Showing posts with label renowned management guru. Show all posts
Showing posts with label renowned management guru. Show all posts

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Kerala tourism gets a boost

Kochi International Marina, the first of its kind in India, has all necessary ingredients to redefine the travel and tourism sector of the state, writes T. Satisan

The Kochi International Marina, a full-fledged marina of international standards, was inaugurated by Defence Minister AK Antony on April 24. The ambitious project of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) is located on the eastern coast of Bolgatty Island in the Bolgatty Palace. It was built at a cost of Rs 8.21 crore with a Central assistance of Rs four crore. Designed and developed by Ocean Blue Marinas, it can berth 34 yachts at a time. The number may be increased to 50 in the second phase. The marina can accommodate sailors from across the world and seems to be an ideal spot for yachts from the West. Every boat can avail the power supply and all other necessary requirements at the quay itself. The Marina House, a part of the project, has 24 deluxe rooms including four suites, a recreation centre, a cafeteria and a health club besides a golf course. It will be run by Tourists Resorts Kerala Limited, a subsidiary of KTDC.

The requirement of a marina in Kochi was felt by all when the famous Volvo Ocean Race to India had a stopover in Kochi last year. That time it was realised that Kochi does not even have minimal facilities to host any big event. So the project, that was frozen for sometime, was completed on a war footing within two years. Now KTDC expects huge profits from this new installation. Fifty per cent of the proceeds are expected to go to the kitty of KTDC.

The tourism department of government of Kerala and Kerala Tourism Development Corporation expect handsome revenues from the functioning of marina. In the light of the tremendous business potential of Kochi, this expectation is a realistic calculation. The revenue will definitely help the tourism department and Kerala Tourism Development Corporation to plan many such revenue generating schemes.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Relief for school children

State govt bans students’ participation in VIP rallies

Schools have been asked not to rope in students for ceremonies and rallies to welcome VIPs in Orissa. Passing a resolution, the School and Mass Education department of the government of Orissa says: “School children will not be made to wait for hours to receive a celebrity during function. VIP duties for school children are over.”

Issuing a missive to all the schools on April 24, 2010, the state government asked them to implement the orders as soon as possible. From now onwards student need not entertain VIPs visiting their areas.

Of late, it had become a common practice to use school children to welcome guests in both public and private functions. Several child organisations raised the issue and mounted pressure on the government to take action against it. Sources say after being inundated with complaints, Minister of State for School and Mass Education Pratap Jena banned the use of school children for such functions. The minister’s office instructed all the district collectors, district inspectors of schools and circle inspectors to end the misuse of school children.

Joint secretary to School and Mass Education department, Government of Orissa, Iswar Ch. Barada told TSI: “We received several complaints from different organisations and parent bodies. They complained that children were suffering because they were forced to participate in events to honour VIPs. We understand that many a time they have to wait for long hours even under the sun. There have been some cases in which students fainted due to unbearable heat. Therefore we have decided to ban such a practice.”

However, many educationists are unhappy with the government’s decision. Dr. Ganeswar Mishra, an educationist and a retired professor of Utkal University, is one of them. He argues that there is nothing wrong in making students participate in such events. “Receiving a VIP is not a bad idea. It cannot be called violation of child’s right. Such ceremonies give children an opportunity to interact with eminent personalities,” says Dr. Mishra.

But he agrees with the critics of the practice that students should not be made to stand for hours to welcome a VIP.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Half a nation's half a war

Even Rip Van Winkle would have felt embarrassed by India’s oddity

It is said that if something looks like a duck, flies and quacks like a duck, then it has to be a duck. But India is an exception. So, when 18 brave heart policemen were killed in Mumbai during 26/11, the whole nation galvanised into one and there was an evident cry of a battle to take revenge. Yet the issue was somehow marginalised to how the police and CRPF intelligence was to be blamed, if not Chidambaram. While that may be true, what has to be realised is that in all our confabulations, we should not forget that those are the Maoists primarily who are responsible for the killings. This may sound simplistic and naive; Home Ministry reports clearly state that in the last few years more uniformed personnel have been killed by the Maoists than by any terror group in J&K or Northeast. It is known that the Maoists have far greater firepower than any other banned terror organisation in India. They have mastered the use of IEDs and pressure bombs to the extent that the Indian security forces are still clueless about how to deal with them even as the mine protection vehicles are proving to be redundant. It is also known that Maoists are far more ruthless than any other subversive organisation and consider killing their adversaries with the worst kind of ferocity and ruthlessness to set examples for the rest. Their objective is not to develop the underdeveloped regions of India but keep them out of bound from prosperous India. Had their intention been to improve the state of people, they would have ideally given books instead of AK-47s in the hands of teenagers and not use them as fodder even while the progeny of the elite Maoist leaders continue to live in opulence. It’s no secret that their real objective is to replace India’s democracy with a ruthless communist regime. It is also known that in the Maoist strongholds, nothing can move without paying extortion money, the extent of which is around Rs.1500 crore a year. Yet when these reports come out, Indian intelligentsia easily scoff them off as government's propaganda and that Maoists are nothing better than poor peasants in destitute.

So what happens to India? Well the fight against Maoists is a litmus test of the very idea of India and would help in drawing the boundaries of liberty and laissez fairer that our democracy has been reduced to. Would someone ask the intellectuals as to who, whether the Maoists or the CRPF would come to India’s rescue if there’s another 26/11 type attack in India? Unfortunately, for Indian intellectuals, whose bravery is never put to test in front of a barrage of AK-47 bullets, its romantic reverie of an ideal revolution will not be broken unless the Maoist attacks, like the Jihadi attacks, would hit the heart of urban India hard. Then helicopters would be used with impunity as was used in 26/11. But till that time babus and netas sitting in Delhi would pretend that there’s no war going on and so Army’s involvement is not needed. Till that time, India would continue to have half a war in which it would fight and yet not fight to finish while the Army would continue to buy weapons for a conventional war, which perhaps would never happen in reality. If the Maoists are so right in their attitude that even the government is confused, then let’s not have any war at all and let them have their leeway if it helps India. But why reduce it to CRPF’s and Chidambaram’s war instead of the nation’s war? Yet, can you expect something better than half a war from half a nation? Not really because for a nation which behaves more often than not like 28 independent states, one can only expect half a war. And the poor CRPF jawan without any idea as to why his government has left him alone to die, would continue to pay with his half or full life while numerous talk shows on television would have burning issues to discuss and ponder for months to come. We call this democracy.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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Monday, June 07, 2010

Rising above odds

Now that the most awaited film of the year, "Kites", is up for release, Hrithik Roshan has been trying to befriend the media and has been opening his heart out to them. The actor admitted that he went through a phase of depression during which he also contemplated quitting acting and becoming a singer or director when his knee injury refused to heal. But the script of "Kites" came along as a touch of healing medicine and his injury started to show positive signs on the very first day of the shoot! Looks like the universe conspired to fulfill Hrithik's desperate desire to be a part of the film. Releasing in two versions, English and Hindi, let's hope this action thriller wins the heart of the audiences just like the actor has!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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Wednesday, June 02, 2010

This Adonis is a Phoenix

There’s a lot about Hrithik Roshan that hasn’t changed with the stardom he’s attained; his words are still truly heartfelt. even in a situation where he’s pressed for time, the actor makes sure that every thought of his is well explained. in a conversation with spriha srivastava, the green-eyed hunk talks about his journey from “finished” to “phenomenal”.

“Kites” is being hugely anticipated and expectations seem to be running sky high. Do such expectations make you nervous?

Yeah absolutely! But it’s exciting at the same time. Actually, this anxiety is very exciting.

Your life is perhaps the perfect example of ‘rising from the ashes’. During the time when your films were not faring well, what would you think was going wrong?

Nothing was going wrong. Every soul has its own journey and there’s no bad experience. Every experience is to help you find yourself more. As you go on experiencing, you go on shedding the layers around you. Every up and every down teaches you something and you start getting to know the real person inside you. That’s what I feel. And I believe that by breaking those layers one can eventually know who you are and live in peace with what you are.

And after that phase came your big-budget superhero films, the first of its kind in Bollywood. When the idea was discussed with you, what made you give a go-ahead for “Koi Mil Gaya” and “Krissh”?

It was because the idea sounded ridiculously challenging and was unheard of. It just looked like a leap in the right direction. You know, I just felt that if we conquer this, then it will be the most victorious thing ever done. It was an exhilarating feeling.

And it was not only victorious, but you and your dad Rakesh Roshan also raised the benchmark of Hindi cinema. How is the chemistry between you two?

Whatever I’ve learnt, I’ve learnt from my father; by being an assistant to him, watching him …He’s been the best example to help me find my drive and my passion. I’ve watched him through his ups and downs, I’ve watched him break down or get ecstatic… With him, I’ve experienced what life is like beyond the camera and the bright shining light (laughs).

Apart from your dad, you’ve worked with some of the best directors. How would you say is Anurag Basu different from other directors that you’ve worked with?

Anurag Basu is fantastic. I completely resonated with his vision. He has got a fantastic sense of screenplay. You know, he looks for those magical moments and doesn’t follow a rule book. He follows his heart. His attempt with “Kites” was to make an honest film. Just one example of that is that when my character had to sing for the girl, he wanted my voice. He did not go for a playback voice. That’s why it was a challenge and an opportunity to do a role like this. I feel all the work that I’ve done before “Kites” was to prepare me for a role like this. Working with actors like Kangana and Barbara Mori was also an opportunity because they come from the same school of thought as Anurag. I just had to watch and learn.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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Friday, February 05, 2010

A recess from work!

Learn priceless lessons for life as you teach the lesser privileged children and work at making inequity in education history...

Having previously taught primary school children, I am particularly inclined to indulging them and endlessly listening to them prattle. Once, as I observed two innately sharp and eager kids from two different economic strata of society, it dawned on me how our country’s misdeeds (towards an ever-widening educational inequity) were limiting the growth of lakhs of bright children. For while the 8-year-old Sudhir (a helper’s child who went to a government-run school) was as witty and keen as the same-aged Sarah (a financial consultant’s daughter studying at a ‘reputed’ public school with world-class standards), his lack of exposure to the learning experience as hers (despite the same education board), had exponentially widened the gap between their respective banks of knowledge, apart from also impeding his ability to grasp new concepts.

Though this existing system of education can’t be turned around in the short-run, an innovative initiative – Teach for India – formally started in 2008 by a group of young leaders, shows promise of bridging this educational inequity. Inspired by the success of Wendy Kopp’s Teach for America initiative, and the positive results of the study carried to learn about the feasibility of similar implementation in India, the organisation is recruiting ‘outstanding college graduates and young professionals’ for its full-time two-year Fellowship. ‘Committing two-years to teach full-time in under-resourced schools’, these fellows are trained to become successful teachers and leaders.

While such exemplary initiatives clear off the hurdle of requiring mandatory degrees and qualifications for imparting knowledge, there are a growing number of recession-hit stressed professionals across the world who are increasingly seeking solace and satisfaction in teaching courses and jobs.

A recent study by a UK-based school workforce training organisation TDA, (Training and Development Agency for Schools) found that enquiries for teacher training have gone up by 50%, that too by people with banking, legal, architectural and management backgrounds. The research found that most people do not anymore consider holding a high-status management job as important, but are looking for meaningful work with manageable stress-levels, which allows more time for pursuing leisure activities.

In India this trend is quite common among women, though for different reasons. Reema, a primary school English teacher in Delhi says, “I have done my MBA from Symbiosis, Pune and have worked as an HR professional for long. But my growing-up daughters needed more of my time and I couldn’t handle the pressure of running the house with a managerial job, so I opted for teaching. Whatever were the reasons, today, I think, I go back home with a sense of accomplishment and not stress about tomorrow’s schedules.”

Though majority of India’s education sector would continue to see this trend of bias for teaching profession, there are a growing number of World Schools that are hiring people who can blend their experience and team management skills with academic knowledge. But such schools too are only for the privileged few. For improving young lives like that of Sudhir’s, we need more Indians to come forward for initiatives like ‘Teach for India’, so that the rest of India can also be privy to world-class educational standards..

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Methodology

A quick run through the two phases of the 2009 B&e-Icmr B-School survey

First phase:

ICMR prepared an initial list of 150 B-schools in India that have been providing full-time management course for at least the past three years and which were also the most-recalled amongst the student fraternity (sample size of 1500 students who are currently pursuing a management course, spread across five metros). This initial list of B-schools comprised both private and government-affiliated institutions. Subsequently, ICMR conducted a perception survey amongst MBA aspirants, management students (who are currently pursuing their MBA) and executives from the corporate world. The survey was based on the parameters of awareness, recall, legacy and image & perception. A sample of 5000 respondents was thus covered in the study across the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, using a structured questionnaire. Based on the frequency of responses, the final list of top 30 B-schools (from amongst the initial list comprising 150 B-schools) was shortlisted.

Second Phase:The final ranking was based on the average of weighted scores per parameter (details below) given by the esteemed panel of experts. The respected panel of experts comprised Naresh Gupta (Managing Director, Adobe India & Senior Vice-President, Print and Classic Publishing Solutions Business Unit, Adobe Global), Dr. Sanjeev P. Sahni (Head, Strategic Human Resources, Jindal Steel & Power Limited), Girish G. Vaidya (Director, Infosys Leadership Institute), V. Balakrishnan (CFO, Infosys Technologies) and Dr. Brian W. Tempest (Former CEO, Ranbaxy & current Chairman, Religare Hichens & Harrison Plc. and Chairman, Advisory Board of Lancaster University Management School, UK). Each panelist was provided with the write-ups (sent by the participating B-school) and detailed secondary data generated by ICMR for the 30 institutes based on the following parameters:

Quality & Volume of Course Contents; weightage:40%

Quality & Volume of Industry Interface; weightage:15%

Quality & Volume of Research & Writings; weightage:15%

Quality & Volume of Global Exposure; weightage:15%

Placement & Packages; weightage:15%

It is important to note here the weights given to the parameters in question. We firmly believe that the most important factor for any B-school to be ranked upon has to be necessarily its course contents. This factor is what differentiates the world’s leading management institutions from the also-rans. No amount of teaching, interface, exposure is helpful unless the course structure is world class – and that is the reason why this factor has been given a 40% weight by us, while all the other factors have been assigned a weight of only 15%.

We would also like to specify that the parameter of infrastructure has not been considered for the survey on B-schools due to two primary reasons. Firstly, above a threshold standard infrastructure level, providing many more acres of land, multiple computers per student et al does not add any significant additional value to the education of the management student. Secondly, the thirty B-schools shortlisted have already qualified well above the threshold level of infrastructure required.

Information material and various secondary study reports were provided to the panelists by ICMR researchers. At the same time, these study reports were supported by primary data and essays received directly by ICMR from the shortlisted institutes. The final scores provided by the panelists have been converted into relative ranks for each parameter, and overall too, for the reader’s benefit.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009





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


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Friday, January 29, 2010

Smell the coffee

Corruption needs the killer dose

The reputation of Indian politicians and bureaucrats on corruption is truly impeccable. In fact, Indian citizens have reason enough to assume that there are hidden skeletons in every cupboard and dark corners in every lair.

And if a person like Meera Shankar, India’s ambassador to US, attempts to speak up and throw some light, what else can we say other than “Welcome”! Meera Shankar’s diligent complaint to the PMO about huge sums of bribe paid to officials in Indian government establishments by US companies is creditworthy. The same cannot obviously be said of the silence over the letter from the PMO for eight months (curiously broken after the assembly election results came in).

Meera Shankar has cited the report filed by the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which names companies that have allegedly made illegal payments to Indian officials over the years. Most shockingly, it pulls the Indian defence forces into the scrutiny as well. York International Corporation, with their products of heating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration, had paid-off $1,32,500 to Indian Navy between 2000 and 2006 to secure 215 orders. A US industrial valve manufacturing company Mario Cavino of Control Company’s Inc., has pleaded guilty of paying $1 million to electricity boards of four countries, including the Maharashtra State Electricity Board. Dow Chemicals has paid $200,000 to Nocil Crop Protection Ltd., including an illegal payment of $39,700 to the officials of Central Insecticides Board. Other cases of bribery include $11,800 to Sales Tax Officials, $3,700 to Excise officials and $1,500 to Customs officials.

The concluding case cited in the letter was of oil and gas major Pride International, which disclosed that it may have made third party payments to be transferred to a government official in India. Our ‘international pride’ is at stake indeed; so is the integrity of our institutions. The government has to stem the rot plaguing these institutions since years. Already, the fact that we need a report by a US agency to wake up to our own skeletons is embarrassing enough.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Dr. Malay Chaudhuri, founder director, IIPM

Dr. Malay Chaudhuri, founder director, IIPMWhy did you name this award in the memory of Rabindranath Tagore?

Why did you name this award in the memory of Rabindranath Tagore?

I would like to take this opportunity to make your readers aware that Rabindranath Tagore’s influence was far beyond the world of literature, dramatics, painting and other performing arts. He was also concerned with rural economics and poverty of the peasants. Indeed, with the money he obtained from his Nobel Prize, he set up a bank to help rural people. He not only set up handicraft units in Sriniketan (West Bengal), but also sent his son, Rathindranath, to study agriculture in USA. Therefore, when we thought of instituting a prize in People’s Economics, we decided to dedicate it to his memory. Since 2011 is his 150th birth anniversary, we thought it proper to award the first prize in People’s Economics in that year.

What was the philosophy behind instituting this prize?

When we started our institute in 1973, it was supposed to be named Indian Institute of National Economic Planning and Management but we adopted the name Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) to make it simple. The core of our course, since the founding years, has been National Economic Planning (NEP). NEP is not only concerned with coordinating the growth of different sectors of the national economy, but also coordinates the growth of people’s purchasing power matching with the growth of production of mass consumption goods, which ensures the sale of these goods as they come out of the factories – and in turn ensures that there is no crisis from time to time as it happens in the capitalist mode of production. Therefore, the rate of growth under NEP is obviously more than the capitalist growth of economy, which progresses through crisis and boom. So, from our point of view, when we look at the names of the recipients of Nobel Prize in economics, we find that most of the recipients have been in the area of econometrics while one group of economists who have been left out are Marxist economists (e.g., Maurice Dobb, Oskar Lange, Joan Robinson, etc). These economists have always been concerned with the distribution of national income, so that the benefits of national economic growth percolate down to the poorest, and this does not necessarily happen in the framework of market economics. By instituting this prize in the areas of people’s economics, we emphasized the need to reorient studies and researches in economics towards the benefit of the underprivileged, ultimately leading to an economic system where there is no exploitation of man by man.

So, is this prize exclusively for People’s Economics or are there any other categories?

The prize will be primarily given in the field of People’s Economics/Management. If we can mobilise more funds, we shall extend it to the fields of Literature and Peace. We have noticed that the Nobel Prize in Literature have a bias towards Western countries. Nobel Peace prizes have also been awarded to people who should be better tried as war criminals rather than felicitated as peace brokers.

How do you see the popularity of this award growing over the years?

If our selection is proper and research based, the awards will be coveted by people all over the world over a period of the next few decades.


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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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Saturday, January 16, 2010

Gandhis never became a Dynasty

Priyanka Rai traces Mahatma Gandhi's descendants scattered around the world and across many domains of human endeavour

Much is known about the non-violent movement Mahatma Gandhi led for India’s independence but little is known about the family of the Father of the Nation. Gandhi's 120 direct descendants live in five nations across the world. They do everything from selling computer software to working for NASA. The youngest child of Gandhi’s eldest son Harilal, Renu, is an architect, has done her masters from Berkeley University and now works in a village near Ahmedabad. But none of the members of the family got anywhere close to accomplishing the great deeds of their illustrious ancestor. It is not easy being descendants of the Mahatma. “Mahatma is not in the genes”, says Tushar Gandhi, his great grandson. “Greatness and popularity are not hereditary. So it is not quite in order to have great expectations of the descendants of a great man. Popularity or fame depends on what we do and achieve as individuals.”

Asked about the rest of his extended family, he says, “By and large my cousins are private people and believe in doing their own work quietly. They deliberately chose to remain private. It started from my grandfather’s time. All the four children of Gandhi deliberately led low-key lives and their children followed their example.” Tushar says that he is the most ‘notorious’ of them all but has realised that he does not have the qualities to be a politician. Tushar is the son of US-based Prof. Arun Gandhi, whose father Mani Lal was the Mahatma's second son. Tushar had contested the 1998 Lok Sabha elections on a Samajwadi Party ticket and lost. He is the second member of the Mahatma's family to try his luck in politics, the first being his uncle Rajmohan Gandhi, son of Mahatma Gandhi’s youngest son Devdas, who was fielded by the Janata Dal against Rajiv Gandhi in Amethi in 1989. He was defeated and became a Rajya Sabha member before disappearing from the political stage. Tushar runs the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation in Mumbai and is working for a project of building a shelter and school for rescued child labourers in the twon of Kolhapur.

Most members of Mahatma Gandhi’s clan may not be in the limelight today but they are all doing well in different sectors. In their own quiet way they are serving not just their own country but the world. Significantly, the Mahatma’s four sons were deprived of formal education. In fact they are just what the Mahatma would have wanted them to be. They were not allowed formal education which would have provided them with their own choice of livelihood. The boys were schooled at home. Gandhi had mentioned this in his autobiography that he didn’t want to give his children what other children could not get. Gandhi’s contacts would have secured them places in the best European schools but he never wanted any favour for his family. But today his extended family includes lawyers, medical professionals, teachers, professors and scientists.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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Thursday, January 14, 2010

WORLD IS FLAT

Thomas Freidman may take credit for the branding; but the fact is that convergence and information technology have been the real stars of the decade. Terms, inventions and innovations like Outsourcing, Facebook, Google, Twitter and the like have indeed made the world much smaller, and flatter. Alas, if only the information technology and telecom revolutions could have made the world much more tolerant and peaceful.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

South Asian writers


The decade saw the emergence of Indian and Pakistani writers on the world literary scene. Subcontinental storytellers writing in English are now visible everywhere. Salman Rushdie was once a lone ranger in these climes, but today he has ample company. Not a single year goes by without a writer of Indian, Pakistani or Bnagladeshi origin finding a mention in the Man Booker shortlist. The names that attracted attention were Hari Kunzru, Arvind Adiga, Kiran Desai, Amitabh Kumar and Jhumpa Lahiri from India, where as Bapsi Sidhwa, Mohammad Hanif, Daniyal Mueenuddin and Mohsin Hamid from Pakistani, made their country proud. Detractors, however, maintain that most of these books were written keeping western readers and the Man Booker in mind and that these works lacked the depth of true literature.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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Friday, January 08, 2010

At the mercy of irate teachers

Schools dole out violence, leave children scarred

Corporal punishment in Madhya Pradesh’s schools is on the rise. Teachers have turned on their students, punching and beating them, even fatally at times. It is also observed that many school managements try to hide such incidents in order to evade action. Moreover, the school education department is not making any concerted effort to stop such brutalities.

Within just a month, the state has reported three major incidents of merciless beating. A teacher punched a Class V student of a primary school, Premlata, so badly, that she died in hospital a few days later. Premlata’s fault? She answered a question incorrectly. She was admitted to hospital with severe concussions. She succumbed to her injuries three days later. The dust hadn’t yet settled on the Premlata tragedy when another sordid incident emerged, this time in Bhopal’s Saraswati Vidya Mandir School. According to reports, a delicate upper KG student, Anmol Kushwaha, misspelt a word in class. His teacher got so enraged that he broke his bones. Anmol’s injuries were so severe that doctors had to operate on him. It is no consolation that under extreme pressure the school management offered to foot the hospital bill.

In the industrial town of Jabalpur, prayer turned into a nightmare for a Class IX student. A teacher beat Mudit Tiwari with a bench slab for a minor transgression during a prayer meeting and fractured his hands. Mudit’s fault? He says he was asking a fellow student to “stand properly in line during prayer.” His teacher picked up a bench slab and beat him till his hands broke. According to Asif Shek, secretary of Jan Sahas, an NGO: “Physical punishment is now a crime, but students are badly hit by the teachers for every small mistake in the name of discipline. Incidents of fractures and even accidental deaths due to corporal punishments are occurring repeatedly.” According to a survey conducted by the women & child welfare department, about 65% of schools in the state take recourse to physical punishment to enforce discipline among students.

The president of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Shanta Sinha, says: “Schools should be safe zones for students and the teachers responsible should be suspended. Authorities should investigate the matter quickly and take action.”

NCPCP has stressed the need to strengthen the time-tested parent-teacher association (PTA) system to ensure swift action against the erring teachers. In fact, about ten states have also submitted a list of measures to the commission, seeking to prevent and control incidents of such punishment at school.

Madhya Pradesh, however, is gaining the dubious distinction of reporting a rise in the number of such cases.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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Monday, December 07, 2009

“It was a truly people’s upsurge”

Subhendu Adhikari, Trinamool Congress MP from Tamluk and son of Union minister of state for Rural Development Sisir Adhikari, talks to Chandrasekhar Bhattacharjee about the people’s revolt against the highhanded policies of the CPI (M). Subhendu defeated CPI (M) heavyweight Laxman Sett in the last Lok Sabha elections What were the challenges you faced in Khejuri?

The CPI (M) men heckled me every time I went there to campaign for my party. They even spat on me, manhandled me and tore my dress. Yet I never contemplated revenge. On the contrary, when the violence broke out our men helped the family members of CPI (M) leaers to reach safe places. We even gave protection to the family of the notorious CPI (M) leader Himangshu Das. Ask his wife and elder brother.

What was the provocation that made you block the entry of five CPI (M) ministers’ into Khejuri?

Allowing them in would have been taking a big risk. Over 12,000 people were out on the streets, recovering firearms and ammunition from CPI (M) party offices. We had earlier told police about the stockpiles, but they remained mute spectators. The recoveries had put the people on edge.

Do you think the people of Nandigram are happy with this development?

It’s not a matter of happiness, but of satisfaction. They are now sure they can sleep well in the days to come, which they have been unable to do since March 14, 2007. The first firearms recovery was made from the house of CPI (M) leader Subrata Kar’s house in Jahanabaad, Khejuri on April 29, 2007. This was a month-and-a-half after the Nandigram massacre. Had police acted at that time there would have been no such people’s upsurge. The police inaction was obviously due to CPI (M) pressure. This upsurge has removed that obstacle. Now even the police can hope to function without fear or favour.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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


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Friday, December 04, 2009

The makings of another disaster?

25 years on, NGOs have failed to sink their differences

NGOs working overtime to wrest justice for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy are at loggerheads with each other all of 25 years after the world’s worst industrial disaster shook the city. More than 8,000 people lost their lives and thousands were injured when a deadly methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide plant at midnight on December 1984. After the disaster, a number of forums, groups and different political parties came together to fight to secure justice for the gas leak victims. They formed a common front named Zaharili Gas Kand Sangharsh Morcha. Owing to this organisation’s concerted effort many victims got justice.

But within a few years, infighting surfaced among them regarding the principles and practical approach to work for the victims. Things went from bad to worse six years ago when Champa Devi Shukla and Rashida Bee of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh were awarded the Goldman Environment Prize by the American Public Association for their relief work among gas victims. The dispute was over the use of the prize money. Rashida Bee claimed that the award was for the individual. But Sunita Shrivastava didn’t accept this, arguing that the prize money should be distributed among the gas victims. Irked by the development, she left the Sangh and founded Bhopal Gas Peedit Stationery Karmachari Morcha. Since then relations between the two has continued to fester.

However, it was expected that on the 25th anniversary of the disaster they would come together. But no such signs are visible. Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pension Bhogi Sangharsh Morcha’s president Balkrishna Namdev says: “It’s difficult to solve these disputes because they believe in different approaches and principles in tackling the crisis. It is a tragedy.”

Sadhna Karnik, convener of Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahyog Samiti, says: “If clashes and ideological disputes persist even 25 years after the diasaster, then what is the need to have joint programmes? However, on major issues we all are together and make joint efforts to achieve our ends.”

Rashida Bee pointed out that though efforts are still being made for collective action, it is not possible anymore to operate from one platform. But Abdul Jabbar, convener of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan, hasn’t lost all hope. He emphasised that though differences and diputes have cropped up, we are all working for the rights of the gas victims. He expects that everyone will come together once more on the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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


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Thursday, December 03, 2009

Born on 26/11

TSI Profiles some Indians whose birthday last year was engulfed by death and destruction

Ayear ago, on November 26, India was halted in its tracks by a bunch of bloodthirsty terrorists who sneaked into Mumbai and unleashed mayhem. They opened fire at the CST, killing scores of innocent people, and attacked one of the city's best known landmarks, the Taj Mahal Hotel, besides the Oberoi Trident and Nariman House. By the time they were done, the intruders had left a trail of death and destruction. TSI traces out a few Indians from across the country who were celebrating their birthday that evening. Will they be celebrating their special day this year as well, or will they opt for a quiet day of mourning for all those who lost their lives in the terror attack? Life will go on, as it always does. but it will probably never be the same again!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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



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Thursday, November 26, 2009

War & peace - The state vs the Maoists

There is widespread sympathy for the ultras’ cause but none for their methodology

Dr Trinath Mishra

Author of ‘Barrel of the Gun’ – a study of Maoist movements

The Maoists have been waging a relentless armed campaign against the Indian State for the past 42 years. The movement that originated in Naxalbari (West Bengal) aims to bring down the parliamentary form of government and replace it with a proletarian regime. Launched initially to press for land reforms it has, down the years, morphed into a virulent guerrilla campaign. Within just a few years after Naxalism erupted in 1967, it had engulfed large swathes of rural West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. But now urban areas – metros like Kolkata and Hyderabad – too are threatened.

It was their disgust with rampant political horse trading and spiraling unemployment that drove these young people to take up arms against the State and their capitalist exploiters. In Naxalism’s early years, a large number of university students, even from professional institutions like engineering and medical colleges, gave up their studies and flocked to the cause. Large areas in these states came under their dominance and for a while it almost appeared that revolution was at the doorstep.

But the campaign was poorly organised and inexpertly led. A large number of criminal lumpen elements jumped on to its bandwagon to legitimise their activities. Moreover the leaders could never agree on which operational method was the most sound. Such disagreements caused several splinter groups to arise, spawning the culture of the personality cult. The State meanwhile got stronger. Political stability at the Centre and in the states enabled governments to launch Operation Steeple Chase and re-establish its authority in the vulnerable areas, and the mindless bloodletting sanctioned by the ultras turned public opinion against them.

Taking full advantage of the political instability of the 80’s and 90’s, the Naxalities re-established themselves in their old areas and used these bases to spread their tentacles in other regions. Under the banner of CPI (Maoist) they succeeded in uniting the various sub groups. The emergence of Maoists as the dominant political force in Nepal gave further boost to their morale.

Amidst all this the government response remained disoriented and disjointed. Naxalism was routinely treated as a ‘law and order’ problem to be tackled by the affected states. This was a mistake, because the police forces were too ill equipped to tackle the situation.

By the end of the last century the Maoists had expanded their influence politically, socially, territorially and economically – and by 2005 they had made their presence felt in 11 states. They remain well entrenched in large parts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar.

The reasons behind the birth and growth of Maoist armed movements are well known, but both Central and state governments looked on passively. A competent anti-Maoist counter would have been to speedily and effectively strengthen Panchayati Raj institutions. This would have empowered the people and isolated the Maoists.

Armed revolutions against the modern state, especially those which have popular sanction, generally fail. To succeed, the revolution would require support from an outside power: direct or proxy invasion by a strong power or a civil war or a coup d’etat. But none of the three appears to be feasible in India. The Maoists, no matter how committed, are no match for the might of the government forces. Indeed they would do well to keep the fate of the LTTE in mind and quickly reform.

But this is not to say that the Maoist movement has not been without some notable achievements. In its own way it has empowered the poorest sections of our population. It has brought women in the forefront of the struggle. It has given voice to the dumb, so that even the sparrow has been turned into a hawk. So now no one can afford to neglect these communities and the areas they live in.

Development by all accounts is the key to solving this problem. The governments have an ambitious blueprint to develop these areas and have set apart a big budget for the purpose. However, since top-ranking Maoist leaders like Ganapati and Kishenji have summarily rejected the offer of negotiations, the sole alternative is to supplement developmental initiatives with an effective and coordinated armed response. As for the Maoist leaders, they urgently need to rethink and amend their strategies. This ‘Red Corridor’ or the ‘Compact Revolutionary Zone – stretching from Tirupati to Pashupati – can’t just be wished away. Yet while there is widespread sympathy and support for their cause, there is none for their methodology.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Farmers left in the lurch

Nine kill self in 90 days, govt still ‘assessing’ losses

Farmers in Orissa are a distressed lot. This year, their misery has been compounded further by heavy crop losses due to poor rainfall. And to add to their woes, the crop they toiled to grow has been devoured by swarming insects. A conjuction of these factors have hit cultivators so badly that many of them are struggling to pay their loans.

The worst hit are the farmers of western Orissa which is considered to be the rice bowl of the state. Till now, nine farmers in the state have been reported to have committed suicide in the last three months. Out of them, six are from western Orissa. And with little help coming from the Naveen Patnaik government, they have resorted to agitation. Angry farmers blocked the national highway in Jharsuguda district for 12 hours to protest farmers’ suicides in Jharsuguda district.

Ashok Pradhan, prominent farmers’ leader and convener of the Western Orissa Farmers’ Coordination Committee, lashed out at government officials for their failure to take timely action. “The government was well aware of the situation but it failed to address the crisis. We had alerted the officials well in advance. But, neither the district administration nor the state agriculture department took any precautionary measure. We will teach this government a lesson, ” he said, putting the whole blame on the government.

Worse, there are regions in the state that don’t even have basic irrigation facilities. Jamenkira, Kuchinda and Rengali blocks of Sambalpur and Lakhanpur block of Jharsuguda district are some of them. Being close to the Hirakud reservoir, the land here is at a higher plane from the water level. Lift irrigation is the only solution in these areas. But what happens if 90 per cent of the government-sponsored lift points are defunct?

The government’s lackadaisical approach in tackling the crisis has even upset a former judge of Orissa High Court, Choudhary Pratap Kesari Mishra. Justice Mishra, who visited the drought-hit areas and villages where farmers have committed suicide, asked the government to be proactive to bring farmers out of this difficult situation. “And if it fails to do so, the government will have to pay a heavy price for ignoring the farmers,” he told TSI. The crisis has given the state Opposition enough ammunition to bay for BJD chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s blood. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an ally of the BJD till the other day, has also sought the chief minister’s resignation for his government’s utter failure to protect farmers’ interests in the state.

BJP spokesperson Nayan Mohanty and vice-president Pruthiraj Harichandan said the government lacked political will and administrative acumen to address the explosive situation. They also criticised the chief minister of trying to suppress such a sensitive issue with the help of ‘false’ official reports. Naveen Patnaik has also drawn flak for not visiting the villages where cases of farmers’ suicide have been reported from. The Orissa government’s reaction to the accusations has been shocking. It says that relief measures will be announced only after its officials assess the situation. For this purpose, a team of divisional officers from the revenue and agriculture department has been formed to conduct an assessment of crop losses in the districts. But can the impoverished farmers wait till then?

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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


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Monday, November 09, 2009

Ideas felled by the gun: Kennedys and Luther King Jr

It's been almost five decades since John F. Kennedy was hit in his head and throat when three shots were fired at his car. The presidential convoy was passing through the main commercial district of Dallas, driving from the airport to the city centre. A bystander alleged that shots were fired from the casement of a construction across the road. The President buckled into Jackie Kennedy’s arms, who was heard crying out “Oh no”. The President’s limousine was immediately driven at speed to the Parklands Hospital. He died 35 minutes after being shot. Within hours of the shooting, a cop approached Lee Harvey Oswald, believing he matched the description of the killer. The cop was shot dead. Oswald was arrested straightaway, suspected of being the assassin. Shortly afterwards, he was charged. The suspect was never tried as he was shot dead two days later.

So it’s over: the Kennedy epoch in which the political realisation of the majority of my American cohort was born. It was John and Robert Kennedy whose lives actually thrilled American political principles and whose murders surely catalysed, as Norman Mailer previously asserted, a “general nervous breakdown”. It was that disastrous psychic rage that gave birth to the “youth culture” of the Hippie era, with its blend of lofty romanticism and self-absorbed bliss – which, as it happens, was a predominantly fitting cenotaph for the Kennedy dream. As I spent much of that period at Berkeley, where we made up what became the international student revolution; this is what I can analyse in retrospect.

It is nearly unfeasible to overrate the impact that the presidential campaign, the poll triumph, and then the assassination of President Kennedy had on a suggestible fresh legion of Americans who were rising from the Eisenhower years and a phase of conventional stagnation. Experts had termed our direct predecessors “the silent generation”.

All that optimism, all that pledge, the Peace Corps, the initial official acknowledgment of the objectives of the civil rights movement, the splendid oratory of Kennedy's speeches were doused in what was then an “unimaginable act”.


The jolt was literally astounding. I can still, to this very day, evoke it in all its intuitive passion, as can, I am sure, approximately every American who had been conscious then. When Bobby Kennedy, too, was killed, there was a philosophical sense of ineffectuality. Possibly it was at that instant that the movements entered properly into their nihilistic stage. For, there was still a faith then that the Kennedys were two typically good men who personified the most excellent aims of America. That was, obviously, before we learned the reality about their personal lives. But strangely, even after we came to know of the inconsistency between the personal and public ethics of the Kennedys – in John Kennedy’s case, a sexual promiscuity bordering on the pathological – and of the squalid arrangements that were made to obtain women for JFK by his kin, the legacy was not entirely shattered.

On the other hand, you simply cannot listen to the name Martin Luther King, Jr and not imagine death. You may heed the words “I have a dream,” but they will undoubtedly only dole out to emphasise a picture of a plain motel terrace, a large man made small, a pool of blood. Although King was among the most famous figures of his era, when he was alive, it was death that eventually defined him.

He ate, drank, and slept death. He bopped with it, he lectured it, he dreaded it and he stared it down. He looked for avenues to lay it sideways, this weight of his own transience, but eventually recognised that his steadfast resolve on a non-violent end to the ill-treatment of his folks could just end violently.

Since the age he started speaking in public, King was preoccupied by death – assaulted by the pledge of obliteration for seeking an end to humiliation to African Americans and the commencement of parity with whites. He dishevelled the feathers of white chauvinists who grew further resolute to bring him down. There were outstanding physical threats to King.

In an illustration of bare hostility, two white cops tried to wedge his entry into a Montgomery courtroom for the trial of a fellow who assaulted one of his comrades. Regardless of a caution from the cops, King jabbed his head in the courtroom looking for his solicitor to help him get in. His behaviour put a match to cops’ rage. The cop twisted his arm behind his back and shoved him into detention. A photographer happened to click the picture.

The shot of Dr King, clad in a natty tan outfit, fashionable gold watch and a cool snap-brim fedora, flinching as he is shoved to imprisonment, is an iconic civil rights image

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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


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