Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The case of jobs crunch, not the lack of talent

What will happen when 300 million more join the job queues by 2025?
Listen to the anti-privatisation and anti-globalisation brigade, and its members will bombard you with a series of uncomfortable questions. If indeed, there’s an employment crunch in India, why is the number of unemployed increasing each day? How’s it possible that the same India Inc. that was going ga-ga about the resource pool in India, is now cribbing about talent crunch? How is it that our science and other graduates look inferior to those available in other countries, including China?

Most experts of this ideology believe that it is wrong to talk about a general shortage of skilled workforce. Instead, they contend there is a paucity of particular skillsets. “Our studies show that there is a 30% oversupply in the diploma engineering segment, and the youth have been unable to find employment matching their education levels. As a result, a diploma holder is settling for an apprentice job, thereby pushing down his wages,” adds Ajeet K. Mathur, Director, Institute for Applied Manpower Research.

The problem in India is that there is no concrete data on supply and demand of labour in specific sectors. Agrees Mathur, “There is no proper mapping of the sector-wise skill shortages by any agency. As a result, we do not have the exact picture of the gravity of the problem at this moment.” Other experts think that some far-reaching changes are occurring in India, and that is changing the pattern of labour relations. For example, the 10th Plan is mostly considered to be one of a jobless phase. This implies that it’s not a matter of talent crunch, but a job crunch that has gripped India. “If we look at statistics, the jobs in the organised sector constituted 12% in the early 1990s. After liberalisation, they have shrunk to a mere 6%,” explains W. R. Vardharajan, CITU leader and a member of the Central Board of Trustees. This is further corroborated by Mathur, who feels that “private employment has created jobs but not sustainable work. Earlier, we talked about organised and unorganised workers, now the private sector has created another category, which, though falls in the protected category, is devoid of any means to enforce protection of their jobs.”
In addition, technology is making a number of jobs redundant. A power plant that once required thousands of workers and huge townships to house their families, now can do with a few hundred people. In fact, there can a be stark distinction between the steel townships of, say, Steel Authority of India, a PSU that recruited in thousands, and Essar Steel, which has a modern plant that requires a few dozens to man it. So, if agriculture is not creating jobs, manufacturing isn’t doing it, and services only requires specific skillsets, what will happen to the unemployed in India?

Over the next two decades, the situation will be alarming as 300 million new entrants join the workforce by 2025. If the country continues to be gripped by the tentacles of jobless growth, there could be more civic disruptions in the country. Imagine a situation, where there are social riots, as unemployed take to the streets to demand their share of incomes and basic amenities. The other issue is that India’s population below the poverty line is higher than the figure for unemployed. This, say experts, indirectly implies that employment, wherever it happened, did not translate into reducing the households’ poverty.

There are many who hope to look beyond private sector to ensure adequate employment levels. “We are not missionaries for privatisation, but seek to advance the involvement of private sector in a meaningful way, which brings their energy, innovation, creativity and risk-sharing to the process of developing solutions to employability in disadvantaged communities. We believe that public-private participation model will bring about a radical transformation and be able to target jobs and job creation as part of the economic success in India,” says Roy Newey, International Development Director, A4e, a consultancy firm.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

It’s sin’sational! It’s sin’tillating! Iiiiiiiiiit’s the ‘sin city’!

Only the devil would vouch for this! It’s the city where sin is the only religion that people follow, perhaps without an iota of guilt, and embrace with open arms, the supreme vices of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, anger, envy and pride... and whatever else, one and all could crave for. ‘If sin is what you must, Vegas will be the first!’ Knighted unofficially with the ‘Sin City’ moniker, desert haven Las Vegas – founded in 1905, the most populous city in Nevada state, USA (yet, with just a 0.5 million headcount!) – is but obviously the ‘gambling entertainment capital of the world’ (with due apologies to Macao, China)!

Interestingly, Forbes in 2007, ranked it amongst the 20 best US cities for – ah, how should we put it – ‘sin’gles! Since much before the now ultra-doped Britney got her first marriage legalised here in 2004, Vegas has been called the marriage capital of the world! As Beatles succinctly put it, “All you need is love...” and of course $55 to tie the knot in la-la-land!

When the irresistible George ‘Ocean’ Clooney robbed $150 million from the Bellagio (the city’s #1 ranked casino), Mirage & MGM Grand (the world’s largest!!!) in the Soderbergh classic Ocean’s Eleven, it displayed the stupendous global brand equity commanded by Vegas ‘casinos’, which are, in reality, mammoth entertainment centres, with world-class rooms, restaurants, clubs, gymnasiums, parlours, roller coasters, magic shows, cabarets, and most importantly, and not to be missed, unbelievably huge shopping plazas, all rolled into one!

‘Politically correct’ was never how Las Vegas was spelt! And perhaps that’s the reason why an oversupply of flesh and skin is on the show across Vegas. But surely, it’s imperative to first give a ‘dekko’ to as many of the top casinos as possible, whether on the Strip (a spectacular road with many complexes) or off it, if not for the roulette, craps, baccarat, blackjack, poker, 7 card stud and high-limit slot machines, then definitely for the electrifying shows that define the very existence of Las Vegas – from Mirage’s ‘Volcano’, Mandalay Bay’s ‘Wave Pool’, Paris Las Vegas’ ‘Eiffel Tower’, Bellagio’s ‘Dancing Fountains’, the Stratosphere Tower (100 floors up), to the stunning lion and tiger exhibits at the MGM Grand & Mirage. And before you are spank bankrupt, arrested & extradited, make sure you don’t miss out on the Little White Wedding Chapel at 1301, Las Vegas Boulevard.... Nah, not for the usual Sunday mass, that is where they all get hitched.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Monday, August 25, 2008

Cat investors cloaked in currency

PEs & VCs show confidence in the Indian growth story & march ahead to be a part of it
While the Indian financial establishment is grappling with the issue of stemming the flow of “dirty money” into capital markets – the private equity (PE) players are busy charting out the route to enhance the level of investments in India. The top executives from Sequonia Capital, Actis Capital, Carlyle Group and others were recently in Mumbai to discuss ways & means to reap better profit margins from the Indian markets, which are increasingly going expensive.

The Indian PE market is certainly emerging from infancy and fast approaching maturity. According to experts, the PE investments in India totalled about $7.5 billion last year & are expected to expand by 40% this year. “The PE market will continue to do well even if returns come down in percentage terms” opines Shankar Narayanan, Managing Director, Carlyle India, (a part of Carlyle Group, the second largest buyout fund in the world). The increased interests in the Indian markets is reflected in the decision of the funds like the San Francisco Employee Retirement System (SFERS) – a company which manages $17 billion – to make more direct investments in India rather than through the America based PE Funds like Blackstone. As E. David Ellignton of SFERS says, “I find that in this market (Indian) in particular, it is very important to deal with local folks.” But the question confronting these investors is, are the valuations in the Indian markets too high for the PE markets to draw enough benefits? If this is the situation then what makes them look towards the Indian markets? “The PE Funds would surely like to invest in companies when their valuations in the capital markets are low, so that they are able to generate profits through the buyouts at appropriate time.” Plus, if you see, the PE Funds are gradually moving towards getting money from the public. Blackstone has already used the IPO route,” Alok Aggrawal, Principal with Sun Apollo, a PE Fund dedicated to real estate sector, told B&E. Such sentiments surely inform us that the real estate & infrastructure sector would continue to attract PE Funds.

One aspect which goes against the PE Funds is that they invest in already established companies and deal in huge amounts, they shy away from encouraging the start-ups. To fill such a gap in the markets, venture capitalists (VC) move in. India has a consortium known as Indian Angel Network (IAN). IAN is engaged in managing the young entrepreneurs’ money, who have little time to enter the markets for want of time and expertise. Profits which accrue from the capital markets can then be invested into new ideas.

It’s a good omen that both PEs & VCs are now sowing their seeds in Indian markets, which showcases Indian growth story & augurs well for India.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Friday, August 22, 2008

The great Indian railway hazard

Security, crowd and service led Indian Railway towards mess
After the inception in 1853, Indian Railways, steadily blossomed into a colossal organisation, to become the second biggest rail network in the world. But yet, one and half centuries later, the great railway network remains overcrowded, vulnerable to security and poor service provider to the enormity of India’s goods and 1.1 billion population!

Indian Railways (IR) is perhaps at present at its zenith of glory and development. It has started running into profit, revenue has also increased by 16% over last year. It carries 16 million passengers daily. Still, it is mostly overcrowded to the point that a traveller has to wait for months to get a reserved ticket. The sheer madness that goes with travelling in a general compartment shows us profoundly the pain that one needs to undertake while travelling in our most esteemed Indian Railways. The reserved sleeper classes of Express trains, barring Rajdhani and other few, are overcrowded, heaving with people trying to claim every bit of available space as their own. Therefore, the compartments soon get squalid and worst of all, is the lavatory, which gets sordid beyond the point of tolerance. IR is the Commercial Utility Employer, with 1.6 million employees, being second only to Chinese Army, as regards, maximum number of employees. In spite of such huge workforce, IR is not really the safest railway in the world, with accident rate over 300 per year.

However, with the onset of economic prosperity, Indian Railways has also seen enough progression. Outlay of Rs.23,475 crores in 2006-07, public-private partnership for development and major technological upgradation are some of the achievements. But beyond the pervasive conceptions of railway authority, IR remains at the target of crossborder and internal terrorist groups while the dream of providing world quality services remains far distant, with increasing underutilisation of existing resources. Inspite of good intentions, there remains hardly any progress on these serious issues. Is Indian Railways an exmaple of the very nature of Indian PSUs?

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Hindu mascot set for a comeback

Dis-spirited Congress campaign and rebels’ failure comes to his aid

The die was cast even before the nominations to Gujarat Assembly elections could begin. With BJP leadership able to mollify the reticent patriarch Keshubhai Patel from launching an open rebellion, Narendra Modi is set to return as Chief Minister for the third term. Even Modi’s most staunch critics like Vishwa Hindu Parishad General Secretary Dr. Pravin Togadia and Gandhian Chunnibhai Patel concede that nobody can stop Modi from returning to power now.

The reasons are not far to seek. BJP rebels’ campaign fizzled out after they had mobilised sizeable public opinion against Modi. Keshubhai went to the extent of exhorting his supporters not to vote for Modi but stopped short of calling them to vote for either Congress or the rebels contesting under the banner of Uma Bharati’s party, Bhartiya Janshakti Party. That left his supporters confused and disillusioned. “We are still waiting for his directions”, said one of his supporters, Durlabhbhai Patel in his home constituency, Visavadar in Amreli district.

Even a rebel leader conceded, “We have managed to wean away 5% votes from Modi. But, only 1% would vote for the Congress.” Modi has been able to portray the rebels as a bunch of power-hungry people and has not been attaching much significance to them. Even stalwarts like former Union Ministers Kashiram Rana and Dr. Vallabhbhai Kathiria haven’t received invitations to campaign for BJP candidates in the state. A disoriented and dispirited campaign of the Congress too has come to Modi’s rescue, who mocks at their “Chak De Gujarat” campaign as a Punjabi slogan with no relevance to Gujarati ethos.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

FII CURBS: RBI

FII ke side effects
Good cause, but be circumspect?

Despite having a foreign exchange reserve of over $260 billion & control on over a trillion dollar economy, the Reserve Bank went through challenging phases this year, curbing & containing the country’s ‘fair weather friends’, the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs). Till 26th Nov., this year, FIIs have already pumped in nearly $17 billion and affected country’s economic health & given sleepless nights to its monetary regulator, Reserve Bank of India.

Basically, foreign investors who want to invest for short term gains without getting themselves registered at SEBI, do so through FIIs, which are registered bodies with the market regulator. These FIIs issue Participatory Notes or PNs to them, the only way through which these FIIs can invest in India. Since these PNs mainly deal in dollars, a huge amount of dollar comes in. In order to keep the exchange rate stable and dole out excess dollar, RBI buys it from the market. But the process lands up having excess rupee than required in the capital markets. This excess supply without demand decreases rupee value, which eventually raises inflation, a common instance that we all encountered this year! So it becomes a Catch 22 situation, where either way lies the defeat for the country’s finances.

SEBI tried to control them by putting a limit on the investments through PNs, recently, which even proved conducive to quite a large extent. But a better way to preclude the excessive moolah from pooling in the market, could be taxing the capital gains. RBI did something similar to control the excess External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) by proposing a sterilisation tax, which was supported by many analysts too. Director, Crisil, Dharmakirti Joshi told B&E, “ECBs are a major source of such capital inflows and in order to moderate these ECB flows, RBI has proposed a sterilisation tax.” Nonetheless, levying taxes has its own pros & cons, but this might just inhibit FIIs from wrecking further havoc in Indian markets.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs


Monday, August 18, 2008

Jobs aplenty...

but whom to employ?
India is gradually entering the league of richest countries in the world, but will its people be as wealthy as the average American and European? As per the Indian Labour Report 2007, 90% of Indian youth are unemployable. While only 8% of the youth are unemployed, 53% have some kind of skill deprivation. With nearly 90% of the jobs in the country being skill orientated and most Indians having some kind of skill deprivation, the whole issue unemployment and employability needs a fresh look.

It is estimated that India needs to allocate about Rs.490,000 crores in order to train its skill deprived workforce over the next two years. The current budget for the same is just 25% of the required amount. Along with monetary allocation, proper academic planning, including technical and vocational training, is essential. Majority of India’s youth are below the age of 35 and this should tip-off the polity that unemployability is a bigger concern than minority reservation. Mere rhetoric would not solve the problem of rural unemployment. Wish the Indian Labour Report had got even an iota of the attention that the Sachar Committee report has been garnering. Until better sense prevails, India’s dream of reaping demographic dividend will remain a dream or daydream at best.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs


Thursday, August 14, 2008

THE CLASS IS HOME

Use mobiles to create local encyclopaedias

Computer is not alien to school kids in the country anymore. Well, the statement does hold true, but only in case of the urban child. Major parts of India are yet see what a computer looks like. “In rural segment, and in many urban and semi-urban schools, the children do not have access to computers. Though the government has taken steps, I feel the effort is ill-planned. Often, the task has been left to private companies, who run computer classes for the children against fees,” confers Anupam Basu of IIT (Kharagpur). They charge fees, which many can’t afford. However, with initiatives by a few companies, NGOs, industry bodies and state governments, the situation has improved in certain places.

Says Manjushree Reddy of Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies, “Connectivity is the new participatory interactive communication process fostered now by putting rural communities in front seats. The use of information technology and telecommunication is bringing the classroom to home, and opening access to education for those who never entered the academies.”

Shabnam Sinha, Education Head, ILFSETS, says her institution has launched K-yan in collaboration with IIT (Mumbai). The project focuses on peer-group learning and imparts vocational skills to BPL families. It has also set up internet-enabled kiosks in one lakh villages. TCS has developed packages for adult education. “IIT Kharagpur has developed contents in Bengali for children of Grade I-IV and is trying to develop content for higher classes. The Association for Marginalised Aspirations, in collaboration with IIT (Kharagpur), is deploying such contents in rural schools, including those in tribal areas,” reveals Basu.

IT majors HP & Intel have worked on using ICT to improve literacy, access to education and health services. Then, there is the Digital Study Hall (DSH), a research project that works towards improving education for poor children in slums and rural schools. “Technical approach like DSH digitally records classes by the best grassroots teachers, transmits them on Postmanet, which is effected by DVDs sent in the postal system, collects them in a large distributed database, and distributes them on DVDs to poor rural and slum schools,” explains Reddy.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

MUSICAL FLASH

Expect more ways to listen to music next year

Technology has continuously been improving the way we listen to music over the years. The transition from walkmans to CD players to MP3 players and to the latest iPods stands testimony to this miraculous growth. Digitisation of music has in fact given a new face to the Indian music industry, and has significantly enhanced its reach and potential across the board.

The iPod, for instance, has a capacity to store thousands of songs and even videos, truly an iconic product. But for a price sensitive market like India, where until now, only a small percentage of consumers own iPods & MP3 players, what can come in as a relief is the iPods with the flash-based technology. Talking about the advantages of flash-based technology, Aarti Gahlaut, Assistant Manager, Peripherals Research, IDC India told B&E, “Flash based technology is cheaper than hard drive technology as is evident in terms of form factor – price of a flash based player is lower than a hard drive based player of similar specifications.” She further projects that “smaller memory capacities might be all available only in flash memory in times to come.”

Apparently in consideration of this trend, Apple is rumoured to be converting its entire range from hard-disk based iPods with NAND flash storage to leverage on the price factor. Microsoft’s Zune is also expected to hit the marketplace with its 8 GB flash-based music players soon. Microsoft’s $199 red coloured player, whose main attraction is its touch control, is slightly thicker than iPods and has been rated as a product with better sound quality than even the iPod Nano. The Zune supports MP3, WMA and WMA formats of digital music.

Coming on to Wi-Fi enabled music players, this market in India is still small and a large share of the market being in the ‘grey’ segment suggests that the market is currently operating at the base level of prices and features. Sandisk, the world’s largest supplier of flash based technology recently introduced a new Wi-Fi enabled MP3 player which goes by the name of Sansa Connect. It’s unique technology enables the listeners to listen to music alongside viewing images through any open wireless internet connection in the vicinity. The Sansa Connect Wi-Fi MP3 player has been designed to work with Microsoft’s Windows Vista. Microsoft’s 8 GB Zune (mentioned above), too, is a wireless music player with music sharing features. Initial test marketing of these products is very much expected in the year 2008 as the underlying Wi-Fi technology gains rapid acceptance in India. So relax, the technology revolution in music players is still going strong!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Fund managers

Fund managers are a bemused lot these days. Some mutual funds are delivering great results, but others - in the same or different space - are going completely bananas. Read the 4Ps B&M tracker of the best & worst performing mutual funds over the last year to understand what’s up and where...

It is perhaps one of those fund categories that’s worth considering when the markets are undergoing volatility. Annual returns from the category have ranged between 9.39% to 5.76%, with an average of 8.45% for long term and 7.96% for short term funds. Strikingly, it’s the only category where a scheme from the stable of India’s oldest fund house UTI features in the Best Five list.

Most stable. For risk-averse investors it’s the best option always. And, as they say ‘slow and steady wins the race’, this definitely has outperformed many of the equity funds in the last six months. Returns from various schemes under the category have ranged between 8.69% to 7.43% over the last one 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
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs





Monday, August 11, 2008

The grass is greener... in Sahara?!

With 3G being introduced, RCom has to avoid being the Vodafone of modern times...

The grass is always greener on the other side. If you’re wondering why we’re repeating this oft harped over remark, digest this – on one hand, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications is gearing-up for an African safari, while on the other, foreign players are all set for an Indian vacation with open 3G auctions.

With almost 7-8 million monthly additions to subsciber base, the domestic telecom industry, which currently runs on 2G platform, is further set to get a boost from all quarters with Indian policymakers allowing an open bid in its 3G space, with no limitations to foreign bids. As per a government official, “We have a 74% FDI limit in the telecom sector. Whether there is common auction or open auction, there will be no bar on foreign players. Either way, they will be allowed.” Though this open bid process will pose a challenge to many, a handful of players with Unified Access Services Licence (UASL) will find the battle for spectrum against ‘foreign powers’, easier.

While this is the twist to the tale at home, the ‘away’ telecom battlegame is also heating up with RCom signing a 45-day exclusivity agreement with MTN of South Africa to discuss a ‘potential combination’ of their businesses. If the deal goes through, we would have a $66 billion telecom conglomerate in the making that could challenge even the $33.33 billion Mcap of Japan’s NTT. Add to this a stupendous base of 115 million customers (as on March 2008) & a presence in 23 countries, and we have the largest global footprint in the world. The amalgamation of their balance sheets would also yield revenues to the tunes of Rs.58,100 crore, making it the second most profitable mobile operator in the world, only next only to China Mobile. Not just this, the operating profits of the new entity would also be close to a healthy Rs.25,000 crore. Even if one was to look at this deal from a competitive perspective, for Rcom, this deal would certainly help to outdo Bharti Airtel, its closest competitor.

Explaining the advantage to RCom, Harit Shah, Telecom Analyst, Angel Broking states, “RCom already has its presence in the African continent through its recently acquired FLAG Telecom and there would definitely be some synergies that they would stand to gain from...” However, there are a few challenges as well. The first and foremost being that MTN is a key GSM player, while RCom focusses primarily on CDMA technology. throwing light on this, a telecom analyst divulged, “Although Reliance Communications had got the license for GSM and is operating through GSM route in the North East region of India, it would an entirely different ball game to operate in the other parts of the world.” Then there is also the truth that shareholders of RCom are not convinced about the deal. Need a proof? On announcement, RCom’s shares fell by a 7.2% on BSE! Thirdly, South African telecom market is growing y-o-y at just 22% and already has a 70% penetration level. On the other hand, India is growing at a CAGR of an incredible 68% with penetration of just 21%. Hungry Vodafone made this mistake in 1999, when it paid a hefty sum for Germany’s Mannesman, a deal which turned sour. RCom can’t afford to be the modern Vodafone. As for Anil, he needs reasons to convince his shareholders to take a trip to Sahara!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Whoever let him loose?

If you think rising consumption is to blame, hold your horses. According to OPEC estimates, the organisation’s proven reserves are expected to be somewhere close to 900 billion barrels and conventional sources are secure. Contributing close to 77% of all reserves, OPEC is the primary body controlling the world’s major oil sites.

Major members are Middle Eastern sates such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait. Various other regions are also represented in the organisation; countries like Venezuela, Indonesia and Nigeria are among major members as well. Thus, as a holistic approach towards understanding the oil crises spread across the planet, it is important to understand the composition of OPEC first. According to OPEC facts & figures, “The world’s Ultimately Recoverable Reserves (URR) is to continue to increase in the near future. Therefore, the real issue is not reserve availability, but timely deliverability and here enhanced cooperation and dialogue among all parties to ensure security of demand, as well as security of supply.” The report estimates that from 1995-2003, new discoveries had actually improved recoveries by almost 138 billion barrels. This was especially possible due to more advanced extraction techniques & management. By 2020, oil production is likely to cross 1600 billion barrels with reserves close to 3400 billion barrels! On the basis of OEPC’s own data, it can be logically concluded that the oil price dilemma is not necessarily dependent on consumption alone. Various analysts have contended that OPEC deliberately controls production in order to safeguard its own interests in order to maintain a high price point.

While the top ten oil extracting nations produce about 52 million barrels/day, the top ten oil consuming countries together use close to only 50 million barrels/ day. This means that that a good 2 million barrels of crude can be utilised in price stabilisation, especially when volatility is playing havoc with the global economy. It’s technically proven that the world currently produces more oil than it consumes, but uncertainty of oil prices remains. Production has increased by a salubrious 26% as compared to levels in the 1960s. In fact, oil price insecurity can easily be alleviated on the prospects of huge untapped reserves in Alaska, Latin America and Siberia.

“Oil prices are not determined by the ‘real’ supply-demand for oil, it is the ‘anticipated’ supply-demand, which ascertains the value of the product,” says Saikia. As far as the blame game is concerned, the supposedly new oil hungry nations putting pressure on global oil prices, are factually not the raison d etre’ for the anomaly. China, the nation taking up most of the blame, consumes close to 7.2 million barrels/ day however more than half of this (3.8 million) is met by domestic production. US, on the other hand, consumes a preposterous 20.5 million barrels every day, while contributing a miniscule 8.1 million. Even major oil producing countries like Indonesia cannot hold on to prevailing pressure. With the dangers of ‘galloping inflation’ looming, the country is all set to withdraw from OPEC. It’s the most stinging irony with power. Those that hold oil reserves are making life dificult for the rest by constraining production. The problem then is not shortage of oil per se, but rather the concentration of oil resources in a few hands, which are failing to see beyond their own interests towards the larger good of the planet.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Talk to me......says PE to Indian media

PE firms have discovered a new love in the form of the Indian media & entertainment industry. Will this affair last or will it go sour, wonders pallavi srivastava

Scrutinise the shareholding pattern of Peter Mukreaja’s dreamchild INX media and one can’t help but bite the tongue. A good 55% stake in the company is held by firms like Temasek Holdings, New Silk Route Partners, New Vernon Private Equity Fund, Employee sweat equity, et al. A cursory glance at NDTV Networks’ shareholding pattern and you find companies like Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, CSFB and eight others jointly holding as much as 24% stake in it. Ashmore Investment Management owns 49% stake in Digicable Network. Then again, what’s common among companies like B.A.G. Infotainment, Times Innovative Media, Hathway cable, UFO Moviez and India TV, besides the fact that they operate in the media & entertainment space. They all have private equity (PE) firms’ expressing their newly found love for them, by buying stakes in these companies.

The Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector has never been a hot cake among PE investors. But of late (especially over the last one year) PE firms are showing great interest in the sector. Blackstone’s 26% stake in Ushodaya Enterprise for $146 million, Future Capital-promoted Indivision Capital’s 4.9% stake in Dish TV for $58.14 million, Chrys Capital’s 27% stake in Hathway cable for a whopping $120 million, Shyam Equities’ 20% stake in Independent News Service (holding company of India TV) for $25 million are just a few examples.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative