OmiGod, it’s Chatur!

With two nominations for the Screen Awards already, Indian-American actor Omi Vaidya reminisces the chamatkar experience in India…

Working in the first Bollywood film...

The crew was welcoming. In Hollywood, it is just so different. Very impersonal – here’s your contract, sign it; that’s your vanity van, stay in it; here's your scene, shoot it. There is complete separation between the big stars and the small actors. But here it felt like a family. Now I’m just worried about how I will go back to my old work setting.

Working with the stars of Bollywood…

Directors can be so tense and get so worked up, but Raju is an absolute delight – relaxed and open to suggestions. He encouraged the crew to stay together to feel comfortable and confident at work.

I have seen Aamir’s “Dil” and “Lagaan”. I knew he is a big star but being born and brought up in the USA, I was not a part of the frenzy. This also helped me in my acting where I was just Chatur and he was just Rancho.

Getting into the character’s skin...

I was told to immediately stop learning Hindi, to stop watching Hindi movies and to start gaining weight. To be like Chatur, I had to constantly keep reminding myself about what the character was – one who desired success and was brash about it.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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Tale of irrevocable faith

Despite dire warnings to the contrary, Hyderabad's Owaisi family continues to command the support of the Old City, writes Naresh Nunna

In the recent Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls, voters of the old city reposed faith in the All- India Majlis-e-ittehadul Muslimeen (MiM). Of the 150 municipal divisions, the Congress, despite the YSR sympathy wave, won 52. TDP, at 45, performed surprisingly well. But MiM won 43 divisions, belying projections. It has reached an understanding with the Congress to share the mayoral post in the last two years of the stipulated five-year term. In the previous civic poll held in 2002, of the 100 divisions, MiM had 36 corporators and Congress 21. The TDP had 22 corporators and the BJP 15. This time analysts had predicted an erosion in MiM's old city vote bank.

MiM is synonymous with the Owaisis. When the government of the newly-formed Hyderabad state, after police action in Nizam’s province, wanted to abolish the ‘bankrupt’ Majlis Party Moulana Abdul Wahed Owaisi, father of Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, took over the reins. He was jailed for ten months. So Salahuddin stepped into politics at an early age. Owaisi emerged as “Salar-e-Millat” (commander of the community). His political ‘mission’ spanned for more than four decades till he passed the mantle to his elder son, Asaduddin Owaisi, in 2004.

Salahuddin was MLA from 1962 to 1984 and also briefly the Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. He represented Hyderabad LS constituency for six consecutive terms from 1984 to 2004. Asaduddin, a barrister, was an MLA from the old city for ten years before becoming an MP in 2004. Asad’s younger brother, Akbaruddin Owaisi, is also an MLA for the last 10 years from the Chandrayanagutta constituency of the old city.

During the 1996 general elections, Mohamed Amanullah Khan of the MiM rebelled against Salahuddin, threatening to cut the Owaisis down to size. Khan lost his deposit. Salahuddin defeated senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu by a margin of 74,000 votes. But, post-2004, there was a spurt in criticism of the MiM, owing to its ‘elitism’.

“The Owaisi family, that had an autocratic grip over the MiM and over the flow of power and resources, began to be conceived as leaders of rich Hyderabadi Muslims. The MiM is said to have contributed hugely towards creating a class divide within the Muslims of Old City. Some poor Muslims did not get medical treatment or school admissions in their community institutions because powerful community leaders served the interests of upper class Muslims,” a local CPI(M) leader told TSI, while seeking to explain the reasons for the penetration of the Communists into the lanes and by-lanes of the Old City to serve the poor Muslims, ‘orphaned’ by the MiM.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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9/11 terrorist attack

Supporters of the American worldview call it an attack on the free world. America’s detractors label it as “chicken come to roost”. Whatever, the incident changed global polity forever. As planes crashed into the twin towers and the Pentagon headquarters, people all over the world watched in horror and scattered applause. While Uncle Sam marched on to punish whoever he thought ‘God’ held responsible, the common man of the world’s greatest power understood that they too were vulnerable. Neo-cons and born- again patriots started formulating strategy to up their ante; on the other hand, the liberal segment started serious retrospection on the American foreign policy that brought war to their doors. And as US took on al-Qaeda, the domino effect was seen in every possible corner of the world.

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

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Gay blood, bad blood?

After the fight for acceptance, homosexuals embark on a new fight...

Raghav (named changed) was a regular blood donor since his college days, and had once also donated blood to help his dad recover from a critical health situation. But one day his application form for blood donation was rejected because it had a tick marked on the question which asked if the donor has had sexual relations with a person of the same sex after 1977. Disappointed on being refused on grounds of being gay, Raghu decided not to donate blood anymore.

After legalising homosexual relationships in India, the various other laws attached to it are in a state of flux, and one of it is the ban on bisexuals or gay men from donating their blood. This prohibition was first introduced in 1977 by the Food and Drug Association, USA, to combat the HIV pandemic, which was rampant at that time. The first signs of AIDS were observed in gay men in the early 1980s, which led to researches that concluded that unprotected anal sex was a major factor intensifying this epidemic. This had led the FDA to impose a ban on homosexuals from donating blood.

Addressing this issue in context to the Indian scenario, Dr. Anju of Rotary Blood Bank says, “Till now, we have been following the rules that exist in most countries. We have a clause according to which we can’t take blood from those involved with multiple partners, that includes both homosexuals and heterosexuals.” On questioning if people in India reveal such intimate details, she said, “Well, we haven’t encountered many such cases and I’m sure that there are many who don’t reveal such details while donating blood. So, all we can do is take as much precaution as we can from our end. But we do not take blood from homosexuals because the probability of them carrying HIV and being involved with multiple partners is much more. So that’s a precautionary measure we follow.”


While this tussle between the law-makers and the affected party has existed since years, the revoking of Article 377 has brought forth this issue in India. “I would absolutely want the government to re-consider this clause, but till now we see no signs of any such thing happening. It took years for us to get breathing space in the society, so the possibility of gays being allowed to donate blood looks bleak”, mentioned Charlie, a homosexual.

Common sense dictates that laws ought to be formulated according to the needs of a country rather than to blindly follow an existing rule. If the debate is that homosexuals are more likely to be carriers of HIV because of engaging in unprotected anal sex, then isn’t there an equal chance of being infected with HIV due to unprotected peno-vaginal sex? And if the answer to that is a yes, then why should there exist a discrimination on the basis of gender preference for a generous gesture like donating blood? Being the most powerful and advanced country in the world, the guidelines given by the US were considered sacrosanct by all, but in the recent past, countries like Tasmania and Australia have challenged the laws on gay blood donation.

Such a ban, however necessary, is discriminatory and would perhaps cause dissonance. To avoid such a predicament, it’s imperative to develop laws and rules that support the progress of a society and take it forward. But, perhaps for now, all we can do is hope!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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Bio-waste menace is back

Illegal recycling units resurface, public health in peril

The centre of the outbreak of one of the biggest epidemics, Hepatitis B (February-March 2009), was Modasa in north Gujarat. Within a few weeks, nearly 240 people were reported to have been affected by the viral and over 100 succumbed to the disease. The National Institute of Virology, Pune, had identified the disease to be due to a virulent mutant. Statements issued by the health department pointed towards the use of recycled and unsterilised syringes and needles as the mode of transmission of the deadly infection.

The trail of the disease led investigators to a major recycling racket in different parts of the state, including Ahmedabad. It was concluded that the epidemic had been caused by recycled syringes and needles. At that time, the police and health department had raided illegal factories that indulged in recycling of bio-waste. They had seized tonnes of syringes, needles, IV sets and vials. Usually, this type of waste is carefully segregated and destroyed in an incinerator. But the huge quantity of waste found in the godown was being probably repackaged and sold.

Now, eight months later, these bio-waste recycling units are back in business and the health department is doing little to clamp down on them. If immediate action is not taken, the Hepatitis B epidemic is bound to strike again. It is also a well-known fact that many areas, including Ghoda camp, Dariyapur, Ambapur, Naroda and Bhat village, are involved in recycling and selling of hazardous bio-medical waste. These units purchase bio-medical waste at a very low price from the hospitals and then re-sell it in the market.

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“Follow debris mitigation rules”

Geoffrey Forden, orbital debris expert at MIT, tells Vikas Kumar about the need for greater debris monitoring How serious is the problem?

This collision has created a serious problem for the Iridium satellites, which by definition have a large overlap with the debris released in space. We’ll need to bear this in mind when we send out more satellites in the future.

There have been times when the satellites came close to colliding, but in the end did not. Do you have any observation or study on that?

My calculations show that some satellites (including non-operational satellites that have reached the end of their life) and a piece of space debris approach each other every three to four days within 800 metres – the distance that the orbital elements predicted for this collision. Near misses between two satellites are considerably rarer, but still happen every month or so.

Would the ISS face any threat?

The ISS does face an increased risk, but the increase from the debris created by this collision is rather small. This is because the ISS is at a considerably lower altitude.

What can be done to prevent future collisions?

First, all space-faring countries must follow the debris-mitigation rules that various international committees have agreed to. They should sign up with the Code of Conduct that the European Union is considering.

What could be the implications of frequent collisions?

Space is being used for a variety of purposes, most of which serve humanity. For instance, satellites are used to predict weather, and hence mitigate the danger from floods, drought and other disasters. It is quite possible that if too much of space debris is created, near Earth orbits will be rendered unusable. If that happens, people’s lives will be lost on Earth.

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To inspire confidence

More than 24,000 Christians had fled their homes after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs following Saraswati's killing. Later, the administration set up 13 relief camps in the district for riot victims. Eleven of them have now been closed. Nearly 700 victims are, however, still in two relief camps – one in Mandakia and another in Tiangia village. Efforts are on to send the remaining people back to their villages. To inspire confidence, armed policemen have been stationed around churches.

From Tikabali, we headed towards Chakapada, a block headquarters famous as the karmabhumi of the late Laxmanananda Saraswati. Narrow hilly roads made the drive a tad difficult for the cab driver. It took us nearly one hour to cover a distance of 18 kilometers.

Surrounded by hills and a dense forest, Chakapada is a remote village, but the place is well developed. It has a school, a health centre and panchayat offices. We stopped in front of the Chakapada ashram, which was set up by Saraswati in 1966.This was one of the institutions that he established in Kandhamal to promote education among the poor, specifically the Dalits. Chakapada gurukul ashram is now home to around 300-plus students.

The ashram had planned no special event to commemorate the Swamiji’s death anniversary. But we spotted some students cleaning his samadhi with cowdung. Malay Charan Majhi, a tribal inmate, told us: “Swamiji was like our father and mother. He was a very caring man. We’ve been orphaned by his demise.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Is the golden age of romance in Bollywood over?

I totally disagree! I do not buy the idea the environment in earlier times – Stars, movies, individuals – were more romantic than ours.” That is bollywood's new, blazing love-guru, director Imtiaz Ali, Who’s "Jab We Met" and "Love Aaj Kal" seemed to have zonked the masses. "The passion and intensity of love, loss and longing that you speak about is still around – it could, for example, well be a man sitting in a café, sipping coffee by himself, cheerful, bullish on life, doing his crossword. Suddenly, we see tears rolling down his cheeks. There could be a zillion reasons, only the manifestations are different. These are complex times and the trappings, idiom, style and manner of expressing love, feeling and emotion has changed to keep pace with it. The real thing, however remains intact.” The inimitable Gulzar comes next. “I don’t think it is all true, although (partially) it seems so. I feel it’s a completely time and place things. The long drawn romance born of rishtas that came from different cities, defining the distance-lends-enchantment factor in todays’ life belongs to the fiction category! The tremulous meeting of eyes, accidental brushing of hand leading to unspoken, inarticulated, romantic highs doesn’t happen any more. That was then … the fifties. In year 2009, it is a more pro-active, informal and direct interface between young men and women living in a world dominated by internet, Cell phones and ATMs. It is a generational thing, That is the way the young people conduct romance today… and I go along with it all the way!”

Ah well, but dear reader you might like to pause and reflect on this as well…

Once upon a time, love was romance. Dilip holding his Queen of Hearts protectively in his arms, while his eyes blazed defiance at his royal father; Raj embracing his woman passionately: Dev prancing around with his lady love. All that resides in the fluffy soft focus of a distant past. Today, love appears to be less of a sublime emotion, more of a consumer perishable along the FMCG line. To be clinical is to be in. Increasingly, the primacy of permissiveness has replaced love with sex, corrupting into an act, a behaviour, an ingredient so artificially (and seductively) relevant that film-makers have appointed themselves as lab-specialists. They have detailed, magnified and celebrated titillation in the mainline commercial – and in doing so, destroyed emotion, buried passion, corrupted intimacy, killed charm and de-mystified romance…forever. And the loss remains completely ours...

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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Recording gravity-defying growth - ::IIPM-News::

Then there are other auto players like Suzuki which are still bullish on the Indian auto sector’s potential as is evident from its 150cc bike launch annoucement last month. Come November 26th and you’d see it unveil its big bikes (including the Hayabusa) in the capital city. Atul Gupta, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd. reveals Suzuki’s push strategy as, “Our strategy will be deeper penetration and tie-ups with retail financers to assure them repayments in order to combat this economic meltdown.”

So what can others do to stay afloat in such lowly times? “Launching more innovative products, increasing reach and marketing aggressively will be our mantra to attract more buyers,” says Gupta. And to stay profitable, the auto majors are doing their level best to curb over-supply as Jagdish Khattar, Former MD, Maruti Suzuki India and Founder, Carnation, states, “This is the time to tighten the seat belt and increase efforts in terms of marketing and reaching out to customers instead of waiting for them.” But there is hardly any silver lining for now as December is normally a sluggish period for the sector. What’s worse? Even sector experts aren’t too sure about that too as Jajoo further adds, “The auto sector will not revive in the next 6-8 months.” CRISIL has further predicted that the weak demand in the auto sector will prevail till FY2010. Surely, Bajaj is not the only Bechara here... many more Becharas are yet to get counted! And they’re half-way there already!

On improving affordability...

What reasons do you attribute to the prevailing slump in the auto sector?
Though the auto industry is witnessing a slow growth, but so far it still looks positive. It is a cyclical industry and is used to such downturns in the past. The overall economy is slowing and sentiments are weak, thus customers are postponing their buying decisions. With low penetration level and growing middle-class, the auto industry in India has a bright future, both in the medium and long term. Most manufacturers are betting on their future in India & China, where this industry is growing at its fastest. This is also evident from the fact that some more manufacturers are setting up base in India, taking advantage of the low production costs and growing domestic market.

So can we expect the end of this dark tunnel soon?
This is the time to tighten seat belts and increase efforts in terms of marketing and reach out to customers instead of waiting for them. It’s the right time for manufacturers to review their network strength, and build upon it, look at supporting the network to improve efficiency and financial health. This strong network will come handy as the situation improves...

What should the companies do to attract more buyers?
The companies need to focus and concentrate on small car production. India being a price sensitive market the manufacturers need to make cars more affordable...

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Businesses and Industries in the Global North - "IIPM News"

Well, this may be true for a few companies in the emerging markets, but businesses and industries in the global north (US, UK et al) are willingly avoiding infrastructural changes. And why is that? Here comes the Kwai river bridge. For polluting companies, interestingly, it is cheaper to buy carbon credits than to invest in environment protecting and technologically advanced machinery or in related innovation. Think about the hilarious situation. While as near as in July 2008, a unit of carbon credit was trading at above €33, currently, the same unit is languishing at €16. That basically means that companies belonging to developed economies, that have huge amounts of spare cash (more so as they refused to invest all along in greener technology) can buy even surplus carbon credits in the currently underpriced market for future indiscretions. Such companies might have the audacity to become bigger polluters in the future (based on the bank that they are creating of purchased carbon credits) or might have the temerity to even sell these surplus credits, once their per unit price appreciates, to book magnanimous profits.

It is but apparent that the enormous amounts generated by the so-termed Kyoto style trading has benefited the biggest industrial polluters the most, both in the past (when carbon credits purchase was just basically a licence to forego green investments) and in the future (when they’ll easily be able to forecast how much bigger their emission can be). But having said that, the fact is that all this gives no reason why India should not benefit from such an easily available source of foreign exchange.

India Inc. is apparently sitting on a goldmine. And why India is falling behind China in numbers is not because the companies have opened their eyes to the pitfalls in the carbon trading market. It is simply because of the general lack of awareness that India Inc. has been somehow losing on the opportunities to monetize carbon credits. For starters, ask yourself. If you’re a top manager in any company, do you even have an idea where exactly to register to start carbon trading? Do you even know how, say, non-manufacturing entities can also register and earn millions in carbon trading? If your answers are close to being negative, don’t be surprised, as a majority of India’s CEOs fail to pass muster and the test too. KPMG confirms in their November 2007 report (Climate Change: Is India Inc. Prepared?) that only a measly 21% of top CEOs in India had taken steps to mark out their ‘carbon footprint’.

Despite all this, estimates still put the Indian carbon trading market to reach $100 billion by 2010. It is surprising to note that power generating, transmitting and distributing companies, fertiliser companies (National Fertilisers, GNFC et al), cement, steel and textiles industries have not actively pursued the multibillion bonanza, even though the awareness is there. Agrees Ashutosh Pandey, Founder and Head of Carbon Advisory Business at Emergent Ventures, as he shares his thoughts with 4Ps B&M, “CDM awareness level in a few industries such as steel, cement, oil & gas, paper, sugar, renewable energy is very good,” at the same time accepting that “still, a lot needs to be done in SME and government sector; areas that need more coverage include energy efficiency (supply & demand), electricity distribution system revamping, agriculture, plantations, transportation and residential sector.” Despite our open letter to Ratan Tata beseeching him for writing the recent letter to powers that be, it is seriously rare to find companies like the Tata group that have appointed top firms like E&Y and McKinsey & Co. to measure their current carbon footprint and extrapolate the futuristic carbon footprints for the group entities (Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Power and TCS).

Likewise, other companies could and should take a leaf out of the success stories of even ‘enterprises’ like Tirumala Temple, Muni Seva Ashram, Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi, which have been making revenues unbelievably from carbon credits. On the other hand, companies such as Reliance Industries, Tamil Nadu Newsprint, SRF, Bharat Forge, JCT, Philips Carbon Black, Oswal Woolen and Usha Martin, which have certified emission approvals from the UNFCCC, can certainly be more innovative in reducing emission and increasing their earnings from the credits earned. There is a price for everything, the same holds true for carbon emissions where the market is becoming more liquid – in the Indian context, this calls for the policymakers to set more aggressive reduction targets; and the companies on their part need to play along, profitably so.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
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