Tata Steel

Just about two kilometres away from the air-conditioned comfort of the Centre for Excellence is blast furnace #7, where the elegance morphs into fire, noise, smoke, heat and soot that cling to your clothes like a persistently bad dream. Here, Maintenance Foreman Shiv Shankar Roy, with a hard hat (we too were asked to wear hard hats as a safety measure) shouts loudly about how coal, iron ore and flux are mixed together to eventually create steel through a magical technologically efficient process... a process that most ironically, has been destroying the very legacy Tata Steel stood by with passionate commitment all these years!

At $81 per tonne slab cost, India is the lowest cost steel producer in the world (compared to $100 in North America; even China, at $87, is costlier; World Steel Dynamics report), and Tata Steel, one of the lowest – if not already ‘the’ lowest – cost steel producers in the whole world. And they’ve managed this not only by successfully killing legacy plant and machinery (and moving on to the most efficient ones by investing thousands of crores) but by accepting gut wrenchingly that those days of patronising the ‘family way of employment’ is, in one word, dead!

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Source:- IIPM-Business and Economy, Initiative:- Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri - 2006

OF COURSE IT’S FREE TRADE;ER... FREE FOR US THAT IS!

The double standards followed by the US on farmer subsidies are a bane to the world
Americans like to think that if poor countries simply open up their markets, greater prosperity will follow. Unfortunately, where agriculture is concerned, this is mere rhetoric. The US pays only lip service to free market principles, favouring Washington lobbyists and campaign contributors who demand just the opposite. Indeed, it’s America’s own agricultural subsidies that helped kill, at least for now, the so-called Doha Development Round of trade negotiations that were supposed to give poor countries new opportunities to enhance their growth. Subsidies hurt developing country’s farmers because they lead to higher output – and lower global prices. The Bush administration – supposedly committed to free markets around the world – has actually nearly doubled the level of agricultural subsidies in the US.

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Source:- IIPM-Business and Economy, Initiative:- Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri - 2006

Independent Internal Review

An independent internal review by the company analysed 29 distinct stock option grant events that happened under Dr. McGuire. Despite McGuire’s assertions to the contrary, the review alleged that these option grants (including 1 million options to Dr. McGuire himself) were “likely backdated”. It also lamented on the failure of the senior management to ensure that ESOPs were properly granted. As part of a desperate damage control exercise, Richard Burke, Chairman of the Board of Directors of UHG, said, “We deeply regret the deficiencies relative to our historical stock option programs... The actions we adopted are designed to help ensure that UHG meets the highest possible standards of corporate governance.” Steve Hemsley will replace Dr. McGuire as the company CEO.

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Source:- IIPM-Business and Economy, Initiative:- Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri - 2006

BIRD BRAINED!

ILLOGICAL KILLING OF MIGRATORY BIRDS
Among the visitors streaming into the country without the mandatory visa, included are the migratory birds that flock in thousands to different regions of the country. Crisscrossing thousands of miles to escape the harsh winter of the icy Northern hemisphere, they, more or less, reflect the environmental stability quotient of the destination regions. In India, out of 2,000 species and sub-species, about 350 are considered as extralimital migrants. They are mostly from Central Asia and Siberia. As almost the whole of India is visited by one species or the other of the clan of migratory birds, their number or disappearance has signified the definite direct or indirect human intervention.

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Source:- IIPM-Business and Economy, Initiative:- Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri - 2006

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HUES GOING TO NOVA SCOTIA

Behold the best colours of autumn in Nova Scotia, Canada. Come October, and the deciduous forests of the Cobequid Mountains along the Minas Basin and the Mountains of Cape Breton Island are emblazoned with a multihued portrayal of the natural exquisiteness. Walking tours in the heart of the Island, organised to explore the richness of the marvelous Mabou Hills, renders a perfect picture the winding trails and vibrant ridges. The splendid walking tracks offer a panoramic view of the fall season colours as well as a wide variety of wild life, spectacular coastal vistas and nature at its best...

For Complete IIPM - Article, Click on IIPM-Editorial Link

Source:- IIPM-Business and Economy, Initiative:- Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri - 2006