The Edge

Vol-III, No. 2,

April 2006

FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK Another Edge is now in your hand. Even if it may be too much to expect, we still cherish the thought that you may actually have began to love the magazine. After all, it does make an honest attempt to put so many diverse themes, and voices, within a slim cover. Hopefully, it also reflects the road that IILM as an institution is traversing in its constant endeavour to better itself against benchmarks, also set by itself.

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ROAD MAP TO VILLAGE COMPUTERISATION

29

KPO BIGGER THAN BPO

26

NO FORGETTING COUNTRY COUSINS IN TAKING I.T. LEAP

The proceeding months have seen us focusing on our placement activities for our graduating students. This year we started our placement activities fairly early and that helped us to place majority of our students by early 2006. Both the number and quality of job offers have recorded substantive improvements over the last year.

What type of persons IILM would like to groom? What types of knowledge we would like to impart to them? This is not a question which only IILM periodically asks itself. All B-Schools, for that matter all educational institutions, are trying to find an answer.

I found an answer in our scriptures which I would like to share with all of you. These are: Dwe Vidye Veditavye Para Cha Eva Apara Cha (Mundaka Upanishad). (This means: two kinds of learning one must have: one of external excellence and the other of internal excellence).

Avidyaya Mrityum Tirtwa Vidyaya Amritam Asnute (Isa Upanishad) Broadly translated, it means: by the knowledge of material sciences, one should overcome the obstacles in external life, and by the knowledge of spiritual sciences, once reaches immortality by living a holistic life.

How to reflect these in our curricula is the challenge.

Prof. B. Bhattacharyya

The www.iilm.edu

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CONTENTS IILM’s MAGAZINE

Vol-III No. 2

08

RE-KINDLING LAMP OF LEARNING: A JUDICIOUS PARTNERSHIP

11 15 18 20 22

HAATS THE RURAL MEGA MALLS ACCOUNTING HAS A RICH PAST SHARING RESOURCES WITH RURAL INDIA URBAN LEGENDS IN RURAL INDIA CELLS OF UNENDING CONTROVERSY

EDITORIAL BOARD Mrs Malvika Rai Prof. B. Bhattacharya

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PERIYAR PURA: A CASE FOR ENGENDERIN GOVERNANCE

32 34 35

A LOCK, STOCK & BARREL GROWTH

04

CREATING SOUND VILLAGE WEALTH

38 44 48 54

QUOTE UNQUOTE READING MATERIAL STUDENT CORNER CAMPUS NEWS

MICRO FINANCE IS MACRO ‘EXCEL IN WHATEVER YOU DO’

EDITORIAL TEAM Vishal Goyal Harleen Kaur Bhatia

Shree Dina Nath Mishra

Moindeepa Roy

Prof. Pradip Chakrabarty

Shuweta Pandita

Ms. Disha Dubey

April 2006

Vibhuti Mall

Design: SUNIL KUMAR

Published by IILM 3- Lodhi Institutional Area Lodhi Road New Delhi- 110003 Phone: 91-11-24647820/21 Fax: 91-11-24647796 Printed by Avantika Printers Pvt. Ltd.

RURAL EFFORT The ITC’s rural development model is a classic example of using existing assets to reach, educate and uplift the remotest of populations living in the interiors of India.

Its farm forestry program is a telling example of linking business purpose with creation of sustainable livelihoods and environment protection in rural India

CREATING SOUND VILLAGE WEALTH Y C Deveshwar Chairman, ITC

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early 87 per cent of India’s 6,40,000 villages have population clusters of 2,000 people or less. Despite a universe of roughly 3.6 million rural retail outlets, there is no active marketing or distribution in these small villages because of uneconomical "last mile" logistics.

Nearly 35 per cent of India’s villages are yet to be connected by roads. Rural teledensity is barely 1.7 per cent. Apart from being geographically dispersed, these villages, as economic units, are

too feeble to support the scale of investment required to upgrade last mile connectivity. A substantial proportion of the rural population subsists on less than $1 (Rs 44) per day-less than half the subsidy provided to each head of cattle by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Rural India accounts for about 60 per cent of the country's household consumption expenditure. So, rural India represents the largest potential market of the future in our country and one of

the largest in the world. It is a huge marketing opportunity. Management guru C K Prahalad refers to this market as "the bottom of the pyramid".

Marketing to the bottom of the pyramid, or the large population of the rural poor, is the new management and marketing mantra.

Yet, consumer research reveals that a rural wage earner's propensity to consume is only half that of an urban wage earner for the same level of income.

This lower propensity is due to uncertainties that the future holds in the absence of effective mechanisms to manage risk.

Agriculture continues to be the predominant source of rural livelihood. A host of factors, including small and fragmented farms, over-dependence on monsoons and lack of sophisticated inputs and knowledge, traps the farn1er in a vicious cycle of underdevelopment.

The economic opportunity lies in building capacity to induce productivity-led

growth by providing cost-effective last mile connectivity.

The ITC has nurtured deep linkages with rural India, both as a buyer of agricommodities and as a seller of goods and services. The lTC’s e-choupal model seeks to address the issues relating to last mile connectivity by leveraging IT to build capability at the grassroots by empowering the small farmer. This model seeks to enhance farm productivity and income by aligning output with market demand through connectivity. It primarily focusses on creating markets by helping raise incomes before servicing such markets commercially.

Indeed, these processes occur more or less simultaneously — a phenomenon that Prahalad so aptly refers to as "co-creation of value". Such an e-infrastructure can also serve as a powerful and effective delivery channel for a host of goods and services, including those related to farm practises, risk management, education and health. In effect,

lTC’s e-choupal model seeks to address the issues relating to last mile connectivity by leveraging IT to build capability at the grassroots by empowering the small farmer.

This model seeks to enhance farm productivity and income by aligning output with market demand through connectivity

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the e-choupal is potentially an efficient delivery channel for rural development and an instrument for converting village populations into vibrant economic organisations.

Despite daunting implementation challenges, this initiative now comprises nearly 5,000 installations covering over 28,000 villages and serving more than 2.5 million farmers. The World Business Award is an acknowledgement of ITC's abiding commitment to the rural value chain. It is also a humbling reminder of the journey yet to be traversed, of the commitment to connect 1,00,000 villages in this decade and is a celebration of a small beginning, the first step in a journey, which will not end till every Indian farmer is reached.

How the promotion of forest and wood-based industry can become a mega developmental multiplier: Soil is subject to erosion by several weathering agents resulting in loss of humus and biotic life, leading to reduction in fertility and productivity.

According to estimates of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, the present average soil loss is over 16 tonnes per hectare per year, which is at least three to five times higher than normal. Areas affected seriously by salinity, alkalinity and wind and water erosion cover an estimated 126 million hectares, nearly 41 per cent of the total geographical area of the country.

It is estimated that nearly 70 million hectares of land, out of the total estimated 95 million hectares under rainfed conditions, are in some stage of land degradation. Sub-optimal land use is also evident from the fact that degraded wastelands constitute at least 35 million hectares, representing 18 per cent of total cultivable land.

Forest cover plays a critical role in maintaining the soil and water base for food production in arid and semiarid lands. In areas where wind is the main agent of erosion, the presence of wooded areas can help contain erosion.

Trees also ameliorate the effects of The

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According to ICAR data, the average soil loss is over 16 tonnes per hectare per year, which is at least three to five times higher than normal. Areas affected seriously by salinity, alkalinity and wind and water erosion cover an estimated 126 million hectares, nearly 41 per cent of the total geographical area of the country

drought and desertification, and playa crucial role in cushioning the effect of seasonality. Recent data indicates that only 35 million hectares of forest land have a crown density of 40 per cent.

Thus, real forests account for barely 11 per cent of the geographical area of the country against a desirable 33 per cent.

The ITC's farm forestry project is driven by the realisation that India's meagre forest cover has serious implications for the rural poor. The ITC has effectively leveraged its need for wood fibre to provide significant opportunity to economically-backward wasteland owners. The main plank of this initiative is the building of grassroots capacities. The ITC works with select NGOs and the Government of Andhra Pradesh, identifies poor tribals with wastelands and organises them into self-supporting forest user groups.

Group leaders are trained in best silvicultural practices to grow high quality timber. The ITC provides a comprehensive package of support and extension services to farmers encompassing loans, land development, planting of saplings, plantation maintenance, marketing and funds management. This has been institutionalised by creating village-level natural resource management" committees comprising local farmers.

At the heart of this comprehensive greening project is ITC's state-of-theart research centre at Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh. The biotechnology-based research enables ITC to make available high-yielding, diseaseresistant clonal saplings, thereby presenting attractive land-use alternatives to traditional farmers and wasteland owners. So far, over 100 million saplings have been planted over 28,500 hectares thro- ugh farm and social forestry programmes, generating employment opportunities for nearly 250,000 people.

The benefits of this strategic initiative are much mole pervasive. It contributes to moisture conservation, groundwater recharge and significant

reduction in topsoil losses due to wind and water erosion. With poor households having access to their own woody biomass under ITC's social forestry programme, the pressure on public forests stands reduced. The leaf litter from multi-species plantations and the promotion of leguminous inter-crops enable constant enrichment of depleted soils. These forests enable sequestration of carbon, thereby contributing to strengthening the plant-led life support system.

The ITC's bold engagement across the entire value chain has converted the threats to competitiveness, and the quality of social and natural capital into opportunities for a sustainable partnership. If a company like the ITC chooses the easier path of importing pulp to support a 3,00,000-tonne paperboard mill based on virgin pulp, it would mean foregoing 75,000 hectares of sustainable plantations, 27 million person-days of employment and nearly Rs 600 crore in foreign exchange annually.

The growing competitiveness of ITC’s paperboards business and its increasing market strength provide the impetus for the company to scale up the afforestation endeavour to cover over 1,00,000 hectares by planting 600 million saplings over the next 10 years. Such a scale would render procurement of industrial timber exclusively from sustainable sources into a reality within 10 years, benefit nearly 1.2 million people through incremental employment and position ITC as a carbon-positive enterprise.

The tested viability of the ITC’s social farm forestry programme in effectively servicing economic, social and environmental capital holds important inputs for policy makers.

India can leverage two of its most abundant assets — people and land — through promotion of wood and forest-based industry to address a host of developmental issues. Promotion of forest and wood-based industry carries the potential for transformational change, provided usage of output is

There is a lesson for the Government in ITC’s social forestry and other programmes. India can leverage two of its most abundant assets — people and land — through promotion of wood and forest-based industry to address developmental issues

linked to replenishment.

Such a strategy would facilitate land use diversification through a sustainable model of development by supporting value-added wood-based industry such as paper, construction and furniture. A new opportunity can be opened up through promotion of forest and herb-based products for culinary, cosmetic and curative use in domestic and international markets. Apart from spawning valueadding industry, it will enable the creation of substantial employment both on farms and off farms, thus, helping to absorb the excess labour inherent in agricultural productivity improvement. Further, wasteland development through promotion of wood and forest-based industry can convert over 35 million hectares into productive assets, while simultaneously addressing issues relating to biomass depletion, soil erosion, water security, ecological balance and biodiversity.

The spirit of partnership towards contributing to rural societal capital has inspired ITC to venture into, other markets like agarbattis (incense sticks) and safety matches. In addition to providing business growth opportunities, these forays have enabled the adoption of superior processes and will result in better realisations from the market. The entry into branded packaged foods has created a system of continuous engagement with the farmer so that the e-Choupal infrastructure can be used to build a developmental model sustained on a commercial foundation. The business can, thus, serve to create a much higher order of value across the entire value chain from seed to stomach. Similarly, ITC hopes that its lifestyle retailing business will grow in strength at the market end, which will, over time, create the basis for a deeper engagement across the entire value chain from fibre to fashion, much like the successes in the paperboards, soya and wheat value chains.

Courtesy: 13th Anniversary Issue; Business Today

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IRISH CONNECTION

RE-KINDLING LAMP OF LEARNING: A JUDICIOUS PARTNERSHIP Dr Rachna Singh Dean, IILM Undergraduate Business School, Gurgaon

I

t was January 18, 2006, 2 pm at the IILM Lodhi Road campus. Many minds had worked for this day for two years. Irish ambassador to India, Mr. Kieran Dowling, DIT Academic Director Dr. Frank McMahon, IILM Director, Prof Badal Mukherji, IILM Gurgaon Dean Dr. Padmakali Mishra, PGDBM dean, IILM Lodhi Road, Ms. Sapna Popli, student coordinator Jayendu Krishna and course coordinator at DIT, Ms. Mary Faulkner, besides me — The team had led the programme through thick and thin to achieve a daunting task. What carried us through was the fact that each team member had been most enthusiastic to add the Irish flavour to higher education in India.

Indian and Irish educational links have provided many of us this unique flavour in the past. The current IILMDIT partnership at the higher education level is the logical track that this existing relationship has taken. The tremendous success of this experience has triggered an enthusiastic response from several other Irish educational institutions to increase such partnerships.

Presiding Minister Mary Hanafin, Minister for Education and Science Ireland, who was the Chief Guest of the conferring ceremony, pointed out her happiness at the successful completion of this course by candidates.

She expressed the same in her convocation speech on the auspicious day when the first post-graduates of the DIT-IILM collaborated Master of

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Science in International Business programme received their coveted degree from the Minister on January 18, 2006. Some undiluted points made by her are presented below.

The Minister said she was proud that "the Dublin Institute of Technology is a central part of this conferring ceremony. It adds up to the excitement for me to be here today."

She expressed her pleasure that links between Ireland and India went back a long way. "We share our history of imperialism and what went on with it.

Our fights for freedom, our struggle for independence and the respect which both our countries have for each other because of that despite the fact that we are on different sides of the world and different sizes. But looking back in our history, one of your and our great leaders had a strong association. A former revolutionary leader, political leader and former President of Ireland had great

‘Ireland as a country has grown so strong economically that we are now very outward looking for partnerships and cooperation.

Recognising the growth and the power that India is, in the political arena as well as in trading terms, we are building on educational and political links that we have had in the past. We hope to develop the trade, business and educational links into the future’

respect for Mahatma Gandhi and his ideas. It is, therefore, no coincidence that the constitution of Ireland is similar to the constitution of India and that the systems that we have in our countries are very similar. What gives me the greatest pleasure of all is that the colours of our two national flags are identical."

Over the years through our links in education, Irish religious orders have educated hundreds of thousands of young Indian students. As the Irish delegation led by the Prime Minister, two ministers and a delegation of 120 businessmen and educationists went all over the country earlier during the week, they met several people "who hold Ireland in respect because of the education which they got in India."

Ms Hanafin said "Ireland as a country has grown so strong economically that we are now very outward looking for partnerships and cooperation.

Recognising the growth and the power The

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that India is, in the political arena as well as in trading terms, we are building on educational and political links that we have had in the past. We hope to develop the trade, business and educational links into the future."

"An occasion like this is particularly significant because it joins together two top class education systems. Both the institutions, DIT and IILM, provide very high caliber education. I assure you as Minister that the quality of that education is assured because we insist on that and you can be very proud of your achievements not just in getting the M.Sc. degree, but because it will be recognized world-wide for the excellent quality.

As we look to the future, all students will look towards the interests of both our countries, because it really does behold our education to give back to our countries, particularly to a country like India which believes so much in education. We believe that the educated people will steer their country into the future with their knowledge."

Ms Hanafin's address which brought to light the generations of partnerships Indian education had experienced brought up vivid memories of my own school years.

Having experienced the Irish educators, formative years of my schooling came up before my eyes.

Sister Mary of Grace, a mixture of strictness, discipline and kindness was the earliest image of an educator that comes to my mind.

The frail nun, dressed as Santa in his make-shift sledge, the bonbons and the Christmas carols that still chime through my mind dur-

ing the Christmas season all flashed by‌ Such was the connection made

by Ms Hanafin. Today, I had the privilege to share this auspicious ceremonial dais with yet another Irish visionary who reflected the same essence of academic discipline and a sensitivity to be cherished. The bond between the two countries was re-kindled.

ABOUT MSC INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS The IILM Institute's one-year MSc (IB) course is offered to lower level management executives or economics or business graduates who wish to build on their existing learning and have an aspiration to reach a senior management position in international business. The degree is awarded by the Dublin Institute of Technology under the degree awarding powers made available to the institute under the provisions of the DIT Act, 1996.

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MSc Aim in International Business: To offer graduates of the discipline of business studies the opportunity to build on the intellectual formation achieved in their primary degree education by developing knowledge and techniques in international business through a dedicated one-year programme.

Through the use of a variety of pedagogical approaches, to create a multi-skilled graduate with a sound knowledge of international business

management techniques but also with wider interpersonal and leadership qualities.

To focus on specific skill needs in the economy, by preparing graduates for careers across a range of management disciplines.

While focusing on immediate and practical skills, this course also aspires to develop the capacity within students to sustain their learning journey, independently and continuously throughout their lives.

MARKET BUZZ

HAATS the rural mega malls 100 years of legacy Rs 1,00,000 crore turnover annually 140,000,000 footfalls a week 47,000 locations all over India.

The figures reflect that India actually buys from rural haats and the question is — can marketers afford to miss the bus? Haats are integral to sales and marketing for reaching the 70% of Indian population which still resides in rural India.

The Bikapur haat near Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh is one such example. It maximum consumers at these haats assembles every week on Sunday are fresh in relation to brand recall, with an average of 120 counters and any brand which enters now will around 2500 footfalls. It has an aver- have a benefit of leader and first age sales turnover of Rs 2,00,000 per entrant which they can reap over a day. The counters generally consist of long period.

According to the census there are groceries to kitchenware to fresh produce to clothings to high selling cos- approximately 6.5 lakh villages in India and 35 per cent of metics and jewellery, the these have no shops. list is endless.

According to a report from The most prominent ITC, the biggest FMCG combrands with high brand pany which has enviable recall are Dabur Lal Dunt reach, they have not been Manjan, Lifebuoy, Lux, able to reach beyond 2.5 Nirma, Ghari Detergent, lakh villages through their Panama, Capstan and distribution network. The Dalda to name a few. rest of the 4 lakh villages According to a Tahsin Zahid are unreachable because research, the FMCG IILM-AHL, Lucknow around 60 per cent do market in rural India is at 70,000 crore and is expected to not have roads and power supply. To grow at 12-14% annually, only tap the market of such villages there 50,000 crore comes from the orga- is no other way than to be present in nized sector and 20,000 goes to the the haats which generally cater to unorganized sector with brands like around 5-7 villages. Going to haats is Guide soap, Moti toothpaste, Bandar also commercially viable because setChhaap and Rani fairness cream etc. ting up of the distribution network in It’s high time the marketers realize these villages will be more costly than the potential of this mega boom. As the business generated, because the

density of population in these villages is very low with an average of 10001200 residents per village. The per capita income of consumers/customers is between Rs. 780-1150 a month which is also low. Unit sales will be very low and it will be very costly to set up a retail network of its own for any FMCG company.

A few financial companies have started operating in these haats for collection of premium and loan repayments and private sector banks are researching to start makeshift banks which will operate in these haats and cater to the basic needs of rural consumers, such as saving accounts, agri loans, fixed deposits and money transfers. This is big business because many men send their earnings back home. Then there is the younger generation studying in cities which gets its money from parents again through hawala.

The true potential of haats have not been utilized by marketers since 60% of rural India has no access to any via media which makes haats the only contact with rural consumers.

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CYBERLINK

ROAD MAP TO COMPUTERISATION

VILLAGE

J Vandana Srivastava Fellow, IT, IILM Institute for Higher Education, Gurgaon

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ust as the universe is contained in the self, India is in its villages. So said Mahatma Gandhi. He envisioned an India which was united and secular, an India where there was no disparity between the rural and the urban. He dreamt of the Gram Samaj.

Today, his dream of an empowered rural sector is being realised.

Post independence, urban India took rapid developmental strides while the villages lay marginalised due to political and geographical reasons. While the Government took measures to address the problems of rural development in a systematic way, urban development was at a much faster pace. In the era of computerization, the term "digital divide" became a succinct description of the degree of disparity between rural and urban India. With more than 70% of the population residing in villages, the Government soon realized that the holistic development of the nation is greatly

interlinked with the sustained holistic development of its rural areas.

ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Initiatives in Rural India: Recognizing the importance of correcting these developmental imbalances and the need to accord due priority to development in rural areas, the past few decades have seen sustained efforts by the Government to bring the villages on the road map of computerization.

Several private organizations have also made noticeable contributions in this area.

Since the early 80s, general awareness of computers has been created by Government bodies. The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), together with National Informatics Centre (NIC), initiated a separate programme called CRISP (Computerized Rural Information Systems Project) to aim social sectors such as health, education and rural developments. Several rural ICT devel-

opment programmes such as RuralSoft (for alleviation of poverty), PriaSoft (Monitoring accounts of Panchayati Raj), eNRICH (community software solution framework to dynamically generate community portals for rural communities) and Rural Bazar (e-commerce solution for rural artisans and poor) were initiated for the villagers. Several e-governance projects such as Habitat Survey Computerization and Automation of the Ministry’s Financial Processes (which facilitated submission of proposal, concurrence, sanctions and release of funds), were initiated under this programme.

A farmer's most prized possession is his land.

Correct and timely information about the land, its owner and other details can help resolve many a dispute. Major strides have been initiated in Computerization of Land Records in rural areas. It has been envisaged as an effort to abolish intermediaries. It has been successfully carried out in villages of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Using technologies such as Aerial Photograhy, GPS etc, cadastral surveys were conducted in places where no land records exist. Efforts in this direction have paid off handsomely.

Certificate of Ownership and other land details are being distributed to land owners in several tehsils. 'Bhoomi' in Karnataka is one of the best-digitized information systems on land records in the country. Such systems help farmers get their record without greasing the palms of the intermediaries.

Looking at the potential they possess, many private organizations have focused on the rural sector. The experimentations began with Electronic Knowledge Delivery initiated in 1998 by the Chennai-based M S Swaminathan

Research Foundation in 11 villages around Villianur, Pondicherry. It provides need-based knowledge to villagers through a hybrid, wired and wireless, network consisting of computers, telephones, VHF duplex radio devices and email connectivity.

Among the various initiatives, eChoupal needs a special mention. Indian Tobacco Company's e-Choupal has been a pioneering effort by a major player of the private sector. The company initiated e-Choupal in 2000 as an effort to place computers with Internet access in rural farming villages. Although ITC conceptualized the project with a pure business focus making an intelligent blend of applications like Customer Relationship Management and Supply Chain Management, it has turned into a highly profitable distribution and product design channel for the company — an e-

Although ITC conceptualized e-Choupal with a pure business focus, it has turned into a highly profitable distribution and product design channel for the company — a low cost e-commerce platform

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Telephone connectivity is poor in most parts of India. The landline telephones are not available in most villages.

The large spans of uninhabited land between villages add to the difficulty of setting up telephone lines.

Even if phones are available, the lines remain down most of the time and maintenance services are poor

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commerce platform that is also a lowcost fulfillment system focussed on the needs of rural India. And now Ogilvy & Mather’s rural connectivity project, "Param" is paving the way for narrowing the digital divide between urban and rural India. The software and technology used in this project were platform independent. They have been able to reach to out the women and children, the often neglected part of a rural society.

Overcoming bottlenecks These are just some of the computerization initiatives undertaken by various Government and private organizations.

Several other programmes have been initiated for using ICT for sharing knowledge and poverty alleviation in the villages. Dogged by the problems associated with rural India, this is not a mean task!

Providing ICT-based solutions requires good infrastructure. Erratic power supply remains a major bottleneck. Rural areas in India have very limited and erratic power supply. Even when electric power is available, the voltages are far outside acceptable limits. Since universal power supplies are economically unviable, a simple solution has been identified — several tractor batteries are connected to act like a UPS. Providing web-based information portals requires Internet. However, telephone connectivity is very poor in most parts of India. The landline telephones are not available in most villages. The large spans of uninhabited land between villages add to the difficulty of setting up telephone lines. Even if telephones are available, the lines remain down most of the time and maintenance services are poor. The introduction of wireless telephones has reduced this problem to a large extent. Some IT initiatives by the Government and other agencies employ VSATs (Very Small Aperture Terminals) which connect to organisations' own communication satellite.

Although introduction of wireless connections have solved some problems, the bandwidth available is low. Hence, most web portals developed for the vil-

lagers have been designed keeping poor connectivity and bandwidth in mind.

These solutions have been designed to allow users to work offline most of the time, thus requiring little connectivity and bandwidth for short intervals of time. Service providers such as n-Logue, a rural service provider, has focused on providing commercial telephone and Internet connection to every village. It has created an Internet kiosk with a computer, an Internet connection, a printer and some accessories like web/digital camera in each village. The kiosk not only provides communication services (e-mail, chat, browsing) but also acts a hub of other much-needed applications like education and training, healthcare, agriculture consultancy and e-governance.

Apart from infrastructure inadequacy, the social structure of the villages acts as a major deterrent. The low literacy rate inhibits computerization. Language is a major barrier. CDAC (Centre of Development for Advanced Computing) had initiated projects for Indian Language fonts and software. Several other organizations are developing software for translating online resources from English to Indian languages and vice versa. Moreover, in most villages, the mindset has not changed. Women and children still continue to remain marginalized.

The Future The road ahead is not easy. Most of the efforts have been concentrated in central and southern India. These efforts need to be initiated across the country. Computerization of rural India is not an easy task, yet commendable efforts have been taken. With the President of India Dr A P J. Abdul Kalam's added thrust to PURA (Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas), the dream of making every village a knowledge centre by 2007 is about to be materialized.

Most of us remember the infamous clichĂŠ by Bill Gates that a computer cannot benefit someone earning less than a dollar a day. Rural India is now challenging it!

BIBLICAL ACCOUNT

ACCOUNTING HAS A RICH PAST

T

he history of accounting is as old as human civilization. Development of cities, commerce and trade, concept of wealth, numbers and counting, ignited the development of money and banking.

The role of accountants in ancient world has transformed today's accounting as a leader of the Information Revolution.

Current trend in the information age is to conceptualize and implement accounting as a data base information system. The system of accounting has developed in response to the needs of the time brought about by changes in the environment and societal demands.

Alternately, it can also be viewed that the development of accounting, has driven the evolution of commerce since it was only through the use of more precise accounting methods that modern business was able to grow, flourish and respond to the needs of its owners and the public.

Either way, the history of accounting throws a light on economic and business history generally and may help us better predict what is on the global business.

Ancient Accounting Saga A study of ancient accounting history reveals that writing of records is as old as the civilization. Evidence of writing relates back to the Babylonian Empire when

P. Malarvizhi

Rachna Narula

Associate Professor

Fellow

the mortgages were impressed as characters on clay tablets. In ancient Egypt, the land lords used to maintain their records on the lines similar to "stores accounting" of today.

The ancient accounting did not extend beyond the process of recording disbursals and

receipts. But with a growth in trade and commerce in Europe, the process of accounting was reestablished.

In his pioneering history Accounting Evolution to 1900, A. C. Littleton said: "Accounting is relative and progressive. The phenomena which form its subject matter are constantly changing.

Older methods become less effective under altered conditions; earlier ideas become irrelevant in the face of new problems. Thus sur-

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transaction should be recorded, accounting but he described "the rounding conditions generate keeping in mind the concept of system used in Venice". fresh ideas and stimulate the expenses and revenues. It also His seminal work, Summa de ingenious to devise new methods. signifies that the transaction Arithmetica, Geometrica, And as such ideas and methods should be recorded regularly givPropotioni et Proportionalite, prove successful they in turn ing rise to the concept of perpetpublished in 1494, contained a begin to modify the surrounding ual inventory. section, Particularis de Computis conditions. The result we call The Bible also talks about et Scripturis (Details of progress". (Littleton 1933: 361) maintaining the agent's accounts.

Accounting and Recording). Luca To a certain extent, Little's idea In the New Testament there is a Pacioli was one of the best mathabout progress of accounting parable about a steward. In the ematicians of his time, and was a with the developments in trade parable, the owner hears that his close friend of Leonardo Da and commerce is true but the fact steward is wasting money and in Vinci. They collaborated on many remains that the accounting con"Like 16.2 says: What is this I projects. Pacioli helped Da Vinci cept remains the same over a heard about you? Draw me up an lay out his painting, The Last period of thousands of years. account of your stewardship."

Supper, with mathematical preciEvolution of Accounting All this communicates that the sion and Leonardo illustrated Accounting history is widely information in accounts can be Luca's books on mathematics discussed in terms of one seminal used as measure to monitor the and accounting. event — invention and dissemiperformance and also that the Accounting Basics in the Bible nation of the double entry bookowner and employees should In ancient history, there are keeping processes. An underinsist on periodic reports. evidences of recording wealth, standing of the evolution of There is also accounting sysstress on the tems in ancient maintenance of time is imporThe development of accounting has driven the proper accounting tant for future evolution of commerce since it was only through records in the predictions of Bible. On this this ever the use of more precise accounting methods that point Micah 7:5-6 expanding modern business was able to grow and respond says, "Put no trust accounting proin a neighbor, fession. to the needs of its owners and the public have no confiMore fundadence in a friend" mental is the This lays emphaquestion, why sis on the effective recording of but no evidence of double entry should we care about the history all business transaction that can book keeping is found prior to of accounting at all. A glimpse show correct profit or loss picPacoili's work. Wealth in ancient back into the past helps us to ture. times could not be recorded in understand the phenomenal Though the Bible did not disdouble entry book keeping, as growth this accounting profescuss how the financial reports wealth is to be defined in terms sion has reached since 4500 B.C. should be prepared or the of money. The fundamental conEvidence of earliest accounting accounting system should be cepts of modern accounting can records were found in the built. To a large extent, the Bible be traced back to the biblical age.

Babylonian Empire (4500 B.C.), gave a lot of inspiration for the The Bible (1800 BC and 95 AD), in pharaohs' Egypt and in the setting up of the accounting funccontains several direct and indiCode of Hammurabi (2250 B.C.). tion. Today, we place a lot of rect references to accounting and During Italian Renaissance, emphasis on the importance of basic accounting concepts.

Venice was the business cradle of accounting for the information to The Bible provides a procedure Europe and double entry the investors. Though Bible did for recording information. Ecclus accounting was invented and not stress on the informative 14.7 states: “Whatever stores you practised by Italian merchants. objective of the accounting funcissue, do it by number and During this period Luca Pacioli, tion, but other aspects of weight, spending and taking, put wrote the first textbook on double accounting that were discussed everything in writing." Thus, entry accounting in 1494. Pacioli are still relevant today. there is an indication that every did not invent double entry The

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financial information which has deposits and withdrawals, broLuca Pacioli and the Summa undergone many changes to suit kered purchases, drafts, barter Luca Pacioli is called "the father the requirements of the users transactions, joint venture trading, of accounting", for his contribuneeds. Every day trillions of dollars expense disbursements and closing tions in documenting the double in transactions are recorded by and balancing books. entry accounting system, as pracbusiness, government and financial The trial balance (summa sumticed by merchants of Venice, in his institutions world-wide. Accounting marium) is the end of Pacioli's fifth book on mathematics Summa practitioners in public accounting, accounting process. Debit amounts de Arithmetica, Geometria, industry, and not-for-profit organifrom the old ledger are listed on the Proportioni et Proportionalita zations, as well as investors, lendleft side of the balance sheet and (Everything About Arithmetic, ing institutions, business firms, and credits on the right. If the two totals Geometry and Proportion). Pacioli's all other users for financial inforare equal, the old ledger is considSumma is the first known complete mation are indebted to Luca Pacioli ered balanced. If not, says Pacioli, description of double entry bookfor his monumental role in the "that would indicate a mistake in keeping. development of accounting. your Ledger, which you will have to The Summa was translated into look for diligently with intelligence Dutch, German, French, Russian References: God gave you." and English and Pacioli's system 1. Anonymous, Social Origins of Conclusion spread across Europe. Relatively modern accountancy, Journal of Modern accounting follows the little progress was made beyond Accountancy, Oct 1983, principles set down by Luca Pacioli Pacioli's Summa for several gener156,000004, ABI/INFORM Global over 500 years ago. Most surprisations. Numerous tiny details of 2. Barbich Longcrier Hooper & ing is how little book-keeping methbookkeeping technique set forth by King and John Pacioli were folFowler - New lowed in texts Accounting Systems and the profesThe way accounting records are to be for the 21st Century sion for at least prepared and presented keeps on changing 3. James deSantis the next four - A Brief History Of centuries. with time and requirements of the respective Accounting: From The Summa's economies, but the essence to accounting has Prehistory To The 36 short chapInformation Age ters on booknot changed for ages.

4. Jerusalem Bible keeping, entitled edited by Alexander De Computis et Jones, New York, Scripturis (Of double day and Co, 1966. ods have changed since Pacioli.

Reckonings and Writings), begins 5. John R. Alexander - Net Gain Both the sequence of events in the with some basic instruction for 6. Kenneth W. Brown accounting cycle and the special commerce.

Particularis De Computis Et procedures he described in De Pacioli says before commencing Scripturis1, (Details of Reckonings Computis are familiar to modern any business, one should prepare and Their Recordings) - compilaaccountants. an inventory listing all business tion.

However, today's accounting is a and personal assets and debts. This 7. Littleton, A. C. (1933). highly organized profession, with a inventory must be completed withAccounting Evolution to 1900. complex set of rules for the fair disin one day, and property should be New York: American Institute closure and presentation of inforappraised at current market values Publishing Company mation in financial statements. and arranged according to mobility 8. Robert L Hagerman, The way accounting records are and value, with cash and other Accounting in The Bible, Journal to be prepared and presented valuables listed first, since they are of Accountancy, June keeps on changing with time and most easily lost.

1982,153,000006:ABI/INFORM requirements of the respective The first 16 chapters of De Global economies, but the essence to Computis describe the basic system 9. William Davidow, accounting has not changed for of books and accounts, while the Accounting Systems Are ages. The accounting system has remaining 20 chapters are devoted Completely Wrong - The Red not undergone a major change; to specialized accounting issues of Herring magazine, January 1995 rather it is the presentation of merchants. These include bank The

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COUNTRY ROADS

SHARING RESOURCES WITH

I

RURAL INDIA

The often maligned 250 million ndia is fast emerging as a global economic super power. middle classes have finally come of Powering this growth is a age. The skies are open for them young, empowered working now. There is a revolution in the population riding on a steady GDP skies with each airline industry vying for their position on growth of five per cent the top. plus every year, even as India is also the fastest the so-called developed growing communications nations are fighting their market in the world. It is faltering economies. just a matter of time Ever since India shed its before we see more over five decades of conmobile phones in our servative economic and country than the rest of foreign policies, it has the world. Even the been reaping rich beneIndian entertainment fits. As it reaches out Dr Shruti Singh industry has truly gone to the international Assistant Professor global — riding on the community and the appetite of millions of world’s lone superpower — the United States of non-resident Indians craving for America — looks towards it for desi stuff.

With all these changes and develnever-before closer ties, India has opments taking place in urban been finding the right balance.

It is on the one hand, the world's India, we forget that more than a biggest democracy, with over a bil- majority of our population lives in lion people representing a myriad rural India. What is the change that religions and ethnicities. India's mil- is taking place in rural India? Here itary strength is impressive — it is comes the challenge.

Owing to the realisation that ecoan acknowledged nuclear power close to signing a historic deal with nomic development and commendthe US. Its space programme is able advances made by the nation in unparalleled in the developing diverse fields would, in reality, be meaningless if they fail to translate world.

India today is the leader in knowl- into better and dignified life for the edge-based services. It is the out- majority living in rural India, the sourcing hub to the world — with focus has shifted towards developglobal CEOs and country heads ment in rural areas over the past making a beeline to visit, under- few years, so that the nation is able to realize its potential and secure its stand and invest in India.

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rightful place in the comity of nations as proud and prosperous India.

The challenge ahead is to make rural India, where the majority population lives, march in tune with urban India. The lacunae should be filled in and as early as possible.

The present Government is formed primarily on the issue of rural India — this was one of the biggest issues of the present Government and on primarily this issue they overthrew the previous political regime. Here comes the importance and the challenges of the new Government to fulfill the aspirations and ambitions of the majority population.

Political Development: If the Indian rural economy has to match with booming urban economy, there has to be some kind of a balance between the two. This balance can only be achieved through political initiatives leading to eradication of illiteracy, removing problems of employment, providing basic infrastructure and services to rural area.

Development in the urban sector needs to be shared with the rural sector. There has to be a harmony in the development of both rural and urban sectors. There is a need for the Government policies to focus in this area. Panchayati Raj or rural self government is the heart of I n d i a n

economy. This has had a massive impact on the uplift of the scheduled categories. Also, reservation for women at the grassroots has wide implications.

Economic Development: The Government policies have to begin with first providing basic infrastructure to rural areas. Roads need to be upgraded in villages, kuccha roads to be modified, new inroads need to be made with the aim of structuring transport and communication and upgrading these and then it needs to be linked with the urban sector so there can be an interchange of goods and services also. This will provide a network all round the country.

Water and electricity should be provided. Rain water harvesting and other modes of water retention need to be studied and applied in rural areas. Electricity should be supplied.

People in rural areas should be encouraged to set up smallscale industries. Even though a majority of those living in rural areas are involved in agriculture, they should be encouraged to join not only in secondary sector but also in the services sector. As agriculture is not an entire year’s work, they should be encouraged to

join other sectors too. This will help in generation of employment.

Social Development: Education should be given prime focus in the development of this sector. The Government should focus on eradicating illiteracy. Mid-day meal schemes and free education to the girl child are some of the steps that will go a long way in providing literacy to a majority of the population.

Education is one of the cornerstones of development. Health is also one sector that needs to be focussed on.

This has to be kept in mind while focussing on the development policies of the rural sector.

Thus, an all-round development of India can take place only when both rural and urban India are developed. The media focusses only on the 25% of the population while the remaining 75% is out of the picture.

This is the dormant India. They also need to participate in the booming economy.

If this does not happen, a lopsided econo-

my will be there and this gives a bad picture of India.

References 1. http:// rural.nic.in 2. A.N.Agrawal Indian EconomyProblems of Development and planning, Wishwa Prakashan New Delhi 3 Datt,R. & Sundaram,K.P.M. Indian Economy, SChand & co. New Delhi 4. Ahuja, Ram Indian Social System, Rawat Publications. New Delhi 5. Rural India : The Issue of Change in Dalits, Research article submitted by Dr Shruti Singh in AIB-India International conference from 17-20th February, 2006.

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PURA DREAM

URBAN LEGENDS IN

RURAL INDIA S Rakhi Singh Faculty IILM, Gurgaon

ix decades ago, Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of Gram Swaraj.

He visualized each village as an independent and self-sustaining unit. Taking his idea forward, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has, in recent times, articulated his theme of providing urban amenities in rural areas (PURA).

In an address at the PHDCCI New Delhi, on December 21, 2005, he focused on India Vision 2020, where he threw light on many ways of transforming India into a developed country. He

There are 7,000 PURA units all over India which envisages integrated connectivity — physical connectivity of village clusters through quality roads and transport being just one of them The

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discussed some of the national missions that India is giving thrust to, for achieving sustainable economic development for all regions of the country. Among all the missions he gave priority to PURA. Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) The total number of PURA units all over India is 7,000. This envisages integrated connectivity to bring prosperity to rural India. These are — physical connectivity of village clusters through quality roads and transport; electronic connectivity through telecommunications with high bandwidth fiber optic cables reaching rural areas from cities and through Internet kiosks; and knowledge connectivity through education, vocational training for farmers, artisans and craftsmen and entrepreneurship programmes. These three connectivity will lead to economic connectivity through starting of enterprises with the help of banks, micro credits and marketing of the products.

Source: www.presidentofindia.nic.in Each PURA cluster will connect about 20 villages depending on the region and population and cost about Rs 100 crore.

After initial short-term employment during construction, we have to plan for initiating actions for regular employment and self-employment opportunities in nationally competitive small enterprises in agro processing, manufacturing and services sectors for about 3000 people.

If industrial/business parks are marketed well, they can generate employment opportunities in the support sector for about 10,000 people in that cluster.

This will provide sustainable econo-

my for the rural sector. In this national mission, bankers can promote entrepreneurship in rural areas. This will lead to the removal of urban-rural divide. This experience can become a model for other countries to follow.

