Arrest the fall...soon

A falling rupee pushes hopes of economic recovery further beyond

Several pundits have projected that the Indian economy will be back on track in 2013. However, almost half of the year has gone by but there are hardly any indications of recovery. What makes such chances even more remote is the plunging Indian currency, which fell to a historic low of 57.54 against the US Dollar (USD) on June 10, 2013. The next day the rupee depreciation worsened to a new low of 58.35 vs. the USD. Several financial analysts have started believing that the rupee will drift further south towards 59-60 vs. the USD in the days to come. Can India hope to recover from the ongoing economic downturn with a currency that is fast losing all semblance of holding its own?

Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram has tried to nullify the impact of a depreciating rupee saying, “panic (in) the market is unwarranted”. Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan, in a conference, confidently stated that “the weakness in rupee could be a temporary phenomenon.” But the current scenario indicates otherwise. As the depreciation of rupee makes imports costlier, there is no doubt that the weakening currency (which has devalued by over 7 per cent against USD during the current fiscal) will make it tougher for our government and the RBI to contain the current account deficit and check inflation.

On the other hand, exporters are celebrating as they get to earn more local currency for every unit of foreign currency worth of goods and services sold. The Indian IT sector is expected to reap a windfall as its revenue depends overwhelmingly from overseas markets. However, it would be naive to expect our exports to offset the adverse impact of costlier imports. The country's import bill is set for an exponential jump in light of the bulge in the cost of crude imports. Crude oil import accounts for 70 per cent of our fuel requirements and the ongoing currency depreciation will invariably aggravate the CAD situation besides also stoking domestic inflation as rising fuel prices will have a cascading effect.

Voicing her concern over the sliding rupee, Radhika Rao, an economist with DBS Bank says: "A weak rupee can upset the easing inflation trajectory, raise CAD financing concerns and up the currency risks for offshore borrowers. This might also raise another hurdle for the central bank to cut rates." In order to allay such apprehensions, India will need to quickly take steps to restore stability to its currency.

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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

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Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

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Down and out in Sarai Khaleel

Once razed to the ground in Emergency, a 65-year old roofless Urdu school now faces closure. Firoz Bakht Ahmed reports.

The Congress may have announced the creation of five minority universities in its never-ending quest to play the vote bank card, but it is unable to protect one school which caters to children from poor families in Delhi’s walled city, an institution once demolished by the party’s city elite in the heyday of the Emergency.

The Qaumi Senior Secondary School, a 65-year old institution which has on its rolls poor Muslim students from Sadar, Qasabpura, Quresh Nagar, Bara Hindu Rao and Kishanganj in the Walled City of Delhi, is in terminal stages of closure.

In the salad days of the Congress family cabal which ran Delhi like a personal fief between 1975-1977, the school was razed to the ground in the presence of then DDA Commissioner BR Tamta, Sanjay Gandhi’s friend Rukhsana Sultana and Jagmohan (now with the BJP) on June 30, 1976, on the promise of being rebuilt in the neighbouring premises: the justification was the construction of ‘janta flats’. The flats have long been sold out but the school never found space.

Temporarily, it was shifted to the Eidgah where it has remained since then. Now the Eidgah management has served an ultimatum to the school asking it to move after 37 years of existence there.

The Qaumi School was founded after Partition in 1948 when it was set up with funds raised by poor Muslim residents of the area. It was taken over by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in 1960 as a primary school and in 1975 was raised to the higher secondary level.

Since its callous demolition, the school has perpetually faced an uncertain future. For one, it has functioned with minimal infrastructure; a few tents under tarpaulin sheets, a moth-eaten blackboard and creaky furniture passing off as a classroom. Vermin have not just damaged school records but have all but eaten away into the school’s now almost non-existent library. Nearly 70 percent of its furniture and equipment was stolen when the school was forced to shift in 1976.

During monsoon, the school practically closes down because of water logging. If that was not bad enough, a make-shift laboratory under a tin roof is blown away if the weather is inclement!

“Every time there is a dust storm, rain or a cold gust of wind, over 500 students in the ragged tents huddle together wondering when this official apathy will end,’’ says M Atyab Siddiqui, legal affairs secretary of Friends for Education, an NGO devoted to improve the lot of this hapless school.

The school’s manager Abdul Malik Qureshi says exposed to such natural vagaries it is students who suffer the most. Students report sick due to hot sand storms in summers and chilly winds during winter.

“The plight of students mostly drawn from families of book-binders, muezzins, imams, carpenters, box-makers and petty hawkers is pitiable,’’ says Atif Rasheed, a young BJP leader from Qasabpura.

Since 1976, students passing out of Qaumi School have not experienced a roof over their heads, a far cry from the time the 23-roomed five-storeyed building with more than 600 students in Sarai Khaleel area, was pulled down.

Senior economics teacher Furqan Ahmed says it is irreligious in Islam to run a school on Eidgah grounds. While the post-Emergency resettlement programme rehabilitated other residents and shopkeepers in Shahzada Bagh and Inderlok, nothing was done for the school – apart from a slew of hollow promises.

Naim Querishi, member of the Qaumi School Old Boys’ Association, says a memorandum accompanied by affidavits signed by thousands of residents of the Bara Hindu Rao area was given to the then President of India, Zail Singh and freedom fighter Aruna Asaf Ali.

He reels off an impressive list of VIPs who have been contacted for help: Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Chandra Shekhar, Rajiv Gandhi, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Sikandar Bakht, Arif Mohammed Khan, Tara Chand Khandelwal, Jai Prakash Agrawal and Jagmohan.

In 1991, Jagdish Tytler, then area MP and Union Communications Minister, tried to get school land in Dwarka, Narela or Pitampura but the plan proved unfeasible; poor students had no means to travel from old to outer Delhi. “We informed DDA that moving to the area allotted by them was akin to closing the school,’’ says ex-principal Azhar-ul-Hadi, adding, “most students are below the poverty line and come walking.’’

