Passline Business Magazine January 2015

2

Events

EKM Dist. Collector, M G Rajamanickam, IAS and Dy Commissioner, R Nishantini IPS inaugurating the new branch office of Federal Bank and the Lobby Banking Facility. In the presence of Ernakulam Zonal Head of the bank, N V Sunny, GM (Finance) of DMRC, Radha Uday, MD & CEO of Federal Bank, Shyam Srinivasan, Cine Actor, Swetha Menon and Branch Head, Ammini P.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy interacting with the students from Kansas University School of Business and Colorado University, at Cliff House in Thiruvananthapuram

Union IT and Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad looking at a robot developed by a startup firm during his visit to Startup Village in Kochi. Startup Village CEO Pranav Kumar Suresh is also seen

Andrew Nettikadan, Chairman of Nettikadan group of companies, handing over a cheque of Rs. one lakh for marriage of the girl seen in the photo

Finance Minister K M Mani launching the Adnoc lubriants in the presence of CMD of Voyager Dynamics Jitender Singh, Directors Hari Pillai, Vinod Kumar, Ashish Thyagi, and Shihab, MD of Zayan Engineering

3 From the Editor

God’s Own Country: status at stake?

Industry- shy Kerala has been depending on its expatriates, particularly from the Gulf regions for its revenue , ever since the countries were identified for their oil richness. Our banks are stacked with hundreds of crores of petrodollars and our people are happily living affluent, thanks to their siblings toiling in the scorching heat in the Persian Gulf. But, a couple of decades ago the State had identified another area of income exploiting its picturesque beaches , tropical landscape, tea estates, stinging sea food curries, healthy climate , beautiful water bodies and undulated mountains. The effort was a tremendous success and the State has become one of the must- see destinations in the Global Tourism Map. Enthused visitors named the destination as God’s Own Country and the name has become the epithet of the State. Today, our neighbouring country , the teardrop shaped isle Sri Lanka has gradually but visibly grabbing the title.

Editor & Publisher

Varghese Paul Kozhikode Vineeth Mukundan 8714986177 Chennai Augustine Joseph Ph: 09381000534 Bangalore Gireesh Gopal +91 7204560000 Adithya +91 9538060591 54, 2nd Main, Vyalikaval Bangalore - 560003 Manager-Marketing Sajan K 09895344485 Keethara Publications Pvt Ltd 38/125 1st Floor, Narakathara Road, Kochi-682 035, Kerala, India.

Editorial : +91 484 4038346 Marketing : +91 484 4039346

It has been in the news for quite some time that Kerala is losing its sheen in the tourism sector to the island country. With the identical geographical features of both Kerala and Sri Lanka could be mirror images across the Indian Ocean. But Sri Lanka’s reputation for instability due to the ethnic war for a quarter century meant that most Indian and foreign travelers picked God’s Own Country over the island nation. But now Sri Lanka appears to be stealing a march over Kerala and giving even popular Goa some heartburn. Foreign travel grew 19% in 2014 and Indians are number one, topping the tourist arrivals in Lanka. The reason for the spurt in Sri Lankan tourism is that it is close to India; our rupee buys more there; visas are easy; it is very well- connected and offers a range of experiences, something Indian travelers are always looking for.

The data available with the Kerala tourism department shows a marginal rise in international arrivals in the State till November, particularly in the crucial months. The lethargic state initiatives, fewer luxury options, declining hygie , menace of chikungunya and dengue and of course the new strict liquor policy are driving tourists out of the State. The condition of our roads and infrastructure are giving a double whammy effect for the down turn of the sector . Sri Lanka, on the other hand, is stepping in competitively to offer all that is unique to Kerala. What also works for Sri Lanka are its friendly unassuming people and its safe and clean streets. And the nation is aggressively promoting their destination at international travel fairs too.

Male, yet another island nation after Sri Lanka is also giving reasonable challenges to Kerala tourism industry as `squirrel delivered’ in the epic. It is not surprising in coming future if the epithet – the God’s Own Country being shared by another two or three destinations with Kerala. If our authorities ‘try’ a bit more in the same direction what they follow now, it will turn to be a shot in the arm for others.

Varghese Paul

4 cover story

Budget 2015-16: augment revenue

Mary George

A

s a prelude to an annual budget, it is common practice that a finance minister conducts a series of pre-budget discussions with eminent personalities from various walks of life like agriculture, industry, trade and commerce, information and entertainment related sectors, culture, health, education etc. People’s representatives would have their own recommendations to make. Fourth Estate has also a vital role to play as torch bearer of pressing needs of society.

