3 IDIOTS Review, 3 IDIOTS Movie, Actors, Cast, IDIOTISM WITH A NEW DIMENSION - MouthShut.com

3 IDIOTS Review, 3 IDIOTS Movie, Actors, Cast, IDIOTISM WITH A NEW DIMENSION - MouthShut.com

COP-hang-en !!

COP-hang-en….. This is what I interpret from the proceedings at the COP15 at Copenhagen. The tug of war between the ‘Developed nations’ and the ‘Rest of the world’ seems to be worsening day by day.

Will some body tell these guys, it’s not only about the economic activities; it’s about the place we live in, the air we breathe. It’s not about proving their dominance and power but all about the earth, our home. Emissions, Financing, Monitoring and Legal formalities are the main points discussed in the COP.The Developed world is trying to tighten the noose on the developing nations especially the BASIC (Brazil, India, China, and Africa). The central financial body to be created would give least priority to the BASIC. A major thing that limits the acceptance of binding targets is scarcity of funds in these developing economies to facilitate the technological transfer.

These points further strengthen the stand of these developing economies of the World for not accepting the binding targets as well as the peaking year.The total proceedings in the COP have only lead to further confusion and scepticism regarding the post Kyoto scenario of the world.

However, there’s no use, rather no time, to be a pessimist. So, let’s pray…all the bridges are built, gaps are filled, and differences are cleared, in what we call the ‘most important phase of the COP15’.

Hope the DEAL IS SEALED for the good of Mother Earth.

Avinashkumar Rai
MBA (E & E)

IT symposium on “Analytics: A strategic business enabler

Analytics: A strategic business enabler

What ? : IT symposium on “Analytics: A strategic business enabler”.

When? : 17th of December 2009, 5-7 PM

Where? : Le Royale, Hinjewadi, Pune

The emergence of the wired world has transformed businesses forever. In this networked world, uncertainty has been the rule of the game in business. Managers, deluged by the vast expanse of information available in this networked world, have looked at solutions which would help them distill such voluminous information and aid in making decisions.

Managers have also begun to utilize the business intelligence systems for timely decision making. Analytics industry has grown to meet these demands effectively. The rising popularity stands testimony to this fact. According to IBM’s CIO Global Study, 83 percent of respondents said business intelligence and analytics are a top priority. The old quote, “You cannot manage what you are not measuring” sounds sagacious even in present times when businesses are becoming more complex every day with global linkages being forged across diverse business functions. Although the recent financial crisis threw in uncomfortable questions to question the raison d’etre of analytics industry, the after math of the crisis brought risk analytics to the fore to help managers mitigate the risks companies would face in challenging times.

Analytics has matured over the years from helping line managers take decisions across functional silos to expanding its dimensions across building strategy for the growth of organization. This would entail a paradigm shift as companies will have to move beyond their process driven analytics frame work to fully realize the power of analytics to convert reams of data into business insights for the future.

All this and more, awaits you at the IT symposium 2009. SIIB invites the best minds to debate, analyze, and share insights on “Analytics: A strategic business enabler”.

To register for the event, call Salar Bijili @ 9766909480 (salarbijili@gmail.com)

Denmark agrees to do its bit...

Denmark (host nation, to the climate summit) is one of the first countries in the world to earmark financing for developing nations to strengthen their capacities to combat climate change in the short run, as per Danish government.

Provided there is a global climate deal and other countries pay their share too, Denmark will fund 0.16 billion euro to help developing countries strengthen their capacities to tackle climate change in the short term (2010-2012).

The Danish funding is in line with EU’s opinion that a deal is needed on both “fast start” financing for developing countries from 2010-2012, followed by a significant scaling up of public and private financial flows to developing countries from 2013. EU has estimated the need for 2010-2012 to 5 to 7 billion euro, according to EU Business.

In a press release, the Danish government states that Denmark in this way would contribute to immediate action taking place in developing countries shortly after the climate change conference.

Ulla Tørnæs, the Danish Minister , stated that their aim is to send a clear signal to other nations that finance is needed on the negotiating table in Copenhagen, targeting the least developed countries that are to be hardest hit by climate change, without which no climate deal would prove benefiicial.

Original Source: http://www.cop15.dk/

Coping with hope

In view of this climate change campaign, there is a great possibility for the Copenhagen summit to end on a positive note. It would provide a simple & direct solution for the present and future sustenance. In spite of strong opposition pertaining to the summit’s outcome, pressure is certainly intense and too hot to handle.

The leadership lies in ‘how everybody plays their part, in this fight for right’. This is something above the ‘as usual business’, wherein we as a part of nature need to lead and protect it. This is undoubtedly one of the aspects, hovering in the minds of every individual at the money.

Let's cope!!

Satya Venkataraman

EU quiet on 30 percent vow

The European Union has decided to stay quiet at the moment, on a key issue till the very last moment of the UN conference on climate change(as per Swedish Minister for Environment, Andreas Carlgren). As Sweden holds the rotating EU presidency, Mr. Carlgren is negotiating on behalf of the union.

The EU has already adopted a commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. However, the decision also specifies that the union will raise its commitments to 30 percent if other major players undertake “comparable commitments” – without specifying what would qualify as being “comparable”. Sources say this step is to keep up the pressure on major players...US & China

“The EU is ready to raise its commitments from 20 to 30 percent, depending on others countries' plans, especially US and China.


Padmanabh Iyer - MBA (E & E)

South Africa: Aid needed to reach target

South Africa is fine with reducing their carbon emissions if provided necessary financial and technological support.

Just before the opening of the UN climate conference in Copenhagen on Monday, South Africa announced that it is ready to cut the growth of its carbon emissions by 34 % by 2020 and 42 % by 2025, provided if it gets necessary aid from developed countries to achieve its goals.

"This would perhaps enable South Africa’s emissions to peak between 2020 and 2025, plateau for approximately a decade, and later decline in absolute terms thereafter," as per the statment given by South Africa’s presidency & released on the South African Press Association PR wire, Bloomberg.

"This undertaking is conditional on firstly, a fair, ambitious and effective agreement... and secondly, the provision of support from the international community, and in particular finance, technology and support," the South African statement continued, according to BBC News. South Africa generates almost all of its electricity from coal, Bloomberg said.

Original source: http://en.cop15.dk/

Padmanabh Iyer - MBA - E & E (09-11)

Delegation leaves for ’Hagen

A 20-member delegation comprising farmers, civil society actors, experts, scientists, mediapersons, policy makers will participate in COP 15 from December 7-18 under the banner of ‘Beyond Copenhagen; Collective Action on Climate Change’.

The members are led by a Jaipur-based NGO — Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants Society (CECOEDECON).

The first phase of the campaign had focused on ‘Towards a National Consensus on India’s Position in International Negotiation’, experience of the campaign and the way forward, a shared outcome of the process involving wide variety of stakeholders, including farmers, women, Dalits, tribals, media and policy makers, he added.

Similar regional consultation and workshops were organised in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Bihar prior to Jaipur. The campaign also organised a public hearing on climate change for arid and semi-arid region involving people from over 12 states sharing their stories on how climate change and its wide ramifications have affected their lives, livelihoods, economy and culture.

CECOEDECON was also a part of another national process and campaign supported by Oxfam and other partner organisations which conducted public hearings on impact of climate change in different agro-climatic zones (forests, Himalayan eco system, urban, flood plains, coastal region) finally culminating in national Public hearings (November 11-13, 2009 in Delhi).

CECOEDECON is one of the few accredited organisations with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will organise a side event at Copenhagen on December 11, 2009 under “Why Agriculture Must Be Focused In Climate Change Negotiations”. In this event, speakers include many activists and experts of national and international repute from India.

Original source: Times News Network, 7 December 2009

Padmanabh Iyer
MBA (E & E)

Building COP15

COP?? What’s it? Is it cost of

production? Is it Coefficient of performance? Yes, you’re right as an MBA Graduate and a techie guy. But, an energy and environment graduate gazes it with a different perspective and comes up with a diverse idea saying that it is something related to climate change talks, Copenhagen, and so on.. Yes, it’s 15^th Conference of Parties of UNFCCC. Parties? It’s not a get-to-gather or some festivity. Parties are the signatory nations to the convention. COP15 which is awaited for is one of the important proceedings in the milestones of Climate change since Berlin Mandate.

While we invariably speak about environment, pollution, scarce rainfall, etc, there is something going to happen to our planet earth in a long run, as a result of Copenhagen talks which could alter the scope and scale of efforts towards Climate Change. Denmark is about to host the conference during 7^th to 18^th of December ‘09 and the countdown has already begun.

How do you think it would be? Something like a congregation? Yes, of course, a congregation of different culture, language, and ethnic background but with a common objective. Though, the parties have a commonality, they have diverse responsibilities in proportion to the emissions they have made so far, an acute felony to our planet Earth which is ironically stated in the convention as “Common but differentiated responsibilities”.

Do you think, the drive behind the mass gathering would be purely concerned towards environment? I don’t think so. Apart from the civil societies, few nations are more rapt to make their pitch for their own economic development and industrialisation rather having an intention to save the environment. Such skewed facts craft suspicions about the success of the conference too.

What ever it may be, let’s not jump our feet to make further comments on it, until a conclusion is drawn out of it. Rather, I’ll make it more interesting for you in a way sharing few things about the pre-conference activities and events happening around the globe which is elegantly called as “Road to Copenhagen”. In other words, let’s see behind the Scenes – the Making of the Conference.

Let’s commence with an important occasion, “World Environment Day” celebrated on 5^th of June ’09. This occasion was a platform for select group who took exceptional feats, high profile expeditions and other innovative acts of environmental activism to demonstrate their commitment and to raise awareness for one simple idea: Your planet needs You! Unite to Combat Climate Change.

Climate heroes are people who take a special initiative, who go beyond the normal responsibilities that we have, who pioneer with unusual initiatives and ideas. They show the kind of commitment, enthusiasm and understanding of how important it is that we all become heroes in order to address climate change,”

To name a few, Roz Savage who is known for her inspirational solo row across the Atlantic Ocean and who now row across the Pacific Ocean and walk from London to Copenhagen with the environmental message to take action on CO₂ levels by inspiring people to walk more and drive less. Her initiative, called Pull Together, calls upon her supporters around the world to Pull Together and match her 10,000 oar strokes each day with 10,000 steps. In October, Roz and thousands of supporters assembled at Big Ben in London and, over a period of six weeks, march more than 600 miles to Copenhagen to address the conference delegates. At this time, she will deliver the results of the initiative, essentially a walking petition, as a symbol of commitment to taking immediate, aggressive action to reduce global CO₂ levels.

David de Rothschild and a cherry-picked crew of adventurers, thinkers and artists set sail approximately 10,000 nautical miles across the Pacific. The boat, called Plastiki, is a distinctive, one-of-a-kind 60-foot (20m) catamaran made out of reclaimed plastic bottles, srPET plastic and recycled waste products. Their mission: to beat waste, raise awareness on the issues facing our planet and be the catalyst to activate change by bringing smart sustainable solutions to the forefront. The voyage sails through a number of exciting, challenging and environmentally-sensitive regions, including the ominously named Great Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, an area six times the size of England where plastic outweighs plankton by 6 to 1 – essentially, the world’s largest waste dump.

Project Kaisei consists of a team of innovators, ocean lovers, sailors, scientists, sports enthusiasts and environmentalists who have come together with a common purpose: to study how to capture plastic waste in the ocean, detoxify, and recycle it into diesel fuel. Every year over 60 billion tons of plastic are produced, much of it for one-time use and less than five percent of the world’s plastics are recycled. National Geographic estimates that over 85 million plastic bottles are used every three minutes. Currently, there are no proposed solutions to resolve the issue of plastics in the oceans.

Charles and Sho Scott (8 years old) This father-son pair are riding connected bikes from Cape Souya in northern Japan to Kyushu in the south, or 2,900 miles (4,700 km), as a campaign to raise awareness on climate change and in support of UN efforts to seal a deal on a climate treaty in Copenhagen in December. Entitled “United to Combat Climate Change—Ride Japan”, the ride passes through 11 of the World’s Cultural Heritage sites along the way. The two-month journey also raise funds for tree-planting efforts with the target of seven billion trees planted by the end of 2009, or one for each person on the planet.

The place which now looks like Moon-base Alpha, will be transformed into 38 functioning meeting rooms to host 2500 meetings over the two-week conference. While negotiators attempt to reach a new climate deal at COP15 in the Bella Centre, people from all over the world will debate how to fight climate change at Klimaforum09 in the heart of Copenhagen.

Thinking about climate change? Don’t keep it to yourself! Klimaforum09, new web-based initiative allows people from the entire world to share their thoughts on climate change up to COP15. Now it is possible to read many of the thoughts passing through people’s minds on the issue of climate change and add your own personal thoughts to the collection of climate thoughts.

Public transport is the main element in the transport plan for COP15, because it’s much more CO₂-friendly than taxis and other cars. Shuttle busses will run from the conference venue to the city centre every five to ten minutes and to Copenhagen Airport slightly less frequently, from 7 am to 11 pm, right from December 6 to December 19. Delegates at COP15 can move around in Copenhagen with a clear, green conscience on bicycles, public transport and in cars fuelled by the first litres of second-generation bio-ethanol produced in Denmark.

The COP15 logo: Visualising the climate challenge. The logo chosen for COP15 is created by a small design duo, who won the popular COP15 logo design competition from an overwhelming 269 competition entries. The logo's network of blue lines suggests how complex the climate question is, and how it affects and involves almost all things on this planet

The most interesting thing is that the University of Copenhagen lights the way to a CO₂-neutral future with new building. What is going to happen in Copenhagen in December is not just talk, but taking concrete action to combat climate change in Denmark – this house portrays that.

Denmark evens out the bumps on the way to COP15 visas. Anyone who has ever struggled with visa forms and deadlines will understand what a huge task it is to make sure that the many COP15 delegates who need a Danish visa receive one in time.

COP15 cycling tour from Kyoto to Copenhagen. Around 200 bicyclists waited outside the Japanese Embassy in Copenhagen on sunny June 14 for the last stage of the cycling tour from Kyoto to Copenhagen to kick off. Since the tour began in Tokyo on May 23, more than 3000 people have joined it on eight routes through neon-lit metropolises to small fishing villages all over Japan.

Now, let’s draw closer and guess what India would propose and expect out of this Conference. India is a country which is and will continue to be severely impacted by Climate Change precisely at a time when it is confronted with huge development imperatives. We would, therefore, expect that the Copenhagen outcome not only provides us with the space we require for accelerated social and economic development, in order to eradicate widespread poverty, but also create a global regime which is supportive of our national endeavours for ecologically sustainable development.

India’s focus would be mainly on

MITIGATION- Enhanced action on reducing GHG emissions

ADAPTION- Capacity building to meet the consequences of climate change

FINANCE- Objectives supported by sufficient financial resources

TECHNOLOGY- Technology transfers from developed nations

Still, few queries that crop up to each one of us are: What are India’s expectations with regard to the Copenhagen outcome? How can an accord be possible, if India and other major emitters refuse to accept responsibility in this regard? Would India be ready to accept a compromise along these lines?

Stay tuned with the happenings and hope for the best!

- Avinash Vijayarangam

MBA E&E (09-11)

26/11: A retrospection

26.11.08 A Wednesday

Terror struck big time, at its PEAK, that too right in the heart of the ‘city of dreams’, Mumbai!! South Mumbai was usually regarded among the sophisticated, quieter and less trouble-some places of the city, compared to the suburbs. With most of the buildings/ infrastructure built by the British, even the 26th July 05’ deluge didn’t create much damage thanks to their highly efficient planning.

However, the three action-packed days put a drastic end to all perceptions / misconceptions, openly proving the fact that every damn portion of the city is vulnerable to terror and nobody is safe. A group of technically sound, anti-socially influenced ‘kids’, loaded with arms walked right into the city under the security’s nose, and each one of us were at their mercy for 60 long hours. Three of our ‘top’ cops lost their lives combating these kids, right on day one, which was another big blow.

While some news channels played their parts well, showcasing minute by minute updates on the issue, others stuck to TRP oriented links even during such critical times. Some went to the extent of spreading rumours and creating panic among viewers.

Politicians played their usual self, with 100% focus on their respective careers, vote banks and mud slinging as expected. Hats off to the NSG commandos for their valiant & successful effort in putting an end to the dreaded tyranny, which almost seemed like continuing for months together!!

These entire series of incidents threw light on the following:-

1) There are loop-holes in our Indian system, no doubt, but what’s even worse that these limitations are constantly being highlighted to ‘anti social groups’ by ‘fellow Indian traitors’.

2) Whether ‘internal acts of vandalism’ or ‘external terror attacks’, it’s our own people who are directly/indirectly involved.

3) Except the NSG, no other section of the society proved to be well equipped / strong enough to combat any sort of attack whether internal or external.

Dec 03, 2008: Immediate reaction Thousands of people across the nation came out on to the streets with candles, posters, slogans and openly voiced their opinion against the attacks. Most of us, blamed it on the politicians, some condemned the act, while some just silently payed homage to the heros who lost their lives. It was a day when INDIA spoke in one voice !!

Nov 22, 2009: Latest Update
This week, 26.11.09 will mark the first anniversary of India's worst attacks ever. But, has there really been any change ? Well...here are some unpleasant aspects which we need to be aware of.

1) The same set of politicians are in power inspite of elections being conducted. Mr. R.R. Patil who had created raves with his media statement " देश में ऐसी चोटी मोटी बातें होती रहती हैं", and was dismissed with immediate effect, is now back in power as the hon'ble Home Minister Of Maharashtra.

2) Amir Kasab Jamal, one of the main terrorists caught alive, is still undergoing trial, which hopefully is nearing its end as per advocate Ujwal Nikam. At the moment, he's enjoying 'biriyani' in prison.
Its strange that it takes almost a year to decide what to do with a person charged with murder of more than 100 lives. On the contrary, it took 10 mins to gun down Rahul Raj, who only tried to threaten but did not actually harm anyone, for the simple reason that he himself was damn scared !!

3) The Economic Times dated 22 Nov 2009 states that "the bullet proof jacket, ATS Chief Hemant Karkare was wearing, as well as its procurement file, is missing !! CM Mr. Ashok Chavan stated last Sunday that he would investigate the reports of substandard bullet proof jackets. As of now, nobody has been taken to task".

This clearly shows that we are still vulnerable to attacks, and need to be careful.

Frankly speaking, we the people of India are collectively responsible for every loophole in the system to some extent, because being in a democracy we ultimately get what we choose, and we deserve what we get !!

Power and responsibility go hand in hand. Power bestowed upon an individual is best, when used as a strong tool to carry off responsibilities with utmost ease and maximum efficiency. Use of power, simply confined to fulfilment of self-interests, is nothing but nuisance value.

To bring about a change / revolution in the current system, one needs to possess immense qualities such as honesty, selflessness, meticulousness, practical approach, far-sight and above all patriotism.

But, on a positive note, I sincerely hope that the anger & pain in our hearts though subsided at the moment, do not die down totally, and someday, somehow, we the people of India shall be able to constructively & fruitfully transform our emotions into skills for the benefit of the nation.

Jai Hind !!

Padmanabh S
MBA(E &E)

Be the change you want to see in this world - --M.K. Gandhi

Chakra of Life

The day you were born world stand still,

you goofing around denying to climb hill.

Mugging the numbers & alphabets,

find your teacher biggest mugger or prophet.

life is fun when you catch it on the run X2

Sun shines when buddies around,

day in day out sounding lost or found.

Chic-Flick is common as are the Sci-Fi,

but don't step into Homo Hi-five.

life is fun when you catch it on the run X2

There's a stage when you wipe-off all your sins,

fucking and earning just for beer tin

Now you conceive just to complete the circle,

child in you breaks free to act as uncle........

life is fun when you catch it on the run

Now World laughs at you & you stand still,

you have to jump from top of hill.

We are sad at the end of time,

death takes toll and begins to rhyme.

absence of life is like alarming bell,

kick the Heaven welcome the hell..... X2

coz you left one hell for another hell.......

life is fun when you catch it on the run X2

Asheem Sher (09-11)

Pyar and Marketing

All marketeers are romantics. They are out there standing to pamper you.. They are out there to serenade you by tempting u to savour all those temptations!! No wonder few puritans, offended by the romantic gooeyness, called all the marketing folks devisl!! Infact if I could sum up marketing in one word: it could be "Pyar" Note, Im not using the traditional four letter word, used so casually to downgrade its status to be throw-away slang or rather a semi-colon. Marketing and to be very precise Branding is all about "Pyar". After all, what do lovers/consumers do, so gobsmacked by their beloved brands, they could do anything for her!!

How can you explain long queues of youngsters braving the long night before I-phone could be released, all just to touch and feel the silken smooth skin of the electronic nymphet, showcased to the world by the greatest lover of all ages: Steve Jobs!! Isnt he the pioneer to bring in hot n sleek electronic chicks right from Macintosh to the latest I-phone!! If Marketing is all about "Pyar" , Steve Jobs is apna Devanand, the king of Indian romance.

If you ever thought branding was so boring, here is a refreshing way to look at it.

Lemme explain the evolution of branding through a simple love story!!

Long long ago, there lived a smart, suave talkative lover. Lets call him old Brander. He was the only Old Brander in town. Inspired by the likes of Shakespeare and Keats, poetry flowed from Old Brander's lips to woo pretty consumers.He gave amazing promises to all those gullible n naive consumers who were swayed by his charm. People believed his promises so dearly as they had no other handsome chap to fall for. They bought all those he showed to buy, without any other restraint. As world began to grow in, things began to change and the tribe of Branders grew. Lets call them New Branders!! These New Branders took themselves too lightly and began to indulge in amorous activities. They grew up to be philanderers. They had multiple relationships with different consumers. They gave different promises to different consumers. They made the cardinal sin of breaking several promises which stood in contradiction to other promises. The naive consumer, perplexed by confusing promises, began to break the relationships quickly with the branders. There were too many breakups.. No wonder Brand Equity paper, few weeks ago, screamed the headline, "The Consumer is an infidel"... Pampered by too many choices around, consumer is now an infidel. Although New Branders are getting new techniques every day( Twitter and Face book are the latest to be added to this list!!) to seduce the consumers, they are struggling to get their relationships right with the consumers. Old style of romance by throwing brand promises across the air will not work anymore. The consumer is no longer naive. She now demands undivided attention on you and expects to u fulfill all the promises given. If you fail once, she ll begin flirting with someone else.

Is it still surprising we see relationships breaking down so quicly in brandspace and real world??

Infact real-life relationships can learn a lesson or two from the concept of branding to solve several problems!!! I guess Im goin too deep into this!! Ill delve into this later!!!

Let me pause at this moment and give you a small tip.

Next time when you open the fat Kotler book and read every chapter, remember, you are reading a beautiful way to create a love story in the mind of a consumer!!!

Venky-09-11

Thoughts of a cricket lover

Its 2’o clock in the morning. The AMR final report is still only half way through. Birthday Celebrations of a C2Du mate just got over. And its been just one day after the end of semester exams. Something lingering at the back of my mind. Its not about when am gonna finish the report. And not even about the plans for the one last weekend for the next one semester. Yeah, weekends have been officially scrapped for us for the next one semester.

It is the failure of God. He created the whole new world. He created the emotions in people. He united the whole of the community. He has groomed so many of the new entrants to his world.

May be happiness and sorrow are above Him. Else, one cannot overcome so many disappointments. We all know man proposes and God disposes. But what happens when God himself proposes??

Such was the case today. The match was on. India and Australia were fighting for the Top Rank in the ODIs. Indian demi-God was firing all cylinders. The cover drive was as fluent as ever. The leg glance and the paddle sweep were played as if there was no other way it could go.

God comes down the pitch and off goes the ball. Memories go back to the matches when God took two steps in front of Warne and hit him off the ground. Straight on top of the stadium roof. The umpire in the middle asks for a new ball to be taken. Memories linger back to those days when fast bowlers were terrified to bowl short balls against the God. It would for sure land up either in the deep mid wicket stands or it will be a catch offered to a spectator behind the third man rope. All of these came on one day today.

It was more special today as there were not even cramps striking him. Not even after reaching century. How many times in the recent past has God managed that? All were going fine but suddenly out of the blue came the shock.

Sachin dismissed. God becomes mortal again.

My dream of seeing him breach the double century mark still stands a dream. India loses. Cries of “Jeetegaa bhai jeetegaa.. India Jeetegaa..” were all drowned in the TV room. Some of us stayed back for the presentation. Sachin stood there unfazed with pursed lips.

How many times can someone endure the sight of his team losing after a brilliant show personally? Sachin can only answer that. . But in the midst of this, is there some management lesson in the offering.. Learning to be calm and composed even after a stormy emotion filled battle?? A losing battle. I thought cricket’s little master will break down today just as Master FedEx broke down after the loss to Nadal. But No. Not yet!! May be Never!! But let me now get back to some business. My friend thinks I am working on the report work. Let me not fool around anymore.

More about the Sachin miseries:

1) Oz score 284. India needs 254 from 46 overs to win. SRT scores 143 off 131 and gets out in the 43^rd over last ball with score at 242. India managed just 8 in the next three overs.

http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65773.html

2) Against the arch rivals. Pak scores 329. Sach gets 141 off 135 balls. India goes on to lose the match by 12 runs.

http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/64882.html

Thanks to Cricinfo, so much of data is available for misery!!

Hari G (09-11)

The long and short of inflation data : {Planning Commission, DIPP} vs {RBI, Fin Min}

India currently publishes the inflation data weekly , and UAE wants to publish it monthly from the current frequency of annually. While one seems to be doing it too fast (provisional and actual data would be separated by weeks), the other in 2008 decided that a wiser move would be to publish it monthly.

Currently, the Indian government releases weekly inflation data with a two-week lag and then releases the final data with an eight-week lag.Current headline inflation data is widely considered to be non-representative due to the continued use of an old base year (1993-94) and an outdated basket of commodities.

The concerns here are that a lag in policy interventions in case data comes in slow(in case of UAE).RBI's view however is that "it would face problems in preparing weekly statistical supplements if inflation data isn’t available with the corresponding frequency."

This Thursday, Montek Singh Ahluwalia put forth an interesting perspective to this debate :"they (government) have been working on it. May be it will come out actually I mean from the professional point of view this will be done, and obviously timing of it is always a matter of some concern because people always think that you are making the change for motivated reason.”

The jury is still out on this one.

SIIB rocks in IIM-A Agri Biz Quiz

Here is somethin to cheer about!!!

SIIB has won the IIM- A Agri Biz Quiz, beating contenders from IIM- A and JBIMS. "Radio Aktive" team from SIIB won the first prize while Nickel team from IIT Madras bagged the second leaving UV-Rays team from IIM-A with the third prize.
Check out the screen shot below. Do check out in dare2compete.com in Quizzes section!!


The funny part is, we dont know who Radioaktiv is??

Inviting the winner to occupy the hall of fame.. A grand bash is waiting 4 u!!!

Lets all cheer for this team from Agri Biz. Kudos folks!!

Lets rock folks...

Coming back to life

There was peace all around. The nimbus clouds were dreamily sailing over us. The cool wind continued its soft caress. The silence was weaving a mellifluous melody around us.

The concrete jungle was barely visible. There were some small huts in the near vicinity. Some cattle were grazing around. The other side of the mountain was a showcase of nature’s serene beauty. It was a flush green meadow with trees proudly showing off their green leaves. We were on top of Mount C2(we found these letters written somewhere on the rocks, smaller version of K2 I guess).

It all started while we were sitting on the banks of River Hinjewadi. ‘We’, that day consisted of Arun, Samarth, Vivek, me, OP, Bud, Sid, Hari, Nimesh, Anand (in the order of our PRN numbers).

- ‘Let’s go to that mountain’, said Bud.

- ‘Chalo’, says I. Jumping up, never expecting that he actually intended to climb all the way up that hill. The hill was barely visible from that rivulet.

The rest also sounded their approval with a resounding ‘Aaahuu’(Refer to movie 300). Nimesh was not at all enthused by the proceedings.

- ‘It’s too far yaar’, says he. He was in a philosophical mood. If someone would have given him a pen and paper, he would have started writing ‘Mahabharata Reloaded’ then and there.

He being the miniscule minority was easily overpowered and soon he was trudging along with the rest of us towards that Promised Land. Bud led us like Moses and we followed like the hapless Hebrews, trying to flee from the rigmarole of our daily life.

- ‘Let’s run for some time’, said Vivek.

Two more enthusiasts shared his emotions and before long we could hardly see Arun, Vivek and Hari(in the order of our PRN numbers), they were so far ahead.

We crossed the last visible sign of habitation another 18 mins later. Then came the visibly furious cow. She somehow had something against the section of humanity who tried to cross her and breach the part of the world behind her. Well in front of 10 determined humans a cow hardly posed to be a threat. We breached the final frontier and started advancing towards our green escape. It was a strange feeling. The feeling of freedom creeping into our soul, as we were breaking away from the shackles of MBA life. We could see the hill in front of us now towering into the sky.

I looked back and on the horizon I could see the concrete jungle. It was a awesome sight. Before us lay flush green meadows, trees, clouds flirting with the hills. Behind us was a stream of concrete high-risers lining the horizon.

We were breaking away. Breaking away from pressure, pollution, population, corruption and day to day competition.

On the side of the main hill was a small hillock. We breached that, and set on to conquer our final conquest for the day. Arun with his tall athletic frame was leading the pack. Samarth, me and Nimesh formed the left tail of our group’s normal distribution. Huffing and puffing we continued on our way up. Constant encouragements kept on coming down from the right tail of the normal distribution.

- ‘U can do it guys. Buck up. It’s beautiful up here.’

That it was. It was much more than beautiful. It was splendor placed before you on a golden crucible. It is so sad that we have distanced us so much from nature. Mother nature is so, so beautiful.

There was peace all around. The nimbus clouds were dreamily sailing over us. The cool wind continued its soft caress. The silence was weaving a mellifluous melody around us.

Our college building was visible. Yes, and that must be the D-Hostel. IIIT, Infy, CTS, all were visible. Yet we were so far away from all that.

Some leg-pulling, some relaxed banter, some photos being taken, it was time to head back to habitation.

- ‘Let’s go back guys, it’ll get dark soon’, somebody observed.

It was time to go back. Back to the reality called life. Back to the realization that life is a constant journey. A multi-variant, multi-colored canvas, with paintings of various experiences adding color to the canvas every second. Relaxing, and bantering below clouds is not life. Life is about passion, it’s about determined perseverance towards a certain goal. It’s about enjoying whatever you are doing. It’s about giving your best with grit and vigor and breaking away whenever one gets a chance with even greater vigor.

We started climbing down from the momentary high, down towards reality.

- ‘We’ll be back’, said Hari, looking back.

We would surely be back. We were rejuvenated and ready to take on the world head on. We found out yet again that Mother Nature is always there sitting there to comfort and sooth the prodigal son whenever we need. So it is very important to take care of nature as she takes cares about us.

Krishanu Mukherjee (09-11)

Muah muah,I am man of but few words :the PowerPoint remix version

Prologue

The KISS ("Keep it Simple, Stupid" or the more genteel version:"Keep it Short and simple") should be mandatorily asked for as a gentleman's agreement or the lady's word before the start of any speech to the brethren, classmates or to one who lent his ear hoping it would not be pickled.

"I have fallen in love with my voice, help!!"
"Each person/group shall present for a period not exceeding 20 minutes":In retrospective , for each presentation where this rule is asked for , it is violated blatantly.Elsewhere,the Oscar night acceptance speech hence had to be, by writ of higher beings ; limited to 45 seconds.People , in moments of great glee speak a lot. And in times of distress too.That does not account for the fact that once Fidel Castro just went on and on in the United Nations for many hours.(V. K. Krishna Menon spoke for 8 hours on India's position on Kashmir in the UN Security Council, the transcripts run into 160 pages on the UN website)

The feature creep , as someone who comes from the software industry , is a nightmare one has lived with.The bells and whistles which the client asks for , or the developers feel should go out with that build has to be seen in the light of whether we can meet the deadlines with the new features asked for.Woe be the team member who brings 25 slides for his bit on the group presentation.

And so 52 slides in 20 minutes, is , well ;to politely put it "Asking for the moon at a discount ,and also asking for some freebies thrown in too".Yet , we do see the same in classrooms by beloved classmates who fall in love with the art form of slide after agonizing slide after "when will this end" slide.KISS friend, KISS.The synchronized yawn of 65 odd students is not an Olympic sporting event yet, but after the third group which "exceeds expectations" regards keeping the time limit , one should be prepared to witness.


I am not a big fan of PowerPoint , having read the works of the Yale Professor of Visualization ,Edward Tufte . PowerPoint forces you to think in bullets-framework.Compelling however Tufte's arguments are, it happens that corporate world has fallen in love with PowerPoint . In the book "Who says elephants can't dance", Louis Gerstner describes how in one of the early days after his taking over as the CEO of IBM , Gerstner on a fact-minding mission of where each department stood ; asked for the overhead slide projector to be switched off and asked the unit head to describe in words whatever needed to be presented. Wise man!


Epilogue
If one respected other's time as much she respected hers , the world would have been a better place: trains would run on time ,VIPs would reach the venues where they are the chief guest on time and so on.Yet we persist in exceeding the brief or time limit.So let's KISS and make up for whatever has gone wrong .

Money Life Essay Contest: Dates Extended!!!!

Moneylife Magazine in association with Reliance Mutual Fund has undertaken a unique initiative to identify outstanding talent through a high profile essay contest among the 70-odd management schools in the Mumbai-Pune region. The initial response is extremely encouraging and we request your support in taking this forward. The details of the contest and timelines for submission of the entries are as follows:

Event Title: Reliance Mutual Fund-Moneylife Big Idea Contest

Topic: Taking Financial Markets to the Masses

Word Length: 3000 Words

Last Date for submission: 15^th October 2009

Mode of submission: The essays must be emailed to essays@moneylife.in as an attachment, properly formatted and in double space. Submission must include name of the author, address, name of institution and roll number. The work must be accompanied by a standard declaration of originality as below:

“ I (Name) of (college name), declare that this essay is entirely my own work and has not been submitted in any form to any other publication. I also permit Moneylife to use, alter, edit, publish or display the essay it in print or electronic form with due attribution”.

Prizes

1^st Prize: Two return tickets to Dubai (courtesy Bahrain Air) + cash prize

2^nd Prize: Holiday package for two (2N3D) to Goa from Mahindra Holidays + cash prize

3^rd Prize: Blackberry phone from Media Training Worldwide

Finalists: Top 10 get a Moneylife subscription plus books; top 30 get participation certificate.

Jury

Winners will be selected by a very eminent jury headed by Dr Anil Khandelwal, former Chairman, Bank of Baroda. Jury members: Mr Jagan Mohan Rao, Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, Mr Madhu Kela, Head, Equity Investments, Reliance Mutual Fund, Mr Joseph Massey, Managing Director, MCX-SX, Mr S G Kalia, Executive Director, Vijaya Bank, Mr Debashis Basu, Editor & Publisher, Moneylife Magazine.

Prize Distribution Event

The results of the contest will be declared by end October and the winners will be felicitated at a grand function to be held in the first week of December, immediately after the exams.

We hope you would find the event of great interest and look forward to your active participation through your students.

Cordially,

Debashis Basu

Editor & Publisher

The Mahatma and the ad-man

While many debate the relevance of Gandhian thought in contemporary times ,we shift our attention to the ads Gandhiji features in.The recent controversy featuring Mont Blanc pen ad featuring the Dandi March(nib shown above) made one remember the Rotomac ad done sometime back.

The copyright to all of Mahatma Gandhi's writings is with the Navjeevan Trust, which was established by Bapuji himself. His inheritance went to the Trust.Film footage of Gandhiji is owned by the Gandhi Film Foundation, the Government of India's Films Division and some international networks. The copyright for photographs is owned by Kanu Gandhi's descendants, the Vithalbhai Jhaveri Trust and others who took the pictures. Prasar Bharati, the Broadcasting Corporation of India, owns the audio tapes of his speeches. (http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1905/19050970.htm )

In 2002, Tushar Gandhi , great-grandson of Gandhiji signed an agreement with an American company :CMG Worldwide , with the mandate of marketing the image of Gandhiji.





The wittily done ad for Union Bank of India had the byline as "Joint account" with Kasturba Gandhi on the Rs.100 note.

As one ventured for the first bit of Googling today, one encountered the Google tribute , yes ;indeed one wonders what Gandhiji would have said , had he been around today on the hue and cry raised on ads bearing his image.

Dandia Nite at SIC

All of us had quite a time running footloose on Dandia Nite at the campus on September 26.And one anticipates today's lunch too :the Bijoya Dashami special menu .Ahaa!the festival season is in full swing.

The pursuit of happiness

It was as if the castle of my heart has been all morose because of her absence. Then there was news that she was coming back. And then she came, with all her grace, with that charming gait, stunning everyone around her with her quintessential beauty.

“She’ll be coming round the mountains when she comes,She’ll be riding six white horses when she comes.

Yippeee yi yi yippee yippee yi”

Everyone rejoices at her arrival. The trees salute her with greener leaves. The clouds, her guardian angels, always roam around to keep her safe and sound.

Monsoon has come!!

The sudden squeak of the microphone breaks my flow of thought. I came back to the harsh reality. The reality of competition, the rat race for jobs, MBA, entrepreneurship, Capital Markets, statistics and bitter ugly rivalry in all spheres of life. There is no time to sit and brood about the beauty of nature. Everyone is running. People are running towards some unknown invisible magnetic force whose nature nobody knows. Some say they are running in pursuit of happiness. Some are running for recognition, fame, money. But at the end of the day all that one wants is happiness. So would it be fair to assume that we are running after happiness. But at the end of the day are we happy? This entire saga of struggle, the study, the competition, the sleepless nights does it all make us happy?

I do not know.

Yes, we are happy when we achieve something. But sometimes I think that it would be so much better if I could leave everything and settle in some small village, with a river nearby. If I could watch sunset sitting beside the river with no worries in my mind.

But reality does not let us paint such a romantic picture. Reality has mosquitoes which tend to come and scare of people who would be watching sunset beside the river.

“Let’s take 10 mins break and then we’ll resume with the subsequent portion.”

People scurry out of the class. Some hurry to the loo, some to grab a coffee to help him combat the torturous boredom of the class. I wait. Wait and watch those incessant drops of rain coming down from the heavens. Yes even the heavens are crying on the sad plight of the human race. The race that had advanced so much, that they have forgotten that the basic right of all beings is the right to be happy. The dark clouds roam about menacingly over our head posing. A harbinger of some great calamity. A possible check to the humans who are becoming menacing to the earth’s existence itself. The heavens keep on crying on man’s plight, on the sad state of God’s favorite creation.

Krishanu Mukherjee (09-11)

Are we really happy??

Have we ever thought what are we running after?...

Aren’t we running this rat race and ignoring the little things in life which are the real source of happiness.

Do we remember when we made someone smile or made someone’s life better?....Do we remember when we went out in the rains to have a splash?...Do we remember when we had a long walk along a beach?..”Woh kagaz ki kashti , who barish ka paani”

Aren’t we so much engrossed in the petty issues and giving them undue importance. Getting half a mark more than our peer has become a priority, earning a fat pay package is a matter of pride without any clue how to spend that sum.

We have stopped loving each other and running in this mad chaos for better marks, better jobs without realising that we are postponing our smiles and happiness in this journey called LIFE . We strive to get into the best of colleges, in turn to get the best of the jobs; without realising the fact that the end result we aspire for is happiness.

But, happiness does not come just as an offshoot of owning a BMW or a beachside bungalow at Juhu beach.

Vice President ,strategy at Lehman Brothers in New York during the crisis said” At a time when all wealth disappeared overnight for me,the only thing that stood steadfast was the meaningful relationships with family and friends that I had nurtured through a lifetime”

The subprime crisis has brought people back to the roots. The meltdown is a reminder to everyone to put aside the deafening daily din and to put one’s ears to the inner voice and calling of life.

I feel happiness is a factor of relishing small things in life…remember when we were children, played small indoor games felt elated in winning them, when we won our first ever prize in kindergarten , that small prize or that sense of recognition when we were on the top of the world.

But, now we crib on small things in life…crib for half a mark ……or a better job for that matter.

We have become so self-centred ignorant to the fact that we are not happy inside. We have stopped making true relationships and every relationship has become an interest of self-gratification. Its all directed to the self. We have failed to recognise that we have a definite life span for all of us…a day will come when our lives will come to an end.

We don’t realise that we have almost covered 20-25 percent of this life god has bestowed upon us..why not to make the most of what 70-75 percent of what is left now?

Do we dare to ask this once we die whether the world will remember us from the grades we get or the amount of money we have in our bank accounts, but how much we have made changes to their lives?

What matters is the number of smiling faces all around and how much happiness one spreads along the way.

“After all there are things which money can’t buy”

We should get back to our roots ….there is no end to materialistic pleasures.

Samarth Gupta (09-11)