From a revolutionary concept, e-learning has become the fastest growing trend in education in a span of 20 years. The idea to use technology and impart technology through the internet has been brought into practice in several parts of the world. In May 2007, children in Uruguay began to learn via laptops under the ‘one laptop per child’ scheme. The scheme was the brainchild of Nicholas Negroponte (founder of MIT’s Media Lab) and it was designed with the help of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In October 2009, in Nepal, where 70 per cent women and 35 per cent men in the country were illiterate, an educational initiative called ‘Room to Read’ paved way for the students to embrace technological learning and expand their horizons through Skype and Google.

Pavan Chauhan, Managing Director Meritnation.com, says online education has undergone changes for the good. “Until recently, online education amounted to a little more than electronic versions of the old-line correspondence courses. That has really changed with the arrival of web-based videos, instant messaging and collaboration tools such as interactive games and puzzles that can help a child grasp concept in a manner that is likely to make his understanding more permanent. The basic idea is to leverage technology to identify and understand each student’s specific learning needs and provide them customised content to nurture the learning curve.”

The virtual classrooms give you enough time to set your own study time from anywhere, where everything is delivered online. There is a vast room for students to communicate and interact with other students across the country and the world. Documents, transcripts, live discussions, training materials and even instructors are all available at convenient times. These courses have enabled one to earn a degree at various levels – associate, bachelors, masters or even a PhD. Click here to read more...

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Managerial attitudes and it's implications

Professional versus personal life of Rajul:

Here, it is important to understand that Rajul is not a happy person and not satisfied with his job. He always thought that his job is monotonous with no creativity. Despite good earnings and high stature he had acquired over a period of time by impressing the top brass of the company, he was dissatisfied with his job. This dissatisfaction led to frustration, ultimately spoiling the environment at home. Rajul and his wife often quarelled on petty issues and he even scolded his two kids, one seven and other five.

Gradually, he started to think that his boring and monotonous work environment resulted in depression and anxiety for him, which created a bad environment at home.

Not only home, Rajul felt the pressure at office too. Being a senior employee, he was always answerable to the managing committee of the company. The managing committee of GT included Ms. Goldy (chairman), Mr. Gaurav (vice-chairman), and three other professionally independent qualified persons. To have proper administration, management and monitoring, the weekly meetings were held on a regular basis. The weekly meeting was chaired by Mr. Gaurav, while the minutes were prepared by Rajul. The meeting was attended by all three senior managers.

He recalls that a week ago, some incidents that occurred in the office had disturbed his sleep for a long time. The two issues happened one after the other and ultimately resulted in a major crisis.

When he was referring to the news relating to the Asian market tender opening advertisement in the local newspaper, Ms. Goldy approached him in bad mood. Ms. Goldy is considered a short-tempered person who has no control over the words she uses when angry. She demanded the annual financial report of the year that just ended. The annual report was supposed to be prepared by Mr. Ravi after consultation with Mr. Gaurav. Being a senior person, he felt guilty on not following up with Mr. Ravi on the issue relating to the status of annual report. Click here to read more...

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If this is how you treat martyrs...

Many of you might dismiss this as a plug; but believe me, this one comes straight from the heart. If you can spare some time, please read the cover story of The Sunday Indian magazine that is available in the stands. You will read about a police constable Pratima Rout, one of the few who survived the Maoist massacre of Nayagarh (Orissa) in 2008. She was hospitalised with four serious bullet wounds. Forget adequate care, appreciation and compensation, Pratima realised that a senior cop of the IPS cadre actually stole some of the money allotted to her for treatment. The police department of Orissa now wants to recover the money from her. The same police department kept sending her notices demanding why the bullet riddled Pratima is not reporting for work. You will read about Mase, the widow of martyr Ganga Madkami, a policeman killed during a Maoist mine blast in Orissa in 2008. Mase and her eight year-old son Sunadhar, stay in a tribal village in the Malkangiri district – far away from the state capital Bhubaneswar. She is crestfallen and defeated by India’s bureaucracy; the illiterate widow has to go every month to Bhubaneswar and bribe a gang of ghouls (office babus) before she can lay hands on the pension due to her.

There is yet another case in which the Chief Minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik personally intervened; or so the media reported. Sub-Inspector Ajit Bardhan was abducted and butchered by Maoists in July 2009. His retired father Jaykrishna Pradhan suffered a heart attack. The CM personally visited their house and issued categorical orders that the father and the widow (who incidentally went into labour on hearing of her husband’s death) be taken care of. Today, the retired father is doing the rounds of government offices because even the provident fund and family pension of his martyred son is yet to be released. There are numerous destroyed families of martyrs in Orissa – and everywhere else in India – who are going through more state-sponsored trauma.

Just forget all the hogwash about India Shining. How in God’s name can a nation and society even have the temerity to lay claim to greatness, when it so callously treats the families of those who laid down their lives to protect the nation and the society?

I could be biased because many of my close family members serve in the Armed Forces. But really, the shame is searing and scathing. I recall the summer of 1999 when India was fighting the Kargil war. My brother-in-law who belongs to The Rajputana Rifles, was sent with his unit to Kargil, leaving my sister and two young kids behind at Faizabad where he was posted. At the height of the war, I actually saw my sister being heckled by the railway reservation clerk at Faizabad who mocked at the fact that her husband had been sent to fight a war and she needed a train ticket that was her right as a citizen. I realised that day that the most destructive legacy the British had left behind was the bureaucracy. 


Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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

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BRASS TACKS

New Delhi-based nonprofit Wildlife Protection Society of India suggests that since the tiger numbers have declined, at least 141 leopards have become victims of poaching so far in 2008.

It’s not that we don’t want to settle down at one place with good amenities, but working in the forest comes easy to us and all other vocations seem difficult. My children are studying here in the school run by WWF, especially for our kids. And after living here, they now don’t want to go back to the jungle life. Though we might earn more money in what we do and there is nothing like living with one’s own community, we are still ready to settle here if the government helps. But if it takes long, we will have no choice but to resume hunting. To you all, animals must be important more than human life, but for us they are a means of living.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Turnout mystery!

Unthinkable voter turnout initially baffled analysts, but it seems this is realpolitik

Groom Piara Singh, wearing a sehra (wedding head gear) became the centre of attraction at the Bikhangala polling station in Udhampur district when he arrived in a vehicle along with 60 baratis. Polling staff as well as voters, already standing in a queue, were amazed to see the marriage party at polling booth. And a woman, injured on the way to her booth, cast her vote before she went to the hospital. And this is the story of Jammu & Kashmir today. Separatists had issued an election ban diktat. But the result? In all but two constituencies, voters amazed India: the highest turnout registered was 77 per cent in Mendhar constituency in the first phase. Even more surprising is that Mendhar had seen a voter turnout of 60 per cent in 2003. Surankote and Poonch-Haveli also saw tremendous rise in voter turnouts. Surankote had voted 40 per cent in the last election and this time scored 74.38. This rubbished all predictions of a poll washout under threat from terrorists and moderate separatists, so much so that when this happened analysts were hard pressed for a proper explanation. The ground reality was two-fold. Many voters, without wanting their names out, told TSI that it is all right for separatists to give a call, “but so long as we are in India, we need the MLAs for our every little need. Who will get us the power, the water or the roads?”

Besides, it is also a fact that many in the Valley came out to vote in chilling cold because they feared staying at home would give the Bharatiya Janata Party a lead. And for the village people, this was one occasion, too, to go out and do something different than just sit and shiver at home!....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Political analysts liken this to the Santhal Rebellion

In fact, it was when the leaders – including Lalmohan Tudu, Sidhu Soren and Chhatradhar Mahato - went to inform the Lalgarh police station about the Rail Roko call, that senior officials assured them of looking into the major issues. The Committee sat for four hours to hammer out the deal with Additional District Magistrate (General) Aaron Israel, Additional Police Super (Town) Shubhankar Sinha Sarkar, DSP (Operation) Arnab Ghosh and other senior administration officials.

It is important to recall that the massive tribal stir that swept away CPI(M) cadres and chased away police from village after village in the entire Jungle Mahal area, flared up in protest against mindless police atrocities in the wake of the so-called bomb attack on a convoy of state Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on October 8. Police unleashed a massive repression. A pregnant woman suffered a miscarriage in brutal beating. Police arrested three school children and some women, accusing them of trying to assassinate the CM! By the way, the atrocities were focussed in the same Chhotopelia village where the tribals surrounded the CRPF party on December 8.

The upsurge has now spread across Bankura, West Medinipur, Purulia and also Nadia and Barddhaman, where tribal people are not so large in numbers. And Lalgarh today is being likened by analysts to the Santhal Rebellion against the British Raj that had shaken the Empire! Possibly sensing is, Bhattacharjee apologised for police atrocity in the state Assembly, but that has clearly cut no ice....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

"Even if the militants are linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, who do you think we are fighting?"

The Mumbai carnage and subsequent developments have also alarmed the US government because war between India and Pakistan would mean diversion from the "war on terror", that is neither in the interest of the US nor the vast majority inhabiting South Asia.

"In some ways that whole region is like a forest that hasn''t had rain in many months and one spark might be enough to touch off a blaze," said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino on December 1, the same day US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Pakistan to provide "total" cooperation with India on the Mumbai attacks, as she began a trip that includes a "solidarity" visit to New Delhi.

Deterioration in Pakistan-India relations would only strengthen anti-democratic and fascist forces in South Asia, including rogue elements in intelligence agencies and would be a blessing in disguise for Islamic militants adamant to push Pakistan back to the medieval ages.

"The timing of the Mumbai carnage clearly indicates that terrorists want to sabotage the peace process between Pakistan and India. The two neighbours should seriously cooperate to apprehend the culprits and refrain from accusing each other because that would only serve terrorists," said Karamat Ali, director, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, a thought echoed by Anis Haroon, general secretary, Pakistan-India People''s Forum for Peace and Democracy.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Jallianwala Bagh.

Defending the renovation work, trustee S. Mukherjee says; “We are not destroying any historical site. In fact we are preserving and renovating the memorial so that more people can relate to it. Otherwise the old building would have crumbled.” However, one of the lanes demolished was the one in which patriot Udham Singh, who was later to kill General Dyer in England, had helped the injured and the dying. A new wall is being constructed at the main gate for a light and sound show that is to be introduced here.

However, ITDC engineer maintains that the bullet marks on the walls are being preserved carefully and red sandstone is being used to give the monument a heritage look. The ambitious project was proposed by Maninderjit Singh Bitta, former president of the Indian Youth Congress to late Prime Minister P.V. Narsimha Rao. However, the project could see the light of the day only after a high-level meeting of the board of trustees was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The project also include making of videos and CDs of the proposed light and sound show and distribute it throughout the country as part of an awareness campaign. The next question is about an entry fee. “All the historical monuments in the country have an entry fee, the only exception being the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial entry for which is free for visitors," says Mukherjee. Baba Bilga says: “The government should not convert the historical monument into a tourist place.” But no one is listening, as the old order changeth, indeed, yielding place to the new.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Chartered accounts win!

The Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), one of the last three All India Institutes still remaining at Kolkata, is all set to shift to Delhi. The shift, interestingly, is motivated by a strange logic: to be in closer proximity with the power lobby at the Centre! However, many of the members fear a hidden agenda behind amalgamating the ICWAI with The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) at Delhi, where now cost accountants will be swallowed by their bigger counterparts, the chartered accountants.

Since it is being felt increasingly difficult to feed the growing number of practicing chartered accountants, it is now necessary to substantially take away the market of practicing cost accountants, disclosed sources close to ICAI, speaking on condition of anonymity. The CAs will do all the work, including those earmarked for cost accountants, while the latter can be junior partners or employees of chartered accountants in multidisciplinary firms now being envisaged in the Limited Liability Partnership Bill 2008 tabled recently in the Parliament.

The Bill seeks to dilute, or eliminate, the provision of cost audit by cost accountants. For instance, in Clause 131(2) of the Bill on Statutory Cost Audit, the very ‘qualification’ of cost auditor has been omitted. Clause 131(5) of the Bill specifies that ‘qualification’ of general auditor (financial auditor) will also apply to cost auditors and such ‘qualification’ of auditor is specified in Clause 124(1). And what is that qualification? “A person shall be eligible for appointment as an auditor of a company only if he is a chartered accountant in practice”. It means chartered accountants will now do cost audit, replacing cost accountants!....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

The myth of freedomania

Do freedom and development go hand-in-hand in the context of undeclared province, region or territory? Both freedom and development are integral and are equally needed for overall growth. To make things clear, let’s consider the newly independent state of Kosovo – in Europe. Are average Kosovars happier after the independence?Are they economically, socially or psychologically better off than they were under Serbian rule? Issues like ethnic conflicts, corruption, economic hollowness, high unemployment rate along with dearth of investment, poor living standards, inadequate energy, food and basic amenities still loom large and are putting question marks on the hurried independence exercise. It continues to be the most underdeveloped state in Europe with per capita income being less than $1,565. GDP growth rate remains very low at around 2-3 per cent while the unemployment is over 40 per cent.

On this the World Bank had prophesied that even with six per cent annual GDP growth rate (which is double than the current growth rate), it needs at least 10 more years to cut the unemployment by half (from 40 per cent to 20 per cent). For most Kosovars, independence was a dream come true but unless the basics like electricity, safe drinking water, education and employment become norms than exceptions and unless the Kosovar polity meets every promises they made during the freedom struggle, freedom in its real sense would continue to be elusive.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Encounters in the Wild

I was woken just before dawn by the persistent calls of warblers and sunbirds. Emerging sleepily from the confines of the ancient forest bungalow, built during the British Raj at Dimbhum in Kerala's Satyamangalam forest block, the first sight to greet me through the light mist was a bevy of small minivets adorning the compound trees like so many scarlet and yellow Christmas decorations. The freshness in the air, the sounds and the ethereal ambience created by the mist enveloped me and transported me to days when all of India must have been as verdant, as invigorating.

Lost in thought, I was shaken from my reverie by a bird which flew low over my head from behind me to settle on a nearby banyan tree. Through my binoculars I saw its flaming-orange and black coloration and leafed through the Salim Ali's Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent to discover its flycatcher identity. I quickly added another `tick' to my lifetime tally of 210 species of birds and settled down in the short grass, a steaming flask of tea for company, to observe the bird from a distance of less than 20 metres....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Assam Blasts - Ominous Bloody Thursday

Harekrishna Deka
ex-DGP, Assam & Sr Journalist

India has increasingly become the target of terrorist bombings in the recent past, with blasts in Jaipur, Gujarat, Bengaluru and Delhi taking the lives of scores of people. Had the explosives not been recovered in Surat in time, and had the conspiracies in Mumbai and Chennai not been detected, the catastrophe would have only been greater. That organisations such as Indian Mujahideen that could in reality be a form of SIMI, and that there is a form of jihad that a section of communal extremists now subscribes to as a means of revenge is becoming more apparent by the day.

So, is there a foreign hand that now extends from a neighbouring country, in so far as the blasts in Assam on October 30, 2008 are concerned? One must mention in this context that the needle of suspicion in India’s blasts over the past months has often pointed to Harkat ul Jihadi Islami (HUJI), an organisation that has its roots in neighbouring Bangladesh. The blasts in Assam have meanwhile been claimed by an outfit called the Islamic Security Force of India (ISFI-Indian Mujahideen). The IM suffix, one gathers, could link the outfit to both HUJI and SIMI.

Significantly, the ISFI is not an organisation that has appeared suddenly out of nowhere. It was way back in the year 2000 that the Special Branch (SB) of Assam Police had gathered evidence regarding the existence of such a group. There is enough such evidence to establish that the ISFI at that point in time attempted to organise the Muslim community against Bodo ultra groups such as National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), which operated in the lower Assam districts. It was then that the name of Muhammad Mushtaqil, the secretary of ISFI, first surfaced as a terror element who had the support of the al-Qaida and was associated with the al-Omar, an outfit that operates in Pak Occupied Kashmir (POK). One could analyse that the ISFI, which then kept itself beyond the radar of the country’s intelligence agencies used its time to broaden its base of operations. While there were then no established links of the ISFI with HUJI, one shouldn’t overlook the fact that Bangladesh’s HUJI is a creation of the al-Qaeda and that the HUJI called itself the “Bangladeshi Taliban”. One, hence, could believe that the ISFI comprises a sleeper cell of the al-Qaeda.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Faced with near total isolation, DMK is trying to woo PMK

IIPM Publication
Inside DMK, there are intra-party and family feuds. Meanwhile, continuing power shortage in the state is a thorn in DMK’s flesh. Karunanidhi took an aggressive stand in the Lankan issue and even he won the support of PMK. Ramadoss participated in the human chain organised by DMK and both leaders met each other briefly then. But after that the softer line on the Lankan issue – penned by a Central diktat – found Karunanidhi become the whipping boy of all state parties, including the PMK. Perturbed by all these, there was a strong rumour last week that Karunanidhi might quit Chief Ministership!

This is why the PMK is now crucial for DMK. Ramadoss has not immediately extended the olive branch. The ongoing Assembly session, perhaps will throw some answers to the future course of the party. “There is speculation that our leader would like to meet the Assembly elections midway, along with the general elections. Meanwhile AIADMK wants to upset us in the Assembly by causing defections. Till parliamentary elections, it is tough time for us,” a senior DMK functionary told TSI. But Karunanidhi has weathered many a storm in his career. He may come out successfully this time too!....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

The search is on

It’s the last chance for Microsoft to mark a presence on the Internet. By devdeep singh & vareen ray
The first reactions were one of doubts and apprehensions. Oh, this looks like another one of those ‘failure’ deals like the merger between Internet giant AOL and media major, Time Warner Group. Analysts at the Yankee Group agreed: “Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Yahoo! raises many more questions than answers. On first pass, the deal feels like AOL/Time Warner all over again.” The second feedback was that of awe. Finally, Microsoft was willing to aggressively take on the Internet market leader, Google.

Finally, it boiled down to a changing mix of positives and negatives, depending on who one was talking to. However, the fact remains that if Microsoft’s $44.6 billion ($31 per share) bid for Yahoo! is accepted by the target company, it is bound to alter the dynamics of the global Internet search industry. More than that, the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal is perhaps the last resort for Microsoft to register its presence in the all-important Internet search arena, a segment it could never dominate, despite some valiant efforts in the past.

In many ways, this may be the last chance for software giant, Microsoft, to register its presence in the virtual world. For the Redmond-based major, it is the last opportunity to grab eyeballs and, hence, advertisers. In fact, with the Yahoo! takeover, Microsoft hopes to re-write its online search chapter, which is littered with carcasses of failures. It will surely be its last stop on the M&A expressway and freeway; in the past three years, Microsoft has acquired 27 big and small companies.

Before we get into the possible synergies and benefits for Microsoft if it gets Yahoo!, it may not be a bad idea to first establish why the software giant is desperately seeking the Internet company. The simple reason: most of Microsoft’s forays into the world of Internet haven’t been successful, and some of them have clearly flopped. For instance, its biggest push was through MSN, which was brutally crushed in its early days by the likes of AOL. Since then, the MSN search engine never really took off.

Agrees John Byrne, Director, Technology Business Research, “MSN is a popular site but far less so than Yahoo!’s online presence. Microsoft still lacks compelling content options to draw users away from Yahoo! and Google to its MSN website. The company invested heavily over the past one year to build datacentre capacity and acquire advertising tools (aQuantive), but still lacks the traffic to make ends meet in its online business.” That, in a nutshell, is the tragic story of Microsoft’s ordeal with MSN.

Microsoft’s Internet failures go beyond MSN. Whether it was the electronic bill presentment and payment venture MSFDC, the auto website CarPoint, HomeAdvisor, the home buying service or Passport Express Purchase , the online shopping service, all of them lost out in the wired race. Even the much-hyped acquisition of Hotmail couldn’t revive Microsoft’s fortunes. The fact is that Microsoft has pumped in over $10 billion to develop and run its Internet business in the last few years. But it was all in vain.

Today, analysts like Byrne are convinced that the only way forward for Microsoft is to buy out Yahoo!. In fact, this is not for the first time that Microsoft has expressed a desire to acquire Yahoo!. In 2006-07, it made attempts to do so, but without success. This time, Microsoft is more ambitious, and its bid price indicates this. It wants to grab Yahoo! at any cost. Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft, too is more hopeful: “We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners.” In theory, and on paper, the deal seems like a win-win one for both parties. “On the one hand, Yahoo! has some of the best content assets on the Internet, while Microsoft’s content assets are limited. On the other hand, both companies have ad platform assets that could be combined to create a strong portfolio for advertisers and publishers,” says an analyst from Technology Business Research.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Healthy competition

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

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

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


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

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

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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‘S’ome ‘M’ore ‘S’ervices

Text messaging moves to next level
After an enthralling 2007, which saw a lots of value added services like mobile money transfer and song catcher alluring the mobile users, the year 2008 is pegged to be even more exciting for the Indian mobile phone user. Telecom operators, in an attempt to broaden their customer base, are betting big on innovations to cater to the increasing demands of the mobile users. One such initiative is the launch of the SMS 2.0, a service that allows the users to send personalized messages and also get an access to services like news and cricket updates.

Airtel has collaborated with Affle, a mobile media company, to provide SMS2.0, which is touted to be the first up-gradation to the existing SMS services. The technology offers a host of unique features like colour messaging, background options and fun emoticons. Commenting on the launch of SMS 2.0, Sanjay Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Mobile Services, Airtel, said, “SMS2.0 represents a huge opportunity for Airtel to differentiate itself and gain both mind-share & market-share in various customer segments.”

However, what drives the whole idea of SMS2.0 is the content that this service will offer. Anuj Kumar, Executive Director (South Asia) Affle, says, “Content would be the major driver for SMS 2.0 and is also a significant part of the revenue model apart from advertising”.

Though SMS2.0 delivers user-relevant content seamlessly integrated into messaging, the fact that the service is only available for post paid connections on Nokia phones. Nevertheless, after 12 years of boring text-messaging, the Indian mobile user would definitely welcome SMS2.0. Also, with the speed at which the telecom companies are rolling out value added features to entice customers, SMS2.0 might just be the beginning of an agrressive suite of features to follow.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
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H(w)ealthy threshold…

Ashrams with limited resources are doing wonders for India
India – a country where medical expense is 7% and 5% of consumer expenditure in rural and urban areas respectively, it is quite a shame that even with profuse resources, the government chooses to spend only a measly 1% (approx.) on health, a figure which might just reach a mere 6% by 2010.

On the contrary, retrospection reveals that an unprecedented attempt is being made by a lot of ashrams in order to make a difference in the lives of the beleaguering lot who can’t afford to shell out lakhs for private medical treatment. For instance, the Ram Krishna Shewa Shangha has 15 hospitals with 2,254 beds and treated 84,690 patients in 2006 and this was further complemented by 129 dispensaries and 49 mobile medical units. And for that matter, the splendid Swami Ramdev Ashram near Hardwar is pioneered under the tutelage of the guru himself and has space for 5,000 patients who could be from any rung in the socio-economic spectrum. A patient whose treatment cost nothing less than Rs.26,000 was healed at almost an amount equivalent to zilch in the lesser known Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram.

With millions dollars of investments in the industry and emergence of hospitals like Rockland, Appollo, are catching eyes of millions. Unfortunately, high costs of medicare in those hospitals are beyond the budget of millions of middle and lower class Indians. In such situations, these ashrams are delivering quality medication with modern technology at cheap cost, world class infrastructure, environment, dedicated and experienced doctors and most importantly, unique approachability of serving, which is ‘unsellable’. Well, with the increasing number of Good Samaritans with good intentions in the motherland, it seems like India can really look forward to a new dawn in ambit of medicare and health.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Building dreams from slums

HEMANT SHAH: AKRUTI CITY LTD.
When you have an entire building to yourself in the snootily upscale Malabar Hills locality in Mumbai, the odds are that your swagger will have a panache that is distinctive. And if you betting big time on one of the most ambitious projects in the real estate sector in India, the swagger doesn’t look entirely out of place either. Sitting across the man in a plush sofa in a drawing cum living cum dining room, you can’t help these thoughts cross your mind as the energetic Hemant Shah, Chairman of Akruti City Ltd. bombards you with homilies, analogies and alliterations that are genuinely amusing.

Sample this gem from him when asked for his views on the tentative, apprehensive and reluctant steps taken by policy makers while dealing with the massive increase in dollar inflows into India. “As far as I am concerned, God is favouring India with pouring rain. So we must create new lakes, ponds and reservoirs to store and utilise the extra water coming our way. But what does our government do? It is trying to stop the rain with umbrellas!” he says.

In the big bad world or real estate in Mumbai & Maharashtra, very few entrepreneurs have been able to leapfrog from being one of the dozens of small time wannabes, into a modern corporation with rapidly growing revenues, and a clear vision on how to expand and grow over the next 10 years, as one of the premium real estate companies of India. Some names that come quickly to mind from Mumbai are the Rahejas and the Hiranandanis. By going public in January 2007 and raising Rs.360 crores by diluting 10% of his stake in the company, Shah has smoothly made the transition from a ‘builder’ to the CEO of a modern real estate company.

He is now in august company as one of the who’s who of India Inc. and is now rushing to cash in on the unprecedented boom in the real estate sector in India. Industrial parks, software & IT parks, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), satellite townships and organised retail – all promise to generate billions of dollars in revenues and profits in next decade or so in Indian economy. And Shah is not one to lose out on this golden opportunity.


As the smart analogies are unleashed by Shah in a torrent of words, you put your coffee cup down on the gleaming glass top table and wonder if he represents the animal spirits of the Indian entrepreneur unleashed in the 21st century. Of course, Akruti City, with an annual revenue of Rs.900 crores and market capitalisation, is not yet in the stratospheric league occupied by the likes of DLF, Unitech, Ansals, Rahejas and Hiranandanis. Compared to the $25 billion that K. P. Singh of DLF can claim as capital of his net worth, it would appear as if it would be a while before Shah and his company Akruti can lay claim to being one of the big daddies of the real estate sector in our country.

But you simply cannot doubt the confidence of the man even for a moment. “I do not benchmark myself against any other person or company. I have my own plans and am certain they will work out,” says Shah. And what are the plans? Akruti is doing what most real estate companies are doing at the moment in India. There is an under construction project in Panvel near Mumbai to develop a theme based township spread over 3,000 acres. There is a 134 acre SEZ coming up in Mumbai, besides more ambitious SEZs coming up in Pune and in Gujarat. Shah is excited about all this no doubt. But his eyes dance and sparkle when he talks about his ace in the hole – the slum rehabilitation project started by the government of Maharashtra. The sprawling slums of Dharavi are the arena in which Shah and Akruti aim to catapult into the heavyweight league in the Indian real estate sector.

Real estate companies are required to build modern flats for slum residents after a mutual agreement to which slum dwellers from Dharavi can shift. This will enable the company to use the vacated land in Dharavi for commercial purposes – developing office spaces as well as residential projects. Do remember that Dharavi is almost in the heart of the city and once the project is completed, real estate prices here will reach stratospheric heights. Any company that can grab a significant share of this project will almost certainly join the multi-billion dollar club. And Shah appears supremely confident that this will be his ace in the hole. Akruti plans to commercially exploit close to 10 million square feet of prime real estate through this project, a surefire way of getting into the billion dollar club.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
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India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs