Higher bar for higher growth

Economic figures cannot be the sole narrator of a nation’s overall growth. The value-adding indicators are health and education – the non-income Human Development Index (HDI). The 2010 Human Development Report too presented that there has been very little correlation between economic growth and improvements in health and education, even after years. And countries with fairly low rank in economic growth have made much progress in the non-income HDI; Cuba and Palau have non-income development similar to the developed nations.

Look at the development index and it has a lot to do with the way things are done. If we measure what we do, we can manage the outcome up to a considerable extent. Superpower United States and Asia’s fastest-moving economy China, both have got their teeth into improving the education system. The ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act – introduced in the George W Bush regime – witnessed bipartisan support and set a “high challenging standard” for students. It also requires the states to provide “highly qualified” teachers. This two-pronged strategy also lays increased accountability on teachers.

China often faces criticism for heavy indoctrination of politics at school level, one of the many issues offsetting its many minor and major educational reforms over the years. According to a UNESCO report, between 1990 to 2000 China experienced the sharpest decline in literacy rates of any E-9 country. Today, its higher education reform, however, talks about relaxation of central control and to give universities autonomy to allow academia an upper hand in functioning of schools. It also plans to quit the dependency on a single test and adopt a thorough assessment of students using multiple tests and factors. Click here to read more...

Read More IIPM Related Articles
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
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
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

What should be the retirement age of Politician of India?

This is due to several factors – a major one being that there is no effort by the entrenched political class to engage them. After the late Rajiv Gandhi, it is only his son Rahul who has brought back the issue of youths' involvement in active politics into the public domain. Like his father, he too believes in the power of the youth and is convinced that only the involvement of the young in politics will usher in real change. Rahul has repeated this in almost every speech: "I am here to open the door for the youth." And he blames his own party for not allowing them to come forward, thus effectively arresting its growth. During his recent visit to Punjab, he wanted to see new faces. But when he arrived most of the state leaders who had lined up were oldies. This so disgusted Rahul that he reportedly announced the names of youth leaders all by himself. Let the older politicos work as think-tanks and guides for the young: no more!

It is sometimes argued that even old politicians can deliver and have vision and courage like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The frail "naked fakir" – as the British called him – had the vision and guts to undertake something that is today a globally revered model: Satyagraha. In 1942, at age 73, he sent out the Quit India movement call, braving, along with his unarmed countrymen, the batons and bullets of the British Police. That was also when Sir Winston Churchill, then 65, was leading Britain through the Second World War. And both Gandhi and Churchill won their wars.

But those were exceptions. For every Gandhi and Churchill, there are hundreds whose old age simply does not let them function efficiently. But this has not prevented a large number of them to carve out powerful political fiefdoms that have room for them only – and certainly for no youngster. Politicians need to take a leaf from our super senior cricketers – two of whom have retired for the good of the game. They need to do the same for the good of the country. They must ensure that India is never found on a weak wicket....Continue

IIPM Arindam Chaudhuri 4Ps Business & Marketing Business & Economy Kkoooljobs Planman Media Planman Consulting Planman Marcom Planman Technologies Planman Financial Planman Motion Pictures GIDF The Daily Indian IIPM Think Tank
The Sunday Indian

“A content people made us win”

What are the challenges you face in your second innings in power?
We have to justify the faith that people have reposed in us. We have to implement the promises in our election manifesto. Efficient governance, which is honest and responsible to the people is our goal. Corruption is a major issue and the people have to be relieved of that burden. I believe mere paper programmes and promises will not change anything. If we can justify this trust of the people we shall come back for a third inning too.

What lies behind the success in the polls?
We were confident we would win… for the past six months, I have extensively toured the towns and villages of my state. I found people contented with our government. I found no discontent either during the “Gram Suraj” (Good Village Governance) or Vikas Yatra (“Development Campaign”). The kind of reception from women that I was privileged to be accorded was amazing. The entire lot converted into ballots for us. Our efforts at development were serious even during the previous tenure.

The entire poll campaign was focussed on rice and Raman, but many of your candidates lost.
The BJP always enters the poll battle led by the captain of the team. I am happy that I justified the trust of the party in me. If you are a people’s representative, you have to deliver the goods. During voting, people mark how you come through to them, whether their needs have been fulfilled over the last five years, and whoever fails to meet these criteria face defeat. It is simple! And this is why the party had denied tickets to those candidates who had not worked for the people.

Why do you think the Congress lost?
(Laughs) You ought to ask the Congress leaders. They suffered from leadership and trust deficit. Which is why people in other states too rejected them.....Continue

IIPM Arindam Chaudhuri 4Ps Business & Marketing Business & Economy Kkoooljobs Planman Media Planman Consulting Planman Marcom Planman Technologies Planman Financial Planman Motion Pictures GIDF The Daily Indian IIPM Think Tank
The Sunday Indian

A filmmaker offers a totally new musical experience

During filming, the backdrop, lightings and even the singers’ costumes were changed as per the requirements of the song. The film is made digitally for viewing in theatres with surround sound. Sounds of percussion instruments like the Mirudangam and Ganjira will get a new lease of life, promises the director.

The film was shot simultaneously with seven 4K RED Digital cameras – a world's first – by award winning cinematographer PC Sriram. H Sridhar, famous Tamil film sound engineer did the audio. The film will be first screened at multiplexes, and then gradually screened overseas. DVDs and audio CDs will be released around April 2009.

Describing the experience of singing for a ‘film’, TM Krishna said: “There were around a hundred crew members, yet there was complete silence. I was in complete peace of mind while singing.”

The rupees one-crore film targets music lovers who find it impossible to attend concerts. “The new concept of multiplex cinema has made such experiments possible. Since most theatres are digitally equipped now, films like "Margazhi Raagam" are becoming increasingly possible,” says Jayendra. Good ideas have always brought about changes. Perhaps this one too will do so.....Continue

IIPM Arindam Chaudhuri 4Ps Business & Marketing Business & Economy Kkoooljobs Planman Media Planman Consulting Planman Marcom Planman Technologies Planman Financial Planman Motion Pictures GIDF The Daily Indian IIPM Think Tank
The Sunday Indian

Shankaracharya

Shastri then issued a whip, causing the KVP meeting to be cancelled. But Shukla, Upadhyay and Pachauri formed a parallel body -- the Varanaseya Vidvat Parishad -- and went ahead with Amritanand’s abhisheka (anointment) as shankaracharya. “I have issued a charge-sheet against the erring KVP members. It is parallel bodies like these that have so denigrated eminent institutions like the KVP. The matter calls for a thorough probe and the culprits’ prosecution.”

Swami Aviroopanand, however, disapproves of the KVP’s activities as well. “Of late this organisation has lost all dignity and prestige. No less than five persons in Varanasi claim to be its president or general secretary,” says the swami who is deputy of Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Badrinath and Dwarka.

Now as the murky side of Hindutva is coming to the fore, most of those who were involved in “anointing” Sudhakar Dwivedi feel safer underground or in finding alibis to deny their complicity. “Pachauri put my name on the invitation without my consent. I attended the function in my capacity as pro-vice chancellor of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. The allegations that I took money for this are false,” claims Shivji Upadhyay. He also accuses Batuk Shastri of dividing the KVP.

The convener of the function, Ram Yatna Shukla, says he doesn’t know Amritanand “personally” and had protested against his anointment. Pachauri, meanwhile, has been untraceable since the ATS arrested Amritanand alias Dwivedi.

Such is the murky world of these new age shankaracharyas! There is no hierarchy and absolutely no checks and balances. For a price, anyone can claim to be a pandit, an acharya, a ramanujacharya, a mahandleshwar or a shankaracharya.

But no matter! Hindutva’s torchbearers are in no great hurry to look within. Their foremost concern, in the words of VHP leader Dr Surendra Jain, is to prevent the “vilification” of Hindu leaders by “pseudo-secular” politicians and “pliable” organisations like the ATS. Says Jain, “We will pay attention to this aspect too ."...Continue

IIPM Arindam Chaudhuri 4Ps Business & Marketing Business & Economy Kkoooljobs Planman Media Planman Consulting Planman Marcom Planman Technologies Planman Financial Planman Motion Pictures GIDF The Daily Indian IIPM Think Tank
The Sunday Indian

A positive match

Often the making of a marriage is seen in the light of everything but love. Even in times when instances of courtship following marriage in order of chronology are becoming rarer, arranged marriages still don’t raise many an eyebrow. But what are the implications of swapping medical histories in addition to the material reconnaissance that is a staple precursor to these alliances? Although “there are no conclusive evidences that prove pre-marital HIV testing has reduced the number of AIDS cases in places that have introduced this law”, according to Tripti of Lawyers Collective Mumbai (organization dedicated to solving cases related to HIV), it is largely the dominance and popularity of arranged marriages in our culture that has stirred debates about the viability of mandatory pre-marital HIV testing for both the parties. However perfect the idea of matching a HIV negative with a negative and rejecting a HIV positive might sound to the ears, there are some compelling contentions and reservations against making it a law that can’t be ignored.

While of all the causes of contracting the infection, “unprotected sex is the most prevalent form,” says Anil, a government employee (from his seven years of experience of creating awareness about the disease), it is the taboo attached to being a HIV+ that makes people refrain from getting tested. “I came close to this struggle that an HIV+ person goes through in terms of the way society treats them and the trauma that the family goes through only when my best friend went through it. Sadly, despite being in the medical profession, he made the mistake of visiting prostitutes. Even though his family stood by him, he remained without a marital partner until his death”, regretfully recalls Anil who after his friend’s demise started a portal www.positivesaathi.com to facilitate matrimonial alliances between HIV+ people across the world. His one and a half year old portal has already registered more than five hundred people and has helped many positive people find partners, the most recent being Chaya Tope of Pune and Yogesh of Canada....Continue

IIPM Arindam Chaudhuri 4Ps Business & Marketing Business & Economy Kkoooljobs Planman Media Planman Consulting Planman Marcom Planman Technologies Planman Financial Planman Motion Pictures GIDF The Daily Indian IIPM Think Tank
The Sunday Indian

Scared countries stay cool

The government of India may have triumphed and brought home its boys, the sailors from the pirated Japanese ship MV Stolt Valor, but there’s little to celebrate, as yet another Yemeni ship was hijacked on November 25, infuriating the world. In fact, the bigger challenge at present is to rescue ships like MV Fiana, a Ukrainian vessel carrying 33 combat tanks and Sirius Star, Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying over two million barrels of oil which is worth over $100 million. Astoundingly, nearly 17 ships are being held to ransom in the region at present.

No one knows where these pirates get their support from. However, the US has ruled out any al-Qaeda support to these pirates. US Army Gen William "Kip" Ward said the chaos on the high seas is a reflection of the country's political chaos. Somalia has had no functioning government since 1991.....Continue

IIPM Arindam Chaudhuri 4Ps Business & Marketing Business & Economy Kkoooljobs Planman Media Planman Consulting Planman Marcom Planman Technologies Planman Financial Planman Motion Pictures GIDF The Daily Indian IIPM Think Tank
The Sunday Indian

The Old Testament tells how Cain killed his brother Abel and God’s wrath felled him. Is Andhra Pradesh’s Christian CM, YSR, ...

The Old Testament tells how Cain killed his brother Abel and God’s wrath felled him. Is Andhra Pradesh’s Christian CM, YSR, about to do the same to his brethren and invite the wrath of voters, the God of all politicos? asks TSI’s Nageswara Rao Thamanam

This ascribed identity to these groups has been debated for decades. "Being in the Hindu fold, the Dalit families are deprived of entry into the Hindu temples, and now the state government prevents us from using the welfare scheme to go to the birth place of Christ," said a Dalit Christian leader. Although YSR wants to win the hearts of the Christian community, his move has raised many questions on the genuineness of his commitment.


With the majority of Christians being excluded from the new scheme, it is unlikely their hearts would melt when he next coming pleading for votes. Contrarily, it will definitely provide ammunition for the demogogic Hindutva brigade in the state. The problem with this policy is that it did not recognise the fact that if Dalit Christians are excluded from the reservations for Christian community, it will only fuel their anger against the segregation. YSR government's exclusion of Dalit Christians’ to Holy Lands would permanently damage the sympathy YSR has among the Christian community: he himself comes from a Christian community, whose majority he is now alienating. The scheme will fuel the old fire of caste within the Christians and would split the community's loyalties.

With the general and Assembly elections approaching, this gesture by the ruling Congress government is seen as another ploy to turn every possible group into their prospective supporters. As a matter of fact, Andhra Pradesh is the only state in South India that is under Congress rule and from where Congress has 30 Lok Sabha members. Coming back to power in AP will ensure its strength in the next LS. With its sentimental opposition to separate statehood to Telangana, and being the only major political party to oppose it, the Congress is looking for alternatives to raid the vote bank. But it remains to be seen if YSR will succeed in winning the hearts of minorities.

Precisely at a time when attacks on Christians by the Hindutva forces in Orissa and Karnataka are rising, the populist initiative by the AP government will make the Christian community more vulnerable to the Hindutva forces. On the face of it, the CM is doing a great service to his own Christians brethren but in effect it will perhaps repeat the story of Cain killing Abel!...Continue

IIPM Arindam Chaudhuri 4Ps Business & Marketing Business & Economy Kkoooljobs Planman Media Planman Consulting Planman Marcom Planman Technologies Planman Financial Planman Motion Pictures GIDF The Daily Indian IIPM Think Tank
The Sunday Indian

Poll wars in cyberspace

Just as the hi-tech, high-pitch Barack Obama-John McCain campaign drew to a close, news arrived that India’s mainline political parties had lined up similar smart tools for the forthcoming Assembly elections. In at least four states in the Hindi heartland the contestants have migrated to highly sophisticated campaign methods. They no longer rely exclusively on banners, posters, hoardings, cut-outs and graffiti -- and those old-fashioned sound amplifiers are swiftly being discarded for neater stuff. Indeed even the rural voters, long accustomed to politicians making their point through folk songs and local dances and art forms, are this time round being wooed in true firangi style.

While the Congress has fitted its campaign vehicles with General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) to track their movement, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using social service networks, mobile telephony and FM radio stations to woo young voters. The Congress has also been aping the BJP’s 2004 campaign strategy by launching the appeals of its president Sonia Gandhi, Youth Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in recorded messages relayed through telephones. So don’t for a moment be surprised if your phone rings and the caller says, Main Sonia Gandhi bol rahi hoon (This is Sonia Gandhi).

Congress’s central unit has hired Crayon Advertising to push its campaign, leaving the state units to pick their own favourites. Another departure from earlier campaigns is to get comedians like Ehsan Qureshi and Raju Srivastava commanding high TRPS to pitch in. “With them we hope to make our campaigns livelier and thus hit the right cord among the electorate,” says AICC Media Committee chairman Veerappa Moily.

BJP’s campaign armour is being overseen by an unassuming IIM Ahmedabad alumni, Prodyut Bora, who is head of the party’s IT cell. Bora had quit his top job at a software company four years ago to join the party fulltime. He has not only updated the BJP’s website (he can’t hide his admiration for Barack Obama’s campaign website), but has also designed his party’s e-mail system with instant messenger (IM) facility. All of the party’s primary members are issued special e-mail ids to enable uninterrupted online chats with their leaders.....Continue

IIPM Arindam Chaudhuri 4Ps Business & Marketing Business & Economy Kkoooljobs Planman Media Planman Consulting Planman Marcom Planman Technologies Planman Financial Planman Motion Pictures GIDF The Daily Indian IIPM Think Tank
The Sunday Indian

Misery breeds opportunity

As the cost pressure rises in the US, it only means better business prospects for Indian BPO industry
Uncle Sam’s plight has implications for a range of sectors, and one would quite obviously agree that the Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) sector would be among the most affected. As they are already awake for most part of the night, it’s now time for them to wrack their brains even during the day – all to minimise the devastating impact of the crisis.

Affirms Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman Hero Corporate Service Ltd., “If our clients get affected so do we…” No doubt, the $11 billion Indian BPO industry, which according to NASSCOM, accounts for approximately 40% of the Global Business Process Offshoring (further expected to grow by whopping $50 billion by 2012), is under the scanner. The worst ones being thrashed by the blow of this merciless subprime crisis are the mortgage and banking firms, which ironically are the second largest outsourced vertical, next only to IT. In fact, IndyMac Bancorp, one of the largest independent mortgage lenders in the US, has already cut down its staff (primarily based in India) by 27%. If that’s not enough, the slowdown has also forced Parsec Interact Inc., a California-based mortgage firm into bankruptcy. It has closed down its shop in India – Parsec Loans.

Rajesh Mokashi, Executive Director, Credit Analysis and Research Ltd, is also of the opinion that “this crisis has adversely affected the mortgage, property and other related markets. This is leading to slowdown of some of these businesses and as Indian BPOs are dependent on these clients they will also get affected. However, bigger BPO’s won’t feel it much because of their diverse portfolio.” Undoubtedly, businesses are getting affected but then there are some who sense an opportunity to be tapped even in this nightmare. Yes, the subprime crisis is getting them more business. And if you look at what Wall Street is doing, you too get the feel! The more cost pressure these financial firm face, the more they would look towards outsourcing as a measure to save cost.


This could mean additional business for many BPO firms operating in India. “Two key reasons why clients outsource to India are cost and availability of talent. And no doubt the subprime crisis is enhancing the cost pressure on the global financial services industry, but the talent is still there,” agrees Joydeep Datta Gupta, Executive Director, Deloitte and Touche Consulting, India.

Raman Roy, CMD, Quatrro voices, “Less than 5% of the total opportunity in this BPO sector has been tapped till now, which is indicative of the enormous growth potential available to the industry”. Although the present may look dark and bleak for some organisations but surely this is not the end of the road in terms of business prospects. But Indian BPO’s will have to be particularly careful to ensure that they lap up this opportunity or they could lose it to aggressive competition from Philippines, Vietnam or even for that matter China.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
'This is one of Big B's best performances'
IIPM to come up at Rajarhat
IIPM awards four Bengali novelists
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Recent liberalisation will boost investments

“Policies were aimed to provide healthy competition, and level-playing field”
How will the merger of Indian and AI help in terms of route distribution and profitability of the new entity?

The merged airline is working towards providing seamless connectivity of regional operations, short to medium haul trunk operation, and long haul operation – thus offering improved product through wider network coverage. The new airline is the largest in the country with a fleet size of almost 120 aircrafts, comparable to other airlines in Asia and more aircrafts are on order. It is enabling the enentity to have national and international footprints, achieve synergies, and reduce costs. The merger will also provide significance synergy for procurement, sales and distribution, besides affording an opportunity for elaborating common assets.

What about the other logistical issues, best management practices, allocation of cadre and staff, division of labour, trade unions, and hierarchy? The interests of the employees have been taken due care of through the scheme of amalgamation approved by the ministry of corporate affairs. All employees of the erstwhile Indian, and Air India, have become employees of NACIL without any breach or interruption of service and on terms and conditions not less favorable than those applicable to them earlier. A three-tier grievance redressal machinery has been put into place to address employee grievances.

AI has offices on stations that do not have any flights. What are you going to do with these extra stations?

Air India is re-working its route plans, and with acquisition of more aircrafts, it plans to connect many more places where hitherto it was not able to, operate to due to the lack of availability of aircrafts.

Are you thinking in terms of increasing the number of flights, and is there any positive movement towards signing more bilaterals?

Traffic rights of international operations are specified in the bilateral air services agreement with foreign countries, which are reviewed from time to time as part of ongoing process depending upon traffic demand, balance of benefit to our carriers, overall interest of national economy, diplomatic and political consideration. Actual operations including route selection are however left to the commercial judgment of the airlines. Presently, India has air services agreements with more than 100 countries.

How do you balance the government’s commitment to social security which means no retrenchment or golden handshakes, and economic common sense which emphasises on trimming staff and maximising output?

In the aviation sector because of its phenomenal growth there has been no need to cut down on staff. In the airport sector, the AAI is modernising 35 non-metro airports and bring them to world-class level. Besides, a number of unused airports and air strips are being made operational and, hence, the question of decreasing staff strength in this sector does not arise. Even for the merged airlines, Air India, the requirement of staff strength will only go up as new aircrafts, orders for which have already been placed, are being delivered and as the airlines scales up its operations. What about disinvestment?

Air India is expected to bring out its IPO towards the end of this year. The airline will be working out details of this programme along with its consultant for the consideration of the government.

Some outstanding issues of the aviation industry remain unresolved, like ATF prices. Operators say that with ATF prices as they are, it would be difficult to maximise output, revenues and efficiency. What are your views? Fuel alone accounts for more than 40% of the total operating cost for airlines in India. ATF rates for domestic operations in India are 60-70% higher than international benchmark. This high price of ATF is contributing to the large losses that are being incurred by the Indian aviation industry. Recently, I and senior officials from the civil aviation ministry have met Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and requested him to give some concessions in the next Budget. We have asked him to consider giving ATF the status of ‘declared goods’, and reducing customs and excise duty on ATF.

Some private players are upset at what they call ‘old and archaic’ rules that govern the aviation industry in India. They say it is a hindrance to growth. Do you intend to bring about changes or significant amendments?

