From Quaid to Bana

Profiles of two JAK LI men who helped capture a Pakistani post in India’s final quest for Siachen

It was at the icy heights of Siachen in 1987 that a young JAK LI soldier, Bana Singh, achieved what till then was considered unimaginable. He was part of the 8 JAK LI’s Special Operations Group (SOG) completing its glacier tenure.

To launch an assault in oxygen-depleted rarefied air is considered near suicidal but the Quaid post – situated at an altitude of 21,153 feet - was strategically important to observe nearly 80 km of territory around it. It gave Pakistanis, its then occupants, an edge of not just preventing supplies to other Indian posts but also of interdicting any movement with precise firing.

Its capture, therefore, became important for the Indian Army. Naib Subedar Bana Singh, hand-picked for this challenging assignment, led the last attack along with riflemen Chunni Lal, Laxman Das, Om Raj and Kashmir Chand. A force of 62 people participated to the final operation; two officers, three JCO’s and 57 jawans.

Remembers Bana Singh, "we were losing friends every day, some of them just a few days after their induction into the force. Our Commanding Officer and all of us were determined to throw the Pakistanis out, whatever the price.’’Two decades after his inspired heroism in those chilling heights, Subedar Major (Honorary Captain) Bana Singh, Param Vir Chakra (PVC), has sent his son to defend the frontiers in Kashmir.

Born in 1949 in Kadyal district of Jammu, Bana Singh was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the highest wartime gallantry medal in India, for conspicuous bravery and leadership under most adverse conditions.

“Operation Rajiv” as this operation was named, resulted in various awards: one Maha Vir Chakra (for Subedar Sansar Singh), seven Vir Chakras and one Sena Medal, besides the PVC. Bana Singh later declined an offer of Rs 25 lakh, 25 acres of land and a pension of Rs 15, 000 a month if he decided to settle in Punjab. Singh’s belief: as a proud soldier of Jammu and Kashmir, he could not leave the state, no matter how strong the allurement.

The other hero of the party that took Quaid was late Naib Subedar Chuni Lal, winner of Ashok Chakra, Vir Chakra and the Sena Medal.

Chuni Lal was born in Doda’s  Bhadarwah tehsil in 1968. He joined JAK LI in 1984. Within three years of his service he earned a Sena Medal for his death-defying act in capturing Bana Post alongside the legendary Bana.
Not the one to sit on his laurels, in 1999 while serving with his unit in the Poonch Sector during ‘Operation Rakshak’ he and his unit were instrumental in beating back an attempted intrusion by the Pakistan Army and for this act of gallantry he was awarded the Vir Chakra.

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Movie Review: The Reluctant Fundamentalist

The Pakistani Dream

Based on a novel of the same name by Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is everything and perhaps more than what you would expect from a Mira Nair film.

The political thriller begins with the kidnap of an American professor in Lahore, and after that there is no looking back. The entire film is set over a conversation between Changez (Riz Ahmed) and American journalist Bobby (Liev Schreiber).  The story unfolds through a series of flashbacks that are non-linear (and sometimes predictable) in which we see Changez’s journey from living the great American Dream to his return to Lahore after 09/11 attacks and his search for the Pakistani Dream.

The film is quite different from the novel when it comes to the story, and at times you feel it drags on. But where it scores high is the use of soundtrack. It began with a Qawaali sung by brothers Fareed Ayaz and Abu Mohammed which set the mood of the film. Apart from this, the presence of Om Puri and Shabana Azmi, however short their roles were, also helped in giving the film its distinct flavour.

Riz Ahmed has done a good job. I wouldn’t say brilliant as he lacks emotions at times when it is needed the most, but it was decent. Kate Hudson plays his love interest and could have well been forgotten if not for the lovemaking scenes. Liev Schreiber has a few comment s here and there, but other than that he is just the listener. In other words, what holds the film together is Mira Nair’s storytelling style rather than the performances. As in her other films, the settings blend in perfectly with the theme – from Wall Street to the typical teahouse at Lahore.

To conclude, the plot is superb, the direction is good, and the acting is good enough.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Divided we fall

Instead of taking on Sheila Dixit, Delhi BJP leaders are busy settling scores. Anil Pandey reports. 

With Delhi assembly poll bound in November this year, the state BJP's tall claims about pulling down the 15-year-old Congress regime may be just that - claims.

Early indications suggest that there is no strategy – let alone a clear cut one – to take on the might of well entrenched Sheila Dixit and the Congress party in Delhi. With polls about six months away, the Delhi BJP presents a dismal picture of infighting. No district or block-level committees have yet been formed and the question of booth-level workers is plainly out of sight.

Even though the new president of the Delhi BJP, Vijay Kumar Goel, has announced his new organising committee after three-month-long messy deliberations, the new panel has left out well known party names in Delhi; instead what is in place are a host of unknown politicians, which leaders say, is is designed to demoralise party workers and ultimately take heavy toll on their election prospects.

“When the most basic committees are not in place, where is the question of the list of party candidates for the assembly elections? There is a lot of anger against corruption and inflation, as well as water and the power supply situation in Delhi. The mood is anti-Congress but the point is who will exploit it,” questions a BJP leader.

There is a reason why the Delhi BJP is unable to act: it is in the grip of vicious infighting and Goel who was nominated as the state chief on February 15, has not been to put an end to it. In fact, factional fights, if anything, have multiplied since his elevation.


In such a situation, Goel's own attitude has not helped. On May 14, he called a media meeting at the Constitution Club. Among the invitees were Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj but those left out included the cream of Delhi BJP; Harshvardhan, veteran VK Malhotra, Vijay Jolly, Jagdish Mukhi and a host of other leaders.

Says one senior leader, “It is a bit surprising that in an election season, members of the party national executive are invited but not the state executive. It is tantamount to insulting senior leaders.” Such acts have earned Goel the epithet of SPS – a self projection schemer.

On the face of it though, party leaders say that given the mood against the Congress both at the centre and the state and the number of scams that are tumbling out by the day, Delhi will certainly see a BJP government this time. “Given Sheila Dixit's performance, we are returning,” exults BJP leader Vijay Jolly.

Such sentiments within the party have triggered off the race for the chief minister's chair; instead of helping matters, it has heightened the divide inside BJP. Says analyst Suvrokamal Dutt on Goel's organising committee: “It is good to introduce new faces within the party but in an election year to leave out trustworthy leaders who are well known, can be politically damaging. Vijay Goel has kept out all those agitating against the Sheila Dixit government.”

Among those ignored include Pravesh Verma, son of influential Jat leader, late Sahib Singh Verma, former party president Harshvardhan, ex-Delhi finance minister Jagdish Mukhi, veteran Mewaram Arya, popular leader Kirti Azad (even though he is an MP from Darbhanga in Bihar) and his wife Poonam Azad. It remains a formidable list of those who have neither been given any party work nor assigned any role in the elections.

In Delhi, Bihari and eastern UP votes plus Jat votes account for the maximum number of seats; of Delhi's 400 villages, 300 are dominated by Jats. Here Pravesh Varma would have played an important role but his claims have been overlooked. In east Delhi, youth leader Kuldip Singh Chahel, said to have influence among the young voters, has been marginalized. Similarly, 40 lakh voters from Bihar and eastern UP – known as purabias or easterners – could influence decisions in close to three dozen assembly seats in Delhi but they do not have a single representative in Vijay Goel's coordination committee.

In contrast, Sheila Dixit has gone out of her way to woo the purabia voter who in the last assembly elections was instrumental in getting the Delhi chief minister her third term. Dixit's team – in addition to herself – has many known faces. SK Walia is a force to reckon with in east Delhi while Arvinder Singh Lovely, despite the Congress loss in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Committee this year, has his vote bank among Delhi's Sikh voters intact. Central minister Krishna Tirath and Delhi's Raj Kumar Chauhan are solid Dalit leaders in their own right.

It is not as if there is no factionalism in the Congress: there are stalwarts like Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler, Ajay Maken and former DPCC chief Jayprakash Agrawal, all of whom are at odds with the chief minister. But Congress displaying more maturity, has refused to buckle down under one or the other faction, keeping everyones' interest in mind.

Rahul Gandhi during the course of his meetings has stressed on Congress workers ending their petty fights and putting up a joint front in the elections – those not doing so have been threatened with action by the party high command and it has worked. Says Subrokamal Dutt: “this is what Rajnath Singh should have done. After all, if BJP were to win back Delhi, it will be a great shot in the arm for the NDA in General Elections 2014.”

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

"Clean Chit" regime

An inside look at the resilience of corruption and arrogance. By Sutanu Guru

Once upon a time, there lived a rapacious Emperor who specialized in plundering his subjects even while taking the moral high ground. Even his critics (also known as the silent majority) refrained from exposing him because they were quite scared of the Emperor's Cruel and Brazen Intentions (better known as CBI). He reveled and flowered in the presence of sycophants who described his plunder as “inclusive politics”. Once before the Republic Day, he ordered his tailors (now known as spin masters) to design and stitch a gown befitting his unparalleled stature as an Emperor. His spin masters (otherwise known as anchors and pundits) worked 24*7 and wove a gown that was invisible to all but their blinkered eyes. Come Republic Day and the Emperor preened in front of millions of subjects. One of them was a kid who was not familiar with the CBI and hence burst out laughing and proclaimed: But he is as naked as a statue! His parents shrunk in fear as they were aware of what the CBI could do if the Emperor was hurt and angry. But in this tale, they need not have worried. This modern tale has a different twist. The Emperor laughs out loud and says: Of course I know I am naked! But look at my pathetic subjects! They are wearing clothes and trying to hide their embarrassment!!!

Sounds corny and maybe even far fetched. But that just about sums up the state of the relationship that exists between the UPA regime and citizens of India. That fantasy tale also explains the arrogance of the UPA regime which is now as good as – or worse than – the naked Emperor with a fetish for plunder. Perhaps this also explains the Faustian audacity and brazenness with which leading lights of this UPA dispensation have been treating this country and its citizens. The thing is: for various reasons including hubris, they seem convinced they will get away with and end up scripting another monster called UPA-3 after 2014. Each time the UPA regime and its members are enmeshed in a scandal or a scam, each time a UPA courtier is caught with a hand in the till and each time a whistle blower gathers the courage to expose a misdeed, out comes the proverbial “clean chit” in a jiffy.

Some weeks ago, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar was addressing a gathering of the faithful in the hinterland. The state, which is already notorious across the world for record number of farmer suicides, is facing an unprecedented man-made drought and life threatening water shortages. Ajit Pawar was irrigation minister for about a decade when the dams meant to store water went dry in the state. How does he react to this calamity? You must be living in a fool's paradise if you thought Pawar was contrite. In typical UPA style, he ridiculed a farmer and an activist who were on a hunger strike for more than 50 days protesting against dry dams and publicly announced: do they expect me to urinate in the dams to fill them with water? After the usual uproar and outrage, his uncle Sharad Pawar chided the 54 year old Ajit for his ‘youthful impetuosity’, gave him a "clean chit" and made him sit on a token one day fast in front of a Mahatma Gandhi statue. Poor Mahatma Gandhi!. Another colleague of Ajit Pawar pushed the brazenness envelope even further. The Maharashtra Home Minister R.R Patil engineered a diktat whereby he would personally supervise the transfers and postings of even junior policemen in the state. Since offensive words like publicly urinating were not involved, there wasn't much outrage. Remember, R.R Patil was Home Minister when Pakistani terrorists struck Mumbai on 26/11. So incensed was India at his incompetence and blasé arrogance that even the brazen UPA was forced to drop him. But then, the UPA won elections and Patil was back as Home Minister. Oh yes, there were many enquiries into administrative failures during 26/11. But R.R Patil got a “clean chit”.

