Sexual Detours in Europe

Pamella bordes saga: Bordes shot to fame in the 80s when her sexual relations with British MPs came into light. Tory MPs David Shaw and Henry Bellingham got her unauthorised entry in to the House of Commons.

mitterrand's french wine: The daughter of French President François Mitterrand and his mistress, Anne Pingeot could never openly call her father “papa” and had to hide in cars as she visited him in Elysee Palace.

profumo soviet shock: John Profumo, the Tory Secretary of State for War in Britain, had a passionate affair with Christine Keeler, a call girl, who was also dating a Soviet naval attaché, who was probably a spy.

john's major embarrasment: Between 1984 and 1988, British PM John Major and Edwina Currie, his Downing Street cook, had been lovers. The truth came out only in 2002 when Currie published her diary.

it's part of my job: The images of a man, claimed to be Russia’s then-Prosecutor General Yury Skuratov, in bed with two prostitutes were aired on a state-controlled Russian television. Skuratov never recovered.

it's two to tango: Robert Boothby, ex-Private Secretary of Churchill, not only had an affair with Harold Wilson’s wife – British PM – but with a homosexual notorious East End gangster as well.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Sexual Detours in Europe

Pamella bordes saga: Bordes shot to fame in the 80s when her sexual relations with British MPs came into light. Tory MPs David Shaw and Henry Bellingham got her unauthorised entry in to the House of Commons.

mitterrand's french wine: The daughter of French President François Mitterrand and his mistress, Anne Pingeot could never openly call her father “papa” and had to hide in cars as she visited him in Elysee Palace.

profumo soviet shock: John Profumo, the Tory Secretary of State for War in Britain, had a passionate affair with Christine Keeler, a call girl, who was also dating a Soviet naval attaché, who was probably a spy.

john's major embarrasment: Between 1984 and 1988, British PM John Major and Edwina Currie, his Downing Street cook, had been lovers. The truth came out only in 2002 when Currie published her diary.

it's part of my job: The images of a man, claimed to be Russia’s then-Prosecutor General Yury Skuratov, in bed with two prostitutes were aired on a state-controlled Russian television. Skuratov never recovered.

it's two to tango: Robert Boothby, ex-Private Secretary of Churchill, not only had an affair with Harold Wilson’s wife – British PM – but with a homosexual notorious East End gangster as well.

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 :-
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
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Heart break Andhra

The suicides in Andhra Pradesh by the late YSR’s fans show that in South India icon worship has not stopped exacting its bloody toll, report Naresh Nunna and N Asokan

The grisly routine was repeated yet again: this time in Andhra Pradesh. A charismatic leader had died in the most tragic circumstances, leaving behind such bereavement that one death became the cause of 46. Some, it is true, suffered heart attacks; but as in the past many of these were not natural deaths.

Among the fans of the late Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy were also scores who, while they had not the heart to take their own lives, were so overcome with grief that they remain inconsolable even today. Does that strike you as strange? That somebody should grieve for another even more than for one’s own family? Yet the death of the charismatic YSR exacted precisely such a toll. After he went missing on September 2 the entire state seemed to be falling apart. And after his death was conclusively established, it was – whichever way you turned – Heartbreak Andhra.

One youngster’s suicide note said, “YSR dedicated his life to the people, I am dedicating my life to him.” And without waiting to give it a second thought the youth had consumed pesticide. Tragic as this is, though, it is well known that South India is the country’s suicide zone; and while what caused the most recent spate of suicides was a major loss for the state, few are ever surprised when someone unknown in South India decides to end his/her life. The respected British medical journal The Lancet in fact says that South India accounts for the world’s largest number of suicides, and not just India’s.

One of the commonest suicide triggers in the South – particularly Andhra and Tamil Nadu – is the demise of a mass icon. Only, nobody quite knows what it is in this region that so propels people to commit hara-kiri in extreme – and sometimes not so extreme – circumstances. Says A Marx, a social scientist, “South India’s history is replete with loyalists in awe of their rulers, who gladly allow themselves to be decapitated because nothing less will satisfy them. In the southern tradition suicides resulting from such extreme emotions has always been venerated.” When star politician MG Ramachandran died Tamil Nadu witnessed many such cases. Countless others tonsured their heads as though MGR was their own kin. When Karunanidhi was in the opposition and was arrested it was normal for his party cadres to attempt self-immolation bids. A DMK member made an abortive attempt in front of Karunanidhi’s residence when the latter announced his political retirement. Karunanidhi expectedly withdrew it. When Vaiko was expelled from the DMK in 1993, a youngster, Nochikuppam Dhandapani, committed self-immolation right in front of his house. There followed four more suicides – causing Vaiko to form a new party.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Collateral Damage

Bureaucrats find themselves caught in a career-threatening crossfire as the chasm between the CPM and its Chief Minister continues to widen in Kerala, reports Anu Warrier

What can a civil service officer close to the state Chief Minister expect when he is facing disciplinary action? A cakewalk, you would reckon. But if you are K. Suresh Kumar, IAS officer and trusted confidant of Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, the tables can turn.

Suresh Kumar was the leader of the special team that Achuthanandan had set up for the first phase of the unsuccessful Munnar Mission, which tried to drive out wealthy and politically connected encroachers from the hill station. Suresh Kumar is now under suspension for the last seven months after his public stand against the CM’s personal and political secretaries. Even though the CM signed an order to reinstate Suresh Kumar after accepting an inquiry report by Chief Secretary Neela Gangadharan, it is yet to be implemented. Reason: the CM’s party is against reinstating Suresh. The CPM had ordered the CM’s office to freeze the order until the party state secretariat took a decision on Suresh Kumar’s case.

Moreover, a move is afoot to frame Suresh Kumar in other cases related to alleged irregularities in the State Cooperative Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. He was the Managing Director of the bank when the controversy regarding the CM’s office erupted.

Suresh Kumar is not the first or last victim of the CPM’s factional feud. Last week, C.R. Neelakandan, a social activist and environmentalist close to the CM’s camp, was transferred to the Hyderabad office of Keltron, a state government enterprise. Neelakandan was in the news recently for authoring a book on the reality of the Lavalin case in which the CPM state secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan. is one of the accused.

In another incident, a Kerala University professor who had compared Pinarayi with Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung in an article published in an English newspaper was denied promotion. The CPM state leadership is doing everything in its power to thwart Achuthanandan’s attempts to portray the state secretary and his cronies as corrupt. The party’s central leadership had recently ousted the CM from its politbureau, alleging the octogenarian leader had been violating party discipline.

The party state leadership’s targeting of Suresh Kumar proves that action against Achuthanandan has not been effective in putting out the fire of factionalism in the Kerala CPM. Opposition leader Oommen Chandy asserts that these incidents prove the allegations regarding lack of coordination in the state administration.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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Bribing militants?! oh please...

NC Council leaders bribed militants, says Commission

It isn’t too often that inquiry commissions in the North-East point out what has long been obvious: that militants and anti-national elements would not call the shots here, unless the governments in power – either covertly or overtly – allowed them to do so.

But this time it’s different. The Manisena Commission, set up to probe the violence that has rocked Assam’s North Cachar Hills over the past few years, has dealt a body blow to the recently dissolved NC Hills Autonomous Council. The commission said the council leaders were directly involved with militants of the Dima Halim Daogah (Jewel group).

The commission’s report that was made public last week says leaders of the Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) and of the district’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – both of whom ruled the council – had offered Rs 2 crore to a militant group during council elections. Of this amount, Rs 1 crore had already been paid.

Partha Warisa, the self-styled ‘deputy commander-in-chief’ of the DHD (J), allegedly told police that the money had been made available by Mohit Hojai, BJP leader and chief executive member of the NC Hills Council. While Hojai was arrested, the council was dissolved by the state government, leading to a political confrontation between the BJP and the ASDC that ruled the council and the Congress-ruled state government. The government has handed over the investigation to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The ASDC meanwhile has denied the allegations made by the commission. “This is a conspiracy. The Manisena Commission did not speak to any of our members, only to the Congress,” claims Prakanta Warisa, NC Hills president from the ASDC. As for Hojai paying off Partha Warisa in Meghalaya, he said, “This could have been something personal of which I am not aware.” The commission has gone on to say that the last council misappropriated Rs 18.09 crore.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Debt, drought and death

Without a concrete plan, India will surely witness a death rise

Maharashtra is known as an economic power house and the most industrialised state of India. But the flinty reality of farmers committing mass suicides in Vidharbha speaks of two parallel economies with luster of Mumbai’s skyscrapers and flyovers shining down the unkept and unwashed destitute farmers, caught up in debt trap that they cannot get away with. 1,044 farmers committed suicides in 2006 alone in the Vidarbha region causing embarrassment to the government whose efforts till now to save the situation was paltry and minimal. By their own admission, the government did not listen to farmer’s demands; neither had they consulted the local bodies like panchayats to create the relief package. Consequently, it resulted in failing measures with nothing new offered to them, and quite obviously the problem was not solved. Although it is difficult to ascertain exactly how many have succumbed, but the official statistics indicate a figure of 1,920 (out of 3.2 millions cotton farmers, 2.8 millions are debt defaulters). The reason for such augury is the high cost of cotton production in Vidharbha. It is Rs.70 per kg in Vidharbha, where as it ranges from Rs.35 to Rs.48 per kg in the rest of the country! Albeit, the Prime Minister has announced a relief package of Rs.3,750 crore, it is doubtful how much of it will eventually reach the real disadvantaged. This pall of misery is not confined to Maharashtra alone, but it is a phenomenon that is visible throughout the country.

A substantial figure of 1,500 has committed mass suicide in Chattisgarh because of receding water levels, which has gone below 250 feet. Deforestation, inadequate irrigation facilities and unplanned dam projects have resulted in falling water levels. This also indicates the extent of our dependence on right monsoon for the survival of our farmers.

Very recently, much to the shock of the entire nation about 20 farmers killed themselves in Telengana and Rayalseema region of Andhra Pradesh. The same debt trap is the cause as they had taken loans to dig bores and tap ground water that could not be done because the water was at low ebb. This year too, because of insufficient monsoon, 177 out of 626 districts have been declared as "drought-affected" by Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar. The grass root level implementation is often far fetched from the satisfactory level. Moreover, the investment in the sector has come down from 14.9 per cent in the first Five Year Plan to 5.2 per cent in the 11th Five Year Plan one. Investment to GDP ratio too has also plummeted from 1.6 per cent to 1.3 per cent.

Despite huge investments in water resources and irrigation, our agriculture is monsoon dependant. A concomitant phenomenon of risk and uncertainty. It is observed that in a cycle of every four years there would be at least one drought, ensuring the small and medium landowners to be deprived of credit, forcing them to lend money from the land owners, thus falling into the vicious cycle of debt trap. It is true that preparing for unknown is tough, but with drought being a common trend, preparing for the same is inevitable.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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A fragmented society

When the ripples triggered by the attack on leaders of Dera Sachkhand Ballan in far off Vienna reached Jalandhar, it became clear how simple it is to shatter the uneasy calm that prevails in today’s Punjab.

Punjabi society is highly fragmented. This Dera is venerated by the Ravidasias at the global level. The second in command of the Dera Sant Ramanad succumbed to his injuries. The Dera head, Sant Naranjan Das, had also been injured. This attack was attributed to Sikh hardliners though exact details of the incident are still not available.

The objection of the Sikh organisations was that though the Dera believes in Guru Granth Sahib, it does not mainstain its prescribed maryada. The followers of the sect also touch the feet of the Dera head in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib which is not permitted in the Sikh religion.

A section of the Ravidasias is Sikh. The situation during the couple of chaotic days when a part of the state was put under curfew was also an indication of the strong undercurrents of tension in the society.

Sikh religion is casteless, but Sikh society isn’t. Gurdwaras based on castes have mushroomed not only in Punjab but also overseas, where Punjabis have settled over the years. This goes against Sikh philosophy. The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee has miserably failed to check this trend. The irony is that this Parliament of the Sikhs has a president who, for the first time in its history, is referred to by his sub-caste Makkar. The SGPC had no doubt issued an appeal when Avtar Singh Makkar took over not to refer to him as Makkar. However, at a news conference at Chandigarh, he said he was known by that surname. Not that the Dera culture is a recent phenomenon. The Deras have existed ever since the founding of the Sikh religion and some of the Deras have also made positive contributions to the Sikh religion. However, the deras have ruffled feathers within Sikh organisations with acts and utterances that are variance with the tenets of Sikhism. Trouble has been brewing in Punjab for quite a while now. The time for action is now.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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A new era begins

LDP is voted out after more than half a century of uninterrupted rule

Taking a leaf out of Obama’s Presidential campaign, Yukio Hatoyama of Democratic Party of Japan used “change” as the rhetoric in Japan’s most interesting elections ever. And if it clicked once, it would have clicked again. And click it did.

When sleepy Japanese came out to vote early Sunday morning their conscience was wide awake. The decision they were going to make was not at all simple. Actually far from it. They had to select between a more than five decades old party that they no more had any trust in, and its fledgling 11-year-old rival that has certainly not been in the driver's seat. They made their decision judiciously.

Opposition Democratic Party of Japan bagged as many as 308 seats, out of 480, in the lower house of parliament. With its alliance partners—who bagged another 32 seats—DPJ is all set for a landslide victory. It also saw end to the era of the Liberal Democratic Party, which governed Japan in most of the years after World War II. Yukio Hatoyama is all set to form next government with the help of his coalition partners Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party.

The election gave full control to DPJ in governance as it already had majority in the upper house of the parliament—an instrument it used ruthlessly to scuttle nearly all the bills that her rival LDP proposed on the floor. The filibuster majority will essentially mean a free hand for DPJ to rule the country.

“There are not many dates in post war Japanese history that can claim to change the course. One was certainly in August 1945. Another one probably is this,” reacted Gerald Curtis, a Japanese affairs expert at School of International Studies Columbia University, while talking to TSI. Strictly speaking, nevertheless, this contrasting result is also because of Liberal Democrats’ penchant for committing Hara-kiri. The party that served an umbrella organisation for all the flip-flop lower conservative factions, who shifted allegiance at will, lost its clue in last few years. Their once common hatred against communism was unable to hold them for long. However, their commitment to market liberalism made them a blue eyed boy of corporate and bureaucracy. And that helped them to propel war-ravaged Japan to the status of the world’s second-ranked economy. But as the bubble burst in the 1990s the rift between the functioning of LDP and the ethos and aspirations of Japanese grew wider and wider. The lifetime employment system — Japan’s capitalist response to Communism’s pension scheme — fall apart and Gini Coefficient rocketed, the people on the lower strata started abandoning its support base. The country aged rapidly too and the new generation faced the fact, the hitherto unknown, anxious situation of going from one temporary position to another.

Naturally, the right step would have been fundamental reforms. However they were a few. To give devil its due, it was not that Liberal Democrats were unwilling to introduce change; however, they were helpless in the face of opposition from their most influential support base comprising corporate and bureaucrats. Some other neo-liberal efforts though wrested Gini Coefficient for sometime, in the long run, the disparity between the rich and the poor only grew. Since then, as many as 13 PMs have been replaced.

For a race merely accustomed to degrees of amend — if any — the Japanese have elected a party whose guiding principles differ quite obviously from those of its precursor. It has vowed to produce jobs and lend a hand to customers rather than aligning itself to big corporations. This, quite naturally, will be as tough for the fresh ruler to achieve as it will be for Japanese commercial establishments to agree to. Winds of change are blowing on foreign policy front too. Although Japan will keep acting as US’s second fiddle in Asia in years to come; the earlier “joint to the hip” appearance will definitely cease.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Mr. Singh, They Need Your Help...

Rising prices are wreaking havoc on middle-class family budgets. Vikas Kumar and Niharika patra analyse how

Sadhna Singh gets perplexed, mystified, exasperated and even infuriated when she watches news on TV or reads the front pages of her newspaper these days. She is sick and tired of Baluchistan, the fight between Anil and Mukesh Ambani, the antics of participants in "Rakhi Ka Swayamvar" and the statues that UP Chief Minister Mayawati is erecting. She is terribly disappointed with the media; she never had any hopes from august members of Parliament anyway. “Rising costs of grocery has completely damaged our monthly budget. It is really difficult to maintain the same standard. Our monthly saving is now nil," says this agitated bank employee even as she struggles to identify one ‘cheap’ vegetable.

There are literally millions of consumers, homemakers and families across India who share the rising desperation of Sadhna Singh. For them, all the stuff that comes out in newspapers about the rate of inflation falling below zero is a bad joke inflicted upon them in poor taste. School teacher Rajarshi couldn’t care less about the subtle differences between the wholesale and the consumer price index; it is ‘price’ that is killing her. But as former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan says, we should focus on the consumer price index rather than the wholesale one while talking about consumer inflation. And that index is galloping ahead at double digit rates.

Most of them still think that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has the experience and the wisdom to stem the rot; but they can’t help wondering why Mr Singh is not paying more attention to such ‘bread and butter’ issues. Reality for them is the relentless rise in prices of goods and services that account for the bulk of a middle-class family budget. And the price hikes in many cases are incredibly high. Fond of cauliflower and capsicum? Be prepared to shell out Rs 80 per kg. Think you can increase the ‘nutrition’ quotient in the diet of your child by adding more Arhar Dal? You need to be ready to shell out close to Rs 100 per kg. Have a sweet tooth? Well, sugar is touching Rs 30 per kg.

It is not just the normal day to day food items that are wreaking havoc on middle-class family budgets. Thanks to the largesse doled out by the Sixth Pay Commission, the amount of money they have to pay as school fees for their children has virtually doubled – often with retrospective effect. And unlike their luckier ‘government employee’ counterparts, an overwhelming majority of those working in the private sector have not seen a pay hike for more than a year. Says Rajarshi, "I have two sons and their school fees have now doubled. I don't know how will I pay all this." Rajarshi and her husband really don’t know how to tackle this situation. So, middle-class Indians like Sadhna and Rajarshi who used to save about Rs 5,000 per month have now seen their savings dwindle to literally nothing (See table).


There is more bad news for them in store with the monsoon being far from normal. Says JP Malik, Department of Economic Analysis and Policy at RBI, “It is simple economics. The problem is because of the supply-demand gap which has happened because of the trouble in monsoons. Pulses and cereals have suffered more because they are more dependent on monsoon water”. But poor monsoons alone cannot be blamed for the incredible rise in prices. There is something rotten in the supply chain related to food products in the country. The farmer in the village still gets less than Rs 10 for every kg of cauliflower that he can harvest and sell. By the time you buy it from the market, it costs at least Rs 80 per kg. This is a clear sign that the trader and the middleman are making hay while the farmer as well as the consumer suffer. Add the complete absence of modern cold storages in rural areas despite many pious announcements from myriad policy makers.

It is not as if the people at the helm in Delhi are not worried and not paying attention. In fact, there was a detailed and intense discussion during a recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs where ministers Pranab Mukherjee and Sharad Pawar (whose ministry is responsible for food distribution and prices) had a ‘frank’ exchange of views. According to Congress insiders, both UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are paying close attention to this ticking time bomb.

And a ticking time bomb it is. One major reason for the UPA – and particularly the Congress – coming back to power was a strong perception among voters that the regime was genuinely concerned about the welfare of the aam aadmi. But rising food prices have a nasty historical habit of destroying the relationship between voters and ruling regimes. Sadhna and Rajarshi still have implicit faith in Manmohan Singh. But that faith is being tested at the moment.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Farmers reel under power cut

10-hr blackout in rural areas threatens to hamper crop output

People in Karnataka, especially farmers, are upset with the state government’s decision to cut power for 10 hours daily in rural areas and two hours in cities. Besides, power will not be supplied to gram panchayats that do not pay their electricity bills.

Justifying its stand, state energy minister KS Eshwarappa says: “In August, we require 120 million units, but are able to generate only 117 million units. In Septmber, the demand is 125 million units, where as our generation capacity is only 119 units. So we do not have any other choice, but to cut power. Moreover, the minister says this has been done to make optimum use of the energy available in the state. The power supply companies have been informed.

However, the government’s decision will have a debilitating effect on the farmers. Last year they had lost almost 60 per cent of their crops because of less rain. This year though the rain has been good, but the power outages are likely to hamper crop production, say agriculture experts.

According to the official report of Karnataka State Farmers’ Association there are more than 30 lakh farmers who use electric pump-set and more than 1.5 crore hectares of farm land depend on electricity. It also points out that non-availability of electricity translates into 30 to 40 per cent fall in farm output.

Karnataka State Farmers Association’s Secretary V Ashok tells TSI that we voted for this government because it had assured farmers a better deal. “In its election manifesto the ruling BJP had promised to give 24 hours power supply to farmers. But the recent decision of 10-hour power cut reflects bad on the government,” he said.

“The farmers are in distress. The government is ignoring the countryside by cutting power for only two hours in cities. In my district only there are more than 70,000 farmers who are dependent on electricity for farm related work. Has the government ever thought about them? The BJP government is doing injustice with us by not supplying electricity in villages,” says a furious Somu Buddu Swamy, farmers’ leader of Challakere Taluk, Chitradurga district.

What has angered state’s farmers the most is that there will be no power cut in Bangalore. And to sort out power crisis the state energy minister has a plan to convert Bangalore into a ‘solar city’. But apparently the government has got no time to think about small industries – running in loss and students suffering of power cut in rural parts of the state.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Breeze on through…

Love Aaj Kal”, for all its preaching about love today vs. love yesterday, is at its heart a clichéd story, but that doesn’t mean its stale. The smart (though hardly novel) use of the parallel timeline narrative, Saif’s spunk and Rishi Kapoor’s solidity all come together to make it a breezy and a fun watch.

Yes, it could have been shorter. Yes, Deepika Padukone needs to expand her range when it comes to emoting. And yes, even I cannot still figure out why a Brazilian model should be playing a Punjabi kudi. But I’ll leave that up to you to figure out if she does justice to the role. The performances overall do seem earnest and Imtiaz Ali while not touching the dizzy heights of “Jab We Met” still tells us a nice, urbane love story centered around a lover boy, Jai Vardhan Singh (Saif Ali Khan) who is torn between (weak) logic and (strong) emotion. Saif seems to own such roles of the confounded lover, and does his job brilliantly. Deepika is an able foil with a much improved performance (if “Bachna Ae Haseeno” is your benchmark) but is overshadowed by Saif for the most part.

The surprise of the film is Saif playing the younger Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor), who is narrating his love story (the love kal, so to speak) to the Saif of today who has just broken up with Meera (Deepika) (the love aaj here). As the young Sardar following his heart, he is quite convincing while his lady love, Harleen, played by Brazilian Gisele Monteiro is the most interesting character of the lot – intense and mysterious without having to try too hard. Rahul Khanna is wasted in his role, though. Romantic comedies usually have their share of fluff and gloss, and “Love Aaj Kal” isn’t short on any of it. Neat cinematography, especially in the flashback scenes (notice how the tint changes each time the timeline changes), some peppy music complete a smart little package that at the end turns out quite fine.

It would be harsh to expect tear jerking scenes or memorable lines, but you can look forward to a few good laughs (thankfully free of the raunchy undertones that every other film tries to pass off as comedy these days). Ultimately, it’s about some breezy entertainment for the ‘mango people’, isn’t it?

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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Honey, where’s my money?!?

Indian consumers are jeopardized due to money embezzlement

As if fake and counterfeit products were not enough, the incidence of fake currency notes has resurfaced. And this time in a much bigger form. The flow of fake currency in market is not becoming a nightmare for officials and Indian intelligence but also for common man – as they are the ones who eventually end up at the receiving end. According to official estimates, around 1, 98,000 fake notes worth Rs. 2,000 crore are in circulation as of now in the country. This means that around three to four per cent of the currency circulating now in the economy is fake or counterfeit. Over 7.34 lakh fake notes of Rs.100 denomination were seized during 2006-2009, while fakes of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 seized during this period were 5.76 lakh and 1.09 lakh respectively.

So if one gets petrified with such high probability of fake currency and decides to switch to plastic money for transactions, the risk does not seem to get eliminated. On an average 2,000 credit cards frauds are reported every month. ICICI Bank alone reported more than 8,000 cases of credit card fraud worth over Rs.11 crore. Besides, HSBC, another major credit card player in the country, reported close to 2,500 cases of fraud worth Rs.5 crore. And it is just the tip of the iceberg.

Even the scene with online banking transaction is similarly gloomy: Banks in the country have lost Rs.6.57 crore to Internet frauds (phishing) in 233 incidents of cyber crime. Lending institutions in Maharashtra, which reported the highest number of 23 incidents, have lost Rs.55.54 lakh to online fraudulent practices. Going by various surveys, Mumbai is ranked highest in India regarding phishing sites with 38 per cent and is followed by Delhi with 29 per cent. Bangalore and Chennai are with 12 per cent each. Internet fraud, today, is not just confined to banking sites but has spread its wings far and wide. Every thing from siphoning of money to looting donations (meant for earthquake and tsunami victims) is part of their job profile. In most of the cases these people pose as customer service representatives of banking institutions and use customers’ online details to obtain the credit card numbers. With the success rate being high, the prevalence of these incidents have seen a never before growth and have become more sophisticated too. In numerous cases, banks try and cover these events as they do not want to risk their brand image and customer loyalty. This image building exercise does more harm than good – both for banks and the customers.

Thus, it seems that when it comes to money, there is no escape – especially in India. Whatever mode of monetary transaction one adopts, the probability of losing money is always high. With perforated laws and lousy implementations, the culprit gets away scot free. The recent rules implemented by RBI on Internet transactions can solve this purpose to a little extent only. With people adopting Internet banking/plastic money, awareness and knowledge is still the most efficient protection against the Internet fraud. Otherwise, live always India will continue to enjoy only a false sense of security and paper based achievements.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
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Heading for dark days?

Govt flayed for hiking prices before addressing power crisis

The CPI(M)’s decision to increase electricity prices in West Bengal has sparked a firestorm of criticism. The Left Front’s ruling partners are upset because they were not consulted in the matter. They say that at a time when the government is unable to provide uninterrupted power in cities and villages it is criminal to hike prices. Most upsetting of all is the fact that the power crisis was not even discussed in the last Budget session.

Power outages during peak production hours have forced farmers and industrialists to bank on generators in a big way. And it doesn’t look like things are going to look up anytime soon. This is because the two mega projects of Infosys and Wipro are delayed.

Above all, the state-run Power Development Corporation Limited (PDCL) has to close its old units. Plus two of WB’s 4 x 210 Mega Watt generating units of Santhaldih Thermal Power Station have been phased out. Two more units are also on the verge of closure. One of six 210 MW units in Kolaghat Thermal Power Station is already closed. The remaining five units are generating about 700 MW, far below the minimum expectation of 900 MW. All the four 75 MW units of Bandel Thermal Power Station generating power for the last 45 years are in bad shape. They can hardly generate 60 MW. The only 210 MW or commonly 5th unit of Bandel is working efficiently.

While the PDCL is facing aging problem, huge dues with the Eastern Coalfields Ltd – a subsidiary of the Coal India Limited – is crippling its function. Now, the ECL has stopped coal supply and is asking the PDCL to clear its dues.

The power firm is having a difficult time following 50 per cent less rain at the catchments of dams – affecting normal functioning of the thermal power stations. Besides, the privatised firm CESC generates power with a shortfall of 250 to 300 MW and borrows it from WBPDCL. Chairman of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSEDCL), MK Dey, says thermal units of WBPDCL have the capacity to produce 3,740 MW, but they are only generating nearly 2,600 MW. According to Dey these utilities “should generate at least 3,230 MW”. WBPDCL’s three units – set up by the Chinese power engineering firmDongfang’s technology – are also sick. “The Chineese equipment are problematic and have failed to impress us. A collapse of turbine blades in the Sagardighi Thermal Power Station in WB led to the closure of the station for over 80 days”, says Jagrithi Samithi’s executive president Balakrishna Shetty. All these are having a debilitating effect on state’s economy. It is unjust to hike power prices before addressing the crisis.

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 :-
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better
IIPM fights meltdown

Johnny? He be good!

TSI Five-O: Depp’s movie all the way; he pulls all the right strings
Johnny Depp can take any role and make it his own! Last time we saw him on the silver screen as a Victorian barber and serial killer in “Sweeney Todd”, this time Depp gets into the skin of a crazed bank-robber, who’s clever, cocky and charming too! Michael Mann’s delivered incredible films before, and though “Public Enemies” is not his best, it’s still darn good. Taking a page out of reality, more precisely out of Bryan Burrough’s non-fiction bestseller, Mann takes the audience into the days of the Depression, when John Dillinger (Depp) is released from prison, after serving a nine-year sentence, and he goes on to walk back into the same prison and free the rest of his gang!

That’s how audacious and mad Depp’s character is, and he owns the film as he robs banks with much derring-do and goes on to fall in love with nightclub hat-check girl Billie Frechette (French actress Marion Cotillard makes a triumphant major American studio debut). Christian Bale plays special agent Melvin Purvis, and while he’s effective as the cop chasing the gangster, he’s not even close to being the central character. Most characters have not been explored completely, and so all through it is Depp who moves you, who gets your pulse racing, and who you find yourself cheering for as he loots one bank after another!

The suspense has been brilliantly created in this film, and as the noose around Dillinger tightens and the inevitability of his end gets clear, your heart goes out for the crook. “Public Enemies” doesn’t break new ground, but is certainly one of the better films of this year.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Orissa’s unsporting Babus

Barring its cricketers all other sportspersons in Orissa are a discriminated lot. One even starved to death. Chittaranjan Chiranjit and Subrat Swain on the official apathy that is forcing many of them to migrate to other states

Does the name Seikh Babu ring a bell? Not likely – unless of course you belong to the sixties generation that saw this ace footballer weaving his magic on the ground. Today that same man is battling throat cancer and poverty. Though Babu represented Orissa in the Santosh Trophy for decades, the promised job from the sports quota remained elusive, forcing him to open a butcher’s shop. On any given day he could be seen selling meat on the streets of Cuttack, the erstwhile capital of Orissa. Till, that is, the cancer struck. The state government continues to dole out Rs 1,000 to him as monthly pension – though everybody, including the state’s top sports officials, are fully aware that Babu has no other means of supporting himself.

Babu’s is no solitary case, however. Neglect, lack of recognition and financial insecurity are features that have long plagued Orissa’s sports world. Indeed, there is an entire list of sports achievers, both from the past and the present, who have been meted out raw deals. Sashmita Mallick for one… The woman footballer who has represented the country is just now frantically hunting for a job because her sporting career is almost over. The dalit girl hails from Orissa’s Aul region in Kendrapara – the district that has produced over a dozen skilled women footballers. Sashmita’s father Yudhistir Mallik, a plumber by profession, had hoped against hope that his daughter would be rewarded with a government job in return for her services to the state.

Other brilliant sportspersons languishing likewise for want of state assistance are rowing champion Mina Madhuri Topo, woman power lifter Gitarani Sasmal, male power lifter Purna Chandra Bidika, boxer Hrudananda Biswal, footballer Mamali Das and athlete Namita Kabat. Once lauded on the podium for their spectacular on-field achievements, people like them continue to struggle with poverty, hunger and disease. Only cricketers are exempt from this list of neglected greats. Cricket stars like Debashis Mohanty and Siba Sundar Das who represented Team India, and scores of other cricketers, are proud job holders in both the government and corporate sectors. “The government continues to discriminate against non-cricketing sports personalities,” says Bhagyadhar Jagdev, a sports organiser.


Does the name Seikh Babu ring a bell? Not likely – unless of course you belong to the sixties generation that saw this ace footballer weaving his magic on the ground. Today that same man is battling throat cancer and poverty. Though Babu represented Orissa in the Santosh Trophy for decades, the promised job from the sports quota remained elusive, forcing him to open a butcher’s shop. On any given day he could be seen selling meat on the streets of Cuttack, the erstwhile capital of Orissa. Till, that is, the cancer struck. The state government continues to dole out Rs 1,000 to him as monthly pension – though everybody, including the state’s top sports officials, are fully aware that Babu has no other means of supporting himself.

Babu’s is no solitary case, however. Neglect, lack of recognition and financial insecurity are features that have long plagued Orissa’s sports world. Indeed, there is an entire list of sports achievers, both from the past and the present, who have been meted out raw deals. Sashmita Mallick for one… The woman footballer who has represented the country is just now frantically hunting for a job because her sporting career is almost over. The dalit girl hails from Orissa’s Aul region in Kendrapara – the district that has produced over a dozen skilled women footballers. Sashmita’s father Yudhistir Mallik, a plumber by profession, had hoped against hope that his daughter would be rewarded with a government job in return for her services to the state.

Other brilliant sportspersons languishing likewise for want of state assistance are rowing champion Mina Madhuri Topo, woman power lifter Gitarani Sasmal, male power lifter Purna Chandra Bidika, boxer Hrudananda Biswal, footballer Mamali Das and athlete Namita Kabat. Once lauded on the podium for their spectacular on-field achievements, people like them continue to struggle with poverty, hunger and disease. Only cricketers are exempt from this list of neglected greats. Cricket stars like Debashis Mohanty and Siba Sundar Das who represented Team India, and scores of other cricketers, are proud job holders in both the government and corporate sectors. “The government continues to discriminate against non-cricketing sports personalities,” says Bhagyadhar Jagdev, a sports organiser.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi - The Nawab who stood up for the Common Man

In complete contrast to a character like Vizzy in Indian cricket, he is the first ‘Raja’ who stood against the establishment and supported his teammates all along. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi alias Tiger Pataudi may have lost the sight in his right eye in a freak car accident but, he never lost his cricketing vision and for almost two decades he ruled Indian cricket after being appointed the youngest Indian cricket captain at the tender age of 21. His motivational abilities transformed the team into a well knit unit but it was his willingness to stand up for a cause that really endeared him to teammates. All along he stood by his teammates and raised his voice against the cricket board and its unprofessional approaches. Famously, he backed EAS Prasanna during the 1967-68 series in New Zealand when he believed India should play to their strength – spin bowling. During that tour India won its first Test match on foreign soil and Pataudi’s blue-eyed boy Prasanna had a critical contribution to make taking six wickets in New Zealand’s second Innings.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Guru Dutt - The Rebel Who Paused

Guru Dutt’s body of work provided the semantics of creative genius

If Guru Dutt hadn’t ended his life suddenly at the age of 39, he would’ve been a ripe-old 84 today. But still making movies ahead of his, or any times. And when I say ahead of times, I don’t mean a “Kaminey” or a “Sankat City” which are ‘timeless’ in the most basic and negative sense of the term.

The timelessness of Guru Dutt’s art was reposed in the ravishing and roomy rebellion of mind that wouldn’t conform. He could make every frame of his cinema a statement on the quality of existence. On the other hand, he could just have fun and make film for entertainment, as he did with his earlier breezy musicals like “Mr. & Mrs. 55” and “Aar Paar”.

As a deep melancholy set into the artiste’s soul, Guru Dutt’s cinema grew deep, dark, retrospective and brooding. “Pyaasa” was a homage to a manic pessimism. Long before depression became clinically certifiable, Guru Dutt made this elegiac film on the unbearable darkness of being.

It inspired a whole brood of filmmakers, including Manoj Kumar – in whose underrated “Roti Kapda Aur Makaan”, the gold-digging Zeenat Aman was discernibly modelled on Mala Sinha in “Pyaasa”. Instead of Jaane woh kaise log the from Pyaasa, Manoj Kumar sang Aur nahin bas aur nahin gham ke pyale aur nahin…

But the Gham ke pyale (the cups of sorrow) never stopped spilling over for Guru Dutt. Whether it was Waheeda Rehman in “Pyaasa” and “Kaagaz Ke Phool”, or the eternally melancholic Meena Kumari in “Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam”, the women that Guru Dutt portrayed were pictures of smothered self-fulfillment. Their relentless search for self-fulfillment invariably took them much further away from decorum than social conventions permitted. Guru Dutt’s characters never stopped searching. They never knew what they wanted.

The characters of Guru Dutt remain as relevant to today’s politics and dynamics of love and betrayal as they were the day they were created. The difference is, they were seen as rebels when they were created. They are seen as social oddballs today, as oblivious to their social obligations as Guru Dutt was when he lived.

“Kaagaz Ke Phool” was a deeply autobiographical film with shades of candour and grandeur that transcended the boundaries of cinema; it remains to this day Guru Dutt’s most personal film.

Many say it was based on his own troubled and tormented love life. Guru Dutt played an arrogant and sensitive filmmaker who falls in love with his discovery, Waheeda Rehman. The topicality of that relationship never waned. To this day, filmmakers from Subhash Ghai to Sanjay Bhansali fall in love with their discoveries, only to see them walk away after they’ve attained stardom.

Guru Dutt too walked away. But in the opposite direction. He couldn’t take the heat and hypocrisy of the world he had to inhabit in order to be creatively functional. This was the looming irony. He loved cinema. But he hated its trappings. Today Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Anurag Kashyap want to make films on Guru Dutt.

Only Guru Dutt could tell his own story. But he chose to turn his back on the audience singing Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai?

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Ramakrishna Hegde - Statesman who loved a fight

Hegde was a statesman who loved being a rebel. During the Emergency, he was jailed along with many other Opposition leaders. The former Congressman was a key player in the formation of first the Janata Party and then the Janata Dal. When the electorate voted Indira out of power, Hegde, as general secretary of the new outfit, played a crucial role in the formation of the Janata Party government at the Centre in 1977. But when Karnataka rival HD Deve Gowda became PM of the UDF government in 1996, Hegde rebelled. And he was never the same man again.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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