MDI International Business - OctNov 2010 - Project Submissions.
Please make your submissions in comments to this post. Put your name and Roll No. and Submission No. (1 or 2 or 3) at top of each comment. Give a title to your comment. This is an academic exercise and your comment should be your won work.
A sample comment taken from Economist, by Jeff Moyer, can be as follows:
Tej Singh - Roll No. xxxxx
Does Biotechnology has a role in Sustainable Agriculture?
Agriculture can only be sustainable when the primary resources used in the system (soil and water) are regenerated from within the system.
Biotechnology is a band-aid approach to "fix" long-term problems with short-term solutions. Much has been written on agricultural sustainability, leaving us with a word that now has tremendous baggage. Many have rushed to claim a piece of this term since there is not only great marketing potential in the concept of sustainability, but great political leverage as well. But agriculture can only be sustainable when the primary resources used in the system (soil and water) are regenerated from within the system.
Sustainability needs to consider more than simply yield in tonnes. By concentrating our efforts solely on yield and not on building and improving the health of our soils we have missed the main opportunity to be sustainable. Biotechnology has focused our attention on the wrong goal—merely yields alone—and has convinced many that sustainability can be achieved through large-scale monoculture production systems of GM crops that deplete the nutritional value of our soils and our food.
A truly sustainable agriculture can both deliver strong yields and improve soil quality and fertility over time, offering a solid network of roots for a thriving agricultural community. The Rodale Institute's Farming Systems Trial—a 30-year research project comparing organic and conventional practices, side by side—has shown that organic yields can match those from conventional systems. And organically managed soil is healthier, more biologically active, drought resistant and more resilient.
Even a poor or damaging system can be sustained for a short time, relative to the history of modern agriculture. Within roughly 70 years, our current chemical-based agricultural system is already showing its weaknesses: depleted soil, poisoned water, negative impacts on human and environmental health, and broken rural communities. Sustainable production should look out 100 years or more to determine whether a production system is really on the right road.
Sustainable agriculture should not just feed the world's growing population today, or tomorrow, but far into the foreseeable future. Biotechnology and the associated methods often have a negative effect on soil and water health, minimising their potential to serve us over time. By building and improving soil health, utilising organic practices to fix nutrients in the soil, encouraging biodiversity and greatly minimising synthetic inputs, organic producers are ensuring the sustainability of the system indefinitely.
Today we produce food within a system that is broken. While the points of breakage can be defined within the context of sustainability, they cannot be fixed with biotech solutions. They can be repaired only by addressing the fundamentals that restore and regenerate the resources of soil and water. By artificially sustaining a poor system we have created a model that divorces biology from the system and replaces it with costly and damaging external inputs.
Conventional biotech methods could be forgiven if they were improving the quality of the food, improving the health of our soils and water, improving the biodiversity of our rural areas, building truly sustainable communities or improving the lives of farmers.
In every category we continue to fall short of our goals of feeding the world indefinitely, yet we continue to move down this road holding onto the false promises proffered by the biotech community claiming cheap food—which is not really cheap—as the primary reason to accept all those negative consequences. All the while we squander valuable time and resources that could be better spent working towards a truly sustainable food-production system based on sound biological principles. To repair it, we must focus on the basics—soil health and water quality—and how we can improve upon these natural resources so that we return as much as we take, thus ensuring our future.
If farmers are challenged to continuously improve the resources they depend on, and look beyond the farm gate at the impacts their decisions have on the total supply chain, sustainability moves far beyond the need for biotechnology.
You can get ideas from http://www.economist.com/debate/archive.
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123 comments:
Rohit - Roll No. xxx
Is Brazil's economc might overhyped?
xxxxxxx......
TONMOY PURKAYSTHA
Roll No. 09 PT2-103
SUBMISSION 1
Does Creating “GREEN JOBS” is a sensible aspiration of Governments?
The motion is worded so broadly that interpretation becomes crucial. Given the long-term and in some cases rather intangible benefits of environmental prudence, people arguing for measures that will reduce global warming and bring about other desirable but distant ends tend to look for near-term benefits. In a recession & its aftermath, jobs have been in the No. 1 position in any list.
It would be an opportunity to create thousands of low- and medium-skill jobs that help conserve energy or use alternate energy sources. These can be the local jobs that could not be exported. With appropriate incentives and programs, the jobs could be created in inner cities and thereby help lift people out of poverty.
The question is whether those jobs represent a net benefit, or whether they are being created at the expense of other jobs elsewhere in the economy. Green jobs created by government intervention have opportunity costs, in that some part of the money used to provide or promote them might otherwise have created jobs in some other sector. There is also the risk of jobs being counted as created by government intervention when they would have been created anyway.
It may be useful to point out that the motion, and in particular its key word "sensible", can be read in a more economic context or a more political context. In terms of economics, the key issue is efficiency: do the policies increase net employment at justifiable costs? Politically, things may be a little less well defined. That government investment, subsidy and regulation can produce green jobs is not in any doubt. But government does not need to hire people to create jobs; all it needs to do is tweak the tax code to encourage green actions. Tax breaks are available for new storm windows, insulation, and green construction.
The major question is that will it be the private sector or the government which can be the main driver in creating green jobs? The scale of the transition to cleaner, lower-carbon energy sources is simply too large for public-sector resources and programmes to tackle alone. Only a tidal wave of private investment, innovation, invention and entrepreneurship can get the job done. But that wave will never rise unless the government becomes a constructive partner in the effort. Therefore, it is perfectly sensible for national governments to aspire to create policies that produce green jobs.
Policy is not a restraint on trade; it’s a driver of innovation. Given the global competition to dominate clean energy production, one need not believe that green jobs are a panacea to believe that pursuing them is smart and sensible. After all, practically everything that is good for energy independence or the environment will create a job—a green job.
To mitigate climate chaos and avoid economy-wrecking energy shortages, workers must repower, rewire and retrofit whole nations. As men and women step forward to achieve these ends and accomplish these tasks, their hard-hats—in many cases—will be green.
To argue against green jobs is to argue for government inaction or abdication on some of the biggest challenges of our time.
Prakhar Srivastava
Roll No. 09PT2-074
Submission 1
Managing Across Cultures
Ethenocentricism-
This is the tendency of the people to evaluate a foreigner by the standards of their
own culture and to believe that their own culture is superior to all other cultures.
Polycentricism-
If Ethenocentricism exhibits intolerance to other cultures, polycentricism advocates
tolerance to other cultures, their beliefs and values.
Regiocentricism-
Regiocentricism operates in the same way as polycentricism but they differ in that the
polycentric companies adopt international human resource management policies and
practices, to various countries and specific geocentric regions.
Geocentricism-
In Geocentricism, subsidiary operations are managed by the best qualified individuals
in the world regardless of the nationality.
Building of Multi-Cultural Organizations
• Pluralism
• Leadership Diversity
• Structural Integration
• Internal Network
• Bias Free Organization
• Identification
• Minimum Intergroup Conflicts
Tips for effective communication across cultures for international marketing
• Learn the language of the host country.
• Learn to neutralize language accents.
• Be aware of the fact that cross cultural barriers will exist.
• In international communication learn to speak clearly, lucidly and simply.
• Be sensitive to non-verbal communication
• Be sensitive to barriers which are cultural in nature and which are specific
to each country.
Technological Environment
International Technology Barriers
• Choice of Technology
• Terms of Technology Transfer
• Creating Local Capacity
• Foreign Technology Acquisition
Economic Environment
• Income Classification of Countries
• Economic System of Classification
• Region wise Classification of Countries
• Economies in Transition
• Economic Trade Practices
• Economic Institutions
International Strategic Management for International Marketing
Nature of International Strategy Management
• Strategic management is concerned with the process of formulating, implanting and
evaluating international market strategies to achieve a firm’s objective.
• All strategic management is crucial to success of international marketing,
Manish Mahatha
Roll No. 09PT2-061
Submission 1
Energy Recovery from Wastes
Rapid urbanization, industrialization, and changes in the pattern of civic life have resulted in the generation of enormous quantities of wastes in the urban and industrial areas of the country.
Most wastes that are generated find their way into land and water bodies without proper treatment, causing severe water pollution. They also emit greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide, and add to air pollution. The problems caused by solid and liquid wastes can be significantly mitigated through the adoption of environment-friendly waste-to-energy technologies that will allow treatment and processing of wastes before their disposal. These measures would reduce the quantity of wastes, generate a substantial quantity of energy from them, and greatly reduce pollution of water and air.
Technology Options
Various technological options are available for setting up of waste-to energy projects. Some of these are described below.
Combustion/incineration
In this process, wastes are directly burned in presence of excess air (oxygen) at high temperatures (about 800 ÂșC), liberating heat energy, inert gases, and ash. The net energy yield depends upon the density and composition of waste; the percentage of moisture and inert materials in it (which add to the heat loss); ignition temperature; size and shape of its constituent materials, etc. Combustion results in transfer of 65%–80% of heat content of the organic matter to hot air, steam, and hot water. The steam generated, in turn, can be used in steam turbines to generate power.
Pyrolysis/gasification
Pyrolysis is a process of chemical decomposition of organic matter brought about by heat. In this process, the organic material is heated in absence of air until the molecules thermally break down to become a gas comprising smaller molecules (known collectively as syngas). Gasification can also take place as a result of partial combustion of organic matter in presence of a restricted quantity of oxygen or air. The gas so produced is known as producer gas. The gases produced by pyrolysis mainly comprise carbon monoxide (25%), hydrogen and hydrocarbons (15%), and carbon dioxide and nitrogen (60%). The next step is to ‘clean’ the syngas or producer gas. Thereafter, the gas is burned in internal combustion (IC) engine generator sets or turbines to produce electricity.
Landfill gas recovery
The waste dumped in a landfill becomes subjected, over a period of time, to anaerobic conditions. As a result, its organic fraction slowly volatilizes and decomposes, leading to production of ‘landfill gas’, which contains a high percentage of methane (about 50%). Typically, production of landfill gas starts within a few months of disposal of wastes, and generally continues for 10 years or even more, depending mainly upon the composition of wastes and availability of moisture. As the gas has a calorific value of about 4500 kcal/m3, it can be used as a source of energy either for direct heating/cooking applications or to generate power through IC engines or turbines.
Plasma arc
Plasma arc technology is a relatively new technology for disposal of wastes, particularly, hazardous and radioactive wastes. This technology is now being seen as an attractive option for disposal of MSW as well. Besides generating energy, plasma arc technology ensures the near complete destruction of waste.
VENKATARAMANA G
Roll No: 09PT2-108
Submission - 1
When will we be spared at the US Airports?
Since the 9/11 attack in the US, there has always been lot of hue and cry with the intensive frisking of passengers at the US Airports. The latest row of norms and new-ish policy published by the TSA has irked the passengers travelling around the US this holiday season and created hoopla across the globe. And once these new measures are in place, they are almost never removed.
What is a Pat down as per TSA?
Pat-downs are used to resolve alarms at the checkpoint, including those triggered by metal detectors. Pat-downs are also used when a person opts out of Advanced imaging technology (AIT) screening in order to detect potentially dangerous and prohibited items.
The new frisking method is the latest measure to tighten the US air security, a move traditionally taken by the Transport Security Administration (TSA) following the uncovering of a terrorist plot involving airplanes. However such screening acts are very intrusive and insane.
The majority of pat-downs occur when a passenger alarms either the metal detector or the AIT unit. To reduce this circumstance, the most important thing you can do is take everything out of your pockets before you go through screening. Even passengers who submit to the new body scanners may be subject to a pat-down if the machine detects an anomaly. In other cases, passengers may be randomly selected for a physical search.
The frisking of former President A P J Abdul Kalam at IGIA still remains fresh in our minds. It is considered mandatory by US airlines operating out of India to carry out pre-embarkation body check. This is the existing state of affairs that does not even spare the VVIPs in the Indian soil.
Passengers are being subjected to humiliation and sense of helplessness. The new screening procedures offend the fundamental rights of human beings. One of the most frustrating aspects of this fight against terrorism is that it has created a whole security apparatus around us that causes huge inconvenience to all air travellers.
In my opinion, the full body scanners or the pat-downs are neither going to aid in improving the security situation nor are they going to help to ward off terrorism. Terrorists know we have these. It’s unlikely that they are going to be dumb enough to devise a plot that would be caught by either body scans or pat downs. The only effect these are going to have on terrorists is to make them work harder to come up with more difficult weapons or means of hiding them to detect. We keep adding new security measures and they will keep finding better ways to surpass them.
Especially after 9/11, the strategy of terrorists is to get the enemy send all of his troops to guard someplace and then hit at a weak point somewhere else. For good reason, the terrorists have moved to other methods and targets. Attackers have boarded planes outside the United States and put bombs on cargo planes. When dealing with counterterrorism, resources will always be limited and if they are going to be used on low-quality, ineffective, and misdirected tasks that means less attention can be paid to the real threats. Any security system that isn’t completely stupid—and likely to be ineffective--must put the bulk of its resources into looking at those most likely to carry out an attack.
Such acts strike the wrong balance between security and privacy, punishing innocent passengers by subjecting them to groping. The techniques adopted for profiling needs to be more sensible rather than adopting random approach. We need to look at having more intelligent checks instead of the mass checks that seem to be putting most of the passengers out.
With the advancement in technology, will be able to put an end to such brutal acts carried out in the name of heightened security and relieve thousands of innocent passengers from the trauma?
Sumit Kumar Sharma
Roll No:- 09PT2-99
Submission I
Monetizing the Anywhere Network
Before is start further, it is important for me to provide the definition of Anywhere Network. Anywhere Network can be described as follows:
“A seamless and always-accessible intelligent infrastructure that provides a connection for everyone to everything from anywhere”
The emergence of the Anywhere Network and the displacement of control from traditional media and communication providers also shifts the monetization of services and applications they offered. Although traditional providers continue to seek subscription funds, emerging business models that derive revenues from independent sources, such as advertising, have emerged and continue to evolve. Players such as Google have mastered pay-per-click advertising, while others such as Yahoo! have been more effective in branded advertising. Major players hope the emerging Anywhere Network business models--and the associated convergence between media, communications and the internet--will create revenue that will offset subscriptions.
Although Google and Yahoo! see the lion's share of their growing revenue coming from advertising, upside opportunities for advertising in other sectors of market are unclear. For example, the large MySpace and YouTube communities seem to be prime targets for advertising but these communities filled with young members tend to be fickle with limited disposable income--not necessarily ideal advertising targets.
Because only 3% to 4% of total advertising expenditures globally are internet based, there appears to be significant upside potential. Communication providers hope they can capitalize on personalization and user behavioral characteristics to offer targeted advertising. But, to succeed, targeted advertising strategies require vastly increased sophistication, particularly in the case of premium advertising.
As disruptive business models continue to emerge under the Anywhere Network umbrella, business models for monetizing services will come and go. For example, Apple currently derives the lion's share of its music business profitability from iPod devices. Apple cannot sustain this model indefinitely. Similarly Google was unprofitable before it launched its advertising-supported internet search model. In general the effective monetization of services, whether through direct subscriptions, ad-supported or campaign-type offerings, will depend primarily on the scale, consistency and reliability of the underlying service offerings. Important considerations when evaluating business models include:
1. Are there are obvious direct and indirect revenue streams that can be derived from the service? For telephony, cable and broadband services, for example, this could mean revenue sharing associated with e-commerce transactions or pay-
per-click type advertising models. These revenue streams tend to be associated with specific transactions as opposed to less tangible brand-led initiatives.
2. Is there a consistent service offering and usage model that has intrinsic value can be monetized in its own right--or by a third party with a parallel revenue--or value-generating capability, such as sophisticated indexing and cataloging of existing offerings?
3. Are the multiple identities and profiles of the Anywhere Consumer managed in a unique way? These might include a variety of trusted party security solutions and techniques for service brokering.
4. To what extent can providers combine profitable services with others that lack standalone business models to magnify the aggregate intrinsic value of the service offered to the subscriber?
Sumit Kumar Sharma
Roll No.:- 09PT2-99
Submission III
Unstoppable Connectivity Convergence
There are five powerful forces driving convergence in consumer communications and media, namely:
1. Connectivity
2. Portals
3. Applications
4. Devices
5. Content
In this discussion, I try to put focus on connectivity convergence.
My findings include the following:
1. Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) has made a real breakthrough. End-users are exhibiting clear demand for ubiquitous and seamless broadband access. This demand is being satisfied by a growing number of commercial services, some of which are essentially land line/mobile packages, while others feature deeper levels of technology integration. Both are succeeding in the marketplace and will continue to attract new customers.
2. The death of land lines has been greatly exaggerated. Wireline infrastructure will remain central to connectivity convergence.
3. Broadband convergence is unstoppable and irreversible. This, rather than voice, will drive future demand for fully integrated connectivity solutions.
4. Incumbent operators and cable companies are achieving major successes with triple-play land line/broadband/TV packages, and demand for quad-play packages is also strengthening where mobile is added to the mix.
Sameer Rawal
Roll No. 09PT2-084
Submission 1
Wireless Set to Transform the Education Sector
The use of technology in the education sector has certainly changed dramatically over the past 10 to 15 years with the widespread use of PCs, laptops, and wired and wireless Internet connections. But we are on the cusp of another technology revolution within the education sector and classroom environment: the use of wireless to transform the way teachers teach and the way students learn and live. And the lessons learned in the wireless classroom will provide education not only for students, but for business leaders in enterprises in other sectors who are struggling with understanding how wireless and mobile technologies will impact their businesses, employees and customers.
Education has been a sector desperately in need of mobile solutions for years: Campus environments crave ubiquitous connectivity solutions, and these solutions must support a diverse set of constituents, including students, faculty, administration and support staff. Through both administrative and IT-led initiatives, and the influx of wireless technology among students, education has actually been a leading sector for mobile adoption.
Higher Education Leads the Charge
Higher education represents the greatest near-term opportunity for wireless technology expansion, and institutions have already begun adopting wireless aggressively. In many cases, colleges and universities view advanced technologies—especially wireless—as a means to differentiate themselves from other schools, attracting more student applications and appealing to the best and brightest among them. The large and diverse set of constituents on campus, including students, faculty, administrators, supporting staff and visitors, has placed pressure on IT decision-makers to figure out how to keep them connected. It’s not an easy task because campus environments stretch to locales such as classrooms, residence halls, administrative buildings, open spaces and even the home office for faculty and staff. Thus, campus connectivity requires use of both wide-area and local-area wireless networks to support an array of devices such as laptops, netbooks, printers, smartphones and other multimedia-capable devices. Administrators, faculty and IT are exploring how to leverage the connected environment to transform the learning experience beyond traditional means.
Manoj Jindal
APT1-09/114
Submission 1
Qatar winning worldcup 2022 bid
Qatar winning the bid for the 2022 Fifa World Cup has surprised many of us. The tiny Persian Gulf nation of Qatar -- population 1.7 million, soccer tradition 0 -- beat out the United States and three other countries to host the 2022 World Cup following a FIFA vote in Zurich on Thursday.The tiny Middle Eastern nation bested solid bids from the US and Australia and overcame compelling proposals from Asian soccer powerhouses South Korea and Japan.
FIFA’s one of primary goals is to take football to uncharted territories. Awarding world cup 2022 to Qatar will help boosting football culture in to Arab worlds where actually large number of world population lives. The argument that Qatar doesn’t have much of a football tradition is irrelevant. If only top soccer nations are to host the tournament, we would never see the World Cup leave Western Europe or South America. The World Cup is meant to popularize football and develop the game where there is potential. This is precisely why South Africa got to host it this year and Qatar will in 2022.There was lot of speculation for South Africa as well whether it would be able to organize most followed sports event but it come out with flying color. Qatar got confidence of hosting major sports event from successful organization of 2006 Asian games in Doha. And being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, there is little reason to doubt its promise to have world-class infrastructure including air-conditioned stadiums in place by 2022. Qatar is ideally located in terms of time zone (GMT + 3hr) to rake in massive TV revenues from audiences in the western and eastern hemispheres.
View against Qatar 2022 world cup is that it does not have any football culture at all. It has not able to pass the tournaments qualifying rounds in last eight decades. Then, there are the logistical issues. During summer, daytime temperatures cross 40 degrees C.Proposing that football matches 90 minutes of frenetic action be held in such an environment is asking for trouble.Qatars representatives claim that new technology will be employed to cool both the pitch and the stands in the open-air stadiums.But betting on this for something as basic as the necessary playing conditions is far too risky a
gamble.In terms of infrastructure Qatar has to build everything from scratch, there is nothing like things to upgrade in next 12 years. One questions come for Qatar winning bid, will Israel be allowed to come in for playing matches? FIFA organizing committee has got criticism from all around world especially USA who is lobbying for organization from quite long time.
No one would envy the Middle East chance to play a larger role on the beautiful games global stage. But there is a way to go about it: by first building reserves of credit in the football community through on-field performance, then pushing for a larger role.
Manoj Jindal
APT1-09/114
Submission 2
Software Industry differentiators
There can be 3 possible differentiators in the Software Services Industry:
1. Domain Knowledge
2. Project execution time
3. Ability to be a one-stop shop
The challenge is to prove to a "prospective customer" that you are better than others on all three before they award you the project. This can be done by having simply two things:
1. "Pre-built demoable nuts and bolts of your solution offerings" - this will convince the customer that you have the domain knowledge and can reduce the development time
2. "An ecosystem" - no company can provide everything (be it hardware, software, network elements, people, market reach) all on its own. An ecosystem of other players standing behind you - you can act as one stop shop for a "complete solution" Take an example of IBM - who takes up entire large size deployment programs - using some its own software/hardware (pre-built solution components) and subcontracting half of the work to other players (leveraging the eco-system) contrast it with Indian peers - in majority of the cases - we take up only one small portion of the work and position our "skilled resources"!! So their is no differentiator among us!
An interesting analog I can draw is from my experience in getting the interiors of my house - I have 2 choices: hire an interior designer firm and outsource the complete work to them - or option 2nd - hire a designer to do the blueprint (solution architect), hire carpenters, plumbers, electricians separately (professional service providers), purchase ply boards, electrical fixtures directly (hardware). I would always prefer the first option because I don't have to do the detailed "program management" and also the one-stop-shop can provide me the entire service at a lesser cost, because he can benefit from economies of scale and pass on some benefits to me !!!
Indian software industry should emerge from mere Outsourcing Company to Global Innovation Powerhouse. While "scale of operations" and "scope of services" are important, solutions and value proposition are key prerequisites. Value could mean product/service innovation, business model, software quality, decrease in cycle time(s), return on assets, or just simply ROI as defined by key stakeholder(s). It all starts and ends with the strength of relationships, and customer intimacy and relationship management are critical for any business. The customer-facing (Sales/BD and Pre-Sales) teams articulate the "value" to stakeholders. However, realizing this "value" and associated benefits to customer requires effective delivery and program management towards meeting/exceeding expectations which, in turn, strengthens the customer relationship, builds trust & track record, and fuels demand for services... and the cycle continues. Cost cannot be the differentiator anymore; it is the relationship and reputation for delivering value.
Sumit Kumar Sharma
Roll No.:-09PT2-99
Sumission II
Traditional and New Media-Centric Businesses
Traditional media-centric businesses cover a broad range, including: Dow Jones and News Corp, which offer print and online information centric media; cable companies such as Comcast; and media content publishers and distributors such as Disney and Time Warner. These players historically enjoyed significant control over the development, aggregation, rendering and distribution of media and entertainment services. Leveraging their market control in conjunction with the quality of their content, brand and they audience developed lucrative revenue streams from subscriptions and advertising. These models are under considerable pressure as the Anywhere Network begins to take hold.
The combination of ubiquitous communications, access-independent service delivery, low-cost and diverse media aggregation and distribution methods has spawned competitive media sources. These range from community-based solutions such as MySpace, YouTube and blogs to music-sharing sites such as LimeWire and media-sharing solutions such as BitTorrent. As large media providers lose control over their traditionally captive markets, revenue from subscriptions and advertising have fallen significantly. The Anywhere Consumer is spoiled by choice and at the same time overwhelmed by the variety of media and entertainment services and the excess of information available on the Anywhere Network. In some cases, consumers are opting for solutions that were not developed for monetary purposes.
Virtually every service and application delivered over the Anywhere Network incorporates digital media of some kind. This significantly disrupts media-focused players and has pushed the entire value chain to develop innovative solutions that encompass media in some shape or form.
NEHA KHASGIWALE
Roll No. 09 PT2-71
SUBMISSION 1
The need for urgent, concerted action to combat climate change is now widely
accepted. The fact that a range of initiatives need to be taken to arrest the pace and
reverse the accumulation of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions is clear. However,
the implications of such initiatives on countries, economies, businesses and
societies are expected to be significant, and the allocation of costs, risks and
responsibilities is still under debate and negotiation.
The European Union and USA are separately considering using trade-based
measures to protect the competitiveness of their domestic industries which
operate under domestic regulations from similar industries in developing countries
that have weaker environmental regulation.
Such 'carbon equalization' measures could take the form of either a carbon tax or of
requiring producers in the exporting countries to purchase international reserve
allowances to sell their products in the EU or US, both of which effectively raise the
price of imported goods to the level of similar goods produced by 'cleaner
technologies' within the EU or US.
However, the legality of such unilateral measures, in the context of World Trade
Organisation (WTO) trade rules, is being questioned. Further, even if such measures
are deemed to be legal, the prospect of trade retaliation from the affected countries,
who might perceive them as disguised protectionism, may be a significant obstacle
in their uptake.
In an initiative aimed at reducing CO2 emissions from new passenger cars by 19
percent, the EC had adopted a proposal for legislation on December 2007 (to enter
into force in 2012) that defines a limit value curve of permitted emissions of CO2 for
new vehicles according to the mass of the vehicle. The curve is set in such a way that
heavier cars have to improve more than lighter cars. And manufacturers are
expected to be able to make cars with emissions above the limit of value curve,
provided these are balanced by cars that are below the curve.
While Jaguar-Land Rover could have offset higher CO2 emission of its fleet by
balancing it by Ford's fleet of light low-emission cars, the same is not possible under
Tata Motors as it does not sell cars in Europe. Tata Motors also faces a proposed
penalty, or the 'excess emissions premium', that companies have to pay for going
over the stipulated curve. A premium of 20 euros per gm/km has been proposed in
the first year (2012), gradually rising to 35 euros in the second year (2013), 60 euros
in the third year (2014) and 95 euros by 2015.
Nonetheless, these proposals are significant indicators of the pattern of thinking of
developed countries moving forward towards a new international collective
agreement. Indian businesses with export interests in these, and other developed
economies will need to take concerted action now in order to adequately prepare
themselves for what may be a significant factor in their businesses
Sameer Rawal
Roll No.09PT2-084
Submission 3
Profiting from the Uncertain Business Models of the Anywhere Network
The media and communications industries are in chaos. Traditional business models are being severely disrupted as new innovations emerge and take advantage of the low market entry barriers created with Internet Protocol, MPEG and for internet browser technology. Anywhere Network is a framework for navigating the developing chaos and profitably delivering services to the Anywhere Consumer and Anywhere Enterprise.
The Anywhere Network can be described as a seamless and always-accessible intelligent infrastructure that provides a connection for everyone to everything from anywhere. Internet connectivity moved this control to companies such as eBay, Google and Yahoo! The framework also encompasses community-led and user-centric solutions, which affords the users increased autonomy, service variety, flexibility and personalization.
The focus will be to illustrate the variety of existing and emerging business models that could be affected by the evolution of the Anywhere Network toward user-centric solutions. The models which could be affected are:
• Traditional Media-Centric
o Comcast
o News Corporation
o Cable Vision
o Columbia
o Viacom
o Disney
• Carrier Centric
o China Mobile
o Sprint
o Vodafone
• Connectivity Centric
o Wibiki
o FON
o Ozone
• Communication Centric
o AIM
o Skype
o Vonage
• Search Centric
o Yahoo
o Wikipedia
o Google
o Ask.com
• Community Centric
o Plaxo
o LinkedIn
o XING
o Facebook
• CE Centric
o LGE
o Sony
o Sling Media
• Commerce Centric
o Amazon.com
o eBay
• Enterprise Centric
o Microsoft
o Avaya
o Cisco
• New Media Centric
o Bit Torrent
o You Tube
o Apple
o MySpace
o Lime Wire
Media and communications industry regulators face the challenges of the market conditions created by the Anywhere Network. Policy makers are grappling with the migration of legacy network centric regulations, appropriate regimes to anticipate service evolution and appropriately manage the efficient use of scarce resources such as radio spectrum, and ensure that there is sufficient market competition to benefit the Anywhere Consumer.
NEHA KHASGIWALE
Roll No. 09 PT2-71
SUBMISSION 1
Global Arms Trade
As detailed further on the next page on military expenditure, world military spending has now reached one trillion dollars, close to Cold War levels.As summarized from the Military Balance, 2000/2001, by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (October 2001), for the larger arms-purchasing nations each year.
• Arms procurement is normally 20-30% of their military budgets
•The main portion is usually on operations, maintenance and personnel
•Some 40 to 50 billion dollars are in actual deliveries, (that is, the delivery of sales, which can be many years after the initial contract is signed)
•Each year, around 30-35 billion dollars are made in actual sales (agreements, or signing of contracts).
In more recent years, annual sales of arms have risen to around $50-60 billion.
The lack of arms controls allows some to profit from the misery of others.
•While international attention is focused on the need to control weapons of mass destruction, the trade in conventional weapons continues to operate in a legal and moral vacuum.
•More and more countries are starting to produce small arms, many with little ability or will to regulate their use.
•Permanent UN Security Council members—the USA, UK, France, Russia, and China—dominate the world trade in arms.
•Most national arms controls are riddled with loopholes or barely enforced.
•Key weaknesses are lax controls on the brokering, licensed production, and 'end use' of arms.
•Arms get into the wrong hands through weak controls on firearm ownership, weapons management, and misuse by authorised users of weapons.
SAURABH GULATI
Roll No. 09 PT2-90
SUBMISSION 3
Search Centric Solutions
Google and Yahoo! made search and ad-supported search-centric business models hugely successful. Google mastered a business model well suited to non-premium advertising; Yahoo! has focused more on premium advertising, such as complex brand-focused campaigns run by ad agencies. Non-premium advertising opportunistically drives users to particular company sites based on complex prioritization algorithms, and premium advertising is focused on the subtle activities associated with bolstering company brands.
Both Google and Yahoo! aggressively pursue expansion strategies to implement complementary solutions, such as instant messaging, e-mail, video and other types of media services, partnerships with telecom service providers, and a variety of infotainment solutions. Although diversification is critical for these players, they run the risk of diluting the value of their core solutions by spreading themselves too thin. Vertically integrated technologies and approaches will challenge them to move beyond highly complementary offerings, such as the storage and indexing of media and search capabilities.
Both players are known for their dictatorial approach to the market, which does not position them as particularly good ecosystem partners. Their current search capabilities need to evolve to offer greater granularity and search accuracy with the increased market demands for personalization, service discovery and ubiquitous capabilities. A slew of startups aspire to be the next Google with improved search capabilities. Chances are that Google will acquire one or more of them, particularly while it still enjoys a lofty enterprise valuation.
Craigslist and Wikipedia are among the other search-centric business models. Wikipedia is a nonprofit and relies on user-generated content for its electronic encyclopedia. Craigslist classified advertisement service operates with modest revenue essentially to cover its costs. The approach that craigslist and Wikipedia are adopting disrupts ad-supported search-centric models. It dilutes usage of sites such as Google and Yahoo! and offers search and discovery capabilities without being encumbered by advertising.
The Anywhere Network is enabling the commoditization of traditional search capabilities, requiring major players such as Ask, Google and Yahoo! continuously broaden their capabilities. Although these players have well-known brands, they run the risk of losing their market positions if they lag in innovation. The key drivers for the commoditization in traditional internet search include:
1. Increased demands of Anywhere Consumers as their usage of the Anywhere Network becomes more specialized, personalized and sophisticated.
2. The emergence of companies with limited revenue aspirations, such as craigslist interest groups, rely on user-generated content such as Wikipedia, and other companies that offer compelling substitute internet search capabilities.
3. Increased variety of online advertising, and increased sophistication and expectations of advertising agencies.
Traditional internet search providers must innovate to broaden the scope of their offerings. In the process of doing so, they will face challenges in migrating beyond complementary service offerings, without dramatically changing their vertically integrated approaches to technology innovation.
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
Roll No. 09 PT2-96
SUBMISSION.1
THE BIG BUSINESS OF WAR
In history of Human Civilisation ,One thing that still remains part of our existence is "WAR".Defined as a Violent conflict typified by aggression,societal disruptions .Now World has emerged with altogether a new dimension called business.Example that first clicks in mind is Iraq war 2004.
In 2004 the Bush administration was trying to redefine U.S. policy in Iraq. 2004 was a presidential election year, insurgent attacks were increasing in Iraq, the American public had been shocked by vivid pictures of torture at the Abu Ghraib prison complex in Iraq, and national poll showed that less than 50% of Americans surveyed approved of President Bush’s performance. The goal of bringing Democracy to the Middle East was in peril and the administration had to move swiftly to restore eroding support from the electorate.Was it really for bringing justice to the perpetrators or US had some hidden motives.Iraq holds more than 112 billion barrels of oil - the world's second largest proven reserves.
Prior to the invasion, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom asserted that the possibility of Iraq employing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threatened their security and that of their coalition/regional allies.
While nearly 100,000 Iraqis and 1600 US troops have died as a result of the Iraq war and tens of thousands have been severely wounded, the war has proven to be extremely lucrative for the U.S companies like Halliburton and the San Francisco-based construction company Bechte,Aegis,Washington Group Fluor,URS Corporation These are some of the largest private contractors to the US occupation forces in Iraq.
US and its allies intentions were known from the very beginning.The only people who will benefit from the war on Iraq are the elite wealthy oil men who financed Bush's election campaigns, and people like Bush who have huge personal investments in the oil industry. Oil companies profits increased by fifty percent during the period, and the invasion wasn't even started.
Halliburton, an oil services company based in Bush's home-state of Texas, which was formerly run by US Vice-President Dick Cheney, was awarded a contract by the US government to operate in post-war Iraq.San Francisco-based URS collected $792 million in environmental cleanup fees in Iraq war zones.US and allies incursion into Iraq,Afghanistan,Vietnam is way the World's most affluent Country giving a show of its strength ,its Business Plans hidden in a veil ,will come forth whaen it will Attacks either Iran ( 3rd Largest Oil Reserves)....then who may know may be it will be India's turn next time and the biggest resource we have is Human Resource.
Mithlesh Yadav
Roll No. 09PT2-66
SUBMISSION 1
Once world oil finishes, what will the world economy will be like?
So, how exactly would you run an entire country without oil?
What would our world look like if we ran out of oil? The lifeblood of our high-tech, highly mobile world won't last forever. What happens when one day oil does run out? How might our world change and how would we adapt?
The world is now consuming roughly 77 million barrels of oil a day. And the demand grows every year as other countries aspire to our style of living and level of consumption. What's really interesting is that out of those 77 million barrels, the U.S. consumes most of it and continues to grow every year.
Oil has become the foundation upon which our entire modern civilization has been built. Recently, that foundation has begun to develop some cracks and has become a little shakier than it used to be, as cheap oil and natural gas become harder to find and acquire.
Gasoline and diesel fuel keeps our cars and trucks on the road. Agribusiness is totally dependent upon large machines and artificial fertilizers and pesticides. The roads the trucks roll on are made of asphalt – a derivative of petroleum. Tires also required petroleum in their manufacture and distribution. The keyboard you type on is most likely plastic, as are the casings for your monitor and your printer. Much of our food comes in plastic containers; the hospitals depend on disposable plastic supplies, such as syringes and oxygen tubing. All plastics base is oil only.
Petroleum, in other words, touches every industry…every technology…every business…every home…and each and every one of us in one vital way or another, every single day of every single week.
When oil finishes, what are the replacements for it? It might not be a single product, it might well be a combination of many things.
1. Ethanol might be one of the “solutions” to the oil problem. Indeed, ethanol is renewable, and has the potential to replace oil. But it cannot solve the trickier issues related to oil—and it is not entirely feasible. But the world does not have that amount of arable land, so ethanol is not feasible as a worldwide solution. Moreover, ethanol is not as efficient, is corrosive and emits more gases.
2. Earth has vast reserves of Hydrogen and might be an answer to the depleting oil problem in future. We know that by carrying out fusion reaction of Hydrogen, we can generate huge amount of energy. If we are able to control and use such a reaction, it'll solve all our energy problems. But, hydrogen is still decades away from being in any way a reality. Second, hydrogen fuel requires more energy to produce than it produces when burned; that’s a negative energy equation.
3. Other renewable sources of energy that can be used are solar energy, wind energy, hydro-energy etc. But, technology to reap its benefits is costly right now. But, it is definitely going to be most bankable option in the future.
4. Man can also lookout for energy sources outside the Earth, maybe in the solar system itself. Titan, one of the moons of Jupiter has on its surface many dozens of lakes filled not with water or even water in the form of ice, but of liquid methane and ethane, each of which individually having at least as much energy as our own proven reserves. But, that too also looks distant and if possible as well, it’s going to cost huge.
So, we can analyze that there is no single substitute of oil present today. The world will not be same once oil reserves finishes and economies will shake up. Mankind needs to be innovative and try to find out some alternative to oil soon so that the world economy, as we know does not come to a standstill.
Mithlesh Yadav
Roll No. 09PT2-66
SUBMISSION 2
Who is the enemy of life on earth, aliens or humans themselves?
We have seen in a number a Hollywood movies that how ambitious aliens come and bring about destruction of the earth. They are shown to possess ultra modern technology that humans cannot match, but still humans somehow manage to save earth from their wrong intentions of conquering earth or destroying earth. But, that is only the happy ending in a movie. The main idea behind is that we have created the notion of some extra-terrestrial life who is mean and wants to destroy earth for his/her desires. We are always afraid of such beings as they are portrayed to have intent to conquer earth.
Are they really a threat to earth? Or, is it the humans themselves who are the enemy of the earth.
I will present the arguments from both the sides and let the audience decide.
What can possibly be the motive of aliens to venture towards earth and their assumed intentions to conquer earth?
Like humans it might be their appetite for natural resources, they would know only too well that a civilization of our size would have used a substantial portion of our own resources, leaving them with very little to fight us for.
On Earth, proven reserves of natural gas total 130 billion tons. Titan, one of the moons of Jupiter has on its surface many dozens of lakes filled not with water or even water in the form of ice, but of liquid methane and ethane, each of which individually having at least as much energy as our own proven reserves. The Oort Cloud surrounding the solar system, is rich in iron, nickel and water ice, and is a truly immense loosely spherical mass of pre-planetary material. It is estimated to contain as much material as all the planets and the Sun itself combined.
Hence, aliens coming for earth's natural reserves seem very unlikely.
Other reason could be that they needed environmental conditions similar to Earth, which might have ceased to exist on their own planet. They may be on the lookout of alternative settlement like Earth. But to assume that a species would venture forth with the same hostility and indifference to life they had centuries previously simply doesn’t make any sense. They, like us would have gotten to a point where they realized that their own existence was imperiled as their natural resources dwindled. A change of heart and mind would be thrust upon them.
Other reason could be for their hunger for power and supremacy over humans. Or it could be that they are also on the lookout of alien species as part of their science and exploration studies. This seems to be a valid point as it matches with our viewpoints as well. But, this point doesn't prove that aliens actually want to conquer human beings.
Are humans really the enemy of the Earth?
Humans are causing a lot of environmental pollution which have a long-term impact on the survival of life-form on the earth. After industrialization, humans have polluted Earth everywhere by every possible means. Humans have emitted lot of greenhouse gases which are already causing global warming. It is estimated that in near future, polar ice-caps will melt and most of the land near sea-shores will be submerged under oceans.
Also, humans have created nuclear weapons which can destroy the Earth many times over. If such weapons are used, it will surely wipeout life from earth. There is world politics and greed of some of the capitalists. Because of this greed for money and power, it might some day actually lead to war and use of such weapons. Then there is issue of terrorism who might get hold of nuclear technology and use it for their wrong intentions.
But, this is an unimaginably vast universe, it is impossible to think of all possible possibilities. There might be some reason which might still be unthinkable to humans and might make great sense for aliens. That possibility might motivate aliens to come to Earth.
Rajesh Nagpal Roll No. 09 PT2 -78 Submission I
Kashmir: The thorn India should do way with
Quite often in the morning, the headlines of the newspaper scream – Curfew in Kashmir or 4 died in Kashmir or bla bla …. What’s this all about? Is it about the forceful occupation of Kashmir by India or alienation of Kashmiri Junta from Indian constitution or someone putting pressure on the local people to behave that way? Whatever be the reason , would we like our newspapers to carry same headlines till our next generation or may be generations together .. Why we can’t work out a solution and if solution is not feasible why Indian government can’t just leave Kashmir and declare as Azad Kashmir. Its not the terrorism alone, it’s the time eaten up by the Kashmir issue of our policy makers, it’s the money spent from tax payers pocket s and more. Let’s look at few of the facts about our Kashmir
J&K is the least poor state in the country, with a rate of poverty of about 3.4 per cent, compared to 26 per cent for the country as a whole! And no prizes for guessing how it got that way: J& K does not generate enough funds from tourism, dried fruits and nuts, and pashmina shawls.
In effect, Kashmir is extracting huge royal amounts from the rest of India. There is massive funds flow from the Centre to J&K. Still people of Kashmir are not happy!!! They are enjoying their lives at the expense of Indian taxpayers and are camping for Azadi or joining Pakistan !!!
By the way, this largesse does not include major projects that have been funded by the Centre towards building up highways , Railways , tourism , security etc. No wonder that the population there, despite years of militancy, and the hollowing out of the tourism industry, is still remarkably better off than most of India's population.
Consider the fact that Kashmiris are free to reside anywhere in India, to own property, to carry own business while article 370 restricts any Indian national to own any property in J&K What a partisan in our own Country with ourselves ! Indian government has been sending soldiers to Kashmir spending huge amounts which could have been used for Education or other development activities in rest of India .
From Kashmir the Hindu pandits were forced to shed their homes and move to other rehabilitation centres , Noone now thinks about them , No one sheds any tears about them While the valley bursts into massive violent protests with the least provactive speeches … Whats this ?
Kashmir valley had actually sabotaged the development of the whole state – Kashmir , Laddakh and Jammu regions . . It is well known that Ladakh and Jammu have no use for the secessionist tendencies of the Kashmiris; however, the Kashmiris of Srinagar have been running the whole state as their personal fief. The state needs to be reorganized in some way (not necessarily trifurcation) so that the legitimate needs of those in Ladakh and Jammu get a hearing.
There has been enough voices for independent Kashmir. Now the time has come when India should act with some strict mature approach. Either secede Kashmir fully to India and abolish the article 370 and ensure toughened decisions against terrorism .
Or relive the great Indian public of the nemesis called Kashmir. Let there be an independent Kashmir (Kashmir valley only) between Pakistan and India. Let J&K without Kashmir valley be renamed as Jammu only. Kashmir by sharing borders with Pakistan will mitigate the risk of Taliban’s towards India. This will also ensure that Kashmiri’s will get a taste of their own medicine with interventions from Pakistan & Taliban. India will save huge funds and the same can be utilized for development and the country will be able to focus on real issues than Kashmir. India will also escape the embarrassment caused due to Kashmir on various international platforms.
Overall declaring the Kashmir Valley as an Independent country will enhance India’s image as a mature country and country will be able to leap forward as a superpower.
Sajid Faruqui
Roll No -09PT2-81
Would Bihar be successful in showing the right way to UP ?
23rd November 2010,one of the best days in Indian politics. Bihar makes it choice and saves itself from the Joker/Dacoit/Illiterate Lalu Prasad Yadav who made sure he did nothing for the state in all his last terms. Congratulations to Nitish Kumar for getting the reward for working towards the development of Bihar. The electrical engineer will serve another 5 yr term as the CM. Does this mean that other states such as Uttar Pradesh would see a similar fate well that’s difficult to predict right now looking at the state of Uttar Pradesh politics the present chief minister Mayawati has the support of the Bahujan Samaj/Dalit & has portrayed herself very cleverly as their so called 'Beti'. She has gone to the extent of saying that there is no Ram or Krishna & has appealed to her supporters to accept her as God. Not to forget the expensive Elephant statues built all around UP. A great marketing strategy, let the people live an under developed life & blame everything on the Centre. A weak opposition has helped her iron fist to get stronger. Its time friends we all wake up and spread the word across so that leaders like her are shown the door. We need to stop thinking that we cannot achieve what China or other Developed countries have achieved and need to ensure that we all stand up for the right cause or else it would be too late.
Sajid Faruqui
Roll No 09PT2-81
Feel sorry for Kashmir, India’s SWITZERLAND
What kind of a freedom struggle is this in Kashmir? School busses damaged, stones pelted on kids. The so called Leader’s asking parents not to send kids to school. Respect with dignity is earned and not granted. It’s a leadership crisis that we all are facing in Kashmir. Yes, we messed it up but you clap with both hands. Do Kashmiri’s want peace or is it a no holds barred fight against India and whom are their looking up to – Pakistan ? My blood pressure shoots up when these cowards and selfish people call themselves freedom fighters. Kashmiri’s who want to hold peaceful protests, would think twice, that whom should they fear, Indian Army or their own people. Its a religious & communal war, where martyrdom has a different meaning altogether. I pity those who start the provocations & turn a blind eye to a word called Peace. After being attacked in Chandigarh last week because of giving a hate speech, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq got a taste of his own medicine once again as his car was attacked in Delhi. Its a pity that about one company (120 personnel) of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Delhi Police personnel escorted him out of the venue. Now I am waiting for a similar fate that waits Arundhati Roy.
TONMOY PURKAYSTHA
Roll No. 09 PT2-103
SUBMISSION 2
Does promoting Science & Maths education is the best way to stimulate future innovation?
Innovation that leads to increased productivity is seen as the most important way to generate economic wealth. One popular strategy to promote innovation may be is to invest in maths and science. Maths and science certainly underpin many innovations—indeed; they are the basis for much of modern society, from the gadgets people use to the ways in which people interact with one another and the way in which they think. So But, laudable as it is in its own right, does promoting maths and science represent the best way to stimulate future innovation?
The internet, computers, mobile phones, modern medicine and even transport systems are the mathematical foundations of the commercial world. These employ branches of mathematics that were considered obscure until recently but have found applications in areas such as building search engines. Every day, billions of pounds-worth of business is done over the internet, and it has transformed our lives. Google, one of the world's biggest companies, used daily by billions of people, was founded by two maths/computer science PhD students and is based on mathematical ideas. Without fundamental scientific and mathematical discoveries we would not have mobile phones, computers, modern medicine, electrical power, TV or a transport system. Indeed, the modern world would not exist without science and mathematics.
Clusters of innovative companies and science parks have emerged around universities, and foreign companies especially choose to site their R&D labs near to the best universities. University departments have spawned many spin-off companies, with more than 200 over the past decade in biosciences alone. Simply on the basis of this current scientific activity there is a compelling argument that investment in scientific and mathematical research generates wealth and boosts the economy.
But the question is that only Maths & Science education stimulates innovation or something else along with it like Management Education is required. There is a surfeit of bright ideas but not enough wherewithals to implement them.
Innovation is both the guarantor of a corporation's long-term survival and the primary means through which private enterprise advances the interests of society. By redirecting funds to innovation, it increases the likelihood of the desired collisions between big opportunities, talented people and ample funding. From there, the generation of breakthrough solutions to worthwhile problems is only a matter of time. But the generation of breakthrough solutions is never enough. The birth of a breakthrough solution is not the end of an innovation journey; it is the beginning. Executing an innovation initiative is a high degree of difficulty manoeuvre for a very simple reason. Innovation and ongoing operations are always and inevitably in conflict. It is a delicate balance, and even the world's best managed corporations get it wrong all of the time. So, will it be right to say that in the innovation game, we have plenty of outstanding starters, but not nearly enough outstanding finishers.
The best way to stimulate innovation is to have a legal structure, government policies, and a culture that admires and rewards entrepreneurship. That kind of environment will also encourage maths and science education. Data from the OECD seems to show that the countries that boost the standing of their school-leavers educational performance tend to see small but measurable improvements in economic growth some years later.
Sajid Faruqui
Roll No - Oct09PT2-81
What will it take to hang Kasab?
A major terrorist attack takes place in Mumbai on 26/11.Hundreds lost their lives and thousands lost their loved ones. India was under siege for over 2 days while NSG was successful in killing all terrorists who were there just 1 was caught alive and I am happy that there was not more than 1 terrorist who was caught alive . There is something inherently wrong in this endure-and-forget approach. Only those, who lost their dear ones, can feel the timeless pain. There cannot be a bigger insult of Indian judicial system than what is going on today , the man who was directly involved in the worst terrorist attacks India has ever seen is still alive and we complain that other countries have not brought the guilty to justice. The guy who is distinctly caught on CCTV footage with a rifle in hand, so many on-lookers available as witnesses is still alive. What else do you want to sentence a terrorist? It’s time that those jawans and police officers who lost their lives had attained salvation. The government should wake up and make a constitutional amend such that cases like this do not linger on for years.
Siddharth Sharma
Roll No. 09 PT2-96
SUBMISSION 2
EU Crisis !!!!
When the crisis broke in the late summer of 2007, uncertainty among banks about the creditworthiness of their counterparts evaporated
as they had heavily invested in often very complex
and opaque and overpriced financial products. As a
result, the interbank market virtually closed and
risk premiums on interbank loans soared. Banks faced a serious liquidity problem, as they
experienced major difficulties to rollover their short-term debt. At that stage, policymakers still
perceived the crisis primarily as a liquidity problem. Concerns over the solvency of individual
financial institutions also emerged, but systemic
collapse was deemed unlikely. It was also widely believed that the European economy, unlike the
US economy, would be largely immune to the financial turbulence. This belief was fed by
perceptions that the real economy, though slowing, was thriving on strong fundamentals such as rapid
export growth and sound financial positions of households and businesses.
Analysts believe the crisis in Europe is far from over. Last week, the market sentiments were impacted by the banking industry in Europe. Major Spanish banks signalled some financial crisis and that led to major falls in global stock markets.
Also, the Libor (London inter-bank offered rate) also went through a significant rise over the last couple of weeks. This signals that inter-bank credits are slowing down.
In a nutshell, financial issues are unfolding in Europe week after week and the markets try to price the worst during the reaction sessions. However, long-term investors should exercise caution and patience in the markets. Investors can use these panic selling sessions to accumulate strong scrips in small quantities and build a good diversified portfolio.
There was considerable volatility in the currency markets last week in line with the stock markets. The Euro remained quite choppy following the global sentiments . On the other hand, the US dollar strengthened quite significantly against major world currencies. The rupee also lost significant ground against the dollar - a drop of almost three percent during last week.
Analysts believe the currency and market volatility will continue in the short term, till sentiments stabilise on the European crisis front.
The markets in the US are showing relative strength amid the European crisis. Investors are believed to be pulling out from the ailing European assets and markets , and diverting their investments to safer options in the US. The recent strengthening of the dollar is also a sign of this trend.
The data from various points is also supporting this, barring the initial job less claims. Last week, the gains in durable goods orders and home sales helped reassure traders that the economy is recovering. It further strengthened sentiments in the equity markets.
Rajesh Nagpal Roll No. 09PT2-78
Submission III
Incredible India
China and India have been two most important economies in Asia and probably the world. The author had been of the belief that India is as much as developed China or will fast outpace china in development till he visits china and braces the reality.
China has achieved the objectives by being a major manufacturing hub and is now having world class bullet trains connecting its major cities and in years to come, China will be adding more lines for a faster connectivity whereas India has focused majorly on IT and ITES service sector and has showcased Metro Rail as major upcoming public transport system. Despite all this, China because of its economical size has always been rated ahead to India. As a true patriotic nationalist, I had always endeared and wanted to see my India ahead of China. I always had a counter for whatever were the strong indicators of China.
If China had the fast moving bullet trains we had our state of the art Delhi Metro. We also boasted of world’s largest Railways and largest pollution free fleet of buses (DTC) in a city. If China has Shangai, we have Gurgaon & Noida. We have the sixth largest army. We have been competing with China for largest populated country. If China had hosted Olympics we had our share with Common wealth games. We have DIAL operated IGIA to counter shangai and Beijing. We have the best brains working in IT and ITES. We have the wonderful legacy of Gandhi, Nehru and Patel. We have been blessed with Hindu lords, Buddha and others. We have the oldest civilization along with China. We have been GREAT!!! Incredible India!!! Rich history!!! Government has also publicized Incredible India. Then why why everyone has been pegging China ahead of India. I had been relentlessly cursing the countries for their obsession for china. I as most of Indians believed we will overcome China in next 10-15 years.
But then suddenly everything changed when I got an opportunity to visit China on 16th November 2010. I reached the IGIA and was amazed by the swanky airport and dreamt of how it will be when Metro will start operations. I again said to myself India will catch up soon with China and boarded the flight and went to dreams.
Next morning it was like some wilderness had caught me. Guyongzhu airport was fantastic. The immigration officers wore a far more welcoming smile than India. The roads, flyovers, the buildings, the people, the surrounding all left me stunned. The roads seemed to be decorated with flowers on both sides.
The infrastructure developed has been amazing. The roads had no potholes. The traffic was not haphazard. Huge swanky buildings overlooked the main roads. The roads were wide. Girls could roam on the roads fearlessly throughout 24 hours. Manufacturing units try to use minimum power. I was told that this infrastructure had come up only in recent past and was now amazed with the speed at which the projects are completed in China
I wondered Why we in India are so lethargic in completing projects? We have no explanations for that. The costs keep rising with the passage of every year and ultimately we pay three to four times of the cost due to delay in projects. There is no coordination among the departments involved and too much of red tapism make things worse here in India. The projects once formulated in China take one-fourth time in getting completed, than what our companies normally take, here.
If our neighbor can achieve something in lesser time, then we must acknowledge its sincere efforts and salute the national character of its people who are committed to nation building. We have to shed this ‘chalta hai’ attitude and have to bring in some sincerity and accountability among our people engaged in these national projects. Till we don’t become honest to our own self while discharging national duties we will not be able to get ahead of China in the years to come.
Siddharth Sharma
Roll No. 09 PT2-96
SUBMISSION 3
Pegging What it really is ?
Volatile markets demand that companies set up rigorous stop-loss
limits on their forex positions.
The President of the FIEO and the TEA (Tirupur Exporters' Association)
recently exhorted the Government and the RBI to peg the dollar/rupee
rate at 47 in order to aid the exports recovery. The industry body
cited how China has been steadfast in maintaining the yuan at 6.82 to
the dollar to support its export industries (despite increasingly
vociferous calls from across the world for a (gradual) dismantling of
this peg).
Most countries peg their exchange rate to that of the United States.
An investor writing a put option would practice pegging so that he or
she will not be required, due to lowering prices, to purchase the
underlying security or commodity from the option holder. The goal is
to have the option expire worthless so that the premium initially
received by the writer is protected.
A pegged rupee though seems an unrealistic expectation. Though there
is a long history of the RBI actively managing the rupee (and also
generally preferring a weak rupee), a de jure peg could be a different
ball game for which the Government and the RBI may not be prepared.
(We have said de jure here since the official policy of “managing the
impossible trinity” goes some way in creating a de facto pegging
regime in India).
A managed rupee exchange rate regime with a fair degree of volatile
movements seems set to continue for the foreseeable future. In this
world, we will see the RBI continuing to actively manage the rupee and
slow down its structural appreciation — that is, allow only controlled
appreciation.
Companies must also budget for sudden upsurges (appreciation) in the
rupee like in the second quarter of 2007. Opportunity losses may also
be severe when risk aversion induced capital (out)flows depress the
Indian markets — like in the post-Lehman period in late 2008 and now
in the past few weeks.
In other words, in this new world of increased volatility, corporate
forex risk managers should not hope for significant macroeconomic
policy changes such as a change in the exchange rate regime itself.
They, instead, should pitch for increased operational flexibility when
it comes to forex risk management.
Why Vs What – Apple’s marketing Differentiator !
Do you ever feel that whenever Apple want to sell you something, you always want to buy it? No matter what the price is, you always feel that “oh my god this is so cool I gotta get one!” At least that’s what I feel watching the press release of the new MacAir.
It seems that Apple’s marketing message is always stronger than the others. HP, Dell, or Lenovo’s advertisement do not lure you into buy one immediately. There are people lining up for the new iPhone 4, but we seldom see people doing that for other brands. Put it in another way, you feel it normal that Apple sells laptop, desktop, mp3, mp4, cell phone, etc. But do you feel weird if someday Dell tries to sell you a mp3 or HP tries to sell you a cellphone? Do you have confidence in the product?
It all has something to do with the way apple sells products.
Though it looks funny, it’s true. Apple feels that customers’ motivation should follow a hierarchy, starting from the rational to the emotional. Apple wants customers to believe the Apple product, no matter what it is, will make them feel better. Customers are motivated to buy not because Apple’s product is better (I’ll go with “different”), or cheaper (Apple’s products are definitely more expensive than other similar products) than competitor’s offering. It is simply a belief in the brand and the feeling they get using the product.
Another point worth noting is that, apple sell products from a whole different angle. Apple starts with the “why”. Apple convinces people why Apple products are good for them. The message is simple and clear. While the other brands, Dell and HP for example, sell from the “what”. In their advertisement you see how good the performance is, how much cheaper it is than other products. These companies focus too much on explaining customers what great features the products have and hoping that the consumers might want to buy. They have created such a strong image that the company is an expert in laptop/desktop, and they have trouble when they want to imitate Apple and sell mp3. Consumers went like “what? It’s not even their expertise! It’s so weird they are trying to sell me an mp3. It probably won’t work great, and I don’t feel ‘cool’ using an mp3 from Dell. “
For Apple, however, people generally feel the product will work great without even looking into all the tech specs and price. Apple’s way of advertisement make it so much easier to sell different products. People generally have formed this perception that anything from Apple must be trendy and good. Apple starts as a computer company, but now it sell iPods, iPads, Apple TV and people love them instantly. More and more people are buying, and those who haven’t bought, wanted to.
Mayuresh Sharma
Roll No 09PT2-65
Submission 1
Effect of Mobile Number Portability in Indian Market
The game in Indian telecom market is about to change a big way with the introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) in India there will be fierce competition within the telecom operators to attract each other consumers with superior service and greater customer responsiveness. The psychological and financial switching cost has been reduced significantly. By psychological I mean the hassle of redistributing the number to the contacts and by financial I mean the cost of switching the operator. TRAI has fixed the cost of this service to meager Rs 19 . It is expected that the price war is going to be more intense among operators. In a competitive market like India, the real beneficiaries of MNP would be the subscribers, who will get better service offerings at competitive prices.
VENKATARAMANA G
Roll No: 09PT2-108
Submission - 3
Kudos to Premji: Will the Ambani’s and Mallya’s ever learn lessons from him and join the philanthropy bandwagon?
Azim Premji’s donation of around $2 billion to the Azim Premji Foundation for funding education is yet another milestone and a commendable effort in the present Indian context. This amounts to 28.34 per cent of what the Indian government has allocated in the 2010-11. The foundation has been in operation for the last nine years, and the value of the new endowment is significantly more than what it has spent over this period.
There is little doubt that India’s education sector, at both the primary and higher levels, needs some serious help. Dropout rates in the country remain very high with just around half the children making it through high school.
Looking at the West, billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett announced The Giving Pledge, a commitment to donate the majority of their fortunes to charity -- and to encourage other Americans to do the same.
Back in India, the Tatas, Murthy’s and Bharti’s are the best known for philanthropy through their various trusts. However the Azim Premji Foundation, for instance, is funded totally out of the personal wealth of Wipro Chairman Azim Premji. The efforts of Premji's foundation are separate from the philanthropic activities Wipro pursues as part of CSR initiatives.
Today, the combined net worth of India’s 100 richest people is $ 300 billion. But the money they set aside for charity is not even a fraction of that. Most of them had nothing to say when asked about their contribution to philanthropic causes. Things may have improved in the recent times, but not dramatically. Indians spend about Rs 30,000 crore in a year on charitable causes. But this number includes the money spent by companies on corporate social responsibility. If that is taken out, contributions by businessmen would not add up to a lot.
In the contemporary times, not so far in Mumbai; the so called financial capital of India and home to the largest slums in Asia, Mukesh Ambani is busy giving finishing touches to his $2 billion home “Antilla”. While the Mallya’s are after yachts and vintage cars and splurge billions of dollars in acquiring new islands and resorts in Europe and South Africa.
It’s high time other Indian billionaires and politicians learn lessons from the West and take seriously to betterment of Indian society at large. Will they ever follow the footsteps of this IT czar?
Managing personal time
Managing work, study and personal time can be a real challenge!
I'm currently working in an automobile conglomerate full-time and studying a part-time course in at one of premier B-School. My study commitments mean that I am trying to limit evening and weekend work. I currently spent 2-3 hours studying three weeknights per week, plus do some reading and assignment work on weekends. I have four days per week where I attend classes on campus, which starts after 06:00 pm , soon after my office just finishes
One day while returning from office when my vehicle got stuck up in parking lot due to that jig-jag parking of late comers, I' just walked by foot to MDI which is 2 blocks away from my office and I found that it’s a great way to avoid all traffic hassles and a good exercise and is actually helped in reaching college quicker. Thanks to Gurgoan traffic for providing me such a realization. Additionally a bicycle could be an added advantage. Plus, I get to spend an extra time each day outside, which is a huge bonus.
About a month ago, I started running in the mornings. This meant getting up a bit earlier and trying to be more organised to avoid time-wasting getting ready for work. At this point, I realised that I had hit 'max capacity' - i.e. would need to push back on any additional responsibilities if I was to maintain an acceptable level of sleep, social activity and time to relax. It was on the same day that I discovered that I would have to move house (a long, complicated story!). So, on top of everything else I had to find time for house-hunting, packing and moving!
The last few weeks have been a challenge, to say the least! I went house-hunting on two consecutive Saturdays (just last Saturday I inspected 11 places!). I was lucky enough to find a fantastic house that I will share with a friend. I signed the lease on Monday, worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, had two full days of classes at uni on Thursday and Friday, packed on Saturday, moved on Sunday, had a major assignment due Monday (submitted at 1am Tuesday morning!) and had my birthday on Tuesday. What a week!
What have I learned through all this?
• Firstly, you need to prioritise and plan. Finding time for assignment work, exercise and sleep can be hard when there are immediate work commitments. Building in some time to have fun and relax can be even harder, but it's necessary during stressful times. Identify activities that can simply be cancelled or deferred - for example, I decided that I did not have capacity to conduct service campaigns now since its not that much desired by customers, even though this is important for getting good brand image for company and for yearly targets. I also gave up running in the mornings but still ride my bike daily; I'll step up the exercise again once I'm settled into my new house.
• Secondly, let people know that you're under pressure - both at work and in your social life. People at work have been very conscious of my study commitments and understand that there are nights that I have to leave at 6pm to attend team meetings and tutorials for Institute. My friends have offered to help out during this busy time and understand when I have needed to cancel or reschedule. It's all about managing expectations and giving people as much notice as possible when plans change.
Finally, just hang in there! There will always be busy and stressful times, but that's part of life as a consultant (and life in general!).
Sundeep Kumar
09 PT2-0100
Submission 3
Managing personal time
Managing work, study and personal time can be a real challenge!
I'm currently working in an automobile conglomerate full-time and studying a part-time course in at one of premier B-School. My study commitments mean that I am trying to limit evening and weekend work. I currently spent 2-3 hours studying three weeknights per week, plus do some reading and assignment work on weekends. I have four days per week where I attend classes on campus, which starts after 06:00 pm , soon after my office just finishes
One day while returning from office when my vehicle got stuck up in parking lot due to that jig-jag parking of late comers, I' just walked by foot to MDI which is 2 blocks away from my office and I found that it’s a great way to avoid all traffic hassles and a good exercise and is actually helped in reaching college quicker. Thanks to Gurgoan traffic for providing me such a realization. Additionally a bicycle could be an added advantage. Plus, I get to spend an extra time each day outside, which is a huge bonus.
About a month ago, I started running in the mornings. This meant getting up a bit earlier and trying to be more organised to avoid time-wasting getting ready for work. At this point, I realised that I had hit 'max capacity' - i.e. would need to push back on any additional responsibilities if I was to maintain an acceptable level of sleep, social activity and time to relax. It was on the same day that I discovered that I would have to move house (a long, complicated story!). So, on top of everything else I had to find time for house-hunting, packing and moving!
The last few weeks have been a challenge, to say the least! I went house-hunting on two consecutive Saturdays (just last Saturday I inspected 11 places!). I was lucky enough to find a fantastic house that I will share with a friend. I signed the lease on Monday, worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, had two full days of classes at uni on Thursday and Friday, packed on Saturday, moved on Sunday, had a major assignment due Monday (submitted at 1am Tuesday morning!) and had my birthday on Tuesday. What a week!
What have I learned through all this?
•Firstly, you need to prioritise and plan. Finding time for assignment work, exercise and sleep can be hard when there are immediate work commitments. Building in some time to have fun and relax can be even harder, but it's necessary during stressful times. Identify activities that can simply be cancelled or deferred - for example, I decided that I did not have capacity to conduct service campaigns now since its not that much desired by customers, even though this is important for getting good brand image for company and for yearly targets. I also gave up running in the mornings but still ride my bike daily; I'll step up the exercise again once I'm settled into my new house.
•Secondly, let people know that you're under pressure - both at work and in your social life. People at work have been very conscious of my study commitments and understand that there are nights that I have to leave at 6pm to attend team meetings and tutorials for Institute. My friends have offered to help out during this busy time and understand when I have needed to cancel or reschedule. It's all about managing expectations and giving people as much notice as possible when plans change.
Finally, just hang in there! There will always be busy and stressful times, but that's part of life as a consultant (and life in general!).
Sundeep Kumar
09 PT2-0100
Submission 3
Managing personal time
Managing work, study and personal time can be a real challenge!
I'm currently working in an automobile conglomerate full-time and studying a part-time course in at one of premier B-School. My study commitments mean that I am trying to limit evening and weekend work. I currently spent 2-3 hours studying three weeknights per week, plus do some reading and assignment work on weekends. I have four days per week where I attend classes on campus, which starts after 06:00 pm , soon after my office just finishes
One day while returning from office when my vehicle got stuck up in parking lot due to that jig-jag parking of late comers, I' just walked by foot to MDI which is 2 blocks away from my office and I found that it’s a great way to avoid all traffic hassles and a good exercise and is actually helped in reaching college quicker. Thanks to Gurgoan traffic for providing me such a realization. Additionally a bicycle could be an added advantage. Plus, I get to spend an extra time each day outside, which is a huge bonus.
About a month ago, I started running in the mornings. This meant getting up a bit earlier and trying to be more organised to avoid time-wasting getting ready for work. At this point, I realised that I had hit 'max capacity' - i.e. would need to push back on any additional responsibilities if I was to maintain an acceptable level of sleep, social activity and time to relax. It was on the same day that I discovered that I would have to move house (a long, complicated story!). So, on top of everything else I had to find time for house-hunting, packing and moving!
The last few weeks have been a challenge, to say the least! I went house-hunting on two consecutive Saturdays (just last Saturday I inspected 11 places!). I was lucky enough to find a fantastic house that I will share with a friend. I signed the lease on Monday, worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, had two full days of classes at uni on Thursday and Friday, packed on Saturday, moved on Sunday, had a major assignment due Monday (submitted at 1am Tuesday morning!) and had my birthday on Tuesday. What a week!
What have I learned through all this?
•Firstly, you need to prioritise and plan. Finding time for assignment work, exercise and sleep can be hard when there are immediate work commitments. Building in some time to have fun and relax can be even harder, but it's necessary during stressful times. Identify activities that can simply be cancelled or deferred - for example, I decided that I did not have capacity to conduct service campaigns now since its not that much desired by customers, even though this is important for getting good brand image for company and for yearly targets. I also gave up running in the mornings but still ride my bike daily; I'll step up the exercise again once I'm settled into my new house.
•Secondly, let people know that you're under pressure - both at work and in your social life. People at work have been very conscious of my study commitments and understand that there are nights that I have to leave at 6pm to attend team meetings and tutorials for Institute. My friends have offered to help out during this busy time and understand when I have needed to cancel or reschedule. It's all about managing expectations and giving people as much notice as possible when plans change.
Finally, just hang in there! There will always be busy and stressful times, but that's part of life as a consultant (and life in general!).
Manish Mahatha
Roll No. 09PT2-061
Submission 2
Rare Earth Hypothesis
The Rare Earth hypothesis claims that the Earth is rare, and that few planets can support complex life. The Rare Earth hypothesis stands in contrast to the principle of mediocrity, which assumes that the Earth must be a typical planet, as there should be nothing special about humanity or the Earth. Numerous arguments for the Rare Earth hypothesis have been put forward, to explain why the Earth is unique; some analyses suggest that the Earth is the only planet capable of supporting complex life in the Milky Way, or even the entire visible universe.
Supporters of the Rare Earth hypothesis point out the long list of conditions needed to evolve complex life on Earth. A biogenesis, the creation of life, requires a broth for organic chemicals to react in, which in turn requires large bodies of water. No planet other than Earth is known to have liquid water in significant quantities, and few planets have the right temperature for water to stay a liquid; if the planet is too hot, the water will boil off into space, and cold planets will keep all their water frozen.
The development of complex life also requires the planet to be protected from hazards such as cosmic radiation, extreme weather conditions, and asteroid impacts. According to the Rare Earth hypothesis, the Earth may be unusually lucky in this regard. The outer planet Jupiter has a strong enough gravitational field to bend the paths of comets headed towards the inner solar system and Earth. The Moon's unusually large size allows it to stabilize the Earth's axis, keeping climate patterns stable, and the Earth's geology gives it a strong magnetic field, helping to deflect high-energy protons and other charged cosmic radiation. It is unlikely that any random planet, even if it has liquid water, would have all of these shields in place to prevent extinction events.
The Rare Earth hypothesis remains controversial, and many scientists have pointed out that an Earth-type environment may not be the only one which can support life. Even if the evolution of complex life is rare, the Milky Way galaxy alone contains more than a hundred billion stars, providing many chances for life to evolve. Future space missions, designed to directly observe extra solar planets, could help to resolve some of these questions by measuring the habitability of large numbers of planets orbiting stars close to the Sun.
S.RAVEESH
ROLL NO 09PT2-079
SUBMISSION - I
Is Indian consumer a breed apart?
Even as India once again topped the 45-country survey with a consumer confidence index of 137, suggesting the highest optimism about the future, Indian consumers do not seem to be willing to spend much.
The country does not figure in the top 10 spenders' list for any of the categories, except for investing in shares and mutual funds, where it leads the world.
On the other hand, more than half the respondents from the country keep their spare cash in bank accounts, while they are in the lower 30th percentile when it comes to choosing holidays and new clothes. That's a very different pattern, for example, from the Russians and the Thais, who while scoring a lower 107 in consumer confidence, are on top of the respective lists when it comes to updating wardrobes and taking holidays.
India stands out again while factoring in "concern areas" as reflected in consumer confidence: apart from terrorism, the country does not appear in the top 10 list for any of the areas of concern.
Further, it is seventh in the list of countries that have no worries at all! The conclusions are mutually reinforcing: even though Indians are on a high, with minimum worries and high confidence about job prospects and the economy, they remain conservative when it comes to spending.
S.RAVEESH
ROLL NO 09PT2-079
SUBMISSION - II
Should Indian Education system to be revamped????
EDUCATION, DERIVED from the Latin word educare, which means ‘to bring up’ or ‘to raise’, can empower a nation. It can impart roots as well as give wings. India has a long history of organised education. The Gurukul system of education, one of the oldest on Earth, was dedicated to the highest ideals of all round development, physical, mental and spiritual. Universities like Nalanda, Takshila and Ujjain attracted students from all over Asia and covered a wide array of streams like law, medicine, arts, language and philosophy, to science and mathematics. Einstein had once said, “We have a lot to owe to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have ever been made.”
Mahatma Gandhi described the traditional educational system as a beautiful tree that was destroyed during the British rule. By the time the British left India, the youth had lowered their aims and were satisfied earning an ordinary mediocre livelihood. But education that builds the man also builds the nation. We are the biggest human resource supplier to the world, but sadly we don’t do enough for the betterment of these resources. Our education system needs to be revamped to keep up with the burgeoning population in order to strengthen the young workforce.
First, we need to improve the literacy rate. As per the 2001 census, we have a literacy rate of 65 per cent. In comparison, the youth of China have a literacy rate of 98 per cent and Sri Lanka 97 per cent. The literacy rate dips to abysmal levels when we consider the rural areas. Inspite of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan , The National Literacy Mission , The Mid Day meal scheme but these programs too has not had a great impact, as there is a drop out rate of above 70 per cent amongst students in rural India. But for all its flaws, it is the government schooling system that has brought elementary education within the reach of the masses.
There is a focus on theoretical learning rather than practical learning in our country. The need to come out a winner in this highly competitive world and to keep up with the rat race has the students to mug up their lessons rather than understanding the concepts. Examinations, which are held, are by no means the test of the intelligence of the children but prove as a test for the memorising powers of students. Creative, innovative thinking, presentation skills and extra curricular activities are not emphasised on. And rote learning is encouraged among the students
Teaching is not a lost art but the regard for teaching has become a lost tradition , sadly in India, the most talented people are not a part of the education sector. More than 30 per cent of the teachers in India are untrained and most of the ones in the rural areas have just studied till the 12th. Just as they shy away from politics, people do not want to become a teacher because of the lack of pay. Even a current IT graduate is paid more than the principal of most of the schools. And thus, education has become a career or compromise for most people as opposed to a career of choice.
Youngsters in India still do not have the freedom to select a career of their choice. They are forced to become engineers and doctors. The problem lies in the fact that youngsters are not encouraged to think beyond these sets of specialisations. Even when a student graduates from school, there are not enough colleges to go to. Specialisation in certain fields does not have enough seats and thus, does not guarantee admission. Sociology, cultural aspects, spiritual thoughts, environmental studies and personality development are totally neglected.
Name: Rajat Tandon
Roll No: 09PT2-076
Submission 1
International Business Gift Giving
Preparing for a business meeting requires a working knowledge of the information to be discussed or presented, careful attention to all details on the printed material to be distributed, and perhaps a ‘gift’. This gift is a social gesture that may be expected in some countries, and could be considered a bribe in others. Knowing the gift guidelines for the country you’ll be visiting will help make your meeting a success. Some multi-national companies and some governments have very strict policies regarding their employees accepting gifts. To avoid creating a problem, it’s imperative you learn the policies for the companies you do business with.
Countries like Malaysia and Paraguay, concerned with corruption, frown upon any gift that could be construed as a bribe. In Malaysia you wouldn’t give a gift until you had established a relationship with the person. In Singapore, government employees are not allowed to accept gifts, and the United States limits the acceptable dollar value to $25.
However, in some countries like Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, exchanging gifts is strongly rooted in tradition. Part of the tradition is the gracious style used to present and receive them. It’s important to plan time and focus on the process.
Always be cognizant of religious laws when selecting gifts. For instance, pork is prohibited in the Jewish and Muslim religions, so you wouldn’t select a gift made from pigskin. As in India, don’t offer a gift made from cowhide.
Don’t give company logo gifts in Greece, Spain and Portugal.
Hosting a meal at a nice restaurant is always a good business practice. A fine dinner is a wonderful way to give a “gift to your hosts”, to show your guests you appreciate the business relationship you have with them, and an opportunity to build rapport.
Countries in which a gift is expected: Europe – Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Ukraine
Latin American – Bolivia, Columbia, Costa Rica
Pacific Rim – China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand
Countries in which a gift is not expected on the first visit, but would be expected on a subsequent visit: Europe – Portugal, Spain
Latin American – Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama,
Peru, Venezuela
Pacific Rim – Malaysia, Singapore
Countries in which a gift is not expected or gifts are less frequent exchanged: Africa
Australia
Europe - England, France, Hungary, Italy
Latin America - Uruguay
Scandinavia – Denmark
Middle East – Pakistan, Saudi Arabia
United States
Cultures with detailed rituals for the ceremony of gift giving are the Japanese and the Chinese. And Nomadic cultures in the Middle East have a tradition of hospitality to travelers, while Latin cultures consider all relationships as personal. So any country with a population from these cultural backgrounds will exchange gifts as a normal part of building relationships and doing business.
Gifts are a symbolic way to show appreciation and further relationships and in European cultures they are given, but not as frequently. And there isn’t the detailed protocol for presenting a gift, except avoiding colors or flowers traditionally used for funerals, or romance. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, and Europe fall into this category.
In today’s world, with global companies, as well as countries populated and influenced by different religions and cultures, it’s important to develop good business relationships by taking the time to learn more about the person you’re doing business with. This knowledge will give you insight into choosing more meaningful gifts, that the recipient will know was specifically selected for him or her, and be more appreciated.
A good resource to help build that rapport is a personal reference book you create and use throughout your career. Many times it’s the small details that can make the best impression.
Name: Rajat Tandon
Roll No: 09PT2-076
Submission 1
International Business Gift Giving
Preparing for a business meeting requires a working knowledge of the information to be discussed or presented, careful attention to all details on the printed material to be distributed, and perhaps a ‘gift’. This gift is a social gesture that may be expected in some countries, and could be considered a bribe in others. Knowing the gift guidelines for the country you’ll be visiting will help make your meeting a success. Some multi-national companies and some governments have very strict policies regarding their employees accepting gifts. To avoid creating a problem, it’s imperative you learn the policies for the companies you do business with.
Countries like Malaysia and Paraguay, concerned with corruption, frown upon any gift that could be construed as a bribe. In Malaysia you wouldn’t give a gift until you had established a relationship with the person. In Singapore, government employees are not allowed to accept gifts, and the United States limits the acceptable dollar value to $25.
However, in some countries like Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, exchanging gifts is strongly rooted in tradition. Part of the tradition is the gracious style used to present and receive them. It’s important to plan time and focus on the process.
Always be cognizant of religious laws when selecting gifts. For instance, pork is prohibited in the Jewish and Muslim religions, so you wouldn’t select a gift made from pigskin. As in India, don’t offer a gift made from cowhide.
Don’t give company logo gifts in Greece, Spain and Portugal.
Hosting a meal at a nice restaurant is always a good business practice. A fine dinner is a wonderful way to give a “gift to your hosts”, to show your guests you appreciate the business relationship you have with them, and an opportunity to build rapport.
Countries in which a gift is expected: Europe – Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Ukraine
Latin American – Bolivia, Columbia, Costa Rica
Pacific Rim – China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand
Countries in which a gift is not expected on the first visit, but would be expected on a subsequent visit: Europe – Portugal, Spain
Latin American – Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama,
Peru, Venezuela
Pacific Rim – Malaysia, Singapore
Countries in which a gift is not expected or gifts are less frequent exchanged: Africa
Australia
Europe - England, France, Hungary, Italy
Latin America - Uruguay
Scandinavia – Denmark
Middle East – Pakistan, Saudi Arabia
United States
Cultures with detailed rituals for the ceremony of gift giving are the Japanese and the Chinese. And Nomadic cultures in the Middle East have a tradition of hospitality to travelers, while Latin cultures consider all relationships as personal. So any country with a population from these cultural backgrounds will exchange gifts as a normal part of building relationships and doing business.
Gifts are a symbolic way to show appreciation and further relationships and in European cultures they are given, but not as frequently. And there isn’t the detailed protocol for presenting a gift, except avoiding colors or flowers traditionally used for funerals, or romance. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, and Europe fall into this category.
In today’s world, with global companies, as well as countries populated and influenced by different religions and cultures, it’s important to develop good business relationships by taking the time to learn more about the person you’re doing business with. This knowledge will give you insight into choosing more meaningful gifts, that the recipient will know was specifically selected for him or her, and be more appreciated.
A good resource to help build that rapport is a personal reference book you create and use throughout your career. Many times it’s the small details that can make the best impression.
Name: Rajat Tandon
Roll No: 09PT2-076
Submission 1
International Business Gift Giving
Preparing for a business meeting requires a working knowledge of the information to be discussed or presented, careful attention to all details on the printed material to be distributed, and perhaps a ‘gift’. This gift is a social gesture that may be expected in some countries, and could be considered a bribe in others. Knowing the gift guidelines for the country you’ll be visiting will help make your meeting a success. Some multi-national companies and some governments have very strict policies regarding their employees accepting gifts. To avoid creating a problem, it’s imperative you learn the policies for the companies you do business with.
Countries like Malaysia and Paraguay, concerned with corruption, frown upon any gift that could be construed as a bribe. In Malaysia you wouldn’t give a gift until you had established a relationship with the person. In Singapore, government employees are not allowed to accept gifts, and the United States limits the acceptable dollar value to $25.
However, in some countries like Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, exchanging gifts is strongly rooted in tradition. Part of the tradition is the gracious style used to present and receive them. It’s important to plan time and focus on the process.
Always be cognizant of religious laws when selecting gifts. For instance, pork is prohibited in the Jewish and Muslim religions, so you wouldn’t select a gift made from pigskin. As in India, don’t offer a gift made from cowhide.
Don’t give company logo gifts in Greece, Spain and Portugal.
Hosting a meal at a nice restaurant is always a good business practice. A fine dinner is a wonderful way to give a “gift to your hosts”, to show your guests you appreciate the business relationship you have with them, and an opportunity to build rapport.
Countries in which a gift is expected: Europe – Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Ukraine
Latin American – Bolivia, Columbia, Costa Rica
Pacific Rim – China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand
Countries in which a gift is not expected on the first visit, but would be expected on a subsequent visit: Europe – Portugal, Spain
Latin American – Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama,
Peru, Venezuela
Pacific Rim – Malaysia, Singapore
Countries in which a gift is not expected or gifts are less frequent exchanged: Africa
Australia
Europe - England, France, Hungary, Italy
Latin America - Uruguay
Scandinavia – Denmark
Middle East – Pakistan, Saudi Arabia
United States
Cultures with detailed rituals for the ceremony of gift giving are the Japanese and the Chinese. And Nomadic cultures in the Middle East have a tradition of hospitality to travelers, while Latin cultures consider all relationships as personal. So any country with a population from these cultural backgrounds will exchange gifts as a normal part of building relationships and doing business.
Gifts are a symbolic way to show appreciation and further relationships and in European cultures they are given, but not as frequently. And there isn’t the detailed protocol for presenting a gift, except avoiding colors or flowers traditionally used for funerals, or romance. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, and Europe fall into this category.
In today’s world, with global companies, as well as countries populated and influenced by different religions and cultures, it’s important to develop good business relationships by taking the time to learn more about the person you’re doing business with. This knowledge will give you insight into choosing more meaningful gifts, that the recipient will know was specifically selected for him or her, and be more appreciated.
A good resource to help build that rapport is a personal reference book you create and use throughout your career. Many times it’s the small details that can make the best impression.
Mithlesh Yadav
Roll No. 09PT2-66
SUBMISSION 3
Opium Safari: From ancient Egypt to China to Afghanistan
Opium or afim is rightly called as the ‘king of narcotics’. Perhaps no other narcotic enjoys so much popularity as opium. Opium is synthesized to obtain strong addictive drugs such as heroin. Raw opium is dark brown in color and is a soft gummy mass having a strong characteristic odour and bitter taste. In small doses, say of about 50 mg, it gives rise to pleasant sensations; however, in large doses it induces sleep. Still larger doses, say about 2 gm, are liable to kill a person.
Opium is extracted from the poppy plant also known as Papaver somniferum botanically. Raw opium contains alkaloids which are poisonous in nature. Although, when taken in very small quantities, they act as valuable drugs.
The earliest available references to the cultivation of poppies and preparation of opium dates back to about 5000 BC as seen in clay tablets left by the Sumerians. Opium was being used in Egypt as far back as 2000 BC as a children’s sedative and teething remedy. They prepared and drank it in the form of ‘cretic wine’. Opium is mentioned in Ebers Papyrus too, which happens to be the earliest record in medicine. This document was found between the legs of a mummy in a tomb near Luxor, a town on the east banks of the River Nile.
The original home of the opium poppy was considered to be Turkey. It was from here that opium is believed to have spread to other places. Opium was brought to China and other parts of the eastern world in the 9th century by the Arab traders. In 1511, Barbosa, on his travels to India, mentioned opium as an Indian product in his description of the Malabar Coast.
Opium in China
The opium wars wrecked China.
The British exploited Chinese labor by taxing them first for producing the cash crop i.e. opium, and then taxed them again by selling the cash crop back to them at higher prices. This hit Chinese industry badly.
Some port cities did benefit from the trade, but it wasn't the Chinese who usually reaped these profits. It was Europeans and especially the Britishers.
The opium trade so devastated China that the Chinese people eventually organized under a nationalist banner and unified in an effort to fight against their Western oppressors. Their economy never fully recovered, but due to interference from a new Western power, America, Mao and the communists eventually took control of China.
Opium in Afghanistan
Afghanistan currently supplies over 90% of the world’s illegal opium and 52% of the country’s GDP. It is a harvest that contributes to ongoing violence, narco-terrorism, and corruption. At the same time, poppy cultivation provides millions of rural Afghans with their livelihoods and opium will continue to dominate the country’s economic, social, and political future.
As long as there’s a demand for illicit opium, there will always be a place in Afghanistan to grow it. Hardly anyone wants to hear that the war in Afghanistan is effectively unwinnable as long as opium is plentiful.
SANDEEP SINGH
ROLL # 09 PT2-88
SUMISSION-1
PURSUIT FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FORM
Are we all aware as to how long can continue to use fossil fuels.
As of now the biggest challenge is to have an alternative source if not renewable source of energy.
We all know we have only the Sun/Water/Wind and Earth at our disposal for pollution less energy, and we are majorly exploiting the all first 3 sources of energy , then why not the 4th one too, I mean the Earth !
Yeah ! we can use our own earth to solve the energy crisis as we have been depending on it for so many other needs.
We can use the earth's geo thermal potential for that matter.
Earth’s crust consist of a super heat molten layer called Magma, if we drill deep enough to reach these underground reservoirs where water is in super heat stage, the high pressure water can be harvested by the bore holes these super heated water has to be then passed through condensers and so that while the super heat steam hence produced can be used to turn the turbine connected with a generator, the water from the condenser can be re circulated inside the deep zone so as to prevent the depletion of water resource, this will prove to be pollution less and sustainable form of energy source.
Lot of research needs to be done in order to realize the sustainable yet unexplored form of energy; moreover the private sectors also need to focus on bringing these experimentation to the practicality.
Savi Chawla
Roll No. 09 PT2-116
SUBMISSION 1
Why Vs What – Apple’s "Differentiated Marketing" !
Do you ever feel that whenever Apple want to sell you something, you always want to buy it? No matter what the price is, you always feel that “oh my god this is so cool I gotta get one!” At least that’s what I feel watching the press release of the new MacAir.
It seems that Apple’s marketing message is always stronger than the others. HP, Dell, or Lenovo’s advertisement do not lure you into buy one immediately. There are people lining up for the new iPhone 4, but we seldom see people doing that for other brands. Put it in another way, you feel it normal that Apple sells laptop, desktop, mp3, mp4, cell phone, etc. But do you feel weird if someday Dell tries to sell you a mp3 or HP tries to sell you a cellphone? Do you have confidence in the product?
It all has something to do with the way apple sells products.
Though it looks funny, it’s true. Apple feels that customers’ motivation should follow a hierarchy, starting from the rational to the emotional. Apple wants customers to believe the Apple product, no matter what it is, will make them feel better. Customers are motivated to buy not because Apple’s product is better (I’ll go with “different”), or cheaper (Apple’s products are definitely more expensive than other similar products) than competitor’s offering. It is simply a belief in the brand and the feeling they get using the product.
Another point worth noting is that, apple sell products from a whole different angle. Apple starts with the “why”. Apple convinces people why Apple products are good for them. The message is simple and clear. While the other brands, Dell and HP for example, sell from the “what”. In their advertisement you see how good the performance is, how much cheaper it is than other products. These companies focus too much on explaining customers what great features the products have and hoping that the consumers might want to buy. They have created such a strong image that the company is an expert in laptop/desktop, and they have trouble when they want to imitate Apple and sell mp3. Consumers went like “what? It’s not even their expertise! It’s so weird they are trying to sell me an mp3. It probably won’t work great, and I don’t feel ‘cool’ using an mp3 from Dell. “
For Apple, however, people generally feel the product will work great without even looking into all the tech specs and price. Apple’s way of advertisement make it so much easier to sell different products. People generally have formed this perception that anything from Apple must be trendy and good. Apple starts as a computer company, but now it sell iPods, iPads, Apple TV and people love them instantly. More and more people are buying, and those who haven’t bought, wanted to.
http://mdiib.blogspot.com/2010/11/mdi-international-business-octnov-2010.html
Savi Chawla
Roll No. 09 PT2-116
SUBMISSION 2
Why Factories Are Leaving China
A labor shortage is trimming margins for exporters, who are moving to Vietnam, India, and elsewhere
As costs climbed in Taiwan two decades ago, Ben Fan moved his lighting factory to take advantage of China's cheap labor. Now, with Chinese wages on the rise, he's moving again. "It's just like what happened in Taiwan," says Fan, chairman of Neo-Neon Holdings, which sells lamps and lighting fixtures to big retailers including Home Depot (HD), Target (TGT), and Wal-Mart (WMT). "Chinese don't want to work in factories anymore."
So Fan is expanding his factory in Vietnam, where wages are $100 a month, one-third what he pays in China. He plans to shift 85 percent of his production across the border, and by December he'll have 8,000 workers in Vietnam—up from 300 a year ago—and just 5,000 in China, down from 25,000 in 2008.
Factory owners complain that the higher wages are devastating profits, especially as their customers continue to squeeze them for lower prices. "Wal-Mart won't raise what they pay us," says Poh-Heng Toh, general manager of teddy bear producer Lovely Creations. Another Wal-Mart supplier, jewelry maker Profit Grand, has cut its staff to 450 from 600 largely because it can't find workers at the rates it's willing to pay, says Chairman Hsu Chi Lin. Wages, Hsu says, have risen from 2 percent of total costs a decade ago to 12 percent today, while net margins have fallen from 15 percent to about 8 percent. Factory owners are also worried about a potential revaluation of China's currency. The yuan is up 21 percent vs. the dollar since 2005, and many economists expect it to rise an additional 5 percent this year.
While China's growth—11.9 percent in the first quarter—is a factor in the labor shortages, they likely won't disappear once the economy cools. The country's one-child policy means fewer people are joining the workforce. Tax breaks for farmers and subsidies for companies setting up in the interior have allowed more people to find work near home. And a growing service sector means greater opportunities lie beyond the factory gate. "The younger generation is trying to get work that is much easier—waiting tables in restaurants or working in supermarkets," says Charles Yang, general manager of Apache Footwear, which makes shoes for Adidas.
Many companies are finding ways to pare costs. Electronics giant Foxconn Technology, which makes the Apple (AAPL) iPhone and handsets for Motorola (MOT), has opened new plants in China's north and west, far from its home base near Hong Kong. Shoemaker Apache has moved simpler work, such as stitching the upper portions of sneakers, from Guangdong to lower-wage factories in the interior. Apache is also expanding a plant in Chennai, India, that will produce at least half its shoes within five years. The company's Chinese workforce will soon drop below 10,000, from 18,000 two years ago, general manager Yang says. "We've been squeezing like hell to get more out of the system," he says.
No one expects manufacturing to disappear from coastal China. The networks of suppliers for industries from textiles to electronics—makers of buttons, zippers, wires, connectors, and the like—can't be easily replicated elsewhere. Many companies plan to keep more sophisticated work in eastern China while moving basic tasks elsewhere. Neo-Neon, for instance, expects to boost production of LED lighting in China even as it expands in Vietnam. Chinese workers today "want easy jobs and higher pay," says Fan. "We can give them that if we make more expensive, higher-margin products."
The bottom line: Rising wages in coastal China are spurring manufacturers to open factories in cheaper places, though more advanced production may stay.
Nitin Malhotra,
Roll no. 09PT2-72
(Submission : 2)
Protectionism: evil; Economic Liberalization: good — an oversimplification
Protectionism is an economic policy to restrain certain trade through measures such as tariffs, quotas and regulations. It is often used to discourage imports of certain goods and to protect domestic markets in various ways.
Protectionism is often regarded as a barrier to free trade. The word seems to conjure up negative images of isolationism and subsidizing industries that could otherwise not compete fairly against others. (This can help indicate why some industries would strongly support protectionism for themselves.)
Deregulation attempts to free economic activity from binding rules from the state. As a basis of free trade amongst nations, the idea is to allow competition to ensure the most efficient practices prevail, which should average out and benefit everyone.
However, deregulation, when applied to wider parts of society can be at the expense of people in that nation or region if that deregulation means relaxation of environmental rules, health and educational services, etc. In the context of corporate globalization it also risks stifling domestically grown industries as multinational corporations are more likely to have the resources to outcompete local ones. (This hints at the powerful lure that the “freeing” of trade and liberalization of access to resources from regulation has to some proponents.)
It seems difficult to get the right balance between deregulation and protectionism especially between developed and developing nations. Too much deregulation of certain vital services, some of which could be seen as fundamental rights (such as health and education services) could lead to the inability to provide standards for the full range of the population and less protection for domestic industries against often larger or transnational corporations. On the other hand, too much protectionism could stifle innovation and even foreign investment. The reverse could sometimes occur as well, as many other issues come into play. For example, a regime that might be protectionist but not democratic may still ignore the needs of all the people. But can the Developing countries use it to their adavantage is a question to be addressed .
The albeit flawed 2005 G8 Summit, the accompanying Make Poverty History Campaign and the Live 8 concerts raised a little bit more awareness about the unfairness in First world subsidies and tariff protection for certain industries which end up harming poorer nations.
However, there seems to be a risk that up-coming WTO discussions will see tariffs and subsidies being used as a bargaining chip: an offer by rich countries to possibly remove some of theirs in return for poor countries to agree to perhaps a similar level of reduction.
For example, mobile phone companies are helping people throughout Africa to connect to each other and even stimulate economic activity. For most African countries it perhaps makes sense to let such businesses in, rather than trying to develop their own, due to lack of resources and technological base. Yet, at the same time, if this is followed, how will African nations break out of that chain? What if African nations could be more economically efficient with this technology?
The sound bytes and summary agreements (between the wealthier countries and richer emerging nations) again ignore whether protectionism is equally bad or good for different countries at different levels of development and whether “business as normal” is applicable during a crisis of such magnitude. The next few years will be important to see how the effects from the global financial crisis change or maintain the status quo for poorer countries.
Sanjeev Kumar
Roll No. 09 PT2-089
SUBMISSION 1
Fixed Broadband & Convergence
Market Drivers and Challenge
The market growth is driven by various factors; smart devices, consumer services and applications are of course driving huge bandwidth demand on the networks particularly video and TV type services. Operators are evolving towards IP centric high capacity networks and are continuously striving for more cost effective ways to deliver service to their customers. Governments view bandwidth availability as important to economic growth and are stating the vision for universal high speed access for all. New business models are emerging such as open access and the need for machine to machine connections e.g. smart metering is attracting new players into the market such as utility and infrastructure companies. A number of the utility and government organizations require their own network infrastructure to ensure safe, secure and guaranteed communications.
In order to take full advantage of this emerging opportunity, telecom companies need to have a complete end-to-end portfolio of products, solutions and services for fixed and/or mobile covering products solutions and services. Their focus should be to work very closely with their customers, listen and understand their business objectives, constraints and opportunities and deliver technical and commercial solutions that are tested and proven so that the customers can build and deploy an optimized e2e network faster.
Sanjeev Kumar
Roll No. 09 PT2-089
SUBMISSION 3
Special Economic Zone
Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Scheme was introduced under the Export & Import policy by Government of India with a view to provide an international competitive and hassle-free environment for export. It’s a geographical region that has economic laws that are more liberal than a country's typical economic laws. The category 'SEZ' covers a broad range of more specific zone types, including Free Trade Zones (FTZ), Export Processing Zones (EPZ), Free Zones (FZ), Industrial Estates (IE), Free Ports, Urban Enterprise Zones and others. Usually the goal of a structure is to increase foreign direct investment by foreign investors, typically an international business or a multinational corporation (MNC).
SEZs have been implemented using a variety of institutional structures across the world ranging from fully public (government operator, government developer, government regulator) to 'fully' private (private operator, private developer, public regulator). In many cases, public sector operators and developers act as quasi-government agencies in that they have a pseudo-corporate institutional structure and have budgetary autonomy. SEZs are often developed under a public-private partnership arrangement, in which the public sector provides some level of support to enable a private sector developer to obtain a reasonable rate of return on the project.
Fundamentals of SEZs
appropriate infrastructure and transport facilities,
low factor cost,
flexible labors laws,
convertibility of currency,
stable legal and administrative regime, and
a commitment to the canons of an open economy
Main objectives of the SEZ
generation of additional economic activity;
promotion of exports of goods and services;
promotion of investment from domestic and foreign sources;
creation of employment opportunities;
development of infrastructure facilities
Advantages of SEZ
• Growth and development
• Attracts FDI
• Exposure to technology and global markets
• Increase in GDP and economic model
• Employment opportunities are created
Lalit Agarwal
Roll no. 09 PT2-59
Submission 1
Is Indian media losing shine after the phone tapping controversy ?
Indian media's credibility is at an all time low. The recently released audio tapes involving a major corporate house publicist and reputed journalists and the subsequent black out of the news by almost the entire Indian mainstream media puts a huge question mark over integrity and credibility of the Indian mainstream media
What these tapes bring to light is the kind of corruption that is plaguing the Indian media and the most shocking aspect of the whole episode is to the length the entire media fraternity went, barring a few gutsy magazines, papers and tv channels, to censor the whole issue. Don't they think that the public has a right to know how the country being run by corrupt politicians, at the behest of corporate houses with the collusion of the media persons. Do they think that truth can be shoved under the carpet for long?
Yes, it is true that the phone conversations has shown that top notch journalists are involved in corporate lobbying and playing a key role in ministerial berths and lobbying for tainted ministers to be re-instated in the same ministry. The tapes also feature several other top journalists being hand fed by Radia on the kind of stories she wants to appear on major news papers.
Isn’t that shocking that Freedom of Expression has no meaning and the media writes and talk about only what is to their interest, or else will “moderate” . have they become the spokespersons of big corporate houses and have put the very essence of journalism to shame and disguise.
The audio tapes may never get fully exposed given the powerful constituents such as politicians, industrialists and media involvement. But it is surprising to observe the so called “un-biased” media is relatively silent over the issue. What happens to tax-payers’ money has to be questioned now.
Malay Sankar Barik
Roll No. 09PT2-060
SUBMISSION – 2
New trend in Global product research and development
During twentieth century United States was the place for innovation. With the time it is changed and different countries adopting innovative strategies to become innovation hotspot of the world in different technological domain.
Singapore government primarily focused on promoting technological research in the field of life sciences and digital media. The government will consider providing tax relief, state-of-the-art infrastructure, training for technical staffs, and research grants covering up to 40% of expenses. So far, the Singaporean government has devoted more resources to the life sciences than to any other ïŹeld. During 2003 Biopolis, a 2-million-square-foot biomedical research center was established. Singapore scours the world for both established scientiïŹc leaders and top post-doctoral students to work at the center, which is on track to employ 4,000 researchers onsite by 2015. Located close by will be another 6,000 scientists in ïŹelds such as materials science, clean technology, and digital media, which is housed in its own facility, called Fusionopolish. Such R&D centers provides many localized services and facilities that helps companies to get research and testing done with less resources. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), for example, founded its Centre for Research in Cognitive and Neurodegenerative Disorders at Biopolis. Similarly China and Finland also having focused strategy to become innovation hub in the field of automobile and Design respectively.
Another approach followed by many countries like India, China and Brazil is to involve low cost huge mass of labor to thrive innovation. Government supports the effort by providing funds to innovations and man power generation through education. China doubled its number of university from 2000 to 4000 to develop educated researchers in different technological field. Companies can capitalize such competitiveness of countries to get their R&D done. Microsoft is operating its research Lab in china for last ten years to get low cost Chinese researchers.
Third approach in this direction is to create “Creative Class” by putting number of like minded people together to innovate. In past Silicon Valley is the biggest example of such approach. In India graduates from IITs’ often partner with Indian educated in Stanford or MTI and other successful Indian entrepreneurs in Silicon valley to innovate. Thus a creative class is created locally.
Forth model is Large Scale Eco System. Several countries have developed end-to-end innovation systems combining stewardship mechanisms, funding bodies, research institutions, and structures for business and academic collaboration, all in support of an overall national strategy. Finland is a very good example of such strategy.
Nitin Malhotra,
Roll no. 09PT2-72
(Submission : 3)
Benefits of FDI
One of the advantages of foreign direct investment is that it helps in the economic development of the particular country where the investment is being made. This is especially applicable for the economically developing countries. During the decade of the 90s foreign direct investment was one of the major external sources of financing for most of the countries that were growing from an economic perspective. It has also been observed that foreign direct investment has helped several countries when they have faced economic hardships.
An example of this could be seen in some countries of the East Asian region. It was observed during the financial problems of 1997-98 that the amount of foreign direct investment made in these countries was pretty steady. The other forms of cash inflows in a country like debt flows and portfolio equity had suffered major setbacks. Similar observations have been made in Latin America in the 1980s and in Mexico in 1994-95.
Foreign direct investment also permits the transfer of technologies. This is done basically in the way of provision of capital inputs. The importance of this factor lies in the fact that this transfer of technologies cannot be accomplished by way of trading of goods and services as well as investment of financial resources. It also assists in the promotion of the competition within the local input market of a country.
The countries that get foreign direct investment from another country can also develop the human capital resources by getting their employees to receive training on the operations of a particular business. The profits that are generated by the foreign direct investments that are made in that country can be used for the purpose of making contributions to the revenues of corporate taxes of the recipient country.
Foreign direct investment helps in the creation of new jobs in a particular country. It also helps in increasing the salaries of the workers. This enables them to get access to a better lifestyle and more facilities in life. It has normally been observed that foreign direct investment allows for the development of the manufacturing sector of the recipient country.
Foreign direct investment can also bring in advanced technology and skill set in a country. There is also some scope for new research activities being undertaken.
Foreign direct investment assists in increasing the income that is generated through revenues realized through taxation. It also plays a crucial role in the context of rise in the productivity of the host countries. In case of countries that make foreign direct investment in other countries this process has positive impact as well. In case of these countries, their companies get an opportunity to explore newer markets and thereby generate more income and profits.
It also opens up the export window that allows these countries the opportunity to cash in on their superior technological resources. It has also been observed that as a result of receiving foreign direct investment from other countries, it has been possible for the recipient countries to keep their rates of interest at a lower level. It becomes easier for the business entities to borrow finance at lesser rates of interest. The biggest beneficiaries of these facilities are the small and medium-sized business enterprises.
Vikas Taneja
09PT2-109
Submission 1
Tata Nano – Why sales are going Nano ways?
Tata Nano sales have been dropping continuously despite Tata Motors attempting new tactics such as selling Nano cars in exchange with two wheelers. In November 2010, the company sold a mere 509 Nano cars which was just one sixth of the October sales (3065 units).
The world’s cheapest car has been kept at arm’s length by first time small car buyers due to various reasons. Lingering safety concerns are believed to be the major factor, after some widely reported instances of smoke, sparks and a fire.
There has been definitely a negative publicity for the car with six incidents reported of Nano catching fire. However, there are still thousands of happy customers as the car has clocked sales of one lakh units. Tata Nano has already clarified its stand on the matter that the incidents have been stray incidents and the car is completely safely. It has also gone a step further to install more safety equipments in the car to make owners feel safer. On the contrary, it seems that such a safety step has led to customers become more wary of the car and they perceive it as potentially unsafe car.
The negative publicity of Nano is completely taking the toll on sales. Which car brand does not catch fire. Every now & then we see on the road side …. Forget what we read in news.. A burnt car on the roadside. But why Tata Nano is catching so much attention. Is it due to the fact that it’s new hyped brand? Is it due the fact that media is giving undue high publicity ( negative ) to each incident. Is it a strategy of rivals to promote negative publicity of Nano. Don’t we see Maruti’s , Hyundai’s etc of the world catching fire… Forget these.. Toyota is recalling so many vehicles allover in US due to brake issue.
So what should Tata do?
Tata needs to aggressively market this car. What did Cola giants do when the sales plummeted due to pesticide issue in Cola. They started new marketing campaign. Tata need to leave their slow & steady way of working & go on overdrive if the car needs to be saved. Time is a great healer but if the marketing strategy is such that it makes the people forget about it & only look at the glass is half full (It is almost full) the sales will rise again. And why not ? For sure it is an engineering marvel well executed.. ..
Another strategy can also work. Launch a new version of Nano. A new version is always considered to be taking care of perennial issues. Let this new version take care of issues with the first version.
It will be unfortunate if a car project like Nano go down the drain like this. The project has faced many hurdles in the past which have been crossed successfully. This also needs to be overcome & then can Tata’s can proudly say they can sell Jaguars & Nano’s of the world as successfully under one roof.
Vandita Agrawal
09PT2-105
Greater Prospects for Indian Coffee Planters
Coffee prices are all set to rise this month…
India grows 4.5 million bags of coffee annually but consumes only a third. So bulk is exported.
Local prices follow export prices. In other words, what foreign consumers are willing to pay for Indian coffee decides how much we do. This year, Coffee futures in New York and London are at 13-year high because demand has revived with fading recession worries & at the same time, bad weather has hit supply. Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam and Indonesia, all the biggest producers are in trouble.
This drop in supply is second in a row. So, there are hardly any beans unsold from last year. New York Board of Trade, with the world’s oldest coffee futures contract, says stocks have declined for 24 straight months and are now at a 10-year low.
There is no guarantee of supply improving next year. Top producer Brazil’s Coffee Council says output next year may drop to the lowest in four years after a drought hindered flowing of coffee trees.
With such a clear bullish story, coffee is a hot commodity for days to come. Also, coffee futures are the second most-widely-traded commodity futures in terms of volume, after crude oil.
All this makes India, the world’s fifth-largest producer, more important than usual, especially because our crop in the current marketing season (October 2010-September 2011) may be more than last year. Exports till now are two times last year.
Expensive raw material combined with more expensive packaging material, labour and general inflation are the worry points.
Though the harvest will be complete by January, extra supply will mostly head overseas. That’s only fair. Given our tiny caffeine intake, you and I can’t outbid foreign buyers. In any export-driven commodity, local action takes cue from the outside world. This year, record global prices have forced domestic industry to think differently. So, this time, Indian coffee may smell much fresh & strong than ever..
Vandita Agrawal
09PT2-105
Submission : 2
Foreign investment growth in Brazil -
Foreign direct investment in September has exceeded the Brazilian Central Bank’s projection for the period, which was US$ 2.7 billion. In September, the country’s production sector received US$ 5.391 billion in investment, as against US$ 1.816 billion in September 2009.
From January to September, foreign direct investment reached US$ 22.632 billion, as against US$ 17.672 billion in the same period of 2009, thereby posting YoY growth of 28%. This year, the Central Bank expects investment to reach US$ 30 billion. Last year, the total was US$ 25.949 billion. The projection for 2011 is US$ 45 billion, at a growth rate of 50%.
The figure in September was more than double the figure in the same month last year, and enough to fund the Brazilian deficit in current transactions, which rose to US$ 3.9 billion. In the last twelve months, the deficit was equivalent to 2.4% of the Gross Domestic Product. Foreign direct investment was equivalent to 1.57% of the GDP.
Foreign direct investment inflow into Brazil was the highest since December last year. There was a US$ 2.6 billion inflow of funds from Austria into the metallic minerals extraction sector. Foreign stock investment in Brazil reached US$ 8.2 billion. Investment in public bonds reached US$ 1 billion, and bonds traded abroad reached US$ 3 billion
Vandita Agrawal
09PT2-105
Submission 3
2022 World Cup In Qatar…
Beating the expectations, on the grounds of summer temperatures which can soar to above 50 degrees Celsius and a concern about lack of infrastructure, FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, Qatar.
This is the first time The Middle East nation will host the major global speorting event.
The Middle East has never before hosted a major global sporting event and analysts said Qatar's win would do much to boost the region's global profile.
The country's economy, forecast to grow by 15.5% this year, is expected to soar by a staggering 21% in 2011, allowing Qatar to pour as much cash as necessary into preparations for 2022.
The ultra-modern Lusail Stadium, which has yet to be built, will host the opening and final matches.
It will have a capacity of 86,000 and will take four years to build and is expected to be completed by 2019.
Qatar would renovate three stadiums and build nine new ones, with the 12 stadiums divided among seven host cities.
The total cost of the construction and renovation is estimated at around USD 3 billion.
Qatar is one of the fast growing country in Middle East. It has launched a huge spending programs in recent years to build infrastructure needed to accommodate its rapidly expanding population, now estimated at 1.7 million.
Over the next five years, the country will build a USD 25 billion rail network, an USD 11 billion new airport, a USD 5.5 billion new deep water seaport and a USD 1 billion crossing linking the new airport with mega-projects in the northern part of the capital, Doha. Plans are in place to complete a metro system connecting each stadium by 2017 with venues no more than one hour apart from each other.
The country currently has about 50,000 hotel rooms and will need 60,000 to meet the requirements of world soccer's governing body. Bid leaders have promised 95,000 rooms will be available by 2022.
Qatar will be the smallest host nation to stage the finals since Uruguay hosted the first World Cup in 1930.
Ravi Shankar Kumar
Roll No: 09PT2- 080
Submission- 1
Changing Youngsters: Changing India
India among the countries those have highest number of young population. In last couple of year there are so many focus on involvement of young blood in different field like politics, business, leadership have been observed. Between 2010-2030, India will add 230 Million people in working-age population. It means the children who are currently in study will come in that group. Similarly, Brazil will add around 20 million people during the same time. Statically, approx 50% of Indians comprise youngsters, hence we can presume the figure to be around 55 crores. It will be better if we identify the contribution of this age group in different category on the basis of current involvement/Earnings/Jobs/Business etc.
Group One: - These peoples come under poor categories. The routine of these people is earned to survive because per day earning of these people is approx Rs. 25. In India approx 40% of young population comes from this category. Instead having majority they are not able to influence the government. Those with empty stomach and unclothed bodies can vote for only those who pay them for votes. They don’t belong to any party, any religion or caste.
Group Two: - These young people are getting best education, healthy food and cloth. Most of the time they inherit the family business or profession. This group of young belongs to either political or business family. These people are having interest in development but politics is out of choice as a career or need to further business interests.
Group Three: - These are the ones who actually have the time and inclination to read, compare, express, analyze and change the face of the nation. This category consists of students, employed, unemployed but most of them are focused and can not be taken lightly.
Some of the recent incident reflects my above statements
Delhi University Student Union Election 2010: Delhi University Students Union elections were held. DUSU has been in control of congress‘s NSUI for the last 12 yrs. . But this election has been won by ABVP that is supported by BJP. Congress lost this election even they are in government in Central as well as in Delhi assembly. Delhi students have expressed their anger and sent a strong message about inflation, corruption in CWG. Inflation, corruption, governance are issues with students and they can express anger.
Bihar Assembly Election 2010:- As per the previous election vote in Bihar use to cast on the basis of caste, religions etc. But this time it did on the basis on development that people of Bihar seen in last 5 year. Government lead by Nitish Kumar has won the election with 85 percent of total seat in Bihar assembly. Youth population of Bihar participated in this election fairly.
Few week back Chairman Planning commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia was in Kolkata addressing students. One would have expected students to interact with him on serious issues. What turned out was an anti climax. Students were angry about inflation and perhaps could not get a satisfactory reply from him. Rotten eggs and tomatoes were thrown at him and he had to be whisked away by security staff. WHY? Well more reason than one—as chairman of planning commission, for the last 15 months, he has been predicting various dates for inflation to come down, which hasn’t happened and the other reason being his closeness to PM. So, inflation, governance, accountability are issues with the students and they can express with anger.
In the coming years, it is the group three youngsters, opinion formers, educated, prospective leaders, who will decide the fate and face of this nation as they don’t need sermons’, caste divide, region divide and religion fuel. They will bridge the gap between India and Bharat.
Hope changing India will help build India of tomorrow.
Scams and Joint Hands of Indian Politicians & Top Govt. officers
Ravi Shankar Kumar
(Roll No: 09PT2- 080)
Submission- 2
The way different scams are coming out to the people it looks like it is a season of scams in India. Currently we can discussion 4 big scams those are subject of discussion. It Start from Commonwealth Games, 2G Spectrum, Adarsh Society and housing loan scam 2010. These issues keep moving from one potboiler to other. When we came to know the inside story of any of the scams, some of the common output comes like “It is a organized crime committed by a group of people with the help of politician and top class government officers”.
Commonwealth Game 2010:-
Sports lover from all over the world has no reason for smile as common wealth games 2010 in Delhi has took place in this October month is already under the grip of scams. Even by accomplishing successfully opening to closure events of the CWG 2010, no one is ready to accept that scam was not done by the organizing committee.
Some of the highlights of the fraud seem very interesting as Suresh Kalmadi led Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee (OC) is already on back foot to answer the same. Fake inventory and manipulated price list of fixtures ,fittings, hired from foreign markets shows drastic anomalies and massive difference thus no scope left ,but to define only a SCAM , as whole bidding process for selecting foreign firms is too under scanner. Day after day new faces and names are figuring in this whole sports scandal.
Adarsh Society Scam:-
The Adarsh Society Scam has indeed highlighted the fact that all is not well with the top hierarchy of the Indian Armed Forces also. In this scam flats are also allocated to top politicians belongs to Maharashtra, Some of top officers of Mumbai Municipal Corporation. Those politicians are not belongs to one party. It means they have the unity if matter comes for personal interests. We have seen it from within, building up over the last three decades or more. Defense services officers have traditionally been brought up on an all-pervading ethos of honor and forthrightness. They have proven to be democratic and apolitical; in fact, as haters of politicians and politics. spreading?
Hosing Load Scam 2010:-
This is the latest scam that people came to know. The 2010 fake housing loan in India was uncovered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India. CBI arrested eight top-ranking officials of public sector banks and financial institutions, including the LIC Housing Finance CEO Ramchandran Nair, in connection with the scam. CBI alleged that the officers of various public sector banks and financial institutions received bribes from the private financial services company Money Matters, which acted as a mediator for corporate loans and other facilities from financial institutions. The bank officials sanctioned large-scale corporate loans to realty developers, overriding mandatory conditions for such approvals along with other irregularities.
So, when we look at the inside story of any one scam, we found that there is a strong relation between politicians and Govt. Officers. One is organizer and another provides safe passage to enter in activity and after successfully accomplishment provide safe passage to exit. The funds or money raised by these scams comes under black money that doesn’t have involvement in development of India. It increase the distance between poor and rich people of any country.
SHIVALI RAZDAN
09PT2-094
Firangi foods are taking over India!!!
The colonization of the Indian palate is underway. What you don’t believe me? So what did you have for breakfast this morning? Cornflakes? Probably made by Kelloggs an American company.
And what did your hassled wife give the kids for tiffin – Maggie huh? The two minute solution to every housewife’s challenge of deciding what to give for lunch especially on days when the alarm did not go off, or even if it did you were too tired to notice. Maggie is a product from Nestle the swiss giant. Oh and yes the coffee that jumpstarted you this morning was also from Nestle. Not quite what your mother used to make, but hey, she had time on her hands and not to mention a discerning husband who liked the coffee beans roasted and ground in a particular way to make his morning cup of joe.
Still doubtful about the extent of the invasion? Go shop!, the super market shelves would show you the truth. Like cheese? There is a whole range from France to Switzerland you name it. Right from the ‘ Laughing Cow’ ( La Vache Qui Rit” to a small soan papdi shaped Greek Goat Cheese called Feta.
The pizza and its many versions form part of many dinners in front of the idiot box. Delivered in 30 minutes or less. Firangi food! Let us not forget the sinister burger, enslaving Indian tongues at Rs. 30 for a Chicken Mcgrill. First brought to India by our desi chain Nirulas and before they could say Nutty Buddy, McDonalds had invaded their territory with its Macs and double fries and large cokes.
Every day you hear the war cries of newer cuisines in the culinary battlefields of India. The Mexican Chilli Con Carne and the Big Burrito, which my hubby says are nothing but Keema wale Rajma Chawal and Kathi rolls dressed up as foreigners.
Open the kitchen cupboards of many middle class desi housewives, you’ll find Firangis hiding there; green and black olives in small glass bottles, yellow French mustard and small sachets of oregano and other herbs.
Even our doctors have been bought over, they are collaborating with the enemy and promoting cooking with olive oil to counter the high cholesterol caused by the pizzas and burgers!
Friends the time has come to pick up the gauntlet. Dust those handwritten recipes that your grandmothers had so carefully kept. Crush the garlic and release the powerful magic of the Heeng ( asafetida ) and Ajwain ( carom seeds). Don’t forget your Sarson Ka Tel (mustard oil) it will declog your desi arteries better than the oil of the olive.
The rebellion has already begun, some of our warriors have already conquered the small island that ruled over us. Long live Chicken Tikka Masala!!
Vipin Jamwal
Roll No 111, Submission 2
In another major sign of growing ties between the two nations, President Obama during his visit to India used a speech before the Indian Parliament to endorse this country's bid for permanent membership on the United Nations Security Council
Ben Rhodes, a top White House aide, told reporters before the speech that the Obama administration wants to "send as clear a statement as possible" that the U.S. sees India as a "rising player" on the international stage.
But Rhodes said the U.S. was "not getting into" details about the time frame in which the United States would like to see India get the permanent seat and whether or not it will push to get India veto power as well.
Rhodes, a senior staffer on the National Security Council, said the President's endorsement "speaks volumes" about U.S. support for India and the administration will let the key details be "hashed out" by the United Nations itself.
Actually getting India a permanent seat, however, will not be easy. Obama administration officials acknowledged that they and previous administrations have supported Japan, Germany, and Brazil at various times for permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council without any success so far.
Before this announcement was made India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh eluded to the deal during a joint news conference before Obama's speech to parliament in which he highlighted the close cooperation on major issues typically confronted by the UN.
"As states possessing nuclear weapons, we have today put forth a common vision of a world without nuclear weapons, and decided to lead global efforts for non-proliferation and universal and non-discriminatory global nuclear disarmament," Singh said. "This is a historic and bold bilateral initiative. We have also decided to strengthen cooperation to tackle nuclear terrorism, and we welcome US participation in the Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership which will be set up in India."
Expectations about the endorsement made headlines all day in the local India media before Obama's speech. Political analysts on local news channels largely said this is a huge moment for India because it firmly puts the country in a position of being a world power, and is a big win for Prime Minister Singh's ruling Congress Party.
Saurabh Gupta: Roll No 91
Submission 2: Linder hypothesis
The Linder hypothesis is a conjecture in economics about international trade patterns. The hypothesis is that the more similar are the demand structures of countries the more they will trade with one another.
The international trade will still occur between two countries having identical preferences and factor endowments (relying on specialization to create a comparative advantage in the production of differentiated goods between the two nations.
The hypothesis was proposed by economist Staffan Burenstam Linder in 1961 as a possible resolution to the Leontief paradox, which questioned the empirical validity of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory (H-O). H-O predicts that patterns of international trade will be determined by the relative factor-endowments of different nations.
Those with relatively high levels of capital in relation to labor would be expected to produce capital-intensive goods while those with an abundance of labor relative to (immobile) capital would be expected to produce labor intensive goods. H-O and other theories of factor-endowment based trade had dominated the field of international economics until Leontief performed a study empirically rejecting H-O
Leontief found that the United States (then the most capital abundant nation) exported primarily labor-intensive goods. Linder proposed an alternative theory of trade that was consistent with Leontief's findings. The Linder hypothesis presents a demand based theory of trade in contrast to the usual supply based theories involving factor endowments.
Linder hypothesized that nations with similar demands would develop similar industries. These nations would then trade with each other in similar but differentiated goods.
The theory that a country's ability to export depends on domestic demand, so that countries that demand similar goods will trade more with each other than will countries with dissimilar demands.
Subsequent examinations of the Linder hypothesis have observed a "Linder effect" consistent with the hypothesis. Econometric tests of the hypothesis usually proxy the demand structure in a country from its per capita income: it's convenient to assume that the closer are the income levels per consumer the closer are the consumer preferences.
The empirical results using pooled trade data from 63 countries for 1970, 1980, 1990, and 1992 are in support of the Linder hypothesis. It is also found that the Linder hypothesis gained strength in the 1990s. Recent globalization may have strengthened the Linder hypothesis.
A research was conducted by Catholic University of Daegu Research Grants which detailed a favored result in support of the Linder hypothesis. It was found that countries with a smaller difference of per capita GNP tend to trade more.
It was also found that richer countries trade more. Furthermore, it was found that the coefficients of Linder variables grow as time goes by.
This can be partly explained by the proliferation of Free Trade Areas and globalization in the 1990s. The recent movement towards regional and global trade liberalization may have strengthened the Linder hypothesis.
SHIVALI RAZDAN
09PT2-094
The right to free speech
An American was teasing a Russian in a bar during the cold war days. “Do you know, in my country I can shout aloud that the President of the USA is an idiot and nothing will happen to me”. To which the Russian says ‘big deal, in my country I too can shout aloud that the President of USA is an idiot ”!!
The poor American was only trying to show off his right to free speech under the First Amendment
The recent incident involving Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani has come as a test for our ability to guarantee freedom of speech.
Probing the incident, the Tilak Marg SHO in his report said that there were no essential ingredients for a sedition case against the two. And I agree, what did Roy say, that we have not heard before on dozens of TV channels covering unrest in the valley.
Roy’s statements did upset me when I read the newspaper, but come to think of it, isn’t this what freedom of speech is all about. Face it , there will be divergent views, some will definitely be unpalatable.What is critical however is the practice of dialogue and conversation in a democratic process. In any dialogue there will be counterviews, which may be less fashionable or palatable. The true test is when the counterview has a small weak voice which needs to be protected much like the tiny lamp in the middle of a raging storm.
For free speech we need to listen with an impartial ear. These ears often get punched by goons such as the Shiv Sena which has become a keeper of morals and self appointed guardians of our traditions. Other communities too do not shy away from slitting throats just because they went against what their religious books hold to be the one truth.
How will freedom of speech survive in the midst of our self absorbed and aggressive culture? We have become so intolerant of viewpoints other than our own that we aggressively silence them whether it is hinterland goondas turned politicians ripping out microphones and using them as weapons in a state assembly.
Or male dominated panchayats silencing the voice of individuality and female aspirations by hanging or burning their womenfolk. Sometimes I wonder if the incidents of female foeticide are actually a form of pre-birth censorship of the female voice.
Even old bollywood movies expressed this intolerance of contrary voices , remember the Zamindar shouting ‘Zubaan kheench doonga’ (I will pull out your tongue) at the cowering peasant who dared to raise his point of view.
To change anything you have to make a start somewhere, and freedom of speech starts with me. So Arundhati, I may find you an obnoxious and publicity hungry writer and not agree with what you say, however I will as Winston Churchill said, defend to the death your right to say it.
NAme: Vishal Gupta
Roll no.: 09PT2-112
RADAR Basics
RADAR is another variant of microwave radio and has the same basic concepts.
A SIMPLE RADAR SYSTEM
The best way to explain radar is to imagine standing on one side of a valley, and shouting in the direction of the distant mountain of the valley. After a few moments, an echo will come back. The length of time it takes an echo to come back is directly related to how far away the distant valley mountain is. Double the distance, and the length of time doubles as well. Lets assume that the speed of sound is about 1,000 m/sec, then timing the echo with a stopwatch will give the distance to the remote valley mountain. If it takes 5 seconds for the echo to come back, then since sound travels about 1000 meters in a second, the distance is about 2500 meters.
Radar uses exactly the same principle, but it times echoes of radio or microwave pulses and not sound. Like a wireless radio set, a simple radar has a transmitter and a receiver that is tuned to a particular frequencies, with the transmitter sending out pulses, short bursts, of EM waves and the receiver picking them up.
In the case of the RADAR, the receiver picks up echoes from a distant target, with the echoes timed to determine the distance to the target.
Sameer Gupta
Roll No: 09PT2-083
SUBMISSION 1
Cashing In with Carbon Credit
Businesses and countries alike are finding new ways to protect the environment by reducing emissions of harmful pollutants. One of these ways is a market-based approach called carbon trading which provides economic incentives for business firms that limit their output of carbon emissions. These carbon trading markets are beginning to form all around the world and the country of Kenya plans to launch Africa’s first carbon exchange.
The newly formed exchange is expected to be open for business by the middle of 2011 and will enable all African countries to sell their “carbon credits”. Countries and businesses can earn a carbon credit by reducing their carbon emissions below a previously set limit. One carbon credit is equal to one ton of carbon dioxide, or in some markets, a carbon dioxide equivalent gas. Each credit is worth a certain amount of money providing a major incentive for companies to decrease carbon emissions.
Africa hopes the trade in carbon credits will inspire investments in renewable energy and forestry projects. In fact, sometimes polluting industries in wealthy countries will pay for these clean development projects in other countries. To start the process, Kenya’s government plans to support forestry development and estimates that its largest forest, the Mau, has the potential to earn the country close to two billion dollars per year over the next 15 years. This project will be difficult to sustain but is well worth the effort.
Tackling the problem of climate change is a difficult task, but Kenya’s carbon exchange platform is a good place to start. Providing incentives for companies and countries who acknowledge environmental issues may also have positive results on the economy as well. Over the next few years, Africa hopes results will show in both economic success and climate sustainability.
Sameer Gupta
Roll No: 09PT2-083
SUBMISSION 2
Global Financial Crisis
Following a period of economic boom, a financial bubble—global in scope—has now burst. The extent of this problem has been so severe that some of the world’s largest financial institutions have collapsed. Others have been bought out by their competition at low prices and in other cases, the governments of the wealthiest nations in the world have resorted to extensive bail-out and rescue packages for the remaining large banks and financial institutions.
Some of the bail-outs have also led to charges of hypocrisy due to the apparent socializing of the costs while privatizing the profits. Furthermore, the institutions being rescued are typically the ones got the world into this trouble in the first place. For smaller businesses and poorer people, such options for bail out and rescue are rarely available when they find themselves in crisis. There is the argument that when the larger banks show signs of crisis, it is not just the wealthy that will suffer, but potentially everyone because of the ripple effect that problems at the top could have throughout the entire economy.
Tumbling stock markets have wiped out 33% of the value of companies, $14.5 trillion. Taxpayers will be bailing out their banks and financial institutions with large amounts of money. US taxpayers alone will spend some $9.7 trillion in bailout packages and plans. The UK and other European countries have also spent some $2 trillion on rescues and bailout packages. More is expected. Much more.
Such numbers, made quickly available, are enough to wipe many individual’s mortgages, or clear out third world debt many times over. Even the high military spending figures are dwarfed by the bailout plans to date.
Taxpayers are paying for some of the largest costs in history
This problem could have been averted as people had been pointing to these issues for decades. However, during boom, very few want to hear such pessimism. Does this crisis spell an end to the careless forms of banking and finance and will it herald a better economic age, or are we just doomed to keep forgetting history and repeat these mistakes in the future?
S.RAVEESH
ROLL No 09PT2-079
SUBMISSION III
EQ vs IQ
Conventional wisdom has it that there is a direct connection between our IQ and our ability to succeed in life. In school, we are ranked by our GPA. At certain points in grade school, students are given standardized test that ranks them with other students around the country. Schools are obsessed with how their students rank compared with others. Most of the test are basic IQ test, designed to test our math and reading comprehension.There’s a school of thought that says it takes more than cognitive intelligence to be successful at work. A good Emotional Quotient (EQ), the ability to restrain negative feelings, is just as crucial.
Psychologists hint that people-oriented jobs demand high dosages of Emotional Intelligence like confidence, congeniality, and patience. Surprised? Don’t we all like being with bosses who are compassionate, forgiving, and empathetic? In fact, EQ has a higher impact on success in fields where there’s a higher cut off on intelligence. In a situation where knowledge and technical expertise are at their premium best, managers with abilities to develop productive relationships stand apart.
Fortunately, unlike IQ which is pretty much established in the formative years of your life, EQ can be learnt and improved upon at any stage in life. Not only that, the older you are, the better your EQ gets.
A simple exercise like keeping a journal of your emotions on different situations during the day can help. Have an EQ role model. Observe him or her, how they deal with setbacks, how they handle their superiors and colleagues, how they take criticism. Compare it to what you usually do, and if the other person’s approach is better, emulate them.
As the world becomes flatter and smaller, people who can understand other folks, empathize with them will be more successful in achieving common goals. A good EQ could well be the key to your successful career and business......
Shammi Sethi
Roll No. 09PT2-93
Submission – I
Which is better Merger or Acquisition?
We all talk about mergers and acquisitions, but which one is better; the answer is still a mystery. A merger is a combination of two companies to form a new company, while an acquisition is the purchase of one company by another in which no new company is formed. Why do company merge or acquire, the simple answer is for its economic growth. For a successful merger or acquisition the firms involved must be worth more together than they were apart.
Some of the potential advantages of mergers and acquisitions include achieving economies of scale, combining complementary resources, garnering tax advantages, and eliminating inefficiencies. Other reasons for considering growth through acquisitions include obtaining proprietary rights to products or services, increasing market power by purchasing competitors, shoring up weaknesses in key business areas, penetrating new geographic regions, or providing managers with new opportunities for career growth and advancement. Since mergers and acquisitions are so complex, however, it can be very difficult to evaluate the transaction, define the associated costs and benefits, and handle the resulting tax and legal issues.
Both merger and acquisition has there own merits and demerits. One cannot clearly state that merger is better or an acquisition. There are number of examples of successful and unsuccessful merger and acquisition. Exxon-Mobil, Sirius-XM Radio are few examples of successful mergers. Daimler Benz–Chrysler, Mattel-The learning company, AOL-Time Warner, Quaker-Snapple are few examples of unsuccessful mergers. Disney-Pixer, Green Mountain Coffee-Keurig are examples of successful acquisition. Where as Royal Bank of Scotland-ABN Amro, Invensys – Baan, BMW – Rover were unsuccessful acquisition.
Manjeet Singh
Roll No. 09PT2-062
Submission 2
Indian IT Industry - Where do we stand?
The Indian IT industry has been a major GDP contributor and a harbinger of Indian economic growth. The Indian Information Technology industry accounts for a 5.19% of the country's GDP and export earnings as of 2009, while providing employment to a significant number of its tertiary sector workforce. Indian IT and BPO industry, according to Nasscom, earns $60 billion at present and employs about 2.3 million professionals. Also, as per NASSCOM, the Indian IT exports are anticipated to attain US$ 175 billion by 2020 out of which the domestic sector will account for US$ 50 billion in earnings.
Looking at the Indian IT landscape, there are 10-12 major IT hubs and around 25-30 STPs (Software Technology Parks). There are more than 25,000 companies which have their development centers in India and the list contains all the notable global IT giants. The presence of so many development centers is attributed to the fact of availability of large pool of skilled IT labour. Each year India produces roughly around 500,000 engineers in the country, and out of these, 30% – 40% possess both the technical competency as well as the necessary English speaking skills.
The Indian IT industry consists of mainly the IT services and IT enabled services. However, the portion of the R&D and software products in the IT exports is very small as compared to IT services. Indian IT firms dominate the largely low-end services market and there is very less foray into the high-tech software products. The large global IT giants that we see here in India, like IBM, Accenture, Motorola, Intel, Cisco and others are mainly using the Indian centers as the delivery or the execution centers.
Lets compare our IT industry with Israel. Israeli IT industry is a strong player in high-tech software products. Israeli IT industry employs about 1.2 lakh IT professionals, who generate $22 billion in revenue annually. That when compared to India, gives the proportion as 1/20th of the IT labour force of India, generating 1/3rd revenue of that earned by the Indian IT industry. Looking at the kind of work done by the IT MNCs, experts point out that 50 per cent of the work these MNCs do in Israel is innovation and the rest is coding or execution, whereas for the same MNCs in India, the ratio is 15 per cent innovation and 85 per cent execution.
All this must be taken in conjunction with the emergence of Chinese IT outsourcing industry. Chinese IT outsourcing companies have appeared to challenge India’s dominance. According to the accounting firm Deloitte, those Chinese companies grew their revenues to $26 billion last year. China has also understood that it can not focus on services alone and so it started investing in innovation. One very good example is Huawei. In a short span of time, Huawei has emerged as a strong force in the global telecom equipment industry.
Although the IT -BPO industry in China is still in its early phases of evolution, but the fact is that China is finishing its labour-intensive growth phase and starting its capital-intensive phase while India is still in its labour-intensive growth.
Sooner or later, the Indian IT industry needs to change. Also, there is a strong case for increased partnership between the two countries as global corporations strive to strike a balance in their Sino-India co-sourcing models.
Tej Singh
Roll# 09PT2 102
Submission #1
Buzz Word - Innovation
Innovation stands for a new way, technique or method to do things. By definition, then, it is a creative process. Evolutionary history of life is full of examples of ‘innovative evolution’. Breathing and photosynthesis are excellent examples of this. When bacteria expanded, their energy needs led to shortage of hydrogen. Photosynthesis was an innovation to break water molecules using sunlight, to release hydrogen and oxygen. While hydrogen was used to build sugar and carbohydrates, oxygen was emitted into the atmosphere, leading to an oxygen crisis. Free oxygen is toxic as it produces free radicals and also causes combustion and corrosion. Breathing was the next innovation !!
Organizations can learn a lot from this process . Each organization itself is an ecosystem or an organism and has inter-relationships within and outside. Every function/department/location within an organization is also an ecosystem or an organism with such inter-relationships within themselves, with other functions/departments/locations, with the overall organization and with the external world. Such similarities with the way ecosystems and organisms are organized and behave in nature, cause organizations also to mimic the patterns and behaviour of species and ecosystems. Especially useful is the observation and learning attained through the processes of ‘Creative Evolutionary Innovation’ in Nature, no matter what the size of the organization ….. as is the case in nature, where size of the organisms is immaterial for this process to propagate; the smallest single cell organism or an amoeba or bacteria all played this game with equal adeptness, provided they followed the rules well !!
Creativity can be a lone/solo process and we have heard about many creative people who operate alone and do end up creating masterpieces. However, there are also the creative masters like Edison, who actually had the benefit of learnings of a whole team with him. There definitely are stories of creative geniuses who worked alone, but we are talking here of common people and minds, working in day to day operations in closer to ground organizations. How do they bring alive creativity in their work ? A streak of genius happens once in a million, like random mutations in nature. Rest of the story of evolution is about the other two avenues of gene trading and symbiosis, honed by natural selection.
What then, could organizations do ? Draw on learnings from nature and life. The simplest life forms could have Creative Evolutionary Innovation. Organisations will not achieve it only by the chance stroke of a brilliant idea that occurs to an employee in romantic environs on a Sunday afternoon, relaxing on a hammock in the sun, glass of beer in one hand and cigarette in the other ….. He can probably keep waiting for that once in a million random mutation to strike. Or can organizations actually engineer the creative process proactively ….. by drawing on the know how encoded in the gene pool of the system and using symbiotic relationships to collaborate and co-evolve innovative solutions, taking the organization to the next level of growth and existence.
The fact is that every organization has tremendous information encoded in its DNA and the irony is that managers think that they know everything and do not need help. Even if I know that I do not know something, how can I be seen as admitting it in public ?? It was this ego that the primitive species did not have and hence continued to collaborate and evolve ….. and mind you, this was not only collaborating with other members of the same species, but at times with species competing for the same resources, to create a dynamic balance with win win for all. While bacteria are associated with disease, they are also vital for our survival ….. The story of evolution of life on our planet is one of cohabitation and co-evolution, rather than of combat and rivalry !!
Shammi Sethi
Roll No. 09PT2-93
Submission – II
Why Countries supported India for UNSC seat?
India gets highest numbers of vote for UNSC seats in 5 years, received 187 votes out of 190 votes. United Nation Security Council (UNSC) consists of five permanent members United States, United Kingdom, China, Russia and France. In addition there are also 10 non-permanent elected members for 2 years term.
Main functioning of UNSC is maintaining international peace and security.
1) Negotiate and solve any disputes between countries which may spurt international frictions.
2) Formulate and recommend any action program to settle down the disputes between the countries.
3) Apply economic sanctions along with other measures to any country to prevent any aggressive attitudes which may threaten international peace.
4) Taking any military action against any country involved in aggression.
5) Empowered to recommend for admission of new members and appointment of UN Secretary General.
India’s bid for permanent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) membership has been unequivocally backed by permanent members France, Russia and the United Kingdom. China has recently supported the bid. India has in the last few years, worked hard to garner support for a significant number of the member-countries in favour of its inclusion in the Security Council. U.S. has not yet endorsed India.
There are compelling reasons to consider India’s appointment as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. India has more than a billion people, representing about one sixth the population of the whole world, and it is the largest functional and stable democracy in the world. It is a role model for the third and post communist worlds. It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world as a result of liberalization of trade policies in the last decade. India, with its ancient civilization, rich heritage, deep rooted democratic system and growing economic potential has the credentials to champion the cause of the developing nations which need proper representation in the Council.
Indian society is comprised of 1 billion Hindus and 150 million Muslims — the second-largest Islamic population in the world — reflecting the diverse religious tolerance that is critical. India’s million-troop army is one of the world’s largest, and it is well-trained in counter terrorism and a strong participant in peacekeeping and civil-relief activities. India’s navy, by far the most capable in the region, protects vital sea lanes in the Indian Ocean and projects power and influence across a vast strategic arc spanning southern and eastern Africa, the South China Sea and Australia.
At the present time, the Council does not fully represent the world population, such as developing countries. India had always been looked upon by the third world to provide a moral leadership in voicing its views. India could emerge as a model for other countries in establishing a secular order.
Sandeep chhokar
Roll No. 09PT2-87
Submission – 1
Is he the right choice for us???
Every second day we watch on Television or in print media that Rahul Gandhi is the only iconic youth leader present in our country who can make our country prosperous in every way possible. He is the messiah for all the poor people of India and will change their lives soon. No doubt Rahul Gandhi’s strong political background has helped him have an edge over his political rivals. However, let us not foster the illusion that he is an able leader simply by virtue of his political legacy.
Don’t think that his manipulated & cosmetic gestures like sharing food with Dalits will ever turn him into a true leader. It is just a show off and quick gimmicks to attract media attention. May be the sycophants in Congress fool him and others but he lacks the charisma to emerge as leader of the masses. However hard he try, he cannot elevate himself to the level of Gandhi and Nehru by delivering statements like “If anyone from the Gandhi-Nehru family had been active in politics, the Babri Masjid would not have fallen.”
In his first interview to the foreign media he boasted that his main focus would be on reducing caste and religious inequalities ”.However, going by his statement, can’t we see that he is pursuing the same appeasement policies which Congress is used to since Independence. The Congress party is interested in his larger than life emergence in National politics. Why should we love him when he is no different than others.
Have a look at his austerity drive. Nothing has changed as we found several leaders of Congress enjoying VIP arrangement during their so-called tours of Dalit villages. In one such Rahul’s austerity campaign in Chennai, more than One crore was spent by the party. What kind of values is he trying to introduce in Indian politics.
Great leaders are often shaped by hardships and the ironies of life—in this case, Rahul Gandhi’s privileged upbringing has done nothing for him. Since most of the Gen-Next leaders have been unable to shake off their elite tastes, a huge rift exists between them and the ordinary citizens whom they wish to represent.
We need real leaders. We don’t need charismatic leaders devoid of substance. If charisma and larger than life image are most important elements in the making of a leader then what’s the harm in having all the movie stars as our leaders.
Sandeep chhokar
Roll No. 09PT2-87
Submission – 2
Rajinikanth - India's Jamesbond
No matter what people say about the popularity or global appeal of Rajnikant versus Bollywood, the opinion about Rajni being the true Boss is unshakable.
Rajni’s style is unmatched. The way he looks & walks, his punchlines, flipping of the cigarette & sunglasses — his actions are just out of this world. And yes, he does not go overboard with his performances.
There is a unexplained phenomenon about Rajini and it is not simply that Tamil people are worshipping him. After the release of Muthu in Japan he was a craze there (his film Muthu was dubbed in Japanese as The Dancing Maharaja and became a huge hit in 1995). The Japanese has Fan Association of him in many japanese cities. He is famous next to Jackie chan and called as 'Dancing Maharaja'.
Rajinikanth's success is all the more remarkable considering he has no obvious aptitude as a dancer - a talent so desirable for Tamil musicals. His eccentric mannerisms and histrionics have earned him the nickname Style King. He is the second-highest-paid actor in Asia after Jackie Chan.
His fans thought nothing of queuing from the early hours outside cinemas on the day of the film's premiere. Rajinikanth's followers have been known to perform Hindu bathing purification rituals on his posters. The success of Enthiran (ROBOT) ensures that their worship of the megastar will continue.
At least half that statement would be heartily agreed with by members of the more than 6,000 Rajinikanth fan clubs that have spawned across India.
A review in slate.com explains him in a very funny way:
"If a tiger had sex with a tornado and then their tiger-nado baby got married to an earthquake, their offspring would be Rajinikanth".
Sandeep chhokar
Roll No. 09PT2-87
Submission – 3
Politics in India & America
Isn’t politics everywhere like this. Well, yes and no. Politicians everywhere are human beings who respond to incentives, and they’re obviously in it for the power. If they only wanted to do good to humankind, they’d be social workers or businessmen – successful businessmen are successful because they serve the needs of people – or columnists. Not politicians.
Still, if you compare Indian politics with American politics, it is easier to find politicians there who stand up for certain principles even when those are unpopular. Consider the ongoing US primaries, for example: John McCain consistently speaks out against torture, even though the Republican base prefers a more macho position. Hillary Clinton has repeatedly refused to apologize for her 2002 vote for the Iraq War Resolution, or admit that it was a mistake, despite the Democratic base being so strongly against that war.
In America, the character of the leaders you are voting for matters, as do the policies they support. People vote for whichever politician comes closest to their worldview, and that worldview is a mix of complicated factors, from economics to politics to identity. In India, identity dominates.
Most Indian politics is identity politics. Mayawati’s rise or Lalu’s long reign in Bihar stand testament to it. It’s also entitlement politics, a politics of give-and-take, of promises made, sometimes material – remember Karunanidhi and his nine million colour TVs that he distributed – sometimes pertaining to jobs and power. But higher principles are entirely absent from such politics. And yet, our politicians couch their rhetoric in the language of principles, fooling only the wilfully self-delusional.
Sudipta Kumar Maiti
Roll No - 09PT2-098
Submission 1
Medical Tourism
Medical tourism is a fairly new term used to describe an amazing amount of people globally that travel world-wide for health care. Before there even was a term ‘medical tourism’, it was common practice among the well-to-do in third-world countries to travel to the USA, Switzerland and Germany for medical care. However recently this trend has been reversed and now countries such as Thailand, India are attracting patients from the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom.
This new market has grown as modern health care systems all over the world are struggling to meet the medical needs of their own populations. In the United States, the price of health care is beyond the means of most and there are an estimated 40 million people without health insurance. While in Britain, Canada and Holland, Government supported health care ensures affordability, demand for medical services far outstrips supply and waiting lists for surgical procedures or specialty medicine can be as long as two-to-three years.
There are a lot of different medical/surgical options for medical tourists. Primarily, medical tourists get elective procedures such as cosmetic surgery, hip and knee replacements, dental procedures, infertility treatments; any procedure that is usually not covered by insurance or has a long waiting time in their home country.
By and large, medical tourists are travelling for specialty surgical and medical services. The recent upsurge in the popularity of plastic surgery, however, has led to a new wave of medical tourists and headlines like “Sun, sea and surgery” or “Scalpel tourism” have helped create the buzz for this growing phenomenon. Medical tourism destinations, such as Thailand, promote the benefit of high-quality medical care as just one more reason to visit the kingdom.
Elective out-patient procedures like check-ups, dental care, and LASIK eye surgery are becoming increasingly popular and there is a growing interest on the part of the tourism industry to include these services as part of their travel packages. Higher intensity medical services, like spinal and cardiac surgery, pose a greater challenge because these medical services are not as easily packaged and require significantly more knowledge about medicine.
The potential cost savings for medical tourists are huge and as a result are one of the more important factors in seeking treatment in India. It is important to note that the cost for each individual will vary depending on their need and requirements. Usually, an elective procedure such as a knee replacement would cost on average of $30,000 in the US. Whereas getting that same procedure done using similar quality parts in India would cost 40 - 60% less than the cost in the US, including the hospital stay, all procedure and physicians costs and transportation to and from India. The costs compared to UK are similarly lower by about 40 - 60%. This is mainly possible because of favorable currency exchange rates.
Reliable figures on the size and growth of medical tourism are hard to come by, as government and immigration statistics do not yet categorize inbound travelers coming for medical care. With an increasing number of foreign patients flocking to India for treatment, the country could earn Rs 100 billion (US$2.3 billion) through 'Medical Tourism' by 2012, a study has indicated.
Southern states of India, especially, Kerala has developed Health Tourism as one of the products for the promotion of tourism in Kerala. Most hotels and resorts are coming up with the spas and Ayurveda Centers as an integral part in Kerala. India has an international reputation of being a knowledge-based economy. The available talent base of over 500,000 doctors and seven 700,000 nursing professionals, India can provide Medical and Health care of international standard at comparatively low cost.
Shammi Sethi
Roll No. 09PT2-93
Submission – III
Devaluation of dollar?
What is it that is making the U.S. Dollar drop in value? Do you think that the devaluation of the American Dollar is good for the rest of the worlds' economy?
There is a dollar crisis in the world economy due to the level of American debt, which is the largest debtor in history, owing between $70-$100 trillion. The devaluation of the U.S. dollar means a decline in the purchasing power of the dollar, which leads to a decline in living standards. For example, if the US dollar declines 40% and you had a million US dollars, the million dollars will only buy $600,000.00 worth of goods and services. You would have lost $400,000.00 in purchasing power. Any type of investment in dollars, such as saving accounts, saving bonds, annuities, pensions, etc., will suffer from this decline. The US dollar is the world trading currency, which means all goods and services are priced in U.S. dollars. With U.S. dollar devaluation, the impact on international trade is tremendous. Any countries trading with the US will immediately raise their prices in anticipation of this devaluation.
All commodities, such as oil, coffee, chromium, copper, iron, etc., are setting record prices due to the dollar decline and anticipation of the US dollar devaluation. This is one reason why oil is now over $50.00 per barrel. The oil producers know that the dollars they are receiving for their oil is declining in purchasing power, so they raise their prices to protect their investment. No one wants to hold a currency that is declining in value. Since no currency is fully backed by gold or silver, the US dollar is the world reserve currency and means that the various nations' central banks, which create money for the countries, must have their currency backed by the US dollar. Now the problem arises when the US dollar begins to fall in value, as the result of the Federal Reserve Bank printing too many dollars to cover budget deficits, causing inflation, a decline in purchasing power.
Real money has been gold and silver for the last 5,000 years. As the US dollar declines in value, people, investors and nations will flee to the strongest currencies, such as the Swiss Franc and Euro.
Central banks and people also began to buy gold and silver as a hedge against the decline of the dollar. Gold and silver rise dramatically in price as the demand increased and everyone sell dollars.
Sudipta Kumar Maiti
Roll No 09PT2-098
Submission -2
Radio Taxi Business in India
Radio taxi Business :
The radio taxi business is taking off in a big way in India, with several private operators investing large sums in setting up call centers, acquiring a fleet of new cars, incorporating latest gadgets in their vehicles and hiring trained drivers. Demand for radio cabs is soaring in the metros and large cities as companies, executives, international tourists and affluent Indians opt for travelling in well maintained and modern taxis. They do not mind paying a slightly higher fare to travel in the comfort of air-conditioned taxis. The radio cabs business has emerged as one of the fastest growing businesses in the Indian transportation sector. In the past, passengers at airports, railway stations and bus terminals, or those wanting transport at odd hours of the day had to depend on unreliable public taxis, often having to pay much more than the stipulated rates. Cabbies often fleece out-station passengers landing at airports, many are rude and some even join hands with criminals to loot the newcomers. In recent years, many companies, especially in the information technology and ITeS (information technology enabled services) sectors, have hired a fleet of cars to transport employees from their homes to the work place and back. But those travelling to airports and railway stations – both on work and vacation –had to depend on unreliable public taxis.
A few entrepreneurs had started the radio cab business in cities such as Delhi and Bangalore about eight years ago, but the service did not catch on. It was only about two years ago, when a handful of operators entered the scene, that the business gained momentum. Today, nearly a dozen operators run efficient radio cab services in cities such as Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Pune. They operate under brands such as Meru, Megacabs, Easycabs and Metro Cabs.
Unique Business Model
The radio cab business operates on a unique business model. The driver cruises around a city, his (or her – as some companies have started hiring female drivers to attract women customers) ears alert for any messages on the global positioning system (GPS) or the general packet radio service (GPRS).When a customer dials the call centre of a radio cab firm, the operator locates vehicles that are closest to the caller and seeks the driver’s response. Once a driver confirms with a ‘bid’, the vehicle’s number is flashed back to the customer.
Radio cab firms operate on a 24x7 basis. Customers can book a vehicle even a day or two in advance. The vehicles are clean, air-conditioned and well-maintained, the drivers are well-groomed, polite and hired after a thorough check of their credentials. The government-fixed fares are transparent (calculated on a kilometre basis, and not fixed – or haggled – arbitrarily as often happens at airports and railway stations), the meters are digital and tamper-proof and the customer gets a printed receipt on payment.
Radio cab operators plan to install equipment that would enable them to accept credit or debit card payments. Importantly, the vehicles are tracked by the call centre, so customers are assured that it is safe to travel even long distances late at night. Even for the ‘subscriber’ the business appears to be attractive. The driver (or franchisee) has to pay about US Rs 500 or a little more a day for the vehicle and the rest of the income is his.
Some drivers in Mumbai and Delhi now take home around 2000 a day, more than double their previous earnings. Of course, some of them have taken a bank loan to put in their share of the initial investment, but for now it appears to be a lucrative investment.
Rajeev Thakur
Roll No: 09 PT2-77
Submission 3
Bihar: after election, what next?
Fifteen years of Lalu’s raj that bought down Bihar down by almost 30-40 years with no electricity, virtually no roads, no source of employment, no law and order and basic amenities of life being deprived to the people of Bihar. Yet, it took 15 years for the people of Bihar to understand this and through him out of power with hopes that the next Government might bring in changes which will improve the situation and help them get the basic requirements.
Well with Nitish becoming the chief minister, the expectances were huge and the problem was where to start from? Nitish Gov. took couple of urgent issue and tried to build upon it starting with law and order, employment and roads. He continuously sought help and support from public and encouraged them to participate in various activities that the government initiated. It was not easy to compensate for the huge loss of last 15 years, but the advantage Nitish got was that any small change or efforts in that direction got lot of appreciations and public help as it was a start from zero.
Time went on quickly and Bihar was ready for next round of 5 year election. The 2010 election verdict saw a great comeback by Nitish, where in Nitish led NDA alliance which won 206 out of 243 Assembly seats to form the government in Bihar. Nitwit’s triumph in 2010 Assembly polls was the biggest victory for any political leader in the state. The victory made it a verdict which meant a death of caste voting and confirmation of development based politics. The celebrations were over in couple of days but the question still remains the same, what next? Where will it go from here? Will Bihar be transformed to a prospered peaceful and developing Bihar in next five years? Or will the wait never end?
Nitish and his team need to think and answer this with out loosing any time and must come out with clear cut time bound agenda for the development and try to achieve what he promises by the end of the fourth year to keep the fait of people who came out and voted for the development. Though things have improved quite a lot in last 5 years but Bihar has barely more then the very basic infrastructure, law and order situation and employment. With this it can not hope to get the India growth story replicated in Bihar, not at least for another 10 years. Then what is the way out? This leaves Bihar to identify its own strength and work it out to emerge as winner in near future.
One of the strength Bihar still holds a rich topography, which can be easily described as a fertile alluvial plain occupying the Gangetic Valley. The plain extends from the foothills of the Himalayas in the north to a few miles south of the river Ganges as it flows through the State from the west to the east. Rich farmland extends throughout the state.
Bihar is richly endowed with water resources, both the ground water resource and the surface water resource. Not only by rainfall but it has considerable water supply from the rivers which flow within the territory of the State. Ganga is the main river which is joined by tributaries with their sources in the Himalayas. Some of them are Saryu (Ghaghra), Gandak, Budhi Gandak, Bagmati, Kamla-Balan and Mahananda.
A combination of rich farmland and richly endowed water resources can bring in the much awaited 2nd green revolution for Bihar and India. It’s not going to be easy, this will require adequate social support, help to reduce uncertainty in agricultural product, lack of credit availability, innovative technique, latest machinery etc. but with primary resources being available and strong political and public willpower can take it a long way ahead boosting the agriculture sector growth in India and also helping Bihar generate employment despite the fact that industrial growth trend will take long to reach Bihar
Raeev Thakur
Roll No. 09 PT2-77
SUBMISSION 1
The Rise Of Sleeping Giants
The biggest theme the world has started seeing is the much talked story of shift in power balance in the global economy from west to east. If it continues in this manner it will not be the simple story of rise of emerging markets but this is going to be the story of rise of sleeping giants which will see permanent shift in economy, power and politics from west to east.
The economic leadership was lead by US for most of 20th century especially after the cold war, US emerged as the undisputed leader as far as economy, power and politics were concern. The growth of the Brazil, Russia, India and China are challenging the undisputed leadership of western world.
As per the report by Goldman Sachs, ‘Dreaming with the BRICS’ historically economic and political power has been with the largest creditor nations. Based on South Americal gold, Spain dominated the 1500s. Holland in the 1600 on the back of seafaring trade and France hold sway in the 1700s. Great Britain dominated 1800s based industrialization and imperialism and finally the US take on the mantle of largest creditor in the 1900s. China with more then $ 740 billion in treasuries accounts for 60% of US national debt and has emerged as manufacturing hub with strong exports can be next in the row. The only challenge can come from India as “India has the potential to show the fastest growth over the next 30 and 50 years. Growth could be higher than 5%over the next 30 years and close to 5% as late as 2050 if development proceeds”. As per the report, China is almost certain to be the largest economy and India may not be far behind US while Brazil and Russia will leave the European powers behind.
So, what changes could this bring to the world?
The power equation pre cold war might emerge again to change the power equation from present uni-polar alignment where US is dominant to multi-polar world which might see the third world countries attached to China’s centrally-driven economy model and stronger ties between India, US and its allies to balance the China dominance. The trade forum will be more important and will have to come out and collaborate more closely at an economic level to avoid exploitation of there member nation by the multi-polar world. International companies with strong brands and flexibility to adopt change will benefit the most from this market. The rise of emerging countries will bring is huge demand for oil, food, water resources which will put increasing pressure on environmental resources. Countries rich in Oil might see an increase in the economy but in long term they may loose to alternate and renewable energy sources. With sharp rise in food demand the agriculture sector will play a dominance role in fulfilling the food needs.
The biggest challenge currently faced by China and India are mostly common. The infrastructure development has been difficult with the size and population of these nations. These countries are still not completely open to world economy and are still seen as protectionism. Social safety net is not strong hence they have high saving rates. The only differentiating factor is China is hugely externally-facing economy where as India is self consumption oriented country. It will be interesting to see how western world try and grab the internal China market and will China open its door for such thing to happen. For India the major challenge is to boost the FDI flow in order to increase the manufacturing center in India and try to improve its external facing economy.
Narender Singh
Roll No. 068
PT-PGPM-OCT09
International Business
Submission-I
Topic: Development of India's infrastructure from global standpoint
Phenomenal growth of India's GDP since last couple of decades has eventually put India into the category of world's emerging economies.
This has attracted world's attention and day-by-day whole world is contracting into a global village where more and more countries are getting dependent heavily on each other.
Be it in terms of goods/services or import/export. Robust economic growth and a buoyant outlook are drawing attention to the status of India’s infrastructure and its ability to support future growth. Existing infrastructure remains under severe stress, with rapid urbanization compounding the shortage. According to experts, India could unleash its full growth potential and grow at 9 to 10 per cent p.a. provided it improves the infrastructure facilities.
India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world with growth averaging 7.2% p.a. in the last decade. The growth of infrastructure services, however, has not kept pace with the economic growth: For example, not a single city in India receives water for 24 hours a day. At the same time, peak power shortages remain in the double-digits at 12%. And the average turnaround time at ports is 3.85 days compared with 10 hours in Hong Kong. The road situation is not much better:
According to a McKinsey report, India’s road quality is well below global standards – only 25% of national highways are two or four lanes and close to 90% of highways are structurally inadequate to support truck loads of more than 10.2 tons.
Overall, there is a broad acceptance that infrastructure development has a direct bearing on sustainability of economic growth and future development. The economic marvel of the high-growth Asian economies has been accompanied by substantial investments in infrastructure. Evidence also suggests that creation of infrastructure has large multiplier effects and has a significant impact on poverty reduction. Though there has been some improvement in infrastructure development, there are still significant gaps that need to be bridged. Public-private partnerships are a necessary ingredient to bridge this deficit. India can negate the impact of the current global economic slowdown on its economy by stepping up the momentum on infrastructure.
Narender Singh
Roll No. 068
PT-PGPM-OCT09
International Business
Submission-II
Topic: Long term effect of slowdown on a country’s economy
Slowdown and growth are two sides of a coin and can not avoid either of these on compromising other. Though, we never want the economies to be in slowed down phase but somehow in the garb of growth, base for slow down continues to build up. Financial crisis that took place in the world’s largest economy was mainly due to unrealistic confidence in the self correcting strengths of market regulatory failures, unbridled greed of the executives of financial institutions, high increase in household debt and public debt, high levels of consumption and poor asset qualities compounded by an overall lack of transparency and financial integrity. The crisis has mutated into, initially, a slowdown in the developed countries and subsequently a global economic crisis and a development crisis, particularly for the least developed countries.
The crisis has produced or exacerbated severe, wide ranging and disparate impacts across the globe. The negative impacts, which vary by region and level of development, include the following:
• Rapid increases in unemployment, poverty and hunger
• Deceleration of growth, or severe economic contraction
• Negative effects on trade balances, balance of payments and foreign reserves
• Dwindling levels of Foreign Direct Investment
• Large and volatile movements in exchange rates
• Growing budget deficits and falling tax revenues
• Drastic reduction of world trade
• Sharp contraction in exports
• Falling prices for primary commodities
• Declining remittances to developing countries
• Sharply reduced revenues from tourism
• Massive withdrawal of private capital flows, also increasing the funding problem of the private sector in emerging and developing countries
• Drastically reduced access to credit, and trade financing
• Reduced public confidence in financial institutions
However, the greatest impacts may be difficult to quantify. At its heart the present crisis is a crisis of human security. The impacts of the crisis include the loss of self-esteem and self-worth, the evaporation of hope in a better future, despair, and fear for what the day of tomorrow may bring.
Narender Singh
Roll No. 068
PT-PGPM-OCT09
International Business
Submission-III
Topic: Effect of cultural mismatch on an enterprise business
Culture plays a pivotal role on an enterprise business having global operations that involve human resource of different culture, religion, ethnicity, language, human values etc. The dynamics of the business world are changing with great rapidity. Increasingly,
organisations are electing to form alliances and forge synergistic working relationships with their
competitors to achieve competitive advantage in the global economy. Although strategically
founded, these trans-national and global alliances need to factor cross-cultural issues into their
agreements in order for them to be successful. This paper proposes an enabling framework for
competing organisations to establish cooperative alliances to mutual business advantage. Since
these arrangements are characterised by both competition and co-operation the phenomenon has been termed “co-opetition”. Historically, such arrangements have been approached with protective caution, and are thus neither easily formed nor managed. Many co-opetitive alliances have been aborted; less often around issues of strategic conflict, but more because cross-cultural issues have been insufficiently considered, explored, understood and accommodated. The framework classifies cross-cultural co-opetitive alliances based on strategic similarity or complementarity and cultural compatibility, offering specific recommendations for the successful implementation of each.
Sehdev Gupta Submission - 01
09PT2- 092
Political Marketing..
Politician is a person actively engaged in politics, especially a full-time professional member of a deliberative assembly and who is experienced or skilled in the art or science of politics, government, or administration.
When we hear the word politician, some not-so-good adjectives come to mind. Politics is the game of power and how can a game of power be an easy one?
However, if we have a look at their strategies with a business perspective (and ignoring the ethical aspect), the politicians are actually marketers. The dilemmas that a political party faces are pretty much the same as those faced by a marketing professional. Come to think of it this way: every political party has a symbol (logo in terms of marketing), a unique image for the public (brand positioning), which it communicates through extensive campaigns (promotions), makes some promises (value proposition) and then battles it out with other parties to ‘sell’ itself to the electorate.
Political Marketing: An Introduction
• Use of Marketing Concepts and Techniques in Politics
• It is concerned with how Political Actors & Institutions behave with regard to citizens.
• Political Marketing Studies the relationship between a Political Organization’s Product & demands of its market.
A Party’s Product
• Leadership
• Policies
• Constitution
• Activities
• Symbols
The Consumer
• The Public
• Electorate
• Financial Donors
• Tax-Payers
Election Facts
• A candidate in exchange of votes offers Political Leadership and is a service provider.
• A political campaign is based on
– What voters think?
– What competitors are saying?
• A young, fragmented & more informed electorate.
• The decline of Party Loyalty
• The high cost of running an election.
Environmental Forces:
A. Technology
– Internet – Online survey, Social networking, Commercials.
– Television - Commercials, Television Debates, Media Analysis
– Mobile – SMS, 3G Technology
B. Structural Shift
– Primary and Convention Rules – One constituency differs from the other
– Financial – Fund availability & Contributions.
– Rallies – Leadership Quality, Communication Skill.
C. The Power Brokers
– The Candidate
– The Consultant – State president & Prabhari
– The Pollster - Supreme Court Ban
– The Media – Investigative journalism, Sting Operations, Whistle Blowers, Candidate performance review
Strategy Implementation:
• Primary Stage
– In the initial phase of the campaign, strategy should be flexible to accommodate the twists and turns of election
• Final Stage
– When the campaign moves into final leg of the race, implementation of the strategy should be carried out with sharp focus
• Monitoring and Controlling the Strategy
– Prabhari & Mantri constantly review how well their strategy is working through Market Survey and Poll
Finally, public votes and politicians come into the power.
Sehdev Gupta Submission - 02
09PT2- 092
Indian Industry Overview:
Indian leather industry is the core strength of the Indian footwear industry. It is the engine of growth for the entire Indian leather industry and India is the second largest global producer of footwear after China. Leather shoes and uppers are produced in medium to large-scale units and the sandals & chappals are produced in the household and cottage sector.
Leather footwear exported from India are dress shoes, casuals, moccasins, sport shoes, horrachies, sandals, ballerinas, boots. Non-leather footwear exported from India are Shoes, Sandals and Chappals made of rubber, plastic, P.V.C. and other materials.
One of the major factors for success in niche international fashion markets is the ability to cater them with the latest designs, and in accordance with the latest trends.
The Indian Footwear Industry is gearing up to leverage its strengths towards maximizing benefits.
India has had mixed fortunes in its recent export performance. In 2000, exports of shoes were US$ 651 million, in 2001 these increased to 663 million but declined in 2002 to 623 million dollars (See Statistics).
The main markets for Indian leather shoes are UK and USA, which between them take about 55% of total exports.
There are nearly 4000 units engaged in manufacturing footwear in India. The industry is dominated by small scale units with the total production of 55%. The total turnover of the footwear industry including leather and non-leather footwear is estimated at Rs.8500-9500 crore (Euro 551.3-1723.1 Million) including Rs.1200-1400 crore (Euro 217.6-253.9 Million) in the household segment.
India's share in global leather footwear imports is around 1.4% Major Competitors in the export market for leather footwear are China (14%), Spain (6%) and Italy (21%).
Few Interesting Facts:
- The Indian footwear retail market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 20% for the period spanning from 2008 to 2011.
- Footwear is expected to comprise about 60% of the total leather exports by 2011 from over 38% in 2006-07.
- Presently, the Indian footwear market is dominated by Men's footwear market that accounts for nearly 58% of the total Indian footwear retail market.
- By products, the Indian footwear market is dominated by casual footwear market that makes up for nearly two-third of the total footwear retail market.
- The Indian footwear market scores over other footwear markets as it gives benefits like low cost of production, abundant raw material, and has huge consumption market.
- India is the Second largest footwear producer after China
- 16 % of the global production is produced in India
- Contract manufacturers supply to leading global brands
Future Prospects:
Future growth of Indian footwear industry in India will continue to be market driven and oriented towards the European and the US markets. Technology partnerships with major merchandising houses in USA and market leaders in Europe are decided advantages in the integrated developmental plan of India. Investment backed technology support for footwear component industry is being sought to be outsourced.
o Footwear is the engine of growth of the leather industry, currently accounting for an export value of US$1212 million, holding a major share of 41% in India’s total leather trade.
We have set an ambitious target of US$ 4.5 billion in respect of Footwear export from India by 2010-11 where the overall export of leather products will reach US$7 billion, wherein footwear alone will account for a share of 65% in India’s total leather export trade.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Shweta Pahwa
09PT2-95
On a smarter planet, answers are hidden in the Data.
With Nearly 2 billion people on the internet and with more and more of the world’s systems becoming digitally aware, there is greater diversity in the forms and shapes data is taking. Already, 30 percent of the Data in the world consists of medical images. With more planet-wide sensors than ever, a billion transistors for every human-more data than ever is being generated and at far greater speeds.
Yet, while data is growing at an exponential rate in volume and complexity, time is not. This is why no organization, city or country can afford “Enterprise Amnesia”. Whether your goal is to remain competitive or to change the world or both, you need to capture, understand and use all of your data. And that in turn, is why the new science of analytics must be core to every Leaders thinking.
This is not most importantly about volume. The key to moving from ‘Big Data’ to Smarter Data is to organize your information in all its diversity, to understand its context and to manage its continual evolution.
Through Smarter data, we can make sense of Information in all its forms. For Instance, Railways uses real-time insights about crew members and their schedules to cut staff shortages and overtime expenditure by 80 percent.
Through smarter data, we can also see how one piece of information relates to the things around it. Any data point by itself, is just about useless, but when you see it in context , when you analyse that context in real time and when you can automatically capture the connections that one piece of data is making with other pieces of data, then you have smart system – smart enough to make predictions.
A world of smart data offers enormous hope. It also raises important issues such as those related to privacy and security. These are challenges faced by all business and societies. But fortunately, as thousands of forward thinking leaders today are discovering their data’s hidden meanings don’t just make their compnies smarter. They also increase growth, transparency, sustainability and knowledge of entire industries, and of our whole planet which is turning bold prediction into a promosing reality.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Shweta Pahwa
09PT2-95
Maxing out on Minimalism
If I have to think of one major trend that defined women’s wear in 2010, it would have to be functional dressing. Don’t get me wrong, functional doesn't necessarily mean boring daywear. It just means comfortable, casual yet effortlessly chic well-crafted garments for women who are comfortable in and about what they wear. The truth is that nobody is going crazy anymore when it comes to runaway designs. Blame it on the aftermath of recession. There has been a shift towards elegant, no-fuss dressing. The science-fiction inspired clothing that dominated runways in the past few years has been shunned.
We are living in an era where there ia a problem of plenty. There is just too much information, too much twittering. This at a subconscious level has egged designers to cut down on excesses and go back the basics. And the resultant trend is a modern minimalism with a wickedly undertone.
Another interesting development of 2010 is the rise of the female designer, indeed most of the trendsetting designers for women’s wear this year have been women.
Today’s clothes are about comfort and clean cuts. At the end of the day, you need to have clothes which let you breathe and 2010 showed us just those.
Pankaj Kumar Mishra
Roll no.: 73 (PT-PGPM Oct09)
Submission 1
"U.S. Military Spending vs. The World spending And Spending for peace vs spending for war"
Global military expenditure stands at over $1.5 trillion in annual expenditure. This represents a 6% increase in real terms since 2008 and a 49% increase since 2000. This corresponds to 2.7% of world gross domestic product (GDP), or approximately $225 for each person in the world.
The 15 countries with the highest spending account for over 82% of the total spending.
The USA is accounts for 46.5% of the world total, distantly followed by the China 6.6%, France 4.2%, UK 3.8% and Russia 3.5%
The global financial and economic crisis has resulted in many nations cutting back on all sorts of public spending (often against the criticism of targeting sectors that were not responsible for the crisis), and yet military spending seems to be increasing.
The UN was created after World War II with leading efforts by the United States and key allies.
The UN was set up to be committed to preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Yet, the UN’s entire budget is just a tiny fraction of the world’s military expenditure, approximately 1.8%
The United Nations and all its agencies and funds spend about $30 billion each year, or about $4 for each of the world’s inhabitants. This is a very small sum compared to most government budgets and it is less than three percent of the world’s military spending. Yet for nearly two decades, the UN has faced financial difficulties and it has been forced to cut back on important programs in all areas, even as new mandates have arisen. Many member states have not paid their full dues and have cut their donations to the UN’s voluntary funds. As of October 31, 2009, members’ arrears to the Regular Budget topped $829 million, of which the US owed 93%.
Pankaj Kumar Mishra
Roll no.: 73 (PT-PGPM Oct09)
Submission 2
POVERTY IN AFRICA
I spend my childhood in a village in Bihar. Although in a true sense I personally never felt poverty however saw many suffering from it. And while growing I realised that Bihar is not pnly one to see the poverty but AFRICA as continent suffers from it.
Its a shame for US and its other allies when they boast that they are working for global peace and progress. They should look into their heart and do the introspect.
Poverty is going empty with no hope for the future. Poverty is getting nobody to feel your pain and poverty is when your dreams go in vain because nobody is there to help you. Poverty is watching your mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters die in pain and in sorrow just because they couldn't get something to eat. Poverty is hearing your grandmothers and grandfathers cry out to death to come take them because they are tired of this world. Poverty is watching your own children and grandchildren die in your arms but there is nothing you can do. Poverty is watching your children and grandchildren share tears in their deepest sleep. Poverty is suffering from HIV/AIDS and dying a shameful death but nobody seems to care". Poor Grandmother " Poverty is when you hide your face and wish nobody could see you just because you feel less than a human being. Poverty is when you dream of bread and fish you never see in the day light. Poverty is when people accuse you and prosecute you for no fault of yours but who is there to say some for you? Poverty is when the hopes of your fathers and grandfathers just vanish within a blink of an eye. I know poverty and I know poverty just like I know my father's name. Poverty never sleeps. Poverty works all day and night. Poverty never takes a holiday".
-- A child dies every three seconds from AIDS and extreme poverty, often before their fifth birthday.
-- More than one billion people do not have access to clean water.
-- Every year six million children die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday. (sources: UNICEF, WHO)
-- More than 50 percent of Africans suffer from water-related diseases such as cholera and infant diarrhea.
-- More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day, 300 million are children.
-- Of these 300 million children, only eight percent are victims of famine or other emergency situations.
-- More than 90 percent are suffering long-term malnourishment and micro-nutrient deficiency.
-- In sub-Saharan Africa, measles takes the life of a child nearly every minute of every day. An effective measles vaccine costs as little as $1 per child. (source: WHO)
Look what western countries (US, Canada, German, UK, France etc) are saying is correct? Shame on them....
Pankaj Kumar Mishra
Roll no.: 73 (PT-PGPM Oct09)
Submission 3
BUSINESS IN AFRICA
Africa offers a consumer base of more than 900 million people. While more than half of Africa is estimated to live on a dollar or less a day, the other half does not, and they are hungry for products and services. Even among the poor, there are surprising opportunities.
According to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the UN trade agency, UNCTAD, Africa offers the highest return on direct foreign investment in the world, far exceeding all other regions. While petroleum products are the driving force behind those returns, other sectors offer impressive growth.
Africa ranks first in the world, according to most current and professional assessments, in the concentration of the world's largest accumulated reserves of gold, antimony, bauxite, chromite, cobalt, diamonds, fluorspar, hafnium, manganese, phosphate rock, platinum metals, titantium, vanadium, vermiculite and zirconium. Africa supplies up to 6% of the world's demand for aluminum, cement, coal, copper, graphite, iron ore, lead, steel and zinc; and it supplies up to 31% of the world's demands for bauxite, cobalt, gold, manganese, phosphate and uranium. Additionally, Africa supplies up to 57% of the world need for chromium and diamonds.
When an opportunity has been lost, there is often the assumption which is commonly portrayed in the media that Africa is a risky investment. This, in reality, is simply not the case. In fact, there are huge opportunities going begging on this continent. The only proviso is that intensive research must be carried out on every factor prior to implementation.
Vikas
09PT-118
Submission 1
US President Visit: Do you allow each and every Salesman in your home?
The US President Obama was on a business trip to India last month. His recent electoral losses weighed heavily with him when he made deals reportedly worth US$10bilion that would create about 50000 jobs back home. Wow! What is there for India? In a new avatar of an (sic) Indian politician, he was seen with the gimmicky industrialist Anil Ambani and has surely mastered the skill of project announcements like Indian politicians. It seems the art of fooling electorate has caught up with US politicians too. His visit had the sweetener of support for the India’s UNSC seat and similar deals that were on the table. The way the Obama tried to sell his ideas shows the irony that in today’s transactional world of commerce the president of the biggest economy looks like a mere commercial agent. But we must ask ourselves that if the nature and kind of business offers he has made are worth to believe or laugh off? Do we allow any salesman into our home even if the product is not of desired quality?
Let’s see how it happened. President Obama came to power on the promise of change. He assured his country (and the world) that he would shake the country out of the corporate grip and would make a difference in the way the US runs its own (and world’s) economy. The promises were made at the time when the world was facing the Subprime Crisis (due to greedy US bankers) and the business model US tries to export to others was revealing its nasty underbelly.
But on his trip to India he was seen as the agent of the same business model., which is bringing not only his country’s economy down but also bringing the world to one disaster(Greece) after the another(Ireland). He was again seen selling the Biotechnology business to the agricultural economy of ours. The myth that US will help India to revive and grow the agriculture industry is hopeless. At this stage where the India has weakened policies and infrastructure, the US companies are seeing the opportunity to sell their biotechnical tweaked, genetically designed food product through companies like Monsanto etc. The fact that this agriculture model is failing in his own country where the cost of cultivation is high and it is running because of huge subsidies which it feels non viable in India’s case. In India we have huge umber of people to feed and we need to develop a model developed to grow nutritionally good and environmentally sustainable food.
Narottam Sharma
09PT2-69
Oct 2009
Google in China: A geopolitical thriller
The saga of Google in China this year shows what can happen when the irresistible force of the Internet meets the immovable object of a paranoid state bureaucracy. Google in January declared that a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack" on its infrastructure, coming from China and possibly involving employees, had resulted in some of its intellectual property being stolen. Google, which decided to stop censoring search results in China, said the December attack on its servers had targeted the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. In March, Google began automatically redirecting Internet traffic from its Chinese site to its site in Hong Kong, which provides uncensored search results. The move angered Chinese officials and threatened to derail the renewal of the company's operating license. To win over Chinese officials, rather than redirecting traffic automatically, Google decided to send visitors to a "landing page" with limited services, from where they can choose to click on a link leading to the Hong Kong site. The compromise resulted in the renewal of Google's license. Intellectual (INTC) property rights and the battle over access to data, however, are issues that will no doubt continue to shade relations between Western companies and the Chinese government
Narottam Sharma
09PT2-69
oct 2009 Sumission 3
I'm fed up with my corporate IT career. What other career paths might I consider, where my skills and background might be transferable?
IT professionals at all levels often turn to contracting or consulting after losing their jobs or upon deciding they've simply had enough of the corporate world. The move from IT practitioner to IT consultant is a mostly natural one: IT professionals use all of the skills and knowledge that they've honed over the years to solve a variety of clients' problems.
One challenge that some IT professionals face upon moving into IT consulting and contracting is drumming up business. They may have the technical chops to solve any programming problem or the organization skills to get a flagging project back on track, but some IT pros lack the business development and back office accounting skills necessary to run one's own business. For advice on setting out your own shingle as an IT consultant, see the variety of articles CIO.com has published over the years on that topic:
Of course, there are other career options open to IT professionals that take advantage of their skills. Janice Weinberg, a former IT executive and author of Debugging Your Information Technology Career, says IT professionals who've worked in healthcare might consider becoming healthcare administrators. She adds that network security administrators might consider parlaying their IT security expertise into the insurance industry, where they could move into cyber-liability insurance.
Another option—if you have good communication skills—is to get a job with an IT research company, such as Gartner Inc. (IT) or Forrester Research. These companies seem to like to hire individuals with practical IT experience.
Kushal Sharma
Roll No. 09PT2-058
Submission 1
Wiki-Leaks:
Is wiki-Leaks victory of openness or a threat to national or I will say International Security. Julian Assagne thinks it is transparency that had triumphed. Officials and security experts are trying to figure out how to stop such a large-scale breach from happening again.
The WikiLeaks brand is certainly more recognizable around the world since "Cablegate," but, more important, the organization has developed extensive contacts with the media. Such contacts allow it to ensure that the leaked documents wouldn't just collect virtual dust on its Web site – a fate that befell the vast majority of their pre-Cablegate items.
This explains why a thousand other Web sites dedicated to leaking are unlikely to have the same effect as WikiLeaks: it would take a lot of time and effort to cultivate similar relationships with the media.
Even if Wiki Leaks can be controlled, have the gates opened to a flood of similar enterprises and even more damaging disclosures.
The vast impact of worldwide importance of the cable leaks means that in the future, mainstream media outlets aggressively seeking news will setup a means to monitor most leak operations similar to Wiki-Leaks helping to ensure that in future we have constant stream of published leaks. The question is not about happening of these events, but is it a good thing?
Kushal Sharma
Roll No. 09PT2-058
Submission 2
Bill Clinton Back in White House:
“I'm going to let him speak very briefly,” Obama said Friday, upon introducing Bill Clinton in the White House briefing room for his triumphant, self-adulating return.
Clinton, a former president who still pines for the limelight, did not speak very briefly. He spoke, rather, at length, about the tax cut deal, about Hong Kong stimulus, the Haitian prime minister, green energy investors in Nevada and the number of events he did supporting candidates in the 2010 midterms. “I did 133,” he said.
The idea was to have Clinton come out to show his support for Obama's tax cut compromise, but Clinton spoke more about himself. Nearly every verb he spoke was preceded by the word “I.” Even his simple statements about his devotion to altruism sounded inappropriately self-referential. “I had quite a good time governing,” Clinton said at one point. “I'm glad to be here because I think the president made a good decision, and because I want my country to do well.” At another point, he put it this way, “I'm out of politics now, except to say I love my country and I want to get this economy going again.”
When a reporter's question gave Obama a brief moment to take back the microphones, he seemed to move towards them, but Clinton did not give way. So leaning, Obama said that his wife had been waiting for him for a half hour, at a previously mentioned holiday party, and he was going to leave. “I don't want to make her mad,” Clinton responded. “Please go.” Indeed.
The television cameras cut Obama out of the shot, making it look for most of the world like Clinton was again president, holding forth before the presidential seal
Kushal Sharma
Roll No. 09PT2-058
Submission 3
The Cost of Babies:
We all know about diapers and formula (or a breast pump) and eventually college. But a pair of recent studies suggest that having babies might cost more than we thought. It's not just that your expenses go up when you have a kid. It's likely that your income goes down as well. Both studies are focused on the wage effect of having children, and both find that women and to a lesser extent even men who have kids end up making less than their childless peers. And the difference can be large, as much as 40% less. The studies show that the wage effect can have a significant impact on when women chose to have children, as well as what professions they pick.
It is easy to observe that women who take off time to have a child often see a drop in their wages. First of all, they lose out in the income that they would get while they are at home. Second it may take years for them to reenter the workforce. And when they do, many have to enter at a lower level or in a different profession than when they exit. It has been long assumed that much of that wage gap comes from women without college degrees or who have little job experience trying to restart their careers. Women with advance degrees and a high-skills, it was always assumed, would quickly make up the gap. That appears not to be the case. Worse, even women who don't take off time might see a drop in their earnings after having a child.
The problem it appears has to do with flexibility. Either in perception or reality, there is judgment in the workforce that people with children lack the ability to work that "extra hour" when needed. Hence, having a baby costs you more than just Diapers, school and college.
Is stalling parliamentary proceedings a right way for political parties to make their protest.
The recent deadlock in parliament created by BJP and other opposition parties demanding for a JPC probe into 2G scam, led to a huge scuffle and loss of precious parliamentary time and activity. It is not for the first time that this has happened. Stalling parliamentary proceedings by the opposition parties have become a norm over past years.
Questions : What has this achieved ? How far has this been in the interest of the people? Could not the demands be pressed in any other way? Is it fair to thus paralyze the Parliament for an indefinite period?
Different aspects of the issue should be examined.
It should be remembered that in the heyday of bourgeois democracy, while capitalism was still a progressive world force, the Parliament, as a part of the political superstructure, reflected that progressiveness. Democratic procedure and norms were respected in the Parliament, the Opposition was respected, and so were its views.
Honest difference of opinion was valued, there was tolerance of the opinion of others, forebearance — and all these lent seriousness and purposiveness to parliamentary debates, elevating its standard. But with passage of time, capitalism lost its erstwhile progressiveness, became crisis-ridden, a reactionary world force and decadent. This degeneration was reflected in the Parliament, too. Even in India, whatever parliamentary standards were there to start with after independence, have degenerated.
Parliament has retained only its outward structure and pomp, but has become bereft of its positive essence.
In the era of decadent capitalism, difference of opinion between the bourgeois parties has narrowed down, there is no basic policy difference between them.
So, the standard of debate has also fallen drastically. It has been a notable feature in recent times that the trend to shorten the parliamentary sessions is increasing dangerously in India, so that there is less scope for the people’s grievances and resentment to be ventilated. The parliamentary parties have really nothing substantial to say against one another. They spend time on the floor discussing points like minor budgetary adjustments and even spend time on frivolous debates.
During the tenure of the erstwhile NDA government led by BJP, cases of corruption did exist and congress while in oppostion did make hue and cry about it and tried to obstruct parliamentary proceedings. Similarly, many such cases come up in parliament whichever is the party in power.
In reality, none of these parties seriously mean their opposition to corruption and criminal activity, they level charges and counter-charges against one another as stunts. Indulging in cheap stunts has become their politics. None of them is at all concerned at the huge wastage of public money caused by the disruption of Parliament.
If the BJP were really concerned about the country and the people, and serious about rooting out corruption , they would have taken to this course involving the people.
Through this manoeuvre of disruption of the Parliament, the BJP, the Congress and the parties like the CPI(M) and CPI — all benefited. That is, all except the people.
What is required now is a mass people's movement led by some true representatives of the people (though there is a lack of it, as How many true representatives of the people can get elected through the election process, utterly dominated by the money provided by the ruling class to the parties subservient to it, by muscle power and the organized propaganda in their favour by the monopoly-controlled media. )
However, They have to go on working with this aim, because it is mass movement that is the determinant in the matter of wresting the people's demands. It is the real, decisive weapon in the hands of the people.
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