Deaths behind bars

Rise in custodial deaths besmirches India's human rights record

It is sometimes hard to digest the fact that a peace-loving nation like India can be so unkind and cruel to its own prison population. It is indeed hypocritical for a nation to espouse the virtues of being kind and forgiving and yet mete out the exact opposite qualities to those spending time in its prison cells. Statistics bear out this grim reality. In the decade during 2000-2010, more than 14,000 deaths in police custody and in prisons have been reported, according to the National Human Rights Commission. The NHRC records further reveal of 417 casualties in police custody and 4,285 casualties in judicial custody over the last 3 years. Also, the NHRC has recorded endless cases of torture and sexual harassment – 1,899 torture and sexual harassment cases in police custody and 75 alleged cases of rape by police personnel over the past 3 years. Among Indian states, Assam tops the list of being home to such alleged mishandlings and custodial deaths, a fact that has been admitted even by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its official statement.

The shielding of errant policemen by their political masters is one of the reasons encouraging this trend of rising police atrocity towards prisoners. To prevent this malignancy from spreading further India should not only ratify the UN convention against torture it should also become a signatory to the treaty. Being clubbed with the violent autocratic states of sub-Saharan Africa, like Comoros and Guinea-Bissau, which too have not ratified the UN convention, damages India's reputation of being a nation that cherishes the civic freedom of its citizens. The reason for India's recalcitrance in signing the convention is hard to comprehend, but it's probably due to the reservation of state governments, especially in strife torn areas, that has inhibited India from giving its assent.

But the lack of a substantial anti-torture law allows the misuse of state machinery and violates the rights of victims. A strong reform against human rights violation, complying with UN guidelines, must oversee government functioning over prisons.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Some Like It...Chilled!!

Monojit Lahiri examines the reason behind Bollywood’s – and audiences – new fascination for the Horror Film!
MONOJIT LAHIRI | Issue Dated: June 21, 2013, New Delhi
Tags : Bollywood | Horror films | Bees Saal Baad | Gumnaan | Ramsay Brothers | Raaz | Darna Zaroori Hai |


Close your eyes and go back to your childhood – a winter night securely tucked in bed with cuddly warm blankets, one small bed lamp and your favourite grandmom narrating a ghost story that sent shivers of excitement and fear of the unknown that still stays with you! Why? What is it about the ghost story, the paranormal and the horror tale that is so seductive, enticing and thrillingly scary that its an all-consuming virus?  Irrespective of age, gender or social strata, this brand remains a matchless, unbeatable must-hear/read/watch!

In Bollywood, the horror film has mostly been a sub-brand/genre, receiving neither the attention nor the respect given to other mainstream fare.  It was a niche category for a niche audience, sometimes cutting loose to register a big success.  Film historians believe that the 1949 Ashok Kumar-Madhubala starrer Mahal was the first really scary movie emerging from Bollywood.  Other super-duper successes between the 40’s and the 60’s include Bees Saal Baad, Gumnaam and Bhoot Bangla.  In the 70’s Ramsay Brothers – who were to own this space – unleashed Do Guz Zameen Ke Neeche.  Raj Kumar Kohli swooped in, blending horror with fantasy with Nagin and later Jaani Dushman. Darwaza, Jaadu Tona, Aur Kaun, Saboot, Gehraiyee, Red Rose, Guest House followed.  The 80’s came with their own horror stories – Ramsay Brothers’ Puraana, Saamri, Veerana, Tahkhana, Dak Bangla, Puraani Haveli, Shaitan Ilaaka, Bandh Darwaza.  Interestingly the products of the 80’s relied less on ghosts and more on titillating/sex scenes.

In Hollywood, Psycho, The Omen, The Exorcist, The Shining were big-time chiller-thrillers along with hit TV American shows like The Vampire Dairies, True Blood, Fear Files and Haunted Nights, categorically proving that there is a huge vacant spot in our psyche that is reserved for cinematic encounters of the spooky kind!  In other words, paying money to be terrified is the name of the game!

What do these movies – and genre – offer that is so special and unique?  Psychologists insist that it has to do largely with the aphrodisiac called fear!  They believe it is about making forays into our curiosity about the unknown which has always been a territory where trespassers can enter only at their own risk.  This fear makes them uneasy and on the edge and this sparks the excitement!  Its like a roller-coaster ride, a terrifying scream-fest that you wouldn’t miss for anything, right?  Its like that indescribable anticipatory build-up to that ‘bang’ moment that you are so desperate to experience, when buying the ticket to the film.  Iconic storyteller of this genre, Stephen King, believes that “horror movies provide psychic relief because outright madness is extended so rarely to us.”  Closer home, psychiatrist Dr. Harish Shetty reckons “the grotesque fantasy of a human being is entwined with his vicarious pleasures and then the visuals and sound effects all put together results in a heart-pounding suspense that is irresistible – be it a TV show or movie.”

In year 2013, while we are continents away from the Ramsay brand – dilapidated, haunted mansions, creaking doors, spider webs and eerie background score –sophisticated and new-age updates in this genre keep haunting us!  Some recent examples are Ragini MMS (inspired by the 2007 American supernatural horror film Paranormal Activity) which went down so well with audiences that it reportedly recovered its costs within two days of its release!  Haunted (a 3D horror film), Ram Gopal Verma’s Bhoot, Kaal, 13B, Bipasha-starrer Raaz, Verma’s Darna Zaroori Hai and later Darling followed.  Very recently, the Nitin Mukesh-Sonal Chauhan starrer 3G, Bipasha-Nawaz Siddiqui starrer Aatma and Ek Thi Daayan have joined the list.

When you pull back and see the big picture, you realise that this genre is definitely an idea whose time has come. Bollywood is forever looking for new buttons to push, cash cows to milk and themes to invade that get the moolah. 

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Does watching phoren serials instead of desi ones make you feel superior

Monojit Lahiri probes this seldom-discussed English–Vinglish issue.

“Angrez gaye lekin lakhon chamche chodh gaye!” lamented a colleague’s wife recently. When pressed to elaborate on this broadside, she responded with disturbing enthusiasm.  “Bhai, aisa hai, despite the Brits leaving India over six decades ago, uska imperial and feudal impact abtak raha. Fair n’ lovely rules through the assertion of the angrezi language in business, industry, trade and commerce and Corporate India, and the fascination for phoren/phirang models is clearly visible in every area of influence. We can keep yelling about how the ‘phir bhi dil hai Hindustani’ template has never been stronger, but fact is, in places where it counts, English and the phoren influence definitely counts. Ek (how do I explain) subliminal, unspoken but easily transmitted signal of superiority is flashed”. Our blank faces prompted her to focus on the specific reference to context.  “Take TV serials. Today the Hindi serials – Balika Vadhu, Uttaran, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, Madhubala, Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha are hugely popular across all strata of viewers, especially womenfolk.  However, there remains a distinct group of people – my college going kids included – who may not blatantly laugh or mock this content, but definitely consider it vernace, low-brow, populist and un-cool. ‘Oh god, Mom, how can you bear this crap, with its corny, gharelu melodramatic twists and turns and those over-dressed behenji-types going on and on and on’ is what my daughter  - once  in half amused / exasperated tones – blurted out. I had no answer but to weakly smile… and continue watching.”

The lady’s comment touched a chord and struck a spark. Wasn’t this true of everything connected with one class of people in India?  Bollywood and Hinglish advertising booming is all very well as is the pride and assertion of your national language and mother tongue, but somewhere, the angrez chhaap still does hold its own, six decades after the phirangs were handed their hats and walking sticks and shown the door, right? “Absolutely true! I completely understand the lady’s predicament simply because my nephews and nieces are always making fun of me watching those ghatia Hindi and Bengali serials”, admits 40-year-old, Kolkata-based housewife Alpana Sen. Sen goes on to say that since she lives in a joint family in North Kolkata, she vastly enjoys the world that these serials flesh out in the company of her mom-in-law, army of sisters-in-law and servants. The timings of these serials – in terms of day and schedule – are sacrosanct and nothing and nobody can come between her and those characters during those magic hours! “My nephews and nieces watch those weird English programmes like Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Two and a Half Men, Dexter… and beg me to join them. I tried but, frankly, couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying while these kids were doubling up with laughter! Am I a desi ganwaar or are these kids totally westernised and disconnected from basic Indian reality?”  20-year-old Varun Khanna, however, doesn’t agree. The Mumbai-based college kid reckons it’s a clear question of choices. “I come from a middle class Punjabi home. My dad works in a multi-national bank while my mom is a housewife. My paternal grandparents stay with us, so we are pretty grounded and traditional … and hey, despite being a Mumbaikar, my Punjabi is not bad.  However, these TV serials really get me! I don’t know what my mom and grandmom (poor Dadaji is also often forced to join them) see in those crazy programmes.  So corny, unreal and regressive! The ones my pals and I love, like Friends and Two and a Half Men are really ‘wow’!”  Varun is quite cool (although not overtly crazy) about Bollywood stuff, but prefers angrezi fare anyday.  “It’s not about snobbery or feeling superior, but tastes and liking, I guess. I can’t bear to sit through that stuff that mom and dadi so thoroughly enjoy for more than, like, two minutes.”

Fact is, it’s not value-judgment, but many things that are at play here. For one segment, the angrezi chhaap does spell superiority, whether you like it or not. Be honest… in a social gathering, office meeting, club, party or even your home, doesn’t a firang’s presence make a difference? When he/she places a hand on your shoulders, converses with warmth and interest, embraces or shakes your hand before leaving (or is Mmmuaah!) with promises of meeting again – doesn’t it make you feel real good and special?  Also (touch your heart before admitting), doesn’t it psychologically make you feel superior and don’t your friends suddenly look at you with envy and admiration?  Chill, because it’s natural. To most middle-aged (forty plus) middle-class Indians, this social intercourse will be special because of the neo-colonial mindset and conditioning as also the rarity of these interactions. After all it’s not like meeting a Chaddha, Singh, Subramanian, Chatterjee, Khan, Kapoor, Khanna, Saxena or Mahapatra, is it?  To women, it’s likely to have a greater impact. “My NGO activities connect me with lots of foreigners, many of whom come across for a meal or coffee.  My kitty party friends can’t make up their minds between being bitchy and catty or doubly cute to grab an opportunity of an intro to them. Complex to hundred percent hai! explains Delhi-based Parul Agnihotri, aged 42. For the Friends/Raymond new-age gen, children of a globalised, liberated and consumer-driven India, however, there is little awe but lots of immediate and appreciative connect. They embrace this new age with no baggage and hence are free from the shackles of complex, intimidation or pressure. Siliguri or Sydney, Jamshedpur or Joburg, Madurai or Manhattan, Lucknow or London, kids appear to be more open and cool to a globalised space and subsequently less hung-up or obsessed with things desi. A direct result of this is their close connect with things phoren and distancing from the world of Indian TV serials. Explains Social Commentator Deep Sanghvi with superb analytical insight, “It’s not about for or against a certain kind of content and nor is it about superiority and inferiority. It’s simply a generational thing, born out of the milieu and environment one grew up in. Research has indicated that the remote of the TV in Indian households is invariably glued to the hands of the (housewife, ma-in-law, aunt) women.  Now, since most need to chill once the chores are done, what better than enter the world of the multi-layered serial, which is cleverly and strategically programmed to play to the gallery.  Do they give a damn about the snooty brown saabs who pooh-poohs their programmes?  Not one bit because zillions (in whichever part of the world these serials play) wait with breathless expectations each day/night as the amazing, viewer-friendly stories, characters and situations unfold as only they can! As for the other lot – the vocal, anglicised minority – two things happen. For the older lot, it is usually an affectation, a fake posturing to indicate their affinity to the West, be indulgent and patronizing to local stuff and hope that this projects them in a slightly different or hatke superior way than the hoi polloi. Mostly it falls flat because phonies are usually caught out soon enough!  The Gen Next have never expressed their superiority angle while staying away from their mom’s beloved weepies. They have only indicated – with varying degrees of emphasis – their complete disconnect and dislike of the material.  That’s it!”

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Book Review: Ghana Must Go

‘Afropolitan’ triumph

If one looks at the trends in the last few years, Taiye Selasi probably had the biggest hype surrounding a new unpublished author. Biggest, if you discount the brief debacle that happened with Kaavya Viswanathan and her How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life.

Some time in 2005, this British born, half-Ghanian half-Nigerian caught the attention of American literature circles when she came out with her stunning essay, “What Is An Afropolitan?”. Not now, but in years to come, this essay of hers that breaks the stereotype of African immigrants and breaks open a hitherto less known world of educated, sophisticated and upwardly mobile Africans, will be considered a definitive piece of writing on the topic. She followed this with an equally impressive short fiction, The Sex Lives of African Girls, that made it to The Best American Short Stories last year.

Considering this, it was not surprising that Selasi managed to bag the kind of hype that she got. Mentored by none other than Toni Morrison herself, she also managed to get an advance approval by Salman Rushdie and cover blurbs by Teju Cole and Penelope Lively. Add to this the overlaying themes of immigration, sexual awakening, death and bigotry. Therefore, when the novel actually came for review, there was a certain level of expectation that preceded it. And let me add here that debut writers often get crushed by such expectations. But not Selasi.

Named after the Nigerian rhetoric directed at Ghanaian refugees during the upheaval years of the 80s, Ghana Must Go is the story of an American doctor of Ghanian origin and his family. Or rather, the disintegration of his family.

The book opens with readers suddenly thrown into the scene where gifted surgeon Kweku Sai drops dead in his lawn in Accra. What we know at this point of time is that Kweku Sai is married twice and is living with his second wife when he drops dead. We also know that the house inside which he drops dead has been designed by him after he left America in shame. Everything else has been left open. And that’s quite a wholesome.

The major portion of the narrative is shaped up through the preparations for Kweku’s funeral. One by one, his progeny, four of them and all grown-up, receive the news of his death and so does his first wife, his love. The family is exceptionally talented but almost dysfunctional with kids spread over both the sides of the Atlantic and hardly talking to each other. However, for once, they decide to gather in Accra for the surgeon’s funeral. After this, the novel works in a flashback where every character is revealed through its strengths and vulnerabilities. It is at this point that different themes come into play.

Selasi successfully plays with the sense organs and uses vivid imagery to arrest the readers. It leaves a stunning impact initially but starts to drag halfway through the novel. Too much time is spent on every character and its thought process. That is not to suggest that the characters are weak. But beyond a point, it starts to appear a tad stretched. Alliteration has been used liberally. The style was apt for poetry, especially in the late 19th and early 20th century. But its use in prose has remained limited and at the sidelines. The readers here will have a taxing time going through this. Especially when one starts feeling that the narrative has suddenly dried up somewhere. The story not only lose coherence but does so rather badly.

But it is at this point that Selasi regains her composure and so do the readers. In an intervention that appears sudden yet not jarring, Selasi uses the gift of her skills to bring the story back to track. And by the time the story ends, the readers inadvertently make themselves part of that dysfunctional family. And the best part is, Selasi does not use cheap stunts to achieve this. There is no jarring climax. No revelation that shakes things up. Years of restricted emotions flow freely. But it has been handled tactfully, and more importantly tastefully. 

In fact, it is the final 30 pages of Ghana Must Go that firmly separate this novel from the usual mom-daddy-cousin kinds of novel that debutant Indian writers, mostly of the Ivy League make, come up with these days. Selasi’s story is also about a family. But it is in her treatment of the content that the strength of this novel lies.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Vulnerable India!

India needs to act decisively to save its tourism industry

The “Incredible India” campaign did a magnificent job of making India the cynosure of global tourists' eyes. India became a hot destination for foreign tourists over the last decade. As per India's Tourism Ministry, the country attracted a record number of overseas visitors, around 6.6 million in 2012. The footfalls helped the country earn $17.74 billion in foreign exchange. However, the  increasing number of sexual crimes against women have adversely affected the country's tourism potential. Many countries have issued advisories, warning their citizens against visiting India. The Indian government has dismissed such warnings as knee-jerk reactions but the number of visitors  have been going down.

India’s tourism took a heavy knock when a young woman was brutally gang raped in the capital in December last year. The incident ignited  national outrage and hogged media limelight worldwide. Even before the dust had settled down, a Swiss tourist, who was on a cycling trip to India along with her husband, was waylaid and raped in Madhya Pradesh on March 15. Another British tourist jumped out of her hotel room window to escape sexual harassment in Agra. Consequently, the number of foreigners travelling to India has dropped significantly. A study conducted by ASSOCHAM has found that  foreign tourist arrivals plunged by 25 per cent  between January and March. The number of women tourists has shown a significant dip, declining 35 per cent since the Delhi incident was reported.

The government has sorely been found wanting in correcting India's perceptions abroad in the aftermath of such incidents. This kind of cavalier attitude could cost India's tourism industry dearly. The travel and tourism sector alone contributed 6.4 per cent to India’s GDP in 2011 (amounting to Rs. 6.7 billion) as per the World Travel & Tourism Council.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Where are 'organised' helps?

Housemaids should come under an organised workforce

Housemaids are in demand everywhere. Supply has also grown at a fast clip, keeping up with rapid urbanisation and migration. However, despite domestic help service being a vital part of ‘home-economics’, no much heed has been paid to organise this sector and safeguard the interests of workers.

Countries in Latin America, the Caribbeans and Africa have included domestic workers under ‘general workers’ category. This way they have brought them under legislation that promises equal rights, bonuses, weekly-offs, and minimum wage rates. For instance, in Brazil, domestic workers are hired through registered contracts and enjoy minimum wages, paid-leaves, weekly offs and come under the purview of legislation meant for conventional workers. However, such a move is still due in India. They are still not considered as ‘waged workers’; in fact, they are degraded as mere servants (read: slaves). In Hong Kong, Fei Yeung is the term used to represent this particular class of workers.

Leave aside providing these workers with legislation that would make their life easier and recognise the value of their work in National Accounting, domestic workers are not even covered for prevention of exploitation of migrant workers and under the Protection of Women Against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010! However, a few states (like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu) have framed policies to address the grievances of housemaids, but no such laws are available at the national level. Some other states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan have enacted the Minimum Wage Act For Domestic Workers to protect their rights for a minimum pay and for maintaining their dignity.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Book Review: Island Of A Thousand Mirrors

The detritus of conflict

It is said that the only good byproduct that any conflict brings is good literature. In fact the relationship between conflict and art goes back to the days of antiquity. Who could have imagined  ‘The Persians’ had Xerxes not attacked Greece, or ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ without the Trojan War. In the near past, and way closer, Pakistani writers made their mark in the literary landscape when everything else was going wrong inside their country. Under the circumstances, one always wondered why Sri Lanka, which saw its own share of blood and carnage for close to three decades, did not come up with quality work in English language. There were a few attempts here and there but a majority of them were written more for the purpose of furthering the “cause”, both among Sinhalese and Tamils, than offering readers a window into the world of common Sri Lankans and their miseries. Nayomi Munaweera’s debut novel, Island of a Thousand Mirrors, does that and then some.

Set in Sri Lanka and spanning almost three generations, Island of a Thousand Mirrors tells the story of two Sinhalese girls and their family’s struggle to remain afloat amidst upheaval. In the parallel runs the story of another girl, a Tamil, whose fate gets entwined with that of the Sinhalese girls in more ways than one.

Written in the style of a bildungsroman, the book traces the journey of Sinhalese sisters Yasodhara and Lanka and in the process weaves a saga of love, betrayal, self-exile and redemption. The story starts with the births of girls’ parents just around the time British decided to leave the island for good. The respective families could not have been more different. While their father, son of a low-caste Ayurveda doctor who successfully changed his surname to bag an upper-caste girl, raised the status of his family by sheer hard work; the family on their mother’s side, a typical aristocrat Brown Sahib household, had fallen on bad times after the sudden demise of the patriarch. And hence the matrimony that could not have even been thought of a couple of years ago, actually materialized.

And while they are at it, the churning in the North begins. The rise of LTTE, the digging in of heels by the Sinhalese dominated government and the meddling by a larger, bullying neighbor in the North had already prepared the concoction of death and destruction. On a more micro level, the unraveling of the fabric is explained through the situation of their Tamil tenants, members of which become the love interest of the Sinhalese girls across the generations. When violence knocks on their door, rather literally, the girls’ family migrates to the United States leaving behind the mayhem, and memories in the process.

Years later, when betrayal and infidelity bring the girls back to where it all started, they also pick up the thread of the Tamil family that was left during the sudden flight.

On the other hand, the story of Saraswathi, a violated Tamil teenager who joins the Tigers, helps readers take a peep inside life in the north and east of the Island. At the end, when their fate entwines, one is left stunned in more ways than one.
      
Like any great state-of-the-nation novel, one of the strengths of this book lies in the way it seamlessly deals with myriad themes that run parallel to the dominant theme of conflict. In the process, readers not only get a loose idea of how the history of the island has shaped up since the British left it in 1948, but also how a conflict that could have been resolved easily in the initial years, was allowed to fester in order to massage the majority Sinhalese ego. 

However, the biggest strength of this book lies in the way the author rises above ethnic biases to present a picture of conflict that is not burdened by the efforts to look good and unblemished. Nayomi Munaweera is clearly from that painfully small school of intellectuals who believe that any long-lasting process of reconciliation must first start with the admission of complicity in crime. There is no tacit, sly effort to sound politically correct. No compulsion to “balance” the narrative of the conflict in a David versus Goliath mismatch. But that not to say that David here is let off the hook. He is also brought to question. But nothing is disproportionate.

Island of a Thousand Mirrors is an inherently honest attempt to put things in the perspective. Having covered the conflict myself and witnessed how divisive and full of visceral hatred the narrative is, I have no doubt that Ms Munaweera will receive more brickbats than bouquets. Especially from the rabid non-residents from both ethnic groups who have successfully hijacked the narrative. But if Ms Munaweera calculated that and yet decided to write this; she sure as hell is prepared for a long haul.

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Paradise Regained

Tucked away in a cul de sac at the tail end of a posh residential street in south Delhi, shimmers a magic portal. The gate to this world is always locked but a twisty side gate allows the intrepid to enter while a mustachioed guardian looks on through sleepy half closed eyes. At his feet lies a fawn bitch, just as sleepy with a litter of puppies attached to her swollen teats. I step over the dozy family and follow the dirt trail into this new world.

Red with rust and who knows if a little dried blood, wire fencing on both sides of the trail, close, meticulous and sharp, keeps all but the thickest skinned and desperate from invading this little island. A few more steps and the noise and smoke of the city leave you, like reluctant hangers on who know that they aren’t allowed any further.

Walk on further, and like a seductive temptress, the winding trail and green vistas draw you close. The winter sun seems a little brighter, the air a little sweeter and the songs, carried by a wind that seems to revel in this new found freedom, bring back memories of a Delhi whose gardens had birds once.

As the trail curves around the edge of a cliff, a startled mongoose darts across the opening and disappears in the brush. Beyond me yawns a valley, carved not by the gentle hands of all knowing nature, but by the myopic hunger of bull dozers and excavators that had once mined and ravaged this land down to its very bones. Here stand the high ridges of the ancient Aravallis, weather beaten guardians of Delhi, that had deterred invaders in the past and still strive to keep the heat and dust of the Thar from flooding the city and the rain clouds from going too far away. Mindless mining though had left this region pock marked and gasping for breath. Native flora and fauna had been decimated and driven off and an uncaring invader, prosposis julifera, better known by its notorious nom de plume – vilayati keekar had flourished on this denuded landscape. This tree, though greening the ground on the surface, does little to provide nourishment to the native fauna and instead acidifies the soil and degrades it. Barren and left for dead, this land was grabbed by settlers. Ramshackle shelters and slums rose on these grounds and litter and feces dotted the pockmarked grounds that had once been home to deer and partridge and had once nourished the city with oxygen rich air.

But that was nearly a decade ago. Two formidable institutions – Delhi University’s Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems (CEMDE) and Delhi Development Authority joined callused hands and decided to do something about restoring dignity and if possible a bit of the old charm to this ravished landscape.

It was not going to be easy. Mission near impossible, you’d think. But an unassuming man with a soft voice that masked steely determination and indefatigable reserves of enthusiasm and patience has today almost achieved the impossible. Aravalli Biodiversity Park, nestled between South Delhi’s urban environs in Vasant Vihar and the airport has been resurrected and is today a veritable paradise. The mining pits have a cloak of green, and the birds have returned. Last week, a morning’s birding expedition led by Dr Aisha Sultana, field biologist with Aravalli Biodiversity Park, identified nearly a hundred species of avifauna. And recent surveys have revealed the presence of more than 200 species of birds in the park. A stunning turnaround from the terrible low of thirty odd bird species that had managed to survive the mutilation of the landscape.

So what went into recreating this little Eden? I asked the man who made it all possible – Dr M Shah Hussain, Scientist-in-charge at the Aravalli Biodiversity Park. Having cut his teeth on the recreation of the Yamuna Biodiversity Park and kept his promise to his mentor, Professor CR Babu, Director CEMDE, of giving Delhi “a mini Bharatpur” in the Yamuna basin, Dr Hussain took on the challenge of restoring the Delhi ridge to its original splendor.

This was no easy task. Each floral species that had originally sprouted on these lands when untouched by the hand of man was painstakingly identified and planted. Then they had to be protected from the elements.

Encroachers, both animal and human had to be evacuated and all 692 acres of the designated park area secured. After eight long years of restoration the park has begun to acquire the look and feel of the scrub and deciduous forest that it used to be.

As I walked along the trail with Dr Hussain, he marked out species after floral species and highlighted the role that each played in the restoration process. Not only did the park, unlike other parks in the city, provide green cover but is also instrumental in refilling ground aquifers and maintaining the water table. Based on a self-sustaining natural model, the symbiotic relationship established between floral and faunal species will ensure that the park will continue to flourish “..with increasingly minimal economic support” said Dr Hussain. “Not only does this natural model neutralize pollution levels… restores the water table… but traps many micro fauna that can trigger diseases”.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

All Eyes Towards Astana

The direct negotiations offered by the Obama administration to Iran can find traction only if US stops shifting the goalposts, says Saurabh Kumar Shahi

The Annual Munich Security Conference is generally a mundane affair. A nice photo-op with sumptuous Bavarian meals, the conference does little more than improving the balance sheet of  Hotel Bayerischer Hof, which has hosted it since the days people did take a little interest in it. But this year, it was destined to come into the limelight. After all, it was here that the US Vice President Joe Biden revealed that if the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran were determined and set for serious talks, the US would be in the position to reciprocate the sentiments through the direct talks over the country’s nuclear energy program. He added, for good measure, that the “negotiations are not merely held for the sake of negotiations.” Fair enough.

Iran's reaction to the statement was measured. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi maintained that the US must first prove its good intentions before the talks are undertaken. “They should not be aiming the gun on the one hand, while on the other hand, claim to be ready for talks and such contradictions must be resolved,” he added.

The upcoming P5+1-Iran talks in Kazakhstan will pave way for further direct negotiations with the US. However, the proposal as well as its seriousness needs to be analysed with measured excitement. The similar diplomatic maneuvers in the past have failed to bear fruit. However, a direct talk between the two nations, which severed ties following the 1979 Revolution, is indeed a big announcement.

But before that is achieved, the talks in Kazakhstan need to close the gap between the preconditions that both parties have set. Let's look at the last round. Last year in May in Baghdad, the P5+1 demanded that Iran scale back uranium enrichment to 20 per cent purity, which according to them was the most worrisome trend as far as Iranian nuclear program was concerned.  Mind you, Iran, a signatory of NPT, has the right to enrich it to further levels considering every reactor is under IAEA supervisions. The demand from P5+1 has no legal basis, but it is still a preconditions for the talks to progress.

However, in return, P5+1 expressed absolutely no desire of offering any relief from the unilateral or UNSC mandate sanctions. Naturally, Iran bid the next rounds of talks adieu at Moscow.

The gap between the demands still persists. Mahdi Mohammadi, a member of Iran's negotiating team, maintained that to start with, the US will have to accept Iran's “right to enrich”, followed by removal of all unilateral sanctions by US and of course EU.

However, the West has indicated that they will offer a better bargain this time. British Foreign Secretary William Hague let the media know that P5+1 will put what he termed an “updated and credible” proposal and admitted that the “need to make progress is increasingly urgent”. Similarly, Russia's chief negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, was confident that the talks will bring “if not an outright breakthrough – then serious progress”.

Under the circumstances, US' move appears curious. The appointment of John Kerry and Chuck Hagel is indicative that the US is willing to stick to diplomacy for the time being at least.

Says Abolqasem Qasemzadeh, a Tehran based expert who has watched the move closely, “Obama believes that the Islamic Republic of Iran is not one of the weak states of the Middle East, but on the contrary, enjoys the highest degree of military power among the regional Muslim states. In addition, Iran sways pervasive influence on all Muslim communities in the Middle East. The experiences of Afghanistan and Lebanon have taught the Americans that Tehran is the gravity center of any possible solution to many problems in the Middle East and assistance from the Islamic Republic is the key to resolution of those problems. Therefore, new signals sent by Obama for bilateral negotiations with Iran are serious and stem from the United States' assessment of Iran's position in the Middle East as well as the high influence that Tehran sways on the Muslim communities.”

However, there is another opinion as well. Some experts suggest that it is typical of the West to offer talks while tightening the noose of sanctions at the same time. In fact, interestingly, just a couple of days after Biden's announcement, US expanded the sanctions by bringing in more sectors under its ambit. Many Iranian officials suggest that this shifting of goalposts is chronic and is detrimental to trust building.

Russia on its part had devised a plan that appeared lucrative to the Iranians. Foreign Minister Lavrov revealed a “step-by-step” approach that can bridge the gap between both the positions. According to this plan, Iran was expected to revive negotiations to dispel the concerns of the IAEA and expect to be rewarded in the process by a partial removal of sanctions. Meanwhile, EU too drafted and revealed a separate three-stage plan. At least both these plans are not non-starters like the previous proposals. But how much traction will any of them find in the real negotiations will be interesting to see.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Skimming the surface

In 2009, all hell broke loose with a simple confession from Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of Satyam Computers, the fourth largest IT company in India with over 50,000 employees and business in more than 66 countries. He admitted that the company’s balancesheet carried inflated cash and bank balances of Rs 5,040 crore and non-existent interest income of Rs 376 crore as on September, 30, 2008.  Raju also admitted that there was an understated liability of Rs 1,230 crore on account of money that he himself had arranged.

It was a nightmare not only for Satyamites but the entire nation. It was the biggest corporate fraud India had known so far. One difference between this fraud and others was that the Satyam scandal was disclosed by its founder while other scams were busted.

The author of The Resurgence of Satyam Zafar Anjum raises key questions. Why would an iconic entrepreneur like Ramalinga Raju do something like this, and then admit his crime? What forced him into confessing at that particular time or was it to hide something even bigger? Despite close contacts with top corporate honchos in Satyam, Anjum has no answer.

Heavily drawing on the vast existing literature by Indian media, blogs as well as a book produced by Business Standard, The Satyam Saga, Anjum tries to reconstruct a narrative.

Scattered references to Satyamites who put up stiff resistance after the scam broke finds a mention in the book. Anjum quotes Mirzan Faizan, a Satyam engineer who had earlier worked in DRDO, as saying: “When one man created Satyam as an organisation of 53,000 people, why can’t 53,000 committed people rebuild one Satyam?” Had Anjum narrated more stories of such courage and defiance, the book would have been a better read.
However, for posterity, Anjum does record how Satyam recovered from the crisis. It narrates how people  in Satyam, the government and regulatory bodies reacted to the fraud and took measures to salvage not only the company but also India Inc’s image. But it would have been more realistic if author had engaged people at the bottom of the ladder.

In the epilogue, Ramalinga Raju is mentioned as being a shrewd man who knew by confessing to a crime he would escape harsher punishment. Raju leads a normal life in Hyderabad after spending two years and eight months in jail. Charges had not been filed against the co-accused.

As much as everyone, the author too wonders about the persona of Raju and seeks answers in management guru, Tom Peters. “Successful performers, for good and sometimes for ill, know how to play a role. They don a persona – a mask of leadership that command others to follow,” Peters is quoted from The Little Big Things.
Peters gives three examples: George Washington, Barack Obama and Bernard Madoff – who weaved the mother of all frauds in modern financial history. “I think Raju’s case is similar to that of Madoff’s,” sums up Anjum.
On Madoff, Peters says, “It was a product of a very carefully concocted persona acted out without let-up or slip-up for decades.” It sounds true in Raju’s case too.

However, The Resurgence of Satyam brings out the communication strategy devised by its team to keep afloat and  rise from the ashes and how the team was engaged in segregating and classifying news in the media as truth, half truth and rumours.

The other important issue is that one would have expected Anjum to question how the Mahindras went on to acquire a stake in a company that was opaque and fraught with fraud,  listed on Nasdaq and was facing class-action suits in the US?

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Faulty Forensic labs

New forensic labs are vital for speedy justice

Since last couple of weeks, there have been protests going on all across the nation demanding quick and fast justice delivery. This is not the first time when a criminal is scott free due to delays in our judicial mechanism. Without any apprehension, the entire onus of delays lies on the courts which are struggling with less manpower and insufficient resources. And then, further going down is our investigative team, which again is equipped with stone-age facility and faces huge shortage of staff. Amidst all these loopholes, one peripheral of justice delivery mechanism that is largely getting ignored is our investigation laboratories. In simple terms, cases linger on for ages as the investigating teams fail to present sufficient scientific evidences on time. And, the reason for the same is the sorry state of our forensic labs.

Against conventional notion, forensic labs not only help in providing clues for criminal cases but also for civil and statutory cases. Today, forensic labs are called-in for cases related not only to murder, rapes and assaults but also for thefts, property disputes, document verification, forgery tests and truth analysis. As of now, we have less than 30 forensic labs where cases coming in for investigation from all corners of the country. On an average a single Forensic lab handles only 4000 cases annually while the demand for the same runs in tens of thousands per forensic centre! Moreover, only a handful of these labs are equipped enough to handle such large inflows.

As per a media report, around 4000 cases of sexual assault on women are yet to be solved at forensic level itself! These cases are pending from last 2-3 years. The problem gets augmented as one gauge through the vacancies at these forensic labs, still more than 100 seats are vacant (especially those at technical positions). There are labs where even “sufficient amount of chemicals required for several tests” are not even available. Even cases related to corporate fraud, computer fraud, child paternity cases and DNA tests are in the queue waiting for their trial, which can’t be moved even by an inch without forensic reports. Such poor state of infrastructure not only delays the cases but provides ample time to the culprits to tamper and dodge the evidences and in many cases even steal and damage the evidences, thus, leaving no scientific evidences of their crimes. Moreover, given the sophistication with which crimes are committed (and technologies with which the evidences are tampered) forensic investigation has become evident to prove the verity of samples in possession.

Numerous cases like Aarushi-Hemraj murder case, Nithari serial murders case, Priyadarshini Mattoo Case and many other similar cases got delayed because of inadequacy of labs. In spite of these cases attracting media-attention and public outcry, no much heed was seen as most of the vital clues were either destroyed in the process or most of important investigative reports were waiting their turn in various labs across the nation!

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

BBA Institute

Two-witter!

The US State Department wants employees tweets to be reviewed for two days before they are posted

The US State Department has recently decided to tighten the screws on State Department employees participating on the social media – more particularly on Twitter. The State Department has passed an order wherein employees have to submit their tweets two days in advance for an internal review before tweeting the message from their Twitter account. Further, the time for review of posts in other forms of media like blogs, articles and books would take around 5, 10 and 30 days respectively.

Without doubt, while a two-day review of employees’ tweets sounds hilariously insane (for example, it might take eight days to exchange two tweet messages with a colleague and get respective replies), what made more news than the actual State Department decision was the slamming they received from global media. Nicholas Kristof from The New York Times, for example, called the decision “the dumbest idea ever”. Alec Ross, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Senior Advisor for Innovation, defended the decision, claiming that the two-day delimiter is only an outer window for approval which is much lesser than the earlier 30 day period – and that most tweets would be approved much earlier. There’s also the view that such a rule has been reinforced due to a recent tweet of a department employee on an anti-Muslim video, which unfortunately ended up instigating public anger in Cairo and was also used subsequently by the Republicans in their campaign against Obama. Irrespective, the fact is that there seems to be quite some similarity between the State Department and the censor-loving Chinese Communist Party, which also considers all its citizens akin to its fellow workers.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

 

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Shifting your focus to match customer needs

It is critical for organisations to adopt a scientific approach to understanding how they can meet customer needs, and to firmly ingrain a customer-focused culture throughout the organisation

We have often heard the phrase, “Customer is king”. While it is self-evident that higher satisfaction levels give a company an edge over sales, company growth and reputation, what it really does in the long term is to ensure that existing customers stay happy, resulting in better relationships and happier employees. Customer-focused companies are more attuned to the market and better able to stay ahead.

I refer to Harley-Davidson’s customer focused culture as one of the best in the world. It is the longest, continuous manufacturer of motorcycles in the US and has outlived nearly all of its competitors. In the twenty short years since Harley-Davidson started its Owners Group programs, it has grown to over 500,000 members & each of them own at least one motorcycle. The question to ask is: Is there any other consumer product in the world that will prompt customers to travel over several continents to be part of a group experience? Customers and employees alike take great pride in their affiliation with the company and this continues to make Harley-Davidson one of the great success stories of our time.

There is simply nothing – nothing – more important than getting to know the needs of your customer in a detailed and scientific manner. In the words of Michael Dell, “By spending time with your customers where they do business, you can learn more than by bringing them to where you do business”.

80% of companies believe they deliver a superior customer experience; however, only 8% of their customers agree. Why? Your customers are looking for maximum value when spending their hard-earned cash, particularly in this economy. The customer experience requires the active participation of everyone in your organization. This is where the word “Satisfy” comes into play. What it means is that your company is providing nothing more or less than what the customer expects. Creating a customer-focused culture is a proven strategy for both short-term success and long-term growth.

Going by the industry’s best practices, let me share with you some key insights into what will really work for you or your company.

1. Make a list of the values you’d like your company to exemplify. Then, examine your current culture, and ask yourself if those values are apparent in your company and driving your everyday efforts. 2. Before you can convince your company’s end customers of your focus on satisfaction and service, you need to convince an even more important customer audience – your internal customers – the employees who represent your company to the world. Talk with all your employees about corporate values and ask for input and suggestions. 3. Customer focused companies constantly seek and document feedback. They have a system to analyze and feed this information back into the loop so that response is immediate and not an annual feat 4. A strong customer orientation also demands that the company treats customer complaints positively. They not only make toll-free numbers and helpdesks available, but also staff it with knowledgeable people to work on them. 5. This means that they get back to these customers within an acceptable time frame So how does one tell if the customer is truly on your side? Most companies survey their customers in some way, shape or form – formally or informally. After decades of forms, interviews and focus groups, studies have shown that in gauging a particular customer’s overall satisfaction, a single question is needed to provide a fairly accurate answer: “Would you recommend us to your family, friends and colleagues?” If the answer is “Yes,” you are meeting or exceeding that customer’s expectations; if it’s “No”, it’s time to get to work.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

BBA Institute

There’s much to fix between the piers

A raft of infrastructure issues is affecting the growth and prospects of our ports. In the face of capacity constraints, lack of connectivity and inadequate mechanization, ports are burdened with excess traffic they can’t handle

India’s vast coastline, stretching around 7,500 kms, is home to 13 major ports and around 200 non-major ports. These are spread across the nine maritime states that stretch along the country’s western and eastern corridors. Considering that about 95% by volume and 70% by value of the country’s international trade is carried on through maritime transport, ports in India are expected to demonstrate efficiencies to sustain the demands of growing international trade. Even otherwise, modern seaports the world over play the role of logistic hubs in the global transport system, integrating the supply chain and offering a competitive edge to exporters and importers.

