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.

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

ExecutiveMBA

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.

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

ExecutiveMBA

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

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

Kurt Vonnegut to Charles McCarthy

In October of 1973, Bruce Severy — a 26-year-old English teacher at Drake High School, North Dakota — decided to use Kurt Vonnegut's novel, 'Slaughterhouse-Five', as a teaching aid in his classroom. The next month, on November 7th, the head of the school board, Charles McCarthy, demanded that all 32 copies be burned in the school's furnace as a result of its "obscene language." Other books soon met with the same fate. On the 16th of November, Kurt Vonnegut sent McCarthy the following letter. He didn't receive a reply.

November 16, 1973

Dear Mr. McCarthy:  
 
I am writing to you in your capacity as chairman of the Drake School Board. I am among those American writers whose books have been destroyed in the now famous furnace of your school.

I want you to know, too, that my publisher and I have done absolutely nothing to exploit the disgusting news from Drake. We are not clapping each other on the back, crowing about all the books we will sell because of the news. We have declined to go on television, have written no fiery letters to editorial pages, have granted no lengthy interviews. We are angered and sickened and saddened. And no copies of this letter have been sent to anybody else. You now hold the only copy in your hands. It is a strictly private letter from me to the people of Drake, who have done so much to damage my reputation in the eyes of their children and then in the eyes of the world. Do you have the courage and ordinary decency to show this letter to the people, or will it, too, be consigned to the fires of your furnace?

I gather from what I read in the papers and hear on television that you imagine me, and some other writers, too, as being sort of ratlike people who enjoy making money from poisoning the minds of young people. I am in fact a large, strong person, fifty-one years old, who did a lot of farm work as a boy, who is good with tools. I have raised six children, three my own and three adopted. They have all turned out well. Two of them are farmers. I am a combat infantry veteran from World War II, and hold a Purple Heart. I have earned whatever I own by hard work. I have never been arrested or sued for anything. I am so much trusted with young people and by young people that I have served on the faculties of the University of Iowa, Harvard, and the City College of New York. Every year I receive at least a dozen invitations to be commencement speaker at colleges and high schools. My books are probably more widely used in schools than those of any other living American fiction writer.

If you were to bother to read my books, to behave as educated persons would, you would learn that they are not sexy, and do not argue in favor of wildness of any kind. They beg that people be kinder and more responsible than they often are. It is true that some of the characters speak coarsely. That is because people speak coarsely in real life. Especially soldiers and hardworking men speak coarsely, and even our most sheltered children know that. And we all know, too, that those words really don’t damage children much. They didn’t damage us when we were young. It was evil deeds and lying that hurt us.

If you and your board are now determined to show that you in fact have wisdom and maturity when you exercise your powers over the eduction of your young, then you should acknowledge that it was a rotten lesson you taught young people in a free society when you denounced and then burned books–books you hadn’t even read. You should also resolve to expose your children to all sorts of opinions and information, in order that they will be better equipped to make decisions and to survive.

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

BBA Institute

One for the road! A practice discouraged

India’s ambitious highway development programme lies in a shambles. With major developers pulling out of projects and a few takers due to severe liquidity crunch, the lifeline for India’s economic development is on life support. By Parimal Peeyush

That highways is the lifeline of a developing country is common sense. These roads not only provide the most cost-effective mode of transport, but connect capitals, ports and places of strategic importance and are crucial for trade and commerce. Any government with the basic desire to fuel economic growth would put in place an efficient network of roads on its list of top priorities.

The India story under the ruling UPA II however reads different. Considered to be the most important sector of India’s infrastructure after power, the highways sector lies in absolute shambles. Against its ambitious target of awarding 9,500 km of road length of projects during FY2012-13, the government, through the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), had managed only 837 km until January 2013.

Earlier this year, two major developers – GMR Highways (a subsidiary of GMR Infra), and GVK Power & Infrastructure pulled the plug on two high-profile road projects collectively worth more than Rs.100 billion. The two projects included GMR’s Rs.77 billion Kishangarh-Udaipur-Ahmedabad project and GVK’s Rs.30 billion Shivpuri-Dewas project in Madhya Pradesh. The exits, as per official statements released by the companies, was fuelled by delays in getting mandatory environmental and forest clearances and issues in land acquisitions. Several other firms who had won contracts with the NHAI for highway development too are either struggling for want of bank loans or are stuck in contractual disputes.

Last year, the NHAI had drawn some serious flak from the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) for a potential loss of Rs.8.74 billion on account of delays in completion of projects that were meant to connect major ports through highways. The authority also incurred a revenue loss of over Rs.1.27 billion on account of delays in setting up Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), the report said, adding that while five of the Rs.31.57 billion projects were incomplete, four saw delays of up to 53 months. “Potential loss of toll revenue, due to delay in completion of PRC projects, worked out to Rs.8.74 billion,” the CAG said in its report tabled in Parliament.

“Investment in road sector has collapsed in FY2012-13, with scant interest in new projects, large delays and poor execution in existing projects,” RBI too said in its macroeconomic review for Q4, 2012. As per the central bank, almost half of the 563 central government infrastructure projects of Rs.1.50 billion and above were facing delays, with a majority of the projects in power and roads sectors. As a result, banks have also become extremely wary and developers are finding it extremely difficult to secure bank loans, which are essential for financing such big-ticket projects.

NHAI Chairman R. P. Singh, however, contests the fact that delays in clearances and disputes have forced developers to quit. “Basically, in our view, as to why they are walking out of these two projects is the change in economic scenario and escalation of cost,” Singh said, while adding that arranging huge private equity is a major problem. As per RBI, the GVK project requires an equity of Rs.15 billion, while that of GMR requires Rs.20 billion. Clearly, the companies have found it impossible to raise the required funds. Singh added that NHAI sympathises with the two major players but was not ready to accept the reasons for termination of contracts as the same are “not tenable”. No stranger to being at the receiving end for project delays, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan denied allegations that delays in getting a green nod is holding up road projects and said there was no delay “even for a day” in granting clearances. Sources, however, inform the magazine that about 20 highway projects are awaiting clearance from the Ministry of Environment & Forests.

“The road construction sector has reached a certain level of maturity. But it faces challenges... Hence, the government has decided to constitute a regulatory authority for the road sector,” said Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in his recent budget speech. The FM further stated that bottlenecks stalling road projects have been addressed and 3,000 km of road projects in Gujarat, MP, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and UP will be awarded in the first six months of FY2013-14. While the FM expects Rs.55,000 billion investment in infrastructure during the 12th Five-Year plan, and 47% of it from the private sector, companies are not as confident. Reason being that many infrastructure investments are stuck at various stages of approvals due to regulatory hurdles.

On its part, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has finalised a proposal for awarding projects under a modified engineering procurement and construction (EPC) mode. “To overcome the economic slowdown in this sector, MoRTH has finalised a proposal for awarding projects under new modified turnkey EPC mode under 100% government funding in cases where there are no takers under BOT (toll) mode,” said the Economic Survey 2012-13, tabled in Parliament. This mode of delivery will also take care of cost and time overruns and the ministry has pinned all its hopes on the EPC mode. Under the EPC model, the government spends the entire money required to build roads so as to attract builders who are shying away from highways projects for want of funds. The Survey also suggests easing exit norms for developers. Detailing steps to boost the sector, it said the NHAI Board has approved formation of an expert settlement advisory committee for one-time settlement of old cases pending in courts.

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

ExecutiveMBA

So what ails the Yamuna?

And why is NRCD not being pulled up immediately?

For those who may not know, NRCD stands for the National River Conservation Directorate. Perhaps the hidden nature of the directorate is more deliberate than by chance, as in all the brouhaha surrounding the recent furore on the increasing pollution in Yamuna, there was not even a ghost of a mention of NRCD, a body which technically should be the one being pulled up for destroying – through the lack of sustained action plans – whatever was left of the Yamuna. More amusing is the fact that NRCD, which is supposedly heading the Yamuna Action Plan, comes under Ministry of Environment and Forests rather than the Ministry of Water Sources.

It was the Supreme Court which first ordered a scrutiny on the pollution levels of the river 19 years ago and directed the Yamuna Action Plan in1993. However, reports by prominent agencies (Center for Science and Environment, MIT and others) including the recent SC reviews, reveal that the river remains as dead and polluted as usual in spite of the last two decades' effort and massive investments of Rs.6,500 crore to clean the river.

Inadequate capacity of sewage treatment, inefficiency of fund utilisation and delayed project implementation worsened the condition severally. A report submitted to the SC by an inspection team highlighted that “Delhi's 17 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) have a capacity of 2,460 MGD against a utilization of 1,558 MGD” where the city generates sewage around 3,800 MGD. In the same line, the Delhi Jal Board’s inceptor sewers project (to treat sewage before it flows into major drains) became a major failure as it was just able to spend only Rs.51 crore of the Rs.1,963 crore allocated. Sadly, apart from the inceptor scheme, the whole budget to restore Yamuna has simply gone down the drain since 1993. Over time, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi have spent around Rs.2,052 crore, Rs.2,084 and Rs.2,394 crore respectively. The YAP First Phase had to be accomplished by 2000 but was delayed by three years. And the proposed inceptor project would be completed by 2014 instead of 2012.

So who should be pulled up? The IIPM Think Tank has regularly argued that randomly hitting whichever departmental spokesperson walks into the court is no solution. The NRCD should be necessarily broken down into sister organisations, with one organisation heading the management of each river of national importance.

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

ExecutiveMBA

Henry Miller to Anais Nin

In 1932, months after first meeting in Paris and despite both being married, Cuban diarist Anaïs Nin and hugely influential novelist Henry Miller began an incredibly intense love affair that would last for many years and, along the way, generate countless passionate love letters. Below is one of the most powerful examples, written by Miller in August of 1932 shortly after a visit to Nin's home in Louveciennes.

August 14, 1932

Anais:

Don't expect me to be sane anymore. Don't let's be sensible. It was a marriage at Louveciennes – you can't dispute it. I came away with pieces of you sticking to me; I am walking about, swimming, in an ocean of blood, your Andalusian blood, distilled and poisonous. Everything I do and say and think relates back to the marriage. I saw you as the mistress of your home, a Moor with a heavy face, a negress with a white body, eyes all over your skin, woman, woman, woman. I can't see how I can go on living away from you – these intermissions are death. How did it seem to you when Hugo came back? I can't picture you moving about with him as you did with me. Legs closed. Frailty. Sweet, treacherous acquiescence. Bird docility. You became a woman with me. I was almost terrified by it. You are not just thirty years old – you are a thousand years old.

Here I am back and still smouldering with passion, like wine smoking. Not a passion any longer for flesh, but a complete hunger for you, a devouring hunger. I read the paper about suicides and murders and I understand it all thoroughly. I feel murderous, suicidal. I feel somehow that it is a disgrace to do nothing, to just bide one's time, to take it philosophically, to be sensible. Where has gone the time when men fought, killed, died for a glove, a glance, etc? (A victrola is playing that terrible aria from Madama Butterfly – "Some day he'll come!")

Anais, I only thought I loved you before; it was nothing like this certainty that's in me now. Was all this so wonderful only because it was brief and stolen? Were we acting for each other, to each other? Was I less I, or more I, and you less or more you? Is it madness to believe that this could go on? When and where would the drab moments begin? I study you so much to discover the possible flaws, the weak points, the danger zones. I don't find them – not any. That means I am in love, blind, blind. To be blind forever! (Now they're singing "Heaven and Ocean" from La Gioconda.)

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

ExecutiveMBA

"If militancy and gun culture resurface in Kashmir, responsibility is India's"

The oldest surviving hardline separatist, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, after being released after a 19-day house arrest in New Delhi following the execution of Afzal Guru, tells Aditya Raj Kaul in an exclusive interview that India should be prepared for the consequences of the hanging.

What was your first reaction to Afzal Guru’s hanging?
Afzal sahab was hanged at February 9 at 9 am; Delhi Police personnel in large numbers entered my room. Lady constables were made to sit in the next room. The male police officers were in my room. There was no formal document or an able officer who could explain why I was being kept under house arrest. They probably thought that after Afzal’s martyrdom, I will fly to Srinagar to be a part of the protests which would follow. My intention was indeed to return to Kashmir, which they anticipated quickly. For 19 days, I was kept locked in these two rooms. Most painfully, for the first 32 hours, the security personnel did not even leave my room, neither was I allowed to go out. Even when I prepared for the Friday prayers, I was not allowed to go. It was a Congress decision in haste. They did not apply their minds. BJP wanted Afzal to be hanged and the Congress played along, thinking they could use it as ploy against the main opposition party in the upcoming elections. That is why they hung Afzal, without leaking any information. It was a judicial and a political murder. Afzal himself was not part of the group which attacked the Indian Parliament. All the attackers were killed on the spot. At that time, I had condemned the event in the strongest possible terms. These are terrorist actions and we’ll never agree with them. Afzal was never given a chance in the trial court, he was not given an opportunity to defend himself. It was a human rights violation that even the family wasn’t informed before he was hanged.

The execution was followed by a blanket curfew in Kashmir.
That is very obvious. India’s actions are so brutal that it is clear that she wants to remain in Kashmir on the basis of brute force. They do not want people to get their birthright, they do not want democracy and freedom to speak, write and travel. All our basic rights are being crushed. Before coming to Delhi in December 2012, I was kept under house-arrest for nine months in Kashmir. The same happened in 2011, 2010 and 2009. Even when my son-in-law Iftikhar’s father passed away, I wasn’t allowed to attend the funeral. I cannot attend wedding ceremonies of relatives. India’s attitude only shows their arrogance. Curfew is clamped and four youngsters have been killed.

You were at Jantar Mantar protesting Afzal Guru’s hanging. What were you demanding?
I was at Jantar Mantar to talk about India’s lapses. When I reached Srinagar on March 7, I was picked up at the airport and taken home, ostensibly for security reasons. There is a lot of official security at home. It’s a lame excuse to hide India’s brutality. What can I do if I am not allowed to meet my neighbour Afzal Guru from Sopore? I wanted to go to meet Tabassum beti to offer my condolences directly from the airport. It is my moral responsibility and right as a Muslim. Our demand is that Afzal’s dead body should be returned to the family since they can offer prayers as per ritual. It will bring a sense of satisfaction.

Did Omar Abdullah have a role?
Home Ministry had released a statement soon after the hanging which stated that “we have taken the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir into confidence”. This means that the Chief Minister was taken in confidence well in advance. Now if he says we were not asked or we didn’t know anything, these are crocodile tears. Just like Farooq Abdullah had signed Maqbool Bhatt’s death warrant, Omar Abdullah is involved this time.

JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik shared stage with most-wanted terrorist Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan.
(laughing) This is an irrelevant question for me. No need to answer it.

I interviewed Hizbul Mujahideen commander Syed Salauddin in June last year. He said armed struggle in the valley will never stop. Hasn’t Kashmir seen enough bloodshed?
The responsibility of armed struggle of 1990 lies with India. They are not ready to resolve the dispute according to the commitments made through peaceful means. When you push a community to the wall, what is the alternative? If militancy and gun culture re-surface in Kashmir, the responsibility lies on the Indian government and not the people of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2008 and 2010, lakhs of people came out on the streets in protest but India took no notice. In 2010 an Indian parliamentary delegation came to seek commitment for talks. No one says no to talks. I am ready for talks but they have to be meaningful and result-oriented. That cannot happen till India agrees that Jammu and Kashmir is not a part of India and is a disputed territory. This should be followed by removal of armed forces and release of political prisoners. This will pave the way for talks. Otherwise we’ve had talked more than 150 times without any result. What is the alternative? Should we submit to the rule of the armed forces in Kashmir?

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Castro'phic regime

Cuba needs to bring more transparency in its election process

Living in a world where elections have become a synonym of extravagant campaigns and corruption, the Republic of Cuba stands aside in the queue. However, following a single political party regime (Communist Party of Cuba) doesn't sound like a fruitful proposition anymore! All the candidates who stand for the national parliament get elected because of zero competition and when there is no competition, chances of bribery and corruption involved in the process of elections become zilch. The election procedure in Cuba is one of its kinds where there is no room for election campaigns and ads. Such acts are totally out of question in the country.

The on-going electoral process of Cuba has invited a lot of criticism both from outside the country and within. According to Guillermo Rodriguez, a revolutionary intellectual, “The citizen doesn’t have the option of choosing between one candidate or another. The most they can do is not vote for those they don’t like.” Moreover, many deputies are elected to represent places they haven’t lived in for decades – and in some cases, they’ve never lived there! The moot point is that when they haven’t been a part of the place they represent, how can they address the problems of their constituencies and needless to say, these problems will never be solved. To make matters worse, the image portrayed for decades has been that of a parliament that limits itself to unanimously “legalising” each of the measures announced by the executive. Cubans have never seen a deputy questioning a ministerial or executive report.

What catches our fancy is the fact that with only one political party, why make a mockery of elections and play around with the hopes of the citizens? Most important of all, why do people participate in the entire process and end up voting? It is believed that the pressure on the people is very high and if they don’t participate in the voting process then they are exposed to stringent actions by the Cuban government. Castro’s Communist regime trespasses on citizens' privacy rights and repudiates freedom of speech, press, assembly and association. The government limits the distribution of foreign publications and maintains strict censorship of news and information.

Cuba holds the general elections every five years but with the same procedure going on for years, the situation of the country is likely to deteriorate. However, a nation surrounded by powerful neighbours like the US who is leaving no stone unturned to break the existing regime of Cuba, the nation needs some degree of control over information flow and intelligence. But people should enjoy freedom and liberty. They will revolt for sure if they are deprived of the basic human rights for long – history is witness to this. There is dire need for free elections and concurrently there is a dire need for state-control on information flow. The choice is tough and the clock is ticking.

Read more....

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Book Review : Seven Deadly Sins

From hero to zero

Somewhere in the middle of this 430- page exposé of Lance Armstrong, journalist David Walsh recounts the story of his son, John, who died when he was all of twelve. Never afraid of asking questions and never holding anything so sacrosanct as to believe in it unquestionably, John once had a tiff with his teacher at his school. In the Bible class, where the nativity story was being recounted, his teacher insisted how Joseph and Mary lived a modest life. Confused and intrigued in equal parts, Walsh’s son shot back, “If they were so poor, what did they do with the gold they were given by the three wise men?” Heartbreaking as it might sound in retrospect, it tells us something about the Walsh family.

The Lance Armstrong saga can safely be adjudged as the biggest saga of triumph and eventual downfall in the history of sports in living memory. The story of a cyclist who fought and recovered from testicular cancer and went on to win a record seven Tour de France titles, and then followed it with a bestseller biography and a behemoth of a charitable organisation, appeared too good to be true to many. However, it needed immense courage to delve deeper. And one person who did that, David Walsh, the Irishman who works as the Sunday Times’ chief sports writer, found out that the going was tough. “He’s not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy,” he had commented in his measured understatement. In unearthing the truth, he did one heck of a job. And, Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit Of Lance Armstrong is the product of that perseverance.

Completed a couple of months after the release of USADA’s ‘reasoned decision’ document that accused, with solid evidence, that Armstrong was the ringleader of “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping program that sport has ever seen”, the book traces Walsh’s rather elongated and difficult pursuit to unearth what many say was the single biggest cover-up in the history of cycling.

Readers will benefit to know that this is not Walsh’s first book on this topic. It is his third. He has penned L.A. Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong and From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France, both dealing with the same issue. However, it has not been easy to pursue this case. Because of stringent libel laws in the UK, the books attracted an unusual amount of litigation, a few leading to subpoena as well.

The book describes the troublesome period, including how it all started. Walsh admits that he was kind of soft in his early career, especially when he started covering Tour de France in 1982, partly because he loved the sport and partly because he loved the sportsmen, his compatriots, Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche. And since he was writing the biography of Sean Kelly, he chose to under-report the clear evidence of doping on Kelly’s part. Similarly, he was mighty impressed by Armstrong during his early stint and confessed that he wanted to like him.  “He had something inside that made him unlike any other young sportsman I had met. Radioactivity,” he writes.

However, something changed after the Michelle Smith controversy during Atlanta Olympics. When the ace swimmer was caught tampering with her urine sample after a splendid performance, Walsh and other journalists started to see performances more cynically. By the end of the decade, that cynicism grew into scepticism and the first sportsperson that caught his radar was Armstrong.

He was the first to report that Armstrong had worked with tainted Dr Ferrari. The report set the world against him. He was called names and variously referred by Armstrong, his entourage as well as the fraternity as a “fucking little troll” and “the worst journalist in the world”.

It was around this time that brought names like Paul Kimmage, Betsy Andreu, Greg LeMond, Pierre Ballester and Emma O’Reilly to the forefront and started building evidence against Armstrong.

Though at times it might appear vindictive, the book is a great work of investigative journalism that tested the limits of the writer’s credibility, conviction and more importantly perseverance. It is not without it flaws though. The later chapters appear to have been completed in haste.  Also, while much of the book is based on painstakingly gathered primary evidence, the last section is dependent mostly on secondary sources.

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

Flower power

Though initially aimed only at the export market, the domestic floriculture industry is growing in leaps and bounds with a little help from the government and NGOs, writes Agnibesh Das

Back in the early nineties, the government of India began to look at floriculture as a possible export option for the country. Floriculture had a lot of potential as it did not have a lot of constraints that is faced by agriculture in the country. For one, small land holdings, the biggest bane to efficient produce that India faces, does not affect this industry. Two to three acres of fields would be good enough to profitably enter the industry. It was capital intensive, but if sufficient numbers of entrepreneurs could be involved, it could be a big export. Several state bodies, like the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce, started outreach programmes to further give a boost to the industry.

It seemed to be working for a while as well, with a boost in both growth and exports in 2006, but that quickly fizzled out. The hurdles were many. Freight costs were extremely high and that made it difficult for the small and medium investors to operate. More importantly, the export industry works on very stringent standards of quality. Even a single specimen in an entire shipment could result in the rejection of the entire shipment. With a commodity as delicate and with as little shelf life as flowers, this posed a huge problem indeed.

While the exercise was not a success in the strict sense of the word, it did open up another possibility. There is a huge internal demand in the country as well. With greater exposure to the world, this demand is growing, not only in size but also in sophistication and variety. Given the large domestic market, it would be a viable option to take up floriculture in a big way for domestic consumption. Not only is there a huge domestic demand, the country is actually importing a good deal of flowers now.

A common north Indian spends more than a lakh on floral decorations during a marriage ceremony. The market, as is evident, is huge. The industry has grown in leaps and bounds in the past few years. “Approximately 2.4 lakh hectares are under floriculture cultivation in the country at present, with a turnover of more than Rs 1 lakh crores. You see, the return of investment is pretty high here. In even a half acre area, the farmer can turn a profit of four to five lakhs,” says Dr SC Pawar of the Union Ministry of Agriculture.

Here, too, there are hurdles. Problems exist on several levels. For one, there was no organised and controlled market. Most of the mandis were illegal affairs run majorly by local toughs. Says S Jafar Naqvi, president, Indian Flowers and Ornamental Plants Welfare Association (iFlora), “It was complete chaos. These people would go to the farmers and promise to buy their entire produce. They would make deals and for the first few times, make good on their promises. Then, as the trust grew, they would take a huge advance and then disappear. Since the shops were mostly illegal, the farmers could not track these people down. They actually went from state to state with this scam.”

Since there was no regulation or control, they also muscled in on the prices that were being paid. So, on the one hand, the consumers, especially the large scale consumers like hotel chains and decorators, were having to pay through their noses while on the other hand, the farmer received a pittance, most of the profit eaten up by the middlemen.

The other problem was supply of the infrastructure. When it came to hybrid varieties of seeds, plastic sheets for green houses or other equipment, huge number of counterfeit companies were operating under the brand-names of international giants. As a result, a farmer would pay through the nose yet not get the desired quality. They would pay for seeds of plants guaranteed to produce flowers of a certain size and quality and get something quite different. Sheets that were supposed to last at least three  years would not even last a season. It was only when they took the matters up with the companies that the counterfeit was realised.

Another major problem is the post harvest losses. In India, almost 40 per cent of the harvest is wasted every year due to lack of proper storage, transportation and a smooth procurement process. This amounts to a total loss of almost Rs 23,000 crores every year. The government is trying to bridge this gap by providing large amount of subsidies in infrastructure development. It is also a matter of bringing the farmer in contact with international brands that provide post-harvest solutions. Most of the floriculture farmers are able to afford the infrastructure, just that they are not aware of the available technology.

However, things began to change from 2005, with the government stepping in to regularise the industry. For one, the New Delhi mandi at Connaught Place has been completely legalised. Most of the vendors who originally used to sell flowers here were offered permanent stalls for a fee. Since these are shops that have been paid for, chances of the dealers evaporating into thin air are few.

To give the industry a boost, the government has also set up the Directorate of Floriculture Research under the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in 2010. Though it is, as of now housed in the AIRI complex, the processes to acquire and provide it its own campus is already in the pipelines. In all probability, it will be set up in Pune in the near future.
Another big factor has been contributions from the NGO iFlora. Every year, the organisation hosts the International Flora Expo in association with the Media Today Group, with the sponsorship and support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority and several other state government bodies. This annual trade fair, the biggest in the industry has been a huge platform for both the farmers as well as companies that provide the raw materials and infrastructure.

“I was exposed to the exploitation of the farmers when I used to go to the New Delhi mandi for reporting. I realised that I had to do something for the farmers, had to eliminate the middle men. That was how iFlora was started. We held the first expo in 2005 in Bangalore. It was a huge success. We would see one farmer saying a particular dealer had been good to him while five others would start shouting that it was the same person who had ripped them off. The scam was laid bare and exposed. When we saw the positive response, we decided to shift the expo to Delhi,” says Naqvi, a founder member of iFlora, who also runs the Floriculture Today magazine.

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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