IIPM NEW-DELHI

2011 ADVERTISING FORECAST

2011-12-29T16:14:00.001+05:30

AS ECONOMIES STARTED RECOVERING FROM THE RECENT BUBBLE BUST,IT WAS EXPECTED THAT THE ADVERTISING INDUSTRY WOULD WITNESS A MODEST GROWTH IN THE COMING YEARS. BUT THE RISING FEAR OF DOUBLE -DIP RECESSION HAS FORCED SEVERAL ADVERTISERS TO TRIM BUDGET INCREMENTS PLANNED FOR 2011. FROM A LONGER TERM PERSPECTIVE, TOTAL MEDIA ADVERTISING FORECAST FOR THE YEAR 2016 ARE ESTIMATED TO CROSS $558.4 BILLION, FOR WHICH THE INTERNET WILL BE THE MAIN DRIVING FORCE.

Touching New Heights

In the post-recession era, developing markets continue to expand much faster than developed markets in terms of ad spends. Growth in the total media advertising industry is estimated at an average annual rate of 7% from 2011-2016. But Western Europe market analysts are of the opinion that the continuing debt crisis in the peripheral Eurozone has damaged advertisers’ confidence in the region’s long-term growth prospects. While political turmoil in MENA caused the ad market to go down by 14.2% this year, the market is expected to return to growth in 2012.

Still the most popular

Although marketers continued to pour more dollars into TV campaigns as compared to other media, the intensity was found missing as six out of the top 10 advertisers spent lesser than last year. The top 10 TV advertisers spent a total sum of $5.16 billion in H1, down by 1.7% yoy. The industry is expected to escalate at an average rate of 7.5% to around $243 billion by 2016. US, Japan, China, Italy and Brazil are the five largest markets today. It is noteworthy that TV, which is expected to captures 41% of global advertising in 2011, will actually increase its share to 44% by 2016.

Internet, what else?

Online advertising spends have gained a lot of traction over the past few years. This space is expected to grow by 10.6% each year through 2016 after rising by 12.5% in 2011. The medium is also expected to account for $70.9 billion in global advertising in 2011 and touch $117.5 billion by 2016. Its share of the global pie should increase from 17% in 2011 to 21% in 2016. However, the largest online advertising markets will remain the same with the United States leading the herd, followed by Japan & Germany. China will ultimately dominate with its rising growth rates in the coming years.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
Planman Technologies

“My focus is to drive ROI from my investments”

2011-12-22T17:18:00.001+05:30

Staying up-to-date with the happenings in the industry and one’s professional knowledge is key to a good marketing career, says Gupta.

Most marketers say it has been a year of mixed fortunes so far. What has been your experience in this regard? Any new strategy you adopted this year?
The year has been good for us so far, though the effects of the slowdown have lately become apparent. But we are hoping that the exuberance of the festive season will help push sales. So far, the results from the Onam sales in Kerala have been very promising, and we are expecting good sales during the Diwali period. On the strategy front, we are getting more and more active in the digital and social media space. As more and more youth are frequenting these channels, we want to tap them. An added advantage of the digital platform is that you can measure the number of visitors to your sites.

High raw material and other input prices are squeezing the margins of marketers while tight competition forestalls the possibility of raising prices. What challenges do you see in such an environment?
The biggest challenge for me as a marketer is “how to drive ROI from my marketing investments”. This is my core focus, which I am asking all my team members to work on.

What is your leadership style? What do you think works best for you?
My style is situational. I am quite hands-on when it comes to new initiatives like making our presence felt in social media, stepping up online marketing initiatives, etc. I love and enjoy being active on this platform, and use it to keep bouncing ideas to my team and discuss the broad contours of our marketing strategy. Otherwise, I am more hands-off with the team, I trust their work, and just keep a bird’s eye view on the situation, rather than trying to micro-manage things.

How does the marketer inside you function differently ‘at work’ and ‘away from work’? Is it easy to switch gears between the different environments?
I don’t carry work home. It’s quite easy for me to switch off from work at home. I like spending time with my family, especially my two kids whose company I enjoy the most. Sometimes, I have to work on Saturdays as well, but that comes with the territory. In the office I get along very well with my peers and juniors. I like cracking jokes and having a good time with them. It’s critical to have a good work-life balance as a good family life propels you to give your best on the job front. So, I think one should never ignore one’s personal life at the altar of professional career.

What do you think was the major turning point in your career? What lessons did you learn from it?
It was while I was working with Gillette and was posted in the Middle East. I was on the strategy side of the business. Around 2003, I made a shift to the front-end side or the marketing side of the business. It was a real learning curve, and I got to apply the marketing strategies and insights, and it gave a great boost to both my confidence and career.

Now, The Best Ads in other Categories!

2011-09-22T17:07:00.004+05:30

The criteria for shortlisting ads that have an edge over others are as follows: product positioning clarity; clinching benefit to the brand; presence of a Power Idea; visibility of brand personality; expectancy of communication; single-minded focus of message; reward to the prospect; visually arresting and painstaking craftsmanship. Here’s a peek into our Print, Outdoor, Viral and BTL verdict for the fortnight ending February 19, 2011

HappyDent
Baseline: Giving millions a reason to smile
Category: Print

4Ps B&M TAKE: History fascinates; historic revolutionaries are even more fascinating. HappyDent, from the stable of Perfetti, well known for its distinctly humorous TVCs, has come out with something different this time and is all set to create an impact on consumers through the print medium as well. With the latest creatives built around personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa (the faces of these people have been reconstructed using HappyDent gum tablets) and set in a black backdrop, this one makes for an admirable piece of artwork and sets a benchmark for similar brands in the category. The punchline “Giving millions a reason to smile” is again inspiring making this creative a clear winner this fortnight.

Times Of India

Baseline: The Great Indian Circus
Category: Print

4Ps B&M TAKE: The latest print commercial conceptualised by Taproot for The Times of India titled ‘The Great Indian Circus’ aims to capture a day in the life of India. This campaign is part of a contest which involves uploading pictures, videos and jokes to sketch the quirky reality of the world’s largest democracy. The ad that showcases everything right from Baba Ramdev’s aasans, to a whacky circus, from a child playing cricket to God men, gives you a chance to win great prizes and goodies. The concept of banking on every Indian’s perspective of his country hits the bull’s eye and is bound to generate the response expected out of it. Great idea & smart execution, we would say!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS

Discovering the soul of a life-product

2011-08-04T16:58:00.003+05:30

Manish k Pandey and Steven Philip Warner discuss the nuances and intricacies of branding with the lady who holds Max New York Life’s marketing torch

Anisha Motwani, Director & Chief Marketing Officer, Max New York Life Insurance

It’s said that insurance is always sold and never bought. But Anisha Motwani, Director & Chief Marketing Officer at Max New York Life Insurance (MNYL) has proven this doctrine wrong on several occasions. She firmly believes that brands are not formed just by communications, but it’s a cumulative consumer experience through various touch points. “The consumer is not as complicated as you think. You need to always see yourself as a consumer, as if you were not part of that industry,” says Anisha who firmly believes in “need-based” selling.

In fact, this was the reason that within just three months of joining MNYL in the fall of 2007, the former veteran marketer at General Motors, changed Max’s tagline from “Your Partner for Life” to “Karo Zyada Ka Irada”, to ensure a greater emotional connect with the consumers. And it worked, especially to create a more customer-centric focus and to drive a greater value for the consumer. “When I joined MNYL we had a brand positioning that was Your Partner for Life. It was certainly a very insurance positioning. But, there was something in it that didn’t gel with my creative mind and I wasn’t convinced with the idea. If my challenge was to build this brand then this whole thing of trying to play the same game and trying to get better than others was not the fastest possible way for me to achieve my objective,” explains Anisha.

It’s actually this insight that has helped the brand MNYL climb the success ladder in a short span of time. From a brand awareness score of 58 with “Your Partner for life” in 2008 (ref: ICMR-4Ps B&M survey), MNYL has today reached a point where it can boast of being among the industry leaders when it comes to recall (brand awareness score of 93 in 2010). What’s more? It was the only insurance company to be a part of prestigious Superbrands list for 2009.

But then, there are a host of private life insurance players in India, which offer products under different brand names. So how has Anisha managed to make MNYL stand out in the clutter? “If you have a product which emanates from a consumer’s need, you have your differentiation done,” says Anisha. In fact, her favourite case in point is MNYL’s Shiksha Plus product. She feels that if people are buying child insurance policies, they are not looking at merely insurance. They are looking at grooming their children as all-rounders and not just academic super-achievers; and as such are in search of a “talent development” kitty and not just a lump-sum for their child’s education. It is this very insight that led to forming the contours of MNYL’s leading child insurance product – Shiksha Plus.

She believes that marketing has moved way beyond creating just awareness to building relationship, particularly in a product category like insurance. As such she has taken several bold and rapid steps in customer relationship management. The newest weapon she has made available in MNYL’s communications armoury is a technology platform that uses digital marketing in reaching customers and agents, faster and more effectively. Supporting this aggressive growth agenda is a multi-channel distribution network comprising over 94,000 agents & 12,500employees.

Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi ready to shun non-violence

2011-06-22T17:45:00.001+05:30

Myanmar's opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi could alter her policy of non-violence. She gave this indication while speaking from a secret location in Yangon to a select audience at a BBC studio in central London on Monday afternoon.

Responding to a question, Suu Kyi said just as Nelson Mandela had changed his stance on political unrest, "it's possible" she might change her long-standing commitment to non-violence. Expanding on her new position, she added: "I have said in the lectures I do not hold to non-violence for moral reasons but practical and political reasons.'' She described Mahatma Gandhi as the father of non-violence and noted that he had said that between cowardice and violence, he would choose violence any time. BBC clandestinely recorded Suu Kyi's two lectures. The first of these was played out to a private gathering and will be broadcast on June 28.

She said widespread availability of internet-based technology in the Arab world – which is not the case in Myanmar – had been a crucial factor in the success of uprisings in the region.

Suu Kyi said the Myanmarese people wished to emulate success of Arab democratic movements. "The similarities between Tunisia and Burma are the similarities that bind people all over the world who yearn for freedom."

She said her defiance of Myanmar's military junta by making her broadcasts amounted to "exercising my right to freedom of communication". The National League for Democracy, under her leadership, won elections in 1990, but the junta annulled the outcome. Suu Kyi has either been under detention or some other form of restriction ever since.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

Indian Rupee Strengthens Against US Dollar

2011-06-09T17:52:00.001+05:30

Continuing on its gaining streak for the fifth straight day, the Indian rupee strengthened by another 9 paise to Rs 44.97 against the US dollar in early trade on the Interbank foreign exchange today.

The rupee appreciation was largely in line with stronger Asian currencies overseas and a positive opening in the stock market. The rupee had appreciated by 2 paise to close at Rs 45.06/07 against the US dollar in the previous session on sustained dollar-selling by some banks and exporters. Forex dealers said dollar weakness against other Asian currencies and the higher opening in the stock market mainly kept the rupee sentiment firm.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

US court sets date for pre-trial in ‘84 riots case

2011-06-06T17:36:00.001+05:30

A US Federal Court has set Sep 21 for pre-trial oral arguments in a case against Indian Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and India's Congress party for their alleged role in the November 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Judge Robert W Sweet of US Federal Court of the Southern District of New York ordered serving of all motion papers in accordance with the stipulated briefing schedule of March 29.

The court had on March 1 issued summons against Nath and Congress Party in a case filed by Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a US based human rights advocacy group, and some victims of the 1984 riots under Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA). The class action lawsuit charges Congress party with "conspiring, aiding, abetting and carrying out organized attacks on Sikh population of India in November 1984," according to SFJ legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Plaintiffs will present evidence showing how Congress party planned and organized killing of Sikhs throughout India in November 1984, how it covered the organized and systematic violence as anti-Sikh riots of Delhi; and how it's protecting the killers of Sikhs for the last 26 years, he said.
The plaintiffs will also present an affidavit from a witness who was present at an Oct 31, 1984 Congress Party meeting in which the alleged conspiracy and plans to kill Sikhs throughout India were hatched, Pannun said.

The meeting, according to the witness statement, was attended by several prominent leaders of Congress party and Chief Ministers of different states, he said.

The evidence relating to killing of Sikhs throughout India consists of official figures obtained through the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI) showing that Sikhs were killed in the states where Congress was in power in November 1984, he said.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

IPL final highest-rated match of tournament

2011-06-03T17:05:00.003+05:30

Saturday's final between (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) clocked a television rating of 5.8 which is higher than last year's final, said aMap, an overnight television audience measurement agency. This is also the highest-rated match of the entire tournament which started on April 8. The final, which was won by Dhoni's CSK men for the second year running, recorded a 123% jump on the average ratings of the entire tournament which stood at 2.6. aMap also said in a statement that the average reach and time spent by audiences also increased substantially for the final when compared to the overall tournament.

"Normally the ratings rebound towards the final. It is typically a U-shaped trend in all the previous editions of the IPL as well. This was an expected rating from an IPL Final. In fact, it would have been higher had it been a close finish. The ratings of the final will be comparable to the World Cup finals," said R Gowthaman leader, South-Asia, Mindshare, the country's largest media agency.
The ratings of the IPL-4 final from TAM Sports, which is subscribed by most media planners and advertisers are expected next week.

"The match enjoyed a net reach of 19.12% which is a jump of 36% compared to an average net reach of 14% throughout the tournament this year," said Jiniti Shah VP, aMap.

aMap also said with 55 minutes of time spent per viewer in the final, it was 40% higher than the average time spent of 33 minutes per viewer during the course of the IPL-4.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

Pakistan Allows CIA to raid Bin Laden's Home

2011-05-27T16:43:00.003+05:30

The Unites States' premier intelligence agency, the CIA has been granted permission by Pakistan to examine the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed. The CIA will now be able to examine the complex up close as opposed to using satellites, stealth drones and spies operating from a nearby safe house that was shuttered when bin Laden was killed.

US officials said the CIA team will scour the site for information and objects that may have been overlooked by American commandos during the raid or Pakistani security forces who secured the facility in the aftermath. "The assault team was there for only 40 minutes," a US official said.
CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell negotiated access to the Abbottabad site during a trip to Islamabad last week, when he met with the head of Pakistan's main intelligence service, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, officials said.

The agreement is being viewed as a return to normalcy of relations between the CIA and ISI, strained since the American operation to kill bin Laden, and a series of recent ruptures between the CIA and its Pakistani counterpart.

Pakistan has also agreed to allow the CIA to examine materials that Pakistan's security forces have recovered from the compound, officials said. The agency has also asked Pakistan's spy agency, known as the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, for assistance in analyzing some of the records that were seized in the raid and brought to a CIA document exploitation facility in Northern Virginia.

In particular, US officials said that the CIA is seeking help in deciphering references to names of individuals and places. The intelligence gathered from the bin Laden compound is being billed as the the largest stash ever recovered relating to al Qaeda or any other terrorist network.

The data includes dozens of computer storage devices as well as huge piles of notes. Even so, US officials said they want to be sure that other material has not been overlooked. The CIA plans involve the use of infrared cameras and other devices capable of identifying materials embedded behind walls, inside safes or underground.

One reason why Pakistan may have allowed the CIA access is because of lack of such high grade equipmen. The agency also has equipment that could be used to recover information that has been burned or otherwise damaged.
The CIA has already been given access to three of bin Laden's wives who were taken into custody by Pakistan after the raid. But officials said none of them has been cooperative with US interrogators or provided meaningful intelligence.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

Shane Warne's mentor Terry Jenner dies

2011-05-25T18:22:00.003+05:30

Former Australian Test cricketer Terry Jenner, who helped turn Shane Warne into one of the world's greatest bowlers, died Wednesday aged 66.

Legspinner Jenner suffered a massive heart attack while coaching in England in April 2010 and never fully regained his health, passing away at his home in Adelaide, Cricket Australia said in a statement.

While he played nine Tests in the 1970s, Jenner was also known as the only Australian Test cricketer to be jailed -- spending two years behind bars for embezzlement.

He turned his life around after meeting Warne, who he started coaching in the early 1990s, and was regularly on hand to refine the Test great's action during his record-breaking career.

"Working with Shane changed everything," Jenner said late last year.

He turned his life around after meeting Warne, who he started coaching in the early 1990s, and was regularly on hand to refine the Test great's action during his record-breaking career.

"Working with Shane changed everything," Jenner said late last year. His most famous involvement in that Test series came when, batting at No.9, he was hit in the head by a John Snow bouncer.

His Test career ended in 1975 with 34 Test victims.

His funeral will be held at the Adelaide Oval at a date to be announced.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....

LEONID MUSATOV, CMO, SSTL TALKS TO SURBHI CHAWLA ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE MTS BRAND IN THE INDIAN MARKET

2011-03-29T16:25:00.000+05:30

But how would you market your voice services in such a competitive environment?
The major challenge for us is to make sure that the consumers who are using our SIM, they make it their primary SIM. We are seeing a lot of progress, but these things take time. Moreover, people have this mental inertia in switching from one operator to another.

You have licenses to operate in all 22 circles but you are present only in 12. By when do you see MTS becoming a pan-India player?
You are right but we have a roaming agreement with Tata Indicom for both data and voice. So, virtually, we are present everywhere. Actually, we are apprehensive about entering certain circles right now. What we are trying to do is to enter markets where we see substantial business for both voice and data. But as business progresses there would be discussions on that.

Can you throw some light on your distribution strength?
We currently have around 20,000 outlets per circle and the number is constantly growing.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....

AKAI PLANS TO REENTER! NO CELEBS STILL...

2011-03-15T16:57:00.001+05:30

Japanese consumer appliance and electronics company Akai is making another comeback in the Indian market. Its foray in the 1990s did not work very well in the Indian market largely owing to its offerings based on lack of cost competitiveness and low brand recall. It was browbeaten then by other entrants like LG and Sony. But now, the company is all set to return. Global Brands Enterprise Solutions Pvt Ltd has signed up with Akai to sell its products in India. This resulted in the recent launch of a range of ultra-slim LED, LCD High Definition and CRT televisions. Presumably, to become one of the leading players in the Indian market in the next few years, the company plans to invest around Rs.25 crores towards advertising and marketing. At the same time, the company is not looking to hire any brand ambassador. The positioning of Akai will be done as a mass premium brand and it will be 5-8% cheaper than leading brands like Sony, Samsung and LG. There are other strategies too. This time, Akai will not be focusing only on Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities (like the previous time), but will also target larger cities. Will all this be enough to gain a significant market share? The fact cannot be neglected that Akai had turned the market upside-down in the nineties by playing the pricing game. It was the first one to offer the combo offer (a 14 inch colour TV with every 24 inch TV), which rewrote marketing rules then. But the market space has changed. So have the rules.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....

WILFRIED AULBUR, MD, MERCEDES-BENZ INDIA

2011-03-12T16:41:00.001+05:30

What kind of expansion plans do you have for this business?
We have announced a rollout across four locations in the Indian market in the first phase, but we are aiming to take this venture to close to twelve locations by the end of December 2010. The company expects that close to 10-15% of its sales volumes will be contributed by second-hand cars by 2011.

Unorganised channel remains the biggest challenge for the industry’s players, who are trying to establish authorised pre-owned car arms in India. How do you plan to tackle that?
Close to 90% of the total sales that take place in the second hand car market happen through the unorganised route. As far as the unauthorised dealers are concerned, a consumer who is investing a huge amount of money to buy a Mercedes, will like to buy it from the authorised channel. But there many one-to-one deals that also happen in the Indian market. However, we will make the consumer aware of the importance of the authorised channel and will try and take some significant amount of business away from the unorganised sector in the domestic market.

But BMW announced its plans to enter the used car business last year itself. So have you lost out on the opportunity to become a first mover?
Truly, I don’t know what BMW had announced. But even if BMW had not launched its second-hand car arm in India so far, we would have! It was just an announcement from BMW, while we have already entered India with a second hand car arm.

BMW even announced its plan to launch a car financing arm. Aren’t you planning something along those lines?
We are planning to open our own car financing arm, but the proposal is still under consideration and it will take some time.

BMW aims to first tap the metros with its finance arm. Are you also looking at Tier I locations?
No. We will announce a national roll-out, but there is still some time left before we actually go ahead with it. 70% of our sales come through the financing route, and therefore it’s a very lucrative opportunity to tap consumers across India.

ARCH RIVALS STAND UNITED FOR ASSOCIATION

2011-03-10T17:31:00.003+05:30

Leading Indian non-alcoholic beverage makers like Coca Cola, PepsiCo and Dabur among others have joined hands to form the Indian Beverage Association (IBA). This move albeit coming late despite the beverage industry forming a huge part of the overall Indian food sector, is aimed at putting up a united stand to the policymakers and government regarding regulatory frameworks and legislation. Above all, the IBA would serve as the platform to market the industry as a manufacturer and marketer of quality products adhering to the highest international standards to be ready for the kind of controversies as those that erupted some years back (related to pesticides present in soft drinks). The Indian Soft drinks Association would also be a part of the IBA. It is being set up on the lines of the American Beverage Association which represents producers, distributors and supporting industries for soft drinks and juice makers. IBA will be leveraged to increase the market share of juice and related products, apart from supporting the framing, development and dissemination of standardized best practices with regards to quality in manufacturing, packaging and other environment and health related issues. Companies that have currently subscribed to the association include Dabur, Red Bull India, Jain Irrigation Systems, Tetra Pak India, Pearl Drinks, Bengal Beverages, Coca-Cola India and PepsiCo India Holdings while companies like Parle Agro, Amul and Godrej are likely to join soon.

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS

2011-03-03T18:04:00.000+05:30

But then, for a starter like Wynn Telecom, the approach had to be and is different from that of Micromax. Explaining Wynn’s reasons for signing not one but two celebrities, Bipasha Basu and Saif Ali Khan, Naved Chaudhary said to 4Ps B&M, “Anybody can have celebrities, but the key lies in how you are utilising the same. We wanted someone who can cut across masses and classes simultaneously and still have a mass appeal. I also need to look at my marketing communication, and ensure that the celebrity should not over shadow the brand.” As per him, the choice was made bearing in mind not just the current product portfolio, but also the future line up.

Shashir Devsane, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles, agrees with Naved that the key lies in utlisation of the celebrity and there is nothing to be gained by just being a part of the herd mentality. “At Karbonn, the idea is always to be a market leader and we have demonstrated the same in the past. This may come with periods of silence and we are ok with the same. But when we do something it should be something that we believe whole heartedly and be the trend setter,” he avers.

However, the question that needs to be answered here is that will getting big celebrities alone help these companies lift their brands to the big league of the business or there are other ingredients also?

For most of these players, getting a celebrity is a way to announce their arrival to the notable names at the market place. But then they must understand that once they have entered with a bang, they need to carry on in the same manner. This means they have to continue to build themselves for sometime with help of big events, campaigns and so on to stay alive in consumers’ minds till they establish themselves with a strong foothold. Moreover, as these players are looking forward to the lower segment (Rs.1,500 to Rs.2,000), which represents almost 50% of Indian hadset buyers (Media Tek India survey), to create volumes, association of a celebrity can be a great help in catching eye balls and increase recall value for the brand post the initial phase too.

And as the guide book on marketing for dummies goes, in India, it’s not just promotion that is enough; another equally critically element is to ensure that the product is available till the last mile. In the lower priced end of the market, most of the times, the choice of the consumer can be influenced simply by availability. But all said and done, we come back to the initial question. Would you buy a mobile simply because Bipasha says you should? Umm, for Bipasha, we’d do much more :-)

SEQUELS – STIR OR NOT?

2011-02-28T17:43:00.000+05:30

The recent HCL ad on television is being taken as another sequel in the series of HCL advertisements that show a ‘know-all’ Mr. HCL and a ‘specy not so geeky’ banker. This puts forth a point to ponder. The trend of making sequels is swiftly passing over from cinema to advertising. But what is it doing to the creative meter of advertisements? Is it the lack of innovation on the part of ad makers that we get to see the same characters and the same plot being taken further. No, is the answer. “It has got nothing to do with losing ideas. In fact, sometimes, they don’t even think of an ad as a series of ideas. Mr. HCL sure wasn’t seen as a sequel. It was made into a sequel because the characters and the plot worked for the brand,” says Amitava Mitra, COO (North), Percept/H. Does that hold true for every ad sequel in the world of advertising? “If you take Maggi Ketchup ads,” says Amitava, “they were meant to be a series of ads on the same plot and with the same characters 15 years ago as well, because it was thought that way. Therefore, it all depends on the company’s strategy. If the company gets a ‘campaignable’ idea, it sure takes it forward.” Viewers like Prashuka Jain, a CA by profession, prefer sitting on the fence, commenting that sequel ads as well as variety are preferred. And our call? Well, we’re incorrigible romantics; we love to love them (read the First Cut story in this issue on the Fevicol sequel ad)

“INDIANS WORRY ABOUT SECURITY, BUT DO NOTHING!”

2011-01-13T17:22:00.000+05:30

While Indian consumers are still to wake up to their safety needs, Godrej Security Services (GSS) has vowed to establish a name for itself in the security industry of the country. Mehernosh Pithawala, GM, International Business & Marketing Communications, GSS, talks to 4Ps B&M about how the company plans to move up using its marketing initiatives.

Branded security is still at a very nascent stage in India. But Godrej Security Solutions (GSS), a division of Godrej & Boyce, and a part of $2.6 billion Godrej group, is eyeing to build up on its first mover advantage to become a Rs.1,000 crore company in revenue by 2014. In an exclusive interview with 4Ps B&M, Mehernosh Pithawalla, GM, International Business & Marketing Communications, GSS, discusses about how he is planning to make this dream come true.

Do you feel that the Indian consumers are ready for such branded safety that comes with a high cost attached to it?
Indian market is growing and so is the need for security. With the proliferating crime scene, the need for security solutions is also increasing. Moreover, today while consumers are becoming more aspirational and spending heavy amounts on the luxuries like latest TV sets, ACs, Music systems, laptops, mobile phones et al, there is a constant fear in their minds that they are being watched. Thus they need to protect their valuables and loved ones. Talking about their will to pay for the cost attached with such security system, when a consumer doesn’t mind spending Rs.70,000 on a TV set or other such home luxuries, he also would not mind investing another few thousands to protect it. Also I must say that our products are priced to suit the requirements of various security needs and budgets.

You yourself believe that the Indian consumer is worried about safety, but ends up merely expressing anxiety than taking action? What plans do you have to convert that anxiety into action?
Yes. I believe that the Indian consumer is very much worried about the safety, but there is lack of action. Take an example of the Mumbai terror attack. Post attack, we held meetings and rallies, we lighted candles and then went back to our lives normally. No action was taken in terms of personal safety and security. We behave the same way when it’s about a burglary that takes place next door. We see that people remain cautious for a few days and then forget the whole episode without actually taking any action to avoid such a thing from happening in our life. Hence we have initiated this campaign “Musibat bataa ke nahi aati” (Trouble doesn’t come announced) to increase public awareness. The campaign shows trouble in the most unique way, something very unheard of. It provokes the consumers to sit back and think and invites call for action. We are also organising a unique activity called the “Break IN Challenge”. This takes cues and insights from our daily lives and security practices and replicates them in the form of a game. Apart from that, we have been participating in a lot of security conferences and have proposed to set standards in this industry.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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WHY HDFC STD’S BET MIGHT JUST PAY OFF

2010-11-16T17:10:00.002+05:30

4Ps B&M cuts across the honchos within HDFC Standard Life, as well as the whiz kids of Leo Burnett, the creators of their campaign, to understand why a simple, staid, standard message may actually get the numbers running along for the financial behemoth

Given that the earlier campaigns overdosed themselves on older people, the latest campaigns certainly make the company look a lot younger. A significant majority of metro youngsters (a test group of whom 4Ps B&M met to test aided and unaided props of the ads) might find the recent campaigns more in line with their lives, as they are more contemporary.

But Tripathi says there could be another reason for that (apart from the youthful touch, that is), “The right selection of media along with the quality of our communications that have stronger connect with our target audience has helped us reach out to a greater population base. While TV helps us to reach the national audience, the localized media presence has been prioritised on the basis of business targets and potential.” The company has therefore simultaneously focused on some select Out-of-Home (OOH) media to engage potential customers and has also tied up with multiplex chains and focused on experiential marketing. In essence, a broad mix of TV, radio and outdoor advertising has been used by the company to maximise the impact of its campaigns, even the Internet (although a quick analysis on and of Google search shows that HDFC Standard Life’s ads and links are not visible through AdWords, or search; Bajaj Allianz, ICICI Pru, Aviva, Reliance, Kotak, MaxNY, all come up faster even in the search listings – an area surely to work upon). The initial responses seem to be positive but the real impact would be visible through the number of customers that eventually buy insurance products from the company.

