Friday, March 19, 2010

It seems that Indian designers, knocking on global doors

Forget the top end. There’s worse at the lower end. Visit the markets in the T-Nagars of south India or the Janpaths of the west, and it becomes too evident how classically created designs of top Indian fashion professionals are snapshot copies and sold for peanuts. That piracy and plagiarism are plaguing the growth of this industry is a given fact now. Then why aren’t designers doing something about it en masse? “IPR helps to distinguish your product, but most of the time such distinction can be easily copied by just a little bit of modification and then you can also play around with issues like colour and textures,” says one of India’s leading designers Jattinn Kochhar, who also tells 4Ps and B&M how such shrewd modifications skew the legal case. According to a DHL-Mckinsey Apparel and Textile Trade Report, the Indian designer wear market is growing at 20 per cent, but so far only 10 designers across the country have opted for IPRs.

The scope of copyright protection depends on the depth of originality of the work and on the financial capabilities of the designer. Such issues certainly create a lot of confusion for the designers. Says Sumeet Nair, MD, Fashion Foundation of India and former chairperson of Fashion Design Council of India, “There are substantial limits on the legal protections available to designers, and not many designers have such financial capabilities to hire a professional expert for the same. Such limits are very confusing also.” But the trickier issue is how to deal with the problem of ‘inspiration’. With very short periods for recouping costs, some upstart designers openly resort to inspired copying. However, surprisingly, there are a few leading designers who even believe that these copycats can actually contribute in sustaining creativity. “If somebody is copying your design, it also means that your design is popular. Rolling out of similar products also create a trend. However, with IPR, it’s only your brand loyal customer who will pick up the authentic collection from your store,” expresses Rohit Bal.

But Rohit is amongst only a handful of such thinkers. Today, fashion espionage accusations fly in all directions in India, with Indian luxury houses accusing high-street brands and designers accusing fashion houses. It required honourable minister Kapil Sibal to sort out the music royalty issue between singers and film producers. One wonders who’ll offer to help India’s fashion industry out.
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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, March 18, 2010

Authority set up to look over preservations and high court orders

Issues have been plaguing the restoration work since then, and even before. During the shoot of the Bollywood flick 'Veer', one of the walls of the fort gave way. After the report was carried by the local press, Chief Justice G.S. Saraf and Justice Ashok Parihar took suo moto notice and a case was registered. The bench stayed all commercial activities in the fort through an order dated August 17, 2009, and admitted the litigation. On October 13, 2009, a bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Bhalla and Justice Manishwar Nath Bhandari, in its order, stated that Amer Fort is a tourist destination and activities related to tourism and its promotion will be the only activities that will be allowed in and around it.

A cursory look by our team at the restoration and preservation work taken up in the last six months allowed us to see the issues the Fort suffers. While parts of the fort that are in dire straits have been overlooked (perhaps due to prioritisation), sections that have been restored appear in relatively good condition. But the iconic Sheesh Mahal, that has attracted hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists every year, still has deep developed cracks. Some tour guides, who know the ins and outs of the structure, claimed that the cracks are because of the preservation and restoration work overlooking the structural design.

Officials have been aware of these cracks since a long time, and admitted so when a local daily broke the story. The government has constituted a team of experts to look into the matter. The team has completed its investigation and will present the report mentioning the reason behind the cracks and would suggest ways to prevent further corrosion of Sheesh Mahal. The Management Authority, in the meanwhile, has also focussed on created a new version of the Sheesh Mahal over the Shilamata Mandir complex. This part of the fort was previously mostly closed. The Authority renovated it and christened it the New Sheesh Mahal and signed a contract with a restaurant chain to open an outlet there. It is expected this would bring in more tourist revenues.

All said, it is true that there are aspects that need to be looked into more critically, and these are related to the aesthetic dimensions of the Fort, which in some cases seem to have been ignored – for example, the new façade (windows especially) look extremely out of place given the historical context of the Fort. The high court, on its part, had ordered a stay on restoration work that ignores the aesthetics of Amer Fort.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

What’s the deal?

Admittedly, despite being pretty much a copy of “21” (right down to a few scenes and sequences!) “Teen Patti” could still have carved out a niche as a bold, experimental and exciting film for Bollywood. Instead, bogged down by a clunky script and generally underwhelming thrills, it only middles as an average flick.

The ‘brilliant-professor-finds-a-way-to-cheat-at-a-game-of-cards-and-puts-together-a-student-ring’ feel that was there in “21” is replicated here, albeit with convenient Indianisation – MIT becomes BIT; Prof. doesn’t do it because you can make loads of money through amoral means but because he wants to ‘test’ his theory and he is being blackmailed! But the film focuses less on the mechanics of the operation (the theory that helps Prof. Venkat Subramanium, played by Amitabh Bachchan, unlock the secret to win big at the game is never quite fleshed out) and more on the toll the entire exercise takes on the personal lives and the relationship between the students and the Professors – Venkat and Shantanu Biswas, played by R Madhavan. Madhavan plays the junior Professor who encourages Venkat to implement his theory in a real setting.

It might have been a smart idea if clumsy subplots and meaningless cameos did not keep interrupting the flow of the story. Ben Kingsley has a tiny role (as a mathematician, Perci Trachtenberg), and while he attempts to bring all the poise that only Sir Ben can to the role, the character is etched too flimsily to stand out. Even the twist at the end is kind of predictable. The Big B is dependable as usual and the newcomers are adequate but it’s not quite their fault. They had to deal with a bad hand in the form of a semi-baked story and script to start with.

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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, March 12, 2010

Sports goods missing

Even after three years, railway officials are clueless

A wagon carrying sports goods worth Rs 55 lakh dispatched from Jalandhar railway station in 2007 has failed to reach Kerala. Three years after the incident, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) is clueless. The department has no idea what happened to the goods that were ordered by the Mahatma Gandhi University of Kottayam. The university had cut a deal with a Punjab-based sports company that it would receive sports goods worth Rs 55 lakh through rail.

Keeping its promise, the company claims to have sent sports goods by Jammu-Tawi Express. It was understood that the university officials would collect the goods from the Alwaye station at Ernakulam district. But unfortunately, it never reached any station in the state.

When the MG University couldn’t lay its hands on the expensive sports goods it wrote to the Railway authorities about the non-delivery of goods.

The RPF responded to the complaint by launching an enquiry. But all its efforts failed to yield positive results. This upset the university officials, who made a last-ditch effort to recover the sports goods by approaching some senior officials of the department, but to no avail.

Interestingly, the RPF in its report said that the luggage was untraceable. However, the authorities claim that during their probe they did stumble on records that show the goods reached Chennai.

Surprisingly, they have now raised their hands and are not willing to cooperate with the university officials. When contacted they told TSI that the goods are missing. University sources say that it may seek compensation. This is not one-off incident in the state. RPF sources say there has been an increase in such cases. Goods destined for Kerala don’t reach its destination. They vanish in the middle, says an official.

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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, March 11, 2010

An Islamist conspiracy!

The main aim of the recent BDR mutiny in Bangladesh was to grab power and nothing else

Was the recent bloody mutiny by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) simply to demand better service conditions? Well the perceived wisdom is that events much greater than the economic grievances that sparked the two-day running battle between the BDR and the Bangladesh army in Dhaka’s urban centres and some other areas. The BDR is said to have been vying for participation in the lucrative UN peacekeeping missions and restructuring of the forces. But many Bangladesh watchers are now arguing that the scale of the rebellion belies the staid notion that only economic demands were behind it. What's more? Such concerns could easily have been addressed by employing conventional trade union pressure tactics. But the BDR unleashed a virtual reign of terror, holding several army officers and their families hostage and mowing down a good number of them. It is just not possible – indeed even probable – that the upheaval was driven with the simple aim of grabbing political power? A great deal goes to support such a notion. The timing of the revolt itself gives one pause – coming as it did at a time when Sheikh Hasina was still to settle down in the PM's office. It came on January 6, immediately after her swearing-in. Her party, the Awami League, had swept the long deferred general elections, thanks to the military’s meddling.

The strong suspicion of a deeper conspiracy comes from reports that the BDR mutiny had the secret backing of a section of Bangladesh’s army officers, including Army Chief, Moeen Ahmed. Ahmed is widely perceived to be a secular officer, who had been put out of reckoning. He is credited with taking on numerous fundamentalist outfits close to Begum Khaleda Zia, leader of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), whom Sheikh Hasina overthrew. "There are definite indications that even the army was split down the ranks,” Deepak Dastidar, a well known Bangladesh specialist told B&E.

It is well known that Ahmed was committed to rolling back the Talibanisation of Bangladesh, which had proceeded during the years when the hawkish Begum Zia was at the helm. Indeed it is an open secret that in all those years her government gave the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) a free hand. The result: Islamists felt completely undeterred to terrorise the nation’s Hindu minorities. This was coupled with the enforcement of a rigid Taliban culture on the Muslim community. No wonder that during Begum Zia''s second term in office (2001-2006), a large number of JI and JMB elements were able to penetrate the army’s ranks. Undoubtedly, all these events show that the BDR mutiny was actually a well orchestrated move to derail the liberals.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

As valuations get depressed in the slowdown

Clearly, while numerous researches show that M&As destroy shareholder value, these failed deals show one aspect that is unique to downturn, which is that acquirers can get quite circumspect about the prospects of the acquisition. Harsh Vardhan, Partner and Director, BCG India, elaborates on why this goes in favour of downturn M&As in an exclusive interaction with B&E, “Boom time mergers carry greater risk, since firms may tend to overpay and even get more casual about the strategic logic.”

That’s one side of the story, however. Where you find CEOs with a pair of scissors, you will also find CEOs with fishing lines, and preparing their baits. For it is also true that while the acquirers get into thinking mode, they also know that there are easy pickings on the other side of the fence, as valuations get depressed. A research done by BCG and UBS investment banking asked CEOs and senior managers of 164 public listed firms in Europe about their M&A plans for 2009, just six weeks after the Lehman collapse. It revealed interesting insights. A majority (51%) had no intention of changing their M&A plans and only 15% felt that doing deals was too risky at the moment. More interestingly, 43% of the companies felt that there will be transformational deals in the near future. Obviously, since debt (due to credit crunch) and equity (due to stocks plummetting in value) are not as potent as they used to be, cash is expected to be king. A number of sectors are expected to witness heightened M&A activity in 2009. Comments Stefan Zehle, CEO, Coleago Consulting Ltd. exclusively to B&E, “The issue is quite simple, take advantage of forced sales. Many sales that are now coming up are ‘fire sales’ where the seller desperately seeks cash because they can’t roll over loans.”

Banking and financial services is the one that is most likely to have top of mind recall, since that was where it all started. In the US, we know how the government has committed some $243.7 billion to banks and insurance firms in the US, which makes us wonder where else could under-performance be so deeply rewarding!
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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, March 6, 2010

Le Saint Alexis

Reunion Island

Le Saint Alexis is a bouquet of luxury on this small French paradise. This opulent hotel serves pure pleasure on a platter. Rendering to the sweet nothings of its guests galore, Le Saint Alexis has always been the epitome of warmth and hospitality. Beautifully situated along the western coast of Reunion Island, Le Saint Alexis provides the most scenic view of the gleaming sun, dusty golden sand and of course the azure waters. Blending tradition with culture, the Le Saint Alexis provides a wholesome experience!

The View: It’s a marvel to watch the refreshing and energising sunrise and the picturesque golden sunsets from the various terraces and patios at the Le Saint Alexis. The Le Saint Alexis also offers a spectacular view of the Indian Ocean. With Reunion’s unparalleled climate, the sky is generally clear for the true romantics to peacefully enjoy uninterrupted star-gazing through the night.

Archi Type: This luxurious resort has been recently built with a deliberate reflection of its tradition and a hint of the Island’s culture in all its contemporary interiors. The designs and decorations have been aesthetically chosen to suit the taste of its guests from world over. With beauty, fitness and spa facilities galore, Le Saint Alexis caters to all needs. With choicest elements doing justice to the interiors with polished stones and the best of wood-work, the beige monochrome lends sophistication to the decor.

Bon Appétit: Le Saint Alexis boasts of various restaurants and food delicacies. Backstage, being one of the most celebrated gastronomic places at Le Saint Alexis, invites its guests to try the various creations of its chef, who is known for blending classic and exotic flavours. Crabs and shrimps, creamy mesclun salad with smooth germs and its orange and pink grapefruit vinaigrette are a speciality.

Around the Corner: Le Saint Alexis is conveniently situated in this small paradise with fabulous hideaways at a reasonable distance. St-Leu is a neighbour to this glitzy town of Boucan Canot. The hotel is barely 25kms away from the spectacular volcano jutting 2500mtrs above the sea level. The three cirques are also around and worth the travel on this fabulous isle… where the climate plays on your mind all the while.

From Under the Carpet: For adventure fanatics, the excursion options could be rather limited within the hotel’s domain. One needs to consider transportation costs before venturing on a trip.

In Essence: Offering originality, and comfort, Le Saint Alexis is indeed an epitome of pure pleasure.
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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, March 5, 2010

Indian mutual Fund industry is all set to unleash its true potential

But then one should not forget the MF industry is poised to face tough competition from the insurance sector in the near future. Raison d’etre: Insurance companies in India have developed innovative products which link mutual funds and insurance, like unit linked insurance plans. Thus, innovation in terms of product offerings customised for these new target segments will be essential if MFs want to compete with these innovative insurance offerings. For instance, UTI’s plan to sell products through the postal channel targeting the retired population is a move in that direction. No doubt, the recent turmoil in stock markets has shaken investor confidence, and investors are apprehensive about investing in equity or instruments linked to equity but then niche products linked to infrastructure and real estate funds providing superior returns are likely to appeal to urban investors. Similarly, new products like daily savings plans are likely to become popular among the rural micro-saving segment.

As per Waqar Naqvi, CEO, Taurus Mutual Fund, “Owing to the change in regulations, we may soon see slight changes in the way [AMC] business happens today.” It will actually be distribution that will continue to hold a lot of value for the AMCs in 2010. Most importantly, with banks, independent financial advisors and national distributors all playing their roles, AMCs have to be very careful in choosing their distribution partners. Because those partners will actually be the vehicles riding whom the AMCs can penetrate deeper into the retail segment.

IT’S A TEAM!

While aggregate global MF proceeds are still below normal levels, inflows accelerated through 2009, creating a solid foundation for 2010. As per ICI, MF assets worldwide increased 12% to $20.34 trillion as of June 2009. Net cash flow to all funds was $81 billion in Q2 ‘09, up from $47 billion in Q1. Even net inflows to long-term funds were $293 billion in Q2, after experiencing a cumulative outflow of $607 billion over the prior three quarters. “After a strong market revival last year, fund managers are optimistic about the prospects of 2010,” says Annabel Brodie-Smith, Communications Director, Association of Investment Companies. Now that’s what you call a smart recovery!
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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, March 4, 2010

IAS and IPS officers

Talking to TSI, the state Congress president Suresh Pachauri said, “The decision has come too late. In fact, it was following the crusade by the Congress’ Rakesh Singh that the BJP had to take this decision.” On the other hand, state minister Kanhaiya Lal Agrawal stresses that there is nothing to hide as the MLAs have to declare their assets anyways at the time of elections, and it is with these very MLAs that the Cabinet is formed.

The deputy leader of the Opposition, Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi, had filed an RTI application in the general administration department and police headquarters last year. He asked both the departments to furnish the asset details of three consecutive years of all IAS and IPS officers. The application was rejected. The department's appellate officers too gave a decision against Singh. He had to go to State Information Commission for a favourable verdict. “The BJP has tried to hijack the achievements of the Congress by ordering this move. However, it's a result of our initiative,” says Singh.

Chief Information Commissioner P.P. Tiwari told TSI, “RTI is an essential tool for transparency in law and ensures corruption-free administration. The declaration of assets by public servants will help curb corruption. We have consulted all the laws and decided to order the declaration and sharing of information about the assets of public servants. This is in the interest of the people. The politicians are also in its purview.”

On the other hand, ex-chief secretary of the state, Nirmala Buch, says, “The decision is good but it will still be difficult to curb corruption. Most officials amass wealth in other people’s names. It will be impossible to ascertain their benami assets. The government is aware of the problem but unless there is political will, nothing fruitful will ever emerge.”

RTI activist Ajay Dubey says, “The government must come up with a mechanism to crosscheck the information furnished on its website. In case of discrepancies, the officer concerned should be punished.” On the other hand, the IAS Association maintains that it has always supported the move. The vice president of the association, Dr V.N. Pandey, told TSI, “There's no harm in declaring assets. We’ll ask everybody to comply with the government order."

Last year, the Information Commission in Punjab had asked several officials to furnish information about their assets. Some of them had amassed assets beyond their known sources of income. Similarly, an IAS officer in Tamil Nadu had volunatarily declared his assets. However, the MP government move is the first time ever that all civil servants in a state have been asked to go public with their material assets.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Cooking Made Easy?

karnataka: pollution-free stoves

In a move to contain increasing air pollution, Envirofit International Ltd, an American-based non profitable organisation, is making inroads into rural kitchens in some parts of India. The company has launched a range of clean biomass cooking stoves. And it says that they are more users friendly and technically advanced, making women more comfortable in their kitchens.

Though Envirofit stoves use traditional biomass fuels, it has been designed to emit significantly less toxic and use less fuel. The stoves are meant to reduce toxic emissions by as much as 80 per cent while consuming 50 per cent less fuel. Besides, it is supposed to reduce the cooking time by 40 per cent. The stove is the result of over five years of research and testing in coordination with internationally recognised academic institutions such as Colorado State University. The UK-based Shell Foundation has helped Envirofit in this venture.

This clean burning biomass cooking stoves are indeed a boon for those who are severely hit by indoor air pollution, according to the company. “We have launched these stoves after extensive research and market analysis,” says Harish Anchan, General Manager of Envirofit India Pvt Ltd. “Available data show that toxic emissions while preparing food claim thousands of lives in the country every year. And shockingly, most of the victims are women and children,” claims Anchan. For the time being, these stoves are available in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

“We are receiving overwhelming responses from the rural folk. Our stoves are being made available in more than 700 villages in Karnataka and 300 villages in Tamil Nadu. And efforts are being made to reach the rest of the rural India as effectively as possible,” he says. The American Ambassador to India, Timothy J.Roemer, who was present at the inaugural function in Bengaluru recently, says that he preferred to read this new ‘kitchen invention’ as “one more feather to Bangalore’s cap”.

“Having been flattered as ‘Silicon City’, Bangalore is now doing everything to soothe the kitchen atmosphere with such eco-friendly cooking stoves,” he appreciated.

But, a critical issue for the organisation is the traditional think of a typical Indian housewife, who would continue using toxic and non-environment friendly mediums than use an innovation that could be potentially a life saver. Till then, all this would remain is just news.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


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

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