Big Brother with you, always

The NSA's program is an affront to the idea of personal privacy

The post 9/11 world has seen the security apparatus spread its tentacles through use of surveillance technology in military, business and social establishments of the United States. One such surveillance program by the National Security Agency has not only made headlines but has also sparked considerable debate and controversy. The program in question is the NSA’s ambitious data mining partnerships with technology firms, which has been codenamed “Prism”. At least nine transnational internet behemoths are involved in Prism operations, including Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple and Skype. There have been reports of many instances of cooperation between these tech firms and the NSA on “Prism” operations.  If these reports are true there is a likelihood of the deal being thrust upon these firms by the NSA either by threat or through blandishments. However, most of these firms have vehemently denied their involvement. Facebook’s website says: “We do not provide any government organisation with direct access to Facebook servers.”

In any case, tech firms are obliged to furnish information under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and none of the information sharing requests done through it have been declined. However, the firms are not obliged to do the same for NSA. But reports about secret deals of cooperation being struck with the NSA and the firms listed in Prism have gained currency. The surveillance of millions of customers’ data is gross violation of an individual’s freedom and the right to privacy. The process is not transparent and to execute such an opaque and secretive mission on the innocent public is reminiscent of a Soviet style monitoring that Americans deeply abhor.

Read more....

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

ExecutiveMBA

Shantaram's legacy

The Marathi film industry is getting out of a self-created slump and revenues are looking up, reports Chandran Iyer

At its peak, the Marathi film industry boasted of doyens that dominated the large screen, the hey days of V Shantaram, Acharaya P K Atre, Bhalji Pendharkar, Baburao Painter and Master Vinayak. Then it went into a tailspin, playing second or third fiddle to big brother Bollywood, its future largely uncertain. Now in the last three years, the Marathi film industry, once a pioneer in the business of film making, is in the process of reviving its fortunes.

For one, the number of Marathi films being churned out annually has gone up from two dozen odd to more than 100 films. The industry has been rejuvenated post-Shwaas with young directors willing to explore new themes and content. In 2006, the industry released 67 movies while 91 hit the screens in 2007. Now the number have gone up to more than 100.

Producers are willing to put in up to Rs two crores - a high figure for regional cinema - as compared to Rs 25 to 30 lakh a couple of years ago. This has also resulted in a sharp rise in the annual turnover.

A number of factors contributed to the decline of Marathi cinema; poor scripting, lack of quality directors, talent drain of good actors like Nana Patekar, Laxmikant Berde, Ashok Saraf and others to Hindi films, an irregular distribution network and spawning of multiplex theatres more interested in block buster Hindi films than regional Marathi fare.

Sanjay Chabbria, managing director of Everest Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, says the word revival has negative connotations. “I would say that it is now in the consolidation mode. Looking at the number of good films that are being churned out every year in Maharashtra, things are looking bright,’’ he points out. According to him,‘‘this revival began with the release of Shwas or Breath.’’ Chabbria has a point because in 2003, this Sandeep Sawant film broke the mould and captured the imagination of even non-Maharashtrian audiences. It won the Golden Lotus National Award in 2004 and was official entry to the 77th Academy Awards. Other films like Not Only Mrs Raut, Anahat and Saat Chya Aat Gharat too did well at the box office as well as get critical acclaim. Shrirang Godbole, managing director, Indian Magic Eye Motions Pictures, believes quality has improved thanks to satellite rights. “Marathi movies are earning good revenue from satellite rights. This augurs very well for business as it offsets production costs considerably”. According to industry sources, Deool and Shala received Rs 1.5 crore each as satellite rights.

Says noted writer and director Raju Phulkar, who has directed super hit comedy films like Gadhavacha Lagna (Wedding of An Ass) and 40 other mainly mythological films, “though Marathi films are now doing reasonably well, people often compare it to the Hindi film industry which is wrong. A commercial Marathi film is made on a shoe-string budget of around Rs one or two crores, a Hindi film budget ranges from Rs 50 to 100 crores. A hero or heroine in a Hindi film industry gets more money than the entire budget of a Marathi film. This is because our audiences are confined to Maharashtra while Hindi films have pan-India appeal.’’

What about Tamil and Telugu films which also do very well despite being confined to their respective states? Explains Chabbria: “You cannot compare Marathi cinema with Tamil or Telegu cinema because the audience there is very different. Culturally, Tamil and Telugu audiences go berserk when they see their stars. This is unheard of in Marathi cinema. If there is a movie starring Rajnikant, Tamil audiences will not miss it.’’

Godbole, however, terms this as brand loyalty of southern audiences. “In south India, people are very loyal to their language. Even TV viewership in regional languages is more than 50 per cent, which is not the case in Maharashtra.’’

Chabbria’s Everest Entertainment Pvt Ltd, an integrated media and entertainment company, has become a household name within the Marathi entertainment industry. It not just produces and commissions films but also distributes and showcases films globally across all formats: cinema, home entertainment, television and new media. It has pioneered a successful business model, releasing four to six new films every year across various platforms. The company also has an impressive film library with over 200 titles, making it one of the prime content owners in the business. Umesh Kulkarni, film director known for acclaimed Marathi films such as Valu (The Wild Bull), Vihir (The Well) and Deool ( Temple) says “young film directors are joining the fray which augurs well. Things are better but a lot more needs to be done.’’ His Girni won the National Film Award for the best non-feature film and Valu, released in January 2008, was featured at the Berlin film festival, as was Vihir at Berlin and the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2010.

Technology too has improved. Films until 2003-04 were made on a 16mm format, usually used for shooting documentary and TV news. They would then be blown up for the big screen; technically the picture would be of poor quality without wide or long-shots. Using scissors to edit has made way for modern computer editing. The industry is now eyeing overseas audiences.

Read more.....

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

ExecutiveMBA

Diary De Cannes

From the rolling of the red carpet to the unveiling of the masterpieces of the old and new, Saibal Chatterjee captures it all at the 66th Festival De Cannes… 
The 66th Cannes Film Festival is officially celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema. Amitabh Bachchan walked the red carpet on a rain-soaked opening day for the screening of Baz Luhrmann’s 3D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby. But neither the actor’s role in the film nor the lukewarm manner in which the international media, here, responded to the presence of one of Bollywood’s most popular actors was anything to write home about.

As if on cue, it continued to drizzle for the second morning. The sun shone through the clouds by the afternoon. However, the brightness in the air had no effect on members of the Indian delegation as they listlessly flitted in and out of the India Pavilion in the hope of seeing some action. The Indian films in the Official Selection were Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout and the four-in-one Bombay Talkies, which were screened during the week. In addition, India had a film each in Directors Fortnight (Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly) and Critics Week (Ritesh Batra’s Lunchbox). Given that none of the Indian entries here were star-studded films, the focus was expected to deservedly shift to the likes of Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, while Vidya Balan quietly went about her job as a jurist.


Both the Mumbai actors are in Lunchbox, while Nawazuddin also has roles in Monsoon Shootout and Bombay Talkies. Never before has an Indian actor been in as many films screened in the official sections or the parallel events in Cannes.

Significantly, Nawazuddin had two films in Cannes last year – Ashim Ahluwali’s Miss Lovely in Un Certain Regard and Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur.

Old-time observers of Indian cinema were a little surprised that the only Indian films in Cannes were Hindi-language ones, if one discounts Satyajit Ray’s Charulata, screened in Cannes Classics. Many missed the linguistic and cultural diversity that Indian cinema was once feted for.

Top officials of the Indian ministries of information and broadcasting, tourism and the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), played co-hosts at the opening night party of the Marche du Film (Film Market) on the evening of May 17th on the Majestic Beach here.


It was only the second night of the festival and Indian filmmakers were conspicuous by their absence. They were, however, expected to be out in full force in time for the weekend when all the five films representing India in Cannes this year were scheduled.
   
Manjeet Singh, whose sophomore effort, Chenu, set in Bihar, is one of 15 projects from around the world that are in the 66th Cannes Film Festival’s l’Atelier, was the solitary standard-bearer at the market bash.

The Indian films scheduled for screening in Cannes got off the blocks with Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly, a psychological thriller that has thus far been under wraps back home. On the weekend, a restored print of Satyajit Ray’s 1964 masterpiece, Charulata, was unveiled in Cannes Classics at the Salle Bunuel. Also, on this day two first-time directors from India – Amit Kumar and Ritesh Batra – took their bows on the Croisette.

While Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout , featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tannishtha Chatterjee, was accorded a Midnight Screening, Batra’s Lunchbox, starring Irrfan Khan, played as many as four times in Cannes Critics Week.

Both Monsoon Shootout and Lunchbox are among the 26 films screening across various sections of the ongoing festival that will be in the running for the Camera d’Or, the award given each year for the best debut-making director.

The week began with Bombay Talkies. The film by the four directors - Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap - was screened to mark the centenary of Indian cinema. Several interactions with the aforementioned contemporary Mumbai filmmakers was scheduled in the India Pavilion.

Also, Anurag Kashyap figured in the Directors’ Assembly to be presided over by Costa-Gavras. Three other directors – Haiti’s Raoul Peck, Norway’s Joachim Trier and Mexico’s Amat Escalante (whose new film, Heli, is competing for the Palme d’Or) – were on the panel. The filmmakers shared their experiences in the course of a discussion on “How we can make independent films today”.

Telugu cinema superstar, Chiranjeevi, by his own admission, always dreamt of making a trip to the Cannes Film Festival. And it took him a career switch to get here.

The Union Minister of State for Tourism, who has been in office since October last year, was at the India Pavilion here as the chief guest at an event to announce the initiation of a process to ensure single-window clearance for all film shoots in the country. “I was an actor for 30 years and always dreamt of coming to Cannes,” the minister said. “I had to wait to begin a ministerial career for the wish to be eventually fulfilled. It is a great honour that India is a special guest country of the 66th Cannes Film Festival,” he said.

Referring to the move to rationalise filming permissions in India for foreign and domestic crews, he said, “We will remove all bottlenecks in the way to ensure that anybody who wants to shoot a film in India finds the going easy.”

The setting up of a film facilitation board would mean that a filmmaker planning to shoot a project in India will have to fill only a one form and make a single application to the nodal body.

The news that made a buzz and would be a delight for everyone back home was that if the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has its way, a special purpose vehicle would soon be put in place for organising the next International Film Festival of India in Panaji, Goa from November 20 to 30, 2014. This was revealed here by the Information and Broadcasting Secretary, Uday Kumar Verma. “The idea,” he said, “is to streamline the conduct of the film festival.” Among several other initiatives taken by the ministry, one is the setting up of a panel headed by a retired high court judge to recommend amendments to the Cinematograph Act of 1952. “India has changed completely in recent decades and it is, therefore, time to have a relook at the censorship rules. Eminent people like Sharmila Tagore, Leela Samson and Javed Akhtar are on the committee,” said Mr Verma.

Read more....

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

ExecutiveMBA

The Entertainment Jockey!

He's not the typical Adonis you'd be gaping at in awe or the hunk whose built and biceps you'd drool over. But Ayushmann Khurrana's dimple-marked-smile, the melody in his voice and the boy-next-door-attitude have won him a place right up there with the reigning stars as well as in the audience's hearts. With Pratishtha Malhotra, Ayushmann shares the story of his journey until now...

You've come a long way since winning roadies, being a RJ, a VJ, an anchor and now an actor. How does it feel when you look back?
It feels great. In fact, I’m glad that it is a gradual transition from one medium to the other. I don’t believe in overnight success. I’ve seen the industry as an outsider as well and it gave me a different perspective in working with people. I started as an anchor, a media person who used to take interviews and now I am giving interviews. It’s quite surreal. ‘Ive enjoyed my journey.

You did theatre before venturing into films. Tell us something about that.
Ya! I formed two theatre groups in Chandigarh; Aaghaaz and Manchtantra in D.A.V College. We started this in 2002 when I was in 1st year of college and these are the two active theatre groups in Chandigarh which are amateur, but very passionate. It is visible even today when they come to Mumbai for IIT-Mumbai or any of the fests. They are very gung-ho about theatre and are a very passionate bunch of kids and it’s good to be associated with such creative groups.

Do you think doing theatre was an advantage as we saw a very mature debutant in Vicky Donor?
I think it comes with experience. I have been doing theatre since childhood. My first play was in 5th standard where I played Shylock’s character in Merchant of Venice, a Shakespeare play. I’ve also been doing public speaking, theatre, music etc.  Besides, I was fortunate to play a Punjabi character that connected with the youth. Being a Punjabi myself really helped me. I could relate to the masses and especially to certain Dilliwalas. So I think it is a right mix of opportunity and experience that counts.

Then Nautanki Saala, again, was a film that required a lot of spontaneity and comic timing like Vicky Donor. So does this spontaneity and comic timing come naturally to you?
I think it is a natural talent, but having said that there’s a lot of effort also that is put into it. I think doing radio, TV, theatre, live anchoring is counted as experience but, yes, a natural and inborn talent for it counts too.

How was it working with Rohan Sippy?
Rohan Sippy is a very good taskmaster. Actually, he’s a hard taskmaster. In fact, we did a workshop for the film for 20 days and we were so well prepared to take the film forward.  So I think he is a great disciplinarian and it was great working with him.

So were there times on the set when you were scolded?
(Smiles) Ya, sometimes. It was the first time he was working without Abhishek Bachchan and we were newcomers in front of him. We were not really scolded but, ya, he was more like a teacher than a director.

You bagged the best singer Filmfare Award for ‘Pani da Rang’ and you had an expression of disbelief on getting it. Were you actually shocked?
You know, I was expecting the debut actor award, since that was what I got in other award shows, but the award for best singer was quite a surprise because I never aspired to be a playback singer. I would sing as a kid, but never took it seriously. When I came to Mumbai, I came to be an actor and not a singer though I enjoy music.  It is my passion but I never intended to take it up professionally. I am not a trained singer and didn’t pursue it because I always thought that I was more of an actor. So when the announcement happened at the Filmfare Awards for the best playback singer, it was unbelievable. Hence the expression!

You’ve sung two songs in Nautanki Saala too. So are there pplans of seriously considering playback singing?
I’m an actor, who also sings and fortunately my songs are doing well. ‘Saadi Gali’ is a chartbuster and ‘Tu Hi Tu’ is doing pretty well. But still, I am an actor who sings and not a singer who acts.

We’ve heard you write poetry as well…
Ya. Infact, these songs, ‘Paani Da Rang’ and ‘Saadi Gali’ were written by me. I’ll be writing songs in the future too. I like poetry and I also have a blog in Hindi. I’ve done public speaking and theatre in Hindi. My mom is MA in Hindi and my love for literature comes from there.

You act, sing, write poetry and have done journalism as well. Were you planning on stealing everyone's job?
(Laughs) Not really. Basically, I didn’t want to study theatre because I was already doing theatre, but I wanted to study something and do my post graduation. Journalism and Mass Communication was something is chose because it was connected to the media industry and it really helped me to be a better presenter of television.

Your next is a Yash Raj Film with Sonam Kapoor. Tell us something about that…
It’s a love story in the times of recession where I play a guy who is a corporate person based out of Delhi and Nupur Asthana is directing the film. I’m very excited about it. The characters are very nice. There are three characters in the film - Rishi Kapoor Sir, Sonam Kapoor and I.

Read more.....

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

ExecutiveMBA

The original Don

Surajdeo Singh became the byword for mafia in the 1970s and 80s

Late Surajdeo Singh, the original coal mafia `don’, belonged to Gonia-Ranigunj village in Uttar Pradesh’s Balia district. His story is no less exciting than Haji Mastan’s.

He started life as 'khalasi' in the Ranigunj Coke Association in West Bengal but soon moved to Dhanbad. He soon became a key muscleman of BP Sinha, who was an influential labour leader during the 1950s, a man credited with the very emergence of mafia in Dhanbad.

Soon after Indian coal was nationalised in 1971, Surajdeo Singh started grabbing the reins of Dhanbad's treasure trove of coals, clearly outsmarting his mentor Sinha in both arm-twisting and political connections.

Gradually Singh established his own labour association called the Janata Mazdoor Sangh (JMS) and began bringing in influential labour leaders and cadres of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) ) under his flag. By 1974, he successfully merged BP Sinha's labour unions of Borargurh and Kushtaur coal mines to his JMS.

In 1977, there was an epic clash of authority over Bhuridih mines between Sinha's supporters and JMS musclemen. After Sinha was murdered at his residence on March 28, 1979, Surajdeo Singh became the uncrowned mafia king of Dhanbad.

However, unlike Sinha, whose supremacy was inarguable and who had succeeded in making key mafia figures his associates, Singh came under fierce competition from Sinha's supporters, all of them dons themselves, and thus began a circle of violence that threw law and order out of gear in Dhanbad – for all times to come.

The fact that Surajdeo Singh belonged to the native village of former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar helped his transition to politics. He won the Jharia Assembly seat on a Janta Party ticket in 1977, after which he further cemented his position as the undisputed don of the mining underbelly.

By 1975, he is supposed to have made as much as Rs 50 crore (a huge sum if you consider the fact that the Bofors scam which rocked the nation a decade later involved only Rs 64 crore paid in kickbacks to top defence officials) with his illegitimate businesses.

It also became a family business. Singh's illegal errands, murder and loot were carried out by his brother Bachcha Singh, who also had many criminal cases pending against him. Another brother Ramdhir Singh too was involved.

Surajdeo's other trusted sword arm was Raghunath Singh who is believed to have played a major role in the killing of BP Sinha.

Surajdeo Singh was ruthless with people who posed a challenge. When one of his former associates Sakaldev Singh floated a parallel labour union called Bihar Janta Khan Mazdoor Sangh (BJKMS), he was immediately on Surajdeo’s radars.

In 1983, in a spine chilling, cinema-like climax, his men fired at Sakaldev's house at Sijua crossing in Dhanbad continuously for two hours in broad day light without any police intervention!

Surajdeo's ways became the talk of the nation. On February 1, 1988, his men led another dramatic attack, this time on SK Roy, INTUC leader and rival. At about 11 in the morning, they surrounded the INTUC office and fired indiscriminately on Roy's ambassador car, killing his bodyguard Collector Singh and three others, Vinay Sharma, Surendra Rai and Anandi Rai. Surendra Rai was to appear before a special trial court a week later to testify against Surajdeo Singh who was accused of a failed murder attempt on SK Roy in 1982.

With the mafia don's death in 1991, family power had waned in favour of another mafia honcho Suresh Singh, but not for long. The don’s legendary residence, Singh Mansion in Dhanbad, continues to remain an epicentre of activity with significant political clout.  His widow Kunti Singh is Jharia MLA, brother Ramdhir Singh is Ballia Zila Parishad Chairman and son Sanjiv Singh is being groomed to take over family 'business’.

Times have changed but the Singh Mansion continues to be a beehive of activity, reportedly knee deep in the battle to control both ballot and bullet so as to keep their political clout and mafia rackets going.

Closer to the Godfather saga, Sanjiv Singh, Ramdhir Singh and his son Sashi Singh are main accused in the December 2011 slaying of Congress leader Suresh Singh, an old Surajdeo adversary.

In turn, Suresh Singh was believed to have masterminded the disappearance and alleged murder of Sanjiv Singh’s brother Rajiv Ranjan Singh. The names of these two families have become synonymous with 'blood’ killings.

Sanjiv Singh, however, dismisses allegations against his father. “The fact remains that my father was a trusted leader committed to peoples’ welfare. We were named accused in coal merchant Pramod Singh’s murder case but the court absolved us of all charges. Local leaders cannot digest people's continued affection for us which is why they concoct stories and try framing us in false cases.” Touching indeed.

Read more.....

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

ExecutiveMBA

Curtains or a fresh lease?

The long-term fate of the Congress in Odisha will crucially hinge on whether it can cash in on the anti-incumbency factor in the 2014 Assembly polls, writes Dhrutikam Mohanty

For Odisha Congress, there is hope in the air. But so is trepidation. Leaders of the state party may not admit as much, but they are acutely aware that the 2014 Assembly polls will be their last chance to bounce back after being out of power for a decade and a half. On the face of it, the current political scenario in Odisha seems to be in favour of Congress, which has been out of power since 1999. With the anti-incumbency factor kicking in, this is the party’s best chance to topple the Naveen Patnaik government.

Congress, which held uninterrupted sway over Odisha for 35 years after Independence, is now facing an acid test. If it can’t get its act together this time around, it could well mean the beginning of another long spell in the wilderness.

 The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) could face dissidence over distribution of party tickets. Its former strategist, Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, has floated a new political party, Odisha Jana Morcha (OJM), and has announced his intention to upset Naveen Patnaik’s applecart. Many BJD poll ticket aspirants could gravitate towards OJM if they are not nominated by the ruling party.

Having been BJD’s election manager in the last two elections, Pyari Mohan knows the party’s chinks. He will definitely play a role in diverting the BJD vote towards non-BJD candidates. This is bound to work to the advantage of the Congress.

The launch of Pyari Mohan’s new political party last week has stirred the pre-poll pot. He announced he would go in for an alliance with any non-BJD party to oust the “blind and autocratic government of Naveen Patnaik”. He claimed that national-level leaders of many political parties are in touch with him for pre-poll tie-ups. He said his alliance will win 80 to 85 seats (in the 147-member Assembly).

Asked about the possibility of OJM joining hands with Congress in Odisha, state Congress president Niranjan Patnaik says, “We are a national party, so any-poll alliance has to be decided at the central level. But Mohapatra has declared that OJM will contest 110 seats. This leaves only 37 seats for the Congress at best. How can we accept this?”

The results of the recent civic body elections in the state have been a shot in the arm for Congress. Candidates of OJM and Congress won most of the seats in the  polls in Hindol, Atabira and Nuapada.While in the newly-formed Hindol Notified Area Council (NAC), Congress won seven and OJM-supported independents won six seats, the ruling BJD managed to get only two seats out of a total of 16.


Similarly, Congress won seven seats in Nuapada NAC against BJD’s four. In the newly formed Atabira NAC, Congress and BJD won six seats each. Political analysts say this is the first poll setback for BJD after Pyari Mohan’s suspension.

But is Congress ready to make the most of the opportunity? “I don’t think so,” says senior political analyst Prashant Patnaik. “Organisationally, Congress is weak. The party faces acute infighting and the senior leadership is bitterly divided.”


Dissidence has indeed been the bane of Odisha Congress for the past decade and a half – a fact that has harmed the party’s stocks in the eyes of the public.

The last spell of Congress rule in Odisha was under Janaki Ballava Patnaik in 1995. It was chaotic and scandal-ridden. Corruption charges, scandals and weak leadership made the party unpopular. The party’s decline in Odisha began when it failed in relief and rehabilitation work in the aftermath of the 1990 super cyclone.

In the 2000 Assembly elections, Congress was down to only 26 seats from 80. In 2004, the party did marginally better, winning 38 seats. In the current Assembly, however, the party has 27 seats. Similarly, while Congress won nearly 35 per cent of the vote in 2004, its vote share declined to 29 percent in 2009.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi visited the state in February. During his two-day stay, he interacted with party functionaries at the district, block and panchayat levels and held marathon sessions. He wanted to figure out why Congress had become so weak in Odisha.

After Rahul’s visit, the state Congress leadership declared that grassroots workers would have a say in the selection of the party’s poll candidates, preference would be given to youth, and no family would be allowed to field more than one aspirant.

Sivananda Ray, state Congress vice-president claims, “People are no longer obsessed with the so-called clean image of Naveen. They are fed up with rampant corruption and irresponsible administration. I strongly believe Congress will return to power.”

If it does not, the party would be in danger of going into terminal decline in Odisha the way it has done in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.

The Congress last ruled Tamil Nadu in 1967. Since then, it has only been riding piggyback on either of the two main Dravidian parties, DMK and AIADMK. The recent UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka was a good opportunity for the party to attempt a political comeback. But that opportunity was lost. Right now, the national party is seen as a liability in TN and no outfit would want to align with it to fight the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Similarly, Congress has been out of power for over 20 years in Gujarat, with Narendra Modi performing an electoral hattrick. Problems abound for the party in the state, once its stronghold.

The situation is no different in Chhattisgarh, where a factionalism-ridden Congress is struggling to make a comeback. The Raman Singh-led BJP is eying a hattrick in the state. Last year, soon after the Congress defeat in the Bastar Lok Sabha byelection, a young Congressman had accused the party of being “BJP's B team”.

Read more.....

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

BBA Institute

Small towns, Big Games

Sporting arenas take off in India’s catchment areas

On January 19, the hometown of India’s cricket captain became the country’s 42nd international venue when it hosted England in the 3rd one-day international in the newly built Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) Stadium. The stadium, built within the premises of the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), had been formally inaugurated only a day earlier.

Come May 12, Ranchi will be on the Indian Premier League (IPL) map as well. Title holders Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who have already been knocked out of IPL Season 6, will be playing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the JSCA Stadium. Two days later, Pune Warriors India (PWI) will travel to the same venue to take on the down and out KKR.

A match involving KKR might no longer be of any significance in the larger context of the upcoming IPL play-offs, but for Ranchi, a city known as much for its star hockey players and archer Deepika Kumari as for Dhoni, the two games are of immense importance. These games will give the city another opportunity to showcase itself to cricket lovers around the country and the world, pretty much like Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, did on April 28 and May 1 by hosting two Delhi Daredevils matches in another spanking new sporting facility, the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium.

But it isn’t only cricket that is taking centre-stage. Ranchi gave a great account of itself when, between January 14 and February 10 this year, several matches of the inaugural Hero Hockey India League were played there. Not only did Ranchi Rhinos win the tournament, the team’s home ground, the Astroturf Hockey Stadium located in Morabadi, imprinted itself on the minds of lovers of the game nationwide.

Had geopolitical considerations not got in the way, Ranchi’s hockey stadium, like its cricket areana did a few months ago, would have made history by playing host to India’s arch-rivals Pakistan in April. But that was not to be – the Indo-Pak hockey Test series was called off against the backdrop of mounting tensions between the two constantly sparring neighbours.

Jharkhand has always been a force on the Indian hockey scene. It has given the nation some of its most skilled players. From Jaipal Singh Munda, who was in the Indian team that won the hockey gold at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, to Sylvanus Dungdung, the state has a rich hockey legacy.

Birendra Lakra of Ranchi represented India in men's hockey during the 2012 London Olympics. Manohar Topno is known as ‘The Wall’ of Indian hockey. Asunta Lakra, sister of Birendra and Bimal Lakra, became the Captain of the Indian women’s hockey team in 2011.

Hunger to succeed against all odds obviously drives boys and girl of the smaller cities and as the quality of the sporting infrastructure in these parts of the country begin to improve in leaps and bounds, their prospects will only be strengthened. Ranchi, Raipur, Dharamsala, Shillong, Wayanad – many small towns across the length and breadth of India are making a bid to join the sporting big league. What’s more, they are succeeding. Raipur, as the second home to Delhi Daredevils, pulled off a near-miracle with its clockwork conduct of DD's IPL matches against une Warriors India and Kolkata Knight Riders.

A suitably impressed Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) lauded the Chhattisgarh Cricket Association, which isn’t yet a full member of the BCCI, but the state chief minister Raman Singh made it clear that while the stadium had been built in double quick time, sustaining the facility would take some doing and without the support of the BCCI, all the good work would come to naught. Quite so.

When the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamshala was built some years ago, similar fears had been expressed in certain quarters, but the facility has managed to withstand the challenges. The stadium, which stands at the altitude of nearly 1500 meters on the higher slops of Kangra valley and has the imposing snow-clad Himalayas as its backdrop, has been hosting IPL games involving Kings XI Punjab since 2010. The ground is also home to the Himachal Pradesh Ranji Trophy team.

The HPCA Stadium, Dharamshala, the brainchild of Anurag Thakur, BJP MP from Hamirpur and BCCI joint secretary, has floodlights and its pitch is regarded as one of the fastest in the country. England made the most of the conditions when they defeated India by 7 wickets in the 5th ODI played on Januray 27.

A similar high altitude stadium has been built in Sulthan Bathery in Kerala’s hilly Wayanad district. It is located 900 metres above sea level and is being seen, along with the Dharamshala cricket facility, as an ideal conditioning camp venue for any Indian team undertaking a tour of England, where the ball seams and swings much more than anywhere in India.

But doubts will continue to persist as India, which has 27 teams playing in its domestic cricket tournament, is today home to as many as 42 international stadiums. Several cities in the country, including Nagpur, have two stadiums. The new Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha on the outskirts of Nagpur may have established itself as an international venue but the question is: how accessible is the facility to aspiring young cricketers?

Former India opener Akash Chopra, in a column authored after Ranchi’s debut as an international cricket venue, had written: “While there is no denying that, if put to good use, these stadiums can be breeding grounds for the Dhonis and Pujaras of the future, it is important to find out if the investments involved, usually in excess of Rs 100 crore, are yielding the right results. These stadiums must make both financial sense, with regard to the revenues they generate by hosting international and IPL games, and practical sense, in terms of access players enjoy to the facilities at these grounds through the year.”

The most striking thing about these newly built stadiums is that they are all state of the art. Take the one in Ranchi as a case in point. It isn’t what a small-town stadium would have been only a decade ago. It has the best possible practice facilities, spacious change rooms, and bathrooms that provide for steam and ice baths. It also has residential suites and an indoor cricket academy. The stadiums in Nagpur and Raipur are just as good and are being talked about in the same breath as Eden Gardens and the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali.                        

If the new facilities are tapped right, there is every chance that towns that were once on the fringes of India’s sporting culture will increasingly find the spotlight turning on them. If one little initiative by a Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach and former heavyweight boxer Jawa Singh could turn nondescript Bhiwani into a nursery for champion pugilists, there is every reason to believe that a concerted effort on the part of sports administrators could alter the country’s sporting landscape for good.

Read more......

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

ExecutiveMBA