This Industrial setup of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is the largest power station in India; but that’s not its only claim to fame. Pawan Chabra in his 70-hour long stay lives what Nehru had dreamt of!
After an overnight journey of 14 hours from the capital, I arrived at a place called Mirzapur. Another five hours by a “safe” state-owned transport bus and the last one hour by a three-wheeler, and the final destination was finally here – Vindhyanagar in Madhya Pradesh, where the National Thermal Power Corporation has its prosperous and well-maintained Vindyachal township. Of course, for lack of choice of a guest house in the township, my retreat for two nights and three days was called Yamuna Bhawan (one of the only two guest houses at the township; the other one was meant solely for VIPs), which stood about 500 metre from the main entrance gate of the township. After a brief rest of a few hours, I decided to walk around the colony, which covered about 50 square-km of ground.
On my initial interactions with a few residents, I learnt that just the previous two days (December 5-6, 2009), the Vindyachal Township had celebrated its annual fair called ‘Sharad Mela’ in The Lake Park for the 1600-odd families of the employees of NTPC who are currently residing in the township. Talking about his experience at the fair, U. P. Pani, who joined the company way back in 1978 and is today working as an Executive Director at the NTPC plant, explains, “There are popular rides like the Columbus and My Fair Lady. Then there are cultural programmes and eating joints that are organised. This fair provides the desired change and fun in the lives of families living in the NTPC Township and nearby areas...”
When it comes to infrastructure, NTPC’s Vindyachal hamlet earns some points too. Besides the aforementioned two guest houses, it has four schools, three recreational clubs and a flower nursery. Located in Madhya Pradesh’s Shakti Nagar district, the Vindyachal facility is one of the oldest plants of NTPC. Unlike many residents of PSU-townships across the country, those living in these parts seem to have little grudge for the manner in which this settlement has been maintained so far. “I have seen the township grow since I ever saw this place. It has only prospered since then... In fact, the condition of roads here is much better then those compared to the area around this township,” says a smiling Naresh Pandey, an auto-rickshaw driver who has been in the business for the past 15 years, driving in and around the township. Naresh helps me get around during the latter part of my journey.
After an overnight journey of 14 hours from the capital, I arrived at a place called Mirzapur. Another five hours by a “safe” state-owned transport bus and the last one hour by a three-wheeler, and the final destination was finally here – Vindhyanagar in Madhya Pradesh, where the National Thermal Power Corporation has its prosperous and well-maintained Vindyachal township. Of course, for lack of choice of a guest house in the township, my retreat for two nights and three days was called Yamuna Bhawan (one of the only two guest houses at the township; the other one was meant solely for VIPs), which stood about 500 metre from the main entrance gate of the township. After a brief rest of a few hours, I decided to walk around the colony, which covered about 50 square-km of ground.
On my initial interactions with a few residents, I learnt that just the previous two days (December 5-6, 2009), the Vindyachal Township had celebrated its annual fair called ‘Sharad Mela’ in The Lake Park for the 1600-odd families of the employees of NTPC who are currently residing in the township. Talking about his experience at the fair, U. P. Pani, who joined the company way back in 1978 and is today working as an Executive Director at the NTPC plant, explains, “There are popular rides like the Columbus and My Fair Lady. Then there are cultural programmes and eating joints that are organised. This fair provides the desired change and fun in the lives of families living in the NTPC Township and nearby areas...”
When it comes to infrastructure, NTPC’s Vindyachal hamlet earns some points too. Besides the aforementioned two guest houses, it has four schools, three recreational clubs and a flower nursery. Located in Madhya Pradesh’s Shakti Nagar district, the Vindyachal facility is one of the oldest plants of NTPC. Unlike many residents of PSU-townships across the country, those living in these parts seem to have little grudge for the manner in which this settlement has been maintained so far. “I have seen the township grow since I ever saw this place. It has only prospered since then... In fact, the condition of roads here is much better then those compared to the area around this township,” says a smiling Naresh Pandey, an auto-rickshaw driver who has been in the business for the past 15 years, driving in and around the township. Naresh helps me get around during the latter part of my journey.
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director in Washington University. Another great grandson, Prabodh is a doctor who works in a village in Gujarat. Harilal’s grand daughter Neelam works as a school principal in Nausari, Gujarat. Her son Sameer is an eye surgeon who works in a village in Saurashtra. “We are following in the footsteps of our great grandfather. Bapu believed in leading a simple life and serving the poor people. That is why we also chose to live among the poor and help them in our own ways,” says Neelam.
Mujib? Those involved in the plot or those who stood to benefit from this act will invariably say that the murder of Sheikh Mujib helped Bangladesh get rid of being subservient to Delhi and Moscow. It is true that Mujib and his party Awami League had and still has a pro-India image. India extended her hand of cooperation to Bangladesh’s struggle for independence. India gave shelter to 10 million refugees, trained the Bangladeshi liberation fighters, provided all sorts of supplies to them and finally, the Indian Army fought against the occupying Pakistani forces. So the good relations between Bangladesh and India during Mujib’s time was an obvious and logical conclusion of the nine months of bloody war.
around 3,000 jobs in Q4' of 08-09 from its offices all across the world. The major reason behind this move has been attributed to the falling sales volumes and product mix in the fourth quarter because of the surge in demand in the European and North American markets. The initiative is also in league with the company's plan of restructuring happening since last year. Needless saying, what else to expect from the company whose strategies are a failure.
or you’re just scared of the traffic cops slamming a fine on you, then this bluetooth earpiece from Bang & Olufsen is the perfect solution. Giving you crystal clear sound, this earpiece catches frequency ranging between 50 to 20,000 Hz. The bluetooth device comes with a two-year guarantee and a 1.2m extension cord.Price: Rs.14,700.
way to bring global peace instead of old gambles. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev along with his ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, have outlined a historic and holistic plan to have a grand international conference next year in Moscow. Almost all NATO and European Union (EU) members, some of Russia’s ex-soviet allies, China and perhaps India are expected to meet in order to establish a new security organisation to deal with issues like terrorism and illegal immigrations.
raised about how cost effective hybrids really turn out to be. NuWire Investor’s Cali Zimmerman compared the Toyota Camry hybrid with the normal version. The hybrid is $6,730 more expensive than the normal version, and if you assume average of 12,000 miles per year, the cost difference cannot be recovered before 13.8 years! So actually, they are currently a potent way of branding yourself as a environment friendly soul, as opposed to a money wise one!
ing the first is unbelievably simple! Fuel-efficient cars [in other words, cars that run on traditional petroleum and give increasing miles per gallon]! The reality is that companies that have focused less on providing high level quality (in terms of say, styling, driving, luxury, SUV experience) and more on providing flat fuel efficiency have succeeded beyond anybody’s expectations. The corollary is that companies that have focused on the opposite have tasted devastating billion dollar losses. It’s obvious that the solution was not something hidden away in strategic thingamajigs. And to say all this as an afterthought is, like I wrote above, a no-brainer. But in truth, the concept that fuel efficient cars are the future, was for every auto major across the world to see. Sadly, the only ones that focused on it with passion were the Japanese giants.
& CEO, Sapient reveals the company’s business model and how Sapient is leveraging its interactive marketing & consulting businesses to succeed in today’s changing landscape. Herrick joined Sapient in 1995 and was instrumental in top- and bottom-line growth of Sapient’s Trading & Risk Management business. Herrick has also served as Executive VP, in charge of North America & Europe. Prior to joining Sapient, Herrick held key management positions at PSE&G, Prudential and Home Holdings Inc. Currently Herrick works closely with the Sapient leadership team to set strategy & foster a culture of innovation. Excerpts from the interview with Sapient’s top boss: B&E: How has the journey for Sapient been so far, both globally as well as in the Indian market?
the Taliban and the al-Qaeda. The stance of Pakistan People's Party (PPP)-led coalition government to enter into a dialogue with the terrorists has been severely criticised by the West, especially the US. It believes that the Pakistani government has allowed the Taliban, already well entrenched in Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), to reorganise themselves and attack the US-led forces in Afghanistan more aggressively.
defecation waste in the world – more than 50% of open defecation in the world takes place in India. According to Planning Commission, 4-5 lakhs of children below the age of five die every year because of water borne diseases. Poor sewage and lack of proper sanitation infrastructure results in 80% of the diseases in India. It is equally pathetic that only 40% Indians have access to toilets resulting in open defecation. If that was bad, industrial waste, which creates severe ground water pollution, is worse!
nation from Turkey to Brazil in its place and our answer would be the same. First, we’d state that countries whose businesses are trying to establish a foothold in foreign markets need an educated workforce, affordable sources of energy & supportive trade policies. But we’d add another factor that is, in our view, equally important. The businesses that will compete most effectively will be those that have benefited from intense competition right at home. No speed skater or pole-vaulter heads to the Olympics before years of intense competition with the best and brightest in his own backyard. The same goes for companies heading into the business “world games.” But it still doesn’t happen enough. Your own country is a good example. Its economy became “free” in 1994 when the government essentially stopped allowing companies to control entire industrial sectors. But nearly 15 years hence several conglomerates still dominate the national economy. There are exceptions: Cemex, the cement producer, and Grupo Bimbo, the food manufacturer are companies that have grown domestically and now manage to thrive in foreign markets. But Mexico remains a country with too little local competition, which has and will continue to take a toll.