Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Completing the Cycle

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.
For Complete IIPM 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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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Studying India's old malaise

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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Friday, March 12, 2010

Once in twelve years is an intriguing frequency

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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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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Saturday, March 06, 2010

Pirates lay siege on Bollywood

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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Friday, March 05, 2010

Coming out of the woods? Maybe!

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.
For Complete IIPM 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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