IIPM BBA College: March 2013

Thursday, March 28, 2013

"Nato's Inevitable War" An Article by Fidel Castro

Before The Western Allied forces Launched Air Strikes on Libya, Fidel Castro had Predicted that NATO would Wage a War against Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Here is what he Communicated to Planman Media

In contrast with what is happening in Egypt and Tunisia, Libya occupies the first spot on the Human Development Index for Africa and it has the highest life expectancy in the continent. Education and health receive special attention from the State. The cultural level of its population is without a doubt the highest. Its problems are of a different sort. The population wasn’t lacking food and essential social services. The country needed an abundant foreign labour force to carry out ambitious plans for production and social development. For that reason, it provided jobs for hundreds of thousands of workers from Egypt, Tunisia, China and other countries. It had enormous income and reserves in convertible currencies deposited in the banks of the wealthy countries, from which Libya acquired consumer goods and even sophisticated weapons that were supplied exactly by the same countries that today want to invade it in the name of human rights.

The colossal campaign of lies, unleashed by the mass media, resulted in great confusion in world public opinion. Some time will go by before we can reconstruct what has really happened in Libya and separate the true facts from the false ones that have been spread.

Without any doubt, the faces of the young people who were protesting in Benghazi – men and women wearing the veil or without the veil – were expressing genuine indignation. One is able to see the influence that the tribal component still exercises on that Arab country, despite the Muslim faith that 95% of its population sincerely shares.

Imperialism and NATO – seriously concerned by the revolutionary wave unleashed in the Arab world, where a large part of the oil is generated that sustains the consumer economy of the developed countries – could not help but take advantage of the internal conflict arising in Libya so that they could promote military intervention. The statements made by the US administration right from the first instant were categorical in that sense.

But the US could not drag China and Russia to support the approval by the Security Council for a military intervention in Libya, even though it managed to obtain however, in the Human Rights Council, approval of the objectives it was seeking at that moment. With regard to a military intervention, the Secretary of State stated in words that admit not the slightest doubt: “No option is being ruled out”.

The real fact is that Libya is now wrapped up in a civil war, as we had foreseen, and the UN could do nothing to avoid it, other than its own Secretary General sprinkling the fire with a good dose of fuel.

Why is the effort to present the rebels as prominent members of society demanding bombing by the US and NATO in order to kill Libyans? Some day, we shall know the truth, through persons such as the political science professor from the University of Benghazi who, with such eloquence, tells of the terrible experience that killed [many], destroyed homes, left millions of persons without jobs and forced them to emigrate.

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

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Monday, March 25, 2013

One Good turn Deserves Another

When The Moment of truth arrives, Policyholders are still made to run from Pillar to Post Seeking Settlement of their Insurance Claims, While it has become more of a Customary Practice for The Insurance companies to reject Claims on grounds Incomprehensible to Policyholders.

Honesty is the best policy, and sure enough, there are a number of disgruntled people in India who feel that their insurance policies have offered them anything but that!

Consider the case: W.P No 1521/08 @ Hazera Khatun Vs NIC & Ors in the Guwahati High Court, wherein the petitioner challenged the action of National Insurance Co. Ltd. of repudiating her claim upon the death of her husband, stated to be covered under the Group Personal Insurance Policy taken by Golden Multi Services Club Ltd. from NIC, insuring all members of the club. NIC reasoned that the claim was repudiated on the ground that it was not submitted within the stipulated time period of 90 days. The Guwahati High Court in a landmark decision on March 2, 2010 quashed the repudiation of the insurer and directed NIC to make payments due to the petitioner, Hazera Khatun.

The repudiation of the claim and the legal battle that resulted in this instance is not a one of its kind happening. If the statistics available are to be relied on, then in FY’10 alone, approximately 7% complaints lodged with the grievance cell of the insurance regulator, Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA), related to either non-payment of claims, repudiation of claims or incorrect claim amounts. Surprisingly, the industry says that as far as individual death claims are concerned for the year 2009-10, it has settled 95.24% of the cases and in group death claims, the settlement is 98.9%. And herein lies the greater irony of tall claims pertaining to customer centricity and service delivery.