At this juncture, it is to be remembered that the State Government is passing through a serious phase of fiscal crisis. Available records on State finances show that between April and August end 2014, when revenue receipts grew by 33.5 per cent of the budget estimation for 2014-15, revenue expenditure grew by 38.2 per cent. On the other hand, during the same period in the previous year, both revenue receipts and revenue expenditures grew by 32 per cent each. This indicates that the fiscal situation of the state in 2014-15 is worse than that of the previous year which also recorded poor performance. When growth in revenue expenditure exceeds growth in revenue receipt, government would be forced to borrow for day to day expenditures of the government. This is why Treasury had to be on Overdraft for many PASSLINE

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

occasions in 2014. Situation may worsen if revenue growth slows down any further.

Keeping this hard reality in mind, the government has to consider the merit and demerit of any proposal submitted before it for the forthcoming budget. It is imperative that the State takes serious steps to augment revenue mobilization and to prone government expenditures. In order to improve revenue mobilization measures like broadening tax base, improving tax compliance and reducing corruption and trade diversion are unavoidable. Measures for tax harmonization with neighboring states and steps to rationalize rate structure are immediately necessary. Following proposals may also be taken into consideration.

(1)

Introduction of the posting of Indian Economic Service officers in the finance department and in the NITI Aayog (Planning Board). In order to design and administer economic policies properly, a professional cadre of economic professionals dedicated to the task as in the case of many other major states like Gujarat is essential, absence of which is very much felt in the process of development of Kerala economy.

Their service would bring

as promised by RBI and Government of India. Flows to this sector would initiate innovations in traditional and new rural industries which in turn bring better prices to agricultural products, more employment opportunities and better livelihoods to rural poor.

economic theory closer to practice.

(2)

Start-ups, as promised in the last budget, should figure in this years’ budget too. Startups in the farm sector should

It is imperative that the State takes serious steps to augment revenue mobilization and to prone government expenditures. In order to improve revenue mobilization measures like broadening tax base, improving tax compliance and reducing corruption and trade diversion are unavoidable. get focus so that plantation and food grain based industries get prominence and venture capital for start-ups,

(3)

When citizens are displaced on behalf of development projects, payment of attractive compensation and rehabilitation should precede displacement. Projects to be undertaken, people to be displaced and compensation to be paid etc., during the budget year should be calculated along with budget preparation and sufficient amount is earmarked for each one of them. This would help keeping the budget promises as scheduled. Social infrastructure (education, public health etc) and economic infrastructures (roads, rails, flyovers, bridges canals etc) are blood vessels of an economy. Only if massive investments take place in these sectors, balanced development would be attained. Otherwise adorable people like E Sreedharan would ‘slam the tardy pace of land acquisition, lethargy

5

proposals to mobilization Value of stamp paper

sion rates, the approximate income of each vendor is somewhere around Rs 10 lakh a year. Exempting them from income tax payment means differential tax treatment of citizens in the same income bracket. On grounds of equity and on grounds of fiscal crisis of the State, income tax on vendors should be reinstated. Further, as in other countries, stamp vending should be made on line where by government can make huge savings by way of cutting commission and other related welfare payments.

Commission as percentage of value

Rs.1000

4.5%

Rs.10000

2.5%

Rs.20000 2% of bureaucracy etc. As Prime Minister intends, red- tape should be replaced by redcarpet.

(4)

There are around 750 to 900 stamp vendors in Kerala and their commission was in sales tax ambit till recently. But the UDF ministry has exempted them from taxation recently. It is reported that around Rs 200 crore worth stamp papers are sold every day in the State. It is making a huge dent in the exchequer which is already bleeding.

The registration has to be made online with immediate effect in order to check the drain and for transparent transactions. One who looks at the below given table can easily assess the volume of money the government loses as sales tax from the stamp vendors.

On the basis of existing commis-

(5)

Identify and get stock of the government land held by public sector enterprises.

Recover such lands and part of it may be sold to finance infrastructure projects.

(6)

Land rent of several thousands of hectares of land rented out to public sector undertakings is fixed at Rs 1300 per hectare in the early 1970s. Subject Committee, Public Accounts Committee (2014), Public Expenditure Review Committee (2014) have all recommended to raise it to Rs. 10000. But so far nothing is done. This budget may take necessary

action.

(7)

Fresh courses and new appointments in the aided sector may be allowed, only if such appointments are left to the Kerala Public Service Commission.

(8)

Every pilgrim centre, irrespective of the religion, should collect an ‘infrastructure/environment cess‘ of one rupee per pilgrim. The revenue thus collected should be used to provide world standard infrastructure and environment to the pilgrims.

