Get real White House

Officials promoting Obama’s Drone programme continue to churn out the same old rhetoric of how grateful those in the tribal areas are every time a Drone strike is launched on Waziristan. Well I have news for the White House. Open your eyes, stop being in the denial mode and listen to the voices of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s) from Pakistan’s South Waziristan Agency (SWA), currently camped in front of the National Press Club in Islamabad on a hunger strike.

“The IDPs from Mehsud tribe have demanded an immediate halt to US Drone strikes and prolonged military operations in SWA which was launched in 2009 against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Protestors are vowing to continue their protest until the halt of military operations, which has resulted in the mass displacement of many (civilians ) from the region,” Saleem Mehsud, a Waziristan-based journalist said.

Last week, Farzarna Bari, Human Right Activists, Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader from SWA, Doost Mohammad Khan and elders of the Mehsud tribe participated in the protest camp. The IDPs stated that the Pakistan government should also take the matter seriously because “the coming generation of the Mehsud tribe are facing immense problems and are being deprived of basic facilities as a result of military operations”.

Advocate, Sherpao Khan Mehsud said the sit-in would continue until their demands were met. He said that drone attacks were not only killing innocents but were also violating the sovereignty of Pakistan. Mehsud Youth President, Jamal Shah stressed that “the military operation should be stopped immediately in which houses, markets, schools and colleges had been destroyed.” He also said the military operation “Rah-e-Nijaat” was started in 2009 in Waziristan and now hundreds have been forced into slums and living in terrible conditions.

The Mehsuds are not alone in calling for an end to drone strikes. I spoke to two members of the Wazir tribe. Arman Khan Wazir told me, “I am from Waziristan and because of drones, people are turning against the Pakistan Army and America. Children are joining Taliban because they have no facilities and they are becoming destructive minded. I can’t explain the destruction there in words.”

Imran Khan has long condemned drone attacks calling them a violation of international laws which also violate Pakistan’s sovereignty and is calling for America to identify the victims of drone strikes. He also criticised the government saying it had turned the country into a “Banana Republic” and that US authorities “were allowed to hit and kill any civilian at will inside Pakistani territory”.

Always quick to be on the scene for peaceful protestors, a tweet from Imran Khan read, “my full support for our FATA youth protesting drone attacks in front of Islamabad Press Club. Will try to go personally to join their protest.”

Says activist Raheem Ullah Wazir, “if we start doling out justice from the skies than we should get rid of the courts from the world. If someone is a culprit, he should be brought out into the open so that truth and reality is known to the world. Secondly, where is the sanctity of international borders? This is going to set a very wrong precedent. The money that is invested in drone technology could have been used to seal the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to keep out insurgents, if any.”

In an email, Hanif Ullaha, a Peshawar-based journalist, highlighted his arguments against the use of drones in an email to me, laying out the following points: it is illegal, induces collateral damage, abuses international law and norms for strike, is counterproductive and there is rampant extrajudicial killing... if Nazis could be brought to trial and prosecuted, why are the killers being allowed to get away scot free here.

I asked several people whether drones radicalized young people in the tribal areas and the answer was an unanimous “yes”. A man (name withheld) told me, “They take their revenge on the Pakistan army and get closer to Al Qaeda”. He admitted that he himself had considered joining the Taliban after the drone strikes but decided to stick to his studies.

It is important to note that a recent bombing of an army checkpoint which killed 35 people was claimed by Taliban to be in retaliation for the killing of two of its commanders by drone strikes. I argue that these “secondary” drone victims should also be added to the death figures to present a true picture of the impact of warfare. The Taliban also attacked the Pakistan government for what it called its “complicity” in drone strikes.

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

BBA Management Education

Fairs can spell money!

Cultural and religious festivals in India are of immense importance

Truly, religious festivals have not been confined to religious activities. Their contributions extend to economic development, employment creation and tourism. Among all, Kumbh Mela is one of its kind, claiming to be the world’s largest religious festival. The mela, which occurs once in three years in four different places including Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik alternatively, is happening currently in Allahabad. Around 100 million people are expected to join this 55-day festival. However, the economic contribution too is as gigantic as its crowd. A report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India estimated that the mela will generate about $2.2 billion of income for the city and create thousands of jobs. However, it is not the only religious festival generating revenue and employments for Indians; there are other melas including Sonepur Mela and Onam in the southern state of Kerala. The Sonepur mela brings good business to the local people. There were over 600 shops where sale of around 3,000 heads of cattle has been recorded. Onam, a festival of Kerala, has taken the international route, being celebrated in different places of the Middle-East including Dubai and Qatar.

Still, there are many lessons to learn from the way many countries have modified their festivals and marketed them at an international level. The Rio de Janeiro carnival has positioned itself as an international event, attracting an estimated 1.1 million visitors to the city in 2012 and with 5.3 million people taking part in street parties, an increase from 4.9 million people in 2011. Similarly, the Venice carnival attracts over three million tourists. Another classic example is that of the Mardi Gras carnival in the United States which generates a direct revenue of $ 144 million (more than $ 500 million by some other estimates) attracting more than five million visitors in New Orleans every year.

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

BBA Management Education

“Market size is growing”

B&E: Luxury car makers are moving towards affordable luxury. Wll this trend affect the core luxury car segment?
Kumar Kandaswami (KK):The luxury car market will more or less stay on track in terms of numbers and figures. I don’t think anything big is going to happen in the traditional luxury car segment. Yes, the market has slowed down and replacement of luxury cars will take a little more time. Corporate houses and businesses are big consumers of luxury cars and they get tax benefits on such purchases. But when profits are low there is no need to hide tax. So businesses are not buying as much as they used to in the high growth years. Affordable luxury product lines are new categories that players are trying to create to grow and expand the market. We need to see how these segments will evolve. But they would not replace the conventional luxury sedans.  

B&E: Apart from players like Mercedes, Audi, BMW, other players are also entering the luxury auto market. Do you think India is ready for such action in this segment?
KK: It will take some time for market to develop. India is a small market for everybody to jump in. Players are waiting for the market size to increase by 60,000 to 70,000 units, but that will take 3-4 years .Newer players like Volvo are doing fairly well and want to expand but developing the network and infrastructure will prove to be time consuming.

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

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

BBA Institute

“The best medium to deliver broadband Internet – fiber optics”

Sachin Deshpande, Chief Operating Officer, Radius Infratel, on the challenges and opportunities associated with Fibre-Optic-To-The-Home (FTTH) technology

B&E: How important is Fibre-Optic-To-The-Home (FTTH) for attaining better broadband penetration in the country?
Sachin Deshpande (SD): From a dial-up connection speed of about 256 kbps to now a slightly respectable figure of 2 Mbps or more, the Indian consumer’s need for Internet speed has been growing fast. And so is the case with their dependence on broadband due to high usage of social networking and video streaming. Given the technology, today, broadband connections can be given only by wireless service providers. The best medium that can deliver these broadband-based services is fiber optical network. That is why the concept of providing fiber-optic-to-the-home came in. There have been some attempts by incumbents to provide optical fiber connectivity to homes but they have really not worked well. On the other hand, we have countries like China, South Korea and Japan, where people have been using 100+ Mbps broadband speed for the last 5-6 years. About 3 years back, we saw the opportunity. While the service providers have been making attempts to set up optical fiber infrastructure, we thought that an infrastructure service provider like us should chip in to provide optical-fiber-to-the-home. We are putting in place optical fiber based last mile connectivity that can be utilised by various service providers to reach out to their customers.

B&E: What are the challenges with FTTH?
SD: It is a new concept in the country because traditionally, telecom infrastructure has been laid out by service providers in India. Today, we install this network independently and then convince telecom operators to use it. Convincing them is the first challenge. We also have to engage various builders and developers who are coming up with new residential and commercial projects. They are a very important part of our ecosystem. Most of the leading operators have liked the idea of embedding the last mile connectivity into their project through FTTH technology.

B&E: Could you elaborate on the technical part of FTTH?
SD: The concept of optical fiber to the home comes from GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) technology. This technology came in existence about a decade ago. Apart from this, Radius Infratel holds the patent for NANO ( Neutral Access Network Operation) technology in more than 25 countries. This solution allows us to integrate multiple service providers that provide a variety of services. We are a company that lives on innovation. India’s first smart pre-paid electricity meter was brought to market by Radius. We have our research labs in Noida and Delhi. These labs work on both innovation as well as localisation of already existing technologies.

Read more......

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

 

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

ExecutiveMBA

There’s much to fix between the piers

A raft of infrastructure issues is affecting the growth and prospects of our ports. In the face of capacity constraints, lack of connectivity and inadequate mechanization, ports are burdened with excess traffic they can’t handle

India’s vast coastline, stretching around 7,500 kms, is home to 13 major ports and around 200 non-major ports. These are spread across the nine maritime states that stretch along the country’s western and eastern corridors. Considering that about 95% by volume and 70% by value of the country’s international trade is carried on through maritime transport, ports in India are expected to demonstrate efficiencies to sustain the demands of growing international trade. Even otherwise, modern seaports the world over play the role of logistic hubs in the global transport system, integrating the supply chain and offering a competitive edge to exporters and importers.

Historically, ports were measured on their ability to accommodate ships and other modes of transport effectively and efficiently. Contemporary developments in transportation, however, dictate that emphasis shift to the ability of ports to fulfill new roles in the logistics era in the context of operating within integrated global supply chain systems. Ports are therefore expected to demonstrate efficiencies that help to cut total logistic costs and improve the overall competitiveness of exported and imported products.

Unfortunately, even in the wake of India’s growing maritime trade in the world market and the unprecedented growth in bulk commodities and containerized trade, major ports in India have failed to expand capacity and develop facilities commensurate with the growth in trade. In FY2011-12, Indian exports accounted for $303.7 billion, logging an annual growth of 21%. Meanwhile, imports grew to $488.6 billion, a 32.1% growth. This rapid growth in trade can be sustained only if the port infrastructure keeps pace with the increasing volumes of cargo. Indian ports, over the past decade, have seen a sharp surge in traffic, which has almost grown four-fold to 9.7 million TEU (One TEU represents the cargo capacity of a standard intermodal container, 20 ft. long and 8 ft. wide) in 2011, from 2.4 million TEU in 2001 - a growth of 395%. But our port-handling capacity is way short when compared to the throughput of major ports globally. Even the 9.7 million TEU handled by Indian ports last year represents just 8% of the global benchmark ratio for economic output and one-twelfth of global container traffic averages. Given that the Indian economy grew 7.8% for fiscal 2012, ports in India are in urgent need of capacity augmentation in order to meet the country’s growing economic needs and also to grow our share of international trade.

Over the last decade, our average annual growth rate of port cargo volume has been about 10% and container traffic is projected to grow to 40 million TEU by 2025. But India’s ports are ill-equipped to meet this surge in demand as they have not been able to significantly ramp up their capacity and efficiency. As a result, our ports are congested and lack cutting-edge facilities. Till date, no Indian port is capable enough of handling large container vessels. Thus, most of international cargoes are off-loaded at Colombo or nearby ports and then transported to India in bits and pieces. This very incapability robs Rs.10 billion from traders. Even the custom clearance at ports increases the transport time by an average of 84 hours. Not surprising that the World Bank has ranked India’s port infrastructure at 3.86 in 2010, where 1 stands for extremely underdeveloped and 7 for well developed.

Read more.....

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

 

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

ExecutiveMBA

Does this P&G ceo deserve the axe?

P&G chief Bob McDonald has come under fire after activist investor William Ackman called on the board to dismiss him. B&E finds out whether McDonald deserves more time and what the larger concern really is – survival of the CEO or the very company?

Bob McDonald, CEO of the $193 billion-worth consumer goods maker Procter & Gamble (P&G) hasn’t had an easy year so far. His neatly laid-out corner office on the eleventh floor of P&G’s Cincinnati headquarters, with mid-sized containers of the company’s products placed neatly on four columns of three glass racks each, do not reflect his not-so-calm state of mind. Outside it, employees are talking though. So are investors. Walk into the boardroom and you realise why all is not well at the company. At least not when its CEO is concerned. In recent weeks, he has won blame for not leading the company down the path of prosperity.

McDonald is not worried about winning support of fellow board members. They trust him. In the past three months, they have silenced critics by claiming so twice. The bother is an investor named William Ackman who today owns 1% of P&G’s shares.

To understand where the real trouble began, we turn back the pages to the second quarter of this year. On June 20, McDonald presided over a conference organised by Deutsche Bank in Paris. The CEO predicted lower-than-expected quarterly profits in the third quarter of 2012 (Q1, FY2012-13 as per P&G’s calendar). McDonald confessed that there were deep-rooted problems in P&G’s innovation mill and the subsequent execution of its strategy. For him, the admission did not bode well. Call it chance. On the same day, when Paul Polman (CEO of P&G’s biggest rival Unilever) delivered his speech at the Rio+20 summit in Brazil, he uttered no word of worry over Unilever’s bottomline or the existing lukewarm buyer ecosystem in his 15 minute-long monologue.

That Polman would have been worried about investors ready to question him on Unilever’s financials is out of question. Despite weak consumer sentiments in US and EU (where Unilever earns 44% of its revenues), his company’s bottomlines have increased in the past three years. Between FY2009 and FY2011, it rose by 26.17% to $5.51 million. In this light, McDonald’s talk that very day – which also included his plans to restructure the company and restore order in a troubled house – can be understood to be a mere justification of why P&G’s profits have fallen by 15.55% in the same period (to $10.76 billion).

This is where William Ackman (founder and CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management LP) walked in. An activist investor, he is known for management shakeups at retailers like Target and J.C. Penny. By the time July began, he was already sitting on a neat 1% of P&G’s stock, which his company bought for $1.8 billion. His first move post-purchase gave a sign of things to come. He forced McDonald to meet him on September 4, 2012, with a 75 page-long document of the issues that are troubling P&G. Also present were P&G board members Jim McNerney (CEO, Boeing) and Ken Chenault (CEO, AmEx). What Ackman was really trying to do was convince two key members of the P&G board through a quick chat that it was time for McDonald to leave. Investors were excited to hear of an intellectually quick Ackman arm-twisting the top management. That the company’s stock (which had remained flat for most of the past two years) unexpectedly rose to a 54 week intraday high of $70 – a 13% appreciation since trade began that day – was proof enough! But it wasn’t to be that easy for Ackman. Was he right in asking McDonald to vacate his chair?

Read more.....

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

 

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

BBA Management Education

A weak power sector: What’s the cure?

Power blackouts that occurred recently have put the spotlight back on a troubled power sector. Grid failures, shortage of coal supply, financial losses, poor infrastructure & governance, and political finger-pointing are making matters worse

For some, it was their worst experience ever. For others, it was a repeat of the horror. We are referring to the blackouts that left over 680 million people in a state of darkness and despair for long hours together on July 30 & 31, 2012. But more than the unforgiving power cuts and crippled state of trains and metro rails that resulted from failure of three transmission grids in the country, it was the kind treatment offered to the one responsible for the disruption that embarrassed India, Sushil Kumar Shinde (the-then power minister), that made bigger headlines. Post the incidence, Moodbidri Veerappa Moily was made the power minister and Shinde was asked to take charge of a higher office in the government. [He is today the Union Home Minister.] When questioned over objections raised by critics on this move, Shinde clarified that he rated the performance of the power ministry under his tenure as nothing short of excellent. “I have briefed the Prime Minister’s Office... In USA, light does not come for four days. Here we got it in a matter of hours. People should appreciate how work is done at the grid,” was Shinde’s justification. [He was referring to a blackout in North America in 2003 that lasted 4 days.]

Starting 2.35 AM on July 30, the whole of North India experienced a power cut for 10 hours after the Northern Grid tripped. The next day saw a bigger outage hitting 19 States and two Union Territories when the Northern, Eastern and North-Eastern grids all went on the blink. An estimated 684 million people, or a-tenth of the world’s population, were left without power for up to 8 hours. Shinde was quick to blame States like UP, Punjab and Haryana for overdrawing power.

The event that lasted two days was just a bellyache – a symptom of the deep malaise that afflicts governance in the power sector in India.

On the face of it, many would assume that the power ministry has its task cut out for itself. But hasn’t it always been so? Are long power cuts new to India? Has the 100 million tonne gap between coal demand and supply just emerged? Are issues related to supply of coal and gas new? Or has the fact that over 400 million people still lack access to electricity just struck India?

The recent grid failures that won India international shame and exposed the lack of grid discipline in the Indian power sector, could act as a trigger to implement corrective measures to eradicate problems which the sector is reeling under. That would call for bold measures on the part of the new minister.

To begin with, he will have to put in place a system that ensures strict adherence to grid discipline (a present, violations due to overdrawing of power by various states are common). As per the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), it had issued four directives to States not adhering to their set limits of drawing power. But to no avail. The reason – political compulsion. Moily though, claims that the guilty will be brought to book. “There is a provision to imprison authorities or the state chief secretary for disobeying grid discipline. Perhaps we need to enforce that,” he said.

Read more....

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

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

 

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face