PURA as an enterprise: Several banks have entrepreneurial development programmes. They have also been funding small scale industries in various regions. The small scale industrialist is a promising candidate for becoming the chief executive for managing PURA complexes in an integrated way. PURA enterprises can also undertake management of schools, healthcare units, vocational training centres, chilling plants, silos and building a market, banking system and the regional business or industrial units.

A new mission mode management style has to emerge for PURA enterprises. It should not be looking for protective legislations to support them.

Rather, they should be efficient to compete with others. This new PURA enterprise needs partnership from the bank, from the Government and also from private entrepreneurs. Banks can train

the entrepreneur for managing PURA in their training centres and provide them loans for creating and running PURAs as a business proposition.

It is, indeed, a big challenge transforming India into a developed nation.

This necessitates for the agriculture, manufacturing and service sector becoming globally competitive. Only then will a competitive profile will emerge and India will become A nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin line.

A nation where there is an equitable distribution and access to energy and quality water.

A nation where agriculture, industry and service sector work together in symphony, absorbing technology thereby resulting in sustained wealth generation leading to greater high value employment opportunities.

A nation where education is not denied to any meritorious candidates because of societal or economic discrimination.

A nation that is one of the best places to live in and brings smiles on a billion plus faces.

PURA needs partnership from banks, Govt and private entrepreneurs. Banks can train entrepreneurs to manage PURA and provide them loans for creating and running PURAs as a business proposition

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STEMMING THE TIDE

CELLS

OF UNENDING CONTROVERSY V Kumar Gera Department of Biotechnology, IILM Academy of Higher Learning, Greater Noida

Some argue that early blastocytes must be protected due to their potential to develop into persons. Others put fourth the view that if this is true, then discarding extra blastosites from in-vitro fertilization in clinics is wrong

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T

he possible application of stem cell technology has great potential but it has created a raging controversy among different philosophical groups. It is at the centre of battle fought by scientists, politicians, advocacy groups, religious and ethicists as well as moralists.

Proponents claim this technology is revolutionary and can be used to cure indelible diseases like diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries, kidney failures, liver damage etc or at least improve the quality of life for millions Sceptics, on the other hand, argue that adopting this technology will push humanity into a blatant disregard for 'life'. This view has been publicised in media campaigns excessively, resulting in legislative bans on stem cells use on humans. There has been no serious attempt to reach a consensus or seriously discuss its pros and cons for an evaluation.

So, what is stem cell research and

why has it sparked such an intense controversy?

Stem cells are primitive cells with a capacity to replicate into different kinds of cells for specialised functions. In contrast to stem cells mature and fully differentiated cells do not replicate or undergo transformations to give rise to other kinds of cells.

Stem cells could be of two kinds — pluripotent and those which are not pluripotent. The pluripotent cells have the ability to differentiate into any mature cell type in the body. The other type of stem cells are able to differentiate only into one of the several mature cell types.

The pluripotent cells remain undifferentiated and grow indefinitely in culture vessels. Only upon specific stimulus do these differentiate into specific cells with different characteristics. It is this capacity which has created great excitement worldwide with scientists foreseeing a day when stem cells may be used to harvest unlimited numbers of specialised cells to replace cells that have been damaged.

Some have even gone further to predict that stem cells will be modified to eliminate transplant rejection or to deliver the specific gene products, thereby correcting genetic defects or treating cancer. This excitement has been fuelled by reports of dramatic success in animal experiments.

Both proponents and critics agree that therapies based on stem cells research would be revolutionary.

So why then is stem cell research so contentious. The answer lies in the source of pluripotent stem cells.

So far, all those cells that have been used as pluripotent have been derived from five-day embryonic blastocytes.

There are about 200 cells in the blastocytes at this stage, most of which will develop into placental and supporting tissues of embryos.

There are 30-40 pluripotent cells in

the centre of the blastocyte which develop into all tissues of embryo.

It is at this blastocyte stage that the embryo developed in-vitro (IVF technology) are transplanted into the uterine wall.

These 30-40 central cells of the blastocytes are dissected and used to develop cultures as embryonic cell (ES) lines. All human cell lines, thus, are the result of the destruction process of the early embryo which has disturbed people who believe that pre-implantation embryos are persons with rights.

30-40 central cells of the blastocytes are dissected and used to develop cultures as embryonic cell lines. All human cell lines, thus, are the result of destruction process of the early embryo which has disturbed people However, it does not disturb people who believe that these embryos are too primitive to have an inherent moral status. It has also raised the question as to what constitutes a human being.

There is a philosophical view stating that the personhood requires a nervous system capable of cognition and consciousness. If this holds true then pre-implanted embryos although genetically humans are not persons.

Some argue that early blastocytes must be protected due to their potential to develop into persons.

Others put fourth the view that if this is true, then discarding extra blastosites from in-vitro fertilization in clinics is wrong. In addition, the genetic potential of each cell in the body to form a cloned human

may have equally symbolic meaning.

Some critics feel that ES cell research will lead to therapeutic cloning, i.e., transplanting a nucleus from a patient's somatic cell into enucleated egg followed by developing a blastocyte to give ES cells for re-transplantation into the patient. This amounts to human cloning which to many is ethically wrong. These critics are of the firm view that even though we may benefit from stem cell therapy, we should not use ES cells. This ideology stems from recent reports about the plasticity of Adult Stem Cells (ACS). Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells within the differentiated tissues. These have the capacity to divide and differentiate into cell types present around ASC cells.

The adult stem cells are present in blood, brain, bone marrow, retina, skeletal muscles, liver, skin and pancreas. The stem cells present in bone marrow have the capacity to differentiate into various mature cell types such as RBCs, lymphocytes, macrophages and have been used clinically for many years for treatment of cancer and auto immune diseases.

Though the report of such differentiations is intriguing, it is still too early to postulate that these adult stem cells hold the promise to be equivalent to ES cells. Adult stem cells are rare, difficult to identify and isolate and very poor in growth when cultured. Should these difficulties be overcome, these adult stem cells may provide an ethical alternative to ES cells.

This may calm the raising debate but, on the other hand, create a new philosophical dilemma — dragging critics and proponents into the same moral quagmire.

Though this approach in stem cells therapy is expected to take the lead in therapeutics, the controversy over its ethics is an unending one.

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PURA DREAM

Periyar PURA: A case for Engendering Governance outside the freedom struggle.

Yet, for all these collective indicators that show growth and development in the economy and improvement in the quality of life for women, increasing economic inequities aggravating the rural urban divide and feminization of poverty are hidden in their shadows.

This article attempts to understand PURA as a model exemplar that could address the gender issues concerning rural women thereby help bridge the chasm of the rural urban divide.

PURA model Nearing the sixtieth year President Dr. Kalam of Independence is reaenvisaged the vision of son enough to stop and PURA — providing urban reflect on the state of amenities in rural areas affairs of the world's and the Prime Minister in largest democracy. his Independence Day A billion Indians are announcement declared a fast adapting to the new rural development profound ideology of capigramme called talism and a global Merlin Mythili. S PURA. It involves economy, outgrowidentification of ing the lofty ideals Faculty Associate, IILM rural clusters with of Nehruvian socialism. The new economic policy growth potential and creating four since 1991 has brought about an types of connectivities for them: Physical connectivity which increasing international exposure, a growing industrial sector, rising would have a group of 15 to 25 vilmale and female literacy and rela- lages linked to one another and to a tively low inflation leading to a nearby town by road. Physical contransition characterized by increas- nectivity also includes connectiviing urbanization and women ties through power and transport facilities. empowerment.

Electronic connectivity will Many women have risen to power, girls outperform boys in mean linking villages with modern board examinations, and women and reliable telecommunication head business empires with ĂŠlan, and information technology serhold high profile and high salaried vices like public call offices, cyber jobs and are more and more visible cafes, and so on.

Knowledge connectivity would than they have been at any time

In Indian history, very rarely has our nation come across such a situation, all at a time: An ascending economic trajectory, continuously rising foreign exchange reserves, reduced rate of inflation, global recognition of the technological competence, energy of 540 million youth, umbilical connectivities of 20 million people of Indian origin in various parts of the planet, and the interest shown by many developed countries to invest in our engineers and scientists including setting up of new R&D centers — Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India

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mean establishing schools of easy access, a higher education centre and a hospital.

Economic connectivity aims to establish within this group of villages good marketing facilities so that all the commodities and services of daily use can be produced and sold in these markets.

The success story of one such PURA model called the Periyar PURA based at Vallam Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, captures and reiterates the importance of gender inclusion for successful implementation of developmental programmes.

The Periyar PURA: Aptly named after the great reformist of the south EVR Periyar, who practiced and preached women empowerment and gender inclusion in the societal and political activities of the nation, Periyar PURA is quietly bringing about a qualitative change in lives of 3 lakh people belonging to a cluster of around 65 villages near Vallam, in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu.

The hub of the Periyar PURA activities is Periyar Maniyammai college of Technology for women. Yes, this PURA complex is set up and run by women.

The Periyar PURA has health care centres, and family welfare centres and a mobile cancer diagnostic clinic that provide health care to the population of the rural complex. Integrated Training programmes that encompass a variety of skills including training in printing technologies, refrigeration & air conditioning, hardware training, Desk Top Publishing (DTP), plumb-

ing, electrical wiring, welding/fabrication, bakery and construction technology. Educational institutions spanning primary to post graduate levels successfully provide for knowledge connectivity. Training programmes are also held to raise awareness on the use of organic manure (vermi compost), Yoga and Siddha-based formulations, renewable energy, rainwater harvesting and general health.

They are self-sufficient in energy through solar power and biomass gasifier plants. They have integrated farms, energy plantation, aquaculture, livestock farms and dry land horticulture. 200 acres of wasteland have been successfully developed into cultivable land with innovative water management schemes such as contour ponds and water sheds for storing water and irrigating the fields1.

This concerted and holistic effort from a group of enlightened women has resulted in a large scale generation of employment and entrepreneurial ventures for over 8000 rural women with the active support of 525 self-help groups established by the Periyar PURA. Due to the co-operative effort of the people of the PURA villages and the zealous leadership provided by the enlightened women of the engineering institution, literacy in these villages has gone up from 63% to 83%, birth rate has come down, infant mortality rate has decreased to 35 per 1000 from 70 per 1000 and the standard of living of the people has gone up by over 20% compared to other villages in the neighbouring areas2.

Engendering Governance: There is a tendency to believe

that status of women worsens as income levels of the household decreases. To a certain extent this assumption is false, the reason being that women must work in poor families and are considered to be economically productive and therefore less expendable3.

Nevertheless, there is increasing evidence that say that women suffer poverty severely than men.

These gendered experiences of poverty imply that a mere transfer of income will not resolve the issue of feminization of poverty.

Ingrained social issues that shackle women empowerment should also be addressed.

This is precisely the lesson that we learn out of the success of the Periyar PURA model. Here is a societal transformation initiative that has emanated from an educational institution for and of women that has brought about a qualitative change in the livelihoods of people in 65 villages all independent of any governmental support or help.

The Periyar PURA has through its various schemes not only brought in labour participation of women but has also practiced gender inclusion in providing and retaining access to resources and decision making processes.

The Periyar PURA has proved what the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) mentioned "Without

the active participation of women and the incorporation of women's perspectives in all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved"4.

The distinct difference between other women empowerment programmes and the Periyar PURA model is that while the former have a welfarist approach to women development, the latter sees women not as passive beneficiaries but as agents of change.

The resounding success of the model shows that Societal transformative initiatives characterized by gender inclusion at all levels are a better way to achieve sustainable human development and that they are indeed realizable prepositions.

As Dr. Kalam insists, PURA can become a great movement if Periyar PURA is multiplied by thousand others by entrepreneurs, education institutions, industrialists, bankers and NGOs with appropriate help from the government. A movement that is characterized by engendered governance that includes participation, transparency, legitimacy and effectiveness.

References: 1. http://presidentofindia.nic.in/ address by the president at the inauguration of PURA scheme in Thanjavur.

2. Periyar PURA, http://www.pmctech.edu/ 3. Gautam Bahn, India gender profile, http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/report s/re62.pdf 4. Smita Mishra-Panda, Gender issues in governance, http://www.irma.ac.in/silver/themepaper/SMITHA.pdf The

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ONLINE PLUSES

No forgetting country cousins in taking IT leap

W

challenge to the economic develope all are connecting to ment of rural communities. It also the Internet and hinders the provision of enhanced becoming dependent educational content for K-12 educaon this technology for tion and adult learning. In addition, global communication, information although many rural residents have and commerce, in record numbers; Internet access at work, at school, over sixty percent of households via public libraries or community now report having personal comcenters, home access is still someputers, with the great majority what limited. Cost is the primary linked to the Internet via highreason for slower deployment. speed access.

Internet providers, cable television And while Internet users contincompanies and access providers ue to expand at unprecedented may hesitate to expand costly infrarates, there is, nevertheless, a disstructure and operations crepancy among those in sparsely populated users: urban vs. rural. areas because lower popAccording to a 2004 ulation density results in Pew Internet & American less usage and lowered Life Project study, rural profits. In addition, fewer usage of the internet is a rural residents may be full ten percentage points able to afford the cost of behind urban numbers — owning and using persona phenomena which has al computers, and as come to be known as the young people digital divide.

Damini Grover migrate out of rural On closer investiFellow - Information Technology communities, an gation it has become additional challenge apparent this divide facing rural providers is engaging goes beyond simple geography, it older residents. can also be dependent upon race "If a 45-year-old person is learnand economic status, resulting in ing how to read, he will not begin unequal access for rural areas. by reading Shakespeare. Similarly, In short, urban users typically becoming wired and becoming have access to the internet in their Internet-proficient is a skill homes, their schools and communiacquired over time and with frety facilities, while their rural quent use" (Smolenski nd). cousins find that all too often, clean While Internet technology can be air and wide open spaces someaccessed anywhere there are times translates into being left phone lines, the cost of doing so for behind in this technological age. many rural residents may be unafIssues related to technology in rural fordable. A lack of competition communities among providers in rural commuLack of access to high-speed nities may keep access costs high.

Internet connections presents a The

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Higher fees result from long-distance rates charged by phone companies serving rural areas.

Degree of access is also an important issue in rural communities.

The quality of local phone lines, availability of alternative media such as wireless devices, and the level of high-speed broadband technology each influence Internet access. Furthermore, slower investment of local banks and other economic development groups poses a challenge. Broadband provides users with instant access, and enables them to download and upload information and software at a much faster speed. It also allows people to make telephone calls while online, eliminating the need for a second phone line. While some state departments of economic development are effectively addressing this issue, others have yet to do so.

How can rural communities bridge the digital divide?

For rural communities to remain economically viable they will be required to implement or utilize existing or improved technology for a wide range of electronic information sharing and commerce, that includes Internet learning, institution building, community organization, and economic development.

Discussion should begin at the local level with individuals and community organizations, but also with broader levels of government. Local leaders and residents need to fully understand the potential the technology can provide to their communities and be encouraged to take

advantage of the technology. State and federal government may bridge the divide through regulation, reform, access, improvement, information gathering, and financial assistance. Rural communities that expand and utilize current operations and capacity for electronic initiatives will be the most effective in overcoming this divide.

Bridging the digital divide is thus not simply a matter of having the latest technology; it is also a commitment to improving the "e-literacy" of rural residents so that they too may uncover opportunities for success in an information based society. Acquiring fiber optic connections and a local "point of presence" with the telecommunications network, and/or developing a community-based Internet service provider are complex endeavors at best. Rural residents who have been successful in doing so have

understood the implications behind technology and telecommunications jargon, grasped the need to aggregate demand at the local level, sampled the power of the Internet, and internalized the potential of the Internet in allowing the community to become a member of the global economy.

Gartner analyst Mark Smolenski suggests this analogy: "If a 45-yearold person is learning how to read, he will not begin by reading Shakespeare. Similarly, becoming wired and becoming Internet-proficient is a skill acquired over time and with frequent use" (Smolenski nd).

New Internet-based information communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to open new information channels to the information-poor rural areas of developing countries. ICTs are based on computers and the communication

networks that connect them (the Internet) are regarded by some as the means to bridge the urbanrural "information gap". ICTs can educate and empower rural farmers and offer limited employment to locals but there are numerous constrains to the development of telecentres and utilization of the computer-based services that they offer.

Most important of these limitations are the lack of information and computer skills in rural areas and the pressing survival needs of rural dwellers that relegate information to a luxury rather than a necessity.

If telecentres are to contribute to information provision in rural areas then they must be multi-purpose and integrated into a comprehensive overall rural development strategy.

Studies (e.g. Kaniki 1989; Karlsson 1995; Leach 1999) have highlighted the short-comings of traditional print- and library-based methods of providing information to rural farmers who are generally illiterate and relatively remote from formal sources of information (e.g. extension stations, libraries).

Proponents of the new ICTs suggest that technology can overcome these barriers by delivering information right to the rural people via 'telecentres' TELECENTRES FOR RURAL INFORMATION DELIVERY New ICTs are usually made available to rural inhabitants at a centralised venue or building, commonly called a Telecentre.

Telecentres ('telecottages', 'telelearning centres, 'virtual village halls') are a relatively new phenomenon. The first telecentres were employed in Denmark and Sweden in 1983/4 and rapidly became popular throughout western Europe, especially the United Kingdom. During the mid and latter half of the 1990's, rural telecentres were increasingly developed in urban and rural areas in The

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developing countries.

A telecentre may offer a variety of communication and electronic services, including telephones, fax, photocopying, printing, computers with word-processing, spreadsheet, scanning and presentation applications, as well as Internet for e-mail and World Wide Web (WWW) access. Connections to libraries, cooperative catalogues and other bibliographic databases may also be available at a telecentre. Other services that could be offered via a telecentre inlude helping clients with various administrative tasks such as filling out forms, preparing a curriculum vitae etc., maintaining a skills/qualification database for potential employees, and training in the use of computers and other technology Areas where ICTs at a telecentre can play an important role in rural development are: Decision-making: Farmers require timely and up-to-date information to make sound decisions.

Such information can be made available via e-mail or the WWW at a telecentre. To be most valuable, this information needs to be offered on a local, or at least regional scale. Computerized decision support systems could be made available at a centre for farmers and development workers to use.

Marketing: Advertising and ordering of produce (usually with off-line transactions) can give communities efficient access to new regional and global markets.

Empowerment: Internet is the first medium that allows every user to be a sender, receiver, narrowcaster and broadcaster. Internet can therefore give communities a "voice" to open up dialogue and interaction with their peers and all other actors in the development process. Communities can also have a say over the form and content of information systems developed to meet their needs.

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Employment: A telecentre, depending on its sophistication, might require a manager, subject matter specialist(s), translator and information technology technicians. Local people could potentially be trained to fulfil one or more of these roles and thereby reduce the flow of human capacity towards urban centres .Telecentres could also provide computer and information skills training to create rural entrepreneurs.

Education: New ICTs have the potential to enhance education

A telecentre may offer a variety of communication and electronic services, including phones, fax, photocopying, printing, computers with word-processing, spreadsheet, scanning and presentation applications, as well as Internet for e-mail through distance learning. Post-literacy material could also be made available to neo-literates via Internet.

CONSTRAINTS TO DEVELOPMENT AND UTILIZATION OF RURAL TELECENTRES Experience with developing telecentres in rural areas has revealed the following limitations and constraints that need to be addressed if telecentres are to contribute positively to food security, increased agricultural production and to rural development in general.

Lack of infrastructure: Electricity to power ICTs is obvious-

ly the primary constraint to developing a telecentre. However generators could be used for limited periods if a local power point is not available.

Additionally, rural areas commonly lack communication (telephone) lines.

Illiteracy: It is frequently maintained that illiteracy is a fundamental barrier to participation in knowledge societies. However, recent research suggests that illiteracy is not a real obstacle to using print material, or text in an electronic format, as someone can usually be found to read for a person or group However, information available on the WWW is mostly in English and text therefore needs to be translated into the local vernacular before presentation to be most effective.

Lack of information skills: Computer-based information systems assume a minimal level of competency of their users but the technological skills and 'information literacy' to make effective use of sophisticated ICTs are particularly low in rural communities It is difficult to find information on the Internet, even for computer-literate users, as information on the Internet is not organise logically or indexed systematically. Information intermediaries are therefore crucial to assist and train telecentre users.

Inappropriate modes of information transfer: Provision of information via Internet is largely oneway, from the source to a passive receiver, offering little or no feedback to the user.

Inequitable information provision: Because effective use of ICTs available in telecentres requires information need(s) awareness and a minimum level of computer and information literacy, there is the danger of telecentre-based information reaching only the most progressive and skilled farmers who know their needs and invest time in learning how to use the new technology.

OFFSHORE SERVICE

KPO BIGGER THAN

BPO Outsource everything that doesn't lead to the top management — Peter F. Drucker BUSINESS Process Outsourcing as a phenomenon and business practice has met with considerable amount of success. Organizations outsource their work for reasons such as cost reduction, access to superior skill sets, focus on core competence, and strategic objectives. Success of BPO has encouraged many firms to outsource their high end work to gain the competitive edge in the marketplace.

The economic success of BPO has encouraged many firms to start offshoring their high-end knowledge intensive work. Apart from cost savings, the companies' off shoring their work also want to leverage the access to specialized knowledge professionals. This trend is now referred to as Knowledge Process Outsourcing or KPO and involves the off shoring of knowledge-intensive business processes that require

large companies. Although these significant domain expertise. firms would like to add to their KPO is the high-end activity of existing knowledge base and marBPO and involves processes that ket intelligence they would not like demand advanced information to invest much in the search, analytical, intersame as justification of pretation and technical investments is often a skills as well as some judgchallenge for the informent and decision makmation managers. ing. Examples of KPO KPO - Moving up the functions are intellectual value chain property or patent Companies like Infosys, research, R&D in pharmaWipro and Satyam ceuticals and biotechnolothrough their quality sergy, data mining, database vice offerings and creation, and a Ms. Sangeeta Yadav cost advantages set range of analytical Fellow Economics the precedents for services such as the ITES sector equity research, acceptability in the global market competitive intelligence, industry place. India has moved up the ladreports and financial modeling. der from mere data entry kind of User Segments work like rule based customer care The typical users of KPO services services and back office operations include investment banks, financial to transaction processing and finalservices institutions, market ly towards knowledge process outresearch and consulting firms, sourcing (KPO) which is an high end industry associations, media, pubactivity involving data analytics, lishing and database firms, and corinformation search, financial and porate planning departments of The

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statistical modeling. This movement upwards in the value chain would lead to increase in profit margins of the BPO firms.

The figure below suggests how complexity levels increase along with the service offerings. India started off at the lowest ladder and is now on the verge of moving to the highest end of the value chain.

The road ahead According to estimates by Evalueserve, in 2003-04, the knowledge process off shoring (KPO) business was worth $720 million out of the total business process outsourcing (BPO) work of $3.6 billion. By 2010, KPO is expected to grow to $12 billion, while the entire BPO pie will be worth $18 billion.

As compared to BPO, KPO has a The

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lower attrition rate - less than 20 per cent whereas the same for BPOs would be over 40 per cent. This can primarily be attributed to job content and the skill set of the employ-

market is poised for an expected CAGR of 46% by 2010.

The following figure demonstrates the expected growth in the BPO and KPO markets over the next seven years.

Source: Evalueserve Growth areas for India ◆ Financial Services (Banking, Insurance) ◆ Hi-Tech (Software, Electronics, Engineering, Networking, Biomedical Engineering) ◆ Telecom Equipment and Operators ◆ Pharmaceuticals and

ees engaged in KPO. The future of KPO Low-end outsourcing services have an expected Cumulative Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26% by 2010. In contrast, the global KPO

Biotech ◆ Chemicals ◆ Energy ◆ Consumer Products In order to provide high-end knowledge services, service

providers would require skilled and professionally qualified employees like engineers, chartered accountants doctors, advocates and management graduates.

Global Scenario India with its firepower of chartered accountants, doctors, MBAs, lawyers and research analysts is certainly going to have a big pie of the global KPO business. Those battling with India will be Russia, China, the Czech Republic, Ireland and Israel. China is likely to get a bigger share of the Japanese and Korean markets due to similarity in language and culture. Russia with its third largest army of engineers and doctors in the world will make a bid to capture the European KPO markets. Close proximity and cultural compatibility will boost its proposition as an attractive near shoring country for European businesses.

According to a report by GlobalSourcingNow, the Global Knowledge Process Outsourcing industry (KPO) is expected to reach USD 17 billion by 2010, of which USD 12 billion would be outsourced to India. In addition, the Indian KPO sector is also expected to employ more than 250,000 KPO profession-

als by 2010, compared with the current figure of 25,000 employees.

Apart from India, countries such as Russia, China, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and Israel are also expected to join the KPO industry.

The challenges in KPO KPO delivers high value to organ-

In 2003-2004 the KPO business was worth $720 million out of the total BPO work of $3.6 billion. By 2010, KPO is expected to grow to $12 billion, while the entire BPO pie will be worth $18 billion isations by providing domain-based processes and business expertise rather than just process expertise.

These processes demand advanced analytical and specialized skill of knowledge workers that have domain experience to their credit.

Therefore, outsourcing of knowledge processes face more challenges than BPO. Some of the challenges involved in KPO will be maintaining higher quality standards, investment in KPO infrastructure, the lack of talent pool, requirement of higher level of control, confidentiality and enhanced risk management.

The major challenge in setting up a KPO will be to find talented workers and workers with specific skill sets. MBAs, CAs, Ph Ds and doctors with super specialization will be in demand. In contrast to BPOs, KPOs require understanding of how a client works. The contracts in the KPO industry will be of much shorter duration. They may range anywhere from three weeks to six months. So, delivering high quality work will be a major challenge.

Several Indian BPOs have recognized this opportunity and are in the process of developing KPO capabilities.

Conclusion If we map the challenges KPO industry poses with respect to capabilities of Indian KPO service providers, it is not surprising that India has been ranked the most preferred KPO destination owing to the country's large talent pool, quality IT training, friendly government policies and low labor costs.

In its recent study — India in the new knowledge economy — CII said the services sector would grow at more than eight percent year on year and India could emerge as a global KPO hub as the business requires specialized knowledge in respective verticals and the country's engineering and technical institutes are geared to address the manpower demand.

All the organizations need to do is to stay competitive through quality service delivery and cost advantages and at the same time harness the large pool of skilled workers the country has to offer.

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MARKET BUZZ

A LOCK, STOCK & BARREL GROWTH A FINANCIAL service is an all has been given on consolidation and encompassing term which covers the restructuring in the broking segment. entire gamut of activities which are As can be seen from Table 1, the involved in transformation of saving number of brokers has come down into investment. Traditionally in from 9,368 to 9,128 from year 20032004 to 2004-2005.

India, the dominant finanCorporate brokers as percial intermediaries have centage of total brokers are been banks and stock increasing. Good performarkets, which have been mance of securities market the chief constituents of has resulted in a signifithe financial services seccant increase (11.65%) in tor. With financial innovathe number of various tion, the distinction other classes of intermedibetween various forms of aries registered with financial intermediaMeena Bhatia SEBI such as registion has been broken trar to an issue and down. While liberalFellow (Finance) share transfer ization of economy rightly removes controls and fosters agents, bankers to an issue, debencompetition in the financial sector, it ture trustees, portfolio managers, does create a need for regulation of underwriters and merchant bankers.

The changes in brokerage services the financial services and intermedithat are bound to happen in the aries.

Over last one-and-a-half decade, future on the basis of current perforstock markets worldwide have grown in size as well as depth. Indian stock markets have graduated to a better position vis- a-vis the securities market in developed and emerging markets. It has grown from strength to strength since liberalization. Market capitalization is an indicator of the same. The market capitalization increased by more than 41% by the end of 2004-2005 for both NSE and BSE over the previous year. It was 23, 22,183 Rs Crore in year 2003-04 & has increased to Rs 32,76,013 crore. In 1998-99 it was only Rs 10, 36,536 crore.

The Indian broking industry has undergone structural changes during the recent years. Greater emphasis The

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mance & expected performance of securities market are as follows: The number of brokers will come down as is supported by graph 1 The nature of ownership will be corporate as is supported by graph 2 Third the services that they will offer will be wider The reasons for this changing face are many. First is the launch of NSE which brought in new technology with itself. Electronic trading has played the biggest role. Among the players who are betting heavily on online trading are ICICI direct and HDFC Securities. In the online model, the physical network is not important, but infrastructures like call-andtrade facilities are essential for making sure that customers stick.

Technology also rendered the regional bourses redundant. Their members had to shift business, shut shop, or become sub-brokers of NSE

or BSE brokers. The obsolescence of the regional bourses encouraged the larger brokers to look at a national play more enthusiastically.

Branding has also become critical because of the impersonal nature of online trading. Firms try to cut through the clutter with the help of a differential. Smaller players have found it difficult to cope with the expenses of research, investor seminars, and aggressive advertising things that are commonplace in today's broking business.

Clearly, such positioning and the required investments are out of bounds for smaller players. Motilal Oswal which is a big brokerage house offers research services and the service is branded as 'Inquire'.

Big players have also been aggressive in marketing their online offerings.

NSE also resulted in bringing down the brokerage commission. Broking commissions have come down (from 1% to about 0.5% in five-six years), making the survival of independent brokers difficult.

The policy changes has resulted in lower margins & increased competition. To survive in this kind of market a broker need to increase its volume.

To increase volume, the broker needs to have (i) various branch offices in different parts of the coun-

try so that they can tap retail investors. (ii) Need to venture into other services like portfolio management, equity advisory, commodities trading, derivatives trading, depository services, IPO-funding and investment, distribution of insurance and mutual fund products, wealth management etc.

High net worth individuals (HNIs) are offered premium service, which gives them access to qualified relationship managers (RMs) who handle specific accounts and give person-

alised advice.

As SEBI has become stringent, the smaller players are facing extra costs.

Tightening compliance and risk management norms, which have become tougher of late, has increased business costs like support staff.

References 1.Raghunathan V (1991), Stock Exchanges and Investments: Straight Answers to 100 Nagging Questions, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi, p. 176.

2.G.V.Ramakrishna, Two score and ten, Academic foundation 3.MY Khan, Financial services Tata Mcgraw Hill 3rd edition 4.Bal Krishan, SS Narta, Security markets in India, Kanishka Publishers 5.http://www.nseindia.com/ 6.www.bseindia.com 7.www.sebi.gov.in 8.http://icmr.icfai.org/casestudies/cat alogue/Finance/FINC036.htm 9. http://www.writerstoyou.com/bo oks/readonline.asp?bookid=3353&lo cid=3144&user=1559&title=Aman++ srivastava+%2D+Indian+Capital+Ma rket%3AAn+Overview

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HELPING HAND

MICRO FINANCE IS MACRO A FINANCIAL service for poor people in developing countries is known as microfinance. This paper will deal with issues in micro finance especially focusing on rural sector.

In India, over 200 million people (36% of the rural population) do not have access to a bank. Although India has more microfinance organizations than any other, these programs only reach a small percentage of needy households.

The rest have no alternative but to borrow funds from the local moneylenders whose exorbitant interest rates reinforce the indebtedness that contributes to a lifetime of poverty. Basic life and property insurance is rarely available.

Home loans are costly, if indeed they can be found at all.

There are various issues which scuttle the overall growth of the financial service sector in rural areas. The Government is often inept in maintaining the necessary legal framework for financial services.

Essential property laws are absent which can help poor to borrow funds by using their assets as collateral for loans.

Corruption is prevalent which raises the cost of financial transaction. Basic infrastructure and public services are not available which add to the bu den on financial firms. The firms do not have any information about the financial status of their clients. Also most of the financial institutions have simply dismissed the possibility that serving the rural areas might be a viable business.

Micro Finance Institutions for rural sectors present in India For a long time, India has been supporting social banking. Numerous policies have been made to expand rural branches, mandatory limits have been set for credit allocations to priority sectors including agriculture, a large number of subsidy oriented credit programs The

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Sweta Gupta Faculty Associate - Finance

have been structured to serve minority communities and poor households and interest rates have been regulated for over 35 years.

The micro finance service providers in India include apex institutions like National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), and, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK). At the retail level, Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks, and, Cooperative banks provide micro finance services. Today, there are about 60,000 retail credit outlets of the formal banking sector in the rural areas comprising 12,000 branches of district level cooperative banks, over 14,000 branches of the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and over 30,000 rural and semi-urban branches of commercial banks besides almost 90,000 cooperatives credit societies at the village level.

Thrust areas According to the report of Micro Banking Bulletin, 63 of the world's top Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) had an average rate of return of about 2.5 per cent of the total assets after adjusting for inflation and taking out subsidies programs. This measures favorably with returns of the commercial banking sector and gives hope that microfinance are almost as attractive as mainstream retail banking sector. In addition to this, many feel that once microfinance becomes regularized, there will be massive growth in the numbers of clients.

Some of the questions as listed below needs discussion How to link microfinance to rural entrepreneurs?

What would it take to foster sustainable access to microfinance in the rural areas of developing countries?

How can we particularly ensure access by rural women to micro credit?

What other products and services

are required to foster growth of micro enterprise in rural areas?

Penetration Micro finance institutions need to penetrate the different sectors of the society. The three basic dimensions: depth (reaching the very poor), extent (significant scale), and service quality requires the main attention. For example in Bolivia, one MFI is providing ATM-enabled banking services to Bolivians that do not have access to the traditional banking system. PRODEM FFP was established as an NGO in 1986

by ACCION International. Since 1999, it has been a regulated, privately held financial fund focused on bringing microfinance services to underserved communities in rural areas.

Operational Efficiency: In order to cater a range of customer's operational efficiency requires great focus. It required training for an efficient service delivery by use of technology, information system and staff development. IT also allows microfinance organizations to increase their efficiency, thereby lowering their overhead costs, and helping them to achieve sustainability. The Dhan Foundation, for example, is streamlining its microfinance activities using a combination of handhelds and smart cards.

The technology results in time savings for loan officers, while also ensuring more accurate accounting and record keeping. Because all the information is stored on a smart card, field officers can make decisions on the spot, reducing the number of visits required to complete a transaction.

Swayamkrushi, a women's lending co-operative in India, has also experienced an increase in efficiency since it computerized its operations. In addition, the computers used in the microfinance operations are being used by members to access the Internet, providing additional benefits to the women.

More Value Added Products: The range of the services or the products offered by the institutions is important in the context of rural setting.

The introduction of rainfall insurance

Micro finance institutions need to penetrate the different sectors of the society. The three basic dimensions: depth (reaching the very poor), extent (significant scale), and service quality requires the main attention

by BASIX was the first weather insurance initiative ever launched in India and in fact, in the entire developing world. The initiative actually followed a study to explore the viability of weather insurance for Indian farmers in the context of extending financial outreach by reducing exposure to weather risk.

In response to this study, BASIX, in collaboration with ICICI Lombard and with technical assistance from the Commodity Risk Management of the World Bank, piloted the sale of rainfallindexed weather insurance to 230 farmers in the Mehboobnagar district of Andhra Pradesh during the monsoon season of 2003.

Within a span of three years, this pilot program has become a full-scale weather insurance programme. In the monsoon of 2005, BASIX sold 7,685 policies to 6,703 customers in 36 locations across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa.

More importantly, the 2003 pilot has sparked an interest in weather insurance per se, with now even the government-owned Agricultural Insurance Company and IFFCO-TOKYO General Insurance Company offering the weather insurance products. The rapid scaling up by BASIX and product replication by other insurance companies proves both the viability of such a product and the existence of demand for the same.

References: http://www.sidbi.com http://www.digitaldividend.org http://www.statistics.gov.uk http://www.economist.com, "The hidden wealth of the poor" November 03, 2005 http://www.thehindubusinessline.com, "Microfinance: Banking for the poor, not poor banking" By Y.S.P. Thorat and Graham A. N. Wright, March 15, 2005. http://www.uncdf.org USAID, Maximizing the Outreach of Microenterprise Finance: The Emerging Lessons of Successful Programs. 1995 http://www.ruralfinance.org/ The

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INTERVIEW You have worked hard to reach where you have. ICICI now is said to be reckoning force in India.How do you feel today?

I feel good . Twenty-one years back, I joined ICICI as a trainee and felt very fortunate and privileged. In these years, there have been many triumphs, so altogether it has been an enriching experience. In fact working for so long in the same organization has been a learning experience.

You have looked after different operations in ICICI, especially Retail and Corporate banking. Which of these has been greater experience for you?

I spent 15 years in corporate banking and for the past six years, I have been working in retail. I learnt a lot from both but I find retail more challenging and exciting.

ICICI is a big institute in retail financing. What factors have contributed to this?

There are many factors responsible for this, like economic development of India, increase in income levels etc. ICICI has its branches in 1500 cities which provide retail financing services and don't charge high interest rates for loans.

Do you think retail financing is more difficult as you are more closely involved with customers?

Definitely difficult because in corporate banking we had around 1000 customers but in retailing we have over 15 million customers. So it was a thrilling experience for me.

You have been working in ICICI from the beginning. Have you ever faced gender bias here?

Never. In ICICI there is no such thing as gender bias. Work here is merit oriented. The organization considers only those employees who are deserving and like challenges.

The rewards given are completely performance based.

How do people react to you as woman boss?

In ICICI, it is a way of life and not The

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Chanda Kochar, Executive Director of Retail Banking, ICICI Bank, was recently adjudged one of the most powerful women in the world by Fortune magazine.

On behalf of CNBC Pratibha Advani talks to this woman on top

‘EXCEL IN WHATEVER YOU DO’ a topic of discussion. It is the individuals who matter, not their gender.

There have been so many women on the top in the banking sector, which was not the case before. What has contributed to this shift?

Women can do as well as men because of their versatile character they can adapt quickly to any role.

You said that women cherish any kind of job but how is it possible to balance both personal and professional life?

I feel I have been able to balance between family and profession. It is not easy but it is possible. I just have to prioritize every minute of day and plan accordingly.

We have discussed how women have attained high positions in the banking sector. Did you feel any pressure in terms of not being able to achieve targets?

Every new job is a challenge.

When I was told that I have to shift

from corporate banking to retail, I found that very tough. When I joined ICICI, only 2% of it operations dealt with retail banking but now the share has risen to 65%. I believe nothing is tough in life but you should work hard towards your goals.

For so many years, retail banking has been seeing a boom. Will it grow more or has it peaked?

Retail has to still grow in India as it is very necessary for the economic development of India. With cautious lending and strong risk management we can grow in this sector.India has to still undergo large development.

Your will to succeed was there when you were little girl?

I always had a passion to excel in whatever I do.

What were your childhood dreams?

As a student, I wanted to join the Indian Administrative Services.

But before you joined ICICI you had no background of Finance...

No. How did you feel when you shifted from Jaipur to Mumbai? Was it a major shift for you?

Yes , it was a major shift.The lifestyles were totally different.

What was the first difference to strike you ?

The first major difference I felt was that in Jaipur everyone knew each other which was not the case in Mumbai.

How did you enter the field of finance?

I had started studying finance as I was inclined to do business management from Jamna Lal Bajaj institute.

You parents never pressurized you to concentrate on administrative services?

My parents supported all my decisions. They never interfered. They taught me to be independent and gave me the freedom to chart my career.

You have a sister and a brother.

Have you ever felt that your parents were more partial to your brother?

We have all been treated equally.

My eldest sister is a doctor. This would not have been possible without the help of my parents.

In Jamana Lal Bajaj you got a gold medal and then ICICI picked you up.

What was your experience?

ICICI never went to any campus for recruitment. They used to hire only institute toppers. I had two interviews before I was selected.

In the starting what did you do there exactly?

Intially, I was involved in a lot of activities ranging from finance, textile projects to project appraisals.

You have been there for 21 years.

Were you comfortable with the working atmostphere or you felt you should try something else in life?

There were many opportunities outside ICICI but I felt that it's a wonderful place to work.

Never felt you should try something

else?

Within ICICI there were a lot of opportunities. There was always excitement around the workplace.

You have always said that after every successful women , there is a strong family backing . We now know that your parents were a big support. Now that you are married and have a family of your own, how are you able to find time for your family?

In my family life, I could not give the time a homemaker should give.

But fortunately, my husband understands and feels for my success and growth. He is the first person to gift me on my success. I have a daughter

Retail has to still grow in India as it is very necessary for the economic development of India.

With cautious lending and strong risk management we can grow in this sector.India has to still undergo large development who is 18 and son who is 10 and they both enjoy my success.

Does it happen that you are sometimes traveling and are not able to reach on time?

It happens many times that I am traveling and miss my children's school functions. But if my son is playing a cricket match and if it is possible for me to come out of office early I go to watch it.

How did you react when you were named as one of the most powerful women in world by Fortune magazine?

Very happy.

You have achieved a lot in your life but what is your aim in life?

My aim is to perform and enjoy every moment of life. I feel, I can still

learn more.

What do you do in your free time?

You were a part of dramatics club in college. Are you still pursuing it?

I don't have any free time because my appointment diary is always full.

But dramatics was not limited to college. I performed not only in India but also abroad.

Do you like reading?

I like reading before sleeping.

What do you read, finance related books or something else?

No, I read books, magazines other than finance as well. I read Stardust, Femina or any other magazine you can think of.

Are you able to go to a theatre to watch movies?

I go for late night shows of Hindi movies. I have no problem going late at night as I have a movie hall nearby.

What is your favourite pastime?

Going for dinners with family or any other outing with the family.

You liked playing badminton?

I used to play badminton but nowadays, I don't get time to pursue it as whatever free time I get, I spend with family.

Any regrets?

Absolutely no regrets. I believe if you live with regrets you will not be able to move forward in life.

Whatever I do is my choice. If I am not able to play badminton than that is my choice.

Do you believe in God? Without the presence of God nothing is possible.

Would you like your daughter to follow in your footsteps. How do you inspire her?

My husband and I have put no pressure on her and she can choose whatever career she wants to pursue. We just want her to excel in whatever she does.

Any advice for women?

They should excel in both professional and personal life. It is not tough, if we plan. Don't do one at the cost of other.

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QUOTE UNQUOTE

GLOBAL INDIANS This section is about 20 Indians who excelled in their respective field of activity. Many achievers have been left out because of space constraints. These Indians have made a global impact. And their Indian roots have played a decisive role in their achievements. These Indians are enriching the world with their excellence and achievements V S NAIPAUL Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was born in 1932 in Trinidad to immigrants from the north of India. At age 18, Naipaul travelled to England where, after studying at the University College at Oxford, he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1953. Apart from a few years in the middle of the 1950s, when he was employed by the BBC as a free-lance journalist, he has devoted himself entirely to his writing.

Naipaul's works consist mainly of novels and short stories, but also include some that are documentary. A few years after the publication of his first work, The Mystic Masseur (1957), came what is considered by many to be one of his most outstanding novels, A House for Mr. Biswas (1961). Naipaul’s writings describe with increasing pessimism the deleterious impact of colonialism and emerging nationalism on the third world.

V S Naipaul has been awarded several literary prizes, among them the Booker Prize in 1971 and the T S Eliot Award for Creative Writing in 1986. He is an honorary doctor of St. Andrew's College and Columbia University and of the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. In 1990, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.

ZUBIN MEHTA Born in Bombay, India, Zubin Mehta grew up in a musical environment. His father Mehli Mehta, founded the Bombay Symphony and is currently Music Director of the American Youth Symphony in Los The

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Angeles. Despite this musical influence, Zubin's initial field of study was medicine.

At 18, he left his medical career to attend the Academy of Music in Vienna.

Seven years later, he conducted both the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics. He was appointed Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1962, a post he retained until 1978. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra appointed Zubin Mehta Music Director for Life in 1981.

1978 marked the year Maestro Mehta became the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. During his 13 years in New York, he conducted over 1,000 concerts, thus holding the position longer than any Music Director in the Orchestra's modern history. One of the many highlights for Zubin took place in 1988, when the orchestra embarked on a 10-day tour of the Soviet Union. This culminated in an historic joint concert with the State Symphony Orchestra of the Soviet Ministry of Culture, in Moscow's Gorky Park. Mehta realized a long-time ambition in 1994, when he brought the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to India.

VINOD DHAM Indian born Vinod Dham arrived in the US on an engineering scholarship at the University of Cincinnati In 1975. His first job at NCR was in 1977 working for a memory design group. Impressed with his paper on reprogramable memory, Intel took him on. As leader of Intel's Pentium team in the early 90s he earned the sobriquet of "Father of the Pentium." Later, he quit to join a start

up, Nexgen which targeted the Intelclone market and was later acquired

by Advanced Micro Devices in 1995 for about $500 million.

Three years later, AMD's K6 chip, based on the Nexgen technology, has become a major irritant for Intel. These two achievements alone have made Dham a star in the clandestine world of chip design. He then, turned his back on the PC world and left AMD. Dham says he quit Intel to work with Nexgen and after AMD bought Nexgen he found himself working for another big company. Silicon Spice, a Mountain View, Calif. startup started in March 1997 focuses on communications chips seems to suit Vinod Dham just fine. "Silicon Spice is developing a radically new communications technology," Dham said in a statement.

"I chose to join Silicon Spice due to the potential it offers in the emerging communication-centric information industry." Vinod Dham, a man who has made a career out of microprocessors, is no longer interested in microprocessors. He is now interested in communications processors. With demand for communications-related chips growing at 20% per annum, Dham & Silicon Spice's three co-founders want a piece of the pie. Last year, $16 billion worth of communications chips were sold around the world. "The microprocessor business has become less interesting business to me," says Dham. In his opinion, the Internet is the mother of all killer applications, which could utilize most computing power if there

were no bandwidth bottleneck.

Anyone, who can help unclog this bottleneck, holds the key to a multibilliondollar bounty. The hardware is far ahead of the current computing requirements.

V S RAMACHANDRAN V S Ramachandran is Director of the Centre for Brain and Cognition and professor with the Psychology Department and the Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor of Biology at the Salk Institute.

Ramachandran trained as a Physician and obtained an MD from Stanley Medical College, Chennai, India and subsequently a PhD from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he was elected a senior Rouse Ball Scholar. Ramachandran's early research was on visual perception but he is best known for his work in Neurology.

He has received many honours and awards including a fellowship from All Souls College, Oxford, an honorary doctorate from Connecticut College, a Gold medal from the Australian National University, the Ariens Kappers Medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences, for landmark contributions in neuroscience and the presidential lecture award from the American Academy of Neurology.

Ramachandran has published over 120 papers in scientific journals (including three invited review articles in the Scientific American), is Editor-inchief of the Encyclopedia of Human Behaviour and author of the critically acclaimed book Phantoms in the Brain that has been translated into eight languages and formed the basis for a two part series on Channel Four TV and a 1 hour PBS special in the US. Newsweek recently named him a member of "The Century Club", one of the "hundred most prominent people to watch in the next century."

SUMANTRA GHOSHAL Described by The Economist as a Euroguru, Sumantra Ghoshal is recognized worldwide for his original research and teaching on strategic, organizational and managerial issues confronting global companies.

Providing bold and accurate announcements on the new era of globalisation, Prof Ghoshal is sought after to catalyze organizations with transformation process.

He holds doctoral degrees in Management from both MIT and Harvard.

Presently he holds the Robert P. Bauman Chair in Strategic Leadership at the London Business School and is the founding Dean of the Indian School of Business.

His most recent book, Managing Radical Change, explores the key factors of some organisations to achieve radical improvement and surf a rapidly changing business environment. His has published numerous award winning articles and books, including a series in the Harvard Business Review on the Changing Role of Top Management that looked at how leaders can unleash the human spirit which makes initiatives, creativity and entrepreneurship possible.

(He has passed away)

SALMAN RUSHDIE Salman Rushdie was born in Mumbai on 19 June 1947. After graduating, he lived with his family which had moved to Pakistan in 1964 and worked briefly in television before returning to England as a copywriter for an advertising agency.

His first novel, Grimus, was published in 1975. His second novel, the acclaimed Midnight's Children, came in 1981. It won the Booker Prize for Fiction and in 1993 was judged to have been the 'Booker of Bookers', the best novel to win the Booker Prize for Fiction in the award's

25-year history. Rushdie's third novel, Shame (1983), which many critics saw as an allegory of the political situation in Pakistan, won the Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and was short listed for the Booker Prize for Fiction. The publication in 1988 of The Satanic Verses leads to accusations of blasphemy against Islam and demonstrations by Islamist groups in India and Pakistan. The orthodox Iranian leadership issued a fatwa against Rushdie on February 14, 1989 — effectively a sentence of death — and he was forced into hiding under the protection of the British government and police.

SABEER BHATIA When he was only 28, Sabeer Bhatia got a call from Bill Gates who wanted to buy his company.

A month after Bhatia walked away from the table, Microsoft ponied up $400 million for his startup.

Today Hotmail, the ubiquitous Webbased e-mail service, boasts 50 million subscribers — one quarter of all Internet users. Bhatia is worth $200 million and was born in Bangalore. In 1988, Bhatia won a full scholarship to the California Institute of Technology. Here, he became fascinated with the idea of applying Internet to communication. It was called Javasoft — a way of using the web to create a personal database where surfers could keep schedules, to-do lists, family photos and so on. Bhatia showed the plan to Jack Smith, an Apple colleague and they got started. One evening Smith called Bhatia with an intriguing notion.

Why not add e-mail to Javasoft? It was a small leap with revolutionary consequences: Access to e-mail from any computer, anywhere on the planet. This was that rare thing, an idea so simple, it was hard to believe no one had thought of it before. Bhatia panicked that someone would steal the idea. He sat up all night writing the business plan. "Then we wrote down all variations of mail Speedmail, Hypermail, Supermail."

Hotmail made perfect sense: it included The

Edge 39

the letters "html" - the programming language used to write Web pages. A brand name was born. Bhatia had $6,000 to his name. By the time he reached the offices of venture capitalists Draper Fisher Jurvetson, 19 doors had slammed behind him. Steve Jurvetson and his colleagues saw the potential and put up $300,000.

By year-end they were greeting their millionth customer. When Microsoft came knocking, 12 months later, they'd signed up 10 million users.

RAJAT GUPTA Rajat Gupta was born in Kolkata on December 2, 1948.

Rajat was an outstanding student at Modern School, Delhi. His father died when he was 16 and his mother two years later. He ranked 15th in the IIT Entrance Examination of 1966 and got an IIT Delhi scholarship. He obtained his B.Tech in mechanical engineering in 1971. Very soon after he came to USA and enrolled in the prestigious Harvard University Business School on a scholarship. He obtained his MBA in 1973. He had said in an interview that Harvard was easy for him because of the excellent education he had received at IIT. His colleagues at Harvard described him as an excellent student who could see the big picture. He joined McKinsey in 1973 and never looked back. In 1994, he was elected CEO of McKinsey. He was the first Indian to successfully break through the "glass ceiling". Since joining the firm, Gupta has directed several projects aimed at helping companies develop new strategies. Gupta is Chairman of the Board of the Indian School of Business and recently was nominated co-chairman of the United Nations Association of the USA.

RAGHURAM RAJAN Raghuram Rajan, an Indian analyst, is the International Monetary Fund’s new chief economist. Professor of Finance at the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, he is the first person of The

40 Edge

Indian origin chosen

by IMF for this post.

Rajan is not only the youngest individual to hold this position but also the first from a developing nation.

An engineer from IIT, Delhi, Rajan did his Masters in Business Administration from IIM-A followed by a PhD form MIT in 1991. Now at a young 40, Rajan's rise in academia has been spectacular. Coauthor of Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists (2003), Rajan has sought to steer clear of the ideological position espoused by the extreme-right Chicago school of economists. Though he is a firm believer in the virtues of a free market system, he has been critical of capitalists who "in their continuous quest for government protection against competition often turn out to be capitalism's worst enemies." An expert on comparative financial systems, the IMF managing director Horst Koehler described him as being "at the forefront of work on banking and financial sector issues."

L N MITTAL Kolkata-born Laksmi Niwas Mittal is a 48year- old Londonbased industrialist, a Forbes 100 billionaire and the richest Indian in the world.

Mittal inherited the foreign operations of the family business and built it into a global steel conglomerate. The companies in the LNM Ispat Group, of which Mittal is the controlling shareholder, include Ispat International N V, Ispat Karmet and Ispat Indo. Although steel manufacturing remains the group's mainstream business, Mittal has been diversifying into shipping and has ventured into coal, power and oil enterprises in Kazakhstan. Ispat Indo in Indonesia was Mittal’s first venture.

A single site rod mill established as a green field project in 1976, Ispat Indo later became the country's largest privately owned steel company. Its success

helped establish a platform for rapid global expansion in the steel industry, which until then had been almost entirely national. With Mittal buying the Chicagobased Inland Steel, the Ispat International group became the world's third largest producer of steel. His steel journey has been remarkable. His greatest coup was when he snapped up the loss-making Sibalsa Mill in Mexico for $220 million in 1992. His mills in Trinidad and Canada and Ispat Mexicana gave him a strong base in North America. In the last decade, Mittal gobbled up steel plants around the world. He has moved from Algeria to South Africa to Romania and the Czech Republic, grabbing nationalised rustbuckets which other steelmakers were afraid to touch. In 2001, the LNM Group took a 70 per cent stake in Algerian company Ispat Annaba.

Similarly, it has a 47 per cent stake in Iscor, a South African steel company. In end-January 2006, steel magnate, L N Mittal launched his most ambitious takeover attempt ever, when he announced a $ 23 billion bid for Arcelor, the world's second-largest steel maker.

Mittal is the largest steel maker in the world.

PROF JAGDISH BHAGWATI Jagdish Bhagwati, Professor at Columbia University, was born in 1934 and raised in India.

He graduated from Cambridge University in 1956 with a first in Economics Tripos. He studied at MIT and Oxford, returning to India in 1961 as Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute and then as Professor of International Trade at the Delhi School of Economics. He returned to MIT in 1968, leaving it 12 years later as the Ford International Professor of Economics to join Columbia University.

Professor Bhagwati has also served as Economic Policy Advisor to DirectorGeneral, GATT (1991-1993), as Special Adviser to the UN on Globalisation and

as External Adviser to the WTO (20022003). He has published more than 300 articles and 45 volumes. Regarded as one of the foremost international trade theorists of his generation, he has also made contributions to development theory and policy, public finance, immigration, and to the new theory of political economy. His writings on public policy have been published by MIT Press. A Stream of Windows: Unsettling Reflections on Trade, Immigration and Democracy (1998) won him the prestigious Eccles Prize for Excellence in Economic Writing. He is a Director, National Bureau of Economic Research. In 1971, Professor Bhagwati founded Journal of International Economics, the premier journal in the field today, and Economics & Politics in 1989.

INDRA NOOYI President and Chief Financial Officer, PepsiCo, Indira Nooyi has been ranked by Fortune magazine as one of the most powerful women in American business. Born in Madras, India, Ms. Nooyi credits her middle-class Hindu family life for establishing her habits of discipline and hard work, especially for her commitment to education. She received her BS degree from Madras Christian College and went on to earn an MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata. Her career began as a product manager at Johnson & Johnson in India, before she emigrated to the US in 1978 to attend Yale University where, on the way to earning a Master's Degree in public and private management, she worked midnight to 5 am as a receptionist to support herself.

The qualities that distinguish her successful leadership style are qualities central to and cultivated by liberal arts education.

Her intelligence and analytical ability, recognized by the Boston Consulting Group as her first corporate employer after Yale, led to ever-increasing responsibility for

corporate strategy and planning, next as Vice-President at Motorola Incorporated and then at Asea Brown Boveri. In 1994, she came to PepsiCo, assisting Roger Enrico in an in-depth economic analysis, which led to divestiture and acquisitions widely credited to have transformed PepsiCo for the 21st century. Linking indepth analyses to envisioning possibilities is one of Indra Nooyi's greatest strengths and is especially emblematic of the liberal arts. Balancing the many dimensions of a rich life is a major goal of the liberal arts and an important quality of Indra Nooyi's life. While in college, Indra played lead guitar for an all-girl rock band and she still plays the electric guitar and listens to rock and roll and jazz. According to Business Week magazine, "her promotion to president of PepsiCo is a testament to her ability to balance a highpowered career with a family and her Hindu heritage." Married and the mother of two teenage daughters, her lifestyle is a mix of family and work, of east and west.

FAREED ZAKARIA Fareed Zakaria is editor of Newsweek International which has a global readership of 3.5 million and editions distributed in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Africa. He also writes a column that appears in the national edition of Newsweek, Newsweek International and, often, The Washington Post, making it one of the most widely circulated columns of its kind in the world.

He is the author of The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (April 2003), a book on global political trends, and From Wealth to Power, a provocative examination of America's role on the world stage, which has been translated into several languages. Describing him as "the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation," Esquire named him "one of the 21 most important people of the

21st Century." Fareed Zakaria was born in India. " I grew up in this world where everything seemed possible," Zakaria says of his childhood in Bombay. Zakaria's father, a leading journalist, and his mother, who edited the Sunday Times of India, "knew everybody," Zakaria says. "We saw the best architects, government officials and poets all the time. Nothing seemed out of your reach. "He has a B.A. from Yale (in history) and a Ph.D. from Harvard (in international relations). In 1992, at 28, Zakaria became managing editor of Foreign Affairs, the leading journal of international politics and economics — a position he held through 2000.

DEEPAK CHOPRA Deepak Chopra has written more than 25 books which have been translated into 35 languages. He is also the author of more than 100 audio and videotape series, including five critically acclaimed programs on public television. In 1999 Time magazine selected Dr. Chopra as one of the Top 100 Icons and Heroes of the century, describing him as "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine." Chopra weaves Hindu tenets into strains of quantum physics and biology. The result is a mesmerizing discourse on how we can "reinterpret our bodies" to slow aging and cure disease, discover God, live in harmony and accumulate wealth. In short, we create our own reality. Since the early 1980's Chopra has successfully combined his impeccable credentials as a practicing endocrinologist with his exploration of mind/body medicine. By doing so, he has dramatically influences many in traditional medical circles and helped bring the enormous benefits of holistic medicine to the general public's attention. Deepak Chopra graduated from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. In 1984, he helped introduce Ayurvedic medicine to the United States and was also the founding President of the American Association of Ayurvedic Medicine. He has emerged as one of the The

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world's leading proponents of this innovative combination of Eastern and Western healing.

C K PRAHALAD K Prahalad professor of corporate strategy and international business at the University of Michigan and an independent consultant. Prahalad is known for the work he has conducted with fellow strategy expert Gary Hamel.

This includes articles The Core Competence of the Corporation (Harvard Business Review, May-June, 1990), Competing in the New Economy: Managing Out of Bounds (Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, No. 3, March, 1996) as well as the bestselling book Competing for the Future: Breakthrough Strategies for Seizing Control of Your Industry and Creating the Markets of Tomorrow (1994).

Prahalad's current research interests include the strategic management of large diversified corporations and the role of top management.

ARUN SARIN The almost unknown Arun Sarin is the boss of Britain's second largest company — Vodafone.

Vodafone's chairman Lord MacLaurin called him "an extremely good strategic thinker". He has an extensive inside knowledge of the mobile phone industry. Born in India in 1954 into an Army family and a graduate from IIT-Kharagpur, he started his career in the wireless industry at Pacific Telesis Group in the early 1980s. Ten years later he was well positioned within its AirTouch business when Pacific Telesis demerged the mobile phone operator. In fact it was Vodafone which emerged the stronger company. The tech stock boom of the late 1990s allowed Sir Christopher to launch an audacious ÂŁ40bn takeover The

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of AirTouch. Sarin took over the combined group's businesses in the US and Australasia and in 1999 was the Britain's highest paid director with a package worth over ÂŁ21m.

ARUN NETRAVALI Arun Netravali, the ninth president in Bell Labs' history, was also Lucent's chief technology officer and chief network architect during his tenure.

Netravali, now Lucent's chief scientist, continues to work with the academic and investment communities to identify new technologies that will be relevant to Lucent's mission, and acts as an advisor to Lucent's senior management on technical and customer issues. Under Netravali's leadership, the speed with which Lucent moved its innovations from lab to market increased dramatically, as he fostered stronger partnerships between Bell Labs and Lucent's businesses, without sacrificing technical excellence.

Dr. Netravali is regarded as a pioneer in the field of digital technology and led the research and development of Bell Labs' high definition television (HDTV) effort.

He has authored more than 170 technical papers and co-authored three books: Digital Picture Representation and Compression, (Plenum, 1987), Visual Communications Systems, (IEEE Press, 1989) and Digital Video: An Introduction to MPEG-2, (Chapman and Hall, 1996).

He holds more than 70 patents in the areas of computer networks, human interfaces to machines, picture processing and digital television. In 2001, he also received from the Indian government the Padma Bhushan Award, the nation's third highest civilian honor.

Dr. Netravali is a member of Tau Beta Phi and Sigma Xi, a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and AAAS and a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering.

For his scientific achievements, he has received numerous awards, including the

Alexander Graham Bell Medal (1991).

He received his undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, India, and master's and doctorate degrees from Rice University in Houston, Texas, all in electrical engineering. He holds an honorary doctorate from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne, Switzerland.

AMARTYA SEN He was born in Dhaka - now the capital of Bangladesh. Started his education at Santiniketan, he studied at Presidency College in Calcutta and then at Trinity College in Cambridge, and he had taught at universities in both these cities, and also at Delhi University, the London School of Economics, Oxford University, and Harvard University.

It may be a slight exaggeration to claim that "Welfare Economics" is but a synonym for Amartya Sen, but few economists have taken that field as far, as seriously and as profoundly as Sen. He is one of the few modern academics that have commanded much respect and recognition from all corners of the intellectual spectrum. Sen received Nobel prize for economics 1n 1998, for his work on social choice theory.

He embraced social choice theory and economic development - breaking the barrier between mathematized "high theory" and "real-world" economics.

Amartya Sen, has helped give voice to the world's poor. In a lifetime of careful scholarship, Sen has repeatedly returned to a basic theme: even impoverished societies can improve the well-being of their least advantaged members. Societies that attend to the poorest of the poor can save their lives, promote their longevity and increase their opportunities through education and productive work. Societies that neglect the poor, on the other hand, may inadvertently allow millions to die of famine--even in the middle of an economic boom, as occurred during the great famine in Bengal, India, in 1943,

the subject of Sen's most famous case study...Sen [delivers a] powerful message: annual income growth is not enough to achieve development. Societies must pay attention to social goals as well, always leaning toward their most vulnerable citizens, and overcoming deep-rooted biases to invest in the health and well-being of girls as well as boys.

AMAR GOPAL BOSE Bose's father, Nani Gopal Bose had to flee Calcutta due to his activities against the British Rulers.

Amar Bose was born and raised in Philadelphia. From his teenage days, Bose was interested in electronics and was used to make small electrical toys to supplement his family's income. He went on to study Electrical Engineering at MIT. After completing his Ph.D. from MIT, he started doing research on speaker technology in 1956. Actually it started while doing graduate work at MIT in the 1950s, Dr. Bose decided to purchase a new stereo system. He was disappointed to find that speakers with impressive technical specifications failed to reproduce the realism of a live performance. He aimed to design a speaker that would emulate the symphony hall experience in the home. His speaker system was one of the first to make use of sound reflecting off walls and the ceiling.

In 1964 he founded Bose Corporation when he was teaching at MIT and the rest is history. In the initial years, sometimes Bose did not pay himself a salary and worked at night.

Currently Bose Corporation employs around 6,000 people and is a pioneering name in audio speaker technology. The word Bose has become a symbol for quality and technical innovations in the world of audio systems.

SWARAJ PAUL Lord Swaraj Paul is a Britain based business magnate a philanthropist. Swaraj Paul founded the multinational company Caparo- the UK-based steel and engineer-

ing group. Swaraj Paul went to Britain in 1966 and started his business in 1968.

From acquiring one steel unit, he went on to acquire more units and founded the Caparo group in the year 1978.

Swaraj Paul's company developed into one of the leading producers of welded steel tube and spiral welded pipe in the UK. He was knighted by the British Queen in the year 1978 and became the Lord Paul of Marylebone and a member of the House of Lords.

Swaraj Paul was born in Jalandhar in 1931. His father ran a small foundry, making steel buckets and farming equipments. Swaraj Paul was educated at the Punjab University and later obtained a Master's degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, US. On his return to India, Swaraj joined the Apeejay Surendra Group, which his father had founded. It was a twist of fate that he had to visit London to get his daughter cured of leukemia. But this trip made him stay in London forever. He stepped down from the management of the Caparo group in 1996, handing over his empire to his three sons. Despite being one of the richest persons in UK, Lord Paul lives a simple life. He has written the biography of Indira Gandhi and was awarded the Padma Bhushan by her in 1983. He was also bestowed with many prestigious honors including the Pro-Chancellorship of the Thames University (1998) and its Governorship (1992-97), Chancellorship of Wolver Hampton University and the Bharat Gaurav award by the Indian Merchant's Chamber.

AMITAV GHOSH Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta. His father was in the Indian army. Amitav Ghosh did schooling from the Doon school, Dehra Dun. He completed his graduation from St. Stephens College, Delhi University. After leaving St. Stephen's with a B.A. in History in 1976, he obtained an M.A. in Sociology from the Delhi University in 1978. He went to

St. Edmund Hall, Oxford pursue postgraduate work and in 1979 obtained a diploma in social anthropology. He also spent some time at Tunis where he learnt Arabic. Amitav Ghosh was awarded his Oxford D. Phil. in Social Anthropology for his thesis on "Kinship in Relation to the Economic and Social Organization of an Egyptian Village Community" in 1981. Amitav Ghosh lives in New York with his wife, Deborah Baker, the author of In Extreme: The Life of Laura Riding (1993) and a senior editor at Little Brown and Co., and his children Leela and Nayan. Amitav Ghosh is a world renowned novelist and author. In his writings, Amitav Ghosh demonstrates the mixture and interstitial nature of cultures, as expressed through language. He endeavors to recuperate the silenced voices of those not represented in the historical record. He has held academic positions at a number of universities, including the Delhi University and the Columbia University. At present Ghosh is a distinguished professor at the Queens College, New York University. Amitav Ghosh has received numerous awards for his works. Some of these awards are Prix Medicis Etranger for The Circle of Reason (1986), the Sahitya Akademi Award for The Shadow Lines (1988), the Arthur C. Clarke Prize for science fiction The Calcutta Chromosome (1996), the Pushcart Prize for his essay, "The March of the Novel through History: My Father's Bookcase" and the Grand Prize for Fiction at the Frankfurt International e-Book Awards for The Glass Palace. Amitav's latest work of fiction, The Hungry Tide was published in April 2004. Other prominent works of Amitav are In An Antique Land (1994). Ghosh also has written three works of non-fiction.

Compiled by Rahul Mishra Courtesy: Eternal India - indices of Emergence, A title under publication by IFF The

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BOOKMARK

Good referral for students BOOK REVIEW B. Bhattacharyya Director, GSM

I

and key terms. I am not very cerstarted offering a course in tain as to whether at MBA level International Marketing for the when we are trying to achieve an first time in 1979 in Indian integrating mentality across disciInstitute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) in plines among the students, such the Post-Graduate Diploma spoonfeeding is really desirable.

Programme in Foreign Trade. At But there is no doubt that this will that time, there was no MBA-1B be of help especially to those who programme in India. What struck INTERNATIONAL are looking for a shortcut to the me when I started working on the MARKETING exam and not really learning the design and content of the course subject. was the absence of any Indian Rakesh Mohan Joshi, What is important is that Rakesh work on the subject. That resulted Oxford University has given an excellent case study at in my decision to write the textPress. PP xiii+748. the end of each chapter. Given the book and with my colleague R.L. Price Rs. 350 paucity of good Indian cases, this is Varshny. I published International going to be of great help M a r k e t i n g both the teachers and Management: Though titled International Market, this mount to the students.

Indian Perspective Though titled is in 1980 which is goes much beyond that tag. It effectively covI n t e r n a t i o n a l now in its 18th Marketing, the book edition. ers what is technically known as expert mangoes much beyond that.

In the past two It has effectively covdecades, I was agement. The only thing missing in this book ered what is technically pleasantly suris a chapter of internet marketing known as export manprised to see that agement. Three chapsome Indian acadters (Chapters 14-16) emics had taken are devoted to this area and the relevant information and put these up this area for research. This was topics have been covered both in a theoretical context. It is the probably in response to several Bcompetently and comprehensively. marriage of the two that matters Schools and universities offering I have only one suggestion. In the when one is teaching International MBA in International Business. next edition which I am sure will Marketing to MBA students.

Need for a diversified India-specifbe due very soon, Rakesh may add He has followed the currently ic literature increased manifold. a chapter on Internet-based favoured format (mostly by The text written by Rakesh who International Marketing, given its American textbook writers) of was both a student and colleague increasing importance. This book identifying learning objectives for at IIFT, is an outstanding contribushould find a place each chapter, followed by review tion in the field, both in terms of in the bookshelf of every institution questions and project assignments. contents and presentation. He has teaching International Marketing.

It also offers chapter summary put together an enormous mass of The

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Outsourcing Success BOOK REVIEW Shailey Dash

O

utsourcing services , particularly Business Process Outsourcing or BPO as it is more popularly known, is one of the fastest growing sectors in the Indian economy. Outsourcing is essentially the process by which a firm subcontracts some parts of its value-added chain.

Historically, manufacturing outsourcing has been going on for quite some time with many Asian economies supplying parts and components to the rest of the world.

Services outsourcing is a relatively more recent trend which was kickstarted by the dramatic reductions in telecommunications and the internet making transmission of data in real time possible.

The BPO sector has come to be one of the most important and fast growing sectors in the Indian economy accounting for a large percentage of service sector exports. Apart from revenue this sector is also an important employer for the skilled labour particularly in the metro cities.

Understanding the complex of economic, social, managerial and technological factors that govern and influence the BPO sector becomes increasingly important given the fact that competition in this sector is set to increase internationally not just from other developing nations but also from developed countries eager for a share of this

THE BUSINESS IMPERATIVE Alpesh Patel & Hemendra Aran Pages:294 Price: Rs 575

The main focus of this book is to provide an uninformed person with an overview of the BPO industry both worldwide and in India. It also discusses the drivers and inhibitors of the BPO industry worldwide in terms of important sectors and important markets

lucrative pie.

Perhaps, because it is such a recent phenomenon and also because of the explosive growth of this segment there is little consistent and systematic work on this sector either at the empirical or theoretical level. Alpesh Patel and Hemendra Aran seek to fill this gap.

Outsourcing Success — the Business Imperative is written by BPO industry insiders and, therefore, the book has a strong vein of practical "hands on" approach to the BPO sector.

Alpesh Patel is a seasoned professional in the financial services industry and has been a key person in working out the modalities of outsourcing for the British Government. He is also the author of several other best-selling books in the area of business.

Hemenadra Aran is a core BPO man and has worked with many of the key players in the outsourcing business including Infosys. For those expecting a rigorous analysis of the BPO industry in India, its imperatives, constraints and opportunities, this book may be a bit of a disappointment.

The main focus of this book is more to provide an uninformed person with an overview of the BPO industry both worldwide and in India. The book discusses the drivers and inhibitors of the BPO industry worldwide in terms of The

Edge 45

important sectors, important markets and functions that businesses can outsource.

They then look at the economic imperatives that drive the move to outsource including cost reductions, ability for the outsourcing firm to focus on core operations, cost minimization due to shared infrastructure, improvements in service quality due to provision by specialized vendors, and access to large talent pools.

Issues of business strategy and outsourcing strategy at the firm level are examined to determine what can be outsourced and when.

Chapter four discusses common pitfall and problems in outsourcing. Chapter five provides general guidelines on how to choose a a outsourcing partner. The final chapters of the book examine the likely trends in the future of outsourcing industry.

The book is a comprehensive birds eye view of the international BPO industry. The focus is not particularly Indian, except to the extent that India is one of the major destinations for outsourcing flows. The presentation of the book is slick and tends to remind one of a corporate power point presentation and like a presentation many things are left unsaid.

This especially applies to the many graphics and tables that have been used extensively in the book. However, without explanation in the text the reader is left confused rather than enlightened.

That said, the book is an easy read and the authors clearly understand the broad imperatives governing their area. However the lack of more rigorous approach tends to make this a light read ideal for those who do not know much about the industry, the man in the street and students. For academicians what is of use are the extensive case studies.

The

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A must-read for managers BOOK REVIEW Manika Jain Fellow (Marketing)

BRAND ROYALTY, How the World's Top 100 Brands Thrive and Survive Author: Matt Haig Publisher: Kogan Page, London and Sterling, VA Number of Pages: 314 Price: ÂŁ18.99 (Rs.1695.00)

M

att Haig's book unfolds the secrets beyond the success of top 100 brands in the world. Quoting some of the brands, which have made it to the top globally, Matt illustrates that being successful does not mean following the norms set by the already established brands but creating new rules of the game.

He asserts that there are no tested formulae for making any brand a success. Haig brings out the uniqueness of the successful brands aesthetically and logically so as to appeal to the readers of all

cadres. He doesn't just say that Google is a successful brand but substantiates it with arguments which sound so very valid and intelligent.

Though a controversial task, he has managed to short-list 100 such brands by applying a range of criteria, not just of financial success but also of longevity, technological advancement, new product development, workplace revolution, mass communication and other seismic global achievements.

Another interesting part about this book is the way the author has classified the 100 chosen brands into 17 categories, viz., innovation brands, pioneer brands, distraction brands, status brands and so on, across 17 different chapters.

Thus, he has managed to come up with a comprehensive, informative and entertaining collection of the most successful brands in commendable way. Each category of brands is explained in the chapter introduction followed by examples of the brands in that category like category of consistent brands includes success stories of Coca Cola, Nivea, Campbell's Soup etc.

Every brand success story is followed by a factfile which includes the brand's website, its year of formation, country of origin and alarming facts about it. The schematic approach of the book makes it a teat to read.

Brand Royalty is a must read for brand managers, marketers, students and everybody who is interested in exploring the "how" behind the brands' spectacular successes.

It will Google you V

economy and how the company ise, Pulitzer Prize-winning BOOK REVIEW mints revenue and profits. Anyone reporter for Washington Post, interested in how a successful dot looks at a phenomenon that Disha Dubey com company operates may want to is transforming the culture of the Fellow (Economics) read this book. It also gives you planet. Google has become the de insight on why your web page is facto search engine on the web and ranked at the top of a Google search computer users across the globe and conversely why it may not be. have discovered that the only real There are hints about where the way to gain entrance to the web is to search giant is heading. This is a "google." must read for anyone interested in Herein lies the story behind one of technology. the most remarkable Internet sucThis book provides the buzzwords cesses of our time. Based on scrupubehind Google's success i.e. lous research and extraordinary "Innovation", "Speed of Change", access to Google, the book takes you "Culture", "Less planning and more inside the creation and growth of a action" and a "willingness to fail". company whose name is a favorite But for the most part it does not realbrand and a standard verb recogly provide detailed insight into the nized around the world.

THE GOOGLE STORY minds of Larry and Sergey. I believe The Google Story is the definitive that the book lacks real inside comaccount of the populist media comDavid A. Vise mentary and facts and comes across pany powered by the world’s most Macmillan Publishers as series of essays on Google. The advanced technology that in a few author has conducted 150 intershort years has revolutionized views with the company's founders, access to information about everyinsiders, associates, and competithing for everybody everywhere. tors. Vise arranges and As the narrative all of this inforunfolds, readers The book’s appeal is universal. The narrative, relays mation in the plain, learn how Google clear style of a newspagrew out of the intelwhich lets you in on juicy details of how per writer as an lectually fertile friendship between Google was shaped and how it grew, is quite extended piece of business reporting.

Page and Brin; how Admittedly, The revetting and laden with information the founders attemptGoogle Story's appeal ed to peddle early depends largely upon the liking of tough businessmen through negotiaversions of their search technology the individual reader. While some tions with AOL Europe and their to different Silicon Valley firms for may be riveted as the story weaves controversial IPO process, among $1 million; how Larry and Sergey its way through a maze of high-tech other instances; and how the comcelebrated their first investor's check innovation, high-flying competition, pany's vision for itself continues to with breakfast at Burger King; how and high-stakes litigation, others grow. The Google Story is a good the pair initially housed their commight find their eyes glazing over read. Its first appendix lists 23 "tips" pany in a Palo Alto office, then evenwith each successive mention of which readers can use to get more tually moved to a futuristic campus stock options and search functions. utility out of Google. The second concalled the "Googleplex"; how the Vise does an admirable job of tains the intelligence test which company found its financial footing describing the details of this new Google Research offers to prospecthrough keyword-targeted Web ads; search technology, contrasting it tive job applicants, and shows the how various products like Google crisply against the deficiencies of its sometimes crazy methods of this News, Froogle and others were predecessors without slipping into most unusual business. cooked up by an inventive staff; how technical jargon.

The book discusses the Google Brin and Page proved their mettle as The

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STUDENT CORNER A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY

MASS APPEAL

Rural India is buzzing and India Inc knocking at its door. It has become an important destination for every marketeer — be it for a branded shampoo or an automobile or a mobile company. Days are gone when entrepreneurs thought van campaigns, cinema commercials and a few wall paintings would be enough to entice rural folks.

Harleen Kaur Thanks to the electronics world, rural India is quite literate about the myriad products that are on offer. A farmer is going through technological developments. Big players like HLL and ITC have created a rural market for themselves. Now, IT companies and telcomunication giants are turning their attention to rural India simply because at stake is 700 million consumers.

The rural market is a good business proposition for cellular operators as the mobile phone penetration is very low in this area. It stands at a merely four percent as compared to 22 percent of urban India. Cellular operators launched their services in B and C class cities and have received an overwhelming response. The growth is almost triple compared to the stagnant growth in metros.

In order to boost the rural economy, much needs to be done. Schools should be upgraded keeping in view the need and not political compulsions.

There is no reason why our village schools can’t have better facilities.

Education programmes should be linked with employment schemes to motivate children to pick up their school bags instead of begging bowls.

There are number of schemes and programmes both by the State and central governments to address the question of Indian poverty in rural areas. Serious steps should be taken to address the problem of poverty. As India aspires to become a developed country, the removal of poverty will be the utmost challenge.

It would be impossible to sustain economic development in the country (even leaving aside the humanitarian considerations about poor people) if India does not eradicate poverty both in urban and rural areas within a decade.

The growth of the mass media has made it possible for us to get far more information today than before. Mass media are not only entertaining the masses, but also selling information. Media satisfies the information hungry society. Information has become a commodity for which we are willing to pay. We can have ample of examples in our Jyoti Negi, daily lives depicting that how the media has occupied its space in our life. Let us talk about the character Mihir in Ekta Kapur’s serial “Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi”.

During the course of serial a great controversy occurred when the popular character Mihir was shown dead.

The character was so popular that people wanted him back in the serial. This episode was widely covered in the media. This incident shows that mass media is becoming more developed in our society and is making people aware of everything in the society. On the contrary, many students adopted the technique used by the filmy hero in Munnabhai MBBS to pass the examination. This incident showed how mass media could also have a negative impact. Thus, mass media has so much effect in our life that people adopt it without thinking.

The mass media has created an awareness among people about the socio economic and political developments of the country.

Mass media and society have become so deeply entwined in social life that it examines real, imagined, and potential effects.

It will create an understanding of the processes through which the mass media are enabled and constrained by such factors as technology, law, industry structure, organizational structure, occupational careers, and market. In recent years there have been major changes and each one of these factors and these changes have had important consequences.

Information technology has advanced so much in recent years that it is now possible for people, while sitting in the drawing room to witness the events taking place in any part of the world.

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STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

EMPOWERING WOMEN

There is an intimate relationship between the political process and the mass media. Our leaders for political propaganda are exploiting the mass media. Even privately owned media organisations propagate one or the other party. Propaganda is the deliberate manipulation The media is capable of doctoring political swing through opinion Kavita Singh Kanwar poll and influencing public opinion.

It has acquired a greater role in shaping the Indian democracy and no political party can afford to ignore this reality.

The power of the media is such that an entire political campaign can be conducted through it. Political parties deploy professional media managers whose job is to devise strategies to swing votes in their favour. The psychological warfare conducted by political parties through the media is the most obvious feature of the ensuing elections.

Today, the role of media has assumed greater significance then ever before. The print media is helping shape public opinion. All newspapers, magazines and periodicals devote huge space to political news which makes a profound impact in affirming public opinion. The only difference being is that the regional papers can propagate political parties blatantly whereas the national Press conducts it more subtly so that they aren’t seen to be biased.

More than print media, it is the satellite and cable TV network that has made inroads into Indian homes. The 24-hr news channels with fleets of reporters spread out into the country giving live coverage attract viewers in large numbers to the small screen. The competition among them is to be the fastest in breaking the news. This makes the idiot box, the most sought after commodity in one’s household. The dynamics of the television medium especially with its telling visuals has a dramatic impact on the voters. After all “seeing is believing”.

In the age of selective sound bites, preferred visual clips, planted stories, media has acquired an inscriptive role to influence the electorates in the country The political leaders and media have become inseparable and one wonders how the former will survive in the absence of the other.

The Oxford Dictionary defines empowerment as giving authority, power, strength and confidence. In recent years, the empowerment of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining the status of women.

The National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the Monideepa Roy rights and legal entitlements of women. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation of seats in panchayats and municipalities for women, laying a foundation for their participation in decision making .

Social empowerment of rural women can be developed by upgrading the level of education, nutrition, health and scientific know-how. Special measures should be taken to eliminate discrimination, universalize education, eradicate illiteracy, create a gender-sensitive educational system, increase enrolment and retention rates of girls and improve the quality of education to facilitate life-long learning as well as development of vocation among women.

Reducing the gender gap in secondary and higher education should be the focus. A holistic approach to women’s health should be adopted and attention be provided to their needs at all stages of the life cycle.

Since women comprise a majority of the population below poverty line, macro economic policies and poverty eradication programmes should specifically address the needs and problems women.

Rural women should be given comprehensive support in labour legislation, social security and other support services.

Illiterate tribal women in UP have equipped themselves with non-conventional skills like repairing hand-pumps, breaking male chauvinism in the villages. Similarly, the long hibernation of the women-folk has been awakened by organisations like SEWA and the Centre for Women’s Development Studies which have been eventful in promoting empowerment and imbibing a sense of security.

It will not be long that the Indian villages will see a transformation in the images of rural empowerment of women.

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STUDENT CORNER COMMON LANGUAGE

UNDERSTANDING MEDIA

Someone once said that a person’s perception of reality is a result of his or her beliefs. In today’s age, a lot of those beliefs are in some ways formed via the media. The media plays a pivotal role in shaping public opinion through TV, radio and the press. TV in particular has been shown to be a powerful instrument for changing public attitudes. In toPurvi Yadav day fast world media acts like a watchdog which has the indefinite potential to explore and correct society.

At the present scenario, there are number of evidences which prove that the media has immense power. In the past, the media has been blamed to sensationalize the news rather than giving the right perspective. However in the recent Jessica Lall Murder case, media has tried to get every strata of the society together by evoking the quench for justice.

The Kargil War was significant for the impact and influence of the mass media in both nations, especially on the Indian side. Coming at a time of exploding growth in electronic journalism in India, the Kargil news stories and war footage were often telecast live on TV, and many websites provided in-depth analysis of the war. The conflict became the first "live" war in South Asia that was given such detailed media coverage, often to the extent of drumming up jingoistic feelings. Analysts believe that the power of the Indian media, which was both larger in number and assumed to be more credible, might have acted as a force multiplier for the Indian military operation in Kargil, and served as a morale booster.

As the fighting intensified, the Pakistani version of events found little backing on the world stage, helping India to gain valuable diplomatic recognition for its belligerency in the region. The media has given a platform to the common man and the problems pertaining to their basic needs. Another such example, which supports the fact that the media has a powerful role, are the many sting operations that have been performed to unveil the dirty and corrupt face of Indian politics.Today, the media is portraying the true canvas of society. It is speaking the mind of a common man.

We engage with the media as social beings in different ways and from different places. The spaces of media engagement are both real and symbolic. Three interweaving dimensions of Action and Mediation are: Home, Community and Globe. Each offers anopportunity not just to consider the objectivecharacteristic of life and comNeha Malhotra munication in the social and media space. But, it also offers an opportunity to explore each as an imaginary as a site whose meaning and significance are constructed as a part of culture in the dream and narratives of media and everyday life.

HOUSE AND HOME: Home is where we start and where we end. Media engage and frame our sense of home, they enable us to make the passages backwards and forward.

COMMUNITY: Community means common and shared realities. It is difficult to think of community without location.

Community then is a version of home but it is public not private. "Benedict Anderson and his discovery of Imagine community was created with the rise of the press. It is still constructed each new day with the arrival of the morning paper. It describes the emergence of a shared symbolic space.

It is the result of simultaneous activities of millions of individuals who in these acts of literary consumption align themselves with a national culture.

GLOBE: A continuous process of domination, extension and abstraction of technology progressively shrinks the globe.

Roger Silverstone" said to some extent globalization is a state of mind.

It extends as far as imagination, maps of the world have always offered representation of what is known and believed to be within the reach. But globalization is also a material reality. The media both enables and represents the universalizing of images. We take it for granted that our e-mail and telephone calls reach the other side of the world in seconds.

Our capacity to connect, to communicate, to inform, to entertain, instantly and intensely anywhere and everywhere has profound consequences on our place in the world.

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ACHIEVING NEW GROUND

THE AD MANIA

'Going rural: The new marketing mantra' this is where all the companies are trying to focus in. They have finally realized that rural market is the key to survival in India. Rural India is two thirds of a country of billion people living in 638,365 villages. It epitomizes diversity that cuts across geographic conditions to agro-economic, cultural and social Ruchi Singhal contexts. However, one of the things that have remained common and largely unchanged over the years across most of the rural India is its unexploited potential as market for the more sophisticated services that its urban counterparts enjoy.

The necessity arose because the growth rates of consumer products were slowing down not because the markets were getting saturated in terms of penetration, but because most consumer markets were getting cluttered. While overall volumes continue to grow reasonably well, there are too many players eating into each other's market share. The companies, therefore, reduce prices in urban areas and invest heavily in sales promotion, intensifying the battle for market share.

However, little has changed in the villages of India in the past decades. There are many phone lines in many villages, but getting a dial tone is still a challenge. Electricity supply is at best intermittent. Healthcare is still limited. Rural India is the unexplored part of the country wherein lies a greater scope for development and business penetration. Realizing this corporate is also turning towards rural India for growth, which was the forgotten part till now, well “der se aye par doorast aye”. Information Technology is playing an important role for the development of villages. Private players like Gyandoot, E-Seva, Bhoomi, E-Choupals are some examples that are playing a role in villages. In the FMCG sector, private players have established shopping malls which were, till now, considered an urban spread. But things have changed. Farmers now have access to exclusive agricultural malls that have a similar trade ambience. These shopping complexes offer agriculture-related goods and services, including expert advice.

Called Haryali Kisaan Bazaars, these malls have been set up

by DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd, an agri-business firm.

Today, communication itself is a problem. Year after year, we send so much information through advertising and people receive much lesser. This makes advertising the most difficult part of communication. Should an ad be poetic? Yes, Artful? Yes. But it should also be straightforward and touch the base of reality to have a great impact.

Sahiba Kaur Sachdev Who was the first person to step on the moon? Neil Armstrong. Right. Who was the second?

Which is the highest mountain peak in the world? Mount Everest. Right. Which is the second highest peak?

This is to show the “first” always makes the “impact harder”. Remember how our grandma says Surf is the only real detergent and we say we want a Xerox in a shop other than saying a photocopy. That’s the key to success to be the first. It’s the 21st century now. A new era of advertising. All strategies are different and the key is endorsements.

From Pepsi to Coke, Lux to Lakme every one is into it. The bigger the star, the bigger the success is what 90 per cent of the world’s population thinks. No, it’s wrong!! That’s why Govinda doing the thanda thada cool cool ad with his down to earth local appeal made it to one of the most successful ads in 2003. The new Pizza hut’s “Freshizza” ad even with stars like Mallika Arora, Boman Irani and Satish Shah in it, didn’t do too well. Because Mallika’s flying skirt didn’t do the trick for tasty pizzas and this ad became one of the worst in 2005.

Some debatable ads of today: 1. PEPSI: SRK as a sapera doesn’t suit him. (rating **) 2. LUX: SRK in a bathtub; fantasy of many (rating **1/2) 3. SURF EXEL: Daag ache hain; solve the problem of half the kids in our country. (rating ****) 4. COMPAQ PRASERIO: A poor girlchild becoming a big rich doctor; doesn’t do the trick we need something more substantial (rating **1/2) 5. MENTOS: Mahima ho gayi full impress. Hilarious (rating ***1/2) 6. SWATCH: “Yes Sir….” finally a watch which increases our sex appeal. (rating ***1/2)

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STUDENT CORNER SOUTHERN DELIGHT

RADIO WAITING FOR BOOM

The word Sagar makes your mouth water. It is the most famous south Indian food chain in Delhi. Its first outlet was opened in Defence Colony and if you visit it during weekends, you would be surprised to see the crowd bustling outside the restaurant for their turn. It’s only at Sagar that people don’t mind waiting Shreela Bajoria for more than 10 minutes for a table and you are sure to be greeted by a man politely outside the door. He could easily blend in the crowd of customers; he is none other than Jayaram Banan, the man responsible for the chain of Sagar Restraunts in Delhi.

At a tender age of 13, Banan left his home and started working in Mumbai as a trolley boy in canteen. In 1974, he came to Ghaziabad, and set up his own canteen and started catering to big industrial houses. It was in 1986 that he opened a restaurant in Defence Colony with the initial investment of less than Rs 1 lakh. Today, his empire has spread not only in India but abroad too.

With 14 outlets in Delhi, nine in other cities like Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Jallandhar, Meerut, Amritsar and Karnal, Banan has successfully spread the dosa fever in the North India.

At Sagar, people can eat all that they can for mere Rs 12. To keep up with the times and the competition, Sagar continues to be innovative. The restaurant is now offering branded, readymade mixes like idli, dosa and masala mixes including the popular 'gun powder'.

It also sells South Indian sweets and namkeens. A great devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba, Banan begins his day with a visit to the temple. He believes that Sai Baba will helps him fulfill all his dreams."

This 49-year-old restaurant entrepreneur may wear a diamond ring, blue sapphire and emerald on his figures, but his taste for food is disarmingly simple, his favorite dish being rice and rasam. His final aim is to enter politics to serve his native place Karkal. He says: “I want to serve people for the rest of my life.”

Radio is still an unexplored territory. Radio Broadcasting started in India in 1927 with two privately owned transmitters at Mumbai and Kolkata, which were taken over by the Government in 1930. These were operating under the name Indian Broadcasting Service until 1936 when it was given the present name All India Radio (AIR). It also came to Upasana Sahni be known as Akashwani from 1957.

The Five Year Plans have given new impetus to the growth of broadcasting resulting in a phenomenal expansion from six stations at the dawn of Independence to around 200 stations at the close of the millennium. Today, AIR’s network provides radio coverage to 97.3 per cent of the population and reaches 90 per cent of the total area.

With the advancement of technology in interactive broadcasting, it is now possible for the listeners to receive popular programmes and music/songs stored in a computer system. AIR has developed a system for providing ‘Music on Demand’, wherein listeners will be able to get the music of their choice on request. All India Radio has started an interactive broadcasting service for providing News on phone.

Through this service, listeners can access a capsule of the latest news highlights. AIR has started Live Service on the Internet on a 24-hr. basis. Most Internet users in India don't know this, but there are thousands of radio stations which can be accessed for free over the net.

FM is a local medium and it has to have a local flavour.

It’s really not a good thing for the larger networks to go in for the same -- or similar -- content across the country. It may sound like a cheaper option in the short run, but if you don’t talk about local issues in the local idiom, you can’t engage your listeners and you’ll lose their loyalty. You will end up with bland, mass-market cookie cutter programming, which turns people off FM altogether. With a large number of high quality digital channels available on radio, this medium can help to increase the plurality of voices, provide more choice to consumers through nation-wide niche programming and nevertheless add more diversity to the broadcasting sector.

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THE REAL INDIA

GLOBALIZATION OF MEDIA

India’s almost half of the total GDP of Rs 32,00,000 crore comes from rural economy. Of this, agriculture contributes nearly 50 per cent and this amount provides sufficient purchasing power to the rural India. Despite it there is widespread poverty in rural India, especially among the small farmers.

This simply because of four difVishal Singh ferent classes of infrastructure: Physical infrastructure: This includes lack of proper roads, excessive reliance on monsoon for irrigation purpose, lack of proper irrigation facilities and lack of electricity. Financial Infrastructure: Lack of availability of funds to buy new High Yielding Varieties (HYV) of seeds and fertilizers makes it difficult for the farmers to grow even two crops in a year i.e. the Rabi and the Kharif crops. The farmers fail to take loans from banks because of high interest rates (presently more than 10 per cent) and inability to pledge some asset as a security. They turn to the bigger farmers in their areas for loans on the pretext of low interest rates, which proves to be fatal as the farmers end up paying either very high amounts or losing their piece of land because of non-payment of installments.

Social Infrastructure: Low literacy levels. Our illiterate farmers have to be educated on the changes that are happening so that they can understand the profit making opportunities and reduce the number of intermediaries between them and the final consumers of their produce. Fragmentation of land to be tilled needs urgent attention. As there are large families, a piece of land of a farmer is inherited (say) by his six or seven children; the overall produce of land is much lower than what the collective produce was earlier.

Technological Infrastructure: Because of lack of funds and the above infrastructure problems the rural people are not able to benefit from the changes in technologies. Although the government has started loads schemes but the funds allocated hardly reach the people for whom they are intended. Of late corporate like ITC and HLL have made some efforts but that’s not enough. Currently, India is at a crossroad with the rise in Indian economy while rural India need the basic amenities.

Globalization is stretching the social, political and economic activities across the frontiers so that any events, in one region of the world come to have significance for individual and communities in distant regions of the globe.

The talk of globalization and media today is at once imperative and daunting. It is imperative beIchha Aggarwal cause media have emerged, as the world stage on which are enacted dramas that affect humans as a whole.

It is daunting because so little is known about the process that has brought us to this stage, the terms in which new understandings of the present can be cast, or where we go from here. If by globalization we mean "the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole" (Robertson, 1992), and if by media we refer to the technologically enabled means for creating and disseminating messages, what comes within our purview is a singularly paradoxical field of inquiry. Perhaps this is best inscribed in the global/local dynamic that has emerged as a powerful analytical lens (though by no means the only one) with which to apprehend globalization.

It seems that globalization can only be grasped through its materialization in particular contexts, which in turn open out 'back' into the global. Stuart Hall (1991) best captures this fluid process when he asks, "Is the local just the little local exception, just what used to be called the blip in history? Or is it also, itself, in an extremely contradictory state?

It is also moving, historically being transformed, speaking across older and new languages." Media, as systems of meaning as well as technical and industrial enterprises straddle the worlds of inside and outside. Janus-like, they face both sides at once and hence embody the capacity to be provincial and global at the same time. This dialectic is central to an understanding of the world today as media images both bring us together and pull us apart, as our knowledge of the world and indeed, of our own societies is, as Luhmann (2000) suggestively put it, through the mass media. The media battles for hearts and minds are themselves being played out in the media.

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CAMPUS CAMPUSCAM

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEW

Globalisation & Sectoral Development meet IVTH International Conference on Globalization and Sectoral Development Organized by AIB-India & IILM, New Delhi (17th to 19th February 2006) The Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (IILM), New Delhi, in collaboration with the Academy of International Business (AIB, Michigan State University) has organized its Fourth Annual International Conference on 'Globalization & Sectoral Development' at IILM, New Delhi.

This was held from 17-19 February, 2006. The Conference deliberated on how globalization has led to development in Agriculture, Industry and Services in India. The focus of the conference was the Indian Economy. The three-day conference (1-day workshop + 2-day seminar included keynote address, panel discussions and parallel sessions. The conference was guided through participation The

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from Industry experts, corporate leaders, senior faculty from leading institutions and others.

The conference provided an excellent opportunity to academicians, researchers, and professionals to deliberate on the following themes and associated sub-themes: SUB-THEME: GLOBALIZATION OF AGRICULTURE Trade and Agriculture: Trade liberalization and millennium development goals; Subsidies competitiveness; Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS); Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) agreements and WTO Issues Impact of globalization on farmers, small landholders, employment, poverty and income distribution; rural economy and migration; productivity and technological development; sustainability & food security FDI & market integration; domestic agricultural support policy and market reforms; livestock and dairy sector

Emergence of agro-processing unit, contract farming and supermarkets; impact on seed Industry, fertilizer and pesticide industries Increasing role of Biotechnology (BT) and Informational Technology (IT) in agriculture; Health and Environmental hazards due to genetically modified food Globalization and Finance in agricultural sector SUB-THEME: GLOBALIZATION OF INDUSTRY Sectoral impact of globalization: Evidence and implications Trade liberalization and its impact on globalization, including WTO issues Technology, innovation, knowledge management and strategic Issues for global competitiveness Information and communication technologies: Growth, Competitiveness and policy for India Industrial competitiveness: Trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

MPUS CAMPUS CAMPUS

WS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Managing global distribution; Supply Chain Management (SCM) SUB-THEME: GLOBALIZATION OF SERVICES Trade and FDI in services GATS perspectives Outsourcing and policy implications Trade in Financial Services (Banking and Insurance Services) Trade in Health and Environmental Services Trade in Retail, Real Estate and Infrastructure Services Trade in Education, Professional and Entertainment Services Services & environment Services & employment generation The conference was attended by more than 180 scholars and executives from India and abroad,

including Pakistan, Sweden, England, USA and Israel. The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Yair Aharoni, Fellow AIB Tel Aviv University, Israel, and the valedictory address given by Mr Tejendra Khanna, Chairperson, Ranbaxy, New Delhi Other prominent speakers in various plenary sessions were Dr Subbiah, Secretary to Kerala Government, Prof. R.B.Singh, Member, National Farmer Commission, GOI, Mr. Vivek Bharati Adviser, National Policy, Programme & Projects) FICCI, Prof. N.S. Siddharthan, IEG Prof.

A.K. Jain, IIM(L) Dr Charles Dhanraj, Indiana University, US, Mr. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Journalist, Dr. Nagesh Kumar, RIS, Dr. Rashmi Banga Economist, UNCTAD, B. Raj Bhandari, IMP (Retd) Former Principle Advisor - International

Trade Centre, UNCTAD/ WTO Mr. Vijay Sardana, ED, CITA, New Delhi A research colloquium for doctoral students pursing research in any area of international business was also be organized as a part of the conference. This was conducted by Dr. Charles Dhanraj from Indiana University, US. The doctoral paper competition was also organized and in this competition to encourage and motivate doctoral candidate a best paper award was given jointly to two doctoral candidates.

We had an avalanche of 200 papers which were rigorously peer-reviewed and we had finally short listed 140 papers for presentation in the conference.

The conference was co-ordinated

by Prof. Raj Agrawal, Prof. A.N. Bhattacharya and Dr. Rashmi Banga, Economist, UNCTAD.

IILM Promotes globalisation The

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CAMPUS CAMPUSCAM

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEW

MOU with Pantaloon Retail Pantaloon Retail India Limited (PRIL) and the Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (IILM) join hands to offer a two-year full-time program in Retail Management. PRIL is the fastest growing retail chain in India, spread over two retail formats, lifestyle and value, the company have over 50 stores across the country occupying more than 1.5 million square feet.

Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (IILM) is among the country's prestigious topranked Business Schools which has been offering management programs for more than a decade now.

Realizing the shortage of skilled talent in a sector which is growing at a tremendous pace, IILM and PRIL have entered this collaboration to make a proactive effort to develop the skill set needed for the sector. The students who enroll for the programme will be provided both academic and practical training

Agrement for a better future

during the course.

The course is designed with a theoretical input going hand in hand with hands on training at PRIL outlets. The first year comprises three semesters, three months each followed by a threemonth project work in any Pantaloon store. The second year has two trimesters of classes fol-

lowed by six month internship.

The design, structure and delivery ensures not only conceptual clarity but also inculcates the right skills and attitude required to excel in the sector.

The course commences in early July 2006 and will be offered in the hub of retail activity at the IILM campus in Gurgaon.

COMPETITIVENES IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD Lecture by Dr. S.L. Rao at IILM Prof. Rao spoke of the radical change in human behaviour. He highlighted the typical tendency to blame the Government for every failure and pointed out that every country goes through that phase. India has skills a and entrepreneurship. As a result, research hubs and education centres are coming up through foreign investments.

But areas of concern remain in productivity, quality perceptions, on-time delivery, manufacturing cycle time, procureThe

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ment lead time, raw materials inventory, defect rates, on-time completion of new production projects, average unit production cost etc.

One good sign, he said, is the brand building effort by Indian companies with increasing adspends. At the same time, it does not help us when we see misleading prospectuses, misleading accounts, rigging of markets to increase value of shares prior to a rights issue, and regulating them, poor quality of evaluation in sanc-

tioning loans, poor self-regulation and so on.

The 'can do' mindset is the call of the day, he said.

Whatever the value statement of an organization, it must be simple, without ambiguity, with no compromise. Brain storming and idea generation have important roles in his recipe for success. He reckons that commodity markets are the most powerful and efficient way to allocate any kind of exposure to financial risk.

Prof Rao cautions that India is

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not US. High share of services does not signify a post-industrial society. We still have to satisfy needs of millions of consumers for manufactured products.

To achieve world class manufacturing standards, paramount aim must be to improve productivity, costs and quality by raising status of manufacturing personnel, treating all users of your work — internal & external — as customers, explore needs, satisfy them, identify new needs.

His other suggestions are speedier innovation, from idea to market, consistency in quality even with mult-centres for manufacturing, identifying essential role of lifelong learn-

ing, offering means to keep learning, constant attempt to create value. He concluded that becoming competitive on a

global scale is not merely about good management. It is about leadership to build strong corporate values.

MDP workshop a grand success The IILM organised a two-day Management Development Programme (MDP) on Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances on 2-3 February, 2006 at Lodhi Road campus. Well known domestic and multinational companies, including banks, sent their senior executives in the ranks of Director, Strategic Planners, Chief Finance Manager, Financial Advisor,

etc. The programme was conceptuliased, structured and delivered by Dr. Kamal Ghosh Ray, Professor-Finance and Dean Academics. The contents of the programme included strategy formulation, target hunting, synergy estimation, business valuation, deal structuring, payment mode, accounting issues, legal issues especially competition law and

successful integration process.

The programme was facilitated through lectures, real life examples, case discussion, model building, group discussion and experience sharing.

The programme was appreciated by participants as informative, relevant, excellent coverage. They specially thanked IILM management for the hospitality and professionalism.

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ALUMNI ASSOCIATION The IILM UG Alumni Association came into existence and started work from September 2005 with three volunteers from the final year of the undergraduate program.

Starting with the tedious process of cleaning and updating the database, the first event was the annual alumni lunch held on the third Sunday of every December.

The UG Alumni Association had a series of meetings with its officebearers who are actually 'BatchReps', representing each pass-out batch since 1999. It was decided that a cricket match would be the next activity which was played between the Alumni XI and the UG XI on March 5, 2006. UG XI won the match and Monil Arora, a state player, of UG I was declared the man of the match. The match was a huge success and saw over 40 alumni present and cheering their

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team and catching up with each other.

The next event planned is a social one at a happening joint in the city. The members have very ambitious plans for the same.

ALUMNI LUNCH: WE PART TO MEET AGAIN The morning of December 18, 2005 was all scheduled to see the huddle of the very eminent alum-

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IILM PG- Alumni Association

ni of IILM in the lunch that was organized by the institute. It was a huge success with over 250 alumni gracing the occasion.

IILM ALUMNI BODY IN THE NEWS Lots has been happening on the alumni front, be it in the field of academics or purely informal meets. There was an alumni lunch hosted by IILM, an exciting cricket match between the current batch and the alumni, mock

interviews for the PG-II, interviews for selection procedure of the upcoming batch and the coming up of the second edition of the newsletter Folks Integral.

CRICKET MATCH: SEASON’S CRAZE The big cricket day was quite sensational — as exciting as the Indo-Pak match! On the very eventful morning of February 26, the IAA welcomed its alumni back to the campus, however this

time as rivals (of course only till the match lasted) of the current batch.

The match was a huge success with the alumni team carrying away the crown of success with an awesome score of 111/9.

Man of the match was Kunal Jerath. A special performance award was given to Vivek Rajpal and Best Bowler was Ahmed Raza of Pg-I. One hopes that in the near future, with IAA organizing many such events, they will give an even tougher challenge.

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ALMUNI CONDUCT PGDM INTERVIEWS There is no area left by the alumini where their imprint is not visible in the institute, their stepping stone for corporate lives. The IILM invited its alumni to interview the PGDBM batch of 2006-08. One alumni, said long ago when he came for his GD and PI in IILM he was really nervous and jittery and now when he was there on the other side of the table, he could see the same expression on the faces of aspiring candidates.

Dr K. G Ray thanked them and gave them souvenirs in the end to show the institutes' gratitude to their efforts.

MOCK INTERVIEWS: Not only did the Alumni put its effort for selection of the new batch but it also left no stone unturned to give all guidance possible to the final year students who have very recently started on another journey of their life very different from their academic lives. Mr. Sujoy Basu (Asst. Manager HR, Hero Corporate Services), Mr.Vipul Sobti (Business Development Manager, Panalpina World Transport, India Ltd.)and Mr. Munish Bhatia (Senior Consultant, Consindia HR Services Pvt. Ltd.), who were the invited alumni for the mock interviews, assured professional and personal development of

the students in this process. The Alumni interviewed the PG-II and helped them identify their weakness and also motivated them to sit confidently in the campus interviews. This event was held on 26th November 2005.

ALUMNI NEWSLETTER: The second newsletter edition was successfully completed on 15th March and is now in circulation.

This edition includes detailed write ups on the events organized and has interviews of most eminent Alumni Mr. Gautam Tooley, Vice President, Unique Computers Inc, USA and Mr Keshav Bajaj of Bharti.

CIVIL SERVICES TRAINING PROGRAMME

The Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (IILM) organized an in-service training program for IAS officers on Management of Environmental & Natural Resource from January 16 to January 20, 2006.

The programme was sponsored by the Department of Personnel & Training (Training Division), Government of India.

It was conducted under the

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overall guidance of Mr. K. Rajendran Nair (Advisor, IILM) and Dr. Barin Ganguli, distinguished Professor, IILM. The Institute provided the intellectual input, logistics and academic support.

Dr. Kamal Ghosh Ray was the Course Director and Mr.Harsh Sharma, Fellow, IILM, and Mr. Manoj Sharma, Fellow, IILM were course co-ordinators for

the programme.

Distinguished faculty members Dr. Prodipto Ghosh (Secretary, MoEF), Dr. Ashish Bose (demographer and professor IILM), Dr. A K Mukerjee, exDG (Forests) and others interacted with participants.

Seventeen officers attended the programme. The participants found the programme informative and useful.

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Inauguration of High Tech Computer Lab at IILM-AHL Lucknow Dr D S Chauhan, Vice Chancellor, U.P.T.U., inaugurated the new high tech computer lab at IILM-AHL Lucknow on January 25, 2006 and delivered a special lecture to the students on Corporate Expectations from Fresh MBA under the guest lecture series at the Lucknow campus.

Faculty Development Programme A two-day Faculty Development Programme was organised on EMarketing on February 1 and 2, 2006 at IILM Lodhi Road. Prof. A.K. Jain and Prof. B.H. Jajoo, both from IIM Ahmedabad, were the resource persons for the FDP. "

Our Experience at the University of Bradford We had a very enriching experience at the University of Bradford.

There were a few extra subjects available to students there. As the class size was huge there, the lectures were less interactive. A lot of stress was laid on tutorials, which used to happen in small groups.

These were more interactive and individualistic attention was given to each student.

This trip has brought in us a lot of positive changes and made us more confident. It has also given us a glimpse of what it is like studying abroad, which would help us take a decision of doing our post graduation from abroad. On the whole, we feel that this student exchange program is a very good learning experience and should be encouraged further on.

Lastly, we would like to convey our sincere thanks to you for pro-

Dr. D.S. Chauhan, vice Chancellor UPTU inaugrating computer lab at IILM, Lucknow

viding us with this opportunity of being at the University Of Bradford for the whole month.

(KAVERI MOHINDRA, KANIKA TANEJA (UG 3) ANKIT JINDAL, RIYA CHOPRA (UG 2) MONIL ARORA, CHIRAG CHADHA (UG 1)

A Refreshing Academic Journey As part of an academic exchange programme between IILM and Bradford University, we visited Bradford (UK) accompanied with seven meritorious students from IILM. It was undoubtedly a stimulating and an unforgettable academic experience.

At School of Management, Bradford, we were warmly welcomed and felt quite at home in a foreign land. As days passed we were more and more comfortable in the new set up interacting and sharing our viewpoints quite openly with our counterparts.

The most appreciable part of the teaching community at Bradford was that they all welcomed different view points, shared experiences and exchanged varied culture with us. While lecturing on product

innovation, I was proud to note that India as a global emerging economy generated lots of interest amongst the faculty and students.

The response from the student was very heartening. The initial skepticism and panic of addressing international students was over as my counterpart Dr Myfanwy Trueman expressed her deep satisfaction on the inputs given to her students. She reciprocated by proposing a joint research on the same topic.

During my stay, I was driven by the usual human tendency to draw comparisons. I tried to spot differences between the IILM and Bradford education systems.

The infrastructure was one big variance which went a long way in effectively imparting instructions between student and teacher.

There were four lecture halls which were like theatres having a capacity of 250 or more and all were well equipped with modern multimedia gadgets like DVD, OHP, Internet and an intercom. To supplement lectures, faculty often used Internet, video cassettes or recorded voice.

This made the class very stimulating and less monotonous. The upkeep of these equipments was The

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under strict supervision of a technician and was made available at any point of time.

In case of any technical snag the faculty could contact him from the class through Intercom and the problem was addressed immediately.

Yet another impressive aspect of communication was the extensive use of online blackboard both by student and faculty. All communications regarding class or study material, tests were done very effectively on blackboard. This helped to establish a good link with the student without any running around.

While appreciating their infrastructure we observed the other side too. The undergraduate students were less interactive but more disciplined.

The faculty did not interact personally with the students and barely any faculty addressed the student by their first name during the main lecture. The lack of personal touch irked me at times as it is something we overemphasize at IILM. There is no doubt that relationship between teachers and taught is quite strong at IILM which makes our students more responsive and open in the class.

I also got an opportunity to attend a group meeting where all issues pertaining to all departments of school of management were discussed once in every three months.

The meeting was chaired by Dr Sally Burrows. The best thing about the meeting was that the set up was very informal and there were staff representatives from all functional areas like IT, Accounts, Examination and Library.

There was no hierarchy and all issues were discussed quite candidly. The suggestions made by the staff were acknowledged by faculty and vice versa.

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During our stay, all our comforts were looked after very well and were provided with all basic amenities. We had 24-hour internet access through wireless network at our place of stay. Access to library and other online resources were made available to us with immediate effect. The staff was very efficient and helpful.

They entertained our request on priority and tried to resolve our problems as early as possible.

Towards the end of our stay we had developed an excellent rapport with our counterparts and at times discussed cultural differences, shared recipes and exchange thoughts on various topics.

With our IILM students too we developed a different kind of relationship.

The teacher-student barrier was broken on the very first day by playing Dumb Charadz in the evening.

In case of any problems we would share with each other, resolve it and forget it.

We as teachers restricted them at times but at the same time tried our best to give them enough freedom to explore and learn.

To add to the experience we visited London and York that made our trip more varied and exciting.

On 23rd February we were given a warm sendoff. A lunch was organized by International Office at School of Management at an Indian restaurant which was an absolute Indian cuisine followed by an English Dinner hosted by Mr. James Keith Hanning, Director Business studies - India and his wife. We were overwhelmed by the hospitality extended to us and personally feel indebted to faculty and staff of school of management, Bradford.

By end of this trip, we were looking forward to meet our people and were loaded with fond memo-

NEW ENTRANTS INTO IILM DR. TARUN DAS Dr. Tarun Das, a gold medalist in Economics from Calcutta University and a Ph.D. from the East Anglia University, UK, is an acknowledged expert in public policy and India's economic relations with multilateral organizations. Before joining IILM as Professor (Economics) in March 2006, he worked as Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance and the Planning Commission for 20 years and acted as a consultant to ADB, Economic Commission for Africa, GDN, ILO, IMF, UNCTAD, UNDP, UN-ESCAP, UNITAR and World Bank. He is a widely travelled person and possesses diversity in skills in teaching, training, research, policy planning and modeling.

MS RITU SRIVASTAVA Ms Ritu Srivastava has joined IILM, Lodhi Road, as Assistant Professor, Marketing. Prior to joining IILM, Lodi Road, she has worked as a Faculty (Marketing), with the Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow, and Reaearch Assocate with IIM, Lucknow.

She is a Ph.D. in Marketing with the thesis primarily focussing on 'Customer Relationship Management in Retail Banking'. Her areas of teaching, publications and research interests have been Services Marketing, Customer Relationship Management and Rural Marketing.

MS. NIVEDITA DEBNATH Ms. Nivedita Debnath joined IILM, Lodi Road, on 3rd Jan 2006 as Assistant Professor in OB/ HR. She did her PhD from the Deptt. of Management Studies, IIT, Delhi, and Post- Doctoral fellowship from Hanyang University, South Korea.

Edge wishes her a long and happy association.

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ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS DR. KAMAL GHOSH RAY On an invitation from Foundation of Indian Industry & Economists and Frost & Sullivan, presented papers on "Designing Alternative Models of Corporate Governance" and "Accelerating Compliance of BASEL II by Indian Banks: The Need for Second Generation Reforms" at their International Business Summit at Hotel LeMeridien, New Delhi on 31 Jan to 1 Feb,06.

■ Presented a paper on "Aligning corporate governance with the objectives of small and medium enterprises: An Indian perspective" on 5 Feb, 2006 at the 16th International Conference of Corporate Law Teachers organized by the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

■ His articles on “Triple Bottom Line for Enhancing Stakeholders' Value: Need for Designing Alternative Models of Corporate Governance" has been published in the journal Corporate Social Responsibility and Leadership printed by British Council, New Delhi in February, 2006.

■ His article jointly written with Vineeta Duttaroy on "Corporate Concern for Environment: A Tool for Enhancing Stakeholders' Value" was published in the Corporate Social Responsibility and Leadership in February, 2006.

■ He conceptuliased, structured and organised a two-day Management Development Programme (MDP) on Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances on 2-3 February, 2005 for senior corporate executives.

GUNJAN MITTAL Research paper titled "Impact of reforms on the efficiency of banks using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA): CRS v/s VRS approaches", presented at an international conference , COSMAR (September2005) organised

by Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The paper was among five in the finance area nominated for the award.

Research paper titled "Does Banks' size matter in India?" accepted for publication and would be published in the forthcoming issue of Journal of services Research, October to March, Vol. 6 No. 2, 2006.

ASHITA AGARWAL “Emerging Challenges to Management

Education in Global Economy", paper published in edited book titled "Trends in SociologyEducation, Development & Diaspora". Abhijeet Publications. pp: 54-71 MEENA BHATIA Presented a paper titled "Changing practices of Indian Brokerage Industry" at the Fourth Annual International Conference on 'Globalization & Sectoral Development' held on 17 - 19 February 2006 at IILM, New Delhi. The conference was hosted by IILM, New Delhi and organized by Academy of International Business (AIB).

Presented and published a paper titled "Financial Services: Challenges Ahead (Shift in Paradigm)" at the Eighth National Conference on Going Global: Changing Strategies of Winning Organisations" held at "Prestige Institute of Management and Research", Indore in January, 2006.

SANGEETA YADAV Presented a paper titled "India and ASEAN: Exploring the economic partnership", at the fourth annual international conference on 'Globalization & Sectoral Development' held between 17 - 19 February 2006 at IILM, New Delhi. The conference was hosted by IILM, New Delhi and organized by the Academy of International Business (AIB). The paper was coautored with Dr. Raj Aggrawal, Professor of Economics and International Business in IILM, New Delhi.

■ Presented a paper titled BPO in India Emerging trends at the Eighth National Conference on Going Global: Changing Strategies Of Winning Organisations" held at "Prestige Institute of Management and Research", Indore in January, 2006.

■ Presented a paper titled "India's approach to E-Governance: Critical success factors and how does India measure" at the Second international conference on Challenges and opportunities in IT Industry held at Punjab College of Technical Education , Ludhiana in November 2005.

P. MALARVIZHI Conducted a training session for IAS officers on "Global Initiatives in the Management of Environment - Environmental Accounting" on Thursday 19th January 2006.

This was an the in-service training pro-

gramme for IAS officers on "Management of Environment and Natural Resources" sponsored

by DoP&T, GoI. The training programme was conducted by IILM at Lodhi Road Campus, between January 16 - 20, 2006.

■ Presented a research paper titled "Impact of globalization on corporate environmental reporting practices - An Indian Perspective" in the 4th International Conference on Globalization & Sectoral Development, February 17th - 19th, 2006 - at IILM, New Delhi, organized by Academy of International Business INDIA. ■ Chaired a session on "Financial Services" at the 4th International Conference on Globalization & Sectoral Development, February 17th - 19th, 2006 - at IILM, New Delhi, organized by the Academy of International Business - India.

■ Chaired a session in the 4th International Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility, September 7-9, 2005 at the London Metropolitan University, organised in association with Corporate Social Responbsibility Network, UK. ■ An article titled "Environmental Accounting A Kaleidoscopic view" was published in Pranjana The journal of Management Awareness brought out by the Integrated Academy of Management and Technology in collaboration with Texas A & M University, Texarkana, US - Vol 8, No 1, Jan - Jun 2005.

DAMINI GROVER Presented a research paper entitled 'Building the Business Relationship through Knowledge Management' at the Seventh International Conference on Destination India organized by the Delhi School of Professional Studies and Research (DSPSR) and Society for Human Transformation and Research (SHTR) in association with GGS Indraprastha University,Delhi at India International Centre (January 3-5, 2006) DR SHRUTI SINGH Participated in an international seminar conducted under the aegis of Prof Panini, Center for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The seminar theme was “Towards a Sociology of South Asia. It was held on January 27th and 28 th, 2006.

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Jokes Emergency!

he boss who was on the 25th floor of the building called up the clerk on the ground floor for an important file. Since it was rather urgent the boss told the clerk it was an emergency and that he should hurry with the file.

After more than 30 minutes the clerk appears all tired and panting for breath.

The Boss asks him why he was panting and what caused the huge delay.

The clerk replies, 'Boss when I went to the lift it said 'during an emergency please use the staircase'!!!

T

The scan lady awoke one morning and discovered her dog was not moving. She called her vet, who asked her to bring the dog in. Af-

A

ter a brief examination, the vet pronounced the dog dead.

'Are you sure?', the distraught woman asked. 'He was a great family pet. Isn't there anything else you can do?'

The doc paused for a moment and said, 'There is one more thing we can do.' He left the room for a moment and came back carrying a large cage with a cat in it. The vet opened the cage door and the cat walked over to the dog. The cat sniffed the dog from head to toe and walked back to the cage.

'Well, that confirms it.' the vet announced.

'Your dog is dead.'

Satisfied that the vet had done everything he possibly could, the woman sighed, 'How much do I owe you?'

'That will be Rs.1100.' the vet replied.

'I don't believe it!!!', screamed the woman.

'What did you do that cost Rs.1100?

'Well', Doc replied, 'it's Rs.100 for the office visit and Rs.1000 for the cat-scan

Feminists feminist gets on a bus and is disgusted when a little old man stands up to give her his seat. ‘Patronising old fool’ he mutters as she pushes him back down. A minute later another woman gets on and the old man rises to his feet once more. ‘Male chauvinist pig,’ seethes as she pushes him back down again. The bus stops again, more women get on, and once more the little old man attempts to stand up. ‘You are living in the Stone Age,’ hisses the feminist as she pushes him down. ‘For God’s sake! wails the little old man. ‘Will you let me get off? I have missed three stops already!

A