In past three-and-a-half years, the rules of aviation industry related to the government have undergone a sea change. Various amendments have been made. There have been changes in airport infrastructure rules – a new, airport infrastructure policy will soon be in place. FDI policy in various departments of aviation has been changed – the economies of scales will now justify huge investment in areas like MROs, jet engine shops, cargos, ground handling. India will be the fourth in the world to install satellite navigation system enabling handling of higher volumes of air traffic safety, a merger and acquisition policy has been put in place to facilitate consolidations in the sector. The new civil aviation policy is under the consideration of the government, a ground handling policy has been formulated in every sector of aviation.

Finally, how do you see the aviation sector in the immediate future, let’s say at the end of this decade?

The government has put in place the merger and acquisition policy to aid the mergers and the consolidation taking place in the sector. The government has plans to scale up the air cargo business in the country as well as helicopter operations. The Indian aviation sector will be one of the major drivers of the economy in the near future. It is expected to bring in investments to the tune of $115-120 billion. Besides being one of the top sectors for investment, it would also be one of the top sectors for employment generation where the air traffic is expected to growth at the rate of at least 25% for the next 10 years; by the end of 2008, there should be at least 100 airports in the country and this number will only grow because India needs at least 400 airports across its length and breadth.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
'This is one of Big B's best performances'
IIPM to come up at Rajarhat
IIPM awards four Bengali novelists
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Life at the ‘4’front

Fast mobile data transfers will take a while
In a scenario where ‘staying connected’ seems to be the inherent mantra of the organizations and people worldwide, the technological advancements in the mobile broadband arena are being watched closely by the tech experts. Recently, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSNs) completed the multi-user field trial using the new Long term Evolution technology (LTE).

Noticeably, this was the world’s first filed trial in an urban environment, which offered mobile data rates of up to 173 Megabytes per second. Interestingly, before this, such high speed mobile data transfers were absolutely unheard of, considering the fact that the traditional mobile broadband offers an infinitesimal speed of 7.2 Mbps and the promising mobile Wimax can only stretch up to a speed of 70 Mbps.

Such trial is important considering the fact that the use of mobile multimedia services over the internet is on the rise and requires quicker response time and faster data transfer rates. ”As the world continues to move closer to our vision of 5 billion people connected by 2015, mobile operators will need to use all of the available spectrum with minimum network complexity and maximum cost efficiency,” says Stephan Scholz, CTO of NSNs. “This field trial is an important initial proof of concept for LTE,” he further adds.

Interestingly, the fact that NSNs achieved the highest mobile data transfer rates of 173 Mbps over several hundred meters point towards the high efficiency levels of LTE technology as compared to that of WiMAX. If deployed on a large scale, LTE can help the mobile broadband companies in connecting maximum number of people using the minimum spectrum. “We can demonstrate that LTE meets the high expectations set for this new technology,” adds Matthias Reiss, who is the head of LTE Radio at NSN, further emphasizing on the evidence (extracted out of this trial) that future LTE networks can run on existing base station sites and mobile operators can build LTE networks without requiring new antenna sites.

Interestingly, LTE, which is a modulation technique designed for GSM based technology – seems to be a bit of a late entrant when clubbed with mobile WiMax, another wireless technology, which is now already in practice in certain pockets of UK. However, these are just packets of individual technologies that find themselves in a race to proclaiming the 4G crown. The crown, in contrast, lies way beyond for now.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM to come up at Rajarhat
IIPM awards four Bengali novelists
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Lowa says, black is beautiful too!

Obama’s Iowa victory goes to prove that Hillary just won’t be able to win the race so easily.
The caucus-goers in Iowa made their way to the ballot forewarning key pitfalls for Hillary Clinton & Mitt Romney and bouquets for their respective rivals, Barack Obama & Mike Huckabee. Obama’s triumph came after the costliest & most intensely fought campaign ever in the history of the Iowa. The year-long rivalry shaped a huge turnout that reflected the vigour and eagerness among Democratic voters strong-minded to recapture the White House in November. Whereas, in the GOP race, Huckabee, an Evangelical Neocon, used his folksy style to stitch together a loose alliance of Evangelical Christians & conservatives to beat Mitt Romney. Reacting on his victory, noted political analyst Vaughn Ververs told B&E, “Huckabee took advantage of a Republican party dispirited by an unpopular President & unexcited by their choices for a presidential standard-bearer.” Obama sailed to victory accompanied by a spectacular attendance of first-time caucus-goers, bagging roughly 38% of the vote in a race that drew 240,000 Democrats – about twice the GOP turnout.

Obama’s triumph was the newest chapter in his incredible political saga. In the quest of becoming the first African American president, he found receptive listeners countrywide, & proved his grit in this principally white and pastoral state. Reacting on the result, political analyst David Yepsen said to B&E, “I deem Clinton had failed to get a convincing message out to the voters, despite a huge operational presence in the state. From here, the anti-Hillary Clinton vote will now coalesce around Barack Obama. That’s part of the story tonight.” The result in Iowa sets the arena for what will be a high-stakes fight in New Hampshire, with Clinton now fighting for endurance in a state where her once-robust lead has mostly vaporised in the past two months and Obama has been growing. The largest single day of caucuses voting will come on Feb 5, when several of US’ largest states will hold primaries.

The result has also set alarm bells ringing for Republicans. Blake Rutherford, political analyst and Director of Public Affairs in Iowa told B&E: “In my view, Iowa told us a lot about the Democratic Party. Primarily, attendance was huge, which exemplifies that in a state that Bush carried in 2004, sway voters are breaking with Democrats on every matter, and in overpowering numbers. If that’s symptomatic of what’s happening in other parts, 2008 could be a bad year for Republicans across the board.”

With enormous campaign finance and great ambitions following the two frontrunners, the Clinton-Obama war is far from over, long drawn out, and fierce propaganda battles are on the cards in the coming weeks.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Giving SOS

Organ market goes haywire…
While it indeed is a matter of dilemma whether trade of human organs is at all ethical or not… the need of the hour is to establish an organised organ market.

The financially crippled, quote any price according to their discretion and sell their lungs to less deserving yet wealthy patients just for the lure of money… whereas the more needy patients keep waiting till it becomes too late. A scintillating example of the same is the black market in Tehran where kidney is tagged at a staggering price of $2,500-$3,750, when the same is available in the Institute for Kidney Patients, Delhi at almost half the price… and as if that’s not enough such corrupted commercialisation of organs is not even attempted to be kept a clandestine affair.

Developing countries like India, Turkey, China, Russia and Iraq indulge in black marketing of organs to cater to the needs of patients from more developed nations and examples are umpteen where donors are either being cheated or are beleaguered from health deterioration after selling their organs. Then, the solution isn’t in formation of a legal organ market. It will be repetition of the rich buying the poor’s. This time, not as a slave but to use his organs at the expense of his life.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

An investor. A tycoon. And a Royal Prince!

Call him the world’s 13th richest man, call him a father of two, call him an investor or simply call him a prince, but he knows his game

He belongs to the Saudi Royal Family, but building huge royal desert castles was not his dream. His desires shot beyond just leading a ‘royal’ rich life & moved beyond international boundaries – towards US & Europe as an enterpreneur & investor. Today, he has amassed a $10 billion stake in Citigroup alone (apart from other investments) and has demonstrated clear interests in American politics over the years too and his rendezvous with former US Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton standing alibi to the same. Call him Prince Al-Walid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, or just Prince Al-Walid – an investor worth $20.3 billion (the 13th richest person for 2007, as per Forbes).

He’s known across continents for reasons bigger than being the only private buyer of the super-jumbo Airbus A380 or for the $20 million gifts he made to Harvard and Georgetown to expand their Islamic studies departments. He’s a man whose passion for capitalism moves far beyond just his $3.9 billion deal to buy Fairmont Hotel & Resorts, far beyond plain luxury! Want a proof? Well, he demonstrated his knowledge of what the stock markets are capable of when in February 2007, he listed his hotel holdings on the Dubai stock exchange. He further aims to get his primary investment group, Kingdom Holdings, listed on the Saudi exchange by end-2007. And what about his investments of $7.5 bn on December 4, 2007 which further increased his control in Citigroup to a commanding 4.9%, making him the largest controller of the $170.1 billion entity? A capitalst indeed!

Born on March 7, 1955, Prince Al-Walid has been divorced twice and is currently married to Princess Ameera and blessed with two children – Prince Khaled and Princess Reem. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Menlo College in 1979 and further completed a Masters in Social Science from Maxwell School of Syracuse University in 1985. The year 1979 saw the birth of his business career, a man who chose not to become a part of the Saudi political scene. His investment career wasn’t all that rosy to begin with though. His professional career didn’t take a kickstart initially, as real estate deals signed by him during the 1980s remained undervalued for some time. In the 1990s, when Citicorp was facing complexities his investor activities gained momentum. And there was born the real businessman .