Historically, ports were measured on their ability to accommodate ships and other modes of transport effectively and efficiently. Contemporary developments in transportation, however, dictate that emphasis shift to the ability of ports to fulfill new roles in the logistics era in the context of operating within integrated global supply chain systems. Ports are therefore expected to demonstrate efficiencies that help to cut total logistic costs and improve the overall competitiveness of exported and imported products.

Unfortunately, even in the wake of India’s growing maritime trade in the world market and the unprecedented growth in bulk commodities and containerized trade, major ports in India have failed to expand capacity and develop facilities commensurate with the growth in trade. In FY2011-12, Indian exports accounted for $303.7 billion, logging an annual growth of 21%. Meanwhile, imports grew to $488.6 billion, a 32.1% growth. This rapid growth in trade can be sustained only if the port infrastructure keeps pace with the increasing volumes of cargo. Indian ports, over the past decade, have seen a sharp surge in traffic, which has almost grown four-fold to 9.7 million TEU (One TEU represents the cargo capacity of a standard intermodal container, 20 ft. long and 8 ft. wide) in 2011, from 2.4 million TEU in 2001 - a growth of 395%. But our port-handling capacity is way short when compared to the throughput of major ports globally. Even the 9.7 million TEU handled by Indian ports last year represents just 8% of the global benchmark ratio for economic output and one-twelfth of global container traffic averages. Given that the Indian economy grew 7.8% for fiscal 2012, ports in India are in urgent need of capacity augmentation in order to meet the country’s growing economic needs and also to grow our share of international trade.

Over the last decade, our average annual growth rate of port cargo volume has been about 10% and container traffic is projected to grow to 40 million TEU by 2025. But India’s ports are ill-equipped to meet this surge in demand as they have not been able to significantly ramp up their capacity and efficiency. As a result, our ports are congested and lack cutting-edge facilities. Till date, no Indian port is capable enough of handling large container vessels. Thus, most of international cargoes are off-loaded at Colombo or nearby ports and then transported to India in bits and pieces. This very incapability robs Rs.10 billion from traders. Even the custom clearance at ports increases the transport time by an average of 84 hours. Not surprising that the World Bank has ranked India’s port infrastructure at 3.86 in 2010, where 1 stands for extremely underdeveloped and 7 for well developed.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

BBA Institute

What happens when you mix drinking & flying?

With the recent Diageo deal, the UB group has got some much needed cash to reduce its interest costs. But as major group companies continue to struggle with unfathomable debt loads, the only freely flowing commodity is advice!
Issue Date - 30/12/2012

In late 2005, UB Group Chairman Dr.Vijay Mallya had remarked in a media event that people often asked him what link he saw between the liquor and aviation businesses. And his answer was, “They both make you fly!”

Amusing, yes. But that doesn’t go too far when it comes to explaining the synergies between the two businesses. There were definite branding synergies for Kingfisher in aviation, but not operational ones, as is evident in hindsight. In one of his interviews to a leading pink daily, former UB group CFO Ravi Nedungadi also accepted that he had warned Dr.Vijay Mallya that the airline, which he was planning to start, would be a drain on finances. Over the years, despite his best intentions, Nedungadi’s views have proved prophetic beyond imagination.

As on date, Kingfisher Airlines, which was once India’s second largest domestic airline by market share, is standing on a debt pile of $2.5 billion. According to a statement issued by the company, the exposure of various group companies towards Kingfisher Airlines as on March 31, 2012, stood at an equity investment of Rs.21.14 billion, loans and advances of Rs.10.48 billion, other receivables at Rs.2.09 billion and corporate guarantees to banks/aircraft leasors at Rs.89.25 billion. “Before getting into the airline business, they missed the trick that the airlines business is completely different from their other ventures. It requires a continuous flow of funds & also the skill to stay floating in a volatile environment”, affirms an aviation expert from a leading consultancy on condition of anonymity. State Bank of India, the largest lender to the airlines, has already warned that the airline’s promoters should bring in a minimum of $1 billion (about Rs.54 billion) from any source by the end of November.

Add to this the fact that the UB group is already quite stretched financially, and you begin to wonder if Kingfisher’s current plight could have wider ramifications. Recently, the UB group clinched a deal with Diageo, the world’s largest spirit maker, which will allow the latter the option to take its stake in United Spirits Ltd. (USL) to 53.4% for around Rs.111.66 billion; due to which promoter shareholding in USL will fall from 27.8% to 14.9%. USL issued 10% additional preference shares at Rs.1440 per share to Diageo.

Can this injection of around $1.1 billion in funds help script a revival? Before answering that question, we must take a look at USL itself, the group’s flagship company. It is the largest spirits company in the world by volume; selling 122.75 million cases for the fiscal ending March 31, 2012. For Q2, FY 2013, USL posted a standalone topline growth of 24% yoy to post revenues of Rs.22.21 billion, aided by a one time sale worth Rs.3.15 billion of bulk spirit stocks. Adjusted for the same, sales growth stood at 6.4%, which was way below the 8.9% estimate of analysts. PAT for the quarter declined by 73.4% yoy to reach Rs.392.7 million. Furthermore, USL is weighed down by a debt of close to Rs.90 billion with a D/E ratio of 1.9, and is finding it difficult to even access working capital financing. According to a research report from Angel Broking, “USL’s bottom-line is expected to grow at a CAGR of 103.4% over FY 2012-14 due to the lower interest costs on account of substantial reduction in debts post the UBH-Diageo deal.” So the best that can happen is that USL will work with somewhat improved margins and ROI.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

 

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education