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Bridge ends century-long wait

2011-12-01T11:06:00.001+05:30

Kavalam Sasikumar reports on a cross-river link that has finally put an isolated Kerala village on the map

Can the opening of a new bridge draw a crowd of 50,000 people? The inauguration of the Mayannur bridge at Ottappalam of Palakkad district in Kerala just did. The chief minister, the state Assembly speaker and political leaders of all hues wondered as to why people turned up in such large numbers when attendance at political rallies has steadily declined in the politically sensitive state. Old people reached the venue to watch the programme, women came with their babies in tow. It was special, a day they have waited decades for.

The bridge on Bharathappuzha river, the longest in Kerala, bridges not only the two banks but connects the people living on the two sides. On one side of the river lies Ottappalam, a developed township. On the other, in Thrissur district, lies the village of Mayannur. The people of Mayannur struggled to reach Ottappalam for treatment, education, commerce, employment and other activities. They had to spend money and time by travelling more than 32 km by road to reach Ottappalam or had to swim across the river. During the monsoon, the river overflowed its banks and it was not even easy for the boats. Most would swim across the river. Students and working people were forced to carry an extra dress along with their lunch boxes. Those, who did not, spent their day in wet clothes. During the summers, they struggled to walk on the red hot sand bed. Now that the bridge is there, Ottappalam is a 15-minute walk.

The struggle for this bridge is a saga in itself. It dates back to the days of the rule of the provincial prince of Kochi and the Britishers. One side of the river was under the rule of Raja of Kochi and the other part, Malabar, was under the British rule. The Raja of Kochi planned to build a wooden bridge here but later abandoned the project. Then, during the freedom movement, Mahatma Gandhi visited Ottappalam which boosted the freedom movement in the state. Gandhi too had raised the demand for a bridge here. There is a Gandhi Ashram in the village Mayannur in memory of his visit.

But the recorded initiative for a bridge here starts in 1920s and it took shape in 1957 just after the formation of the state of Kerala and the first democratically elected state government. That year, the first official meeting to discuss the idea of a bridge took place. The then foreign affairs secretary, K.P.S. Menon, who was leading a retired life in his native Ottappalam at that time, was the first chairman of the committee set up for construction of a causeway across the river. But nothing happened. People, supported by political parties and social organisations, made a human chain to press home their demand. After long procrastination, in 1996-1997, the state budget allocated Rs 20 lakh for the construction of a causeway. But again, it was delayed which came as a blessing in disguise. The plan for a causeway was revisited and the state government approved the plan for a bridge. The foundation stone was laid on November 18, 1999. Work started in 2000. But the pace was abysmal and work was interrupted when Indian Railways refused to give permission for a long time. And so people continued to swim across the river. Continued struggle and strikes drew the attention of authorities. Anyhow, 11 long years after construction had begun, the 1253-metre bridge was finally ready for use.

The positive outcome was the collective effort of all political parties who, for once, rose above partisan politics. The CPI(M) MLA took initiative, the state BJP leader who was minister for state for railways at the Centre during the NDA tenure helped to get the sanction, the present Congress-led Union government and ministers from the state pitched in too. And the inauguration ceremony showed that different political parties could share the dias for a good cause.

The present state government of chief minister V.S Achuthanandan has constructed 20 bridges within the last 56 months. But the Mayannur bridge inauguration was really a grand affair. There were eight cultural processions from various points on both sides of the river. Thousands of people, cultural programmes, bands and caparisoned elephants marked the opening. Students, teachers, government officials mingled with each other. School children expressed their feelings in the form of a one-km-long canvas painting. It took four hours for the Kerala State Transport vehicle to mark the first official journey over the bridge. One of the tableaux in the rally echoed the overall mood. It represented the story of sethubandhanam in Ramayana.

The bridge will not lead to economic development of the region but it will have social implications too. Though Ottappalam and Mayannur are nearby, because of the lack of a connection, people objected to get into marital relations with people from the other bank. Mayannur will become a township soon, Ottappalam will get a boost in terms of trade and travel. The Ottappalam railway station will get a facelift and new development activities are already in the pipeline.

With tears running down her wrinkled skin, Matha, who is over 105 years old, tells TSI, “Now I am ready to say goodbye to my life. It was my dream to see a bridge across the river. I still remember those days as a young girl when I would cross the river full of water while carrying a load of firewood and provisions on my head.”

Chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan stressed on the need of saving our rivers. The Bharathappuzha is a prime example of how illegal sand mining can kill a river. Today there are only small puddles of water here and there in place of the once mighty river. In fact they look like the tearful eyes of a dying river.
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Chandrasekhar Bhattacharjee travels to Haripur, west bengal where a proposed nuclear power plant sparked off protests.

2011-11-29T11:03:00.000+05:30

It inspired the people of singur and nandigram. The project has not been shelved and people are keeping a vigil.

Sushanta Bhunia of Haripur may be aged but his spirit is unwavering as he narrates the tale of the people of Haripur, a conglomeration of 19 odd villages in Contai of East Midnapore, resisting the Centre and the state government's attempts to set up a nuclear power plant. “Dr S. K. Jain, chairman and managing director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI), had come to inspect the area but had to retreat as early as on November 17, 2006. He returned the next day under heavy police protection. Around 18 police vans carried armed policemen but we matched them with thousands of villagers. Then, Jain tried to sneak in riding pillion on a motorbike. We recognised him and stopped him. Since then, no government official has dared to visit Haripur in connection with setting up of a nuclear power plant.”

In fact, Haripur showed the path to Nandigram. Three months before roads of Nandigram were dug up, Haripur erected a barricade at Junput Bazar, the main entry point to the area. Villagers converged behind the barricades to prevent ‘anyone unwanted’. Even the police and the district administration were not allowed. The message was loud and clear: “This land belongs to us, not to the government”. Supporters of the ruling Left Front’s partner West Bengal Socialist Party (WBSP) united together with Trinamool Congress, Congress and Paschmbanga Khet Majur Samity and Matsyajibi Unnayan Samity (unit of National Fishworkers’ Forum). Although Jain, chairman of the site selection panel for N-Plant, could not even enter Haripur, forget inspecting the proposed site, he nonetheless informed chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on November 19, 2006, that ''Haripur has a good potential for setting up a Nuclear Plant''.

Bhunia, over 70 years old, says, “The plant’s core area would eat up 15 villages in a 1.6 km radius. More than 20,000 people would be deprived of their land and income. Apart from that, 75,000 recorded fishermen, whose only source of income is fishing and related activities, will be forced out of their livelihood.” The proposed N-Plant has annoyed even school children like Anu Samanta. “There are three high schools and 14 primary schools and about eight child education centres in this area. Where will we go? Is it that the government does not want us to be educated,” are her words.

A 25-km-long sea dyke was built during British period to protect this area from sea waves and hurricanes. A few prominent sea beach resorts like Digha, Shankarpur and Mandarmani exist in the vicinity. Shankarpur is also an important fishing harbour. Most of the three million people living in the entire region are dependent on the sea for their livelihood which will be affected if a nuclear project came up. The Haripur area is also rich in agriculture Rishikesh Giri, another resident, says, “Haripur produces rice twice a year, including that of the Dhudheswar (a high quality fine rice) variety. Apart from that, we produce wheat, mustard, tomato, eggplant, sesame, green chilli and various kinds of vegetables. We don’t need artificial irrigation. We have our ponds which store rain water and serves our fields throughout the year. Of course, the ponds give us sweetwater fish too.” The per acre yield of rice here is 2,400 kg, much higher than the national average. The hay serves as animal fodder, firewood and roofing material. Giri, whose landholding is modest, has three sons and a daughter who is married. One son is a farmer, another one is an employee of Reliance Industries while the remaining one is a Vaishnavite sanyasi.

Local state Assembly legislator Dibyendu Adhikari admits, “Haripur and the adjoining area is the main source of vegetable supply for the Contai sub-division.” Haripur is dotted with betel vines, coconut trees and banana trees. One cannot count the number of betel vines here. “It may be 7,000 or more. We supply betel leaves to the whole of India,” Ananta Bera, a farmer proudly claims.

Sukumar Bhunia, block Panchayat chief and head of the Committee against Nuclear Reactor to save rights to Land and Livelihood, recalls the legacy of struggle here, “People of Midnapore marched to Haripur at the call of Mahatma Gandhi during Salt Satyagraha.” Even today, about 1,000 villagers live of salt processing.

Prabhuram Dalal is the chief of the fishermen's body here. According to him, there are 42 jetties in the first circle of 1.6 km. Each boat employs around 18 people. The Haripur jetty alone has 95 hand-pulled and 50 mechanised boats. More than 2,750 fishing huts dot the coastal line of Haripur and the adjoining 19 villages. Prabhuram is candid: “If the nuclear power plant is built, about 1.5 crore fishermen, from Kakdwip in West Bengal to Paradip in Orissa, will be directly affected.”

Energy scientist Professor Sujoy Basu, ex-chief of School of Energy Studies, Jadavpur University, corroborates Prabhuram’s anxiety. Scientists of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics in Kolkata are anxious too. Basu says: “It seems we have not taken any lesson from past disasters. Haripur is at the confluence of a river. During high tide, sea water rushes up the rivers and even reaches Farakka in Maldah. If the plant is built, sea water will carry nuclear waste up to that distance. Now, can you imagine the situation?”

The nuclear plant, if it comes up, will displace more than a million people. According to the blueprint, a 1.6-km-radius area forms the core area where none are allowed to settle. Then, there will be an ‘inner ring’ of 3 km radius as a buffer zone. This is specially meant for forestation. The ‘outer ring’ will be of a five km radius, where only 5 to 10 per cent of the present population would be allowed to settle. If the line is drawn, the distance intrudes into Contai (Kanthi) town and the populated areas of Henria, Egra and Nandigram blocks come into this ring.

But what gives Haripur the courage to defy the Indian State? They have even demonstrated outside the Russian Consulate in Kolkata. Sushanta Bhunia says, “The Russian authorities listened to us and then said, ‘We came here as your government has asked us. You please talk to your government'.” He continues, “Medinipur is the land of revolutionaries. We have sacrificed our lives but have never lowered our head in front of oppressors. We are their sons and daughters. We will not leave our land may what come.”

Nandigram let out the same warning in 2007. Subhendu Adhikari, MP from East Midnapore and leader of the Nandigram movement, admits: “Haripur taught me how to fight for the cause of the people. It helped me to stand beside the people of Nandigram. So, Haripur is the mother of the struggles in Singur and Nandigram.” Hrisikesh Giri goes on: “During the Freedom movement, Gandhi and the revolutionaries taught us one thing. There will be no let up in our movement till the proposed
bill is scrapped. Till then, we do not want any development work. We don’t want relief and ration. Land is our mother. If our land is lost, we will die.The government has to understand that this land is ours.”

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Faced with bureaucratic ineptitude, Manipur has been in the grip of a severe power crisis for many years.

2011-11-26T10:58:00.000+05:30

But recent moves have raised hopes of better days for the state

Manipur's 'powerless' electricity department is at the receiving end of a renewed burst of judicial and civil society activism aimed at bringing light back into the lives of people of the north-eastern state. But the power crisis that the state has been facing for several years is far from nearing its end.

Acting on a PIL filed by three persons against erratic power supply in Manipur, the Imphal bench of Guwahati High Court recently issued a notice to the commissioner (power), government of Manipur, and the chief engineer of the state electricity department seeking an explanation for the continuing failure to ensure uninterrupted power supply to consumers who pay their bills regularly.

The court notice, issued by a division bench comprising Justice BK Sharma and Asok Potsangbam, is returnable within four weeks.

The petitioners had contended that bonafide consumers in the state get only about three to four hours of electricity in a day while people in neighbouring states like Nagaland, Assam and Mizoram had round-the-clock power supply.

The PIL pointed out that against the peak hour requirement of 170/180 MW, the state purchases only about 90 MW from power stations like NEEPCO and NHPC. Of this, nearly 80 per cent is lost every month on account of unbridled power theft and constant tripping.

The PIL also stated that the Manipur electricity department spends Rs 11.5 crore every month to purchase power. However, it manages to collect only Rs 1.5 crore from consumers due to systemic failure and widespread corruption.

Although Manipur has immense hydro power potential and can generate up to 2000 MW if it gets its act together, the state's power distribution authorities are unable to meet the domestic requirement of its 1,74,127 consumers.

The Manipur electricity department utilises only about 5 per cent of the potential available in the state. If power theft, which is a cognisable and non-bailable offence under the Electricity Act of 2003, were brought down to 40 per cent, not only would Manipur be able to meet its domestic demand but it would also have surplus power to sell to other states. It would be a win-win situation for Manipur, but as things stand at present the emergence of that happy scenario can only be a distant dream.

The state purchased 438 MW from NEEPCO and NHPC (central undertaking) in 2005-06. The gap between demand and supply has remained constant in spite of the so-called attempts of its nearly 4000-strong staff to enforce compliance with rules and regulations. In 2003-04, the gap was the highest with 48 per cent followed by 39 per cent in 2005-06.

The level of power consumption in Manipur is fairly low. The per capita power consumption is only 146 KWH. The all-India average is 354 KWH. The figure is much higher for Daman and Diu (2335 KWH), Goa (724 KWH), Pondicherry (867 KWH) and Delhi (577 KWH).

The state electricity department has over the years failed to take appropriate action against power pilferers and electricity bill defaulters. It has instead been subsidising the defaulters and penalising regular payees by subjecting both to equal access and equal darkness. This, the petition asserted, clearly implies an absence of an effective regulatory mechanism and absolute lack of governance.

Arguing that failure to provide reliable and uninterrupted electric supply to citizens is a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the PIL prayed that the authorities be directed to meet the demand of all bonafide consumers of Manipur within a specific period of time. It also sought an appropriate judicial direction for providing electric power for at least eight hours a day to people of the state during the interim.

The day after the PIL was filed, the electricity department, for the first time in its history, launched a massive drive against power theft and non-payment of electricity bills. Under the Electricity Act, 2003 (amended in 2007), a number of citizens have already been booked for power theft and outstanding bills.

As a penal measure, many supply lines have been disconnected. The state electricity department collected large sums in the first few days of the drive. The department has also decided to fix power metres for all consumers to ensure commensurate billing although the initiative has come a bit too late.

Corruption within the electricity department is a major cause of Manipur’s power crisis. In many cases, power is pilfered with the connivance of electricity department officials. There have been instances where employees of the state electricity department have written off dues by fudging electricity consumption records. No-objection certificates are easy to come by if a consumer is willing to grease the palm of officials concerned.

In many houses both in the valley and the hill district, meter boxes have not been installed. So the power tariff is calculated on a completely ad hoc basis, leaving room for manipulation and official corruption. The general public is fully aware that it is not only the common people who default in paying their power bills but also several government departments (Rs 22 crore). What action will be taken against such departments is the natural question that exercises the minds of common citizens. But no answers are available.

At the time of writing this report, the power tariff collection drive was still continuing in the state, mostly in the valley areas. Altogether 20 power pilferers, including two women, were arrested. The anti-power theft drive was spearheaded by N. Sarat, chief engineer of the state electricity department.

Sarat, however, insisted that the drive against unauthorised connections was launched as per an announcement made earlier and had nothing to do with the court's directive. The chief engineer explained that the Electricity Act could not be affectively implemented all these years due to the delay in appointment of judicial officers – judges as wells as assistant public prosecutors. “The necessary appointments have now been made and hence the crackdown,” he said.

While the drive is in full swing in the valley, the hill district of the state by and large remains outside its purview. The entire hill district has electricity today, but residents do not have land in their own names. The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act 1960 has not yet been implemented in these hill villages. So it is difficult for the electricity department to raise bills and collect electricity tariff from the villagers in these areas. “This will drive a further wedge between the people of the valley and residents of the hill district,” says Sukham Nanda, a consumer.

Under the provisions of the Electricity Act, a special court has been set up to try cases of power theft and tariff default. But many questions remain unanswered. Will the government departments, too, be brought to book for power tariff arrears?

Those in the know argue that the way forward for the electricity department is to introduce new technologies like underground cables and air pocket sealed cables in order to stop illegal tapping. Introduction of a prepaid billing system for electricity consumers has also been suggested. “All these measures would help end the power crisis in Manipur," a lecturer of environmental science at Maharaj Bodhchandra College, Imphal told TSI.

During the hearing of the PIL, Justice Potsangbam had observed that Nagaland gets uninterrupted power supply although it does not produce any electricity of its own. On the other hand, Manipur, which is a state that generates its own electricity, is unable provide uninterrupted power to its people. Behind that irony is a story of years of ineptitude.

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Bitter reality check for US, Israel

2011-11-23T11:47:00.000+05:30

IIPM Mumbai Campus

Freedom lies behind a door, closed shut It can only be knocked down with a bleeding fist- Egyptian Poet Ahmad Shawqi (1869-1932)

After seeing US and Israel dithering over the mass uprising in Egypt, one can't help but recall the days leading to the Iranian Revolution. The cables sent by the American and other western Embassies in Tehran to their respective capitals in those days make a humorous read. Phrases like “Epitome of stability”, “Island of Stability”, “Rock solid support”, etc kept the intelligence bosses napping as Ayatollah Khomeini pulled the rug beneath the despot.

Similarly, the comments coming from intelligence bosses at Washington and Tel Aviv prior to the Egyptian uprising were peppered with similar phrases. Noted Israeli analyst Gideon Levy recounts how Israeli intelligence officers, along with their alleged best brain on Egypt, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, were briefing the country's top bosses that “Egypt was still in our hand” and how "everything is under control". They were under the impression that Cairo was not Tunis and that Mubarak was too strong to be unseated. To give credibility to his report, Ben-Eliezer also maintained that he was in regular touch with his Egyptian counterparts and they were assured that everything was under control.

The stark similarity clearly indicates how less Israeli and western agencies have learnt about the way people act and react.

“We have become tangential in the region. I'll say that US policy in the Middle East is not on purpose evil. The targets are novel. But the problem is, like an old man, the US' complete reference system is dispiritedly obsolete and no longer holds any meaning,” said Robert Grenier, a CIA veteran in the region with over three decades of experience, to TSI.

On the other hand, when Mubarak appointed intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as his deputy, he was essentially playing his last ace in the kitty. Suleiman suits well to both Israelis and Americans. Any kindergarten student can tell that Suleiman, for all practical purposes, had no hold on the Egyptian streets. So why was he chosen? Well, highly placed sources close to this correspondent believe that he was zeroed in on because nobody in Egypt — not even Mubarak himself — knows the men in olive green fatigues better than him. Suleiman, as it turns out, has spent his career keeping officers in line, and on their toe. And if sources are to be believed, the guy knows the profile and history of every single officer in the Egyptian Army by heart and can predict their loyalty or the lack of it by mere sniffing. Naturally, he is going to be Washington's Man Friday in Cairo. And the first job he is expected to do is to make the security apparatus, which has evaporated since last Friday evening, fall in line.

In fact, the most interesting role in this entire episode has been played by the Egyptian Army and even the police. Hosni Mubarak was a man in uniform till he decided to enjoy further largesses. However, even after taking on the mantle of a dictator, he always made sure that his officers got duly rewarded in cash and kind. However, as is the way of the world, there exists no gratitude in politics.

Another veteran CIA man of the region Robert Baer tells TSI, “The forces, as well as the police, has realised that this a mass protest where people from all classes and religions are participating. It is not like the past when they were asked to run through a rag-tag group of agitators or fundamentalists. They thus realised that it will be insane and harmful to their health if they are perceived to be siding with a regime that itself does not know whether it will see the next sunrise or not.”

Somewhere in between, Western capitals are desperately praying that the uprising will choose Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, as its leader. In fact, they are doing more than merely praying. One needs to just monitor the shifting (and often conflicting) positions and tone taken by CNN and BBC in the past week to understand this larger game. The only problem is that ElBaradei holds far less sway over the Egyptian population than the Western powers have over him.

Theoretically, it is possible that in any interim government dominated by the men in olive green, ElBaradei will act as a straw man. Generals know that he does not have a support base worth a dime and such men are risk free. But his role will finish then and there. Because after the interim government is set up, the elections will come and as much as you might like him, ElBaradei is bound to cut a sorry figure there.

“The likely winner of truly free polls would be the Muslim Brotherhood. They are not as radical as the Islamists. But the first thing they have promised to do if they win power is to hold a referendum on Egypt's diplomatic relations with Israel. And most Egyptians would vote to cancel it,” says Gwynne Dyer, an Arab world watcher based in London whose focus is the modus operandi of the Brotherhood.

Under the circumstances, there is also a space for the rise of the secular Left in the region, the death of which brought radical Islam to the forefront. One can be sure that Leftist voices in the region would be gearing up to act as a balancing force. After all, Mao himself said, “There is great chaos under heaven – the situation is excellent.”

As for the Americans and Israelis, they must understand that it is not enough to have a smattering of embassies in line and intelligence bosses in the pocket to be accepted in West Asia. It is also essential that one invests in goodwill.

In the context, I can not resist the temptation to use the social media joke started by the celebrated Arab-American writer and a friend of mine, Ismail Khalidi. He tweeted, #US and #Israel change relationship status with #Egypt to “It's complicated” on Facebook. #Lebanon, #Syria & #Palestine 'Like' this.

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Planman Technologies release: 2G Scam reflects the rot in our system

2011-11-20T10:23:00.000+05:30

Planman Technologies – Technology services to a global clientele

His apartment is being whitewashed. So N.Vittal, former Chief Vigilance Commissioner, takes us to his daughter's house on the first floor of the same building. “I am lucky. I have my daughter living in the same building,” he says. Inside, he settles on a sofa strewn with his granddaughter's dolls and opens up on the rot in the system. Excerpts from an interview with N. Asokan:

What is your observation on the 2G scam?
This has been the biggest scam in independent India. We have seen many scams since 1947. But after liberalisation in 1991, different types of scams related to the shaping of government policies have come to light. What we are witnessing now is the corporate sector shaping policies for their convenience. The 2G scam shows what is wrong with governance in the country and how corruption has seeped into every aspect of public life. Not only politics, but also the bureaucracy, corporate sector, and media are affected. Even the the judiciary and defence have been affected. As a 73-year-old man, I had multiple problems in my body a few years back. Many experts coordinated for my recovery. Governance in India suffers from multiple organ failure.

What is the way out?
Four medical experts had to work in tandem to save my life. Similarly, we need four doctors who can pull India out of this mess – the judiciary, the Election Commission of India, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and CVC.

But aren't these agencies, too, mired in controversy?
I agree. If a doctor has to cure someone, he himself should not be sick. The 2G scam is the culmination of the rot that started in 1947. The above four agencies should cure themselves before setting out to rectify the system. I have a simple suggestion. These institutions must be manned by the right people. Take the CVC case. Apply the 2T formula. One T is transparency. It means everybody knows how things are done and there is no room for mischief. The other is TINA – there is no alternative. Political leaders will do a right thing for the public and the country only when there is no alternative. Otherwise politics is driven by greed and selfishness. In the CVC case, there should have been transparency in appointment and there should have been no alternative but to select the right man. I am waiting for the SC to decide in the current CVC case. I visualise that future PMs and Home Ministers will have no alternative but to follow a transparent way of selection. The government of India is going through a process of cleansing. Because the way the SC has intervened, it is likely to lay down a standard system that I hope will lead to some good.

Is there greater tolerance for corruption in society now?
I don't think so. I meet many people and address so many meetings. There is huge opposition against corruption. But people are helpless. They have no way out.

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal has rejected the CAG report. What are your comments?
Kapil Sibal is an extremely intelligent lawyer. A lawyer always argues for the case he has taken. Because of political complications, as a clever lawyer he is making the best of a bad case.

Who is more responsible for corruption – businessmen, bureaucrats or politicians?
Narasimha Rao said bureaucrats are like trained horses. They act the way you want them to. Corporates want to have their way. Politicians want to grab power. I may blame politicians and businessmen but I can't absolve bureaucrats. Politicians can be thrown out every five years. Babus continue for 30 years.

You defended the CVC in an interview the other day.
No, I did not. My stand was prompted by the fact that politicians try to control every post. People are calling for Thomas' resignation. If he resigns, the case is over and the SC need not give a decision. A SC ruling will augur well for the future. That's why I said Thomas should stay.

When Sukh Ram was communications minister, you were the telecom secretary. Did you face any pressure?
There was no pressure at all. The minister is supreme. If I suggest something and the minister overrules me, I will resubmit it for reconsideration. If it is not accepted yet again, I will carry out the order. I appeared as a witness in the CBI court in the Sukh Ram case. He was sentenced for three years. When I became CVC, I called on the Vice President Mr Krishna Kant. He asked me how a man like me had risen to this position in our system? I told him I have been following a principle called Vittal amendment to the Franklin Principle. Benjamin Franklin said two things are unavoidable in life: death and taxes. But in Vittal's amendment to this, four things are unavoidable. They are death, taxes, transfer and retirement (laughs).

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Planman Technologies, Leaders in educational publishing solutions

2011-11-19T10:43:00.003+05:30

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Planman Technologies , leaders in educational publishing solutions have teamed up with Strictly Spanish , leader in K–12 Spanish editorial development and translations. This partnership aims to offer a broader range of services to educational publishers while providing high quality, cost effective publishing solutions and services in English and Spanish languages.

“Strictly Spanish’s array of Spanish Translation services and 20+ years of experience in this field makes them aptly suited to be partnered with. Their expert Spanish language translations and/or adaptations would help our customers by expanding their products’ reach into the Spanish market. Strictly Spanish is a company that brings to the table an extremely rich experience of working with top-of-the-line educational publishers for a long time. Their expertise in handling time constraints and adding value to their client’s organization will be immensely valuable in this association,” says Orville Dykes, Director of Publishing Services, Planman Technologies .

“Planman Technologies vast market experience, impressive range of capabilities, attention to detail and quality have placed them at the forefront of the production and page composition segment and make them a perfect company for Strictly Spanish to partner with in order to be able to offer our clients the benefits of a complete editorial/production solution. This association works because it brings together two very strong companies staffed with highly experienced people who share a common goal—passion for quality! For our clients, the workflow will be seamless and will look and feel like they are dealing with just one company,” says Susana C. Schultz, Senior Managing Director and Vice President of Editorial at Strictly Spanish .

About Planman Technologies :
Planman Technologies is a global outsourcing firm with offices in U.S., India, and Singapore. They collaborate with publishers and provide complete content services to include editorial development, page composition & design, proofreading, photo research & permissions, illustration development, and digital content creation and conversion services. Their specialties include K-12, Textbooks, Children's Reference, Library, Graphic Novels, Art & Illustrations, Flash Animation, e-content, Editorial development, Page composition & design, NIMAS conversions, Kindle & ePub, Newspaper Digitization. Some of their clients include McGraw Hill, HMH, Pearson, Marshall Cavendish, Harper Collins, and many others.

About Strictly Spanish :
Strictly Spanish is a business-to-business Spanish translation company located in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio, area. They have been providing quality services to clients in need of professional English-to-Spanish translations and/or adaptations for over 20 years. Strictly Spanish Education, a Division of Strictly Spanish, is a leader in K–12 Spanish editorial development and translations and it is widely recognized for developing high-quality products, as well as for being one of the few U.S. companies with editorial offices in the U.S., Mexico, and South America staffed with native-speaking bilingual project managers, translators, editors, and writers. Some of their clients include McGraw Hill, HMH, Benchmark Education, Intel-Assess, TIME for Kids, and many others.

For more information contact:

Planman Technologies Inc
110 Boggs Lane Suite 100
Cincinnati, Ohio 45246
USA
Phone: 513-376-8370 (Office)
Email: sales@planmantechnologies.com
www.planmantechnologies.com

Strictly Spanish LLC
5714-D Signal Hill Court
Milford, Ohio 45150
(T) 513-248-2890
Email: info@strictlyspanish.com
www.strictlyspanisheducation.com
www.strictlyspanish.com

More information can be found online at http://www.planmantechnologies.com

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Planman Technologies press release: The cancer of corruption has eaten into the vitals of Indian society.

2011-11-18T16:56:00.000+05:30

Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips

The cancer of corruption has eaten into the vitals of Indian society. It has already done immense damage to our society. If the public servants are corrupt, the whole structure of society would be upset and the policies of government would be adversely affected. Thus, a corrupt public servant is a menace to society.

This was the verdict Special CBI Judge V. K. Maheshwari delivered while convicting Sukh Ram. But in his hometown on the banks of the Beas in Himachal Pradesh, he is considered a Messiah.

Mandi town was just a blip on the radar; it was long neglected until Sukh Ram came as its gallant saviour. He won five Assembly elections and three Lok Sabha elections from Mandi. Although now retired from active politics, he enjoys great veneration in his constituency. His immense popularity has led his son Anil Sharma to victory in three elections from the constituency.

This is in spite of the fact that the CBI seized Rs 2.45 crore in cash from his official residence and Rs 1.16 crore from his house in Mandi in 1996. The money was allegedly collected by committing irregularities in awarding a telecom contract. A Delhi court convicted him in February 2009. The case is now pending in the Delhi High Court but the people of Mandi are not bothered.

The people of Mandi love him and for good reasons. Says Rajesh Mahendru, a businessman and Congress worker, “Mandi was neglected. Pandit Sukh Ram brought us roads, schools, water supply and jobs. The television tower came up because of him, he developed the Indira Market here and he was responsible for setting up the army recruitment centre.”

Many echo this sentiment. People talk of him bringing telephone connectivity to remote villages and far flung areas like Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur. Shimla-based veteran journalist Rama Sharma says, “He was totally pro-Himachali and he worked for the benefit of the ordinary Himachali. The state owes a lot to him.”

By Nirupama Dutt

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How the Arab uprising is a Change of civilisation and how it brings an end to the American double standards. Also what India Must Learn

2011-11-18T16:50:00.002+05:30

The kind of double standards practiced by America for decades, even as it arrogantly talks about democracy and preaches the virtues of free speech, dissent and human rights to the world from a pulpit, is a shame to say the least. The fact is, be it Latin America, Asia or Africa, America has always supported brutal dictators who have tortured and killed their own citizens in the most horrific manner. Chile, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua and Bolivia are classic examples from Latin America. South Korea and Indonesia were classic examples in Asia; and Pakistan, of course, is the ultimate showcase of American double standards. During the Cold War, when the Soviet Union was the foe, American strategic cowboys used to argue that propping up unsavory dictators in strategic pockets was a necessary evil because America had to stop the march of Communism, which apparently was supposed to be far worse when it came to freedom, free speech, dissent and human rights. After the Soviet Union disappeared and Communism was no longer the enemy it was for decades, many had hoped that America would actually help other nations move away from dictatorships and authoritarian regimes to democracies. Sadly, those hopes were belied and crushed when America started citing the Global War on Terror as an excuse to encourage and prop up nasty dictators. Of course, most of these dictators happen to be now in the Arab world whose oil reserves are the real reasons for American interest rather than the mumbo jumbo and nonsense double speak about democracy and human rights.

Many readers of this magazine were not born in 1979 when the first people’s movement swept across a country in West Asia – better known by American strategic cowboys as the Middle East. I am talking about Iran, the country that America is trying very hard to isolate, punish and even pulverize if given half a chance. For decades prior to 1979, the ruler of Iran – the Shah – was a staunch ally of America, as well as of Israel. In fact, the Americans had installed the reign of the Shahs in Iran by happily encouraging a coup against a popular and democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, because that man had refused to bow down to the diktats of Uncle Sam. In comparison, the Shahs were deeply unpopular, extremely authoritarian and ruled Iran ruthlessly with an iron fist – using torture, detention and even murder by its secret service to smother dissent. All of a sudden in 1978, America was caught napping as popular protests by citizens swept through the cities of Iran. Ayatollah Khomeini came back from exile and the Shah had to flee Iran in disgrace as the country became an Islamic Republic. Since then, the “staunch ally” Iran has become an implacable enemy of America.

There was a sense of ironic déjà vu as I read with excitement about citizens in Tunisia rising in popular revolt and throwing out the dictator – a staunch American ally who ruled that country ruthlessly for more than two decades. That sense was reinforced when reports started pouring in from other Arab nations about citizens marching on the streets demanding that their hated dictators give up power to the people. Egypt has become a symbol and icon of the suppressed aspirations of millions of Arabs finally finding an outlet. The President Hosni Mubarak – again an American plant – has ruled Egypt like a classic dictator for more than 30 years and. Mubarak was in the process of trying to install his son as the next ruler when the sudden wave of protests engulfed his country. More than the people’s revolt in Tunisia – which actually opened the doors and the floodgates for citizens in other Arab nations – it is Egypt which is causing more sleepless nights in Washington. As of now, Egypt, to use that familiar cliché again, is a staunch ally of America and even a de facto ally of Israel. It is the only major country in the Arab world to have formally diplomatic as well as outwardly cordial relations with Israel. It is also the acknowledged leading nation and leader of the Arab world. What happens in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria has a huge impact on the rest of the Arab world. Of course, citizens in Arab nations have been watching in helplessness, frustration and rage till now as Egypt repeatedly winked at the atrocities committed by Israeli troops against innocent Palestinians in the name of fighting terror. Cables released by WikiLeaks also show that the United States has had no illusions about the regime. Washington and its allies now stand thoroughly exposed for using aid of over $2 billion a year and silence over internal repression to turn Cairo into a crucial agent of their regional policy, particularly in suppressing demands for justice for the Palestinians. The Egyptian people's uprising is showing the world that this highly prized Western ally is utterly devoid of legitimacy. And without doubt, that message will echo through every other dictatorship in the region.

As of right now, a nightmare is haunting Tel Aviv and Washington over the nature of the regime that will take over eventually in Egypt. The best case scenario for the strategic and foreign policy cowboys in America and Israel is a situation in which Egypt evolves from a strong arm dictatorship to a country ruled by a moderate Islamic party like in Turkey. Incidentally, Turkey is yet another staunch ally of America and Israel in that region of the world awash with oil, which is increasingly taking a stand that goes against the stated strategic interests of America and Israel. In the recent past, Turkey even sent a ship on a humanitarian mission to help Palestinians whose life had become a living hell because of a blockade imposed by Israel. That ship was attacked and stormed by Israeli troops, killing Turkish as well as American citizens who were going to Palestine on a mission of peace and empathy. No wonder, relations between Turkey and Israel have soured dramatically after the event and many have even started nursing fond hopes that an ‘Islamic’ Turkey will become the new leader against an Imperial America and its ally Israel. Egypt becoming another Turkey will surely become a headache. But it will be a nightmare if the country falls into the hands of Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood – the organization that gave the Al Qaeda number two Al-Zawahari to the world – take control of the country and emerge as another Iran, implacably hostile to America and Israel. And don’t think for a moment that such a situation will never come to pass. Who had ever dreamt even in 1978 of Iran becoming what it is now in 2011?

No one had thought that citizens of the Arab world, suppressed for so long and denied both political and economic opportunities, would be in a position to rise in revolt against the dictators. But Tunisia showed the way and a firestorm is sweeping across the Arab world. In fact, many analysts are calling this the ‘Soviet Union’ moment for America as history turns full circle in a wickedly ironical way. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, it was at the peak of its military might – an undisputed and arrogant Imperial power that nurtured, nourished and supported the assorted dictators who ran Communist paradises in East Europe. But Afghanistan became a symbol of the limits of Soviet power. It is a known fact that the fiasco in Afghanistan triggered events that led to virtually all dictators being ousted in East Europe and even the Soviet Union eventually disintegrating. Now, America has invaded Iraq and killed hundreds of thousands in a brutal manner using whimsical after whimsical excuse. And it is fighting a war against terrorism in Afghanistan that seems to kill more innocent civilians than actual terrorists. What has started in Tunisia could become the bellwether for America facing its Soviet moment in the Arab world. For too long, it has propped up dictators even as it preached the virtues of democracy and human rights. And now, the people of the Arab world are finally saying enough is enough. The multi-billion dollar question is: will America and Israel accept that it is inevitable for new regimes to emerge in the Arab world, those which would be no longer staunch allies and may actually take stands that would go against the strategic interests of America and Israel? If US and Israel don’t accept the inevitable and instead try once again to stifle the genuine aspirations of the Arab people, there is little doubt that America would earn the undying hatred and enmity of Arabs on the street.

There is a lesson here for India too. In past, by refusing to condemn the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, India lost a huge amount of goodwill in the Arab and the Muslim world that Pakistan exploited brilliantly. Now, the pendulum is swinging the other way and India is taking a public stance against Iran just because the new strategic partner America is pressurizing it to do so. If India needs to earn brownie points in the global image race, there’s no better a chance than now. India must openly support the process that will throw out the dictators of the Arab world – sooner or later. If not, it would have lost many friends and friendships in the Arab world when new regimes inevitably take over.

To me, the uprising in Cairo is nothing short of a civil revolution! And it has the potential to not only transform the political scenario of the Middle East region but also every other region wherein anarchy and dictatorship have been the mainstays! Right now, for example, China's 457 million Internet users (and 180 million bloggers) can no longer use the Chinese word for "Egypt" in microblogs or search engines. Why is China worried about controlling the usage of the word ‘Egypt’ on the net? The government's goal is to pre-empt any contagion effect that popular uprisings against autocracy in the Middle East might have in China, which might inspire the country's ranks of discontented! Although India might not have gone to the extent of China, but our national media too – most certainly in silent conspiracy with the government’s wishes – had been conspicuously silent over the entire issue for a good 10 days. Even now, it is not giving the kind of importance that it should be to the behemoth socio-political upheaval in progress. On the other hand, if we were to benchmark media’s ideal role, then one should be looking up to the Arabic satellite TV channel Al Jazeera, which has been giving rock solid support to people's causes, inspiring Tunisia's brave people who ended Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's 23-year rule, and also going the full distance to support Egyptians. In fact, one needs to admire the overall influential role played by Al Jazeera – the standout voice of aggressive, independent journalism in the Arab world – in channeling popular discontent through the region. Egypt seems to have already shut down the operations of Al-Jazeera – blaming it for encouraging the country's uprising – clearly demonstrating that the repressive powers of the central government are still functioning.

What is important now is how Tunisia’s revolution and Egypt’s uprising are interpreted and implemented, within the country and outside it. Ben Ali’s fall may prove to be an isolated event – each unhappy country is unhappy in its own way. Still, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, all contain political and demographic ingredients at least as perilous as those that combusted in Tunisia: youthful populations, high unemployment, grotesque inequality, abusive police, reviled leaders, and authoritarian systems that stifle free expression. All I can conclude is that the Arab world has for far too long suffered from religious extremism and dictatorship. In today’s connected world, where every one has similar access to what’s happening across the world, it’s tough to have any repressive religious viewpoint or regime attempting to tie people down for too long! It’s time for the Arab world to accept this reality. This current wave of revolution will not only remove the American backed dictators, but hopefully replace religious extremism by much more moderate values of the kind that will help the Arab world to integrate in a far more democratic manner with the rest of the world – something similar to what Indonesia is attempting. And that, truly, would make it a change of a civilization.

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Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips

The Sopori scion strings a success story

2011-11-04T11:07:00.000+05:30

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The recipient of ‘j&k state award’ this republic day, 31-year-old santoor maestro and music composer, abhay rustum sopori, became the youngest person ever to receive this honour. the heir of the 200-year-old sopori legacy speaks to anu gulmohar about his life’s mission of reviving the cultural glory of his state

Congratulations on winning the J&K State Award 2011. How does it feel to be the youngest ever recipient of this award?
Normally such awards are given at quite an elderly age. It’s nice that people in the government have acknowledged the kind of work I’ve been doing. I’m thankful to them. At the same time, I feel that the duties and responsibilities that I took on, to revive the culture of the state, have increased. The state is literally honouring you with some more expectations!

Tell us about the annual SaMaPa Aalap Festival.
We started in 2006. Till about 2005, the cultural scenario was very glum, to the extent that if 50-60 people were present at a concert here in Jammu, it would be deemed a super-hit concert! Being a musician, one knows that if you go to play at a music festival and the audience expected is 50, it’s really horrible. Though, by the grace of God, when I performed, I think it was the first time there were about 300 people in the concert. Within two years I was playing to an audience of 2,500 people. In 2010, the overall audience at the 15-days festival was more than 25,000. Over the years, a cultural forum has been created; SaMaPa Aalap Festival is part of a cultural revolution in J&K.

If you had not been the son of Pandit Bhajan Sopori, do you believe you would have still been a musician?
I don’t think so. It’s the biggest thing that could have happened to me – to have been born as his son. Whatever I’m doing is not just my thoughts, but the thoughts of all my ancestors. It’s something in my blood since the last 10 generations. And the sanskar and thoughts, which I’ve inherited, compelled me to think about others even in my early years of establishment. If I was not born in this family, I would just have been an ordinary person.

I have two nephews – one is three years old and the other is about 10 months old. Whenever we play, even the younger one comes and listens. Their training has already begun! In a typical guru-shishya family, it’s very difficult to say when the training actually starts. It starts even before one is born; it’s in your genes.

You have also learnt western classical music and are a visiting faculty at the University of Massachusetts. How does their method compare with the more traditional guru-shishya mode of teaching in a gharana? Which, personally, do you feel is better?
In our classical method you have to sit with your guru, but when it comes to western, the formulation is all done. Western style is very good to understand the composition. It’s a very scientific way of looking at music. Our music is more innovation based.

Can we expect you to compose music for Bollywood films too?
I hope so! I would say it’s in the pipeline. One of the best things that can happen to a composer is when he can compose music for films. Till now my focus was on the J&K state, now I feel we have reached a level, after five years, where a lot of things are happening, so I can look into other things. I’m not taking up too many initiatives on my part, but hopefully something might happen.

Do you think because of the exclusivity of the gharanas, plenty of talented people miss the opportunity to be taught by the best?
To blame the gurus for not reaching out to the masses is not always right. Undoubtedly, that has happened. Many of our great musicians have not proved to be very good teachers. But if you see my family – my grandfather has thousands of disciples. He’s hailed as the Father of Music in the state. There have been several cases where gurus have concentrated more on their children rather than other disciples. Also, you can’t expect revolutions to happen while you sit in palaces. You need to work on the ground, whether it is the Aalap Festival or working with the people here. The last 20 years have been very disturbing here in J&K. The graph has really gone down on the kind of students we get.

From your very young point of view, how do you see your music & the Sufi spirit of Kashmir helping it come out of its current state of confusion and conflict?
Well, it already has. Despite the events in J&K after 1989, there are people who say that they are Indians. What makes them say this? It’s their culture, which makes that happen. Does any part of the world become a part of the Indian territory by simply raising a flag? Putting the blame on the Indian government is not right; at the same time I think that the focus on culture has to be there. I’ve seen people leaving behind negative elements and coming together and forward, thanks to music. It has happened and it will continue to happen by the grace of God. In a few years, we’ll definitely see the culture of this region scale new heights.

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Asia English School Conflict Resolved Smoothly

2011-07-09T14:33:00.000+05:30

The controversy surrounding Asia English School in Drive-In area was resolved on Thursday after a meeting between agitating parents and the school administration

Following aggressive representations made by angry guardians, the school authorities partially rolled back the fee hike and also suspended its vice-principal for misbehaving with girl students. On Thursday, the parents blocked the main gate to prevent students from going into the school. Apprehending trouble, the school administration had intimated the city police and cops had provided security within the campus.

For close to two hours, the slogan shouting continued till a delegation of the agitating parents was allowed inside to interact with the school administration. The school trustee M P Chandran met with the delegation and assured it that vice-principal J P Joshi has been suspended following allegations of misconduct against him. Chandran also said that a probe is being conducted to verify the truth of allegations against Joshi.

The school's trustee also assured that the proposed fee hike will now be cut. Chandran also announced: "This time the hike will be only 10% of the existing fees. And, from now onwards whenever there is a fee hike, parents will be taken into confidence for consultation."

The two students who had been given school leaving certificates (SLC) on Wednesday after the parents' agitation too have been re-inducted into the school. Sailesh Patel, whose sons had been given SLC by the school on Wednesday , said: "Later on Wednesday night, all aggrieved parents met at my house to decide the future course of action . We have spoken to the school's management and it has taken all our grievances into consideration and the matter has been settled amicably ."

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Which is the next Bihar

2011-06-09T11:23:00.000+05:30

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Tathagata Bhattacharya analyses the decline and fall of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

It's an irony that we have to compare Karnataka and Maharashtra, home to Bangalore and Mumbai, showpieces of a new India that according to US President Barack Obama has already 'emerged', to Bihar which until recently was a metaphor for bad governance, corruption and utter breakdown of law and order. This points to the ability of the Indian political class to even bring states that represent the nation's software prowess and industrial-financial might to the brink of disaster. In Karnataka, they have of course been ably supported in this endeavour by the Reddy brothers and the Baldota Group whose mining riches dictate the terms even inside the state Legislative Assembly. In Maharashtra, specially in the Mumbai-Pune belt, the real estate developers' and builders' cartels have lent their helping hands.

Tushar Gandhi, grandson of the Father of the Nation, says, “Once upon a time, Maharashtra used to rank on the top in terms of businesses that made Mumbai the nation's financial hub. It was a model to be emulated by other states of India. But now, the parameter, means and meaning of development have changed. Corruption has become the principal means of development. Politicians and bureaucrats are the main culprits for such a situation. In case of the Adarsh Housing Society scam and other such instances, politicians as well as bureaucrats are equally responsible. Basically, it is a nexus of corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and builders.
Down South, Devnooru Mahadeva, the prominent Dalit writer from Karnataka, says, “What is happening here is basically an ego war between the Baldotas (a mining group), the Reddys and Santosh Lad. Rest of the leaders are their puppets. All the three major parties – the Congress, BJP and JDS have completely failed to deliver the minimum standards of governance.”

Allegations of governance failure also ring out from Maharashtra. An activist lawyer and the founder of Sahyog Trust, Asim Sarode, says, “It's not an issue of corruption alone but one of bad governance. Considering that good governance is an integral part of fundamental rights, the latest scams which have hit the state are violations of the same. It's misuse of authority by the politicians. They are committing a breach of the trust reposed in them by the people. We are still missing the mature participatory aspect of a full-fledged democracy. The laws against corruption are very weak. One has to prove everything against the accused. The burden is on proving guilt and not on absolution of the same. The approach in running schemes needs immediate change. The government is not doing the citizens any favour by launching these schemes. It is right of the citizens and the government is supposed to serve the people. The politicians in India need to learn to behave as trustees of national property instead of using them as their personal possessions.

The communal atmosphere in Karnataka has crossed all limits, feels writer Vaidehi, a Sahitya Akademi awardee. “Development initiatives have lost their track and security of women is at its lowest. Even if the voices of flood victims reach their peak, nobody is there to listen to them. The recent governments have been blinded by the lure of power and money. The mining lobby is snatching the state's resources and wealth,” are her pointed words.

Journalist Jatin Desai attributes Maharashtra's industrial decline to poor governance and lack of planning and implementation. “Nowadays, entrepreneurs maintain a safe distance from Maharashtra and they don’t want to invest more for commercial purposes. Electricity has become the biggest problem with 6 to 8 hours of power cuts every day. The GDP growth rate has also come down. Look at Gujarat. In the past, there was shortage of electricity but the situation has improved by leaps and bounds. The state has reached the top slot as far as GDP is concerned. Narendra Modi had personally contacted Ratan Tata and offered him the required support for the Nano project. Could not have Maharashtra done the same,” the angry scribe asks.

Information Technology and manufacturing & trading have brought boons and banes for both Karnataka and Maharashtra. While they have brought riches and international laurels to Bangalore and Mumbai, the abject poverty of the Bijapur area and farmers committing suicide in Vidarbha have brought disgrace. Inequalities have increased manifold and almost 20 years after the nation started opening up its markets, the trickle-down effect is still mentioned in future tense.

The state governments have been unable to see through these problems. But in these regard, the lack of foresight of Central leaders, blinded by the mirage of the success of the Neo-liberal model of growth, also needs to be factored in.

Well-known literary critic and progressive thinker G.Rajshekar thinks, “There is a constant attack on the livelihood of poor people. The recently passed ill-conceived Prevention of Cow Slaughter Bill would take away the right to food from poor people. Secondly, one can gauge how the establishment is least concerned about the people by the way the government has treated flood victims. It was a well-orchestrated effort to portray the bureaucracy in positive light and nothing more. Thirdly, the scandalous privatisation of education and health sectors has put these out of the reach of the poor and the marginalised. The state of government schools is such that nobody sends their children even for mid-day meals. Fourth and most important, Karnataka lacks a vibrant democracy.”

Kodihalli Chandrashekar, farmers’ leader and the president of Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha, is a voice of the poor and the marginalised. This is what he has to say about the state of affairs in Karnataka, “People who are involved with the granite, land and sand mafia are ruling the roost in Karnataka. This trend started with the BJP-JDS government . In the 1970s and 80s, we used to look at states like Bihar and say that Karnataka was much better in terms of law and order . We never thought we would go down like this. This is the reality today.”
Professor Sangita S. N. of the Institute for Social and Economic Change agrees. “The politicians are busy resolving their own issues and have no time to dedicate to governance. Therefore they fail to keep a check on the bureaucracy as well. Taking the advantage of the situation, the bureaucracy hardly performs or delivers its duties on time. The mining lobby is the king here,” is her opinion.

If one needs to find a ray of light at the end of the tunnel, even if it's for the sake of feel-good journalism, a possible silver lining is how Nitish Kumar has changed the perception of Bihar. Bihar today is no longer lawless, gone are the days of caste massacres, the recent Assembly elections have been as peaceful as they are in the most tranquil states of the country.

In a world of constant change, Bihar is moving up the ladder and both Karnataka and Maharashtra are slipping fast. It will only be a matter of time before the latter two replace the former as the new standards of bad governance, corruption and breakdown of law and order. The onus is on the Indian political class to mend their ways and secure the state of the nation.

(With inputs from B.S.Manjunath, Rakesh N.S., Danish Riaz and Shruti Murkutkar)

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BJP, JDS to blame

2011-06-05T10:58:00.000+05:30

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism

B. K. hariprasad, General Secretary, All India Congress Committee

Judging by the current situation, is Karnataka going the Bihar way?
Yes, I agree. Grabbing power through corrupt practices has emerged as a new phenomenon in Karnataka. The mining lobby and the new rich of the state have set this trend. The number of those people who came to politics through corrupt practices and by buying every vote has increased. The recent power game when two brothers virtually dislodged the Yeddyurappa government is a testimony to this fact.

Who do you blame for such a situation that has risen in the state?
BJP as well as JDS are responsible as they promoted such elements.

Don’t you think that Congress is also affected by these types of elements?
No, the Congress has never prompted such elements. Though there are rich people in the Congress, they have never misused their positions. The party has never encouraged such practices.

What is the way to curb this?
Strong amendments in the Anti-defection Law is the need. Moreover, some electoral reforms are necessary to stop the practice of horse trading.

What about Maharashtra where more or less the same situation prevails?
Maharashtra is a different matter. NCP is our coalition partner there. If you are referring to corruption or non-performance of the government, it is because of the compulsions of coalition governance and interference of the Maharashra sugar lobby.

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Real estate is the culprit

2011-05-31T10:33:00.000+05:30

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Sanjay Nirupam, Lok Sabha MP (Maharashtra)

How do you see the recent change of guard in the state?
This has not happened for the first time in Maharashtra. In the past too, many governments could not complete their full terms or the leadership changed before the tenure got over.

What is the root cause behind this?
The main culprit behind such instability is real estate. The recent change has proved this beyond all doubts. One has to understand the psychology of the Marathis who generally don’t migrate to other states. Maharashtra, being an industrial powerhouse, also attracts people from other parts. This has created a shortfall of shelters. In this situation, there are ample chances to play into the hands of the real estate lobby. The recent change of guard can be seen against this backdrop.

In the recent past, Gujarat has attracted more FDI. Comments?
Some states have attracted more FDI but neither the pace of industrialisation nor trade has slackened. The diamond market, the stock exchange, the bullion market are still in Maharashtra.

Do you see possibility of a two-party system rather than a coalition govt?
In a way, you can say that the present government is a Congress government as the NCP is an extended part of the Congress. This is the eleventh year of the Congress-NCP alliance. In other words, you can say that the NCP is a regional party which has its own base in some parts of the state.

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The mid-term election results clearly imply - voters are furious with Obama's economic policies.

2011-05-27T16:20:00.002+05:30

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism

In retrospect Obama should realise that his protectionist policies could boomerang on the US if other nations decide to follow suit

November 2008: the world, and most specifically Asians, greeted Barack Obama's victory with high hopes expecting that a Black President would engage Asia in dialogue instead of taking unilateral decisions. As the world was still twisting in agony from turbulent and a never-ending financial crisis, many hoped that Obama would tread the free economic market policy path. However, there were sceptics who expressed that the crowing of Obama would bring protectionist measures to the United States. They feared that Obama with his isolationist and inward-looking mindset would be forced to throw in the towel and raise the barriers of US protectionism, which would eventually hurt economies. The sceptics were perhaps as true then as they are today. With congressional elections due, the US and its key politicians as well as policy-makers are inadvertently preparing the ground for a bout of protectionism.

Sample this: "For years, our tax code has actually given billions of dollars in tax breaks that encourages companies to create jobs and profits in other countries... I want to change that." Well, this is US President Obama's economic policy speech, an obvious case of potential protectionism, wherein he clearly advocates giving tax breaks to companies that create jobs in America and not to those who create jobs overseas. If you term the above a political gimmick of a politician merely trying to court voters, do spare a second thought and consider these new developments: the United Steel workers union has filed a 5,000-page legal case with the US administration accusing China of subsidising exports of wind turbines, solar panels, nuclear power plant and other clean energy equipment. There is a controversial legislation to increase fees for the visas in the H1B and L1 categories from $320 to $2,320 and from $320 to $2,570 respectively (hurting India's IT sector as the bill names Indian firms Wipro, Tata, Infosys and Satyam). Above this, the US commerce department's announcement to hike import duty rates from 43 per cent to 289 per cent on Chinese steel wires and import tariffs on Chinese tyres (35 per cent in the first year, 30 per cent in the second year and 25 per cent in the third year) further inflates protectionism. Faced with high unemployment (the Bureau of Labour Statistics puts the unemployment rate at 9.6 per cent and states that 14.8 million people were essentially unemployed in September, 2010) and other economic woes (the national debt is $13.6 trillion and is expected to increase to $15 trillion by 2015), the protectionist measures as adopted by the US are attempts to make scapegoats of the developing countries, including India.

But the US fails to realise that the unilateral approach would worsen the existing economic environment if deficit countries too resort to protectionism to deal with their trade problem – the move will lead to ruin and not to prosperity. Protectionism – ( for the sake of clarity, is defined as economic policy of restraining trade between nations through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas et al designed to discourage imports and prevent foreign takeover of local markets and companies) even for the sake of national economic survival has inevitable harsh effects on tit-for-tat protectionism. This was very much evident when, in a joint statement, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked the US to "reject the temptations of protectionism." This remark by the European Union, China's censorship of Internet companies such as Google Inc and its unwillingness to allow its currency to appreciate, is in fact a reply to the US' protectionist measures.

Obama's rhetoric towards outsourcing has been well-known since his campaigning days. A few so-called trade pundits explained that it was a campaign tactic and his attitude would certainly change (if not take a U-turn) when he actually assumes office and gets a first hand experience on the real functioning of foreign economic policies. But things have been quite to the contrary. Obama has been vehemently explicit in keeping investment at home and saving American jobs; in a bid to restore confidence he has promised to create 3.5-4.1 million new jobs. At this juncture one would ponder as to how would the President create new avenues for jobs. But as a well-thought strategy, Obama's mantra was against outsourcing jobs to Asia, thereby spelling bad news for the Business process outsourcing (BPO) and information technology sectors. The negative implications of such protectionist measures have had a significant effect on India, Philippines and other countries. The US' protectionist brunt has been borne by relatively more competitive manufacturing centres like China and Vietnam. Surely, India, Philippines, China, Vietnam and other low-cost providers of services and producers of goods in the Asian region would be hurt temporarily given the mutation that the world's largest economic geography is undergoing. The increasingly protectionist measures would undoubtedly redirect trade flows of the Asian countries but will under no circumstance eliminate them. In a positive perspective, exporters in Asia and specifically India, would emerge stronger by the time the US puts an end to the unilateral protectionist approach. Even India and other Asian countries would learn the art and science of directing their efforts to lower their dependence on the US market by looking for consumers elsewhere.

India, which accounts for approximately 50 per cent of the global outsourcing market, has become the world's back office as western firms set up their call centres. However, number crunching and software development outlets to cut costs, have reasons to worry. Considering the fact that the US contributes to about 70 per cent of the India's outsourcing sector's billing (that is close to 5 per cent of India's total economic output), the protectionist approach adopted by the US (which includes an end to tax break for companies which ship jobs overseas and increasing professional visa fees) is bound to reflect on the balance sheet. The Indian viewpoint as expressed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in his meeting with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was that the US protectionism is regressive in nature and would not serve to strengthen the relationship between the two nations. The Indian IT industry should thank the Senate Republicans who blocked the passage of the anti-outsourcing bill, dealing a blow to President Obama's unilateral protectionist measures.

Protectionism ultimately hits the protectionist. Marc Faber warns, "For the US economy, rising protectionism would also mean higher inflation rates, as well as huge competitive disadvantage on the global markets for US corporations." It's time that the US pick a lesson or two from the warnings of the man who is known for his uncanny predictions.

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Human rights activists are increasingly being branded as Naxals by media-backed status quoists

2011-05-23T16:16:00.001+05:30

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism

During his visit to India, President Obama had initially planned to visit Golden Temple. But the plan was shelved because he had to wear a headgear to enter the sanctum sanctorum, and that would have made Americans confuse him for a Muslim. And that would have been disastrous for his electoral prospects. This points to a lobby hell bent to prove that Obama is a Muslim and hence sympathetic to terrorists. And this has been going on since his campaign days. Also, his supporters have had to waste a substantial portion of their time defending Obama and refuting such rumours. In fact, it is laughable that the President of America has to keep defending himself against allegations that he is a terrorist-sympathiser.

The situation in India is similar. Here, social activists are victims of character assassination by certain lobbies. Human rights activists have to keep on convincing people that they are neither Naxals nor are they supporters of Naxals. However, people who are part of the government machinery as well as elected representatives who mislead people keep on harping this tune. They claim that every activist who fights for the rights of the downtrodden is a Maoist sympathiser. The agenda is to isolate such pro-people activists so that the establishment can carry on with its nefarious designs without any hurdles.

At times the situation becomes funny. These people in their zeal brand every activist, including Gandhians and followers of Jayaprakash Narain as Maoists. For people who are part of the government machinery or have been co-opted by the state, there is no fundamental difference between Mao-Marx and Gandhi-Vinoba. Whosoever stands with the poor and destitute is branded as Naxals. It is the easiest way to push them out of their way. These days, several of the activists and journalists are being regularly harassed by the administration. The ones who have refused to bow down have been put behind bars. Several ashrams and buildings have been demolished.
When I started working in Chhattisgarh in the 1980s, the administration called me a closet Christian straight from Rome whose only interest is to convert Hindus to Christianity. A section of the media as always jumped to the conclusion without verifying. I understand that these people were not against religion or community; they were basically against my work. I used to train lots of youngsters and used to send them to villages where they raised their voices against oppression, corruption and unequal distribution of resources. It was against the designs of the administration. They wanted status quo. They became really furious when we protested about hooch shops. They were anguished that we demanded just price for the forest byproducts that we used to sell. When your work starts challenging the slave structure, oppression and corruption, these lobbies come into play.

Suddenly, Ekta Parishad, the organisation I work for is being branded a Naxal offshoot. This has been done at the behest of some corrupt officials from the civil administration and forest department. We are wasting time trying to convince the media that we follow the non-violent ways of Gandhi, Vinoba and Jayaprakash. We work for the fundamental changes on the ground. Last year, a few journalists on the payrolls of the forest department alleged that we are Maoist sympathisers because we go from village to village, organise people and incite them against the state.
The administration and the companies that exploit natural resources are wary of us and similar organisations. We have protested against them through non-violent means. They simply cannot put us out of favour with people by saying that we are protesting against oppression and loot. Therefore they are linking us with Naxals and subjecting us to character assassination. So when Manmohan Singh said that Naxalism and terrorism are two biggest challenges, these people started misleading people by claiming that we are Naxals. These lobbies create confusion among the masses. Innocent people are unable to see through them.

I have always said that the problem is unequal distribution of resources, transfer of natural resources and the irresponsible behaviour by the capitalists. I have also said that till land is not given to people who actually till them, poverty cannot be eradicated. I have repeatedly called on the PM, CMs and others to sit with non-violent organisations and look for solutions. But they have not responded positively. In fact, instead of looking for non-violent means, the government is responding with recourse to violent means. They are trying to declare organisations like us pro-Naxal. There is a design behind this. The state is trying to take control of people by snatching their rights. This can be explosive. A distinction needs to be made between followers of Mao and the followers of Gandhi, Vinoba, Ambedkar and JP.

The views expressed by the author are personal

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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What is lacking is political will...

2011-04-28T10:18:00.000+05:30

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Mahasveta Devi considers language a weapon, one that she deploys to blazing effect both as part of her prolific writing career, and as tireless champion of the vulnerable and the voiceless. Winner of the Jnanapith and the Ramon Magasasay awards among other venerable accolades, the 84 year old literary giant and fervent activist condemns Naxal violence but attributes it to irresponsible governance

What is the genesis of Naxal discontent? Is the violence unleashed by the Naxals entirely justified?
It is impossible for me to equate Naxalite movement with terrorism. Naxal movement originated from the struggle for land and it was peaceful. It is the failure of the state which forced it to turn violent. Look at Adivasis – they have little or no access to roads, potable water, education, health, even ration cards. When people find themselves driven up the wall, the counter-pressure bursts out as ‘resistance’. Whether it is justified or not, is not the question. Good governance is the responsibility of the government; if they aim to find a solution through the use of arms, it would be a blunder. Violence, be it from the Naxals, Maoists, terrorist groups or from the government, would never solve any problem.

Whether it is Afghanistan, Kashmir, Manipur, or Chhattisgarh, are the roots of insurgency always the same?
If the point of bad governance is considered, then yes, it is the same. But otherwise, how can one equate the cause of violent activities in Afghanistan and Kashmir with those of Manipur or Chhattisgarh? In Manipur, people are fighting against the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), while people of Chhattisgarh are struggling against the State's attitude towards natural resources and livelihood of the local Adivasis. In Kashmir, why is the state in such a precarious situation even after six decades of Independence? Are basic human rights being honoured there?

Aren't Gandhian methods of peaceful non-cooperation more effective tools for getting desired changes in govt. policy?
Theoretically, yes. But tell me, are the people in the system, those who swear by the name of Mahatma Gandhi, following Gandhiji’s path? Ask noted Gandhian Himangshu Kumar of Chhattisgarh, whose ashram was demolished by P Chidambaram’s forces. Can he be happy with the activities of the so-called ‘Gandhian’ governments?

If you were in the government, how would you solve the problems in Kashmir, Manipur and the Naxal belts?
I will never be in the seat of power, so no need to think hypothetically. I feel today’s rulers are from the middle class and the affluent. They get elected and serve their class interest. They hardly think of the downtrodden. If any government can function for the interest of the downtrodden, can honour right to self determination, follow a genuine dialogue process, then most critical problems will solve on their own.

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A month after 9/11, reporter Taysir Alony managed the scoop that many others would have given an arm and a leg for:

2011-04-25T10:15:00.000+05:30

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Exclusive Interview - up, close and personal - with the most wanted man of the times then and now, Osama bin Laden. Representing CNN and Al-Jazeera in Kabul, this Syrian-born Spanish citizen's brave feat was awarded with a seven-year incarceration in 2005 by a Madrid court, accusing him of being an Al-Qaeda operative. Many petitions and pleas later, 51-year-old Taysir was shifted from the harsh Alcal' Meco penitentiary to his home in Granada, Spain. Still under house arrest, Taysir Alony wrote to TSI, in Arabic, about his views on Islam, the West, and the hurdles to reconciliation. Translated excerpts:

House arrest

I’ll be under house arrest till February 2012. Though I can go out between 10 in the morning and 10 in the night, I am not allowed to venture out of the province of Granada. This system restricts me from pursuing my vocation as a journalist, for that would require me to move around within the country (Spain), at least.

Interviewing Osama

I certainly do not regret the interview because I was simply doing my job as a journalist. Even if I had to repeat it under the same conditions, I’ll not hesitate to do it.

When asked about what was on my mind, as a liberal Muslim, listening to Osama, I remember he had his own interpretation of the Quran. And all Muslims may not necessarily agree with him on it. I reminded Osama of the statement he issued in February 1998, called ‘Declaration of War on the Jews and the Crusaders’, and asked him how he justified the war on Jews and Christians, when Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon Him) did not fight them for being Jew or Christian. Osama said he had called for war because of the hostile policies towards Islam. Ironically, in 2001, George Bush announced he was receiving messages from the Lord and that he was waging a ‘crusade’. This thesis, sadly, suited Osama.

Define terror

The main reason for the involvement of more young Muslims in al-Qaeda and other organisations is the feeling of injustice meted out to Muslims in many parts of the world. The restlessness among Muslims is increasing because they think that the West and America are targeting Muslims in the name of ‘war against terror’. Let’s say, killing of innocents is terrorism. That makes Bin Laden a terrorist, but the US killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan; the British participated in the killings; what do we call that? There are no reliable statistics on the number of deaths of Afghan civilians at the hands of the US, NATO and ISAF troops. Israel has killed Palestinian civilians; India kills Kashmiris during demonstrations; what do we call that? The Palestinian issue has not found a just solution in the last sixty years. The Palestinians are subjected to the worst atrocities by the Israeli occupation, with support from the US. Even the United Nations fails to pass any resolution against Israel simply because the US would veto any such attempt in the Security Council. Add to that the West's support for dictatorial regimes in the Third World. In general, all this forces leaves generations of Muslims with no option but to get involved in organisations calling for ‘Jihad for God's sake’ in lieu of the promise of jannat (paradise).

Non-violence works, but only just

There is no doubt that the peaceful ways of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela paid off successfully, but the situation is different now. Gandhi struggled against British occupation and Mandela fought against racial discrimination. What we are facing now is political discrimination. For example, in Palestine, any violent action against occupation is classified as ‘terrorist activity’, while the West justifies Israeli crimes in the name of security. I personally believe that if the parties (Israel and Palestine) agreed to settle the matter amicably, all violence will disappear. Bin Laden will then have no followers, for he is known to invoke the Palestinian issue to justify his activities.

It is hyperbolic imagination to expect those who have lost their kith and kin to repression, to forgive. How can we ask people to forget and pardon while waiting for their turn to die at the hands of the armies of democracy?

Reclaiming Islam

The war on Islam and the attempt to distort its image serves political goals; we are told that Islam is the axis of terror, but the international community has not yet a common definition of the term "terrorism". The United Nations has not taken any step in this regard, because they are a political body too. Islam has nothing to do with crimes happening in many parts of the world. Islam encourages struggle against those who occupy the land of Muslims and encourages defence of our homeland. It is a religion of peace. If the enemies of Islam call this an act of terrorism, it is their problem. They call it so because they hate Islam. In my opinion, the solution lies in ending double standards and duplicity.

Muslims in the modern era do not have a common reference for the development of rules and jurisprudence. There is the Al-Azhar in Egypt; the Hayat Kibar-al- Ulama (the Supreme Council of Ulema) in Saudi Arabia, and the European Council for Fatwa and Research. Then there are others in India, Pakistan, Indonesia and other Muslim countries. All of them condemn violence of any kind, but since they often play into the hands of the dictators, they have thus lost credibility with the majority of Muslims. In my opinion, this is the essence of the problem. If there was a common reference or a single organisation acknowledged by all Muslim factions, it would have been easier to resolve matters and offer explanations for emerging issues.

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Robert Young Pelton (RYP): Violence is an indication of failure

2011-04-22T10:09:00.000+05:30

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Never a dispassionate observer, Robert Young Pelton (RYP) often found himself in dangerous places in his quest to learn the heart of the matter. He shares his perspective on war and its creation, through expeditions like Battle of Qala-i-Jangi in Afghanistan, the siege of Grozny in Chechnya, and even surviving an assassination attempt in Uganda.

Why does RYP find himself in dangerous places?

These places, where people failed to come to an agreement or have had to resort to violence, are the fault lines which have changed history.

What’s the root cause of violence in the subcontinent?
Change. Conflicts can vary, but people are naturally resistant to change. India is one of the best examples of how change can be good or bad. Pakistan is a bizarre country, which after Partition has created an enemy in India instead of focusing on its own governance.

Is change a result of religion/culture or the economy?
Social changes take place over many months, especially if you look at Afghanistan in 1995 or Chechnya in 2000. When you put a country’s people under extreme pressure, they resort to extreme ideologies. Consider Pakistan, and the many desperate, young, and unemployed people looking for something to believe in. Even if you sold them Christianity, they’d buy it. This gathering of people from desperate backgrounds and isolating them is what we call Islamic Fundamentalism and Maoism, and I consider it ridiculous.

Between a Gandhi and an Osama, who should a Kashmir or a Chechnya hire as a consultant?
Growing up in a war-free environment, the idea of a young boy shooting someone just because he was told to was tough to imagine. Violence today is like a currency. If a group doesn’t agree with something, it becomes violent. In Gandhi’s time, there was a need to create an image for people to have faith in you. He believed that if enough people disagreed with the system, they could together affect the government, showing that social protest is more powerful than bombs. COIN in Afghanistan is like Gandhi’s concept where you make people do or not do things based on what you want.

Does today’s world need leaders like Ahmad Shah Massoud and Che Guevara?

I’ve spent time with Ahmad Shah Massoud, but was too young to meet Che Guevera. Both crafted their image for the sake of the media. Massoud killed thousands, including civilians, during the Civil War, but carefully crafted his image to look like a Che Guevara. General Dostum did a lot more, but never understood how the media works. We get our news only through the media, but when I meet Shamil Basayev, I realised what an extraordinary person he was. While defending the Russian government in the White House, he realised how toxic the Russians were, and decided, without a thought to his reputation or life, that he’d fight them.

How do you see these conflicts panning out?

They’re a measure of social justice, showing how many people are happy or unhappy in society. If your government has no control and you don’t have a job, why wouldn’t you join these groups? When an individual’s threshold is crossed, it justifies all means to get ahead in life, like the child soldiers in Africa.

What about the people with options?

Every revolution has two types of people - the intelligentsia, and the uneducated masses who are exploited for the actual killing. For every Che Guevara, there are a thousand farmhands. Osama is different from Che; he is an angry intellectual who didn’t get the attention he wanted. What attracted people to his cause was the legitimacy it gave them.

What’s your thought on the conspiracy theories around 9/11?

In Adam Curtis’ "The Power of Nightmares", you hear Donald Rumsfeld talk about this "imminent danger". You’d think he’s talking about Osama, but he’s actually referring to the Russians. That scene was picked up by the Bush administration, and they quickly amplified 200 people into a, sort of, global conspiracy (I lived down the street from Osama in 1996).

Did you meet Mullah Omar and Bin Laden?

I set up interviews with Mullah Omar and the Taliban leadership in the mid 1990s. Mullah Omar is very conscious about his missing eye; all the members of the Taliban agreed to be interviewed by my cameraman, except him. He said the path to
his heart was through his voice, not his eyes.

Bin Laden, I believe, was always the secondary figure compared to al-Zawahiri. Zawahiri was a true political firebrand, while Osama was the brain.

Do you plan to come to India again?

India is probably the most diverse nation on earth. For every problem in America or Pakistan, there is sure to be a model of reference in India. What I find funny is that the Kashmiris never had an agenda of their own; it was a result of outside instigation. The Indian army looked at them as naughty school children, and the Jihadis kept blowing things up. Other countries, like Israel, should spend more time looking at what happens in India.

What stops you from giving up in these dangerous places?

The people around me; they want me to get out alive and tell their story.

Your advice to the separatists of the world?
We should spend more time training like-minded people and challenging the way the things are done. The more you communicate with people, the smarter you get. Groups who believe in violence typically have instigators who lead them to believe it will solve their problems. The solution lies in soft power; social networking, supporting others, and strongly rejecting violence.

What are the 10 commandments that stop RYP from becoming RIP in dangerous places?
There’s only one - trust and respect people.

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A Matter of 'Haves' and 'Have-Nots'

2011-04-19T16:08:00.000+05:30

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Poverty, accompanied by cognitive dissonance, is the root cause of a conflict, points out Professor Piotr Balcerowicz, the last man to interview Ahmad Shah Massoud, the famed 'Lion of Panjshir'. He also highlights the role that politicians play in using religion and ethnicity as the tools to create conflict, and why India and Pakistan can perhaps become friendly neighbours only on paper.

The affinity to India happened to Prof. Piotr Balcerowicz as a teenager when he started enjoying Indian classical music and later, Indian philosophy and vegetarianism. The last man to interview Ahmad Shah Massoud, the famed 'Lion of Panjshir’ before he was assassinated on September 2, 2001, Prof. Balcerowicz shares with us the math behind insurgency and mayhem. His interest in ‘unrest’ arose when, as a student at Banaras Hindu University (1987-1988), he met many Afghan refugees who had fled from the Soviet invasion. This led him to meet Ahmad Shah Massoud on two occasions, including a personal invitation with hospitality by the man himself. He recalls the long and complicated trip through land and air which took him to Massoud’s abode.

Prof. Balcerowicz reasons that the simple answer to what makes the Third World so explosive is "poverty", while the more complex answer is of "several elements triggered by poverty". It is the existence of cognitive dissonance – i.e., dissonance between one’s expectations vis-à-vis wealth, that causes explosions within humanity. He adds, "As people have learnt that it is possible to have higher standards of living, their expectations have changed. Also, the rich and the influential suddenly feel threatened as the poor realise that they deserve a better life. This situation can trigger conflict, which is what the world is witnessing today." In his view, poverty, accompanied by cognitive dissonance (which, in turn, is fuelled by religion or political ideologies), creates ‘conflict’. Religion has been the politicians’ tool for mobilising groups of people for their own goals.

Even the more peace-loving philosophies like Buddhism and Jainism have historical occurrences of conflict in the name of religion and faith, he points out. Be it monasteries fighting over different schools of thoughts in Tibet or Jain kings waging war in the name of religion; they are not very different from the Islamic fundamentalists who are using the same weapon to create destruction.

Prof. Balcerowicz’s logic says that Kashmir is a problem of conflict in modern India, adding, "It is wrong to blame just Pakistan and ISI for all the problems. They are not the causes, but the additional factors. Indian politicians have committed too many mistakes that have led to the aggravation of the Kashmir problem, and military solutions are never solutions."

So do we see India and Pakistan becoming friendly neighbours in the future? Perhaps in theory alone! Such a friendship might take away the political leverage that politicians on both sides enjoy. Prof. Balcerowicz recalls the Partition which was no more than Jinnah’s plan of ensuring his command. The split of Pakistan in 1971, which led to the emergence of Bangladesh, was a clear sign that there never was a Pakistani identity. Rather, the identity was constructed on Muslim heritage. The excuses of conflict and external threats continue to be used by Pakistani politicians, for the fact that they need to have an enemy just to keep the so-called nation consolidated. The India-Pakistan friendship is not in the interest of most Pakistani and Indian politicians, he reveals. While the root of conflict lies in poverty, religion and ethnicity are the tools being used by politicians to create continuous destruction and unrest even in this case.

Unlike Samuel Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilisations’, Prof. Balcerowicz does not believe that unrest is an indication of a real clash of civilisation. He finds the book rather destructive and lacking adequate evidence or understanding of cultures. He observes, "Huntington stated that conservative people like George W Bush will clash with equally conservative groups in the Islamic world, and both sides will compete for power. But that does not mean that an average Westerner will clash with an average Muslim."

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INDIA'S BEST COLLEGES, INSTITUTES and UNIVERSITIES

Closer to the gods

2011-03-22T10:19:00.000+05:30

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Munnar is a known hill station, but it is named after three rivers ' yes, Munnar owes its name to three mountain streams named Muthirapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundala, all 1800 ft above the sea level. One of the most coveted destinations in the South, you can enjoy boating, trekking, driving, sightseeing and wildlife spotting here. The misty canopy and the blue-and-green omniscience makes it a favourite honeymoon getaway too.

Munnar is located in the Idukki district of Kerala at a cool 5000-8000 feet above the sea level. Natural resplendence reigns in this region; other famous tourist attractions here include Thekkady, Periyar Tiger Reserve etc. The district is also the largest producer of spices like black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg etc in the state. Once the summer resort of the British in South India, the colonial history is evident in the beautiful architecture of buildings dating back to the days of the Raj. Even more plentiful are the tea plantation estates that pervade the entire canvas. More than 24,000 hectares of tea plantations over rolling hills and rising plateaus; the sight promises to stay with you long after you've moved on.

Trekking and mountain climbing enthusiasts go on to Anamudi, the highest peak in South India at 2,695 metres. The 'water types' will find Devikulam' only seven kilometres from Munnar ' a sheer delight with its velvet lawns, gorgeous natural gardens, and peaceful mountain settings. The lake here is an ideal place for trout fishing. The Mattuppetti Dam, 13 km away from Munnar, is famous for boating and elephant safaris; also around is the highly specialised dairy farm ' the Indo Swiss Live Stock Project. More than 100 varieties of high yielding cattle here, should you be interested in some bovine facts.

At Pothamedu, enjoy a panoramic view of the entire Munnar. Just 15 kms away from Munnar town is the Eravikulam National Park, flanked by the Anamudi Peak on one side and a deep vale on the other. The Nilgiri Tahr, a unique species endemic to this region, is least afraid of human presence and walks along with you in groups of 25 to 50, giving you ample photo opportunities. But be warned, while you click away the Tahr, don't miss the rarest species of birds fluttering about. With more than 254 varieties of birds in the forest area, musical company is assured everywhere you go.

In addition to the plethora of rare and medicinal plants, here is a particularly famous resident; the Neelakurinji ' a blue flower which flowers once in 12 years. Though they are quite abundant, you'll have a tough time spotting one, for the local tribal folk who are also the forest guards are hesitant in pointing it out. They do so only on the condition that you don't pluck it; they say it flourishes in no other part of the world. Book your trip for 2018 ' that's when the precious blossom will oblige us next. Until then make do with the fragrant sandalwood trees of Marayur, 40 kms from Munnar, and the Muniyara caves with Stone Age relics and murals. All in all, treats from the past, present and future' Closer to the gods DESTINATION DOSSIER

STEERING THE COURSE

Kochi International Airport to Munnar is 140 kms. The drive through thick woods is a treat in itself. For train travellers, the nearest railway stations are Kottayam and Ernakulam.

COSY CORNERS

One has the whole range of accommodation facilities available in Munnar town, including five star hotels, to choose from.

THE 'SEASON'ED TRAVELLER GOES NOW

November to April is ideal, but if you like it nice and wet, any time is good'

'SAVOUR' FAIRE

Traditional Kerala fare is abundant. The resorts and hotels have other options too, in case the coconut oil gets to you!

GET TO WORK

A bath in the waterfalls ' there are plenty around ' is a must. Try trekking to Attukal waterfalls. Boating in Mattupetti River is relaxing. Don't miss the Eravikulam National Park.

WHAT'S THE WORD

Malyalam, to feel at home. Considering the regular influx of tourists that the locals are used to, English is good to get around too.

KEEPSAKE COURTESIES

Load up on the locally grown tea leaves for yourselves and your friends. Natural cardamom from Anchunad Hills. Sandalwood from Marayur is a good idea.

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Third is no consolation

2011-03-19T10:17:00.001+05:30

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All Things Bright And Beautiful, All Creatures Great And Small, All Things Wise And Wonderful, The Good Lord Made Them All! The plight of the third gender reminds Ravi Inder Singh of our conveniently forgotten morning prayer from school'

'It happened roughly 35 years back when my best friend's (Santosh) father, a senior insurance agent at a reputed insurance agency, broke the news of Santosh's wedding. She was about to be married into a very reputed business family. The match was perfect and the ceremonies were underway. Right after the grand pomp and show, as is the wont of an Indian wedding, Santosh was on her way to honeymoon. We were eagerly awaiting juicy tales of romance upon her return. Instead, Santosh came back with swollen eyes ' as if she had cried her eyes out ' and a scratched face and injuries all over her back. On much prodding, she revealed it was no accident, but she had been beaten up by her husband. Reason? On that much anticipated night when the wedding was supposed to be consummated, she found out that her husband wasn't a male, but a eunuch! Appalled and cheated that she rightfully felt, her angst at the fact being hidden from her and the family was met with brutality. To my horror, the family, other than Santosh's mother, wasn't supportive at all. And to top it, she was asked to resume a 'normal' life with the 'man' she had been married to. 35 years later, Santosh works in a bank, earns for herself, also supports her 'husband', who now has been disowned by his own family too and tries her level best to keep up with the pseudo values and the social pressure that existed at the time of decision making,' recalls Anita of her friend Santosh, requesting anonymity for both of them.

Transgenders or eunuchs, as they are known, are human beings who are born with a genital abnormality. They have deformed male or female reproductive organs, or under-developed ones, or both. This tragic aberration of nature slots them as the 'third gender'. Homosexuals have fully developed genitals; it is hypothesized that it is hormonal play that induces feelings for the same sex, while the third gender has to contend with the physical shortcoming as well as hormonal hysteria. While the gay community is finding increasing acceptance in our society today, transgenders are still looked askance at. Violence and repulsion are the mainstays of their world; eunuchs are forced to move and live in groups because of this. Not only are they supportive of each other, they look out for each other too and also try and adopt young ones who are unfortunate enough to have been born this way. Legally, they aren't allowed to take away new born eunuchs from the hospitals, but small nursing homes do as do parents. It is after all not easy to withstand the prejudices of a society looking to pick on you day in and day out, particularly in the less affluent sections. Third is no consolation One can imagine the deep-rooted bias when a eunuch is not allowed to donate blood by a doctor. If supposedly well-educated folks behave this way, what to say of others? Dr Vinant Bhargava, Physician, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital was understandably moved. 'It is hard to believe that a qualified doctor would do that. I would like to clarify to the people that apart from a slight physical deformity, there is nothing different between a eunuch and a normal man/woman's constitution. The blood in the human body is same for one and all. Not knowing the details of the case in question, I would say that the only reason why a qualified doctor might refrain from accepting a eunuch's blood is that they are high-risk candidates as most of them are involved in prostitution on account of lack of livelihood opportunities,' he says.

Prostitution isn't the only refuge; some others are beggars, many earn through dancing at celebrations etc. It's hard to understand why avenues are so severely limited for the third gender, when other differently-abled or physically challenged individuals have opportunities beckoning. Quite a few transgenders enroll themselves for distance learning courses and have basic education; some have technical skills too. Is there scope for them in the corporate sector? 'Their plight is understandable and I'm sure they could do well in backend operations of any organisation or at least data entry. Even if there is an issue making them the representatives of the company or the face of an organisation, there are certain profiles which do not need gender discrimination. It is usually the recruiter's bias at work. Growth prospects are shallow and networking and bonding that happens in and after office hours may be restricted,' comments a senior HR employee in a leading MNC.

Hope is certainly alive for the community, at least in some parts of the world. The US government, for example, supports transgender sex change operation, helping him/her to lead a normal life. It is time that the Indian scenario changes and the concerned authorities take notice. The Vice Chancellor of the National Law School University of India, Bangalore, Prof. R. Venkat Rao believes that for any reform, there'll be plenty of resistance. He says, 'I will propose that a column for transgenders be included in the admission form. Though the CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) committee will need to approve of it.'

In Santosh's case, it is difficult to say who of the two partners has a more difficult life. Only if the rest of us create a little space for our fellow beings, the world would be a better place to live in and no one would have to find themselves in such trying circumstances.

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Irresponsible politics by Cong and the CPI(M) has put Kerala's secular traditions in danger

2011-03-15T10:07:00.001+05:30

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Brewing trouble - Parties, media to blame

B.R.P. Bhaskar
Senior journalist and social activist

Kerala, which has had a long tradition of communal amity, now stands polarised on religious lines with political parties having their eyes set on the next elections and the media transfixed on TRP ratings and circulation figures playing roulette with gay abandon. The CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF, which have been voted to office in alternate elections over the past three decades, tacitly acknowledge the rise of communal sentiments, each blaming the other.

An article in the CPI(M) daily Deshabhimani this week said, 'Rightwing forces have always taken the stand of attacking the Communist movement using caste and religious politics. When the rightwing weakens such interventions become sharper.'

This is a palpable half-truth. No doubt the Congress has benefited most from the intervention of communal elements in politics. However, the communists have played the game as recklessly as the Congressmen. At present it is the Left which is weakening and the CPI(M) is playing the communal card.

It is by invoking memories of the 'liberation struggle', which resulted in the overthrow of the state's first elected communist government in 1959, that the CPI(M) projects itself as a victim of communal politics. It hides the fact that Nair patriarch Mannath Padmanabhan, who played a leading part in the campaign, had contributed to the undivided CPI's electoral triumph two years earlier.

After the fall of the first government, headed by EMS Namboodiripad, communists faced political isolation. It was with the help of parties with communal orientation like IUML and the Karshaka Thozhilali Party, which was launched by a priest to protect the interests of Christian farmers who had encroached upon tribal lands, that they overcame the problem. These parties joined the CPI(M)-led seven-party alliance in the 1967 elections and were rewarded with ministerial berths. Their entry into the corridors of power gave sectarian politics legitimacy and respectability. The Congress, which had enlisted the League's support earlier to prevent the communists' return to power, had kept it out of the government. IUML has been a part of power politics since then. It is now one of the Congress's oldest allies. IUML split twice and on both occasions, the CPI(M) struck alliances with the breakaway groups. There are now other Muslim organisations like PDP and SDPI. The Jamaat-e-Islami has indicated readiness to enter electoral politics. A common factor animating these groups is the feeling that IUML takes a soft position on issues. Until recently, the CPI(M) was ready to do business with the most hawkish Muslim group provided it was against the Congress.

IUML's growing clout played a part in the emergence of communally oriented political formations in other religious groups. The Kerala Congress formed by a group of dissident Congressmen, mostly Christians but with a sprinkling of Nairs, is the most notable among them.

The concept of 'majority' and 'minority' is unreal in the Kerala context. The Hindus who constitute an estimated 56% of the population are only a nominal majority. Historically, the organisations of the Nairs and the Ezhavas, who probably account for about 16% and 22% of the population respectively, have tended to follow separate and often contradictory positions on issues of political import. The determination of these organisations to retain their political clout has foiled BJP's bid to build a Hindu vote bank. For long the communists commanded the support of the Dalits and Adivasis, who form 10% and one per cent of the population respectively, but lately they have been seeking to chart an independent course. BSP and a new local outfit called Dalit Human Rights Movement are seeking to capitalise on their disillusionment. It is this situation that has prompted the CPI(M) to play the Hindu card.

Kerala's tradition of communal harmony goes back to the Jain-Buddhist period. Jews fleeing their homeland to escape persecution found refuge in Kerala 2,500 years ago. According to local Christian tradition, not long after the crucifixion of Jesus, his disciple Thomas arrived here to preach the gospel and won converts to the new religion. Malik bin Deenar, an Arab, is believed to have built the Cheraman mosque at Kodungallur in 629 AD when the Prophet was still alive.

Thanks to the strength of the secular traditions built over the centuries, social cohesion holds tenuously but the suspicions generated by thoughtless political propaganda and insensitive coverage by the media, especially the 24x7 news channels, linger on. Efforts are on to preserve the secular ethos but these are marked by sectarian division and cannot be trusted to improve matters.

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KARNATAKA EDUCATION: Sex workers' children to get free education under RTE Act

2011-03-11T17:04:00.001+05:30

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A life of dignity

The Karnataka government has decided to provide some 'special' privilege to the children of sex workers in the state. Under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the government will provide these children, who are most likely to be denied admission to schools, free, compulsory and quality education.

'The RTE Act talks of children of disadvantaged and marginalised sections of society. We are going to include children of sex workers in the draft rules of the Act in the state soon,' said Prabha Alexander, junior programme officer, state project office, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Bangalore. Officials like Alexander are hopeful that its mention in the Karnataka Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010, would help end the discrimination that these children face in school and society.

Sabita S, secretary of Karnataka Sex Workers' Union (KSWU), a 750-member strong group consisting of sex workers, said: 'We will do everything possible to convince the departments about its importance. We will raise our demand to make appropriate mention of children of sex workers in the RTE Act. Our children are among the most discriminated, with little access to schooling.'

Regarding this Sangama, an NGO working for the betterment of sex workers and their children, and KSWU are planning to meet Karnataka's primary and secondary education minister Vishveshwar Hedge Kageri.

Geetha, director of KSWU that was formed in 2006, said: 'When school authorities get to know about our children's background they ask more donations. In most of the cases they shut their doors on us. Even if somehow admission is managed, once the school authorities learn about what we do for a living, they throw our children out.' For the first time, KSWU is planning to conduct a survey to find out the status of sex workers' children in the state. 'We don't trust any NGO or Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, as they are only engaged in lip service. Till now they have failed to uplift our social status,' says Geetha.

Each year, KSWU gets about 80-90 complaints about children of sex workers being denied access to education. Elavarthi Manohar, who works with Sangama, said: 'Most sex workers are single parents. The work they do is done so that their children get the skills needed for a life of dignity. It's gross injustice to deny these children education. They too deserve free, compulsory education of a good quality.' This time the government is giving positive signals in tackling the burning issue.

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Bailout for the Beel

2011-01-28T10:15:00.001+05:30

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The Deepor wetlands in Assam are seeing decreasing number of avian guests every year. Hemanta Phukan wades through the birdwatchers' concerns'

Wetlands function like nature's kidneys ' they clean and control the effluents polluting our cities and towns. In addition, wetlands are ecological hotspots immensely inviting to the nature watchers.

The Deepor Beel (Beel is a colloquial term for Wetlands), one of the sites listed in the Ramsar Convention, is the stomping ground of around 270 species of migratory and resident birds. The other Ramsar site in the north-east is the Loktuk Lake in Manipur. In February 2009, the Assam state government declared 4.14 square kilometers a sanctuary, of the total 10sqkm of Deepor Beel, in an attempt at conservation and protection against encroachment and pollution. The Deepor Beel is surrounded by the river Brahmaputra and the Jalukbari hills in the north, Rani-Garbhanga Reserve forests in the south, Basistha river in the east and the Kalmoni river in the west. Earlier, the beel was connected to the Brahmaputra through Barhola beel and the wetlands of Pandu area, but it was disconnected when National Highway 37 was built. 70 per cent of Deepor Beel falls under the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authorities (GMDA), and the rest is connected to Rani-Garbhanga and Jorasal Reserve Forests, contiguous with the forests of neighbouring Meghalaya.

Nearly one hundred migratory birds visit Deepor Beel every year in the winter, beckoning bird watchers by the droves from all parts of the country and abroad. Out of 270 bird species found at the site, as many as 70 species are migratory birds, flying in from the other side of the Himalayan range, including Mongolia and Siberia. Divisional forest officer, Guwahati Wildlife Division, S.K. Seal Sarmah said, 'The forest department with the Gauhati University and local NGOs carried a one-day survey on March 30, 2010 and found a total of 7,535 birds of at least 64 species. Out of these, 24 species are of migratory birds and 40 species are of resident birds.' Of late, several migratory as well as resident birds have been missing at this Ramsar site, including the Spot-billed Pelican, Bar-headed Goose and Baer's Pochard. It was way back in 2005 that 25 Baer's Pochard birds were spotted by a group of bird watchers from Switzerland; nobody has seen them ever since. Ditto with the Bar-headed Goose, which used to traverse 2000 kms from Mongolia till a few years back. There is also great concern for the Greater Adjutant Stork, numbering about 800 all over the world, 60 per cent of which is found in Assam. Bird watching remains the main attraction at the wetlands. For ornithologists interested in tracking flight routes of migratory birds coming to Deepor Beel, the forest department conducted surveillance with the help of remote sensing satellite, for the first time in the region. A UN sponsored scheme was executed in February last with the help of a Mumbai-based NGO. 'Radio transmitters were fitted on the birds to trace them. Most of them came to Deepor Beel from across the Himalayas in the summer; they proceed to China and Mongolia,' Sarmah said.

The Deepor Beel is also a water source for the wild elephants. Herds of tuskers cross the Kamakhya-Jogighopa railway line to come to Deepor Beel, thus endangering their lives in the process. With increase in rail traffic, elephant accident cases here have gone up in recent years; the last accident took place on February 28, killing one elephant. However, the Wildlife Trust of India, WWF and the NF Railway have started round-the-clock patrolling along the railway tracks to avert further accidents.

Fishing is proving to be a serious threat to the birds and aquatic animals. 'Local people are not aware and fishing practices continue despite the declaration of the site as a sanctuary,' said Lakshman Teron, a local youth who guides tourists and research workers at the Ramsar site. Guwahati Wildlife Division DFO Sarmah, however, said that actual demarcation of the sanctuary had not yet been made. 'On April 22 and 23, a joint survey was planned by the Forest Department with the State Revenue Department to demarcate the declared sanctuary area of 4.14 square kilometre. But early monsoon disrupted the planning and it was postponed,' he said.

Another problem the Deepor Beel faces is water pollution. The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) utilizes an area up stream from the Beel, at Boragaon village, as a garbage dumping ground. Polluted water ends up getting mixed with Deepor Beel. Plastic bottles are often seen floating on water. 'The Forest Department has taken the matter seriously. We talked to the GMC in this regard. Upon testing the Beel water in the State Science and Technology Department laboratory, water contamination was found within the permissible limit, but the GMC has assured that they will stop dumping there as soon as another suitable dumping ground is found,' he said.

For conservation of a natural site, participation of the local community is a must. Their lifestyle has immense implications for the local environment. 'People are not aware and they do not know that a site like Deepor Beel has the potential for eco-tourism and hospitality industry', said Teron. Even the economic situation has much to gain from inclusive development that answers what's-in-it-for-me conundrum for the people.

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It's time for Africa

2011-01-25T13:12:00.001+05:30

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As the football frenzy of the World Cup erased geographical barriers, Gautam Bhimani also tails another sport trying to make geography history.

It was another nippy night at one of the sports ultimate arenas, imposing Soccer City, on the outskirts of Johannesburg's South Western Township (SOWETO). Just before midnight local time, Spanish Skipper Iker Casillas proudly held aloft the 14-inch tall, 6 and a quarter kg 18 carat solid gold FIFA World Cup, a first for his highly skilled but hitherto underperforming footballing nation. Moments later, the giant 'Calabash' (the native African pot that inspired the design for Soccer City) erupted in a riot of colour and noise. One final flourish that drove home the message that South Africa, indeed the whole continent of Africa had left a lasting impression on the world.

The moment took me back to Vienna on 29 June, 2008, as I wandered around the Champagne soaked Spanish dressing room at Vienna's confetti laden Ernst Happel Stadium, hours after the Spanish Matadors had just lifted the EURO 2008 trophy, their first step towards a unique double.

It also took me back a few weeks to a quieter moment on a different continent. To a different sport. A sport not quite as fanatic as football. A sport called cricket. With football pushing its boundaries, thanks to the first ever world cup staged historically and successfully on the African continent, cricket too continues to break geographical barriers and sees the game played at tiny venues like the island of Dominica, returning to war torn Zimbabwe and seeking to be played in the bustling bylanes of Beijing. The latest addition to an ICC recognised venue is far from obscure or remote but is still unheard of in cricketing terms! Just a short 35-minute drive from one of the world's most sought after sandy strips, tanning territory of the rich and famous, sun-soaked South Beach in Miami Florida, is the sleepy township of Lauderhill, on the fringe of the better known beachfront town of Fort Lauderdale. Lauderhill's 110 acre sports complex also boasts of a cricket-only facility, Central Broward Regional Park Cricket ground, the only ICC-approved ground in the United States.

Sitting here, penning this down at bustling Mandela Square in the heart of Johannesburg's posh Sandton district, dwarfed by the legend's giant statue, surrounded by a cacophony of high decibel Spanish fans testing the limits of their Vuvuzelas, and as South Africa prepares to cope with withdrawal symptoms, I can't but feel the stark contrast to my experience of being an integral part of cricket's brush with a quiet nondescript virgin setting a few weeks earlier. The most obvious contrast, of course, is the fact that here in South Africa it is 2 degrees below zero at 8:15 in the morning (it's already been dubbed the coldest world cup ever) and the cricket was basking in the Miami sun at 37 degrees.

Not to take away from the fact that cricket in the United States was still breaking new ground and could be sowing the seeds of another sporting revolution. Flashback across the Atlantic. May 2010. Even before this new revolution had got off the ground, the New Zealand team had already started to break the ice (no reference to the weather in Johannesburg), thanks to an early exit from the ICC World T20. They spent a fruitful one-week vacation in the Miami area (7 days without an international fixture would feel like hibernation in this day and age!) and in that time made their way to the imposing Sunlife Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins Football team and the Florida Marlins Baseball team. There they proceeded to tutor some of the nation's top baseball legends in the art of cricket and in turn the likes of Jake Oram and Kyle Mills tried their hand at bat. Baseball bat that is. One must not lose sight of the fact that several terms are not mutually exclusive to the two sports!

But even more of a fascinating exchange of thoughts and ideas happened a couple of days later at the venue for the actual cricket matches in Lauderhill where the local ESPN USA baseball camera crew had to be taught cricket from scratch in 24 hours flat! I was part of that unique briefing session and it was a sight to behold! The image was a classic, as the crew was seated on an all-American John Deere tractor, attired in loud tees and reverse baseball caps with hot dogs and mustard waiting in the wings. The conversations were worth being a fly-on-the-tractor for. 'Maaan, why doesn't the batter guy run every time he bunts the ball"... "get outta here, the catchers don't get to wear mitts?"... "hey hey, he was not the third man who walked out, he was seventh"... "silly point huh it's a silly game?"......

At the end, baseball married cricket and the new couple went hand in hand the next day taking the first few hesitant steps on the honeymoon. The high priest overseeing the entire union was USACA President Don Lockerbie. He was aware that thanks to the sluggish pitch and the absence of teams like India, Pakistan and the West Indies, the honeymoon was not going to be spectacular, but nonetheless he was over the moon and confident that this was just the beginning of great things to come. Lockerbie, whose brainchild this whole operation is, has an aura of fallen Texan Billionaire Allen Stanford, albeit minus a few pounds (the weight and the money!).

He had enough reasons to be happy as there were some technological breakthroughs. The games were not just televised around the world but also watched by many on their sleek new iPads and iPhones, thanks to the live streaming on the web. For the locals though the biggest breakthrough was the fact that one diving catch from the first game made it to ESPN's prestigious SportsCenter Plays of the Day, usually exclusive territory for American sports. But despite all the hype and the ground that was broken, as my thoughts came screeching back to the southern hemisphere, it became clear that football's quadrennial extravaganza is untouchable in size and stature. Whether you follow the sport or not, the football world cup is more than an event. It is one single entity that manages to bridge all barriers, that reaches out to every corner of our vast planet via one tiny spherical polyhedron better known as a football.

I stepped on to the Emirates Airbus A340-500 at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International airport bound for Dubai, still coming to terms with the startling realisation that despite the fact that cricket may be larger than life in our country, and we may have taken 'giant' strides promoting it in the US of A or elsewhere on earth, it remains but a mere speck on the horizon against the beautiful game that for the past month had summoned the attention of the world to the southern tip of the vast continent of Africa. One shining example: At Centurion Cricket ground, more people turned up to watch football on a giant TV screen than have ever turned up for even a live world cup cricket match. Now that the final whistle has blown, normal life can resume. For the next four years at least.

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Price rise: 'Inflationary issues'

2011-01-22T17:10:00.004+05:30

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'Inflation should be controlled sooner than later for the common man's benefit'

Anand Pradhan

Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Mass Communications

United Progressive Alliance (UPA), after winning the 2009 general elections, appears to have become complacent about the problem of inflation. Having returned to power, that too with increased seats, the Congress is taking advantage of a weakened Opposition to wrest total control of Indian politics. With the Left out of the way, UPA-2 is pushing the unfinished agenda of UPA-1. Steps that this government wanted to take in the last term only to be thwarted by its leftist allies are being hastened now. The next general elections will be in 2014. Until then there is no important election except for the Bihar and West Bengal Assembly polls. The real political challenge that the Congress may be facing is in 2012, when Uttar Pradesh elects a new Assembly.

So the Congress-led government at the Centre has the liberty to take hard economic decisions and start the process of the second generation of economic reforms, mainly in the financial sector, disinvestment and decontrol of petroleum prices. The government had probably expected that inflation triggered by last year's poor monsoon and mismanagement of food supplies would be brought under control quickly. But that has not happened. Second, they thought this inflation is limited to just food items and would not reflect in the general inflation figures. But in April-May, general inflation rose above 10 per cent, which clearly shows that it is now reflecting in all sectors of the economy.

Because of the initial stimulus package, the government spent more money before the elections on loan waivers, NREGA and some other schemes to boost the economy and also as a kind of populist step to garner votes. So all this money boosted the economy which was facing a severe financial crisis and also the impact of global recession. The economy survived because of this money and also the huge bonanza to central government employees in the form of the Sixth Pay Commission. Now as things have once again started looking up the thinking in government circles is that the economy was managed well, and that inflation is a concern but not a major one and that this is the best time politically and economically to push the reforms through.

The Opposition remains divided. On the issue of economic reforms, the principal Opposition party is nobetter off because the BJP had pursued the same policies when they were in power. Left is still resisting the UPA-2 moves but it is in no position anymore to make an impact on policies. IMF, World Bank and top industrial lobbies like FICCI and CII are all pressuring the government to expedite the reforms process, particularly in the areas if disinvestment, deregulation and the financial sector, opening the retail sector for FDI and also decontrol of petroleum prices. All this is creating major problems for the common man even as the government and industry feel that everything is doing fine. A Food Security Bill is on the anvil, but civil society has picked big holes in it. There is one factor which I think is very important particularly with the food sector. UPA-2's budgets, especially the second one, clearly reflects the neo-liberal mindset where the emphasis is on reducing the fiscal deficit. So you will either increase the income of the government or reduce its expenditure. But the government is trying to appease the middle class so they are trying to decrease income tax rates or the direct tax code. There is no scope for reducing certain expenditures so what is happening is that they have started slashing outlays for the social sector.

Last year, when anger was brewing against rising prices, the government was the biggest hoarder. It was holding the biggest buffer. If you go to the website of the food and civil supplies ministry, you will find that the government is still holding more than two and a half times more wheat and rice in its godowns than it should as per norms. At that time the stock was not released deliberately because it would have led to an increase in fiscal deficit. The government seemed more worried about fiscal deficit than providing relief to the people. The rise in sugar and sugarcane prices shows the laxity of the government and ministers like Sharad Pawar, who is in charge of agriculture and food and civil supplies. It is said that whenever he made a statement, prices shot up. There has been a continuous rise in prices of foodgrains. It is still rising and it is a very serious problem. What makes matters worse is that the government is not even willing to accept this calls for corrective measures. It is now arguing that opening up the retail trade will boost India's food economy and provide relief to the consumers. But it will have a disastrous impact.

'The author's views are personal and do not represent the magazine's'

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The Minissha file

2010-12-27T16:07:00.006+05:30

IIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri's Snaps

Minissha Lamba has put together an impressively diverse filmography in a very short span of time. the punjabi kudi who's part of bollywood's twitterati brigade, talks to Spriha Srivastava

Tell us about your journey that made you who you are?

Well, there is so much of a journey that can't be encapsulated into a few liners of an answer. Let's just say that it has been exhilarating, exhausting, magical and humbling.

You started your career with 'Yahaan' and it was received well with the critics. How did the movie happen?

It was as simple as me doing a commercial for a director called Sujit Sircar who went ahead to make his debut film 'Yahaan,' which he cast me for. After that, the journey has been one where I have learnt things on my own. I've not had anyone to tell me how I need to behave or the relationships that I need to cultivate. I have been someone who has been operating on God's good grace. (laughs)

What are the few things you have learnt in the industry so far?

Today, the industry is a refreshing place to be. I have learnt to be honest in my dealings with people. And you are as good as your last Friday!

How do you mange to stay clear of link ups in this industry?

I have no clue how one stays away or with. As it's not exactly like chocolate fondue that you know what it looks like and where it's available. Your image went through a makeover with "Kidnap". Was it a conscious effort to stop being perceived as a girl next door?

I think it was an effort to be different than what I was earlier. 'Kidnap' gave me the platform to look in a different avatar. Who says you can't be cute and sexy?

How was the experience walking the ramp this year? Were you nervous?

I am always a little nervous walking the ramp... I think it's the most difficult thing to do... My biggest fear is falling in front of everyone!

You got some great reviews for 'Well Done Abba,' especially at Cannes. How was the experience working with Boman Irani and Shyam Benegal?

Fantastic! In this film I actually expected to get dwarfed by Shyam Benegal and Boman. But I was very pleasantly surprised when I was getting appreciation for what I was doing in the film. Honestly, I didn't think I would be able to pull off the character of a village belle... considering I'm someone who has never been to a village in my life.

There were a lot of controversies when you decided to go bold. Did that ever disturb you?

I don't think it disturbed me... I was just hoping that a majority of people would end up liking it. I would browse a lot of blogs and sites where the videos were up and see viewer comments. Lots of people had good things to say about the new hot look. And some people out right hated it. So you can't win them all but the endeavour is on! (smiles) 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' had three leading ladies.

Did you feel that your role could get shadowed by the others?

Not at all. I was extremely happy about my role. I was more scared of being dwarfed in "Well Done Abba'. 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' was such a beautiful fun film to shoot and I'm so glad Siddharth Anand and Aditya (Chopra) chose to cast me in that project of theirs.

You played a journalist in 'Shaurya'. Did that rekindle your love for the profession? Any regrets in life?

The great thing about being an actor is that you can be a hundred different people for a living. No regrets as such... but yes, if I could turn back the clock, there would be some decisions I would have made different!

Tell us about your upcoming projects.

There are two films called 'Hum Tum Aur Shabana' and 'Bheja Fry 2'. Both (are) helmed by Sagar Ballary.

Who are your favourite Hollywood actors and directors?

I have recently fallen in love with Colin Firth after watching "A Single Man" but my all time favourite actor is Robert Downey, Jr. Every time I fall in love with someone new, I announce it on Twitter... My record of falling in love with Hollywood actors is notoriously high!!

You read a lot. Which book are you are reading these days?

Currently, I am reading Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat. I would love to meet him one day and travel with him for a few months.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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UPA-II is a hospital sans medicine

2010-12-14T12:55:00.005+05:30

IIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri's Snaps

Atul Kumar Anjan
National Secretary, CPI

The distorted and misguided economic policies that UPA-I implemented in its last days have come to haunt UPA-II. But unwilling to learn, Manmohan Singh is still promising the moon to the people by claiming that prices of essentials will cool down by October whereas prices of vegetables and fruits will stabilise soon. He has also been promising that due to 'bumper production' of wheat, overall prices will surely fall by the year-end.

What the government is actually doing is that it is sending clear signals to forward traders, black-marketeers, bootleggers and speculators that they may earn windfall gains till the year-end. After all, how can somebody explain the phenomenon that while the government starts huffing and puffing when asked to fix MSP for wheat at Rs 1,000 per quintal it does not think twice before approving Rs 1,800 per quintal for imported wheat from Australia? Naturally, one can smell a rat there.

Actually, this Sonia/Manmohan government does not give two hoots about the poor and disenfranchised. They don't have an economic policy in place to help them. If they really cared about the poor, then capitalism would not have spread its wings like this. As things stand today, a meagre portion of India is well-to-do while the majority is toiling hard but finding it immensely difficult to make ends meet. And what's more, the committees and sub-committees set by the government expose its lip service. They give a clear picture as to how insensitive the government is towards the poor and down-trodden. The Arjun Sengupta report states that as many as 830 million people in the country live below the poverty line, earning less than Rs 20 per day per head. The statistic offered by the Saxena Committee and the Tendulkar Committee put the corresponding figure between 32 per cent and 50 per cent. This section of the society can't pay Rs 100 for a kg of pulses or Rs 50 for a kg of sugar. The callousness and insensitivity of the Centre can be judged by the simple fact that while the poor can't afford sugar, mill-owners have reaped a profit of Rs 3,000 crore. And if that were not enough, market capitalisation of family-owned corporate houses has increased by 500-700 per cent.

Whenever inflation shoots up and the government starts receiving brickbats, typical of its past record, the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty slyly detaches itself from the decision-making process and refuses to share responsibility. When petroleum prices were marginally lowered, it patted its back; however, when inflation went out of control, the government absolved itself by merely forming a committee which never met to discuss the issue. What a waste! How much detached from ground realities are they that when petroleum prices were to be raised, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee gave a lame excuse that it will not affect inflation as the railways, and not the roadways, are the preferred choice of freight carriage in the country. What he comfortably forgot was the fact that from railway stations to storage facilities and from there to wholesalers, the only available mode are the roadways.

The situation in the northeast is serious. It is almost entirely dependent on road transport for freight carriage. From food items to medicines, everything is carried by trucks. The rise in prices has led to unrealistic inflation in these areas. It is not for nothing that the youth of the northeast is discontented with the government.

At least, during the Indira Gandhi regime, she used to make it a point to meet people from all strata and understand their problems. Manmohan Singh neither speaks to nor takes the pain to go to the common man to know his/her problems. His favourite indulgence seems addressing economists and industrialists in five-star hotels over Bourbon, caviar and smoked salmon. As far as the Naxal menace is concerned, it is the by-product of social and economic woes. The government is clueless as what to do with this menace. As far as UPA II is concerned, I can say that it is a hospital without drugs or a kitchen without fire.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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NOTES TO MYSELF: Hands that heal

2010-11-30T12:06:00.002+05:30

Prof Rajita Chaudhuri on 'THEY ARE COMING TO GET YOU – NOT ALIENS SILLY'

I was surprised by my own reaction when I said 'no'. Usually, and as regular readers would testify, I'm a great believer in the energy arts. So when a friend of mine at work suggested we go and sign up for a Pranic Healing programme, I surprised myself just as much as I surprised her when I refused. Now, you must realise that I'm quite an adept at making a conversation piece out of my interests, feigned and real, in the martial and healing arts, so it was quite a shock for this friend of mine and so she asked, ' But why'? You've always been such a believer. You're always pushing us for yoga or tai chi and stuff' so why not Pranic Healing?'

So I told her, 'I'm not so sure if this whole Pranic Healing business works. I mean the great Master Choa Kok Sui who created or at least organised the healing system as it now stands himself died rather young ' in his 50s, and of pneumonia. Now what good is a healing system that claims to heal both emotional and physical problems, and yet, the one who created it couldn't heal himself, or be healed by those around him?' She had a frown. She had made up her mind but now she'd come up against a wall she hadn't expected. I softened. 'I don't know much about this system though I've heard of miraculous healing experiences' of people being brought back from their death-beds, surviving cancers that defeated the best of allopathic doctors. So obviously, the system isn't without merit. So don't stop yourself' go ahead and experience it. Maybe you'll make a believer out of me.' She smiled and seemed relieved. Next day she signed up for the workshop.

Meanwhile, I dug out an old article I'd come across in a martial arts magazine. The author, a healer and martial artist suggested that Pranic Healing could reduce both recovery-time for martial artistes and also reduce injuries. I was intrigued. I did some more research and discovered a few more interesting claims and accounts. Some 'healers' claimed that they had healed people of chronic ailments and numerous accounts of people with back-aches and head-aches claiming immediate relief when 'healed'. Pranic healing was now on my 'things to look up in the future' list.

Later, I met a Pranic healer, through a friend of mine. At the meeting, the healer 'scanned my aura'. It's a rather unnerving experience, dear readers, for here was this lady, with her eyes closed in concentration, moving her hands towards my body as one might to push a flower floating in the water towards you. Then she opened her eyes and said that one of my 'lower chakras', vortexes of energy that control the ebb and flow of prana in the body was rather large' I didn't know what to make of it and she seemed to ponder over the matter and decided not to elaborate unless I asked. I was feeling rather vulnerable' I didn't ask' but the thought stayed with me. I wanted to know more about this healing system that claimed to feel and heal the emotional and physical well-being of a person by just 'scanning the aura' and then transmitting energy through the hands. This was almost magical. All these stories reminded me of the spontaneous miracles performed by the heroes of the Bible and Christ himself, where wounds and sores would disappear with the mere wave of a hand or a pointed finger.

So this time when my friend went for her three-day course, I requested her to seek an appointment on my behalf. And on the third day, I went for an appointment with Abe, the Pranic healer conducting the workshop. I had two questions. First, I wanted to know if there were any tangible accounts of people actually recovering from diseases as lethal as cancer and sclerosis, instead of the mere aches and pains that make up most of the popular cases. Abe smiled a sad smile. She has done her share of healing but told me about this young lady, who had cancer and who she tried to 'heal' to the best of her abilities but lost. And yet, this girl went through her chemotherapy and her terminal illness without any of the usual signs of suffering and depression that accompany this dreaded illness. No small victory if you ask me. But Abe also told me about her fellow healer who has been working with another cancer patient who was given just three years to live by his doctors and yet it's been nine years since and that man is still living a normal life today. So at best, it'll heal miraculously and at the very least, it'll make life bearable, perhaps even enjoyable, even in the worst of times.

And what of the master's early demise? Well, there's no easy answer, she said. It's true that Master Choa Kok Sui was working with divine energy and too much of it can damage the body. And yes, he worked tirelessly to spread the healing power and neglected his own body. And who is to say if his passing isn't 'part of a divine plan that'll help him spread the light' to the furthest corners. Hmmm' Well I don't have all the answers either but what I can tell you is that when I met my workaholic of a friend after her workshop, she had this glazed look that seemed to radiate peace and happiness. Now if you knew her, you'd have known that this was one small change in expression, but one giant leap for her 'beautiful soul'. I'm signing up'

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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KITES: From soar to sour

2010-11-17T17:58:00.003+05:30

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Weak narrative thread tied to a gorgeous looking canvas of locales and action

Pushed back release dates, pre-release hype and controversies, mega bucks marketing had all combined to raise anticipation and expectations to such high levels for “Kites” that I wouldn’t be surprised if the audience showed up with their own little checklist. Hrithik-Barbara chemistry? Check. Kickass action sequences? Check. Hrithik dancing like only he can? Yeah, baby! A crisp narrative that zips you through the two hour runtime smoothly? Uh oh. Great background score? Check. Songs to fit the mood? Erm...ouch!

Make no mistake, “Kites” is an impressive crossover attempt with its technicals very sound. From action to sound mixing to editing, it looks slick and exciting whether it is the nefarious hue of the neon lights of Vegas or the unforgiving pain of the New Mexico desert. But the story somehow contrives to become clumsy after a superb opening with J (Hrithik Roshan) falling in love with Gina (Kangana Ranaut), the daughter of casino mogul, Rob (Kabir Bedi, little screen time but suave as ever). Gina’s brother Tony (Nicholas Brown) is betrothed to Natasha (Barbara Mori) but J and Natasha fall for each other and decide to run away, leaving a vengeful Tony on their trail.

Hrithik and Barbara’s romance provides some lovely moments in the film and while Barbara is commendable, Hrithik shines bright with his earnest effortlessness. Less earnest is the rest of the cast and the script because both seem to run out of juice in the second half. Anurag Basu constructs a gritty and painful tale but at its heart it’s a simple Bollywood story with a Hollywood face lift. It’s worth a watch no doubt, but like a kite that has been cut from its thread and now lies torn among the branches of a tree, its utility is ephemeral.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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DR. BRIJMOHAN SHARMA, SECRETARY, SPECS

2010-09-21T15:55:00.004+05:30

How do you go about raising funds from the corporate world and what challenges do you face?
It is not only the corporate from whom we ask for funds. The government also makes for a huge contribution. But what ever the case may be it is first the need assessment that we have to do. We have to convince the party in front of us about what we are working for and how do we want to achieve our target. All in all, we sell concepts and first we send a proposal and then we sell our methodology. After everything is cleared, we sell the final presentation, which if accepted leads to fund generation. The main challenge comes in making the investor understand why we are doing something and once that is done everything falls in place.

How important is branding for an NGO?
It is very important. Branding starts working from the beginning itself. If an NGO is well established as a brand, it is easier for it to raise funds and in many cases even the people are more willing to come and work for them. Since an NGO is always in need of trained manpower, suitable to work with any kind of people and in any situation, it is easier to attract if one has a proper recall. Branding is what really makes impact and that is what an NGO needs to survive and work on.

What about celebrity endorsement? Do they really help in fund generation?
If a celebrity endorses work of an NGO, then it accepted more by the people as celebrities are able to generate belief amongst them.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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DO AUTO BRANDS REALLY MATTER?

2010-08-11T11:40:00.003+05:30

What’s brand value for the value-for-money driven 350 million middle-class Indians, the very lot which is often credited for being the chief driver of the passenger car industry that scripted a double-digit growth of 12.6% during the past seven years? What’s brand value for a nation, where only 16.4% of the automobile industry is accounted for by passenger vehicles, and where 75.4% of the total unit sales per year is accounted for by easy-on-the-pockets two-wheelers? Recall those times, when all that was known in the name of fuel-guzzling machines for the ‘common’ Indian were the humdrum scooters from the Bajaj stable, which needed a lean-on-one-side yogic exercise every time you felt the itch to give it a kickstart; how apt that there were just three sub-brands in that segment then and each needed the same treatment on non-performance! Notice the manner in which the number of vehicles on the streets have hit higher highs during the past so many months. And if you thought that we, as a market have found high-priced ‘brands’ digestible, we recommend to you a flashback to the nationwide cheers which an entry-product like the Tata Nano received! Really, is the Indian consumer even concerned about brands when it comes to choosing his new four-wheeler? In other words, have brands – in general – become so undifferentiated that one doesn’t matter more than the other? Neeraj Garg, a Director on the Board of Volkswagen India gives his response to us, “Branding creates awareness among consumers. Unless people know we are Volkswagen, they will not come to our showrooms. Once the consumer comes to our showroom, he experiences our products and our services and realises that we offer world class service and products. There is a direct correlation to a large extent... more the awareness, more the walk-ins and more the sales...”

Keeping our arguments and Garg’s justifications aside, let us first talk about the real situation in the Indian four-wheeler industry, for which the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) projects a happy tale of the industry becoming one of the largest in the world in the near future. But what it misses is the confusion in the minds of the consumers. Here’s proof – how many four wheeler brands exist in the market today? Honestly, an environmentalist who’s sworn by the gods to eliminate ozone-depleting engines will have a closer-to-correct seat of the pants response than an ordinary Indian, waiting to lay his hands on his new value-for-money car. And why so? Surely, this has nothing to do with any intellectual evaluation of the Indian middle class genome, but the truth is – they really don’t care! And as far as the number of brands on Indian soil go, the count at present stands at a healthy 90. Beat that for clutter!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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The food processing industry in India grew at 14%

2010-06-28T16:38:00.002+05:30

As Adi Godrej, Chairman of Godrej Group says to 4Ps B&M, “The JV is doing very well as Hershey wanted to focus on the Indian market and this matched very well with our vision of having a leadership position in the Indian food market.” Adi is now planning to enter the snacks market by 2010. Not surprising, as this market is currently worth a smashing $3 billion (All India Food Processing Association data) and is growing at an incredible 20%.

The snacks market is clearly and equally divided between foreign and domestic players. “Apart from big player like PepsiCo, this sector is largely being dominated by unorganized and small players. Many such players are now realizing the importance of creating brands through proper positioning,” says PL Kaul, former President of All India Food Processing Organization. For instance, consider the Mumbai based Rs.200 crore Al-kaber Group, which has been into the business for more than a decade, but has only recently started brand positioning exercises. Similar is the case of Capital Foods Ltd, which has rolled out brands like Ching’s Secret and Smith & Jones and plans to introduce three more snacks brands by 2010. “We would be also entering into other new areas, where there’s no brand as it’s always easier to create a brand in the unbranded commodities segment,” explains Arun Kumar Gupta, Marketing Head of Capital Foods Ltd.

According to the report on ‘Indian Functional Foods and Beverage Markets’ by Frost & Sullivan, the market of branded probiotics would touch an estimated $1.161 billion in 2012; and that many unbranded segments (like milk based product, spices paste & other RTC spaces) would see a flourishing of organised brands. And that’s where existing players and global giants are attempting to get their first movers’ advantage equation right, especially in categories where no brands are currently present. For instance, the country has never seen a convenience brand in the dessert category. Ice creams yes, but true desserts, never. To that extent, US based ConAgra Foods, after a setting-up effort of one year, has rolled out its pudding brand in India this year.

But foraying into unbranded category is not a new phenomenon. A decade back, even Nestle and HUL forayed into the Rs 90 crores soup market. And before that Nestle into the noodles market (see box on left for details).

Entering into a previously unbranded and sometimes non-existent market is extremely challenging, especially when one has to take the onus of changing cultural eating habits of people. A clearly differentiated positioning is a necessity, although not a guarantee, for success. For, instance HUL introduced soups in India at a time when Indian meal options were yet to evolve to include soups as a part of their regular home diet. But HUL rolled out its brand Knorr as ‘essentially desi’ replacing the elitist image attached to it; the positioning of the product was also changed to be a snack option before dinner (till date, they have sustained such a positioning strategy, most famously through their ‘tummy be kush, mummy be kush’ taglines).

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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CRAZY ABOUT CREATIVE LANDS

2010-06-16T14:23:00.001+05:30

From 4 people & 4 Macs on a dining table in 2007, they now have a team of 62 and nine collaborations in Asia. founder Raj Kurup on the how & why...

4Ps B&M: Did you think of roping in a partner in Creativeland Asia to mitigate the risk when you started off?
RK: When I walked out of the previous agency, my core team walked out with me without asking a single question. When I shared with them my vision for Creativeland, they believed in me. I cherish their partnership over any other in the world.

4Ps B&M: So where did the initial investment come from?
RK: Apple started from a garage. We didn’t even have a garage. Creativeland Asia started on my dining table. I brought in whatever initial investment was needed for starting up (including the dining table). While my team shared the risk of us failing as a team, I didn’t want to burden them with any financial risk. I limited that risk to myself and I was mentally prepared to lose.

4Ps B&M: Was it tough getting the first client for your start-up?
RK: The first brand that walked in at Creativeland was one that my core team and I had created at our previous agency. Our alter ego, as we called it. Appy Fizz was the first brand we had at Creativeland. Four weeks later, Café Coffee Day came in. Then, we won the Diageo wine portfolio launch. Three months later, during an Appy Fizz presentation, the Frooti brand manager briefed us on a project. The project was to design a gift pack. They told us that they were unhappy with the designs being presented to them by their agency. We went back to them with one design that we believed in. The brand manager was touched by the seriousness and clarity with which we approached the assignment, that would normally have been considered as too a small job in a regular agency. In fact we used a gift pack to tell Frooti what their interim strategy for the next year should be. The brand manager got all charged up and asked us if we could handle Frooti. We told him we were not equipped to as yet. And that it would take us a couple of months to put resources in place. He negotiated it down to a month. Even today, we give the tiniest of jobs that same attention and importance. We haven’t forgotten that it was one small gift pack that won us a big brand!

4Ps B&M: Are the things settled now as far as Creativeland Asia is concerned or is still a lot more work do be done?
RK: (Smiles) This is only the beginning. Creativeland has a long, long way to go.

4Ps B&M: Recently, in an interview to this magazine, Sam Balsara had said that for a very long time Madison had only three clients as he thought that he would not be able to do justice to his clients base if the number increased. What’s your view?
RK: I completely agree with Sam and I have tremendous respect for the man. We do not participate in free reckless pitches at Creativeland as a policy. If we have our act in place, growth in the long run is inevitable. However, that is not the target, nor is it the motivation. I’m investing in a culture that I believe in. A culture rooted in honesty and belief. A culture that stands for attention to detail. A culture that stands pushing standards. If we cannot do justice to a brand, we are honest enough to not take it on.

4Ps B&M: But the MNCs continue to hog a lion’s share of brands. How do you deal with that challenge?
RK: I don’t care what MNCs are up to. Or what anyone’s share is. I’m not looking at anyone else’s plate. I’m happy with what comes into Creativeland. Brands that come to Creativeland come to us with a sense of belief. They come to us with a lot of expectations. I’m only interested in living up to those own expectations and making a difference to every single brand we handle.

4Ps B&M: The most pathbreaking work that Creativeland Asia has done till date?
RK: The latest one that I’m proud of is Saint Juice. We created the juice brand from scratch. From the product strategy, to the name, to its packaging, to the communication - everything.

4Ps B&M: Do you think that the era of independent small agencies has arrived?
RK: I wouldn’t want to comment about the independent era. But, rapidly evolving communication needs have brought a 30-year old network agency and a 2-year old independent agency on the same plane. Today, we’re handling clients, projects and launches that are as big as it gets in any of the top creative agencies. Our work has been featured in every advertising book that matters. The quality of work we’re putting out in the market is being appreciated by consumers and our peers. We hope to sustain this. We hope to stay focused, humble, young. And, of course, stay Creativeland.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here

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Who’s the leader here?

2010-05-27T15:33:00.001+05:30

Exclusive In chat with Society Magazine - Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri

A famous literary genius once said, “Every leader needs to look back once in a while to make sure he has followers.” However, when Bharti Airtel, the clear market leader of the Indian telecom sector (both in terms of subscriber base and revenues) looked back, it found that it is left way behind in taking any initiative to woo new customers. And if that was not enough, then much to the surprise of market watchers, it has adopted the pricing strategy that other players have introduced in the recent past, case in point being the ‘charging calls per second’ strategy introduced by new entrant Tata DOCOMO (at the time of its launch) and later lapped up by MTS, Aircel and Vodafone. It is noteworthy that there are players like Reliance Communication (Flat 50 paise call) and Tata Indicom (per call billing as opposed to time based billing) that have dared to be different and not introduced a per second billing plan. Earlier in the year, Idea Cellular took the lead in slashing STD rates and surprisingly even at that time, Airtel on its part had just matched Idea’s offer. Praveen Kumar, MD, Vie Capital shares, “Telecom has now become a saturated sector and there are many business related problems like lack of spectrum that are hampering the growth of even established players in the segment.” Until now, the Indian telecom sector has just played on pricing to attract new customers rather than offering any other clear differentiation. Even established players are not doing anything more than just matching up the prices offered by other players. Sadly, the problem for Airtel intensifies because of congestion in its network, which seems to be getting worse by the day. Although new players in the GSM arena like RCom too are having network problems, but then, aren’t we talking about the leader here?!

Surbhi Chawla

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here

Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com

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EDUCATION FOR A YOUNG NATION...

2010-05-07T17:39:00.003+05:30

Kapil Sibal, Union Minister, HRD

When it comes to a young nation like India where 530 million are under the age of 25 years, what better an issue than educational reforms to help carve a worthy brand? So no sooner did Kapil Sibal don the hat of Union HRD Minister earlier this year, he set about creating his own buzz, earning him scores of headlines, with his picture splashed across most news media over the last few months. His quest to make the Class 10 board examinations optional or even his plans to take AIEEE online, has multiplied Sibal’s brand recall by leaps and bounds over the last few months. Not all the buzz has been positive though for this Padma Bhushan awardee! His zest for educational reforms has also earned him critics who believe that he is going too fast for most to keep up with his dreams and ambitions. But loud he is, and visibility he gets. Brand Sibal today stands for ‘educational reforms’, and though it is true that anything sold to a developing nation in the name of reforms will sell, this brand, with all the experience, is there to ensure that pass-outs and not drop-outs become the voice of educated India.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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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For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

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Not much problem

2010-04-09T16:44:00.003+05:30

IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy

Circulation figures of English dailies recently released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations for six-months ending June 2009 surprisingly reveal that of 52 editions surveyed, only seven registered positive growth rate of circulation. Business Standard, The Hindu Business Line, The Telegraph reported decline in circulation to the tune of 18%, 5% and 4.09%, respectively. Rahul Kansal, Brand Director, The Times of India avers, “Although cover prices increased by 40-50% in the last one year, an average drop of 5% was witnessed in circulation. This itself indicates the loyalty of readers.” There still remain numerous untapped markets to increase penetration of print dailies and as Kansal adds further, “There will be an up-gradation in the segment with the advent of new readers and efforts like subscription, freebies, et al, will see natural growth.”

Neha Saraiya

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

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Don't trust the Indian Media!
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CADBURY CELEBRATIONS - MADISON MEDIA INFINITY

2010-03-25T13:29:00.003+05:30

Exclusive In chat with Society Magazine - Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri

OBJECTIVE: To make consumers celebrate Diwali with Cadbury Celebrations instead of homemade sweets. Sales of sweets jump 300% during Diwali, while despite being a top-selling confectionary item, Cadbury was not even accepted as a social gift on auspicious occasions.

MEDIA STRATEGY: A new communication, ‘Aisi mithaas, jo rishton ko banaye aur bhi khaas’ was conceptualised to create brand relevance during the festivities. Since media spends go up by as much 30% during festival season, translating into cluttered advertising, a 30-second spot was not enough and it was decided to create more interventions. The agency partnered with the largest broadcasting networks across media platforms to come together & create a never before media convergence. This was done by creating Media Simulcast – a mass intervention platform that brought together TV (Star Plus), Internet (YouTube) & Radio (BIG FM). Cadbury Celebration Diwali Rishton Kii festival on Star Plus, featured 100 TV celebrities showcasing festival elements like Lakshmi Puja, Bhaidujh, Karva Chauth, singing and dancing, capturing the role of Cadbury Celebration during festivities.

RESULT: The overall media campaign reached out to 94 million people. While the post track matrix for Cadbury Celebration revealed that 33% of the population associated the brand with the initiative; preference matrix for Cadbury Celebrations over homemade sweets moved up by 79%.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Don't trust the Indian Media!
IIPM exposes Career 360 and Mahesh Peri scam
IIPM - We will change your outlook : Career 360 and Mahesh Peri scam is exposed

IIPM Related Links
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Management guru Arindam Chaudhuri’s latest blockbuster book, Discover The Diamond In You
B-schools expect higher rate of campus placements this year

You and i...

2010-03-04T12:24:00.000+05:30

IIPM 3-year full-time Integrated (MBA BBA) Programme

Pink has suddenly become the most cherished colour of money for many marketers in India. Raison d’être: The recent amendment in Section 377 of Indian Penal Code! Yeah, you got that right, but those who are still confused about the co-relation between ‘Pink Money’ and ‘Section 377’, well for them ‘Pink Money’ refers to the purchasing power of the homosexual community – a term that originated in UK and became very popular among marketers in Europe. In fact, riding on back of huge demand and spreading its arms to widespread industries, which comprises of nightclubs, restaurants, taxi services, et al, Pink Money can now boast of a thriving industry in the US and UK, which is worth $575 billion. And as Section 377 now gives a legal dignity to a gay couple in India, marketers here too suddenly seem to have developed a hidden penchant for it. Although, analysts claim that the industry is still in a nascent stage, marketers seem to be in a sunny spirit. Starting from unorganised players like spas & clubs to organised brands like Fastrack, everyone is all set to cajole the Indian gay couple. Even advertisers are charting out plans to entice them. But, is Indian audience mature enough, considering that in 2007, when Snickers (from the stable of Mars Intl.) showed a gay couple sharing the same chocolate bar, the ad sparked a controversy! So to avoid such situation, marketers are right now avoiding direct advertising. “We would be doing something for the gays, but we won’t do open air advertising for the same right now. We will promote it on a much more matured platform,” avers Ronnie Talati, VP & Business Head of Fastrack & New Brands, Titan Industries. Certainly, it’s raining pink! Isn’t it?

Angshuman Paul

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

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Tantalising the taste buds

2010-02-22T15:07:00.000+05:30

IIPM 3-year full-time Integrated (MBA BBA) Programme

When it comes to India, this company from Uncle Sam’s land has believed more in cashing in on pets rather than their owners. In fact, they claim their pet’s food brand is growing at a faster rate faster than their chocolates brands (of course for humans)in India. You got it right! One of the world’s largest food manufacturers, the $30 billion company – Mars Inc. whose Indian subsidiary, Mars International India Pvt. Ltd. (MIPL), has been in operations for more than a decade now and has created a successful market for its dog food brand, Pedigree. “Today Pedigree is perceived to be as a generic brand. And irrespective of the existence of unbranded and unorganised players in this category, we have been able to maintain our leadership position,” avers N. Balasubramanian, Demand Director, Pet Care of MIPL. Well, not a hollow boast! While Pedigree (for dogs) is growing at 40%, Whiskas (cat’s food) is growing at 20%. No doubt, with brands like Pedigree, sharpening its flank seems quiet logical but then with brands like Snickers, Mars, Orbit, et al, the group has never paid heed to the Indian chocolate market. So, the million dollar question is why? The company claims that they have been testing the water with brands like Snickers and Mars and would be soon rolling them out on a pan India basis supported by massive marketing. But isn’t it too late, specially when Cadbury’s and Nestle have already hogged this segment?

Angshuman Paul

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

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Brand Tata was ranked 57 among the top 100 global brands

2010-02-17T11:21:00.000+05:30

IIPM 3-year full-time Integrated (MBA BBA) Programme

Being settled in Indian consumers’ minds brand Tata over the last few years has shown a high degree of intention to convert itself to a truly global brand. All of its cross boarder acquisitions over the last decade, from Tetley to Corus to Jaguar and Land Rover, look more like a brand enrichment exercise than just overseas expansion. Irrespective of the future of these M&As, at this moment one can easily say that this investment of over $25 billion has certainly added a glitz to brand Tata apart from strengthening its global standing.

To gear up its brand values further, the group has now stepped up its global branding exercises. Apart from introducing various academic and research initiatives, the group has developed communication bases in five imperative global markets (including the US, South Africa, UK, China and Bangladesh). Well, the objective is to efficiently communicate the brand to the target audience in new markets.

However, while the brands aggressiveness gets a positive nod from a few, it’s also been questioned and criticised on few other fronts. Vaibhav Vohra, Director, DPD Continental opines, “Tata is the pioneer and a visionary of great caliber and stature who secured a strong foothold in the map of industrial world.” On the other hand, K. J. Singh, Co-founder, Evolve Brands – who finds that these costly and failing purchases would make a dent in the brand standing of the group – adds “Tata has never been considered the best of companies in the car segment. To be able to compete with the large international brands they have to move up from indigenous to multi-lingual processes, perfection and standards.”

But nevertheless, such has been the legacy of the brand that it could easily turn the tide in its favour. It has proven its worth under different environments with different rules of the game, different aspirations in the consumers’ mind and different market dynamics. From the British era to the current globalised market, brand Tata has not only survived, it has thrived. So, it’s no strange that despite all upheavals we will continue to see them in this list for long.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

IIPM ISBE Programmes
Follow Arindam Chaudhuri on Twitter
IIPM B School on Twitter
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Indian drug dealers - busted!!!

2010-01-22T12:57:00.000+05:30

IIPM 2-year full time Programme (leading to the award of the MBA degree from IMI)

As per prior research, the loss of revenues post-patent expiry for a particular company, for a particular formulated drug, is estimated anywhere around 85%! Going by an example, Pfizer, which earned close to $13 billion from its Lipitor drug in 2008, will be able to garner only $1.95 billion – reason, its patent of Lipitor expires in 2011, and generic drug makers will start mushrooming with similar formulations, giving rise to competition which will kill price. And wait a second, a rather optimistic $1.95 billion, only if, competition remains healthy . So where do Indian drugmakers, and where does Habil Khorakiwala come in here? Putting it straight-on, “all” drug makers in India are generic players, the lot which will wait for those patents to tumble one by one!

So how much do Indian drug companies stand to gain from the fall of the citadels? Rahul Sehgal, President, Nestor Pharmaceuticals has an answer to this, which he puts as, “For Indian majors, the potential is huge. However, a lot would depend on their strategy, including cost of developing such products.”

As per market reports, the value of patent expiries till 2013 will stand at about $120 billion. As per the research study sponsored by Merck Foundation titled, Dynamic Competition in Pharmaceuticals: Patent Expiry, Generic Penetration, and Industry Structure, it was revealed that major pharma brands typically lose 50% of their market share within a year of patent expiry. So taking the mini-max approach of game theory, you are looking at a massive $200 billion waiting to be had for the Indian pharmaceuticals by 2014, not a difficulty for names that have earned a huge name in the field of generic drug competition (revenues of $55 billion till 2014 for patents expiring in 2009; $40 billion, $66 billion, $30 billion & $9 billion for patents expiring in 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013 respectively).

Wockhardt has already moved ahead, but it’s not the only one taking proactive measures. There is another name – Sun Pharmaceuticals, which coincidentally is the number one name today when it comes to profit making, having made Rs.1265.29 crore in net profits during the financial year 2008-09 alone. When we questioned a buoyant Uday Baldota, VP - Investor Relations, Sun Pharmaceuticals, on the opportunities presented by the patent expiry situation, he thumped, “Generic drug is a significant, growing and profitable opportunity, worldwide. We are working towards getting a meaningful presence in the worldwide generic industry over the longer term...”
Then there is another interesting twist in the tale. Yes, we have already mentioned the revenues, now let us move on to the cost front. Historically, a “new drug discovery” R&D cost may range anywhere between $120-200 billion. To begin with, this huge cost base will therefore not prove a roadblock for Indian ‘generic’ players, due to non-requirement of R&D as Baldota asserts, “Focus on costs has remained a top priority for us in good times too.” Secondly, the other factor that will work in favour of Indian pharmas is the fact that the most expensive and the riskiest of all drug discovery tasks – the clinical tests and the approval from the FDA will be non-existent! As per a report by Ernst & Young, “The low probability of proceeding from the pre-clinical phase to new drug approval illustrates the high risk inherent in pharmaceutical R&D. Only 2% percent of projects in the pre-clinical phase are expected to make it to Phase I testing and, of these, only one in five are likely to be approved.” So what’s the average success rate of your primary compound finding a place as a pill in the market? A pathetic 0.4%!!!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Follow Arindam Chaudhuri on Twitter
Management guru Arindam Chaudhuri’s latest blockbuster book, Discover The Diamond In You
IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau
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Detail of all IIPM branches
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Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’

Shubh Kaamnayein

2010-01-15T15:11:00.000+05:30

Creating excitement around a brand is paramount to keep sales ticking. And marketers don’t let go off any event or occasion to encash on such frenzies. Raksha Bandhan is just around the corner, and marketers, like every year, are making the most of the festival. Keeping up with the tradition of Rakhi, Britannia has launched special gifting packs called Britannia – Shubh Kaamnayein, with legends symbolic with the festival – Humayun and Rani Karnavati & Lord Krishna and Draupadi on the packaging. Innovation aspect is fine, but do such initiatives help in enhancing sales over a short term period? “Yes...” says Shalini Degan, Category Director, Britannia, “...it’s a limited edition since the mix has been conceived for Rakshabandhan.” She adds that consumers are not only turning cautious with their spending, but also are more quality conscious and demanding secure choices. Such innovations will only reinstate that trust.

Savreen Gadhoke

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
1 lakh copies sold in less than 10 days of Arindam Chaudhuri’s “Discover The Diamond In you”
IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better By Swati Sharma
Events at IIPM
Detail of all IIPM branches
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON

BIG FM slips

2010-01-09T11:20:00.000+05:30

Anil Ambani-owned BIG FM entered the radio sector with a big bang with its mass strategy to capture airwaves and bidding for 45 licences. However, it has not been doing well on the channel front lately. Despite having a strong grip in Bangalore, BIG FM lost its number one position (as per RAM data) in Week 25 to Radio Mirchi, which is the numero uno player in all metros. While BIG FM has 17.7% market share in Bangalore (after losing 0.8% compared to last week), Mirchi has cornered 19.9% adding 1.6% this week. Even its performance is no better in Delhi and Mumbai where Radio Mirchi leads in listenership. “Big FM needs to concentrate on building listenership in metros. Even the ad rates for the channels are decided largely on the basis of their performance in metros,” warns a media planner.

Pallavi Srivastava

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Management guru Arindam Chaudhuri’s latest blockbuster book, Discover The Diamond In You
IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better By Swati Sharma
Events at IIPM
Detail of all IIPM branches
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON

BACK TO THE FUTURE?

2009-10-21T11:37:00.000+05:30

ARVIND SHARMA, MD, LEO BURNETT (INDIA)

It’s not the king of India’s advertising jungle yet, but this Leo is loving the slowdown. Why? Well, no one’s trying to poach their key people, that’s why!

“It’s a mistake to change your existing strategy because of a downturn. A better thing is to sharpen your existing strategy,” exclaims Arvind Sharma, MD, Leo Burnett (India). And it is this strategy, Sharma says, which has helped Leo Burnett grow by 10% even in a tough environment. At a time when most marketers are trimming their ad budgets or expecting their agencies to deliver more for less, Sharma is glad that his agency’s clients (except financial and tourism clients) are doing relatively well. Of course, he is quick to take some credit for it. “Our brands like Mazaa have been growing at 50% and Thums Up is an undisputed number one in its segment.”

So, while news about loss of accounts and retrenchments are hogging most agencies, market watchers believe that Leo Burnett has been bearing the slowdown storm quite well. Not only have they not lost a single account, they have also bagged new accounts, including Tata Capitals, HPCL and Samsung Touch phones.

So, was it possible to achieve this with no real change? Says Arvind, “The change was brought by the environment. For three years’ preceding the slowdown, our best people were getting an offer a month. That has now stopped. So our best people have been able to focus on our clients’ businesses. It is a joy to see what a difference a little focus can make.” But since that would have been true for most agencies, what makes Leo Burnett’s dream run special? We asked Rajeev Sharma, National Brand Planning Director, Leo Burnett (India) and here’s his take: “First, our senior-most people have always been closely involved in our client’s businesses. Secondly, we’ve always had a culture of proactive consumer contact and interface by our planners. It’s not uncommon even for our senior management to actually meet consumers. And now even clients are realising the importance of these things.”

Another learning that clients have had amidst the current turmoil is that there is no magic wand that works for all. While TV may work for some, innovating and experimenting with new age media could be just the push that another brand may need. On this front, Leo Burnett has done some interesting work for HPCL at their petrol pumps. Similarly, the Jaago Re campaign for Tata Tea has done well on television, as also directed considerable traffic to their website. As a matter of fact, Leo Burnett’s marketing services division, Arc, has been doing some path breaking work in the digital space. It brought home India’s first Cyberlion last year. This year, Arc’s work on Jaago Re even won a webby. Consequently, the agency’s digital revenues are up sharply. No wonder, Sharma is keen to continue investing in the high-potential marketing services division, Arc as always. About 30% growth – that’s Sharma’s personal target for Leo Burnett in this fiscal. This Leo is certainly roaring in India’s advertising jungle...

Surbhi Chawla

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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McService all the way

2009-08-28T14:02:00.000+05:30

IIPM - Admission Procedure

Way back, Ray Kroc had said that McD’s is not a burger company serving people but a people company serving burgers. No surprise then that McDonald’s India tops amidst six fast food chains on their ‘service delivery’ says Angshuman Paul

His typical day starts at around 6:00 am, when he sets off for his morning jog – a must for all McDonald’s managers as instructed by their corporate headquarters. Not that 24-year-old Akash Girdhar, Restaurant Manager of the McDonald’s store in New Delhi’s posh South Extension market, is complaining. After all, the jog allows him to remain physically fit and also gather his thoughts for the long day stretching ahead – Is the French Fries stock in the restaurant enough for this day and the next; how to tackle the new trainee’s unkempt nails; is my staff acclimatized to the training imparted to serve the new launch - McChicken Nuggets?!

Akash’s thoughts are not very dissimilar to the ones that Ray Croc, founder of the hamburger chain, harbored each morning during the swinging 60s in the US, as he zealously went about expanding the innovative hamburger restaurant into the most successful fast food operation in the world. Right from the day that Croc opened his first restaurant, he tried to give his customers quality products, served quickly (with a smile), in a clean, hygienic ambience. Needless to say that the Oakbrook headquartered company is always on the go to instill this Kroc-like perfectionism into its 5000 employees in India. Akash for one is considered a rising star in the company for his commitment to the McDonald’s values of quality, service and cleanliness and his restaurant has been internally adjudged as one among the three most popular McDonald’s restaurants across India, for five consecutive months.

Ask him and Akash rattles off the names of his restaurant’s 20 most regular customers saying that he always keeps in touch with them on a personal level. McDonald’s staff are encouraged to not only know the names of their regular customers, but also personal details about them and their eating habits. “This additionally helps in saving time during rush hours,” Akash points out. This service focus helps the restaurant maintain the international McDonalds’ standard to deliver in 60 seconds. “We have to constantly challenge ourselves to meet that bench mark,” agrees Akash. Akash enjoys every bit of his role at McDonald’s and is especially excited about his Global CEO Jim Skinner’s latest penchant for cajoling kids. Skinner believes in encouraging kids to walk-up-to-the-counter and place orders. “We train our crew members to give children extra importance so that they feel like adults when placing orders at McDonald’s,” says Akash.

At their corporate HQs in New Delhi, Sandip Maithal, Director, Operations & People Resources, brings out a sand watch to demonstrate McDonald’s service and delivery focus. “Globally, our service has always rotated around 3Cs – Communication, Co-ordination and Cooperation - now supported by the ‘60 seconds challenge’, where our crew members are trained on how much work they can do in one minute,” he says, inverting the sand timer meaningfully. But at a time when rival Domino’s Pizza home-delivers in 30 minutes, this ‘time fascination’ is clearly not replicated in their McDelivery service, causing them to lose out on a significant chunk of the market. Besides, their winning proposition of ‘value for money’ too does not translate to their McDelivery consumers as they are charged for every delivery.

The beginning of 2009 also saw a decline in the number of McDonald’s goodies under the Rs.20 tag. But higher prices are not likely to hit McDonald’s sales in India anytime soon as most fast food chains have either already raised or are contemplating a hike in their prices because of rising input costs. The burger conglomerate has recently started giving away a freebie within the restaurant even if a spillage is the customer’s fault, resulting in an average loss of Rs.350/day per store, but as Vikram Bakshi, MD, McDonald’s India says, “The customer satisfaction we get is enormous and cannot be bound by money.”

No wonder, McDonald’s India operations claim to be recording about 20% y.o.y growth in same store sales despite words like slowdown and recession being bandied about by other eating out joints. To ensure that their employees remain quick on their feet even in these bad times, the burger company has begun conducting surprise checks on its various franchises’. In fact, Akash later informed this author that most of his restaurant’s crew members had mistaken me for an inspector in disguise, when I went visiting. Now that’s keeping your employees on their toes, literally!

Angshuman Paul

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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A proposition whiter than white light!

2009-08-12T16:16:00.000+05:30

IIPM Best B-school

Brand: Happydent
Agency: McCann

This ‘white palace’ campaign gave Happydent a clear lead over rival Orbit. Executed with rare grandeur (at least for a confectionery item), the idea of lighting up an entire fantasy world appealed to the target segment. Says Anand Halve of Chlorophyll, “The campaign took the proposition ‘teeth so white, they shine as bright as lights’ to a completely new level. It is the confidence of the brand to take it to this scale.” Said differently, the campaign sent out the strong message: ‘a chewing gum a day, keeps the darkness away!’

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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A ‘Chocolaty’ Affair

2009-07-27T16:26:00.000+05:30

Shahrukh khan is coming to IIPM - IIPM 4Ps Quiz

Brand: Cadbury’s Dairy Milk
Agency: O&M
This Cadbury’s ad defined a moment of pure magic in Indian ad-frat. The ad, which had a girl dancing in the cricket ground on seeing her boyfriend win the cricket match brought in the Yash Raj effect into advertising. The idea was to change the perception that chocolates were just for kids. Cadbury effectively conveyed that a chocolate bar can be enjoyed by people across age groups, besides establishing an emotional connect with the viewers (remember cricket is India’s national religion?).

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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They finally got a good idea

2009-07-21T12:56:00.000+05:30

IIPM Alumni Officially on Facebook

Batata! Well, that was the name proposed for the joint venture between the Aditya ‘B’irla Group, ‘AT’&T wireless and the ‘Tata’ Group. Thankfully they got an idea on time! However, like the proposed name the JV also failed to sustain, and resolving all problems AB Group finally bought Tata’s complete stake in Idea in April 2006. But oops, what an idea it turned out to be. It not only kept Birla’s telecom interests alive, but also helped them rake a whopping Rs.28,187 million via an IPO. Now you understand, why they say that an Idea can change your life?

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Calvin Klein, Armani, Gucci and others have managed to conquer global mindspace among the classes and the masses alike

2009-07-07T11:17:00.000+05:30

But barring a few, Indian designers are still stuck on luxurious haute couture. Is diversification the key to survival and success? Angshuman paul & romsha singh find out

Coco Chanel immortalised the little black dress; Calvin Klein made cool elegance famous and Ralph Lauren started a craze for short sleeve mesh shirts. Giorgio Armani started in 1975 and by the turn of the century was employing more than 4,000 employees, with nearly 300 stores in 36 countries. Guccio Gucci spawned the premier luxury brand and notwithstanding bitter family feuds, Gucci went public in 1995. Tommy Hilfiger was broke when he rejected a job offer from Calvin Klein and went on to establish the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. Joining this league of charismatic designers are Christian Dior, Versace and Dolce&Gabbana, all of who became billion dollar global brand names from individual artists.

Like life, business too is relative. Compare the achievements of their global counterparts with the triumphs of Indian designers and you realise that far from the glamorous Page 3 pictures that the two simultaneous fashion weeks (March 18-23, 2009) in the capital spawned; India’s style gurus haven’t even begun carving out their brand empire. Sure, a few of them have acquainted themselves with managers and accountants; and some others have even begun haplessly flapping their nascent global wings, but their corporate story lacks the passionate vision and unswerving zeal that have defined the life and times of their American, German, French, Italian, Japanese and English counterparts.

Optimists rant & rave about the coming of age of Indian fashion vistas and blah-blah about global acclaim, fashion weeks, international buyers and so on. They’ll tell you that Bollywood’s ace designer, Manish Malhotra designed outfits for the über cool Michael Jackson when the dancing sensation visited India; Rina Dhaka represented India at the London Fashion Week last year; global style icons like Princess Diana have patronised Ritu Kumar; not to mention the slew of designers that have shown at Paris, Milan, Dubai, Los Angeles or at one or all of the other global fashion weeks. They also throw figures at you - that designer wear contributed 30% to the total apparel export from India in the second half of 2008; that India is the only country in Asia with the potential of creating a Rs.750 crore designer wear industry by 2012; and that the market is growing at 20% per annum (as per the DHL-McKinsey fashion and apparel trade report). But clearly all this has not been enough to create a national designer brand, leave alone a global one, which would leave its footprints on the sands of time.

Take away the hype and the hoopla (also the glam and glitz!) and what you see is that India makes up for only a meager 0.2% of the global designer wear market. And the bitter truth is that even within the country, Indian designer wear labels are simply restricted to the extravagant elite – restricted to wedding seasons or the south Asian diaspora. Designer Tarun Tahiliani agrees. “From the long term perspective, one should focus more on the value-for-money or the prêt line category. In fact, this is what many designers in France and Italy have done before,” he avers, explaining that haute couture designer labels sometimes jump way out of the league for even those earning six-figure salaries per annum. For labels like Yves saint Laurent (YSL), Christian Dior and Pierre Cardin, financial success has largely resulted from breaking this barrier between luxury and mass-luxury. In the 1950s, the latter two started licensing their names on products they did not make themselves, while YSL launched a ready-to-wear and easy on the pocket line to appeal to the youth. Others like Chanel went a different route. The House of Chanel played the positioning card perfectly for tapping separate market segments. Today, only the really affluent can afford the exorbitantly-priced dresses from the House of Chanel. Yet Chanel No. 5 can be easily purchased off-the-rack by the mass market – albeit a premium mass market – enhancing the aspirational tag of the premium label. A bottle of the perfume is sold every 30 seconds! Read more

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Jazz rocking the blues?

2009-06-17T14:47:00.000+05:30

The Most Revolutionary Concept In Education PLANMAN CHE CENTRE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, Supported by IIPM India’s Leading B-School

Honda is selling more in India than what it sold last year. And now Honda believes that India – and it’s new Jazz – will be able to take its growth forward dramatically. 4Ps B&M critically questions this ideology through the ‘ice’ of our very own hybrids, Pawan Chabra and Ratan Lal Bhagat

No! Perish the thought Bart. The reason we both are called hybrids is not because we run on electric batteries and petrol (we don’t). Coke and burgers are more like it – well, Warren Buffett claims that has been his regular diet for years (he seems none too worse for it, eh). It just appears that the diet seems to be rubbing off on Honda too, what with their sales figures zooming northwards over the last few months in India. Check this out. Honda’s sales in November 2008 was 5090 units, while sales in November 2007 was only 4425 units. When Honda was growing by 15%, industry sales fell a huge 20%. December 2008 stood at 3667 units, up from 3363 units in December 2007; a growth for Honda by 9% while industry sales fell by 7%. January 2009 saw a relative deviance with sales of 5773 units, which was lesser as compared to January 2008 sales of 7767 units. But with 5579 units selling in February 2009, Honda came thundering back as February 2008 sales was only 3774 units!

Sólo para información, it didn’t make sense. Spanish, Japanese, whatever, the figures were confounding. The economy is surely undergoing a slowdown (we have first hand evidence; our friends have stopped loaning us sub-prime money). Damn it, even burgers are costlier. Then how’s Honda selling more now than last year? Especially after the 2008 JD Power Customer Satisfaction Index ranked Honda a lowly 6th, after Maruti, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Mahindra and Skoda.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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You entered into the offline space very late. Reasons?

2009-06-02T15:32:00.000+05:30

The management team learned their basics for years in the traditional media space. Digital media had its own very cravings and needed that focused attention to build the market. But after eight years, the old cravings of enveloping all media crept in. Moreover, Ashok Karnik, our Executive Creative Director, finally agreed with our pleas to join and spearhead this 360 degree creative task.

What is your pitching strategy?
We are known to speak our piece and speak it forthright. Some clients appreciate this; but a few do not. We are clear that our business is to make “client’s business happen,” and not make “an individual client happy” to just tow the line. It pays to increase business among fewer happier clients ‘organically’ than line up an array.

You are a pioneer in the online space; but how will you tap this?
There are clients out there who are not looking for ‘scale agencies’, nor looking just for ‘award winning agencies’ who sell the agency more than the client’s products. We are there for those who need ‘advertising that works’ and those who have a clear bottom-line focus. We believe that there are scores of completely disillusioned companies out there.

Any new areas of exploration?
Digital publishing/marketing.

Where do you see Ignitee five years down the line?
(Smiling) That is asking and I am not telling. Yes, we have a vision. But it is best left to realisation...

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Pioneer as A Brand in India

2009-05-22T15:04:00.000+05:30

The Most Revolutionary Concept In Education PLANMAN CHE CENTRE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, Supported by IIPM India’s Leading B-School

Although Pioneer as a brand in India has a command over the market, but that does not relieve it from the challenges ahead. Avers Vikas Aggarwal, Senior VP, ICRA, “The major threshold for the company would be sales as the auto industry in India is witnessing a slump in sales and this will affect pioneer automatically.” In fact, the latest report by SIAM too supports Aggarwal. As per the report, the total vehicle sales in the domestic market stood at 5,97,622 units in 2008 as against 7,30,603 units in 2007. But Yoshida has no qualms over it and quite confidently counters the claim. “Initially we might face some difficulties because of a sluggish market but at the end of the day automotive players have to sell their cars. They can do it by using our product to increase the value of their cars. Thus, it’s surely a good time for us to establish ourselves in India,” reasons Yoshida.

As far as the in-car entertainment market is concerned, this seems quite agreeable, but then how does it plan to go ahead when it comes to consumer electronics where distribution is the key to success? While on one hand the company is quite aggressive about its plans for India, on the other it is going for a slow and steady approach on the distribution front. In fact the company, as of now, has opened just two exclusive stores in Gurgaon and Bangalore for retailing car and home audio systems. “No doubt, we have opened just two outlets and we also don’t have plans to tie up with big retail chains. But then these retail chains are not fit for car audio category,” counters Yoshida.

Agreed, but then what about the consumer electronics category? Are these retailers not fit to market these products as well? Surely India is on the top of Pioneer’s list because of the saturation in major economies of the world. Gushes Jignesh S. Ramanlal, Senior Manager-Marketing, Pioneer India, “We expect that India will contribute about 20-25% to our overall turnover in the coming times.” But then without focusing on its distribution (in consumer electronics) and retailing, the task really seems to be a tough one for Pioneer. Meanwhile, all we can hope is that this ‘pioneer’ doesn’t turn out to be a failure!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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1500-plus IIPM students placed across the country with 44 bagging international offers
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A billion dollar business is what Adobe India is aiming at.

2009-05-08T11:57:00.000+05:30

But that’s actually harder done than said as there are only a handful of billion dollar software businesses globally. Will Adobe India make it to the top? 4Ps B&Ms Pawan Chabra explores…

It was surprisingly a warm sunny morning rather than the usual chilly and foggy day-break that Delhi witnesses during winters when we left for Adobe’s office at Noida. As we were steering our way through Delhi’s chaotic traffic jams we could ignore everything but those boys at traffic lights selling business magazines and dailies blatantly questioning the future of Indian IT post the Satyam scam. Is the great Indian IT dream heading towards a ruthless death? We were questioning each other, the very next moment!

As clichéd as it may sound, there is no denying that the revolution in the Indian IT sector is the backbone of the success story of India Inc. And if it dies it would really mean the return of the era of dormancy that once stalked Dalal Street. But as we reached the sixth floor of the superbly designed Adobe’s India office, we were forced to give a second thought to our bleak view of Indian IT. Naresh Gupta, MD, Adobe India smashed the idea out with a vigour. “Oh! It’s over now. The fundamentals of the Indian economy are still very strong. Finding one rotten apple in the bucket doesn’t mean the whole bucket is dirty,” Gupta answered in a flash, indicating as if he was expecting it. Moreover, he didn’t forget to proudly claim Adobe as one of the most ethical business houses across the globe, well before we could jump over to Adobe India’s future.

Certainly the growth of Adobe India over a short span of 12 years is truly mind boggling. The company which started as a mere R&D division of Adobe today stands tall in crowd running a full business and more importantly taking care of the whole Print & Publishing Business of San Jose, California based Adobe. Moreover, with the recent launch of the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), the company has surely initiated the fourth phase of growth (the first three were backed by rich content, PDF and Flash respectively) in the country. AIR platform provides the user a combination of PDF, HTML and Flash, which enables him to run an application both in an online & offline mode along with providing video & animation services. Though the company has just launched it on desktops but as Gupta mentions, “we eventually want to take it on mobiles and other possible devices,” the future really looks bright for Adobe. This application certainly has the potential to take a lot of burden off the developer’s (the intended client) shoulders.

But then what about the competition from behemoths like Microsoft and Google? “There’s almost no company in the world that can claim Microsoft and Google to be its competition and still be in the business,” Gupta admits honestly, though he takes no time to add that the company has more opportunities to partner with Google rather than competing with it. However, when it comes to Microsoft equipped with technologies like Silverlight and XPS, which compete with Adobe’s PDF and Flash respectively, Gupta openly confesses, “There are chances that Microsoft gifts us sleepless nights.” But then it’s just not Microsoft. With Google also planning to come up with a similar technology like AIR, the scenario is only going to get worse in times to come for Adobe.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Everyone is slamming Raju for reducing Satyam to trash

2009-04-07T15:09:00.000+05:30

IIPM set to beat economic slowdown

July 26, 2004: Indira Singh is desperate. Her daughter is scheduled to go abroad for higher studies and her money is stuck in the bank. Two days ago, the Reserve Bank of India virtually shut down the Global Trust Bank and had allowed depositors to withdraw a maximum of Rs.10,000 from the bank where she had almost a million rupees in deposits. She is one of the hundreds who are anxiously thronging the Delhi branch of Global Trust Bank. The bank collapses and is subsequently merged with Oriental Bank of Commerce. The promoter is Ramesh Gelli and his banking career is over. He is not arrested.

• Reserve Bank of India audit of Global Trust Bank’s books as on March 31, 2002, reveals a negative net worth. This is despite the bank’s audited numbers showing a net worth of Rs.400 crore (Rs.4,000 million) and a net profit of Rs.40 crore (Rs.400 million).

• Market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has found that promoter of the beleaguered Global Trust Bank (GTB) Ramesh Gelli and eight other entities including two FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investors) had offloaded GTB scrips even after the Centre announced moratorium on the bank.

January 11, 2009: Satyam employees are anxiously thronging tiny ancient temple of Lord Venkateswara in Chilukur village on the banks of Osmansagar lake at the outskirts of Hyderabad. They pay feverishly to the Lord to save their jobs. Many pray for the salary of the current month as they have massive EMIs coming up. For 53,000 employees of Satyam, the future is bleak and uncertain. The company has collapsed and a suitor is yet to be found. The promoter is B. Ramalinga Raju and it does look like his career as an entrepreneur is over. Raju has been arrested.

• The promoter B. Ramalinga Raju admits in a mea culpa letter that he has pepetrated a Rs.7,000 crore fraud over seven years and happily cooked the books of Satyam.

• SEBI finds out that Raju and his family members have sold off a substantial chunk of their equity stake even as they were cooking the books to inflate profits and assets of Satyam. Some reports indicate that the family could have earned more than Rs.2,000 crore in cash.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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1500-plus IIPM students placed across the country with 44 bagging international offers
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They listened to the Guru!

2009-03-24T15:42:00.000+05:30

1500-plus IIPM students placed across the country with 44 bagging international offers

It was an innovative gimmick to rise above the clutter! Korean handset giant, Samsung, launched the Guru (handset). And its promotions were unique (at least in mass advertising sweepstakes) to say the least. They aired an unusual love story, and the viewers were invited to vote on how they would like to take the story forward. An overwhelming SMS response helped the ad men to create three ads in the series... interactive advertising at its best, what say?

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
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Obama to premiere on HBO

2009-03-17T12:17:00.001+05:30

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To encash the Obamaphoria that has gripped the US and the entire world, HBO has bought the US rights of a documentry on Barack Obama. The documentary has been produced by actor Edward Nortan' production company Class 5 Films. As per the news reports HBO has paid approximately $one billion for the rights of this documentary, which will premiere on HBO in 2009. In a press note HBO explains "As Sen. Barack Obama continues his campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, his every move is scrutinized in detail in this documentry". Well, the move sounds good and perfectly timed for the channel as the entire US seems Obama frenzy. Some boost for HBO ratings

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!