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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

Digitisation drives players to step up their DTH play

Of the six major DTH players in the fray, Dishtv commands a comfortable lead over the others. But with Tata Sky shedding its premium tag and Airtel and Videocon offering more interactive services, the contest is getting keener. By Sanjay Kumar

The mandatory cable TV digitisation is helping the Direct-to-Home (DTH), or satellite TV players, to expand their subscriber base, which stood over 48 million last year. While phase 1 of digitisation saw around 10 million TV homes in the four metros convert to digital, over 90 million analogue cable TV homes are estimated to go digital by the end of the fourth phase in December 2014. For the uninitiated, digitisation is being carried out in four phases. In the first phase, which ended on December 31, 2012, the four metros switched to set-top boxes (STBs). In the second phase, 38 cities in 15 states moved to STBs by March 31, 2013. In the third phase – the deadline for which is September 30, 2014 – all urban areas of India have to switch to STBs. By December 31, 2014, the entire country will have to switch to STBs.

As a result of this digitisation drive, the DTH sector, which has clocked phenomenal growth ever since the category was first introduced in India, is set to grow at an even more furious pace. In 2003, when the first mover and the country’s largest DTH player, Delhi-based Dishtv, launched India’s first DTH service, not many people knew about the technology and its advantages. The entry of other players such as Tata Sky, Sun Direct, Big TV, Airtel and Videocon in the following years has added traction to the market. From one service provider and a little over half-a-million subscribers at the end of FY2006, to six players and 48 million plus subscribers now, the DTH industry has come a long way in an analogue cable-dominated market.

The industry is expected to add 11-12 million subscribers annually for the next couple of years and is estimated to take it subscriber count to 55 million by the end of the current fiscal. According to Media Partners Asia (MPA), Dishtv continues to lead with a market share of 28% while Tata Sky falls a distant second with 18% market share. Airtel Digital TV and Sun Direct both come next with 16% share. Yet, the biggest surprise, according to MPA, seems to be Videocon. Despite being the weakest player in the DTH market a year ago, it showed strong growth and has overtaken Reliance’s Big TV with over 11.4% share and about 6 million subscribers.

In fact, as part of the mandatory digitisation, companies in the DTH and digital cable segments are now engaged in an interesting tussle, vying to maintain their existing subscriber base as well as increase market penetration. The reason is simple. India is the second-largest pay-TV market in the world, with almost 120 million subscribers and a reach of 48% of Indian households. As it is, STAR India’s statistics show that DTH is emerging as the key growth driver for the overall pay-TV industry, growing at an impressive 74% as compared to 15% for digital cable and 11% for analog cable. According to industry veterans, value-added services are proving to be a game-clincher for DTH, and the popularity of value-adds such as interactive education for students, farming advisory content and religious content are helping DTH operators to woo more consumers into their fold. “Integrating interactive capabilities into basic DTH packages is an increasingly important initiative for operators,” says R.C. Venkateish, CEO, Dishtv.

Moreover, Dishtv  and Tata Sky are not the only DTH brands reaping the dividends from the shift in customers’ preference to digital. According to Shashi Arora, CEO, Airtel DTH, “The number of customers shifting to digital TV from analog has been witnessing a growing momentum due to the digitisation drive across the country. As a leading DTH player in the industry, Airtel DTH has been bagging 25% of all new customers that join the DTH bandwagon every month.”  Like Airtel, Videocon was a late entrant in the DTH field but it has an impressive record in adding subscribers. It crossed 4 million subscribers in 2011 and added another 2.1 million until June last year.

According to a recent Rediffusion-Y&R’s Brand Asset Valuator survey, though Dishtv comes through as the clear leader brand in the DTH space, the other brands that lead the category are Tata Sky, Tata Sky+, and Videocon d2h. Airtel Digital TV also finds a place, lagging slightly behind the rest. The survey notes that the two players to have successfully built 'Differentiation' into their brands as a compelling proposition that stands out in the mind of the customer are the market leader Dishtv and the late entrant Videocon d2h. On the other hand, early mover Tata Sky enjoys the highest awareness and regard among consumers. Newer players like Airtel Digital TV and Videocon d2h are seen as ‘Customer Caring’ and ‘Innovative’, respectively. When it comes to “Total Consideration” scores, Dishtv again leads the pack, followed by Airtel Digital. In fact, 45 percent of households clearly see Dish TV in their consideration set.

With all the six major DTH providers competing for consumer’s attention and business, the ones with more aggressive marketing strategy and flexible plans that offer consumers value for money without compromising on quality and number of available channels will stand to gain the most. Dishtv, as the first major DTH provider has benefited from the early mover advantage and will likely continue to be the lead contender.

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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

Overhaul the intelligence set-up

Our agencies should have a more organic relationship

India faces complex security challenges, which have the potential to derail its economic and social progress. But there does not seem to be any broad-based exercise to reform the country’s intelligence apparatus and make it more pro-active and in line with the pursuit of the nation’s internal and external policies. Whatever piecemeal restructuring has been attempted from time to time, have mostly been crisis-driven and not a comprehensive needs-based attempt to address the structural flaws in the intelligence set-up. So even while we have been eviscerating our intelligence institutions over the decades, the recent attempts to ‘monitor’, ‘coordinate’ and ‘oversee’ this largely dysfunctional apparatus have only created even more layer upon layer of meta-institutions.

Let's take the example of some of those countries which are known for their intelligence-gathering prowess. The UK has just one intelligence agency, the MI-5 that oversees both internal and external intelligence operations. France has four and China one (Ministry of State Security). The US has the highest number of investigation agencies among the developed nations, but even its overall number does not exceed 15. In contrast, India has more than 25 internal and external intelligence agencies -- most have been found of working at cross-purposes instead of complementing each other. As a result, despite their numbers, Indian intelligence is proving to be the soft underbelly of the country with each agency functioning in self-created silos.

The failure of our intelligence agencies to provide for real-time intelligence and advance warnings of developing situations cannot be overstated. But this can happen only by sharing and using multiple databases, including those maintained by the National Intelligence Grid, NATGRID, the Crimes and Criminal Tracking Network and System, CCTNS, and the Intelligence Bureau-run intelligence sharing hub, the Multi-Agency Centre, MAC. Instead, what we get is nebulous intelligence analysis provided by the different agencies that are often in the dark about the investigations carried out by their peer agencies. The sorry outcome of this kind of haphazard sleuthing is that Indian intelligence agencies have time and again failed to perform by producing meaningful, actionable and timely internal and external intelligence.

Even in those cases, where Indian intelligence apparatus has succeeded in busting terror and espionage rings, it has not been able to provide accurate information which could be developed into concrete evidence that stands judicial scrutiny (as was the case with MI-5’s unearthing of the plot to blow-up trans-Atlantic flights over American cities).

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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

Crimes of endearment

As Coalgate rocks India, an inside account of Jharia-Dhanbad reveals just how high the stakes are. Anando Bhakto reports

The nondescript houses in coalfields and the roofless, dilapidated collieries dotting the dusty landscape of Jharia-Dhanbad in Jharkhand, the country’s mineral rich belt, give you no clue that this could be the breeding ground of 24x7 scams involving hundreds of crores of rupees made right under the nose of the administration, often with its connivance.

How does the racket work? Since it is dangerous in open cast mines to dig coals beyond prescribed limits, the Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and CIL (Coal India Ltd) do not mine after a point and it is here that illegalities begin.

According to estimates, there are over 2,000 open cast mines in Jharkhand. The coal mafia employs labourers, sometimes those working for coal companies, and then smuggle coal through an organised and elaborate network of cycle carriers.

Apparently, everyone knows. ``Illegal mining and its transport in Jharkhand have become a booming racket for the mafia to reap in huge chunks of black money. This involves everybody, from top officials of the BCCL to the police and politicians,” candidly admits Niraj Singh, Dhanbad Deputy Mayor.

According to information provided by the Ministry of Coal to the Standing Committee of Coal and Steel in 2010, there are 49 illegal mining sites. They include Katras, Baroda, Govindpur, Sijua, Kusunda, Kustore, Bastacolla, Lodna, EJ Area and Chach Victoria under the BCCL.

Coal companies seem to be hand in gloves with the mafia. What else can explain why they do not fill voids created after mining by way of sand stowing, an obligatory duty under the Mine Closure Plan - thus paving the way for illegal mining of coal?

Despite the Ministry of Coal admitting the presence of predominant illegal mining sites in eastern regions before its own Standing Committee, no definitive government study has so far been conducted to assess financial losses suffered by exchequer. And there is a good reason why – the losses are enormous.

Interestingly, the Jharkhand government did instruct Jamshedpur-based Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) to conduct a study with a limited reference point. Says Professor Tata L Raguram, the man behind the study, “The study we did was on small scale, artisanal coal extraction and cycle-based coal supply chains that operate in coal tracts of Jharkhand. The study did not trace large scale illegal coal operations.”

Even so, their findings were alarming. It revealed that 1.37 million tons of coal (estimated to be worth Rs 207 crores) is mined from abandoned sites around Jharkhand every year. Experts mention that due to this the exchequer in the state suffers an annual loss of Rs 34 crore as royalty per annum. What would be the magnitude of revenue losses caused by this organised coal racket? In the lack of any definitive study, such losses are neither assessed nor any attempts made to make changes appropriately.

In view of the XLRI findings, the Standing Committee accused responsible officials of “either indifference or too scared to stop the menace.”

Such is the dominance of the coal mafia that the transport of coal and coke by unlicensed cycles is a regular sight on the Ranchi-Hazaribagh road: there are a total of 616 FIRs which have been lodged in Ramgarh, the sub-divisional headquarters.

Cases against illegal coal operators can be lodged by anyone, government officials or coal companies. Then there are major security lapses at many points when coal is transported from mines to railway sidings. Observed the Standing Committee, “The complicity of some insiders of coal companies with the coal mafia cannot be ruled out… Generally large chunks of coal are thrown off from uncovered wagons and trucks along their routes.” Just one sign of this malignancy.

Add to it vast amounts of illegal monies made by the mafia in loading and transport of coal. According to Deputy Mayor Singh, one lakh ton coal is transported everyday, of which 20,000 tonnes are transported by road on trucks and 80,000 ton by railways. “While Rs 160 per ton is charged for loading of coal to be transported by road, only Rs 80 is paid to labourers who are hired on contractual basis. The remaining Rs 80 goes unaccounted. This means in loading 20,000 tons of coal, around Rs 16 lakh worth of black money is generated everyday. The first part goes to the police who, understandably, refrain from taking any action against culpable parties. The second goes to ‘babus’ in collieries, the third to middle men controlling labourers and the fourth part to conniving officers in BCCL,’’ alleges Singh.

Significantly, contractual labour is prohibited in the coal industry. The BCCL which in 2005 had sought exemption from the Labour and the Coal Ministry to outsource labourers, has not abolished the contract system even though exemption ended in 2010.

It is common knowledge in Jharia that a sizeable part of the money to be paid as wages to labourers is swindled by a closely knit group of coal mafia and officials. “While outsourcing labourers, the least the BCCL could do is to credit their wages directly to their bank accounts, thus ending any scope of foul play. Why do they insist on paying in cash?” questions Deepak Dutta, member of Jharia Coal Field Bachao Samiti (JCFBS).

Then comes in an essential ingredient of the coal industry – the rangdari tax or extortion. According to a dealer at Rajapur colliery at Katras Mod, who naturally prefers anonymity,  anything between Rs 1000 to Rs 3000 is taken for every truck by bahubalis (muscle-men) who work for mafias.

“This works out substantially on a daily basis as there are about 1,300 trucks engaged in transporting coal,” Datta told this magazine.

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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After Modi, who?

If the Gujarat Chief Minister moves to Delhi after 2014, there are a number of contenders for his job in the state but for the moment, they are quiet. Arnold Christie draws up a list

In the throes of his victorious Long March more than six decades ago, China’s great helmsman Mao Tse Dung was richly aphoristic “a great revolution requires a great party and many first rate cadres to guide it… we must purposefully train lakhs of cadres and hundreds of first rate mass leaders…….,” he said.

What he said about revolutionary principles applies to political parties in a parliamentary democracy – a well organised cadre is a sine qua non for a party seeking to broaden its base and stay afloat.

But trust Narendra Modi to turn things on their head. Such has been his dominance in Gujarat in the course of his decade-long rule there that there has been virtually no need for an organised cadre or second-in-command. No leader can claim proximity to the BJP strongman, who is tipped as one of the strong contenders for being Prime Minister when the country goes to elections in 2014. The main question on every Gujarati lip is this: who will succeed Modi in the state in the eventuality of his elevation to Delhi? While there are several claimants to his legacy, no one is willing to hedge their bets – as yet – as most of them are too fragile to get into Modi’s bad books.

Political analysts say that in 2001, when Modi took over the reins of Gujarat BJP, his overall attempt was to cut down to size any opposition from the BJP ranks. Slowly, but steadily, powerful Gujarat BJP leaders were defanged: Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta were left rudderless, Haren Pandya was mysteriously murdered while powerful backward leader Kashiram Rana passed away, leaving the field open for Modi. Today, former chief ministers Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta are not even part of BJP. After demolishing the first line of BJP leadership, there is only the second line of BJP cadres left in the state who are quite willing to do Modi's bidding.
While there are a youthful bunch of BJP leaders in the fray like Nitin Patel, Amit Shah, Purushottam Rupala, R C Faldu and Saurabh Patel, they lack Narendra Modi’s charisma and gumption.

While there is a lot of gossip on who could succeed Modi, the Gujarat Chief Minister has everyone, including members of his kitchen cabinet, guessing. None of the leaders mentioned wants a mass base of his or hers own - they would rather be close to Modi.

Such a situation suits the Gujarat Chief Minister who has deliberately created this confusion so that his iron grip on the state remains even if the NDA loses. In three consecutive assembly elections, he has proved that without him the Gujarat BJP cannot win the state. The deliberate posturing of being a one-man army has proved beneficial; it is not the BJP but Modi who is a box-office hit. So far, all speculation has centred on Anandiben Patel, said to be the unofficial second-in-command of Gujarat BJP and also Modi’s successor if he moves to the centre. Insiders in the state BJP say that Modi has been grooming Anandiben to take over from him.


An indication of that has come in the way she has conducted meetings and even presided over portfolios which are not under her jurisdiction. For instance, unofficially, Anandiben has guided the destinies of the party over the significant poll issue of the Narmada Dam project in a drought-stricken Gujarat.

But health may not be on side of 71-year-old Anandiben. In which case, Modi favourite Saurabh Patel – a MBA from US - can consider himself in the run. Saurabh’s ministerial responsibilities of energy, finance, industries, petrochemicals and minerals and civil aviation give him a direct line to the country’s biggest corporate houses.

With both Patels as his closest lieutenants, Modi has in a sense, secured both his past and the future. With key aide Amit Shah entangled in encounter cases,  Modi has been keen to promote 54-year-old Saurabh Patel. He was reportedly instrumental in getting Saurabh a `safe’ seat during the 2012 assembly elections.

Another possible contender is former Finance Minister Vajubhai Vala, the man who holds the record of presenting the state budget 14 times and his successor Nitin Patel. Nitin, a Patel leader from Mehsana, is also in Modi’s good books and holds important portfolios like health, medical education, family welfare and transport. These days, he is the unofficial representative of the Gujarat government on places where Modi cannot make it.

Member of Parliament Purushottam Rupala too is said to be in the race but recent developments in BJP’s internal politics indicate that Rupala is out because of differences with Modi on allotting seats during the assembly elections. They say that Rupala’s non-inclusion in the new Team Rajnath in Delhi is a sign of this changing equation.

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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

Book Review: Land of The Seven Rivers

Geography as history

History can be very dangerous because our interpretations are invariably coloured by our ideological worldview. So let me state right at the outset that the JNU school of historians are not going to like this book. The Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography by Sanjeev Sanyal is an audacious attempt that tries to bust many beliefs held strongly in traditional (read Marxist) interpretations of Indian history. For example, the author tries to argue that the Aryans were not invaders but people who originated in India and that the ancient Rig Veda is coterminous with the Harappan civilization. Believe me, hackles will be raised at this!

In any case, I have failed to understand the animosity and hostility between the JNU school of history and the, for want of a better term, the ‘Internet Hindu’ school of history. At their worst, both reveal closed minds and prejudices winning over curiosity. Frankly, I tend to laugh when exponents of Hindutva fashion Indian history though their blinkered eyes, invoking a great culture and civilization of yore when much of the world was hunting and gathering. I think that is taking jingoism a bit too far. For that matter, I also laugh when the more committed members of the JNU tribe dismiss everything to do with Hinduism or Indian civilization as hogwash. I think that is carrying Marxism a bit too far. The truth, as always, must surely lie somewhere in between these extreme positions. I had always thought that keeping an open mind should be the most important qualification for a social scientist! I mean, if theories held sacred even in pure sciences can be found to be untrue by subsequent flashes of genius and discoveries, why can’t the same be true of social sciences?

Take the case of economics. Till 1929, classical economics had unwavering faith in the ability of markets to produce the best possible outcomes. Advocates of this school of passionately believed that free markets lead to fill employment. Then came the Great Crash of 1929 and the subsequent depression when Capitalism faced a crisis of survival. John Maynard Keynes upended the whole structure of classical economics by arguing that markets can fail and government intervention is necessary when economies stagnate. The Keynes school of thought held away till the Reagan and Thatcher revolution of the 1980s when the markets and the pursuit of self interest once again became the reigning deities. Greed is Good became the new mantra till 2008 when Capitalism once again imploded and free market prophets were once again exposed as charlatans.