Today, this man is no less a media tycoon too – what with huge investments in AOL, Apple, Motorola, News Corp et al. He also produced the first Saudi Arabian movie ever, titled Keif al-Hal, provoking questions about Saudi life. Talking about his venture, the Prince says, “I am correcting a big mistake, that is all. I want to tell the Arab youth that you too deserve to be entertained, you have the right to watch movies, you have the right to listen to music.” Hotels, we would say, is his other area of interest, with his real estate holdings comprising huge stakes in the Four Seasons hotel chain and the Plaza Hotel in New York, Monte Carlo Grand & many more...

Like every successful business man, he has his own way of unwinding at the end of the day. “Sometimes, I stay alone, sit alone there for one or two or three hours. I really feel serenity, at home, alone, in the middle of the desert, no lights, only the light of the fire. I feel very much comfortable in the desert.” says Al-Walid. Unlike any blue-blooded prince, he accepts modestly his passion for not so expensive things and still holds dear his second hand Jet bought from the Sultan of Brunei. This Prince might not possess the same technological expertise as the Gates or the Dells or a shrewd investment sense (his poor decisions wiped out his entire stake in internet giants many years back), but his proficiency for striking good investment deals just shields them all.

With his incredible wealth and royalty, guess its time to believe, ‘In the world of business, everyone’s the same, a king or a common man if he knows the game!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

With oil bonds, its not that hard to imagine!

These bonds will dent government finances when they mature...
India, which imports nearly 70% of its crude oil requirement, is faced with a not so unheard problem; the PSU oil marketing firms are losing about Rs.2 billion per day on retail sales. Reason being, the government has not allowed them to raise prices in line with the increase in international crude oil prices.

The government had in place a three pronged package – affect a price hike in petroleum products, meet its burden by current provisioning and modify the existing subsidy scheme to target the poor. Yet, despite the fact that the mismatches between domestic prices and global oil prices can’t be tackled with the issuance of oil bonds, the government will issue bonds worth Rs.300 billion to compensate PSU oil firms for their losses. Exactly 21 months ago, in February 2006; the Committee on Pricing & Taxation of Petroleum Products headed by Dr. C. Rangarajan said that the issuance of oil bonds raises some fiscal concerns. “The off-balance sheet exposure of Indian government is more than 1% of its GDP and issuances of oil bonds are one of the biggest worry. Oil bonds will dent government finances badly, when they mature,” says Sachidanand Shukla, Economist, Enam. With the overall subsidy burden estimated to exceed Rs.1 trillion, issuing bonds to meet short term objective is certainly not the way out and aligning them to international prices is the only solution.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Browse & organize

Tactile 3D is a user interface made to browse & organize all your existing files on your hard drive in 3D using shapes and sounds to identify folders and files. Get a free trial at www.tactile3d.com. Wouldn’t it be great if you could search your data while ‘walking’ INSIDE your hard drive? Remember those hacker movies where the protagonist virtually enters a computer program to physically look for the virus. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of this is the character Tom Sanders (Michael Douglas) ‘walking’ on Digicom’s VR Database in Michael Crichton’s movie Disclosure. A Force More Powerful (www.afmpgame.org) is the first and only 3D game to teach the waging of conflict using nonviolent methods. Destined for use by activists and leaders of non-violent resistance and opposition movements, the game will also educate the media and general public on the potential of nonviolent action and serve as a simulation tool for academic studies of nonviolent resistance. Think of a world without actual wars, we can just fight them virtually and spare millions of lives.

VRMAG (http://vrm.vrway.com) is an online magazine with an incredible 3D interface. It actually allows you to read the magazine as an object in space. This means that with some more advanced programming, you would not need to go to America to be inside the American Library of Congress. If all books are digitized and added to an interface like this, the library is available at the touch of a button. Several organizations including Google and Project Gutenberg are already digitizing books.

NASA World Wind (http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov) is an intergalactic Google Earth with the moon, Mars, Venus & Jupiter as well. After we have sufficient imagery data in the future, we could travel to these distant planets sitting in our living rooms. And speaking of Google Earth, the net is ripe with rumours about a new Google product called My World that adds human movement and interaction to the already realistic world of Google Earth. Using its graphics development application SketchUp (http://sketchup.google.com) Google may be on its way to creating a 3D universe of its own. Although there is still no official statement, the obvious possibility is a competitor to Second Life. Some folks are even talking about Google buying out Second Life, but then if Google had its way, it would buy out every innovative piece of software on the planet, and in the virtual world of course.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs