Healthy atmosphere a prerequisite for development

Individuals, institutions and, in fact, even countries, flourish in environments that are congenial to growth and development. For any of them to realise their full potential, an atmosphere that promotes a healthy spirit of competition is essential. A desire to ‘keep up with the Joneses’, or to want to perform better than one’s neighbour, is natural in all such cases. The need to compete creates the urge to continuously raise the bar in performance, leading to increased self-awareness and continuous innovation. Very often, those similarly inclined tend to strike fruitful partnerships, which lead to synergy.

Any spirit of competition must, however, stop short of deteriorating into rivalry. Unfortunately, quite frequently, especially in the arena of sports, politics, and corporate business, the desire to excel, and be one up over others, can decay into a dog – eat - dog situation, of fierce, murky and unhealthy competition. One must also realise, and accept, the fact that there is only place for one person, at the top. One should, therefore, aim for being near the top, but not, necessarily, always at it.

No matter who the ultimate winner is, the other competitors must learn to accept the fact with good grace, and the feeling that the best person has won. And as the saying goes in cricket, it is the game, or the activity, in which the competition took place, that should emerge the ultimate winner.

Finance Minister, NirmalaSitharaman, recently had occasion to point out, that global rating agencies should view India’s reforms as a whole, and focus on the country’s macroeconomic stability.

For more than 12 years and counting, China has maintained the rating in the ‘strong payment capacity’, despite its economic difficulties and uneasy trade relation with the US apart from rising geopolitical conflict. India, on the other hand has been unable to persuade the global rating agencies to accept and acknowledge the importance of the rising FDI in India. As is well known, rating agencies assess the financial strength of companies and government entities, in regard to the ability to meet principal and interest payments on debts. They also provide information about countries’ sovereign debt, and specialize in analysing, and evaluating, the creditworthiness, of corporate and sovereign issuers of debt securities. The rating assigned, to a given debt, shows the agency’s level of confidence, that the borrower will honour debt obligations without default. Therating scales of agencies range from AAA to D. AAA, indicates the lowest possible expectation of default risk, and is assigned only when the payment capacity is exceptionally strong. At the other end of the spectrum, D indicates that the country concerned is near, or already in, bankruptcy or default.

The ‘Big Three’ credit rating agencies in the world are S&P Global Ratings (S&P), Moody’s, and Fitch Group. So far as India is concerned, there are seven well known credit agencies.

In 2003, India was rated by Moody’s as Baa3, while Fitch and S&P gave it a BBB-!, showing ‘adequate payment capacity’, although some financial experts in India feel that we the country is doing better than that.

The exercise of rating is not confined to financial and economic performance alone. It plays an important role in also in other activities such as the political, economic and military, strengths, of countries, the quality of the goods and services provided by establishments such as hotels and sports and games.

Hotel ratings are often used to classify hotels according to their quality. From the initial purpose of informing travellers on basic facilities that can be expected, the objectives of hotel rating have expanded into a focus on the hotel experience as a whole. Food services, entertainment, view, room variations such as size and additional amenities, spas and fitness centers, ease of access and location may be considered in establishing a standard.

There is a wide variety of rating schemes in the world of luxury travel and hospitality, used by different organisations around the world. Many have a system involving stars, with a greater number of stars indicating greater luxury.

A ranking from Forbes Travel Magazine, launched in 1938 by the global media company, Forbes, however, is a cut above the rest, and serves as a hallmark of prestige and excellence. Achieving a high rating from this authoritative source can elevate a brand’s reputation, drive customer engagement, and significantly boost business. The American Automobiles Association(AAA), and affiliated bodies use diamonds instead of stars to express hotel and restaurant rating levels. Some countries, such asBelgium, Denmark, Greece and Italy, have rating by a single public standard. They have laws define the hotel rating. In other countries, like for instance, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, rating is defined by the respective hotel industry association using a five-star system. The classifications are Tourist, one *, Standard two **s, Comfort three***s, First Class four ****s, and Luxury,five ****s. In India, the department of Tourism, government of India, classifies hotels under the star system in India.

Forbes, which focuses on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle of countries, also awards ranks to nations in the matter of overall power.

The concept of power, in the global arena, is multifaceted, encompassing political influence, economic resources, and military might. Each country’s power indicates its prowess in multiple aspects, including economic and political influence, strength in international alliances, and impactful military power. Some factors, which determine the degree of a country’s might, are the quality of life of its leadership, the sustainability, and stability of its form of governance, the strength of its military might and international alliances, and its influence, economic and political,in the world. It is a matter for immense gratification that India stands at the 12th position in the world, in the rankings of the most powerful countries in the world made by Forbes. That India stands 5th,in the world GDP rankings, only adds to its reputation as the one of the most rapidly growing economies in the world.

The principle of seniority is also related to the present discussion. It has considerable importance in many spheres such as civil and military services, the film industry and the field of politics. Very often, particularly in government service, seniority plays a predominant, if not conclusive, role, especially promotions to higher levels. What is called the Buggin’s turn applies, with merit and performance taking a backseat, and the length of service being the most important criterion. So much so, that, in a particular case, when the official concerned claimed that he had been doing the job for over three decades and deserved to be considered for advancement over others, the superior officer in charge of the promotions, is said to have remarked that the officer concerned appeared, over that period, only to have perfected the art of committing blunders!