When a policyholder, the insured, enters into a contract with an insurer, it is primarily with an anticipation that eventually when the time for settling of claims comes he/she or his/her family members would not face any problem. This, in simple terms, explains the very concept of Uberrima fidei or utmost good faith – the guiding principle of contracts in the insurance business.

To put things in perspective, the World Insurance Report 2011 states that globally, the claims department spends over $336 billion every year in managing and settling claims. This implies that for every dollar collected in premiums, insurers on an average spend 61 cents on claim settlement. While claim ratios are rising fast, it doesn’t negate the importance of balancing customer satisfaction with improving operational efficiency.

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Put them Down Again, Shall We?

A number of Dalit Entrepreneurs have come up in India Despite Innumerable Odds. But Shamefully, Our society is still quite Reluctant to Accept them.

“Our country has stuck to ancient norms with respect to caste. Thus, a Shudra can never be a businessman or progress more than his previous generation. All Dalit businessmen that we see now are first generation businessmen who have their own [caste related] tales of struggle,” Chandrabhan Prasad, major Dalit activist, anthropologist and social reformer mirrors the thoughts of various other social commentators, while discussing the issue with B&E. Critically speaking, the metro entrepreneur might and perhaps always would rush post haste to imagine that in India, while cast issues may be prevalent in lower and labour class communities, the same possibly would not exist in business communities.

Now, if you are ‘the’ metro entrepreneur in question, and if your definition of ‘business community’ starts from multi millionaires and quasi billionaires, you may be perfectly right – as is obvious, stinking rich entrepreneurs in India can easily request Union and Chief Ministers to bend their Shylockean backs to provide timely serpentine camaraderie. But if the term ‘business community’ is defined appropriately as any entrepreneur and innovator who provides employment to even one additional person in order to progress his business, you have the fiendish cast wolves running a riot, and almost a lynch mob if you see where to see – and the Dalit business community would surely be a great starting point.

Perhaps you’ve never heard of Devanand Londhe, the director of Payod Industries, who is a manufacturer and exporter of garments exported to Japan and Korea. Or about Rajendra Gaikwad, Director, G. T. Pest Control Pvt Ltd, who is into the business of pest control export fumigation and pre-construction anti-termites. But the stories of their achievements, their struggle with casteism issues and their humble rise to prominence are inspirations for many Dalit entrepreneurs; of course, because the protagonists are themselves Dalits. From having to face open admonition by their business peers to having even banks and other government departments reject their applications, evidently because of their background, the well documented struggles of these businessmen are a mirror to the pitiful scenario of a nation that has been unable to shed away its issues that have lasted for centuries.

J. S. Fuliya, CEO, Signet Freight Export Pvt Ltd, into the business of global logistics with an yearly turnover of Rs.30 million, quite candidly shares with B&E the casteist issues he had to face in terms of education and financial discrimination. The same goes for Sushil Kumar, manufacturer and exporter of automobile parts, sheet metal, press tools components, dies & fixtures and special purpose service tools, who has an yearly turnover of Rs.250 million. Sushil laments about the debilitating behaviour of individuals and communities en masse against businessmen with Dalit backgrounds. And encouragingly, these Dalit entrepreneurs are not running away from their identity. Instead, they’re trying to be proactive in finding social solutions to the situation.

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Monday, March 18, 2013

Increase in productivity and efficiency

Hindustan Zinc has gained from consistent increase in productivity and efficiency, besides favourable market conditions.

Of course, the major factor going for the company is the resurgence in Zinc demand globally, which has a lot to do with the resurgence in iron and steel sector, where Zinc finds its major application. The future is expected to be better with the supply surplus that exists coming down to 233,000 tonnes in 2011 and 161,000 tonnes in 2012, according to ILZSG (International Lead & Zinc Study Group). Surplus in lead will grow on the other hand, to 9.64 million tones. However, HZL would feel more secure due to its dominating position in India, where the demand potential for both metals is far greater than supply. Demand for lead is expected to grow by 10-15% in 2010-11 due to the resurgence in the automotive sector, and that isn’t going to wane any time soon. Even in the case of zinc, as India builds its infrastructure and ramps up on steel consumption in particular, zinc will automatically get a boost. India’s per capita zinc consumption is at just 0.4kg compared with the global average of 1.8 kg.

Another interesting aspect of zinc-lead production is silver, which is a by product that can prove to be a big cash spinner for the company in the coming years. Akhilesh in fact contends that they could convert it into a separate profit centre. By 2013, they expect to take up silver production to 500 tonnes. According to the US Geologial Survey, economic silver below the earth’s surface is not expected to last for more than 9-10 years. But players like HZL are expected to continue to benefit, since they can produce it as a byproduct. Therefore, silver is being picked up as a metal with an excellent investment potential as well as for diverse industrial uses.

All in all, there is very little going against HZL at the moment, which had a huge ash balance of Rs.124.13 billion by the end of September. Global shocks of the kind that it faced during the recession cannot be ruled out altogether, since they would affect it even more as it gets increasingly globalised. Otherwise, the current position that HZL is in vis-à-vis its environment should ensure that it stays on the high growth path for some time to come, particularly on the back of growing end product demand. That should help it ride over raw material and production issues of the kind that it has faced so far in 2010.

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Iconic Pet Disappear into The Dark?

Will Harry Potter’s Iconic Pet Disappear into The Dark?

Sacrifice of goats and also humans by tantriks is known, but now owls too figure in the list of black magic doers, who use the owl’s skull, ear-tufts, claws, heart, eyes, bones etc. for their rituals. Also, some of their parts are used as medicines, and people use them for street performances too. In the report Jairam Ramesh said that India’s wildlife faces many pressures and appealed to all to be more aware and realise the importance of birds and animals. He mentioned, “Owls are as important to our ecosystem as the tigers or any other better known charismatic species, and concrete ground action is to be undertaken to curb such trade.” The report recorded that 15 of the 30 owl species in India are being illegally traded.

Being a wildlife enthusiast, I would discourage all from keeping birds as pets. Birds are meant to be in the open, to use their wings to fly; it’s criminal to cage them. For parents who wish to fulfil their child’s wishes and buy them owls to keep as pets, here is a useful little sermon by Mekhla Pathak (ornithologist) – “Owls are ‘wild birds of prey’, which suggests that keeping them in the confines of four walls can be highly dangerous. Besides, their screeching, territorial nature, and diet of eating raw whole animals can become quite a pain.”

So, if you chance upon owls being traded, do a favour to the majestic bird by reporting to the authorities. And if your child fancies a pet, must we remind you that a dog is a wonderful companion. Why, even a soft toy is a much better idea.

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Sunday, March 10, 2013

It has Led to no Visible Improvement

A 15-Point Plan has been in Place for Decades for the Uplift of Muslims but it has Led to no Visible Improvement in The Community's Lot

He adds: “The Union government decided last year that the Centre would pay salaries of Urdu teachers in minority-concentrated areas. An order on this was to be issued by state governments. But, no where except Maharashtra this has been done.”

In 1980, a high-level committee was constituted by the Union government under the Chairmanship of Dr Gopal Singh. Based on the committe’s findings, a 15-point programme was launched in 1983 to hasten the socio-economic development of the minorities.

In its early stages, the focus was on communal riots, representation of minorities in services and ensuring the flow of benefits to the targeted groups. In 2005, this programme was revised. On June 22, 2006, the revamped plan was approved by the Union Cabinet. The emphasis was now on education, modernising madarsa learning, healthcare facilities and recruitment of minorities in the services.

But five years on, little has changed for the minorities. Most initiatives taken under the programme have at best been symbolic in nature.

One of the agendas at the Delhi government’s last Cabinet meeting was “Action taken/proposed to be taken by various departments... with regard to implementation of Prime Minister’s New 15-point programme...”

B&E accessed a copy of the Cabinet note. It revealed that the Delhi government has done virtually nothing for the minorities in the field of education with regard to points 2 and 3 of the 15-point programme – improving access to school education and modernising madarsa education.

The note states, “The Directorate of Education, government of NCT of Delhi has informed that 10 additional classrooms have been constructed in Buland Masjid School, Shastri Nagar, District North-East, 14 classrooms (Nand Nagri-04, Chauhan Bangar-06 and Seelampur-04) have been constructed in MCD schools. It was further informed that four classrooms are under construction in Rouse Avenue, District-Central, New Delhi. It is proposed to open Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidaylaya in a rented building in Mustafabad, District-North-East”.

The Cabinet note is completely silent on modernisation of madarsa education. Another point of the programme is greater resources for teaching Urdu. With regard to this point, the Cabinet note states, “It was also informed that nine posts of PMT and six posts of TGT in Urdu are vacant. These posts have not been filled in spite of a request to Urdu Academy.”

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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

“Competition between IIMs is Very Healthy and Positive”

Dr. Devi Singh, Director, IIM Lucknow talks to Ashutosh Harbola of B&E about his stint at IIMs and his views on the evolving role of management Education for the Country

B&E: How challenging is it for an IIM to sustain in a city like Lucknow, which is relatively low on industry interface?
Dr. Devi Singh (DS): In these years, we have seen a widespread change in the work areas and new places, which have become a hub for employment. Lucknow is not too behind; it has been in the transformation phase and I believe that Lucknow has all the potential to become big like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and others. It is a good city with decent infrastructure, but due to less development, there is currently low investment and less industrialisation.

B&E: What global expectations do you foresee for the institute with the current state of the world economy?
DS: Expectations are huge and keep changing every time. At times, you may get some concessions due to the place where you are but you still have to compete for excellence at all levels – be it faculty, students, placement et al. The society has a lot of hopes from management institutes, which never get completely satisfied. So we need to always find solutions by searching for new areas and sectors for growth.

B&E: How intense is the competition when it comes to competing with the other IIM’s?
DS: Amongst the IIMs, the competition is very healthy and positive. We work together and have a lot of synergy. We share placements and the market knows where to go. The market has been very positive and responsive and therefore there are no issues for IIM Lucknow. The real competition is not about placements but how you place yourself in the society and create a meaningful presence in the global arena.

B&E: IIM Lucknow is the first IIM, which extended its roots from just one campus to the other one in Noida. Do you have any plans to move to the international space?
DS: Yes, I would surely like to go beyond India, but for now, it’s not a necessity. The concept of having multiple campuses like the one in Noida came for attracting the best faculty, greater exposure for growth, and having a better presence.

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Sunday, March 3, 2013

ICICI Prudential AMC talks about the need to educate investors

Nipun Kaushal, Head – Marketing, ICICI Prudential AMC talks about the need to educate investors

Any media vehicle you will be using extensively in the future?
The advertising campaign objective determines the media plan. We look at a multi-media approach to reach our investors effectively. For instance, we look at TV and print to emphasize on product specifics, reach out to smaller cities and get maximum eyeballs. Outdoor is utilised to leverage exposure and presence. Going forward, digital as a medium (though not fully utilised yet) will form an important & integral part of our strategy, given its increasing reach & relevance.

How are you planning to educate people on financial planning?
We believe that category awareness and facilitating financial literacy is crucial to increase MF penetration while benefiting investors. We constantly interact with investors directly through various forums like investor camps, financial literacy drives, et al. For instance, on the tax side we organised roadshows wherein canters with messages about tax awareness were stationed near distributor offices. The objective was visibility and lead generation with due involvement from distributors. The activity helped create a lot of buzz along with increasing awareness amongst investors. This apart, communication through the media by information articles have been regularly initiated. In near future, we plan to do Adverts, custom contact point programmes and distributor meets and also carry out some awareness programmes online.

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