Ask any objective and unbiased observer (a difficult person to locate nowadays) and she will tell you unhesitatingly that Maharashtra today is one of the worst governed states in the country. And yet, either the Congress or some version of Congress has ruled the state continually ever since the state was formed except a five year stint of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.  The same unbiased observer will tell you that the odds favor yet another UPA victory next year in the assembly elections because of a fractured opposition.

Such cockiness is not restricted to Maharashtra. It was in full public display last year when the whistle blower bureaucrat of Haryana Ashok Khemka made serious allegations against Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The brief story of Robert Vadra is: he started with Rs 50 lakh and bought land near Gurgaon by giving cheques to the owner; cheques that were not encased. Incidentally, nobody seems to know how he got even the Rs 50 lakh! The real estate company DLF then buys the land from Robert Vadra for hundreds of crores. The moment this dubious deal was made public, Khemka was given a punishment posting and a battery of top Haryana officials and Congress spokespersons rushed ahead to castigate Khemka and give a “clean chit” to destiny's son in law Vadra. Subsequent revelations show that Vadra also bought huge tracts of land in Rajasthan mysteriously before their values jumped manifold. Even for this, Vadra was given a “clean chit”. Why is the Haryana government so brazen and cocksure? Well, the man who could topple the Congress government in Haryana, Om Prakash Chauthala is himself behind bars, convicted on charges of corruption and the opposition seems to be in disarray! Forget the political situation in Haryana. What is to be admired and marveled at is the nonchalance with which Congress courtiers  insist that Robert Vadra transformed Rs 50 lakh to Rs 500 crores in double quick time because of his unique entrepreneurial skills and not because of any hanky panky.

Robert Vadra is a lucky entrepreneur. Not just because he has married into the first family of India, but also because he is smart enough not to publicly challenge the first family. Look at what is happening to another “young” entrepreneur Y.S Jagan Reddy, son of the late Y.S Rajasekhara Reddy who was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and one of the favorites of 10 Janpath till he died in a helicopter crash some years ago. It is almost one year since Jagan Reddy was arrested by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation and not Cruel and Brazen Intentions!) on charges of corruption and for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets. Now, according to the CBI, Jagan Reddy amassed hundreds and thousands of crores of ill gotten wealth when his father was chief minister between 2004 and 2009. No action was taken against him; no steps were initiated to prosecute him by any authority even after the death of his father. Till he openly revolted against the Congress High Command and 10 Janpath. Soon after Jagan declared war on his party, and the Congress sensed that it was almost certain to lose Andhra Pradesh, the “caged parrot” was unleashed and Jagan Reddy remains in jail. The million dollar question is: would he be behind bars if he was more patient and not demanded that he be forthwith made the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh? Surely the man himself must be pondering over that inside jail. Meanwhile, Congress leaders remain blasé about Andhra. They know that they will lose the “Telengana” seats to the regional party TRS and the rest of Andhra to Jagan Reddy. But they seem confident that both TRS and Jagan will have no option but to do business with the Congress after 2014. Blessed are the arrogant, more so when they have weapons like the CBI to unleash!

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Robert Pirosh to Hollywood

When copywriter Robert Pirosh landed in Hollywood in 1934, eager to become a screenwriter, he wrote and sent the following letter to all the directors, producers, and studio executives he could think of. The approach worked, and after securing three interviews he took a job as a junior writer with MGM. Pirosh went on to write for the Marx Brothers, and in 1949 won an Academy Award for his Battleground script.


Madison Avenue, November, 1934

Dear Sir:

I like words. I like fat buttery words, such as ooze, turpitude, glutinous, toady.

I like solemn, angular, creaky words, such as straitlaced, cantankerous, pecunious, valedictory.

I like spurious, black-is-white words, such as mortician, liquidate, tonsorial, demi-monde.

I like suave "V" words, such as Svengali, svelte, bravura, verve.

I like crunchy, brittle, crackly words, such as splinter, grapple, jostle, crusty.

I like sullen, crabbed, scowling words, such as skulk, glower, scabby, churl.

I like Oh-Heavens, my-gracious, land's-sake words, such as tricksy, tucker, genteel, horrid.

I like elegant, flowery words, such as estivate, peregrinate, elysium, halcyon.

I like wormy, squirmy, mealy words, such as crawl, blubber, squeal, drip.

I like sniggly, chuckling words, such as cowlick, gurgle, bubble and burp.

I like the word screenwriter better than copywriter, so I decided to quit my job in a New York advertising agency and try my luck in Hollywood, but before taking the plunge I went to Europe for a year of study, contemplation and horsing around.

I have just returned and I still like words.

May I have a few with you?

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

BBA Institute

Sausage or rat meat?

Food adulteration laws need more teeth to ensure safe food supply

Attention please: the next time you go out to buy mutton, be careful. You may end up purchasing rat or fox meat masquerading as mutton. Shocking, but it's true. Around 20,000 tonnes of rat meat have been sold in the name of lamb meat in the Chinese market so far this year alone. The truth came to light only after Chinese officials began an investigation in January, that too after around 20,000 dead pigs were found floating in a river. Since then, 904 suspects have been arrested and 1,721 factories across China, have been sealed. The Chinese Public Security Ministry revealed that meat dealers have made more than £1 million by selling fake meat packed as mutton and as related products. What is even more galling is that the scandal is not limited to China alone. Counterfeit meat is a common phenomenon across the globe.

 Mao Shoulong, a professor at Renmin University in Beijing, highlighted in his report that “The United States and Europe can’t eradicate these problems either, but they are even more complicated in China.” The ongoing European horse meat scandal is a case in point. In many European countries like the UK, Sweden, France and Ireland, horse meat is being falsely tagged as beef. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland recently confirmed that Tesco’s beef burger contains around 29 per cent of horse DNA. In another report, Stellenbosch University stated in its study that donkey meat was found in South African burgers. The Dutch government too has started an investigation and has recalled 50,000 tonnes of meat (500 million burgers) sold as beef across Europe. In Japan, dolphin and porpoise meat have been illegally traded as whale meat. The Glasgow City Council's environmental services found in an investigation that butchers are selling beef as lamb.

The unnerving part is that the racket has been going on despite the existence of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act in almost every country worldwide. The Act is meant to ensure food safety and curtail food adulteration. But obviously, it has failed to serve its mandate. The 2008 Chinese milk scandal, which victimised around 300,000 people, is the most infamous among all. Even the ongoing meat scandal raises concerns on the credibility and effectiveness of the Act. Clearly, what is required is a holistic and global initiative towards combating adulterated food products. This scandal may not have caused major health problems, but it surely hurts the religious sentiments of many.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Movie Review: Aatma

Fear isn't the key

Stylistically speaking, writer-director Suparn Verma’s paranormal thriller Aatma is anything but conventional. But in terms of substance, it is in the firm grip of the ghoul of the horror genre’s intrinsic limitations.

A dead dad, who was once an abusive husband, returns from the world yonder to lay claims to his angelic six-year-old daughter, and the harried mother fights tooth and nail to protect the girl from harm. That, in a nutshell, is what Aatma is about.

Trouble is that the film isn’t half as scary as it is meant to be. With the screenplay placing all the key cards on the table upfront, the possibility of genuine shocks and surprises are taken out of the equation.

The disgruntled aatma of the title – played by a suitably nonchalant Nawazuddin Siddiqui – turns into a ruthless serial killer, bumping off anybody who threatens to come between him and his daughter.

Aatma looks and feels very different from a run-of-the-mill Bollywood horror flick, thanks to the atypical camerawork and lighting by DoP Sophie Winqvist. If only it had a storyline that match the innate visual energy of the film.

The director resorts to familiar tropes to generate fear. The dialogue, too, tend to get stilted as an effort is made to explicate the strange occurrences around the household.

Inexplicable reflections in the mirror, a rocking chair that sways under an invisible weight, telephones that begin to ring without a warning, a rubber ball that bounces of its own accord and suchlike may suggest the presence of the unknown but do not serve the purpose of sending shivers down the spine.

Apart from the high-quality cinematography, the acting all around is the highlight of the film. Bipasha Basu, Bollywood’s jaded queen of horror movies, makes the most of the limited opportunities that the script offers.

Nawazuddin, too, has little to do except smirk eerily from the shadows. It is a cakewalk for him. Debutante Doyel Dhawan is a promising child star.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

BBA Institute

Hanging in balance

Odisha is a classic case of why India's growth story has gone sour. Dhrutikam Mohanty probes.

Why is India’s growth story not going as per the drawing board? Because its politicians and people have developed the uncanny ability to turn every single project into a personal commercial enterprise and public spectacle.

No better example of this economic slowdown than Odisha where some of the biggest industrial projects that India could have witnessed are languishing because of petty politicking, utter lack of vision, downright blackmail and a deeply flawed land compensation policy.

Its best illustration? Posco's Rs 52,000 crore steel plant in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district which was set to fetch the country's largest ever FDI of Rs 52,000 crore. Eight years after the MoU was signed between the state government and the company, the project remains where it was.

In fact, it has deteriorated. What should have by now become  a throbbing business hub, Gobindpur, the site of the proposed Posco plant, is a blood-splattered battle ground, victims of a bloody anti-Posco agitation that rears up every now and then. The Posco project become controversial when the land acquisition process began. Displacement became the core issue and gave birth to a well-organized anti-Posco movement. Though the state government is now working towards acquiring land, questions are now being asked about the veracity of the MoU which lapsed on June 21, 2010.

On March 2, three people were reported killed in Gobindpur. In an ongoing battle of attrition, the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samity (PPSS), the organization spearheading the movement against the project, said ``Posco and state-sponsored goons' hurled bombs killing three villagers in the district. The district administration says the three who died were in fact making bombs. “We had informed the police but no one came to our help,” says PPSS spokesperson Prashant Paikray.

The killings took place a day before the final phase of land acquisition for the Posco project was to be concluded in an area notified by the Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha (IDCO).

Amid consistent protests, IDCO has acquired about 2,000 acre of land. The attempt now is to get an additional 700 acre in a topography dominated by betel-veins, agricultural waste lands and sweet water zones.

On March 5, 12 platoons of the state armed police led by the Jagatsinghpur DC and SP entered Gobindpur village and acquired more then 25 betel vines, a source of local livelihood. The move was resisted by force. So just when the world was preparing to celebrate International Women’s Day, local women had no hesitation in marking it by a ‘half-naked’ protest to stop land acquisition. The PPSS alleges that women protestors were assaulted by policewomen.

Though the state government has suspended the acquisition temporarily, tension prevails. An earlier attempt in February to takeover land in Gobindpur was similarly thwarted by local campaigners with the backing of a feverish global campaign led by activists worldwide.

A frustrated Posco is now pulling out all stops to make the project viable. Recently South Korea's Ambassador to India met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and expressed concern. But that in itself may not be enough.

According to the state economic survey 2012-13, the state government has signed MoUs with 94 reputed investors but most of them are stalled for reasons connected to land acquisition, environmental violations and agitations against displacement.

Posco's current status has now invited comparisons with other proposals which have been held up for long periods in Odisha. For instance Tata Iron and Steel's Kalinga Nagar proposal in Jajpur district, where 14 tribals protesting the Tata plant were shot dead by the police in January 2006. Or the Utkal Alumina project, a subsidiary of Birla group's Hindalco. After 20 years and investments of over Rs 500 crore, the 1.5-million-tonne alumina refinery project is yet to see the light of the day. As the company prepared to give a final push to complete the refinery work by the first quarter of 2013, protesters organized a meeting at Maikanch, near the project site in Rayagada, to pay tribute to three persons killed in police firing on agitators protesting  land acquisition 12 years ago.

Last week Kumar Mangalam Birla met Naveen Patnaik with the same request as the Korean envoy – fast track our industrial projects. Though the Aditya Birla group has proposed to set up an integrated aluminum complex with an investment of Rs 11,000 crore, land acquisition has come in the way of it taking off the ground.

Ditto with the world’s largest steel maker Arcelor Mittal. Land acquisition for it’s 12 million tonne per annum (MTPA) steel plant in mining-rich Kendujhar district has not concluded even though a MoU with the state government was signed in 2006. The MoU which expired on December 31, 2011 is now pending renewal.

Along with Mittal the state government had signed MoUs with Uttam Galva Steel and Sterlite group a few years ago: the results, however, do not vary.

Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Alumina is yet another loser. It was forced to shut its one million tonne per annum alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in the state's Kalahandi district due to non-availability of bauxite, 15 years after state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) signed over it’s rights to mine bauxite in the Niyamgiri Hills, which houses the primitive clan Dangiria Kandhas.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

War And Doom!

The economic bane of dual wars on the US and its allies

An influential section of the commentariat believes that the current economic slump in Europe and the US owes its genesis to, at least partially, to the effect of the twin wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have sucked up precious resources that could have been otherwise used for bolstering and beefing up the strengths of these embattled economies. According to Brown University’s Watson Institute, a mindboggling $4-6 trillion was spent by the US government on the two wars! The figure is 60 per cent of the entire size of the national budget for the period between 2001 and 2012. One only needs to join the dots to figure out why the country’s spending limits on education, health, infrastructure and R&D, among others, was severely crimped during this period.

The war funding, following the policy of the George Bush administration, was mostly supported through external debt. That has now ballooned to $16.7 trillion (as of March 2013), triggering concerns of a sovereign debt default by America. There are already flying insinuations across the US that the nation could be headed straight for a debt crisis, like so many of its counterparts in Europe. In fact, Europe is in even deeper hock. In terms of external debt, Britain is second-in-line to the US, with $9.8 trillion (as of June 2011). As of June 2010, the British exchequer had been drained to the sum of 20 billion pounds on account of the dual conflicts. In a clear demonstration of the war obsession, as against the obsession for furthering the public good, a paltry 557 million pounds have been earmarked for the nation’s development this year.

Read more...

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Movie Review: Special 26

Gameplay, conmen style!

Clever. Very clever. Director Neeraj Pandey, in only his second prominent Bollywood undertaking, takes the audience for a nice little ride with this intricately executed low-budget heist-drama. While Special 26 may drastically differ from his first, A Wednesday!, in theme, look and morality, it employs the same formula of masterful storytelling.

Set in the 80s, Special 26 is based on real events from the same period.

Ajay Singh (Akshay Kumar) and PK Sharma (Anupam Kher), along with their accomplices and the assistance of Sub-Inspector Ranveer Singh (Jimmy Shergill), conduct a CBI raid at a minister’s house. They insult, slap and threaten the minister while they confiscate his cash and belongings.

Only, they are conmen and SI Ranveer among those conned! In steps (genuine) CBI officer Wasim Khan (Manoj Bajpayee). What happens next? I guess there is only one way to find out…

The seasoned actors are all memorable. The heroine (Kajal Aggarwal), although marginalised, delivers when called upon. Add humour, emotion and enthralling background scores and the ride is well worth it.

 Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

BBA Institute

A tale of two secretaries

John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are likely to bring fresh perspective in their respective departments. And that will be the best thing to happen to the United States in decades, says Saurabh Kumar Shahi

In the recent political history of the United States of America, none of the administrations have been so dependent on its Secretaries of State and Defense for its future course as President Obama's administration is dependent on John Kerry and Chuck Hagel. And as things stand, it won't be an exaggeration to say that how history will remember President Obama will largely depend on how these two perform, especially so after a rather dispirited and lackluster first term by the president.

The very basis of both the appointments (Chuck Hagel's appointment remains yet to be approved by the Senate as this story goes to print) is that President Obama in his second term really wants to clear a few messes and more importantly, he wants to do it without venturing into the world of intervention. And hence, both the names.

Let's come to John Kerry first. As the new Secretary of State, he is expected to bring sweeping changes as far as nuances in the foreign policy is concerned. He has a fantastic personal relation with the president and has been sent by him far and wide to solve foreign policy cauldrons. And, most of all, he comes without any excess baggage.

“The area in which Kerry may be able to have the greatest impact is redefining the meaning of national security for Americans. He recognises that the main threats to the United States no longer come from foreign armies or what George W Bush liked to call 'evil-doers'. His most encouraging statements are those that suggest he recognises the enormous security challenges posed by climate change, global energy politics and economic troubles at home,” says Stephen Kinzer, celebrated US diplomat and foreign policy expert.

When Obama dropped Susan Rice from the scheme of things following protests, he did himself a favour. Rice was hardly someone who could have intervened either in the Middle East peace process or in the Af-Pak cauldron without being judgmental. In fact, she was proudly described by Zionists of all stripes as “Israel's Gladiator in the UN”. With that kind of reputation, she would have proved a non-starter.

Quite opposed to that, Kerry believes in the diplomatic vision of negotiations and keeps threats as the last resort. So, if you are expecting another round of threats warning Iran of “obliteration” a la Hillary Clinton, you would be disappointed. It is not for nothing that his appointment was welcomed by Tehran.

“We hope that he (John Kerry), given his personal characteristics, will be able to at least help revise part of the US government’s approaches and anti-Iran policies and will help reduce the loss of lives and financial losses inflicted on regional nations and the people of the United States caused by the US foreign policy,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told the Fars News Agency.

Also, unlike most of the top bureaucrats and appointees in the State Department, John Kerry shares an excellent rapport with the top Pakistani leadership, both in the civil as well as military structure. His insistence on involving Pakistan in the Afghanistan solution, rather than bypassing it, will ensure that the countries sit together and work out a deal rather than play out through propaganda channels. He in fact went on record to say that the US did not give Pakistan its due for providing intelligence about Osama Bin Laden.

It is therefore expected that in coming months, a new form of synergy will develop between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US to deal with the situation following the pull-out in 2014.

If Kerry is a tough nut, Hagel is even tougher. Notwithstanding his rather tepid performance during his confirmation hearing, Hagel is known for his plain-speaking. And that is why his confirmation process was a baptism by fire. However, he has some clear ideas on how the US should behave militarily and he'll speak his mind when he is confirmed.

Considering rising deficit, it is expected that he will recommend (and see it through) some cuts on the Defence front. This might include recommendations to wrap up some of the military bases, curtailing the Air-craft Carrier Strike Groups and forgetting intervention as an option on the table.

On other matters, including relations with Russia, Hagel's views are closer to those of President Obama than the Republican camp where he previously belonged.

It is also expected that jointly, Kerry and Hagel will craft a policy that does not revolve around Israel and keeps the US interest on the top. The greatest harm that the US did to itself in the last decade or so was that it did not put any effort into making nations realise that its interests might match those of Israel's but they are not joint at the hip. That needs to change and bot Kerry and Hagel know that. It can be started by inviting Iran for direct talks and rolling back illegal unilateral sanctions that are based more on Israeli pressure than any tangible evidence that Iran has a clandestine military nuclear program.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Crisis in civilisation

Be it the Left or the trinamool, the political culture in the country and the state have merely fostered undemocratic practices and vandalism, Read an opinion piece by Sunanda Sanyal, an educationist and social thinker...
Tagore says in Crisis in Civilization that it’s a sin to lose faith in man. At the age of 80, I haven’t lost faith in the polity of Bengal. Commoners have become aware that in Bengal, the political culture has gone wrong. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former governor of West Bengal, read a paper at the Bose Institute in Kolkata. According to one newspaper, he said, "politicians want power in order to loot the nation. Politicians, for example, organise looting of the natural resources. Under the circumstances, politics is money, money is politics."

Tapan Datta, a Trinamool Congress activist, was murdered because he opposed the illegal filling of a tank. His wife blames a minister for the crime. But I blame the whole episode on the Left, because it set no example of fair governance. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, former Chief Minister (CM), divided polity into us and them and the CM himself pelted back every stone that ‘them’ threw at ‘us’. He is reported to have ‘blown up’ the innocent people at Nandigram. But it is he who also said that he didn’t want to send in the state police force.

The present rulers in West Bengal are no better. The Chief Minister, who assured us that she would end partisanship when she became the Chief Minister, dishonours the past promise she had made. Syndicate raj – cartels of businessmen, ending all competition – is one of them. Goondaism among students is another. I think, present-day politics is based on goondaism. It’s the continuation of the previous Raj, the Left Front (LF) Government, led by the CPI-M. I trust Bengal’s polity won’t suffer goondaism any longer.

Back in the 1960’s, I happened to be very close to the CPI-M. There should have been a change for the better by 1977 when it came to power. But since 1987 it had been worsening politics as it resorted to rigging for reaching power. This was preceded by terrorism. For example, teachers were used in voter enrolment drive. Schools, colleges and universities provided the catchment area for young goondas. Led by the CPI-M, the LF did not allow other political groups to submit their nomination papers. So much for the democratic process for which student union elections should prepare the students. I remember when the president of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), attached to the CPI-M, came on TV and announced that they had 17 lakh members. The SFI would deploy the entire ‘election apparatus’ for the benefit of Leftist candidates.

The ‘entire election apparatus’ included youth, groups of motorbike riders, booth jammers – practically rigging some 100 odd assembly constituencies. That is, coming to power by whatever means.

Can such politicians be of help to polity? The only difference between the present ruling clique and the preceding one is that the former were a lot more organised, regimented and disciplined. They could, therefore, somewhat contain factionalism. But the present regime cannot.

The common complaint is that where the LF had a couple of factions, the Trinamool Congress has several for each district. So you ultimately end up greasing the palms of each one of the factions.

Bengal’s intellectuals aren’t comfortable either. The nations of the world have amassed, for internal security, such arsenals with which the world could be destroyed many times over. The late Amlan Datta, former Vice Chancellor of Viswabharati University, hoped that a Renaissance of sorts might save the world. It would of course be different from the one ushered in by Raja Rammohun  Roy and witnessed in undivided Bengal.

It‘s unlikely that such a Renaissance would be championed by a Bengali and that person would not be a Leftist after all because the man who introduced Leftism into India, MN Roy, said, “A year after its unhistorical victory in Russia, the revolution failed in Germany, where it ought have triumphed if Marx was not a false prophet.”

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Mamata can do better

Her regime has come as a disappointment to those who had held high hopes from her

Paradoxical as it may sound, a common Bengali, who a year ago perceived Mamata Banerjee as the symbol of change and reform, now believes that the lady occupying the office of the chief minister has turned into an autocrat. After being swept to power following a historic win last year, she has seemingly betrayed the hope and aspiration of the people. People who brought her on the promise of reform: creation of jobs and a concusive atmosphere to compete with the other developed states, feel frustrated at her maverick-style politics and illogical political actions.

Her move to table a no-confidence motion against the Manmohan Singh government has been met with contempt. People realise that her actions smack of political immaturity and would prove to be counter productive for the state and its people. They cite the gains of Bihar where the NDA Chief Minister Nitish Kumar maintains a cordial relation with the prime minister and is getting huge funds.

Even some Trinmool leaders have been sceptical of Mamata’s no-confidence move. How, after all, was it going to benefit Bengal? She had no reply or logic to justify her action. It was simply her hurt ego that forced her to adopt such extreme postures. She has courted the state’s formidable Muslim vote bank and uses Muslim idioms and phrases to reach out to her audience. But her personal dislike for Manmohan Singh is so acute that she even approached the BJP soliciting its help in the Parliament. This was clearly distasteful to the Muslim clergy. Shahi Imam of the Tipu Sultan Mosque, Noor-ur-Ramhan Barkati who had extended unequivocal support to Mamata described her move as “unfortunate”. As if this was not enough, she has started praising Narendra Modi, the controversial Gujarat chief minister.

Mamata trounced the Left Front on the promise of ushering in change and a complete transformation of the body politic as well the society. But instead of heralding a new era, the chief minister started on another course: taking on perceived ills of the society.  Her clarion call on marriages is something of a classic: please do not marry Left cadres, was her sage advice to the people of the state.

She conveniently forgot social equations and realities. People who migrated to West Bengal in 1951 from erstwhile East Pakistan and later in 1971 from Bangladesh constitute the main support base of the Trinmool Congress. Though some native Bengalis too have supported Trinmool, the fact remains that they continue to be the support base of the Congress. Her call was severely criticised by the intelligentsia; in fact it marks the beginning of their disenchantment with Mamata. Her main supporter, Jnanpith and Magsaysay award winner Mahasweta Devi, has turned critic and described the Trinamool government as ‘Fascist.’ They perceived it as an attempt to divide the monolithic Bengali society.

Her year-long tenure has seen a sharp division among intellectuals who once backed her, with some believing that she was ‘autocratic’ and ‘intolerant to criticism’. Educationist Sunanda Sanyal, litterateur Mahasweta Devi, actor Kaushik Sen, writer Nabarun Bhattacharjee, Bengali poet Sankha Ghosh, all have been critical of the chief minister. Sunanda Sanyal says, “Certain traits in her seem autocratic to me. Professors should not have been arrested, neither should newspapers have been banned in state libraries. She is following in the footsteps of the previous Left Front governments. This is certainly not a change for the better”. Kabir Suman, famous singer, musician and rebel Trinamool Congress MP, said “Once I used to write songs praising her qualities. I can’t do that anymore.”

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Guarding the streets of an Uncivil Society

The streets are burning with indignation and hurt. Yet another brutal rape screams through the night and you would have thought, so what? We will carry on with our lives, too blasé to care, too busy to dare… You would have thought a silent prayer for the poor victim and an even more earnest prayer to keep us and ours safe is all it would end with.

But we seem to have a conscience after all. We could manage to let go of our mall-walks and movie halls to gather and make some noise, to fight for the right to have a voice. But will that be enough to make our streets safe and every woman secure? Stricter laws, quicker justice, and political and executive will to implement both will surely help but would that really happen? Cynicism is not only fashionable but a survival mechanism in this country. Faith in the government, irrespective of the party in power, has only led to disappointment, frustration and a repeated sense of betrayal over the years. The politics of this country hasn’t gotten any cleaner or more committed over the years, but the electorate has… We are angrier, abler and louder, and we have greater belief in our potential to effect a change.. so let’s keep the faith in our strengths and keep pushing for a better, safer tomorrow the only way we can- by communicating, connecting and building up sustained pressure to secure a commitment from an evasive and toothless center which had supported a president who, during her years at the helm, had commuted the sentences of mass murderers and brutal rapists.

So what should we do until the government pulls up its dirty smelly socks? A lot of noise is being made about self defense programs for women and I agree… I have, on this very platform, urged women to pick up a practical and intelligent martial art like Krav Maga to defend themselves against attackers.

And I maintain that every girl, no  matter what her limitations, should spend a few hours a week practicing a martial ar. It will do her mind and her body a world of good. But when I read that the fact that the girl fought  back and bit her attacker drove him berserk which lead to the girl getting bludgeoned to the brink of death before being raped made me wonder if there were other options. Martial arts tactics are extremely effective measures against a single attacker but against multiple assailants, defiance can set egos ablaze, leading to near fatal consequences.

Call me a fool, but more than the presence of a man, it is the presence of his best friend, a dog, that can protect a woman from even a gang of potential rapists. Allow me explain my point by examining three aspects of the problem…

The Rapist(s)
Most amount of research and ‘experts’ are of the opinion that the rapist is a bully looking to dominate and subjugate a victim. His assumption, at the point of attack is that his quarry is far weaker and he is merely putting her in her place. Therefore, unlike a motivated criminal like a murderer, robber or other similar assailants, a rapist hasn’t considered the possibility of bodily harm to his own self. A man bent on murder or even a hold up is a far more desperate criminal and assumes a degree of personal risk in his endeavour. The rapist on the other hand is seeking pleasure and immediate gratification. He does not consider pain. He simply does not expect it and therefore, like a predator, picks what he assumes is weak prey. Which is why defiance triggers a fight or flight response.

A predator, be it a lion on the savannahs or a rapist in a city bus, is a bully and (under the circumstances, even a lion is) a coward. He attacks what he considers would be easiest to prey on, and when he meets resistance, he will run if there’s even the slightest risk of injury, unless bolstered by the strength of numbers that ensure that the victim would be overpowered, this time with a vengeance.

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

BBA Institute

The new nuclear age

The emergence of a multipolar nuclear power system is disturbing. New rules for diplomacy and arms control are needed to control this threat

North Korea’s launch of a long-range missile in mid-December was followed by a flurry of global condemnation that was almost comical in its predictability and impotence. But the launch underscored a larger reality that can no longer be ignored: the world has entered a second nuclear age. The atomic bomb has returned for a second act, a post-Cold War encore. This larger pattern needs to be understood if it is to be managed.

The contours of the second nuclear age are still taking shape. But the next few years will be especially perilous, because newness itself creates dangers as rules and red lines are redefined. This took at least 10 years in the first nuclear age, and this time may be no different.

In the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia, old rivalries now unfold in a nuclear context. This has already changed military postures across the Middle East. Part of the Israeli nuclear arsenal is being shifted to sea, with atomic warheads on diesel submarines, to prevent their being targeted in a surprise attack. Israel is also launching a new generation of satellites to provide early warning of other countries’ preparations for missile strikes. If Iran’s mobile missiles disperse, Israel wants to know about it immediately.

Thus, the old problem of Arab-Israeli peace is now seen in the new context of an Iranian nuclear threat. The two problems are linked. How would Israel respond to rocket attacks from Gaza, Lebanon, or Egypt if it simultaneously faced the threat of nuclear attack by Iran? What would the United States and Israel do if Iran carried its threat to the point of evacuating its cities, or placing missiles in its own cities to ensure that any attack on them would cause massive collateral damage?

Pakistan has doubled the size of its nuclear arsenal in the last five years. Its armed forces are set to field new tactical nuclear weapons – short-range battlefield weapons. India has deployed a nuclear triad – bombers, missiles, and submarines – and in 2012 tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, giving it the ability to hit Beijing and Shanghai. India almost certainly has a multiple warhead (known as a MIRV), in development, and has also launched satellites to aid its targeting of Pakistan’s forces. In East Asia, North Korea has gone nuclear and is set to add a whole new class of uranium bombs to its arsenal. It has rehearsed quick missile salvos, showing that it could launch attacks on South Korea and Japan before any counter-strike could be landed.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

 

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Is the government setting it right for illegal miners?

The mining ban in Karnataka, transport bottlenecks in Orissa, and a rising pendency of applications awaiting action from various state governments have not augured well for the Indian mining sector. Although the reopening of a few mines in Karnataka could bring some reprieve, issues related to the regulation, taxation and fiscal policy are bound to further stress miners
 
Over a year after the Supreme Court (SC) imposed a complete ban on all mining operations in Karnataka, on environmental grounds, mining is set to partially resume in the state after the SC-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) accepted the reclamation and rehabilitation plans for some of the mining companies. The SC, in its order on April 20 this year, had allowed mining to partially resume in the state. About 20 mines, which fall under category ‘A’ (where no illegalities were found by the CEC), were accordingly approved. In the next six months, it is expected that around 50 mines in Karnataka with an annual output capacity of 15 million tonnes (MT) could restart operations.

In FY2011-12, the mining sector witnessed a negative growth of 0.9% as against a 5% growth a year before. “Worldwide, production is rising, but in India we seem to be moving in the opposite direction,” says H. C. Daga, Senior Vice President, Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI). In fact, overall production during the current fiscal year is likely to fall to 140 MT from 169 MT recorded in FY2010-11. In April this year, when the mining sector registered a growth of -3.1%, India’s industrial output grew by 0.1%.

While steel mills continue to import iron ore (imports stood at 3 lakh MT in FY2011-12), exports, which stood at 96.93 MT in FY2010-11, fell to 60 MT in FY2011-12. Lower exports have in turn prompted miners to slash overall production as domestic steel makers lack the technology to utilise iron ore fines or inferior grades. “Iron ore exports will likely fall to no more than 40 MT this year from about 60 MT last year,” says R. K. Sharma, Secretary General, FIMI.

The mess in the mining sector, which prompted the apex court to take some harsh measures, can largely be attributed to the ease with which unbridled corruption was allowed to flourish. The complete absence of oversight and connivance at every level invited such wrath of the SC that it has now taken a serious toll on the entire industry. “The CEC survey team has found that 18 mines had not carried out any violations. SC closed all mines, good or bad,” says Sharma of FIMI, adding, “You can’t brush everyone with the same broom.” Former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice (Retd.) Santosh Hegde, who had recommended the Karnataka ban to the SC, believes that it is a price the industry and its stakeholders have paid for the crimes of a few greedy mining firms, which flouted every rule in the book to make a quick buck at the expense of genuine people. “The state government should change the mining policy to ensure the natural resources are not exploited for profit trading and exports but mined for value-addition by manufacturers through transparent bidding process,” he says. The ban on mining in Karnataka came after a report prepared by Hegde recommended an immediate halt on private mining. The SC was later told that mining was being done in a reckless and irresponsible manner with the prime objective of over-exploitation of iron ore for purely short term private gains.

“Illegality is a matter of governance. If the government wants, nothing illegal can take place. It’s just not possible. At every stage, there is a government machinery involved. Ultimately genuine mine owner gives way to mafia,” argues Sharma, pinning the blame of Karnataka’s mining mess on the governance machinery. A case in point, according to him, is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Janardhan Reddy, who was recently reported to have offered crores in bribe to a judge for bail. “Till the political bosses and bureaucrats join hands, nothing illegal can take place. We have all regulations you can think of, but what good is a regulation that cannot be implemented,” says Sharm

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

BBA Institute