In the financial year 2007-08, HDFC Standard Life was sixth across India amongst all life insurers with a 2.88% market share. As on January 2010, aggregating the past ten months premium collection figures, HDFC Standard Life’s market share had grown to 3%. That might seem small in numbers, but it’s a big leap considering the competition. The big test is that with the IPL season ending, HDFC Standard Life will have to find a new jig to keep up the target market’s attention. Will they? Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!
Gyanendra Kumar Kashyap

IIPM Creative Views - 4P’s Best Marketing Plan Competition- IIPM Indore

2010-08-27T17:36:00.002+05:30

On 14th July’10, the 4P’s club of IIPM Indore organized ‘the best marketing plan competition' for the first years, second years and the BBA students.

The objective behind the entire exercise was to actually test the students and get to know how much they are able to use what they have learnt in the class to actual marketing of a product.

5 teams of 6-7 members participated in the event. 3 out of these 4 teams were combined teams with students of 1st yr, 2nd yr and BBA all working together on the product. The other 2 teams were ISBE-B and BBA students.

Each team was given a specific product to launch highlighting its USP. The products were a watch, soap, torch, lipstick, a deodorant.

The students were given an hour to prepare a questionnaire, conduct a survey, conduct a primary research and on the basis of the research make a marketing plan including a TVC. The students were given the freedom to refer to any of the marketing books in the library but if any group was caught asking help from any of the faculty would be disqualified.

Each team was given a time 4-5 mins to give their presentation. The judge for the event was Prof. Jayanta Chakraborti.

The winning team was the team that marketed the lipstick.

IIPM Media - Nutrivita PRESENTS 100 MARKETING BRAINS THAT MOVE AND SHAKE INDIA

2010-08-27T00:51:00.000+05:30

VINEET KANAUJIA

General Manager – Marketing, Safexpress Pvt. Ltd.

Having worked with top brands like Samsung, HCL and ConAgra, about three years back I was seeking a challenging assignment for creating a brand from scratch. I got this opportunity in the form of Safexpress and in a very short time-span I succeeded in establishing it as one of the foremost brands in the country. My best ever marketing moment came about recently when Brand Safexpress was rated as ‘India’s Most Promising Brand’ in a study involving over 40,000 brands in India. Personally speaking, one of the most thrilling moments of my career came about when I was recently conferred with ‘CMO of the Year Award’ by the CMO Council, USA.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

“We will change your outlook” – The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read…

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IIPM 4Ps Business & Marketing - Nutrivita PRESENTS 100 MARKETING BRAINS THAT MOVE AND SHAKE INDIA

2010-08-26T17:07:00.000+05:30

Anish Srikrishna

CMO, SpiceJet

I’ve worked with many companies in the past, and as far as marketing and branding experiences go, each one was extremely unique. I have worked with brands like Samsung, Coca-Cola, Oberoi Hotels Chain and now I am at SpiceJet. At Samsung, the whole manner in which we convinced the Korean top management to focus on India and the manner in which we became official sponsors of a game like cricket was a great experience. Then at Oberoi, it was the unique package we launched which was called ‘India in luxury’, which was marketed in geographies like US and Europe. We got great responses for that too. At SpiceJet, we have worked towards giving a new direction to the brand and we have done that quite successfully. For the first time, you would have seen TV commercials from SpiceJet. Today, we are on billboards and radio, something which just began in the past 10 months, and the results are there to be seen.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
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Great power needs great responsibility

2010-07-26T17:27:00.000+05:30

From a regime of long term power purchase agreements (PPAs) and predetermined pricing, private players are quite excited about merchant power; as they have the opportunity to negotiate prices bilaterally or via an exchange. But merchant power is also inherently risky, since it is not backed by the kind of guarantees that long term PPAs provide. That is why banks are also more confident of funding projects with at least 60-70% of long term PPAs. In the short term, power demand can fluctuate menacingly, so private players may be exposed to significant risks (prices, demand shortfalls & payment defaults) before the market matures as a whole; on the lines of developed markets like UK, where 2 years is considered long term. Finally, considering the cost of producing power and its environmental impact, we would risk playing devil’s advocates and mention that the price of power has to be carefully calibrated to curb excesses. Kameswara Rao agrees, “It’s not just revising tariffs to reflect costs but to look at allocative efficiency as well; i.e. the type of consumption (time of day, seasonal, et al) and the size of the user (slabs, categories) to encourage conservation and economic use of electricity. Even a simple indexation to inflation would have helped, but unfortunately in many states the tariffs have not been revised for several years.” This provides India with a miserable record of one of the lowest energy intensities in the world. Yes, the private sector may achieve the goal of ‘Power for All’ ultimately and light the ‘bulb’, but Indian consumers would do well to keep its true cost in mind every time they switch it on.

B&E: How has the policy landscape changed for the renewable energy in the last few years?
MT: In India, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy introduced the concept of generation based incentives to promote grid-connected solar power plants for the first time in January 2008. However, this policy had an extremely small target of 50 MW with payment guarantees of only 10 years compared to the global practice of 20 – 25 years. Because of these and other reasons, the policy did not result into any actual projects. The solar mission (announced in June 2008) has laid out an extremely ambitious target of generating 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022. This is set to transform not just the solar industry in India but also the energy map.

B&E: How are tariffs of power from renewable energy getting set?
MT: The generic tariff for the renewable power is set by following an established procedure involving a public hearing of interested parties by the CERC. CERC looks at what should be fixed as the normative capital cost for one MW of a renewable energy project. Then it looks at all other costs including the cost of finance and O&M costs etc. It then fixes the levellised tariff for the next 20-25 years as the case may be so that the investor can get a pre-fixed rate of return on his equity investment. For solar this normative return on equity has been fixed at 19% pre-tax for the first 10 years and 24% for the years 11 to 25.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
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For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

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Strike: loss is in the air

2010-06-30T16:40:00.000+05:30

Air India strike shows a highly unprofessional attitude

A beautiful nation is not a gift; it is a result of good vision, continuous effort, strong political will and many more. But beyond this, perhaps small but more important factors are good governance, efficient bureaucracy and less corruption. Many of these are the factors which made Singapore, a tiny island nation an Asian country to qualify as the 'First world nation'. On my recent visit to Singapore (as a part of the IIPM GOTA programme), while in a conversation with a taxi driver, I came to know about Singapore efficient and corruption free culture. He told me numerous incidents where one was not allowed to contest election since he had committed a crime, perhaps a decade before.

But the worse was yet to come. On May 26, 2010, we (I along with 17 of my students) were running exhaustively at the airport after knowing that Air India employees are on a strike.There was news that the strike was pre-decided, if that is so, then Air India should not have issued tickets for those particular days and even if they have issued the tickets, the management should have some efficient mechanism to ensure that passengers would have alternative flights to reach respective destinations without hassle and harassment on time. Well, no such arrangement was on place. In fact, there was hardly any Air India employee to provide any kind of information and guide hundreds of clueless passengers at the airport. And more interestingly, this one or two days strike also gave another reason to show why the government undertaking entity is struggling to make profit. Each passengers paid to Air India about Rs.20,000, on an average for their journey. And Air India spent approximately Rs.81050 (about Rs.24,150 on accommodation and food, Rs.6900 on transport and about Rs.50,000 for alternative flights via Bangkok) on each of these passenger — who were in a few hundreds in number. Meanwhile, the Aviation ministry releases press brief that it’s not going to interfere over the issue, it will back the management’s decision completely. What was even more interesting was that our stay at Bangkok airport, for over six hours, never made us realise that we are in the same nation which is being torn apart through riots since years. The arrangement and flight procedures inside the airport was perfectly in place and it was made sure that the internal disturbance don't harm the business of airlines.

In a casual conversation I asked a receptionist of Hotel Mandarin Oriental Singapore, where we were staying as we were waiting for an alternative flight arrangement, that can employees of Asia’s one of the most successful airlines, Singapore Airlines, go on strike on similar context? He confidently said no though it doesn’t mean that their demands can’t be heard and met by respective authorities. Strike is illegal while employees have all the rights to raise their demands.

It’s high time for us to wake up, at least, for the sake of the nation. This small incident exemplifies the uncivilised manner we deal with issues. There is no logical reason harassing hundreds of commuters who have nothing to do with the strike's agendas (whether they are selfish or greedy in nature). Similarly, there is no point that Aviation Ministry should be so careless on such issues especially when no airlines, even public run airlines are making big money.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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A different act

2010-06-17T14:54:00.000+05:30

No one can match Salman Khan when it comes to attitude and the right one at that. Salman was to be interviewed recently for an award function, which was completely scripted. The organisers were putting up an act where Salman was to be questioned on Katrina Kaif upon which he was to get offended and walk away. This was to be used by them as a part of television promotions. But Salman didn’t want to stoop to this level for publicity and refused to abide by the script. For Salman, not every publicity is good publicity!

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Legacy on its last leg?

2010-06-15T16:49:00.000+05:30

Will the Shehnai have to reconcile to the fact that there may not be another Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan? The son who was his successor is dead; the others are struggling, and there’s little other than memorial concerts to keep the tradition going. Puja Awasthi reminisces of the time when there was hope…

Ustad Nayyar Hussain Khan “Bismillah” passed away following respiratory problems at a Varanasi hospital on December 17, 2009. To me, he had begun to fade away in July of that year itself, when, as I got up to leave that baithak plastered with photographs and awards (including the Bharat Ratna) of his father the late Bismillah Khan, he thrust a couple of brochures (titled Music Represents Soul) and visiting cards in my hand and said, “Kaam dilwao. Koi bhi kaam chalega. Shaadi aur party mein bhi bajayenge.” (Get me work. Any work will do. I will play at weddings and parties.) I did not fail to notice that the Ustad’s name was bolder than Nayyar’s on the card. And that here was a man aged 70, the second son of a legend who had put a simple wind instrument to his lips and coaxed such sweetness from it that it ceased to remain an accompaniment to flashier ones, begging for work. The Ustad would neither have understood nor approved.

But when like Nayyar Khan, you live with four brothers, one sister and 30 children and grandchildren, in a lane that’s named after your father in a narrow, white house with 10 rooms, you have responsibilities you cannot shrug. And Nayyar Khan, being the successor to his father had to bear them all.

Such is Varanasi’s association with the Ustad that when he had passed away in August 2006, there were many who lamented “Bharat Ratna chala gaya” (The Bharat Ratna has gone). To his own family it was as though life had been sucked out of all those who had been left behind.

“My Abba had a generous heart but a sharp tongue. Nobody who came to our home would leave without a meal. After a concert, the cooks would work overtime to cater to those who came to congratulate him. Some had even named our home Bismillah hotel. But after him, the staunchest of his well-wishers have disappeared. There is just the occasional phone call. Yes, there are problems,” Nayyar had said going on to detail how he even had to haggle about the number of musicians he could take in his group for a performance. No one would of course have dared to make such talk to the Ustad. Yet, Nayyar was looking forward to a tour of the USA this year. “Before every performance, I tell the audience that they should listen to me as Ustad Bismillah Khan’s son, not as the Ustad himself and grant me some grace,” he had said.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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IN THE COLONEL’S DEN

2010-06-09T14:07:00.000+05:30

A change in counter-insurgency tactics has helped Pakistan smoke out Taliban from FATA, but the real challenge will be to consolidate the gains.

Imageries are beautiful. But they tend to stick. Time flies by, but the imageries remain ensconced in the human mind. They start affecting judgement. Imageries are dangerous. Much of what we visualise about the Tribal Areas in Pakistan comes from the imageries drawn by Rudyard Kipling and Orientalists like Robert Wilkinson-Latham. Their writings on these areas are vivid and enriching. But there is a problem there. These writings are a century old and the Tribal Areas have moved ahead. We and our imageries are yet to.

So as our Mil MI 17 hovered above Bajaur agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas, popularly called FATA, we were in for a shock. The area is not a “muddy mountainous hamlet of aboriginal tribes” as some western analysts would have us believe. With metalled roads, stone-brick houses and schools, the place can give an average village from the Bimaru states in India a run for its money. In fact, the entire brouhaha over it being inaccessible is just that: brouhaha. So what is it that has fed the insurgency? Of course, the terrain. Modern insurgencies have been terrain-based. Here and everywhere.

So, first the geography. Nestled at 2800 feet above sea level, Bajaur is one of seven—and the northernmost—agencies of FATA. Spread over 1290 sq km, the agency has more than a fair share of rugged frontier hills. While it shares its east, south and north boundaries with other agencies, on its west is the unruly and ungoverned Afghan province of Kunar. A perfect stage for insurgency. At least that is what Colonel Muhammad Nauman Saeed thinks.

In the traditional attire of Bajaur Scouts—the paramilitary that he spearheaded in the battle against Taliban—Colonel Nauman Saeed looks every bit the no-nonsense man that he is. For him, the battle has been up close and personal. In fact too close. On September 9 last year, when the convoy of Major General Tariq Khan—who was also serving as Inspector General of Frontier Corps—was ambushed near Nissarabad, Colonel Nauman himself mounted a tank and led a Quick Response Force to extricate the crew. His tank received multiple hits by RPG-7s, but the Colonel stopped only after Khan was extricated. He makes it a point to lead all the operations himself. The confidence shows when he talks.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Time to move on...

2010-06-07T12:59:00.000+05:30

Bollywood’s dusky girl, Lara Dutta feels that her 30s have given her “a sense of liberation” from the “angst and confusion” of the 20s. Though films like "No Entry" and "Partner" have got her noticed, her screen presence in "Blue" reminds one of her beachwear charm that earned her the highest points at the swimsuit round way back in 2000 at the Miss Universe contest. While she's tasted real success with comedy, the sexy lass seems ready for a shift and plans to move to some new genre of films other than comedy.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy

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Holidays from Hell!

2010-06-04T15:51:00.000+05:30

When the Alps call you not, nor the allures of the Parisian markets enchant you, but the abandoned buildings in Pripyat intrigue you and horrifying tales of heinous crimes get your pulse racing, then you are in for a vacation that could change you forever… Anu Gulmohar throws light on dark tourism.

“We have not had any tours to the eruption site at Eyjafjallajökull as the surrounding area has been closed. We did, however, take almost 700 persons in different tours to see the eruption in Fimmvorduhals, a few weeks before the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull. One tour was a coach tour that drove into a valley next to the eruption so passengers could view from a safe distance. Another tour of ours drove the passengers up to Myrdalsjokull glacier and from there they went on snowmobiles to see the eruption up close. The third one was a super jeep tour driving in as close as one km from the eruption site. Our customers were from all over the world… UK, USA, Scandinavia. Many Icelanders went there as well. To see a volcanic eruption is once in a lifetime experience for most people. You get to see the forces of nature in action which is just indescribable,” said Gudrun Thorisdottir, Sales Manager, Iceland Excursions – Gray Line Iceland (www.grayline.is). The disastrous impact of the volcano eruption – from forcing Icelanders to flee their homes at 2am to travellers stranded for days at various airports – has captured the world’s attention. In addition to voicing their outrage, the multitudes were also seen struggling to pronounce Eyjafjallajökull (AY-uh-fyat-luh-YOE-kuutl-uh). Iceland has been grappling with a severe financial crunch and the foreign money brought in by the tourist eruption following the eruption of the volcano gave some welcome relief to the country’s government. It also posed a challenge of handling visitors 24x7 and rescuing several of those getting too close to the zone and not taking sufficient precautions.

Cut to Gopinatham, a small village in Karnataka, which is (in)famous for being home to Veerappan, the forest brigand, responsible for the reign of terror. He murdered 184 people, smuggled sandalwood worth Rs 103 crore and poached about 200 elephants for twenty long years on 6,000 sq km of forests. While the forests have finally been freed of this bandit, his exploits still arouse much interest among the people. The government has come up with a plan to launch tours based on the life and trails of the notorious smuggler/poacher. This would include a trekking scheme called Mystery Trails, which would include legends and myths around Veerappan and re-trace his hideouts and escape routes. K Viswanatha Reddy, Tourism Director, does not take kindly to the ‘terror tourism’ tag though. “It (the tour) will definitely have universal attention though not universal appeal. It will be successful because it is in a negative note,” said Reddy. When presented with the concept of the tour, Sue St Clair, a Canadian, said, “Yes, I would be interested in undertaking such a tour.” Sue is a self-confessed dark tourist. What is a dark tourist you ask? Dark tourism is ‘the act of travel to sites associated with death, suffering and the seemingly macabre’ [Stone, P.R (2006) ‘A Dark Tourism Spectrum’, 146], for people who travel not just for the sun, sand and shopping, but for a chance to glimpse at the macabre and gulp down each and every horrifying detail. While German extermination camp at Auschwitz, Poland, is perhaps the best known site for dark tourism, Sue listed her favourite dark spots to us, “The Tower of London (grisly history), Jack The Ripper walking tours (London, England), Underground Catacombs (Paris, France), Dracula Tours in Romania, all have a very dark history, and are enjoyable.” The volcano in Iceland isn’t her idea of Ibiza though. “I would not want to be breathing in that ash nor risking being too close to it, and possibly being injured or worse. I prefer dark history,” she reiterated.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Rakesh Roshan shares stories about the father-son duo

2010-06-02T13:49:00.000+05:30

Cinema has changed a lot from the time when you were an actor. Is there anything that you feel was better back then?

It was much better back then. Instead of improving cinema, I think, we are deteriorating. If you see the films these days, it has the same song and dance, girls dancing in bikinis, coming out of the sea, dancing in the sand, we’re just not moving forward in any way. In those days there was Bimal Roy making good films, Mehmood making good films. Then there was Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Chatterjee, Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra and there are many other names. They made films which we sat and thought about. It led us to wonder how did they make such films; how did Raj Kapoor make films? But today we just don’t find any filmmaker of that caliber. There’s no one thinking out of the box. People feel that 'yeh chal raha hai to yehi do audience ko'. That’s why they are not succeeding because the audience does not want that. We actually end up underestimating the audience. After long, there was a new film and a new concept like “3 Idiots”.

Any thoughts of returning to acting?

Oh no. I’m involved in my projects now. I have bigger responsibilities on my shoulder.

Between directing and acting, what did you enjoy more?

As far as enjoyment is concerned, there’s nothing like being an actor because you go to the sets, act and you know, the preparation is up to a limit. But as a director, you have to think for 24 hours. You have to be in the sun, preparing the shot, whereas, as an actor you get the benefit of staying in the van till your shot is ready. So an actor’s life is more comfortable as compared to a director.

Anurag said that he was left to do the film on his own. Being a director yourself, were there times when you felt the need to chip in?

It’s nothing like that. I was involved with him while making the script. I was there with him at the locations and was there to fulfill his requirements. Throughout I knew what was happening. Nothing went without my notice. I gave all my experience to the film and all that he needed. He wanted a chopper; I provided that for the film for 10 days. That’s how I work. And Anurag has done a very good job with the film.

As a director, what is your idea behind making a film?

Entertainment, that’s my idea.

For Complete I I P M Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy

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House blues for CM

2010-06-01T17:02:00.000+05:30

Chouhan upset as Cong boycotts special Assembly session

Afour-day special session of Madhya Pradesh Assembly (May 11-14) generated a heated debate in the state. The session that was held to build a political consensus on development issues actually divided political parties with the main opposition party Congress boycotting it. Besides, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also criticised the whole procedure as wastage of time and energy.

Also, deputy Speaker Harvansh Singh of the Congress didn’t participate in the session. While the BSP legislators protested outside the House, the Congress organised a parallel session at Iqbal ground in Bhopal. Calling it unconstitutional, the Congress claimed that it will not serve the purpose of raising people-oriented issues in the House. They also staged a sit-in in the Assembly building to the chagrin of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

This was for the first time in the state’s history that the opposition boycotted the special session. The CM tried his best to convince the Congress legislators to attend the session and discuss ways to address the problems. He even wrote a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to ask her party legislators to participate in the special session aimed at seeking suggestions on development.

But there was no positive response from the Congressmen in the state. In response the Congress sent a letter to BJP national president Nitin Gadkari. They requested him to direct his party colleagues and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to hold discussions on issues related to people rather than organising a special session of the Assembly. However, no positive steps were taken from both the sides.

They stuck to their own stand. The Congress and BSP lambasted the state government. They said that the government has lost its moral right to hold such a session at a time when six of its ministers were facing investigation from Lokayukta and Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

Besides, both the parties lashed out at the CM for the power shortage in the state. They said that the state government first needs to address the problem of malnutrition in the state as some 600,000 children have died of it. President Pratibha Patil was earlier supposed to address the special session but her visit to Bhopal was called off due to “unavoidable reasons.” However, on the final day of the session, the CM said: “After discussing the issues with all legislators we have decided to work for the development of the state. We want to achieve our goals by 2013.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Spill threatens Olive ridleys

2010-05-03T17:00:00.000+05:30

Locals accused of burying dead turtles to avoid media glare

Oil spill from an Indonesian ship at the Gopalpur port located on the Orissa coast has endangered the lives of Olive Ridley turtles. Besides, it has contaminated the sea water, threatening lakhs of these rare species and more than 1.5 crore hatchlings that are yet to start their seaward journey from the sea beach near Rushikulya River mouth. Thousands of turtles converge on the coast for nesting and laying of eggs.

The spill was spotted by the locals, who informed the authorities. More than 7,000 litres of diesel have been immersed into the sea from the Essar-owned vessel MV Malavika on April 12. Sources say it was carrying some 32,000 tonnes of coal from Indonesia. Rabindra Sahu of the Rushikulya Sea Turtle Protection Committee is deeply concerned with the development. He said many turtles died from the oil spill. However, the officials, including Forest department and Pollution Control Board, have rubbished it. Moreover, people in the Gopalpur port are burying the dead turtles in order to hide the fact and not to attract media attention, alleged Rabindra.

Notably, the rare species of turtles prefer this river mouth along the beach instead of the famous site Gahirmatha due to the tidal wave, beach erosion and activities by the defense establishment at the ‘wheeler island’. Since 1994, the rare species of turtles had been sighted nesting here at the sea and laying lakhs of eggs along the beach near Rushikulya River mouth in Ganjam. Suratha Pahan, the chairman of Ganjam, said the oil spill is jeopardising the livelihood of thousands of fishermen living along the coast as they have been asked not to venture for fishing. Ashish Fernandes of the Green Peace said: “We are playing with fire by permitting ports in such eco-critical areas.” This has led to the gradual disappearance of these amazing creatures from the Orissa coast, added Ashish.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Reforms in coal sector, on which India’s power generation is heavily dependent

2010-04-13T16:17:00.000+05:30

The starting blip is that mining lease, i.e. access to land for mining is the state’s prerogative, while mining rights, i.e. access to the mineral below the land is the Centre’s call. The process of getting a lease and a license takes half a generation. AreclorMittal and Posco are some outsider victims in this lease-rights-land-acquisition jigsaw. However, thanks to a ‘gentleman’ named Madhu Koda, centre may have got a wake up call, albeit 2-3 decades late. With Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announcing the leasing of coal blocks for captive mining through open auctions and allowing captive miners to hold just 26% in FDI for any coal block, competition might just bring the black gold up a little faster. But the second and critical issue remains stuck. The Coal Reform Bill introduced in the Parliament in 2001 hasn’t even stayed on the table for long while its counterpart the Electricity Act 2003 has changed India’s power sector landscape. The bill, in essence, would open up coal mining for non-captive users and thus coal can be sold and bought in the open market. But the tentative script of the bill seems to be buried much deeper than its black protagonist.

Interestingly though, the talk of the town has been the cess of Rs.50 per tonne of coal mined. A first step towards incentivising the renewable energy sector in the country, it is at present just a needle in a haystack. “The cess levied on the coal mined will result in an increase in the power tariff for the companies who are in the regulatory business model (cost plus) as all the cost increase is a pass through for these companies. Those selling power on merchant basis would have to take a hit to that extent as the pricing is based on market forces,” says Solanki. However some experts estimate that the cess will lead to revenue, on a national basis, to the tune of Rs.30 billion per year, and will contribute massively to the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) proposed in this budget.

The third and not the least significant factor is the urgent need for an autonomous coal sector regulator on the lines of energy regulators in the US and UK, which again found mention in the FM’s budget speech this year. In fact, in the words of RV Shahi, Former Power Secretary, Government of India, “Gradual opening up of the coal sector will definitely require regulatory oversight. Even otherwise, in a monopoly situation with government control, companies occupy almost the entire space. Consumer’s interests can only be protected by a suitably structured regulatory mechanism. When such a mechanism is put in place, issues concerning pricing would automatically get addressed in a transparent manner, as is already happening in the power sector.”

Thus, there might still be time for redemption for our successive governments at the centre as well as states to unleash the power of the black rock to ‘power India,’ if only the state can remain awake and avoid sliding into a near perpetual slumber, something which lasted nearly 60 years.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy

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Living with a flawed destiny

2010-04-12T15:56:00.000+05:30

Investments in defence at the cost of social good are unpardonable

Global annual military expenditure stood at around $1.46 trillion, as per a report in 2009. The top 15 countries with the highest military expenditure spent around 81.4% of the total. It is estimated that the world needs only about $260 billion annually for the next 10 years to eradicate all the basic malaise; be it poverty, insufficient healthcare, lack of shelter and clean water, illiteracy and sustainable energy. Given that kind of a comparison, there’s a clear paradox that countries are facing; are the investments towards defence supposed to only protect the ‘advantaged’ well earning masses?

US alone has spent over $5.5 trillion on nuclear arms till date, and has a current stock of over 10,000 nuclear weapons. US spends $35 billion a year on defence (or $96 million a day). Similarly, France has spent not less than $1.5 trillion on nuclear arms. USSR has spent $3.5 trillion on nuclear arms. Even as recently as the last decade, when countries were ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention, Albania, Libya, Russia, US and India have declared over 71,000 mt of chemical weapon stockpiles. The developing nations are no less in their over eager attempts to defend their borders. $32 billion is the 2010 investment for India in defence. Pakistan is $8 billion. China is $78 billion.

While it cannot be denied that a nation’s spending on defence technology is necessary due to various imperative and unavoidable reasons (mostly conflict with unreasonable neighbours), it is clear that if the same nation were to be equally committed towards eliminating poverty, the world could have surely been a better place. The funny part is, this is no Holmesian secret, and the nations involved know the discreet logic quite comprehensively. Then why don’t they simply eliminate poverty? Unpardonable...

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy

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Lost in the jungle....

2010-04-08T15:55:00.000+05:30

Explore the many facets of nature in Karnataka. You will return home rejuvenated
The only biodiversity reserve in the Western Ghats, Dandeli forest, on a clear day, can be a sight for the Gods. Both vegetation and wildlife are abundant here, and the mountain range presents a truly impressive sight. Enveloped by a dense jungle, Dandeli, located in Uttara Kannada district, is a small town with many delights.

The multifaceted landscape and the heavy rainfall have made certain areas unreachable. Just as well. This has helped the area retain its remarkable eco-diversity.

The Western Ghats have an average elevation of 1200 metres here. However, in certain places the range rises abruptly to a height of over 2440 metres. In the forest, river Kali flows unhindered. The gorgeous Kali is great for white water rafting. Check into the Kali Wilderness Camp and put your endurance to the test.

The resort jeep drives up to Ganeshgudi, around 29 km away. Once you get started and as you battle the foam, oars in hand, you can feel the spray on your face and excitement coursing through your veins.

The Nilgiri hills are home to two of the highest peaks of the Western Ghats, Dodabetta, which has a height of 2637 metres, and Makurti, with a height of 2554 metres. To the south of the Nilgiri hills is the 24-km wide Palghat gap, extending from east to west.

Though located in the heart of a forest, Dandeli is not difficult to access. The nearest railhead from Goa to Dandeli is Londa, 45 km away. Hubli, 85 km from Dandeli, is one of the bigger junctions for those travelling from Bangalore/Mumbai. A lot of people prefer to take a bus from Bangalore or Goa to Dandeli.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Moviola moments

2010-04-06T16:37:00.000+05:30

The international film festivals in Cannes and Toronto are ideal unwinding opportunities for those looking for a bit of stardust while on vacation

What really is Cannes? It isn’t the capital of France. It isn’t even near Paris. And it certainly isn’t the movie hub of the world. But those in the business of cinema – whether they peddle expensive tent-pole movies or craft small, intimate, cutting-edge films – simply cannot do without it.

But hang on, there is more to Cannes than its famed film festival. Sans the latter, held for 12 days in May every year, this French Riviera town wouldn’t have been what it is today – one of Europe’s most written about places.

There is nothing in the world quite like the Cannes Film Festival. Over 200,000 people arrive here during the event. Nearly 40,000 of them are registered delegates, 4000 of whom are accredited journalists. In terms of media coverage, the Cannes Film Festival is rated as the world’s third largest event after the Olympics and the soccer World Cup.

So shouldn’t the movies be the sole thing on your mind as the aircraft floats in from over the Mediterranean to land at the Nice Cote d’Azur airport? Well, the answer is no. During the 30-minute taxi ride from Nice to Cannes, think silvery beaches, soothing climes, tempting wines and hours of repose in genteel cafes.

Cannes is a veritable smorgasbord, a city of pomp and ceremony that celebrates high art with as much passion as it embraces the most brazen displays of showmanship from attention-hungry movie industry mavens and mavericks.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Ipl – A beast or a bestseller?

2010-03-31T14:00:00.000+05:30

Last week, two new IPL franchises were sold-off by BCCI at record high rates. Does this signal the beginning of a bubble for Lalit Modi's IPL or will his baby turn into the world's largest sporting behemoth?

Three years back, owners of the noted English Premier League (EPL) club paid Rs.1,511 crore to purchase Liverpool, a top name in the EPL for some years now, with stars bought for multi-million dollars like Steven Gerrard (from England), Daniel Sánchez Ayala (from Spain), Javier Mascherano (from Argentina) et al. That was considered one of the biggest deal in the world of sports. A repeat occurred in India last week, when all those present in a five-star hotel ballroom in Chennai were struck with two big surprises. Any observer in all his honest self would confess that none expected the influx of funds to have such unimaginable magnitude. So much so, even IPL's Godfather Modi could not disguise his surprise. “This is a super duper Sunday for BCCI and IPL,” said a beaming Modi. He further admitted that he was expecting much less for each franchise and not Rs.1,702 crore for the Pune team and Rs.1532 crore for the Kochi team (a total of Rs.3,235 crore for the two). In short, individually, both these teams were worth more than the famous Liverpool Football Club. Nothing surprising there, till you realise that unlike the English club, which had well-acclaimed stars during to boast about during the bidding process, nothing was/is known about the names of the Pune and Kochi IPL players – beat that for speculation!

Even when you look at the current IPL contracts, when all the teams were first put up for sale in 2008, the eight franchises were sold for a much lower Rs.2,853 crore, much lower than what the two new teams (as a combine) fetched in this auction. According to a BCCI official, there were five bidders this time for the two new teams, namely, Sahara Adventure Sports Group, Rendezvous Sports World Ltd., VC Digital, Adani Group & Aman Vohra. Out of these five, Subrata Roy-owned Sahara bagged Pune & little known Rendezvous caught hold of Kochi. Knowing Sahara's Roy and his relations with BCCI, the Pune franchise will most likely come out with its IPO in 2013. The BCCI official also said that, "Already one of the major football clubs from England has shown some interest in investing in the Pune franchise. This clearly indicates that Sahara is already looking for investors and can’t swallow a monster like an IPL franchise on its own." If this is the case with Sahara, the fate of Rendezvous appears all the more doubtful. Till date, most can only guess as to which parties actually formed this group. Insiders claim that Rendezvous is a consortium formed by Vivek Venugopal, Mukesh Patel, Ravi & Shailendra Gaekwad, Anchor Switches, Rosy Blue Diamond, Anchor Earth Pvt. Ltd and Parinee Developers.

Whether it is the well-known Amby Valley knight or some unknown Special Purpose Vehicles, the real rub lies in the outflows that are bound to follow. Whatever the parties have spent so far is only for the purchase of the respective franchises. Now, they have to invest on players, staff, logistics and infrastructure. Starting September, the players' auctions will start, and Sahara and Rendezvous will be forced to shell-out some precious coins for purchasing players. Next comes supporting staff, back up logistics... and the list continues! At the end of the day, building your team as a dominant brand poses the biggest challenge. Though for various reasons, this doesn't appear to be an issue in the case of Sahara, as far as Rendezvous goes, it sure has a rough uphill ride ahead. So there are many dark clouds looming large over Kochi. But as the grapevine telegraph has to offer, with Shashi Tharoor (who is the Minister of State for External Affairs) to back you up as far as funds are concerned, would you ever waste a frown? Perhaps not...

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Business ‘of’ and not ‘for’ kids

2010-03-30T16:21:00.000+05:30

International adoption is emerging out as a new illegal business

Adoption predominantly and fundamentally was meant to provide a better living and growth environment for orphans. Historically, the process of adoption was given a very high social recognition and was seen as a community responsibility. Of late, especially in the developed world, the increase in infertility rate has shifted this process of adoption from realm of domestic region to international markets. With Hollywood celebs like Madonna and Angelina Jolie adopting numerous children from world’s poorest regions, the whole concept of adoption seems to have become an international fad now.

Westerners see this act of international adoption as a rescue measure for orphans from poverty-stricken life. But then, this act at no given point of time convalesces the fundamental and core reason of poverty. Moreover, these so-called adopted children are actually either kidnapped, stolen or transacted and not really adopted. Social unrest, poverty and natural disaster make it very simple for child traffickers to export or import babies like any other commodity behind the veil of adoption.

International adoption has today become depraved business of supplying children to rich Westerners. Children are literally assumed as commodities and are sold to those who can afford it. In regions like Haiti, Guatemala, China and Africa there are agencies that deal in international adoption. Going by a conservative estimate, adoption today stands as a $100 million industry and agencies charge anything between $25,000 to $40,000 per child from adoptive parents.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Completing the Cycle

2010-03-23T12:43:00.000+05:30

Craze for eco-friendly transport catches up with MLAs & youth

Students and legislators, especially those of the ruling party, have mostly been at loggerheads in Assam. But on one issue — eco-friendly transport — the two sides seem to have arrived at an agreement. Given the ecological disaster that the world seems headed for, both students and legislators have decided to use eco-friendly transport, thereby setting an example for others to follow. Some Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of Assam, students and faculty members of Gauhati University have taken the initiative. Their effort is to use bicycles rather than cars and bikes for short distances.

“I used to ride a bicycle,” says Akan Bora, Congress MLA, who recently flagged off a rally organised by the Assam Bicycle Health Club. “I will try to convince the state government to build separate lanes for cyclists in the city,” says Bora, who uses car for travelling long distance. The health club, meanwhile, has pulled out all stops to help people get back to such basics. “We launched our club in December 2009 and since then have organised four rallies,” says club convenor Ujjal Bezbora. The club, which has 10 convenors, started out by contributing Rs 10,000 each for the cause. “We used the money to buy 100 bicycles,” says Bezbora. A television channel editor, the owner of a nursing home, and one of Guwahati’s main cable distributors are members of the club. “Apart from cycling having major health benefits, let’s not forget the pain that Guwahati’s vehicles give, creating traffic snarls and congestion all the time,” says Bezbora.

At the university, meanwhile, both staff and students are out to use the good old bicycle all over again. Led by their teachers, everyone in the university has decided to use bicycles this month onwards. Says HP Sarma, professor of the department of Environmental Studies: “It’s either bicycles or acid rain and besides that the auto-chemical smog is becoming a distinct possibility.” University registrar Uttam Chandra Das told the media: “With global warming becoming a reality it is time to take a new look at the environmental impact of vehicles that use fossil fuels.” An increasing number of students have already started coming to the campus on bicycles, Das added. What a way to go green.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Studying India's old malaise

2010-03-18T14:39:00.001+05:30

Is India ready to debate the issue of religious freedom?

A US think tank called Pew Research Centre has rated India as the second worst country in the world in terms of antagonistic acts against religious groups! However, in the same breath, they admit and appreciate that these are sporadic issues of some small miscreants and not engineered by broader government policy. A few months preceding this report, another report was published from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, which for the first time placed India in its watch list, after witnessing Gujarat riot in 2002 and attacks on Christians in Orissa in 2008. India has always tried to set a high standard in her secular credentials, received a body blow as more reports pour in questioning her noble claim! Another study titled ‘Global Restrictions & Religion’ in its ‘Social Hostilities Index’ has placed Gujarat and Orissa at 197, below countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The report reveals that among 25 most populous countries, India (along with Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan) is most restrictive in religious practices of the minorities.

These reports contradict India’s image of a tolerant society. While none of these reports is correct in presenting India rightly, all of them tried to reveal some truths in the context of religious intolerance and how it is actually fading the image of this nation. India's image as a tolerant society emerged from the time of Independence, when the entire nation obeyed the Neheruvian tryst with secularism. There were a few Hindutva brigades, desperate to make a mark in the Indian polity, who tried to convince large section of the majority population that the time has come for a Hindu revival, perhaps out of insecurity, with increasingly assertive Muslims and Sikhs, and the secular parties’ pandering with minority groups. It gave enough impetus to the saffron parties to manipulate and rise to the helm of the Indian politics. Even Islamic fundamentalism in neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh convinced the Hindu electorate of nefarious foreign religious and political conspiracy to undermine the Hindu community bonds. India’s ambition to be global player lies with the fact that she needs to be a modern state, which could not be attained with infighting in the name of religion or other diversion towards destructive purposes. Campaigns that hounded away MF Hussain and Taslima Nasreen by couple of Hindu and Islamic fundamentalists, respectively, can surely depress India’s image as a progressive state. India has also failed to provide a healthy environment for open religious discussions; perhaps because religion was never perceived as a priority in the school and college education thus not included in the curriculums. Had it been so, we might have seen less religious violence. In spite of a few occurrences of disturbance, overall unity of a country as large and diverse as India is something one can be proud of— as it has always been a melting pot of various people being absorbed in this great nation. The Dalai Lama echoed the same, when he said, “India's long tradition of religions tolerance can be a role model for rest of the world.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Once in twelve years is an intriguing frequency

2010-03-12T14:42:00.000+05:30

Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand, on the state’s precious heritage

Tourism industry is a major source of income for both the people of the state as well as state government. For its significant support to the state’s livelihood, we would like to lay emphasis on adventure tourism and development of yoga and meditation centres. Uttarakhand has many religious and scenic tourist spots which is why it is also called the land of the gods (dev bhumi). With the help of World Tourism Organisation, we have created a master plan for Uttarakhand and development of its tourism industry to increase amenities for the many pilgrims and tourists who flood the state every year.

We have seen an increase of four per cent in domestic and six per cent in foreign tourists coming to Uttarakhand. Our target is to get the number to a 10 per cent increase in foreign tourists. The Veer Chand Singh Garhwali's tourism self-employment plan is to develop rail services in the hilly regions and provide facilities for air services to the prominent tourist destinations. Protecting the environment is also a priority, since we are one of the world’s top regions in terms of biodiversity. We have several proposals in the field of eco-tourism too.

Combing the Kumbh for legends

According to Vishnu Purana, 14 treasures emerged in the process of churning the ocean by gods and demons to obtain nectar. When nectar finally did appear, there was a struggle between the two groups to make it their own. Meanwhile, Indra's son Jayanta fled with the vessel and was chased by the demons. During his escape, Jayanta laid the vessel at rest in 12 places, of which four – Haridwar, Ujjain, Nashik and Prayag – are on earth and are celebrated as venues for the Kumbh Mela. The rest are believed to be in heaven.

The snan (holy bath) is a part of the Kumbh tradition, during which members of 13 Akharas (Hindu monastic orders) – comprising Saiva and Vaishnava sects – bathe in the Ganga. These Akhara groups were established in the manner of a religious army during the Mughal era to protect Hindu religion. But given the divisions, there were often clashes over rights to the Royal Bath first. This time, however, things will be different. Says Mahanta Vishwa Bandhu, a member of the Digambar Akhara, “Earlier, the administration used to allot date and time for the Shahi Snan (Royal Bath) for the various sects. But after Akhara Parishad took the initiative, both Saiva and Vaishnava Akharas will take the Bath together for the first time at Kumbh.”

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Pirates lay siege on Bollywood

2010-03-06T14:48:00.001+05:30

Piracy is becoming a big threat for the film industry and after the recent ‘Tera Kya Hoga Johnny’ fiasco, everyone’s wondering about Bollywood’s next moves...

They inspire us, fascinate us, entertain and enlighten us, and at times they make us cry too, but more often than not, they help us to set our sorrows aside. The highlight of several light evenings with friends and family, films influence our lives in several ways. The least we could do in return is to pay the filmmakers their due and to take a stand against piracy. Piracy, or unauthorised copying and distribution of movies and music, is a crime. And the fact of the matter is, most of us, at some point or the other, download music, buy pirated movies, or watch movies on video sharing websites like YouTube. Different countries have different laws on copyright infringement but some people see it as evolution as a result of the rise of the Internet. But in all of this the people who suffer the most are the ones who have invested money, time and emotion in the movie, yet are deprived of what is rightfully theirs. One can’t possibly fathom the loss the producers, who invest a sizeable fortune into their films, incur.

Recently, the Neil Nitin Mukesh starrer and Sudhir Mishra directed film Tera Kya Hoga Johnny, in the final stages of post production, was leaked out on YouTube. Manu Kumaran, the producer of the film, had spent Rs. 12 crores on it. Understandably, this has caused an uproar in the Hindi film industry. Though pirated CDs are a common sight post the release of a film, something like this did come as a shock to most. “I think it is very unfortunate and very unfair to Sudhir and to the film and the whole industry that somebody from within the industry is catering to the black market and promoting piracy. Under the code of law, whatever the punishment is, it should be meted out to them as it is an absolutely unpardonable offence. All forms of piracy are bad; YouTube has the maximum reach and its misuse is widespread. I have heard of movies being downloaded from the Internet when they haven’t even come out. This is almost like putting it in the newspaper and providing it to everybody free of cost! It seems like somebody is mocking at the whole system and I think extreme measures should be taken,” says actor, director, producer, Vinay Pathak.

Even the Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan starrer Paa was out on the same website on the very day the film was released. Though the Bachchans did try to get it removed from the Internet, little could be done, for in a very little time the damage had already been done. What the filmmakers can do is, mark their movies with Coded Anti-Piracy or CAP technology. This is a system with which each print of the movie can be marked with a distinguished pattern of dots, which can be used as a forensic identifier. So, with the help of this technology the source of illegal copies can be zeroed in on.

“Spread awareness; ensure within the studios or during the sound or dubbing or mixing that it’s a clean process and a clean studio because the theft could happen from anywhere. And one wouldn’t know when it has happened. I know Sudhir, I have worked with him, and I have great regard for him. I know how much effort he puts into everything he does. My heart goes out to him,” added Pathak. Let’s hope that stringent laws are made and enforced to keep the pirates from sinking the film industry. Meanwhile, we as individuals need to stop encouraging all forms of piracy. For sure, Rs. 100 for a ticket shouldn’t pinch much as compared to the losses that go into millions of rupees for the filmmakers.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Coming out of the woods? Maybe!

2010-03-05T15:05:00.000+05:30

while both retail and real estate sectors took a beating during the slowdown, both are expected to perform much better in 2010, says Savreen Gadhoke

The year gone by was one of soul searching for the Indian retail and real estate sectors. The burgeoning organised retail sector, which was poised to grow at a stupendous rate of 30% per annum by the Retailers Association of India (until 2008), instead, demonstrated a snoozy gait, growing by lower-than-expected 8-10% (as per industry estimates) in 2009. The reasons: sky-rocketing land rentals, alarming dip in consumer spendings, irrational expansions on the back of huge debts and therefore extremely low levels of sales, which further lead to long inventory turnover cycles et al. So how did the financial diaries read? Over the last two years (2008-2010), big retailers floundered with their retail ventures. While shutters were pulled down on all of R. Subramaniam’s Subhiksha chain retail, the other brands who had sworn to take the world of retail by storm, like Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail, Kishore Biyani’s Future Retail, RPG Group’s Spencer’s Retail, Birla Group’s More chain of food and grocery retail stores, also saw many anxious moments while battling the economic slowdown. Expectedly, most of them were forced to shut down their non-performing or poorly-performing outlets. But while there are condolences floating around from well-wishers, the truth is that this ‘correction’ was a ‘necessary evil’ for this sunrise sector as even Rajesh Tanwar, Director, Integrated Retail Solutions, accepts to B&E, “The Indian retail sector has been fortunate to have witnessed a slowdown at such an early stage. This will pave way for more efficient retail practices in the country.” Having put forth good tidings in a line, the question remains – will the organised retail sector bounce back in 2010?

This new year is expected to unfold many consolidations. While there will be an increased focus on achieving break-even and profitability at the store level, attention will also be paid to identifying key catchment areas for setting up new stores. Spencer’s Retail, for instance, has already identified 13 catchment areas (after shutting down over 100 stores over last year) in Tier II and Tier III cities to capture the potential offered by such geographies.

One key issue (apart from many others) that the Indian retailers will need to address in 2010 however is their supply chain network, which at present is miles away from being termed ‘world-class’. Centralising warehouses, reducing pilferage, stock rationalisation, enhancing IT infrastructure, improving storage facilities and merging of operations will enable retailers to improve upon their bottomlines. To take a name, Vishal Retail, with the purpose of achieving better grades in terms of quality control management, has initiated work to centralise its 22 warehouses spread across India to just four in North India; mind you, the year 2010 has already begun, and we’re seeing signs of change already!

Along with the need for FDI, better trade deals with FMCG players and concentration on hypermarkets (for the value conscious Indian consumers) are extremely critical for the organised retail sector to bounce back. “2010 will be the year of the survivors to make a serious bid at recovery. Many players will consolidate their operations and rationalise their business models to dovetail with the newly emerged consumer dynamics,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM). Value retail will be the winning ticket, and those players who will make calculated moves in Tier II & III locations will stand to gain the most.

High end retail will also show a stronger hand in 2010, as big brands will receive warm welcome from consumers, with the infusion of buyer confidence in the face of growing macroeconomic stability. The revenue sharing/minimum guarantee model will gain wider acceptance and become the norm rather than the exception. At present, organised retail consists only 5-8% of the total retail industry and is still in its infancy. 2010 will demand some hard work from the retailers, but the outcomes appear fruitful.

As far as the real estate sector is concerned, green shoots of recovery had started to appear soon after the end of the first quarter of 2009. The concept of affordable housing found a strong footing in the market with the developers concentrating on the housing segment to revive the sector.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Making use of knowledge

2010-03-04T17:08:00.000+05:30

Why the issue of intellectual property rights needs some attention

A recent survey by a European law firm, Taylor Wessing, revealed that India along with other BRIC economies ranked in the bottom half of the list in protecting and enforcing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). While India is ranked at a poor 19th; Brazil, Russia and China ranked 20th, 21st and 22nd respectively. Though, there are varied lists by different firms, but one thing is common to all and that is developed countries like the UK, US and Germany rank in the first positions and BRIC economies continue to remain in the bottom of the chart.

Well, the issue of IPR is not as easy as can be gauged. To put it in simpler fashion, IPR is a way of protecting someone’s ideas or innovations. In the 21st century, when knowledge is considered to be the driving force of evolution, intellectuals have all the rights to protect their ideas and innovations. Though to many, it seemed that protecting rights means encouraging monopoly indirectly, widespread practices of copyrights, trademarks and patents in successful capitalist economies reflect that IPR does not necessarily act against competition. The issue of IPR is very important especially for drugs and technology innovations. A drug manufacturer invests about $1.4 billion to launch a new drug in the market. Thus, it is very important for him to protect his innovations. Similarly, technology is getting obsolete in a shorter span of time than it did ever before while substantial investments is needed to discover new technology. Thus protecting innovations for even mere commercial reasons is all the more important to entrepreneurs or investors today than ever before. Moreover, data reveals that 93 per cent - 94 per cent of the cases, patents fail which means that hardly 6 per cent - 7 per cent of the patents successfully work out. In addition, while the issue of IPR remains important to promote ideas, complications are looming large, arising out of changes in trends and business environments, especially in the era of globalisation. Outsourcing is a global trend. Even big multinationals are outsourcing R&D from Third World countries for economic benefits. None of the BMW, GM or Ford, manufactures every part for their cars they sell. They just put their logos in the cars made of outsourced parts, manufactured in different parts of the world. It is just their brands that sell. Thus, international firms need potential partners in these developing countries who can be trusted.

To conclude, developing countries like India have a lot more to do to nurture, promote and protect knowledge and innovations. And for this national universities should have been able to play crucial role which they have so far not been able to do successfully. It is important to realise that ideas are generated in university classrooms and libraries, but they are needed in headquarters of big multinationals. As long as, there is a gap between the two, ideas cannot be converted into actions. Fortunately, thirteen or fourteen Indian universities have included IPR in their curriculums but it is a long way to go, unless UGC drafts and incorporates proper IPR policy framework and universities to create technology transfer offices. As India aspires to be the knowledge hub, it is all the more important for her to take up the issue seriously. Hope that our policymakers and bureaucrats will understand the grievances and act swiftly unlike in most other cases! A hope can fail, but shouldn't be let down.

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The old man and his sea

2010-03-02T16:38:00.000+05:30

The millions who celebrated the anniversary of Iranian Revolution believe that West view is indelibly coloured.

It is interesting how the Western media utilises ‘Zeros’ (or the lack of it) to make people understand what it wants them to understand. So, the opposition gathering of a few thousands is called “several thousands” and 3-4 million-strong support for the regime is called merely “hundreds of thousands”. But there is a problem. The proliferation of new media has led to the proliferation of news that have been broadcasted mass of people stretching to kilometres to all sides from Azadi Square where the nucleus of the rally and celebration was. Since last year’s election, western analysts and media have been predicting doomsday for the regime spawning all sorts of theories that were based less on facts and more on fancies. Ali Jawad, a Tehran based political expert says, “In its coverage of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the language of the West is indelibly coloured with imperial hubris and Euro-centric prejudice. This is not new.” As masses poured in to all the major cities of the country, the media had no option but to air the picture. However, it was interesting to note how those videos and pictures were quickly sent into archive within few hours when videos of last year's anti-Ahmadinejad protests are still shown. The language too is interesting to note. For example, CNN’s Ivan Watson made a point of mentioning that free food and drinks were handed out to those celebrating the 31st anniversary of the revolution.Watson is completely unaware of the fact that all the gatherings in any Islamic country have mandatory refreshments for people. Naturally, the lack of imagination is glaring.

The Guardian insisted that the gathering comprised seminary students, women and elderly people. This assumption that in order to support Ahmadinejad one must be from a poor, rural or illiterate background highlights a larger bias that works. West’s Iran “experts”, most of them who have never visited Iran, or have years ago, have their own perceptions driven by their imagination. But facts remain different. This has been made obvious by a current survey done in Iran by The Programme on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), a wing of the Centre on Policy Attitudes (COPA) and the Centre for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM). The study showcased some disturbing results for the western analysts. On the question of whether Ahmadinejad won the June 12 election, in all polls, a majority said they planned to or did vote for Ahmadinejad. These numbers ranged from 57 per cent before the elections to 66 per cent post elections. None of the polls found indications of support for regime change. For the question on whether they consider Ahmadinejad to be the legitimate President, about 76 to 83 per cent of people agreed that the results were fair.Talking to TSI, Steven Kull, the head of the institute and the chief analyst said, “The findings do not support the belief that a majority rejected Ahmadinejad. Our analysis is that it would not be prudent to base US policy on the assumption that the Iranian public is in a pre-revolutionary state of mind.”

As with all nations, there are several challenges that confront the Islamic Republic; from issues of employment and social mobility to the scope of the public space. However, it will be far from truth to say that people want regime change. The presence of Internet savvy Mousavi supporters might give a different picture; however, the support on street for the regime is there for everybody to see.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Thank heavens for the power trip!

2010-02-24T13:07:00.000+05:30

According to a report by Indiabulls, “the company sells power on merchant basis through short-term PPAs; such agreements command high realisations of around Rs.5–8 per unit.”On a standalone basis (the steel business), while net sales grew by Rs.76.46 billion (a growth of 41.7%), net profits grew by a relatively modest 21.7% yoy to Rs.15.36 billion. This is still far better than what most steel players have faced. Vikrant Gujaral comments on the situation, “We were among the early risers to the deteriorating conditions. However, since JSPL’s product range includes both long and flat products we were well placed to optimize our product mix in consort with changing market realities...” Also, the company relies a lot on the domestic market, where demand has continued to grow irrespective of recession (exports were only 13% of turnover); so they did not need to cut production. The report by Indiabulls further credits the good numbers to the 35.8% yoy increase in the average sales realisation of saleable steel.

Moreover, while a lot of steel companies were looking at horizontal integration as their strategic priority, JSPL has been looking at things differently. Gujaral puts it across thus, “No company in our space can hope to survive without robust backward integration. JSPL has always believed in this and assiduously built dedicated sources for key raw materials (ore, power and coal) in keeping with the integrated steel producer model...” The company has indeed believed in consistent investment, while maintaining a significantly low debt-equity ratio of around 0.8. However, with respect to Q1, 2009-10, the company saw a standalone fall in Net Profit after tax on standalone basis by 25% to Rs.3 billion due to low steel prices. Again, power business is helping them ride the cycle, as consolidated PAT rose by 123% to Rs. 9.88 billion. As steel prices begin their up cycle, the situation should further improve. According to Gujaral, “There are encouraging signs of demand picking up. Prices have increased by about 8-10 per cent in the domestic market and 7 to 8 per cent globally.” However, he admits that the recovery is still some distance away.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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CAN ‘OLD WATER’ BE ‘MINE’ AGAIN?

2010-02-16T16:41:00.000+05:30

SAIL’S TOWNSHIP at PURANAPANI IS now A GHOST TOWN, BUT A NEW P-P-P PROVIDES NECESSARY HOPE OF REVIVAL BY Sutanu Guru

This small story must start start with a big thanks to Virbdhadra Singh, Union Minister of Cabinet for Steel. While planning this special issue on Nehru’s modern temples, we came up with a late idea of going to Rourkela, where the Nehru vision was fused with German engineering to create Rourkela Steel Plant, a key member of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) family. A request sent to the minister’s office was processed as fast as you take to download a song from iTunes. And I had the opportunity of going to some places which most analysts and pundits talking and writing about SAIL and Rourkela Steel Plant usually tend to forget or ignore.

For me personally, it was the nth visit to the steel city, having gone there often during my school and college days in the 1970s and 80s when the word ‘Public Sector’ was something small town middle class Indians desperately wanted to be part of. Going down a mine shaft is a heady as well as scary experience; and you cannot avoid mines when you talk about steel. But more intriguing for me was a visit to a small place called Purunapani; a town, a hamlet, a desolate outpost of industrialization or harbinger of how public sector India is now rediscovering itself through strategic alliances with private sector companies and entrepreneurs.

“This mine was more than 60 metres deep. And limestone used to be sent from here to our plant and other places night and days”, says Jogeswar Badaik, Mines Manager, who is in charge of this outpost. Badaik is quintessentially middle class Indian; he has worked his way through to an office where he can press a buzzer that has a man come scurrying across to fetch tea and refreshments. He is worried about his child who is down with a flu; but he tells me confidently that the SAIL hospital in Rourkela can handle any problem. I am more interested in what were once upon a time mines that fed the industrial juggernaut in Rourkela.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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The Price of the last drop...

2010-02-15T15:53:00.000+05:30

Water is synonymous to life but is also a cause of losing many lives

The water resources are plunging in Middle-East and North Africa, which hold 5 per cent of world population, but only 0.9 per cent of the world’s potable water resources. The countries hit by water scarcity are constantly on the rise – from only three in 1955 (which included Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait) reaching to 11 in 1990 (with the addition of Algeria, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Tunisia, and Somalia), with another seven are likely to join the group by 2025.

The potable water of Middle-East originates from three major river basins - Euphrates Tigris, Nile and Jordan. Water, without a slightest doubt, is a catalyst of conflict as more and more water scarce countries jostle for their increasing share. The 1967 war between Syria and Israel is being an example. Water conflict is also a basis of many diplomatic efforts and bilateral treaties, like the US brokered Johnson Negotiation in 1953-55 or agreement of Full Utilisation of Nile water in 1959 and Israeli-Jordan treaty in 1994. The twin factors of rapidly rising population and falling water levels are creating ripple in the interstate relations and even evolving into conflicts. There is a fall-out between Israel, Palestine and Jordan over Jordan River basin, between Turkey and Syria over Tigris and Euphrates; and between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over Nile.

In South Asia, however, with the exploding population and increasing environmental degradation, water resource will always be a bone of contention among the countries. In spite of various political and economic divergences, the South Asian countries have shown remarkable maturity in dealing with water distribution. Indus Water Treaty was signed in 1960, between India and Pakistan, where three eastern rivers namely Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas belong to India, while the western rivers viz. Indus, Jhelum and Chenab belongs to Pakistan. In spite of odd differences (like India is building two dams on Jhelum and nine on Chenab), the two countries have upheld IWT even at the lowest ebb of their relationship. Likewise, Ganges Water-Sharing Treaty, between India and Bangladesh in 1996, was a path breaking effort to solve the long-standing disagreement, where as Mahakali Treaty in the same year was an attempt to resolve water sharing crisis between India and Nepal.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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To save fragile India…

2010-02-12T16:38:00.000+05:30

…it's time to have strong federal laws to avoid any future mayhem

The week which was shadowed by the news of an impending 9/11 type attack on Indian skies by the jihadi elements across the border and a crucial meeting of the Indian Home Minister in Raipur to fine tune the nitty gritties of Operation Green Hunt against Maoists, two related incidents require special attention. The first is the candid confession of the Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani (to the visiting US Defense Secretary Robert Gates) that his country is not in a position to guarantee that there would be no repeat of 26/11 type attack on Indian soil. The second incident is with respect to the ‘soft approach’ of Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren towards the Maoists at a time when the whole country is bracing up for an all out assault on this menace.

While Gilani might be right in his honest and candid acknowledgement of the failure of the Pakistani establishment to contain the ever growing fangs of the jihadis and while it might also be true that Pakistan itself has been reeling under a series of such attacks, the question that remains unanswered is whether India should continue to remain a sitting duck and pay for the inability of Pakistan to contain such so called non-state (but incubated by the state) actors. If Pakistan cannot contain them, then shouldn’t India have the right to get inside the Pakistan and neutralise the rogue elements hatching the plot of the next mayhem? If Pakistan feigns being a victim of the same terrorism that has been tormenting India for long, then shouldn’t it allow Indian armed forces to fight alongside the Pakistani forces against the rogue elements? Well, someone should have asked this question to Gilani and the rabbit would have instantly come out of the hat. The world has been a witness to the bogus trial of the chief of LeT, Hafiz Sayeed in Pakistan and how he has been getting clean chits in spite of the clear writing on the wall of his involvement in 26/11. No prize for guessing what US would have done if 26/11 had happened there.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!

Striving for alternative fuel

2010-02-11T16:57:00.000+05:30

A varsity is taking help from farmers to produce biofuel

With oil reserves depleting in the Middle East, a university in Bangalore is working overtime to produce alternative energy. Scientists at the University of Agricultural Science (Gandhi Krishi Vignyana Kendra), Bangalore, are involved in a project that would make India self-reliant in fuel consumption.

The visionary project was started in 2006. Farmers have also been roped in to help scientists produce alternative fuels. Under this programme, the university established a Bio-fuel Park Project in Madenur near Hassan — 200 kms from Bangalore. Besides, scientists have unleashed a campaign to identify plants that can be used to produce bio-fuel. To date, some 300 plants have been identified. However, scientists are not homing in on edible oils.

Says Dr. Balakrishna Gowda, professor of the UAS: “The project is destined to achieve its goal without having an impact on the food security of the state. The positive thing about the whole programme is that we are getting help from farmers”.

He further added: “In European countries research is also going on to find out alternative fuels. But they are far ahead in research. All told, the problem there is that they are using agricultural land to cultivate bio-ethanol crops. Whereas in India, we are not touching agricultural lands. We use only waste lands, bunds, public lands and degraded lands.”

Under this project, seedlings are distributed among the farmers to be raised on bunds, backyards and waste lands. And it has been successful. With farmers’ cooperation, the university has been able to establish 325 Biofuel Seed Farmers’ Association (Jaivika Indhana Beejagala Belegarara Sangha) in the state. The domestic and large-scale oil expelling units, designed by experts, have been distributed to farmers. And they use it to extract oil from seeds. Every care is taken that the oil cakes, which are available after extraction of seeds, are not wasted. Farmers are encouraged to use them as manure in their farms. In Hassan district, more than 8 lakh bio-fuel species have been planted in thousand acres. Some 57 villages have been declared “Complete Bio-fuel Village” and scientists involved in the project have organised more than 900 awareness meetings across the state.

Says Dr. Gowda: “Today five per cent bio-fuel is being blended in conventional petrol. But this will be increased with the production of oil crops. We are gratified with the success rate. So far, it has been above 65 per cent.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Let's be honest about Jyoti Basu

2010-02-05T15:39:00.000+05:30

Sutanu guru gives 5 reasons why india cannot afford his ideology, politics, economics and legacy

It is a peculiar trait we Indians share: even those we love to hate acquire such a halo after death that we hate to deny we love to hate them. The death of former Prime Minister V.P. Singh was simply crowded out by the traumatic 26/11 attack in 2008. Yet, even then, we preferred to praise the man who should easily be ranked as the worst Prime Minister that India ever had. Something similar seems to be happening with the allegedly best Prime Minister India never had. Yes, I am talking about Jyoti Basu, the bhadralok Marxist whose death seems to have triggered paroxysms of naïve nostalgia and hypocritical hype. The passing of an era is a term that is being bandied about even by his former opponents who hated his guts and ruthlessness. If you go by media reports after his death, Jyoti Basu should be up there with the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru; in fact, some have even compared him with Mother Teresa. Typically Indian, and so typical of our habit and tradition to praise those who have passed on and carp about people who don’t want to hide uncomfortable things under a dusty carpet.

But really, let's face some uncomfortable facts before we pronounce Jyoti Basu as the best Prime Minister that India never had and one of the greatest political figures of modern India. If you think Basu was a leader who cared for the poor and the downtrodden, here is what Magsaysay Award winner, author and activist Mahasweta Devi has to say, “Jyoti Basu did very little for the adivasis of the state. I met him on several occasions and appealed to him. My entreaties fell on deaf ears”. Sure, you might think that the respected Mahasweta Devi is prejudiced because of her single-minded devotion to adivasis and tribals. Sure, you can put blinkers and prefer to ignore opinion. But, can you ignore facts? Here are some facts that even die-hard believers of the ‘Left is Always Right’ dogma need to mull over:

l From being one of most industrialised states till the late 1960s, West Bengal is now one of the most backward. Close to 30,000 industrial enterprises were closed down and more than 27,000 units became ‘sick’ in the hey days of the Basu era of ‘Marxist Pragmatism’.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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An MBA for PM?

2010-02-02T12:58:00.000+05:30

Politicians would have been the least expected to have mba qualifications. B&e’s priyanka rai found out quite a handful...

Lawyers have dominated national politics since at least the days of the struggle for Independence. A look at the educational qualifications of the new council of ministers shows the first signs of a culture change in Indian politics. Today, we have many with a black cap showing off their MBA degrees – at least three ministers from the young brigade, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot and Jitin Prasad are MBA graduates. In fact, many young MPs like Deepender Singh Hooda, Naveen Jindal, Milind Deora and P. D. Rai also belong to the not expected MBA brigade.

Deepender Hooda, son of the Chief Minister of Haryana and a Member of Parliament from Rohtak constituency believes that his MBA degree helps in adding value to his political career in many ways. “It helps you definitely; it trains your mind to adopt a particular approach to deal with situations in a more organised way. You get the bigger picture of the situation and you know then how to approach [the problem] in what way and solve it in very organised manner,” says Hooda. However, Jitin Prasad, Minister of State for Gas and Petroleum, also an MBA, though not denying the benefits an MBA degree has in politics, tales a different perspective, “I would like to see this in a different way that whosoever is entrusted with the responsibility in the electoral politics, a good education background always helps – whether it is a Law Degree or a Management Degree or some other qualification.

To take a conscious and judicious decision, a mix of your education as well as a sense of ground reality is always helpful.” But then, if contemporary politics is all about leadership skills and decision making abilities, wouldn’t having an MBA degree really help? “You start thinking in terms of projects not profits. There are many politicians I know with good intentions. They want to work but fail to deliver because I believe, they get engrossed in the process. Their approach, thinking is more process oriented whereas the other approach is deadline oriented (result oriented),” explains Hooda, who has worked with Reliance Industries Ltd, Infosys Technologies Ltd. (as a Software Engineer) and with Sabre Holdings, Dallas (USA) for two years. Hooda admits that he gains by applying the MBA strategies learnt in work to his constituency as well: “I apply the knowledge I have gained from my education, apply the strategies and I get the work done on time in my constituency.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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“Timely availability of seeds at convenient place is very important”

2010-01-25T13:25:00.000+05:30

Dr. LK Pandey, National Sales Head, Sungro Seeds talks about the industry in an exclusive to B&E

Good seeds means a good crop. Sungro Seeds, which has been associated with the industry has tried to come up with high yielding seeds. In an interview with Vikas Kumar, Dr. LK Pandey, National Sales Head, Sungro Seeds Ltd. talks about the challenges faced by the seeds industry and what is Sungro trying to do to solve them

B&E: Scarcity of better quality seeds at required time and place discourages farmers from replacement of their own saved seeds with good quality seeds? How do you view this trend?

LKP: Timely availability of seeds at a convenient place is a very important factor in seed business. However, it hardly deters farmers to use high quality hybrid seeds. In fact competition has made a different scenario where seeds of more than one brand are present at any seed retail counter. Therefore, it is a matter of particular brand choice which farmer has to take rather than non-availability of products of any crop. Sungro like any other system oriented company has an annual planning system broken into monthly requirements and weekly requirements of all important segments or growing regions. It accordingly makes logistical arrangements for timely seed availability at every place of requirement.

B&E: Seed Multiplication under National Agriculture Research System needs major strengthening. How do you view this policy?

LKP: The seed industry has become customer driven where product features and quality is decided by customer preferences. As of now various choices are available in the market which helps customers to choose the best. The present NARS System should involve private sector also to make available right product at right time.

B&E: What are your views on prices of seeds particularly of hybrids and affordability among farmers?

LKP: Traditionally, farmers used to do maximum savings in seeds, though it makes only a fraction of total investment on inputs like fertilizer and pesticides. When we talk about the seed price in terms of kilogram then it appears exorbitant. However, if we think about total amount of seed required in one acre area then it looks reasonable and affordable.

B&E: What are the major achievements of Sungro Seeds till date? And what will be the next area for you?

LKP: In the year 2008-09 Sungro achieved sales turnover of Rs 45 crores by marketing almost 150 products of 26 crops throughout the country. We are market leader in cauliflowers, radish, cabbage, carrot, brinjals, okra, bitter gourd, chilli and tomatoes. Its products are demanded by vegetable growers all over India and overseas due to high quality and affordable price. Now, by mapping all the districts and every market segment, Sungro is planning to reach out to all vegetable growers in the country with the help of a large distribution network. We also export our products in many countries.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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The Transporter: reloaded

2010-01-23T14:58:00.000+05:30

High speed railway systems can change the fortune of the third world

By now, the fact that the Copenhagen meet added around 46,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide, most of it from flights, has become a cliché. Studies have proved that air travel is now the fastest-growing contributor to global warming. In simple words, avoiding air travel can, to some extent, limit its harmful impact on the environment.

Furthermore, many countries are readily investing in environment-friendly mode of transport. In this long list of green transport, countries are fervent about the high-speed railway systems a.k.a HSR. As per a recent Eurostar research, the train to Paris (instead of flying) cuts CO2 emissions per passenger by a jaw dropping, literally, 90 per cent. Going beyond numbers, the environmental benefit due to HSR is more than what any empirical research can reveal. As airlines emit their CO2 directly into the upper atmosphere, thus the impact on environment is much severe. The Manchester City council, in UK, has revealed its interest on "high speed rail revolution" – precisely to tap on the increase efficiency and its environment-friendly attribute. Most of the developed countries like France, Spain and Germany are supporting the HSR concept. A few European countries have also decided to join HSR network linking the UK and Europe.

Besides reducing the amount of CO2, HSR, to a large extent, solves traffic congestion and air pollution problems. Traffic congestion not only pollutes the environment, but also waste fuel and waste productivity time. It indirectly hits the economy of the country by adding to the cost of doing business. Realising this fact, Japan has extended its Bullet train network by 76 per cent, thus linking almost all its cities. Even Europe has decided to add an extra 1,711 more miles by 2010. The air travel frequency between Paris-to-Brussels has almost disappeared after opening up of HSR links.

Undoubtedly, HSR can do more wonders in the third world. The third world countries will not only benefit from technology-leapfrogging but also will see a heave in other sectors too. They will obviously have an advantage of second mover and therefore, can reduce loss (by analysing the success model of HSR already in place) and customise the HSR model as per their requirement. Implementation of HSR in African and Asian countries will augment their infrastructure and employment. Beside this, if HSR links the urban and rural areas, it will also decrease urban migration and bridge the gap between rural-urban divide. With proper planning HSR can give rise to mid-size cities and satellite towns. Obviously, implementation of HSR model is not an overnight job and would require huge investment. But then proper planning and a good business model can surely make high-speed railways a success business model cum social initiative in the third world too. And if it seems a next to impossible task, then one must learn from China. China has launched the fastest HSR (CRH3) with an average speed of 217 mph covering a total distance of 663 miles connecting over 20 cities (connecting less developed regions to the metros) and is planning to expand it to 42 more HSR lines by 2012. Does it sound like a case in point?

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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“Similar to ‘Sanskritisation’

2010-01-22T15:53:00.000+05:30

“Similar to ‘Sanskritisation’ in the socio-cultural sphere, ‘Congressisation’ is the most uncalled-for phenomenon in politics and it is the epidemic from which the TDP is suffering most from,” said political analyst Chakradhar Mukkamala, while referring to the burning issue of Telangana agitation as a testimony to the final decadence of TDP.

TDP was founded by the late N. T. Rama Rao (NTR) and came to power invoking insult to Telugu pride because Congress chief minister Anajaiah was berated by Rajiv Gandhi on the tarmac of the Begumpet Airport. NTR was the belated manifestation of the egalitarian dream of the Justice Party of 1910s and 1920s. An advocate of federalism, custodian of underdogs and messiah of the lumpen proletariat, NTR also filled the political void where the Left had failed. ‘Andhra Pradesh politics, till then, was ‘Congressised’, with pampered sections like Reddys and Malas monopolizing political power,’ another political observer Ravinder Durgam says.

The Reddy strongholds, spread over the southern region of Rayalaseema, Nellore and most of Telangana, produced most Congress chief ministers till the TDP was formed. Incidentally, the current CM Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy is also from the Reddy community only. NTR and his successor Chandrababu Naidu demolished Reddy domination, particularly in Telangana by fielding and successfully electing non-Reddy castes. Thus, the backward castes of Andhra Pradesh, particularly of Telangana, were swayed by NTR's egalitarian, socialist vows. But, after NTR’s demise and during the decade-long reign of his son-in-law, Chandrababu Naidu, his caste (Kamma) monopolised political power.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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The nexus between politicians and the mining mafia is wreaking havoc in many Indian states

2010-01-21T15:26:00.000+05:30

The recent developments in Karnataka involving the Reddy brothers of Bellary substantiate that allegation. A decade ago, G Janardhan Reddy and G Karunakara Reddy, ministers in the present BS Yeddyurappa government, were small-scale financiers in Bellary. After they forayed into the mining industry, their stocks rose rapidly. Today, it is claimed that they control almost the entire government in Karnataka. It is also claimed that the Reddy brothers and their close friend, Karnataka health minister Sriramulu, fly from Bellary to Bangalore in their own helicopter almost everyday.

The connection between the Reddy brothers and former Andhra chief minister YS Rajashekara Reddy’s son Jagan Reddy is a well-known fact in political circles. The Bellary brothers belong to the BJP and Jagan to the Congress. But in the mining business, they are partners.

With their political clout and money power they have all but obliterated state boundaries with their mining activities. But after Rajashekara Reddy’s demise, the political scenario has changed. The Andhra government is gunning for the Reddy brothers’ Obulapuram Mining Company.

Already behind bars is Madhu Koda, former Jharkhand chief minister. A mine worker, he rose quickly up the political ladder to wrest the post of chief minister. Along the way, he used his position as minister for mines to line his pockets. He is now under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate. The irony is that in the name of development, the mining industry is growing helter-skelter in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa. On the human development index, however, these states are proven laggards. “In terms of financial growth mining has turned into a major industry in India. But, the growth occurs only in the upper strata of the society. Mine owners, companies and politicians are reaping the harvest. In most cases, uncontrolled mining leads to an unequal society,” says Bhanumathi.

According to experts, almost 50-60 per cent of mining activities in India are illegal. For example, Forest (Conservation) Act of India 1980 is frequently circumvented, thanks to the nexus between mining and politics. Since the enactment of the Act three decades ago, the Union government has granted clearance to mining projects on more than 100,000 hectares of forest land. Though these clearances were strictly conditional, both state-owned and private mining companies have flouted all norms to maximise their profits.

For example, except for a few cases, these mining companies did not carry out compensatory forestation activities. In places that they did so, it was only an eyewash. According to the Union forest ministry, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh are top five affected states. In Andhra Pradesh, more 15,700 hectares of forest land has been released for mining activities. The story is virtually the same in the other aforementioned states.

“We need stringent laws to put an end to this. Otherwise both the environment, both natural and political, will be marred. I hope the proposed new Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act will curb illegal, unscientific mining activities,” says former environment secretary of Karnataka, AN Yellappa Reddy. The final draft of the MMDR Act has been sent to the Union Cabinet for approval.

The Union ministry of mines is hoping that the new Act will usher in an era of sustainable and community-friendly mining. The question is: will the political mafia that controls the spoils of the industry allow that to happen?

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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The attack on MA Jinnah Road

2010-01-20T16:01:00.000+05:30

The attack on MA Jinnah Road after the Ashura procession was hit by a bomb has not only devoured 46 precious lives, but has also damaged the “Wadhumal Odharam area” of Serai Quarters. “Prior to the partition, Hindu families lived in the area but its beautiful buildings were considerably degraded after the partition,” noted architect and town planner Arif Hasan told TSI.

“Denso Hall area that has beautiful buildings of 19th century has also been affected by fire,” he said.

“Since Independence, Wadhumal Odharam and Ranchore Quarters, the British civic and recreational centres have been under severe market pressures. The pressure being of infiltration of markets from the Old Town Quarters, accompanied with their intrinsic physical qualities, including wider roads and spacious ground floors, than those of the Old Town Quarters. Their proximity to the port is an additional asset. These factors have also encouraged the establishment of new markets,” writes noted architect and town planner Yasmin Cheema in her remarkable study: The Historical Quarters of Karachi.

According to the reports, at least 80 markets were damaged, including Boulton, Iqbal, Chhani, Light House and whole sale and plastic markets. Ironically, these structures have not been put on fire by mourners, but by unknown people , whose main objective was just not to destabilise the government, but to pave the way for the land mafia, who wants to replace them with skyscrapers.

“I was in the procession when the blast took place though I was not close enough to see the dead bodies. But I can say with confidence that people who set shops and markets on fire were not mourners. The mourners were empty-handed and were not carrying any inflammable material,” Syed Zain Haider, 18, told TSI.

“The land mafia may have had a role in the carnage. In fact, I was told that even the gunbattle in Lyari (a slum area near the port) had the mafia's backing because they want to build skyscrapers there,” said Arif Hasan said. He added that after the WTO began dictating terms with a big bang, an underground economy took refuge in the real estate sector, especially related to foreign currency and gold. As a result of WTO policies, this economy is no more underground. It is exerting pressure on the local governments to change the building by-laws, Hasan said. He added that in the model which was earlier operative in Karachi, the most dangerous aspect that land has become a commodity.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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The Mahatma gandhi family tree

2010-01-16T14:59:00.000+05:30

HARILAL GANDHI

(Eldest son)

He was married to Gulab. They had five children, two daughters Rani and Manu and three sons Kanti, Rasik and Shanti. None of the children is alive anymore. Rasik and Shanti died in childhood.

RANI

Eldest daughter Rani was a homemaker. She had four children, Anushrya, Prabodh, Neelam and Navmalika.

Anushrya

Anusharya is not alive. Anushrya has two children, Lekha and Rahul. Lekha works in a hospital as medical techno;ogist in St.Louis, US. She has two sons, Dev and Amal. Rahul has two children, Anup and Avnee. He is business director in Washington University.

PRABODH

Prabodh is not alive. He was a doctor. He did his MBBS/MD in Mumbai but worked in a village in Saurashtra. He has two children, Sonal and Prayag. Sonal lives in Mumbai with her two children, Rachana and Gaurav. Rachana is a doctor and Gaurav is a computer engineer. Prayag has two children, Prachi and Darshan. They study in Saurashtra.

NEELAM PARIKH

Neelam Parikh has one son, Sameer. He is an eye surgeon, runs his own private practice in Navsari, Gujarat. He has three children, Siddharth, Gopi and Parth.

NAVMALIKA

Has three children, Parul, Manisha and Ravi. Parul and Ravi live in Toronto, Canada. Parul is a physiotherapist (private practice). She has two children, Sarthak and Anil, both students. Ravi is a computer engineer. He has two children, Neel and Akash. Manisha, too, is a physiotherapist in Nagpur. She has two children, Milli and Daksh. They are students.

KANTI

(Harilal’s son) He was married to Saraswati Ben . He is no more. He was a doctor. He did his MBBS from Madras. He worked in a dispensary in a mill and treated the workers of the mill. They had two sons. First son, Shanti, is a heart specialist. He is married to an American lady called Suzanne. He has three daughters, Anjalee, Anita, and Alka. They live in the US. The second son, Pradeep, is married to Mangla. He is a CA. He lives in Washington, US. He has two daughters, Priya, Megha.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Kings and queens still have their feet washed by villagers of the world’s largest democracy

2010-01-15T13:13:00.000+05:30

That Bolangir was to then take a steady downward spiral into deprivation and despair even as Singhdeo passed away in 1975, did not, however, change the fortunes of his family that, after him, continued on a winning streak at the hustings. Following Singhdeo’s death, his two sons Rajraj and Anang Udaya took on the family’s new-found political mantle; while Rajraj was elected twice to Parliament from Bolangir, younger brother Anang Udaya made it seven times to the state assembly, and even became minister twice in Naveen Patnaik’s cabinet. It wasn’t to stop there. Kalikesh Narayan Singhdeo, Anang Udaya’s son who joined politics in 2004, was elected to the state assembly as a BJD candidate, while Rajraj’s son, Kanak Vardhan, has made it to the state assembly four times as a BJP candidate from Patnagarh, becoming a minister in the BJD-BJP alliance government from 2000 to 2009. His wife, Sangita Singhdeo, has won from the Bolangir parliamentary seat thrice as a BJP candidate.

And just what sees them through? “They owe it to their clean image,” says Bhagwan Mishra, a royal family supporter. “They never indulge in corruption and maintain a clean image before the public. They also never refuse anyone who seeks their help in anything.”

Political rivalry meanwhile has slowly eaten its way into the royal family. The split between the BJD and BJP resulted in family members locking horns in the last elections in 2009. While Kanak Vardan fought against his sister-in-law Prakruti Devi, his wife Sangita fought against her brother-in-law Kalikesh. In that battle while Kanak Vardan won the approval of the people, his wife and three-time MP lost to Kalikesh. “I want to do something for the people of Bolangir,” Kalikesh, who has become an MP from the constituency for the first time, tells TSI. “People have great faith in our family and I don’t want to ever let them down.”

In all of this, it is the Congress that seems to have taken a beating having chosen the wrong candidates in the first place. And the yardstick for political performance in Bolangir is not quite the same as it is in the rest of the country. “Everybody is the same here,” says Harishchandra Sahoo, a farmer of Khaprakhol, a village in the area. “Everybody comes to us once every five years seeking our votes. But at least members of the royal family do not indulge in corrupt practices. Unlike the others in politics, we know for sure that they at least won’t siphon off a share of the funds allotted by the government for the benefit of the poor.”

Then again, with 60 per cent of the constituency's population living below the poverty line, and 45 per cent of its people still trapped in illiteracy, it isn’t surprising that not many in Bolangir have either the time or the means to fret and fume about the mysterious ways of governance or, for that matter, misgovernance.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Nuclear deal

2010-01-14T15:04:00.000+05:30

The US Congress on October 1, 2008, gave absolute endorsement to an accord facilitating nuclear collaboration between the US and India. The agreement is seen as a defining moment in US-India associations and brings in a fresh aspect to worldwide non-proliferation efforts. The agreement lifts a more than 30 years old US cessation on nuclear trade with India by allowing US to offer aid to India’s civilian nuclear regime. However, opposition parties in India maintained that the country’s sovereignty and reputation have been sold out. On the other hand, several US politicians are of the belief that a gaping fissure has been knocked into the NPT command and it essentially overturns more than 50 years of US non-proliferation labours undermining efforts to thwart Iran and North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons, and potentially adds to a nuclear arms race in the continent.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Desperate Invasions

2010-01-13T14:56:00.000+05:30

It was extremely shocking for the world that had for so long invested morally in Non-Aligned Movement to understand the Bush’s doctrine of either-you-are-with-us-or-against-us. As Uncle Sam first marched into Afghanistan and later in Iraq, most of the world’s statesmen were caught off the guard. While Taliban was universally despised, Saddam Hussain was sort of an iconic figure of resistance. Naturally, the fall of Baghdad had different reaction to that of Kabul. As sycophants allied nations jumped to eat the spoils of war, developing world started to fathom the meaning of “Global War on Terror”. The Blitzkrieg although won battles for US, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan still continues. As overstretched US army finds difficult to hold grounds in Iraq and Afghanistan, the threat of second Vietnam looms large over America.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Brilliant concept of global warming meets!

2010-01-11T16:41:00.000+05:30

EU did take the lead and declare to cut its carbon emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020 and is the only region on the planet running a comprehensive Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). However, it refused to commit to any further cuts unless other rich nations reciprocate its earlier gestures. But, in the midst of this heat that has suddenly raised COP 15 temperature by many degrees, Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Chairman of the Nobel Prize winning IPCC, said at the inaugural speech of the summit that “To limit average temperature increase at 2.0 and 2.4° C, the cost of mitigation by 2030 would not exceed 3% of the global GDP. In other words, the so-called prosperity expected in 2030 would be postponed by just a few months. But, we have clearly specified in the AR4 that if temperature increase is to be limited to between 2.0 and 2.4°C, global emissions must peak no later than 2015.”

The Copenhagen Summit started recently with the greatest fanfare in recent times for any international event – rivalled only by the 2008 Beijing Olympics. However, the thriller, even before its screening, has already had its share of controversies with the stealing of certain emails of scientists at the University of East Anglia in UK, the contents of which showed that certain studies cast doubt over the fact that human induced activities cause climate change. This proved to be a panacea to climate change naysayers and a sudden surge of criticisms were hurled at the so called propagandists of ‘left’ leaning legions of policy-makers and governments across the globe trying to take over the capitalist world. However, the jigsaw consists of many more hidden pieces. There are other issues intertwined with carbon and equivalent emission reductions that are on the COP15 agenda but have largely been remained footnotes in the emissions tale.

Firstly, as Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has reiterated on many platforms, funding and technology transfer from developed countries to developing nations to curb, mitigate and adapt to damaging effects of climate change must be made a certainty within the confines of any international treaty. However, the rhetoric by the world’s largest oil and gas companies, coal power plant owners and timber companies largely sidelined India’s stance when the clause about peak oil was introduced some time back by some EU representatives. It was followed by the Chinese per capita reduction commitment and suddenly, India seeing itself as the isolated warrior capitulated immediately. Under the giant garb of standing its ground, it slowly slithered out and positioned itself behind China in curbing its per capita emissions at 2005 levels by 20-25% by the year 2020. Dr. Manmohan Singh has declared that he is going to Copenhagen; and as expected, the developed world is waiting with open arms.

The Danish Government, the hosts to COP 15, sent a statement of Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen to B&E, “I welcome Prime Minister Singh’s announcement of his participation in the climate conference in Copenhagen on 18 December. With the Indian announcement, at present 105 leaders from all over the world will participate. Together, these 105 leaders represent 82 percent of globe’s population, 89 percent of the world GDP and 80 percent of the world’s current emissions. If an agreement can be reached within this group, it could change the future of the globe, thus making Copenhagen the global warming turnaround, we all wish for.” But such sweeping statements about universal wishes from the West almost never mention anything about technology transfer and a funding mechanism to aid developing nations.

Secondly, the soot from the carbon jargon has been so thick that the greatest sink for carbon dioxide, the largest GHG, the global forest cover, has been but forgotten. Brazil, the largest Latin American economy recently declared post negotiations with other Amazon economies that it would only accept and support a climate agreement if it made mandatory for developed nations to use only 10% of their emission reduction targets to invest in afforestion projects. However, Brazil might have just forgotten that China single-handedly emits nearly 50% of the carbon emissions combined by EU and US and it is still a developing economy.

Connie Hedegaard, Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, also the President for COP 15, tells B&E (as she keeps insisting on all forums she goes to), “Failure in Copenhagen is no option.” If her definition of failure is the deal not being signed, it is surprising that nobody’s cared to email her the latest details. For UN Conference Summits are now no more than glorious forums for the global environment ministers to meet each other, have great photo opportunities, discuss and debate to keep up the skills required back home in their senates, tour a little more, and finally pack for the next conference. COP 15 is named COP 15 as it’s the 15th conference since 1995 (each in a different place; next one in Mexico). Apart from these main summits, there’re pre-summit meetings (for example, 183 delegates met in Bonn this year, then in Bangkok, then in Barcelona and so on so forth). So what can one actually look forward to in COP 15? The Obamas, and the Salahis, but of course!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative