Thursday, February 7, 2013

Put soothing balm on the wounds of the Kashmiri people

That’s what Faisal Shah, the topper of this year’s civil services examinations wants to be. A qualified doctor, he wants to put soothing balm on the wounds of the Kashmiri people, albeit in the garb of a bureaucrat. So he tells Haroon Reshi
 
Merely a couple of days after the killing of his father, Faisal appeared for the MBBS entrance…and cracked it! He did his MBBS from Srinagar’s Sher-i-Kashmir Medical College. “But I was not satisfied with that achievement. My aim was to become either an IAS or an IPS officer. I think that I could not have helped the masses of my conflict-ridden state just as a doctor,” he says.

Faisal was 19 when his father, Ghulam Rasool Shah, a school teacher, was killed by militants in 2002 at his ancestral home in Sogam village, more than 90 km away from Srinagar. “Will you believe that many things that my father taught me in 7th grade came handy in these exams,” asks a visibly elated Faisal. “My father was a visionary. Whatever I achieved today is because of his guidance. I feel sad that today he is not around,” he adds.

Faisal’s younger brother Shah Nawaz is also a doctor and his younger sister Talat Shah is a library assistant. Faisal, who is a great fan of noted poet Dr Allama Iqbal, knows many languages including Urdu, Persian and Arabic. He had taken up Urdu and Public Administration as subjects for the IAS examinations. “Urdu is my passion. I love this language,” he says. The topper believes that his achievement would inspire many youngsters studying in Urdu-medium schools. “I have proven that students of Urdu-medium schools too have great potential and can get through any competitive examination.”

It is a common perception in Kashmir that Muslims of the state are being discriminated against, especially in the civil services examination, so as to keep them away from the administration. But Faisal’s success disproves the opinion. “No one is discriminated against. It is a wrong perception. We ourselves are responsible for not participating in such examinations with full preparedness,” says the civil services topper.

Besides Faisal, three other Kashmiri boys— Showkat Ahmed Parray, a resident of Wizar village in Baramulla district, Mir Umair from Badgam district and Raees Bhat, a resident of Anantnag district, have passed the civil services examinations this year.

The last Kashmiri to have qualified for the IAS was Asghar Hassan Samoon who achieved the feat some 16 years ago. In 1981, Khursheed Ganai from Kashmir stood second in the civil services exam — the highest rank for anybody from J&K till Faisal’s results came. Currently, Ganai is the principal secretary to chief minister Omar Abdullah.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

K. R. KIM

The Vice Chairman & CEO, Videocon Industries (formerly LG India head), takes a break from company matters and talks to B&E’s Deputy Editor Virat Bahri, on his unique perspectives of how India and Korea can help each other achieve their objectives

B&E: You have been in India for the past 12 years. What is your view of the Indian economy’s transition and also about its future?
KRK: For the next 30 years, India and China will play a big role; be it politically or economically. The challenge for China in the next 30 years will be how they can improve the political situation and how they can convert to a democratic country in a gradual and stable way and in a peaceful manner. For India, the challenge in the next 30 years will be how India can maintain a 8-9% GDP growth to get out of poverty. Which is easier? India’s challenge to grow continuously by 8-9% will be easier than China’s democratic transition. Political change is much more difficult. India did a good job post independence to maintain a democratic system; not a 100% perfect system, but who is perfect? India has a good foundation in its political system. Now it is the time for India to grow.

B&E: What are the similarities and differences between India and Korea as markets?
KRK: All three countries (China, Korea and Japan) are built on military culture and discipline. Even the weather is very different. Winter is very cold in Korea. Climate also changes the people’s mindset. India is a semi-tropical area where most areas have very less winter. It means an easy life; and is good for philosophy! On the other hand, the key similarity is the mindset of being Asian. In Asian countries, basic philosophy is Buddhism. Hinduism and Buddhism are 90% similar. So philosophically they have a common ground.

B&E: India and Korea have signed a historic free trade agreement. How can the two countries leverage on each other’s strengths?
KRK: If you see Korea and India, what Korea did in the last 30 years was hard culture development – manufacturing, discipline, product oriented. Korea improved a lot over the last 30 years. During the Korean war, Korea received aid from India. After that, Korea developed economically and did a good job of developing what I call hard culture. India developed soft culture in the last 30 years – democracy, software, content oriented. Now it’s time for Korea to inculcate India’s soft culture and India has to inculcate more of Korea’s hard culture. We cannot classify everything in that way, but this is to simplify the discussion. Without soft culture, Korea cannot become a high income country. Korea wants to go to around $40,000 income levels. But without improving the soft culture including the political situation and having flexible mindsets and software and content orientation, this cannot happen.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

US BANKING: DEBT HANGOVER

Having paid a price for their ‘irrational exuberance’, economies in general, and financial institutions in specific are suffering from a hangover of their own mistakes, says B&E’s Gyanendra Kumar Kashyap

It’s true that S&P 500 Index’s 64% jump since March 2009 has made investors richer by restoring $5.4 trillion to their wealth, but the figures are not proof of growth problems to come. The fact that the treasury has recovered two-thirds of TARP investments as well as $17 billion by means of dividends & warrants is certainly good news. But at the same time, both Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke and his Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner should keep in mind the downside of the stimulus binge, while rejoicing over the fact that the May 2009 stress test results have helped financial institutions raise over $140 billion in high quality capital & over $60 billion in non-guaranteed unsecured debt (and hence the repayment). Such bailout bursts pump up growth initially, but the macroeconomic hangovers can carry on.

Even assuming some budget trimming, the IMF expects government debt in advanced G20 economies to reach 118% of their combined GDP by 2014, up from 78.2% in 2007 (just before the economic crisis). For the Japanese economy (whose deflationary hangover is world-renowned) the public debt is forecasted to exceed 110% of GDP in net terms in 2010, and will represent 225% of GDP in gross terms. Getting to a more sustainable 60% level will involve raising taxes & cutting services. And here lies the greatest problem.

In an environment where debt is large and growing, low interest rates are preferred by nearly everyone: the government, bankers and... everyone. The desire for low interest rates will put incredible pressure on the Fed and the central banks across the world to keep rates low. Raising taxes to reduce debt may delay the recovery process, while trimming spending will in all probability erode the safety net and damage competitiveness in the long run. Apparently, the road to repairing balance sheets is likely to be a long and winding for both the economy and the financial system.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.


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Sunday, February 3, 2013

Drink Up!

They were Pepsi’s 5 years of fame

Warren Buffet. It’s the name that markets would swear by to the death. And a name that Coca Cola loves to have on its list of investors. That should end the debate, right? But 2000 was the year when Coca Cola faced a not-so-Warren-Buffet moment. It was the time when both Pepsi and Coca Cola were struggling hard for a prized catch – US-based Quaker Foods, owner of Gatorade, the world’s most popular energy drink brand. The then Chairman and CEO Douglas Daft was not being ‘daft’ when he suggested that Coca Cola must do whatever possible to acquire Quaker, but Warren Buffet vetoed Daft’s proposal. Result: Quaker went to Pepsi. Then began a most dramatic turnaround unprecedented in the history of the long drawn Pepsi-Coke war. In year 2000, Pepsi was languishing with its Mcap at 1/3rd of Coca-Cola’s.

The situation changed in late 2005 to the extent that Pepsi overtook Coke in terms of market cap for the first time ever. The key to this turnaround lay in Pepsi’s more successful diversification strategy, of which Quaker was an important part. Pepsi stole the march from Coca Cola in terms of moving away from soft drinks into other territories. This was apt as the Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSD) sector is declining, primarily due to health concerns. In 2008, CSD case volume declined by around 3% yoy (Beverage Digest) to touch 9.6 billion 192-oz cases. Pepsi prepared itself well for the changing times, but Coca Cola was found wanting on that front.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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