Surely something similar must happen with interpretations of Indian history? What Sanyal argues in his book about the amazing continuity of the Indian civilization is something that is accepted even by the less strident votaries of the JNU school. Of course, only the ideological hard balls would suggest that India even in ancient times was a political entity in terms of geographical boundaries and systems of governance. Like now, India then too was probably a cacophony of ideas, languages, ethnic backgrounds and a sense of belonging. And continuity is something which we cannot ignore. For example, Sanyal points out how the ox or the bullock cart has been continually visible in India right from the Harappan times to the 21st century. He also points out how the Gayatri Mantra could well be something many Indians have been chanting unchanged for about 4000 years or so. He spends considerable time trying to make sense of the still prevalent myth about the mighty river Saraswati. Sanyal tentatively concludes his quest for Saraswati by arguing that the nondescript river Ghaggar that runs through Haryana was once the mighty Saraswati till geography changed its destiny, and that of the Indian civilization. Not convinced? Even I am not and would wait for more credible evidence.

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Book Review: Sunshine Lanes

Words worth the weight

A poetic journey indeed! There aren’t too many contemporary Hindi film lyricists who can legitimately lay claims to being a poet to boot. Prasoon Joshi’s Gulzar-like portrait on the cover of this book, the right temple of a pair of spectacles dangling from a corner of the mouth completes the pensive image of a man who has successfully steered clear of the crassly commercial aspects of his calling and survived to tell the tale.

Sunshine Lanes – A Poetic Journey, which was formally launched at the Jaipur Literature Festival earlier this year, is a collection of some of Joshi’s best songs, printed here in the Devanagari script with the English translations alongside. Each lyric has a story behind it, which explicated in the writer’s own words.

The book, which also includes some non-film compositions and poems, provides an insight into the overall creative process of lyric-writing, besides specific anecdotal details about Joshi’s professional interactions with frequent collaborators like AR Rahman and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

In a preface, Joshi provides a brief overview of his formative years, the influence of which still lives on in his lyrics and poems. It, however, only whets the appetite – does not quite satiate it. Both the ‘writer’s comments’ at the end of each song and the aforementioned preface seem all too pithy to do complete justice to the storehouse of stories that Joshi must be privy to.

Yet, Sunshine Lanes throws just about enough light on the man and his craft to be regarded as an important addition to books about Hindi film music. Lyric writing is central to the evolution of a song and the lyricist has a unique vantage point from where he can view the creation of a film song in its entirety, both subjectively and dispassionately.

Joshi brings his acumen as a writer to bear upon the ruminations. Not only does his book elucidate the elements that constitute a film song, it also explains, if regrettably only in passing, the significance of each of the songs included in this selection, in terms of specific words and lines, or as a whole.

“I am often asked what makes for a beautiful song,” he writes. “What came first, the tunes or the words? For me, a soulful song is one that makes it impossible to decipher this, where there is no overt competition between the music and the lyrics – one that is just a beautiful blend.”              

Joshi does not work in a vacuum. He is conscious of the history of the film song and his own place within its evolutionary continuum. He knows that the quality of lyric writing is currently at low ebb in Mumbai, with the emphasis being firmly on ‘entertaining music’, but he is not willing to write off his fraternity.

He, however, believes that “if this trend continues and the staple and ‘instantly understandable’ songs are demanded and settled for most of the time, the space for experimentation will continue to diminish progressively.”
 
Joshi has been chipping away relentlessly at the shibboleths. As the lyricist of some of the finest film songs of our times, he knows exactly what it takes to make instant connect with the masses without undermining the creative essence
of a lyric.

“Writing lyrics hasn’t been and is not my profession. It’s a passion,” writes Joshi in the preface. It is passion that shields him from the detrimental pressures that less creatively fortified lyricists are vulnerable to in the Mumbai movie industry.

Joshi has a day job. He makes a living as an adman of repute and stature – he is the executive chairman and chief executive of McCann World Group, India and president, South Asia. So he does not have to write Hindi film songs to pay his bills. He can afford to cherry pick his assignments and work only with those with whom he can relate as a writer. He can afford to be an outsider while being an integral part of the industry.

Joshi is acutely aware of the constraints and challenges of his craft. “Writing lyrics for films is like walking a tightrope – one cannot be vague and excessively symbolic like in poetry, but at the same time, the mystique and beauty should not be compromised. Striking the right balance is critical.”

He has been doing just that ever since he wrote his first film lyrics for Rajkumar Santoshi’s Lajja at the turn of the millennium.

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

When Snakes Bite...

“Maar diya sahib! Bada zehrila naag tha!”, said the gardener as he stood in front of me, flanked by four others. At the end of a long wooden stick that he held out like a bayonet hung a snake, about six feet long. Its head, once a beautiful greenish black seemed to have been crumpled out of shape and was dripping thick sticky blood.

I shook my head and picked up the now lifeless form of the serpent and pried its mouth open with a twig. I displayed the snake’s dentition for the men. Row upon row of saw-like teeth looked formidable, but then I made the point I was trying to make as I stuck the twig under the rat snake’s teeth and said, “See? no fangs! Iss saanp mein zeher nahin hota! No venom! These snakes just catch rats and bandicoots. They just give you guys a helping hand.”

The men didn’t know how to react to that. What I had just said had collided with their understanding of their world, that all snakes were dangerous, venomous and almost evil beings and the only possible outcomes of an encounter with one were either an agonizing fatal bite for man or a lethal blow from a stick for the snake. On the other hand I could see why a non venomous rat snake could so easily be mistaken for a venomous cobra or krait. So, what should one do when one encounters a snake?


For an answer to that question I had to go looking for a man who knows his snakes like the back of his hand… also because he often has one wrapped around the back of his hand.

Meet Debanik Mukherjee, a herpetologist by trade and an evolutionary biologist by passion, and a man who his friends described to me as “this crazy guy, he catches venomous with his bare hands..”. Warm, unassuming and extremely passionate about his subject, he reminded me I was late for our appointment when I showed up half an hour later than the agreed hour. But instead of making me feel awkward about it he immediately apologized for the state of his field station, dusted an old chair in the corner before offering me a seat and then politely requested an attendant to get us some tea.

A few sips of sweet tea later, I asked the question that had been bothering me. How does one differentiate between a venomous snake and a non venomous one? Debanik Mukherjee rolled his eyes and smiled. “That’s a tough one. Those with an experience of handling snakes can easily tell the differences in coloration and subtle changes in shape. For instance two of India’s relatively more common venomous snakes, the saw-scaled viper and the Russell’s viper, like most vipers, have slightly triangular heads. But it is tough for a layperson to tell the difference between a krait and a rat snake for instance, or a cobra for that matter, unless it has raised its hood.”

Then what is one to do if one encounters a snake inside one’s garden or room? Just wait for it to leave? Mukherjee laughed a wry good natured laugh and said “Carbolic acid! Keep that handy if snakes like visiting you. Carbolic acid or phenol is known to ward snakes off. I think its fumes interfere with the snake’s ability to interpret its environment through its senses. That, or a flame wrapped around a long stick should be enough to drive the snake off in a safe direction and distance. Remember this, that except for an aggressive species like the African black mamba, most snakes will want to avoid conflict with humans, and given an opportunity, would be happy to retreat.”

But what if one does get bitten? What are our options then? Doctor Mukherjee looked into my eyes, leaned across his table and said, “Then there is a problem. Snake venom acts fast. It gives you only hours, often only minutes, about 30 or so, if bitten by a krait for instance. So if you know nothing about snakes and are bitten by one, you must rush to the nearest hospital. Most large hospitals would have access to antivenin. In the old days, people would have to kill and carry the snake to the doctor so he could identify the snake and administer the antivenin accordingly. But today, while carrying a picture on your phone might help, you needn’t fret too much about it for modern polyvalent antivenins would cover the bases for a wide variety of snake bites.

Stay calm – More often than not, even if the victim has been bitten by a cobra or a krait, the bite would be a ‘dry bite’. This means that even though the snake did bite, it did not pump any venom into the blood stream. Venom is precious and snakes would rather not waste venom on humans who are too big to be eaten.  (Unlike cobras and kraits, vipers however cannot control or restrict the amount of venom they inject in their victims)

In the rare event that one does get bitten, you must try and relax and control your breathing. Getting excited and anxious would only make the heart beat faster and this would lead to the venom reaching the organs sooner than later.
Check for fangs – Look out for deep punctures made by the venom squirting fangs at the site of the injury. If you can locate distinct puncture wounds that stand out from the rest of the bite marks, this would usually be a sign that the snake was venomous.

Tourniquets – Though rather popular in the past, tourniquets aren’t a very good idea, especially if tied too tight. Tourniquets would do more harm than good in such cases and could even trigger gangrene.

Then Debanik revealed an interesting bit of trivia. “Mithridatization is the process of building immunity from snake bites by injecting small doses of snake venom into the human body. And crazy as it might sound, there are people all over the world who are experimenting with the idea. It works, but one small mistake could be the last one for these modern day Mithridates. So take my advice, mind your feet and stay away from snakes and snake venom if you haven’t been trained to handle them”, added Debanik.

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

Nature under siege

Murali Nagapuzha is one of Kerala’s most exciting new generation painters. His latest work was on show in an exhibition in the national Capital recently. In a conversation with the artist, KS Narayanan delves into the impulses that imbue his canvases photos by sujan singh

Protests over pollution, seminars on environmental degradation and global summits on climate change have become a daily routine. We may dismiss these events as part of public posturing of a world on the edge of destruction. But for those who silently suffer due to the onslaught of the development-at-all-cost model, these campaigns are a necessity, as it is for those who constantly hammer at the need to revive an “almost lost world”. Murali Nagapuzha, a self-taught painter like the French post-Impressionist Henri Rousseau, is one such man. With his vibrant colour palette and his magic brush, he seeks to put enchantment back into a world of reality. He creates poetry on the canvas with his lyrical, other worldly imagination.

Nagapuzha demonstrated his innate qualities in a series of 50 paintings, titled An Almost Lost World, which was exhibited in the Visual Arts Gallery of the Capital’s India Habitat Centre last week. Nagapuzha’s paintings narrate tales from memory, are steeped in nostalgia and reflect the wonders of the everyday, all of which are fast diminishing in the world around him.

Flowers, plants, birds and beasts are metamorphosed from ordinary to extraordinary in Nagapuzha’s work. K Satchidanandan, a well-known poet and critic, in the curatorial note on Nagapuzha’s An Almost Lost World Series, echoed a similar point of view. “Here the real stretches its arms towards the surreal, everyday things turn into objects of desire, we once again reach that childhood world of wonder and fantasy where everything looks new, everything brings pleasure to the senses.”

Murali Nagapuzha’s paintings remind us of the picturesque locations and beautiful scenery of Kerala. Through the artworks that showcase the rich flora and fauna of the region, the artist inspires people to conserve our natural wealth.

On his paintings, Murali says, “We all know that Kerala is one of the most beautiful places on this earth. But the natural beauty is fast being eroded.  The natural wealth of Kerala is getting affected by the commercialisation of the place and an increase of waste and pollution. Just imagine a scenario when we will get to know about flowers and plants only in the books, or about the animals only on the Internet. People are not realising the importance of nature. They are just treating it as a commodity and are taking the natural wealth for granted.”

Most of his paintings are set in his birthplace of Muvattupuzha, a village in Kerala. Strongly influenced by colours of nature, Nagapuzha bring the scenic beauty of Kerala alive on the canvas. Declining any special fondness for the colour green, Murali says he is depicting life as it is. “Kerala is all lush green. It is all vanishing. There is pollution, deforestation and what not?” he fumes and quickly adds, “It is the same story elsewhere”.

Hear what Anita Nair, another well known writer from God’s Own Country, says about the style of Nagapuzha’s art? “As with the cadences of a new dialect that builds itself on the solid syntax of a much-used language, Murali Nagapuzha’s work has the resonance of familiarity. We think we know and that we recognize it. Only at first, Nagapuzha uses the familiar to entice the eye. Then it is Nagapuzha’s world we are privy to”.

A second later, the self-taught painter who studies the works of Bhupen Kakkar and Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh confesses his paintings are all about the Kerala he grew up in and not the one in which he ‘resides’. “In a highly polluted and contaminated environment where even a lung-full of air is a rarity, I try to depict the innocence typical of a bygone village in Kerala.”

“I am not able to see any Palamaram trees or other flowering trees that I grew up with as a child. It is all lost due to increasing urbanization and environment pollution,” Nagapuzha laments. You feel his sense of loss.
Asked what it is like to be a self-taught? “I don't belong to any school. I am self-taught and self-made. So, I follow only my inner voice. I need not rebel and or adopt a particular style.” As the contemporary art scene is vulgarised by facile repetition, Nagapuzha holds the secrets of life between his brush strokes opening up the new frontiers of adventure, nature, fantasy and facts of life to art lovers.

Unable to come to terms with a personal tragedy during the Emergency when he lost many friends and comrades, Nagapuzha forced himself into the interior villages of Kerala. He took solace in books, rural folks and their rich folk arts. The custodial death of Rajan continues to stir the conscious of the nation. Similarly, the young Nagapuzha, who was then in college, endured many personal sufferings. And he continues to be pained by those events till today.

“I protested and demanded fundamental rights. On several occasions, the police raided our house, threatened my parents, brothers, sisters and relatives. They arrested my friend, Aziz, who used to help me design and put up posters. He died a week after his release from unofficial police custody,” narrates Nagapuzha. In the same breath, the painter lashes out at the rising sexual assault on innocent children across the country.

Former editor of a popular children's magazine in Malayalam, promoted by the Desabhimani daily, Nagapuzha is at present a freelance painter. He has also been bestowed with several honours, including the first Raja Ravi Varma award, instituted in 1998 and the Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi honoured him with the State award in 1993 and 1997.

“Flowers and animals teach us a lot of things. They sacrifice for each other and protect their community. I want to tell people that we should learn from them and try to bring some change in our attitude,” says the painter, who during graduation in Zoology did hundreds of drawings on the flora and fauna of his land.

All the artistic motifs in his paintings are drawn from a landscape that is now part of every tourist brochure. Without being banal or kitschy, Nagapuzha’s artistic terrain marvels at the Kerala colours and makes it his own.

But to understand Murali Nagapuzha we need to fist look at Kerala, where every day is a painting. Waiting to be absorbed, distilled and captured.

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

El comandante departs

Chavez's death has created a void but the movement will thrive on the impetus provided by him, says Saurabh Kumar Shahi 

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez finally lost the battle against cancer that he fought so bravely for over two years. Vice-president Nicolas Maduro, who is also pegged as his successor, made the announcement on public television shortly after emerging from the Military Hospital in Caracas, where Chavez was being treated. “Those who die for life can’t be called dead,” a tearyeyed Maduro said.

On February 18 this year, the 58-year-old President returned to Caracas from Cuba, where he was operated upon for cancer. Chavez travelled to Havana on December 10 last year for the fourth surgery after his cancer resurfaced, in spite of close to a year-and-a-half of treatment that included chemotherapy. The second round of treatment had begun in late March 2012, when Chavez started receiving radiation treatment in Cuba after an operation in February 2012 that removed a second cancerous tumour from his pelvic region. His first tumour was removed in June 2011.

His death has come as a blow to progressive leadership all over the world. Indeed, Chavez's impact on world politics was much more than any world leader of his time. A curious mix of personal charisma, pro-people policies and anti-imperial stand made Chavez a darling of the millions.

Chavez came from a very humble background. Born in a poor family on July 28, 1954 in Sabaneta, he struggled his way up and graduated from the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences in 1975. It was sometime in the late 70s that Chavez started participating in the revolutionary movements inside the Venezuelan armed forces that was seen by the masses as the protector of capitalist and imperialist interests.

His first chance towards redemption came in 1992 when he spearheaded a military coup to topple the regime of Carlos Perez that was close to the US administration. However, the attempt did not succeed and he was arrested and jailed for 25 months. This failed attempt brought him to the attention of the masses who were desperately looking for a leader from among themselves to lead them. It gave a kick-start to Chavez's political career.
 
Chavez started touring Venezuela and soon garnered a solid following for himself. His oratory, especially his no-holds-barred style, stuck with the masses and catapulted him to his first presidential election victory in 1998. He never lost the elections after that. However, in 2002, a lobby of pro-American politicians, along with some soldiers and officials backed by the United States, staged a coup against Chavez. He was briefly arrested and sent to an undisclosed location. However, merely 48 hours after the coup, a counter manoeuvre by common Venezuelans and officers loyal to him swept him back to office. Over the last 14 years, Chavez put himself and his agenda to the test on 14 separate occasions, and won thirteen of them by huge margins.

Chavez was a street fighter who fought his way up the ladder but unlike many in the past, he never severed his connection with the common masses and made it a habit to listen to their problems. The idea behind his successful Bolivarian revolution was to provide economic and political independence to the masses of Latin America who had suffered from their geographical proximity to the United States all these years. Venezuela under Chavez put its oil revenue to proper use and funded the massive social projects that returned social statistics that stunned even the United Nations. He extended the revolution in the neighbouring countries too and utilized their expertise in lieu of the cheap oil that was sold to them.
 
It was his ascent to power that revitalized the leftist, anti-imperialist movement in Latin America and saw similar socio-political experiments in neighbouring Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. With Cuba at the ideological helm, Latin America for the first time in decades started exerting its economic and political rights in the region. Mercosur, as an economic body, not only challenged the American dominance in the regional market but also put it on the back foot by forcing it to accept the economic positions that it wouldn't have even considered a decade or so ago.

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

kenya on the brink?

Uhuru Kenyatta, indicted for crimes against humanity, takes the lead

As Kenya is all set to get a new leader, with Kibaki retiring from politics, the political corridors are hoping for a stable government, especially at the backdrop of violent streaks. Prior to the elections, there was a series of violent bursts that sent ripples in Kenya’s heartland. A clash in the Tana River delta involving a politician resulted in the death of around 150 people. In another incident of violence in 2012 in Mombasa, a Muslim cleric lost his life which led to unrest in the vicinity with people taking to the streets and vandalising property. To top it all, the presence of the Somali militant group al-Shabaab has added to the environment of violence. Incidents of street violence in places like Kisumu and Siaya have epitomised the political unrest ripping the country apart.

Elections in Kenya have had a history of bloodshed and violent uprisings. The protests during the 2008 election that was engineered by the opposition leader Raila Odinga left more than 1,000 people dead and rendered 600,000 homeless. In the last one year, the UN reported over 500 Kenyans dead including police officials and another 1,00,000 displaced.

Today, Kenya is plagued with severe inequality, poverty, unemployment and frequent strikes. With 40 per cent of youth being unemployed, the human capital is plainly unproductive and ends up opting for solutions through violence. So much so, the intellectual class including teachers and doctors are often found resorting to strikes. In order to curtail these social malaises, Kenya’s government had passed a new Western-style liberal constitution with reforms promising a better standard of life to police and security officials. But bills related to economic and social reforms are still to be tabled.

There are reasons to be optimistic about the new constitution that has provisions for new institutions of reforms and audit bodies. The most promise lies within Kenya's youth. As per a March 2012 World Bank working paper, “93 per cent of Kenyans are mobile phone users and 73 per cent are mobile money customers." In other words, over one-fourth of Kenyans are now online. As the youth in Kenya is all set to globalise, the least they expect is a non-violent political future. The new government must convert the young pool of talent into a demographic dividend than alienate them.

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

A tale of two secretaries

John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are likely to bring fresh perspective in their respective departments. And that will be the best thing to happen to the United States in decades, says Saurabh Kumar Shahi

In the recent political history of the United States of America, none of the administrations have been so dependent on its Secretaries of State and Defense for its future course as President Obama's administration is dependent on John Kerry and Chuck Hagel. And as things stand, it won't be an exaggeration to say that how history will remember President Obama will largely depend on how these two perform, especially so after a rather dispirited and lackluster first term by the president.

The very basis of both the appointments (Chuck Hagel's appointment remains yet to be approved by the Senate as this story goes to print) is that President Obama in his second term really wants to clear a few messes and more importantly, he wants to do it without venturing into the world of intervention. And hence, both the names.

Let's come to John Kerry first. As the new Secretary of State, he is expected to bring sweeping changes as far as nuances in the foreign policy is concerned. He has a fantastic personal relation with the president and has been sent by him far and wide to solve foreign policy cauldrons. And, most of all, he comes without any excess baggage.

“The area in which Kerry may be able to have the greatest impact is redefining the meaning of national security for Americans. He recognises that the main threats to the United States no longer come from foreign armies or what George W Bush liked to call 'evil-doers'. His most encouraging statements are those that suggest he recognises the enormous security challenges posed by climate change, global energy politics and economic troubles at home,” says Stephen Kinzer, celebrated US diplomat and foreign policy expert.

When Obama dropped Susan Rice from the scheme of things following protests, he did himself a favour. Rice was hardly someone who could have intervened either in the Middle East peace process or in the Af-Pak cauldron without being judgmental. In fact, she was proudly described by Zionists of all stripes as “Israel's Gladiator in the UN”. With that kind of reputation, she would have proved a non-starter.

Quite opposed to that, Kerry believes in the diplomatic vision of negotiations and keeps threats as the last resort. So, if you are expecting another round of threats warning Iran of “obliteration” a la Hillary Clinton, you would be disappointed. It is not for nothing that his appointment was welcomed by Tehran.

“We hope that he (John Kerry), given his personal characteristics, will be able to at least help revise part of the US government’s approaches and anti-Iran policies and will help reduce the loss of lives and financial losses inflicted on regional nations and the people of the United States caused by the US foreign policy,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told the Fars News Agency.

Also, unlike most of the top bureaucrats and appointees in the State Department, John Kerry shares an excellent rapport with the top Pakistani leadership, both in the civil as well as military structure. His insistence on involving Pakistan in the Afghanistan solution, rather than bypassing it, will ensure that the countries sit together and work out a deal rather than play out through propaganda channels. He in fact went on record to say that the US did not give Pakistan its due for providing intelligence about Osama Bin Laden.

It is therefore expected that in coming months, a new form of synergy will develop between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US to deal with the situation following the pull-out in 2014.

If Kerry is a tough nut, Hagel is even tougher. Notwithstanding his rather tepid performance during his confirmation hearing, Hagel is known for his plain-speaking. And that is why his confirmation process was a baptism by fire. However, he has some clear ideas on how the US should behave militarily and he'll speak his mind when he is confirmed.

Considering rising deficit, it is expected that he will recommend (and see it through) some cuts on the Defence front. This might include recommendations to wrap up some of the military bases, curtailing the Air-craft Carrier Strike Groups and forgetting intervention as an option on the table.

On other matters, including relations with Russia, Hagel's views are closer to those of President Obama than the Republican camp where he previously belonged.

It is also expected that jointly, Kerry and Hagel will craft a policy that does not revolve around Israel and keeps the US interest on the top. The greatest harm that the US did to itself in the last decade or so was that it did not put any effort into making nations realise that its interests might match those of Israel's but they are not joint at the hip. That needs to change and bot Kerry and Hagel know that. It can be started by inviting Iran for direct talks and rolling back illegal unilateral sanctions that are based more on Israeli pressure than any tangible evidence that Iran has a clandestine military nuclear program.

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

Movie review: David

Tri-Try

Bejoy Nambiar’s 3 in 1 stylistic thriller tries to be more than it is, which not necessarily a bad thing, can sometimes turn against you and bite where it really hurts.

David stops just short of biting but does take it in the mouth. Beginning really well in french noir fashion with dark scenes and Neil Nitin Mukesh’s stubble glinting in the low light of the high end production sets, it keeps going and keeps trying but ultimately underwhelms.

What the film doesn’t lack is energy. There is always things happening on the screen and even though the director could have reined his leash a bit tighter and made the film shorter, it does keep you entertained throughout. David tells the tale of 3 “Davids” in 3 different places, in 3 different eras. No, this isn’t even slightly similar to any of Tarantino’s and the film does draw a bit of his style. It would also remind you of Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, without the witty dialogue or any of Scorsese’s customary skills.

Where the film misses on dialogues though, it makes up with its catchy soundtrack which could easily be one of the best you would hear this year. Overall the film is raw, visually appealing and backed up by some good acting but that doesn’t do enough to cover up the feeble plot.

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

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