world country to a First rate one, an opportunity is in governance. Singapore has shown the way in many ways. 

Visa processes exemplify this in another sphere. I will henceforth only travel to countries that have a paperless visa not requiring a visit to the Consulates, or have a visa on arrival. Why should I subject myself to red tape and multiple visits to their consulates? They are not pretty tourist attractions, after all. 

Anyway, I think I have made my point. Let's exit red tape, bureaucracy, and meaningless paperwork which are all relics of the past- or should be, anyway.