(9)

Temporary staff to the tune of 33061 in non-functional government establishments should be terminated forthwith, as they make a dead weight burden on the tax payer.

(10) Non-registration is one of the methods adopted to evade taxes by traders (CAG2012). As per KVAT Act 2003, every dealer, with annual turnover not less than Rs 5 lakh (last budget raised it to Rs 10 lakh while other states continue with Rs 5 lakhs), and casual dealers, industrial units, dealers registered under CST Act, all contractors, irrespective of

the turnover shall himself get registered. Out of more than 20 lakh of shops and establishments, only 3.8 lakh got registered which shows the magnitude of tax evasion.

Hence a registration drive is immediately required to axe down the tip of the fiscal crisis.

(11) Non-tax revenue mobilization is abysmally low in the State with highest Human Development Index where the potential is very high as in the developed economies.

The government may turn to this sector to mobilize more revenue.

In sum, there is a rumor that Kerala is a state with tax terrorism. This is absolutely baseless. Per capita tax incidence on Kerala is lower than that on even some of the Southern states. However tax compliance is very poor in Kerala mainly because of the poor tax culture of the citizens and poor control over checkpost corruption. If check-post corruption is effectively prevented, there will be multiple impact on revenue mobilization and fiscal crisis will become a thing of the past but the nexus between the officers, politicians and the tax evaders is horrible. Who will bell the cat?

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

PASSLINE

6 IN PERSPECTIVE

UDF, LDF, BJP or a new outfit ? not take on the Government for their many acts of omissions and commissions.

Batsmen fail to capitalize on poor fielding & catching…

P C Cyriac

K

erala’s UDF Government has completed three years and a half. The wafer-thin majority with which they began the journey in May, 2011 became thicker and stronger. They should have seized the opportunity to take decisive steps to improve the State’s economy and solve the problems faced by the different sections of Kerala society. But has the UDF done justice to the people of Kerala?

In the past, the UDF Governments in Kerala were always prevented from taking up any new policy initiatives by a determined LDF in opposition. All attempts to implement reform measures or policy changes by the UDF Governments through the years were stoutly resisted by the LDF which used to indulge in no-holdsbarred, violent agitations. But during the current UDF

schools in the Aided sector, the then KPCC President Ramesh Chennithala’s desire to become the Home Minister and Oommen Chandy’s bid to prevent this , the tussles between the present KPCC President V M Sudheeran and the Oommen Chandy-Ramesh axis, the needless controversy on the issue of Bar licences, and the bribery charge against KM Mani. A lot of dirty linen was washed in full public view.

Before spinners come, should they not hit out?

With all this keeping the leaders busy, precious time was

Innings begun well, but….

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had begun his new innings in a glorious manner with a lot of goodwill . But, today, he presents the picture of a leader who has lost all credibility, who is willing to yield to pressures brought in by anybody, who is unable and unwilling to stick to his principles and who is willing to make any compromise to remain in power. Gone is the halo created by his path-breaking Grievance Redressal programmes in all the districts where he patiently spent hours together in the midst of the petitioners, issuing instructions to the officers to solve the problems. Gone is the electrifying impact created by his declaration that every decision would be taken in a transparent manner and in the public interest.

An opposition in disarray Another favourable development for the UDF at that time , was the very serious crisis which the Opposition LDF found itself in. Within the CPI(M), the lead-party of the LDF, the factions led respectively

by Party Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and Party Leader in the Legislature V S Achuthanandan were in open conflict.. The Marxist Party Leadership could not at all present before the people, a convincing explanation for the involvement of the Party in the gruesome murder of the dissident leader of Onjiyam, T P Chandrasekharan. Naturally they were on the defensive and could PASSLINE

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

tenure, though the CPI (M) tried to launch many agitations, they were shocked to find that it was not easy to mobilize the demoralized cadres. Taking advantage of this serious disability of the CPI (M), the UDF Government should have gone ahead with the policy decisions essential for the long term health of Kerala and its agriculture, industry and infrastructure.

Captain Vs Vice Captain !

But to the utter disappointment of the people, the Chief Minister and his team totally failed to rise to the occasion and take any such initiatives. Instead, they engaged themselves in pointless and frivolous disputes among themselves like the Balakrishna Pillai – Ganesh Kumar tussle and the sex scandals involving Ganesh Kumar and the PAs of the Chief Minister, the Solar Sarita controversy, disputes about sanctioning of new plus-2

getting lost; All this Tamasha was going on when many vital issues affecting the people of Kerala were crying for attention .

In Kerala, the primary and secondary sectors of the economy, Agriculture and Industry have both collapsed. The farmers who cultivated paddy and coconut, the most important crops of Kerala from time immemorial have been in distress for many decades. A massive campaign to popularize Agricultural machinery would have brought some cheer for the paddy growers.

And the single step of permitting the coconut growers to tap their trees and manufacture Neera would rejuvenate the Coconut sector. ( Neera has no alcohol in it and only when it is fermented it becomes toddy . And States like Karnataka and Maharashtra have already permitted the farmers to make Neera.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of a dynamic Chairman of the Coconut

Board TK Jose, it seems light is seen at the end of the tunnel ! ) Throwing away the Rubber Ball and taking a New Ball?

Rubber, which has been the solitary success story in the otherwise bleak scenario, has also turned sick now, thanks to the short-sighted policy of the prosperous yet avaricious Tyre Industry which is hell-bent on killing the goose that lays the golden egg. They have been importing huge quantities of Rubber taking advantage of the low rubber prices in South East Asia. Though the Rubber growers have been pointing to the gathering clouds and the impending crisis, the then UDF Govt did nothing to use its leverage with the Congress-led Central Govt , with eight Keralite Central Ministers, including the 2nd ranked Cabinet Minister A K Antony. They all did nothing to stop the uncontrolled flow of imported rubber which forced down the local rubber prices to levels below the cost of production. Though market-crash occurred after the BJP Govt took over, the ominous signs were there even before the change of Govt.

If only the UDF Govt was keen to help a Farmer-Group who had stood always solidly behind it, this was the opportunity! But they had no time for this, after settling the raging group-feuds within! Neither KM Mani, the Finance Minister and the leader of the ‘Kerala Congress’ Party which had always claimed the Rubber Growers as its support base , nor his son and the MP from Kottayam, Jose K Mani, who won the elections with the votes of Rubber growers , has been of any help in this hour of crisis. The distraught rubber growers are hoping against hope that the BJP will see an opportunity in this crisis and come to their rescue. The UDF is missing the chance to shore up their own traditional support base.

Losing the Match in the Western Ghat?

Yet another section of the Kerala Society which has been solidly behind the Congress and the UDF, all these years has been forced to vote against the UDF by the failure of the leadership to keep their eyes and ears open.. When the overzealous enthusiasts of the Environment Lobby with the help of the then Central Minister of Environment and Congress leader, Jairam

7 Ramesh came out with certain drastic policy initiatives threatening the normal life of the people in the hills and valleys of the Western Ghat in the Districts of Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Palghat, Calicut, and Wayanad, the Congress and the UDF should have taken up their concerns. The UDF Govt should have moved the Central Govt with all sincerity and removed the genuine fears of the settlers and secured their co-operation and involvement to protect and preserve the environment, in their own long term interest.. But instead, the local Congress leaders failed to understand the popular sentiments, to study the issues and take up convincing positions, thus driving the people into the opposite camp. The result was seen in the Lok sabha elections in Idukki. The UDF has not learnt any lesson from this. At least now, if the Govt implements the ‘all –party commitment ‘ of distributing Pattayams for the land being held from 1977, it would be able to recover some lost ground.

If inaction continues, we can see more erosion of the UDF support base .

Don’t lose the Match in the Coastal Zone?

There is yet another area where a large number of people are anxiously awaiting Govt’s moves. – the Coastal Belt in Kerala. In the State, the population is densest in the Coastal region. The Coastal Zone Regulations are stifling the aspirations of the people living here.

The stringent CRZ rules prescribe ‘no-go’ zones, where no activities are permitted. Under these rules, no development activity is permissible within 50 metres of the coast.

But in developed locations like in the City or Municipal limits, house contruction is permitted behind , ie on the landward side of , pre-1991 structures. In the Panchayat areas this concession is not available. Human habitation in Kerala follows a very different pattern from that in the other States. Here, we do not have clusters of houses called villages, separated by large extents of vacant lands. In Kerala, habitations are continuous. And Kerala’s rural Panchayats also are highly urbanized. That is why Kerala.is called an Urban Continuum. The whole Kerala is a developed area and therefore, the whole Sate should be included in CRZ 2 category, where development activities are permissible on the landward side of the existing structures of 1991 vintage.

It is the duty of the Kerala Govt to explain the local conditions and get the Govt of India to treat the entire

State as a developed area and hence under CRZ 2 category.. If the UDF Govt fails to do this, they are sure to lose the Coastal belt as well.

Go for the Bat, fortified with Minerals, in the slog overs….

Kerala does not possess deposits of iron ore, coal or nickel or aluminium necessary for heavy industries. Nor do we have a lot of dry lands which could be conveniently allotted to set up industrial units. We are also afraid of industrial effluents damaging our rivers and backwaters. Yet, we have the rich mineral sand deposits on our beaches which remain unexploited.

In fact, a lot of damage is done to the environment now , by a few private firms who undertake haphazard and unscientific mining activity, simply digging out and washing and shipping out the mineral sands . Instead of permitting this activity which ruins both the Environment and the mineral wealth , the Kerala Government should launch a massive mineral sand industry complex, processing the mineral sands and taking up value added production, right up to Titanium sponge, using the latest technology and following scientific mining procedures.

This will ensure that the environment damage is prevented and 98% of the soil removed is put back, thus restoring the topography of the mined area, as it existed earlier.

But we have neither the money nor the latest technology for this.

This massive Mineral Sand Project should be got implemented inviting global tenders and selecting in a transparent manner, a technologically sound and financially strong promoter with successful track record in the same business. The State need not have to invest any money; it will get massive amounts as royalty and tax money ,apart from the generation of employment, prevention of damage to the environment etc. Will the UDF Government do this, at least at this eleventh hour?

Stop the bouncers which hit us, we have no helmets….

A lot has to be done in quickening the process of giving approvals for the projects of the entrepreneurs through a single window . The irritants which discourage the entrepreneurs like the ‘Nokku kooli’and the monopoly handed out to the loading and unloading workers’ unions are widely seen as serious disincentives and impediments to new investors and to even the existing businesses. The UDF Government which has done precious little to discipline these Unions and

liberate the people of Kerala from their clutches should wake up at least now.

Build good stadiums and pitches….

For Agriculture or Industry or for any productive venture in any sector, to thrive, the State has the responsibility to provide the basic infrastructural facilities like power, roads, railways, ports, water etc , in good quality and at a reasonable cost. Here again, the Kerala Government has not been able to live up to the expectations, during the last 3 to 4 years. During the previous LDF regime, though a controversial decision was taken initially to restrict the width of the Four Lane National Highways in Kerala, to 30 metres, wiser counsels prevailed and an all-party consensus was reached to develop the Four Lane Highways, with a width of 45metres. The UDF which is committed to the strengthening of infrastructure has not acted at all on widening of our Highways and implementing the consensus, despite repeated statements declaring its commitment to wider roads. The State Government has not been able to do much in acquiring the land required by the Railways for their track-doubling projects nor have they exerted sufficient pressure on the Railways for upgrading the signaling system, which is most essential to improve the line capacity and run more trains in the Trivandrum-Mangalore sector.

Instead of concentrating on this, we are making noises for things like a separate Railway zone and more weekly trains to upcountry centers!

Prevent leakage of Runs by tight bowling & fielding…..

Kerala’s financial position is also continuing to be fragile. Kerala is one of the States with a large debt burden. Each successive Government in Kerala manages to double Kerala’s debt burden! Even the most experienced Finance Minister, K M Mani, with twelve Budgets under his belt, has taken little effort to cut unnecessary expenditure and give the economy a new direction.

Nothing at all has been done in controlling the spiralling losses by the two very important public utility services, the KSRTC & KSEB. The KSRTC’s losses for example, are more than Rs 150 crores a month, and that too, when the bus fares in the State are 75% higher than those prevailing in the neighbouring States like Tamil Nadu.

And the private operators make enormous profits here. It may be

recalled that both the Electricity charges and the bus fare have been increased every year and yet, the losses are mounting. Drastic and urgent measures are required for arresting leakages and toning up the efficiency of operation and improve labour productivity and bring in pension reforms in both these PSUs. Don’t throw plastic bottles on to the field Some of the other areas crying for attention in Kerala are the collection and treatment of waste materials by the local bodies, improvement in sanitation and health,and education. Innovative and viable initiatives are urgently required in these sectors.

If the Usual Teams let’s down ?

To tackle the challenges described will be a tremendous task requiring great efforts. It is doubtful if the OommenChandy Government will have the strong commitment and the political will to address these issues and take effective, forceful and earnest steps to solve each of these problems in a ‘do or die’ mood, without getting trapped in controversies.

If they want to take bold measures, the UDF Government will need to re-establish its lost credibility by improving the standards of governance and ensuring that each and every decision is taken only in the public interest and in a lawful manner, through a transparent process.

Will OommenChandy rise to the occasion? From all signs, the Govt has already lost steam and may somehow bat listlessly through the remaining overs and retire to the pavilion. In the General Elections in 2016, Kerala will not vote for the usual alternative of another Government by the LDF which has lost credibility with their internal conflicts and policies irrelevant to the present century. The people of Kerala will be forced to think of entrusting the State with a new political formation. Who will spearhead a new coalition , which will tackle all the issues discussed here with commitment only to the State and upholding all the highest standards of governance? The BJP? No, not with its highly sectarian approach. The politically conscious electorate of Kerala deserves a viable, dynamic alternative.

But what will be that alternative and where is the leader with credibility who will lead this new formation?

(Author is former chairman of Rubber Board) Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

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8

Infrastructure imports:

proposal, possibly waiting for clearance by China. It was included in Prime Minister’s priority list when he went to the recent G20 summit meet in Brisbane. Soon after the summit, it was clarified from Beijing that Japan’s road project cooperation with India, will not be in the disputed China-India border area.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made these remarks at a press briefing, when asked about a recent report that Japan International Corp Agency (JICA) had a contract to build roads on the China-India border. JICA will provide financial assistance and technical expertise to this border road project.

K Vijayachandran

E

nsuring quality infrastructure equitably at minimal cost was seen as a major responsibility of Planning Commission. Maybe, it was not doing a good job. But, that was no reason for dismantling it. However, India is living without a Planning Commission for than six months, and it seems that has made little difference.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly firmed up, during his recent Australian visit, several construction projects and foreign investment proposals that were hanging fire for long, ever since the economic reforms got initiated by the UPA Government.

Construction of a 2000- km mountain road along the China border proposed to be built with Japanese help was a long pending project PASSLINE

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

Japan is evidently happy because, this multi billion dollar assignment on the foot hills of Himalayas will benefit its recession-hit construction and heavy engineering industry.

And, Indian loan will provide its finance capital a top class investment outlet. China’s neutral attitude indicates that the project is unlikely to affect their strategic interests in any manner: Being a border road, it is likely to serve the interests of both sides in war and in peace.

There is no logic, whatsoever, for India unilaterally bearing the capital and maintenance costs of a high-cost border road, especially, when Indo-China friendship and cooperation is being taken to new heights through the BRIC and its New Development Bank.

And, insisting on foreign collaboration and Japanese technology makes little sense, when our own public sector enterprises like the Border Roads Organization and BEML of Bangalore, as well as other Indian construction firms in public as well as private sector, have proved their mettle in road construction on our Himalayan

borders. It is foolish to speed up with the project under the changed circumstances: Civilian needs of the NE states as well as defense priorities of the country should have been re-assessed before taking a final view of this project proposal, which was a product of our infamous war with China. Perhaps, business pushers and fixers of big contracts in Delhi continue on their jobs, as usual, unmindful of regime changes and even fundamental changes in political environment.

The border road contract was only a small fish in the list of big projects, got ready for Prime Minister’s Australian tour. There were also the multi-billion dollar high-tech railway projects in his priority list.

Most of these were under suspended animation during the UPA Government, for a variety of reasons.

There was the 534-km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed corridor project estimated to cost Rs 63,180 crore, for which the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is currently conducting a feasibility study. Then there was the 1,754 km-long Delhi-Chennai route which was being allotted to China for conducting feasibility study and is proposed to be developed jointly with China. The Delhi-Chennai route was part of a much larger scheme: The Diamond Quadrilateral Project, which aims to build a high-speed train network between different cities, including Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai, Chennai-Kolkata, Kolkata-Delhi and Mumbai-Kolkata. It is likely to cost Rs 2 lakh crore. The 28- hour run of Delhi-Chennai Rajdhani will be reduced to a mere six hours.

While the cost of construction of a normal railway route is Rs 5 crore per km, the estimated expenditure

on the high speed line will be Rs 120-126 crore.

Most of the projects in Prime Minister’s travel bag were hardly in tune with the development aspirations of our people. In fact NorthEastern states are crying for basic infrastructure, especially transport and communications but a border road is unlikely to be solution. NE states are poorly connected to the national rail system: situation in many other Indian states is also not very different. Even a casual examination of basic rail statistics will reveal this disquieting situation.

Census 2011 had counted a total of 5,98,110 census villages and towns in the country and we have only 7,172 railway stations in the country. This means, close to 99 per cent of our population centers are unlikely to have a proper rail link. After the British left, only 11,000 route km was added to the Indian rail system. Most of this 20 per cent increase took place during the first four decades of national independence. During the twenty five years of economic reforms; annual addition was only around 100 km or at the best, around some ten new railway stations per year.

In fact this new additions did not even compensate for the closure of rail stations, during this period, in the name of economic viability.

With the stress on express and super fast trains and neglect of passenger trains, a large number of rural railway stations have a deserted look today and are facing closure.

At the same time, many of the large stations look dirty, ill-maintained, user-unfriendly and overcrowded, despite the best efforts of the employees whose strength was being arbitrarily cut down at an average

9

priorities converge

rate of 17,000 per year during the past two decades.

Rail penetration in the country continues to be far below global development experience, on the basis of geographical area as well as population. India has 60 route km of railway per million people, and 20 route km per 1,000 sqkm of land area. This is far below that of USA (803/22), France (603/63), Germany (520/117) or Japan (192/63).

China was far behind India in rail penetration at the time of its revolution, but it has more than doubled its route rail length during the

past sixty years to around 65,000 km. The more recently added (2008) Lhasa -Xining train over the Tibetan highland had caught global attention. (http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Qinghai%E2%80%93).

Development priorities on our rail front are thus clear: Launching massive high speed trains on the Golden Triangle and other luxury trains with borrowed capital and imported technologies could hardly be a priority, compared to increasing the rail penetration to a respectable level of at least five percent of the population centers, using our

own resources. Our urban centers are developing into massive slums in the absence of efficient urban transport systems. Suburban trains or Metro Rails have to be developed in 40 cities with population exceeding two million if we are to fight against slums and we have the technology and resources to do this, Then there is a big backlog of quality improvement. All these need careful planning as well as development of appropriate technologies: Human resources development and capacity building being the most fundamental. Prime Minister Modi

and his advisors seem to believe that high-cost sophisticated infrastructure, with imported equipment and technology, foreign loans, FDI etc etc are essential for economic growth and will easily yield popular applause. Such projects remind us of the Latin American dictators of last century who led their countries into deep debt traps by pursuing all sorts of fancy projects. Many of these countries continue to be severely indebted and backward even today, despite being blessed with valuable mineral resources including gas and oil Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

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10 ASSET CLASS

Where to invest in 2015?

Dr V K Vijayakumar

2

014 gave widely divergent returns to investors. Gold, the perennial favourite of Indians, gave negative return of 7.1 % on top of the 4 % negative return in 2013. The inflation adjusted return from bank deposits, thanks to the high inflation for most part of the year, was around 1 %. The real estate market was sluggish with poor liquidity; price appreciation was confined to select pockets like Bangalore.

The best performing asset class of 2014, by a wide margin, was stocks. It was an excellent year for the stock market in India with the Sensex and Nifty returning more than 30 %. Mid and small-caps beat the indices by a wide margin with returns of 52 % and 67 % respectively. This is superb performance, particularly when seen in the context of poor returns from the other asset classes. The relevant question is: how will 2015 pan out?

Stocks likely to out-perform in 2015 also The superb performance of stocks in 2014 is unlikely to be repeated in 2015. Even then, stocks are likely to be the best performing asset class in 2015 also. It would be realistic to expect decent returns of 15 to 20 percent in the coming year. 15 to 20 percent returns in 2015, on top of the 30 percent returns in 2014 will be superb returns considering the fact that these are tax free.

For investors with a time horizon PASSLINE

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

of three years or more, the returns from stocks can be excellent. What is the logic behind this optimism?

Indian economy is on a structural and cyclical uptrend. True, the optimism in the markets about revival of growth and earnings have not yet translated into actual superior performance on the ground. But, this is typical of the early phase of a multi-year bull run: first, the market runs ahead of fundamentals on expectations; later growth and earnings catch up. Declining interest rates will sustain the momentum.

Even though there are concerns regarding the sluggish economic recovery and absence of clear signs of revival of the investment cycle, we believe that the Indian economy would be one of the best performing economies of the world in 2015. A near certainty for 2015 is global growth scarcity. China

17 billion of FII investment into equity. This is likely to continue.

There is the possibility of a dip in FII investment from sovereign funds from the Middle East due to the constraints imposed by the crude crash. But FII investment from other sources will continue.

A major development from the institutional investment angle would be the continuation of the pick up in domestic mutual fund inflows into equity. This is likely to be a major factor sustaining the market momentum in 2015.

The bright prospects for Indian equities in 2015 stem from expectations of a structural and cyclical upturn in the Indian economy.

Growth in India is likely to rise to 5.4 % this year accelerating to around 6.5 % in FY 2016. The crash in crude has proved to be a game changing economic event

is decelerating fast; Euro Zone is nearing stagnation and possibly recession; Japan is struggling and commodity exporting Emerging Markets like Russia and Brazil are reeling under commodity crash. In this scenario of global growth scarcity, there are only limited investment destinations that can attract capital. In fact, the strong rebound is the US is the silver lining and India’s improving macros make it the brightest spot in the Emerging Market universe.

India would continue to be one of the best destinations of FII investment in 2015 also. During the last 3 years, India averaged around $

for India. India’s weakness as a crude importer has turned into its strength. Inflation is trending down sharply and we feel that a rate cut in early 2015 is inevitable. Declining interest rate and improving growth and earnings prospects will lead to a re-rating of the Indian market.

As stated earlier, we expect around 15 to 20 percent returns from the market in 2015. Private sector banks, select PSU banks, NBFCs, Autos, IT and Pharma will continue to do well in 2015 too. We are bullish on sectors like paints, tyres, packaging etc which are major beneficiaries of the crude crash.

We are also bullish on auto ancillaries and select cyclicals like cement.

Companies in the logistics segment supporting the highly promising e commerce space, though richly valued, can be bought on declines.

Metals and energy are sectors to avoid.

Debt is a safe bet A promising asset class for 2015 is debt. With interest rates set to decline, debt would be a sure bet.

We feel that a 75 basis point cut in interest rate is possible in 2015.

Decline in interest rates will push up the prices of bonds. This will lead to appreciation in the NAVs of debt funds. Therefore, apart from stocks, gilt funds, long duration debt funds and monthly income plans are almost sure to reward investors handsomely.

Gold may not shine 2015 is likely to witness subdued activity in the commodity space. A predictable event for 2015 is dollar appreciation. With the US economy rebounding strongly and the prospects of a recovery in the Euro Zone and Japan looking bleak, dollar is likely to be the favoured currency. This is bad news for gold.

Therefore, big investment in gold is not advisable; but investors can consider nibbling at gold at current levels and further increasing their investment on declines.

Real estate: the time correction is likely to continue Regarding real estate, we feel, the present sluggish activity will continue in 2015 too. Interest rate cut expected in 2015 might provide some relief to the industry but it is not likely to alter the fortunes of the sector in a big way. Real estate prices ran up excessively starting from the early years of the last decade. Since price correction does not happen in the sector, time correction is the only way to remove the froth. This is likely to continue for another two years.

(The author is Investment Strategist, Geojit BNP Paribas) Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

PASSLINE

11

TAX WATCH

Find out the right tax-saving option

Passline News Service ne should choose the tax saving investments or tax shields on the basis of returns, safety and liquidity, flexibility of income and cost of investments.

These things have great relevance in the perspective of hiked deduction under section 80c of the income tax law. The individual tax payer can reduce his tax burden

by Rs 1,50,000 as per new amendment. Below given are the most useful eight tax saving investments schemes.

ELSS Funds There are specific reasons why ELSS funds should be part of the equity allocation in a taxpayer’s investment portfolio in 2015. They may be low on safety but they score full points on all other parameters.

The returns are high, the income is tax free, the investor is free to alter the time and amount of investment, the lock-in of 3 years is the shortest among all tax saving investments and the cost is only 2-2.5% a year. The liquidity is even higher if you opt for the dividend option and the cost is even lower if you go for the direct plans of these funds. Invest in the dividend option which acts as a profit-booking mechanism and also gives you liquidity. Dividends are tax-free.

ULIP For a lot of people, Ulip is still a four letter word. However, investors need to wake up to the new reality. All ordinary Ulip is still a costly proposition for the buyer.

But the online born these market linked insurance plan is a low-cost option far removed from what was

O

missed to investors few years ago.

The Click2Invest plan from HDFC Life, for instance, charges only 1.35% a year for fund management.

Ulips can be used as a rebalancing tool by the savvy investor. He can switch from equity to debt and vice versa, without any tax implication.

Buy a Ulip only if you can pay the premium for the full term. Also, take a plan for at least 15 years. A short-term plan may not be able to recover the high charges levied in the initial years. Don’t invest in the equity fund at one go. Invest in a liquid fund and then shift small amounts to equity fund.

PPF Budget 2014 also hiked the annual investment limit in the PPF. Risk averse investors can now strike away more in the ultra- safe scheme. The instrument scores high on safety,taxability,and costs taxability and costs but, returns are not so attractive and liquidity is not very high. The scheme will give 8.7% this year but don’t count on this in the following years. The interest rate on small saving schemes such as the PPF is linked to the government bond yield and is likely to come down in the coming years.

To reduce the effort open a PPF account in a bank that allows online access.

SR CITIZENS SAVING SCHEME The Senior Citizens Saving Scheme (SCSS) is an ideal tax saving option for senior citizens above 60. The money is safe and the returns and liquidity are reasonably good. However, the interest income received

from the scheme is fully taxable.

The interest rate is linked to the government bond yield. Unlike in case of the PPF, the interest rate will remain unchanged till the investment matures. The best option in this scheme is your investments in the Senior Citizens Saving across 2-3 financial years to avail of the tax benefits.

NPS The new pension scheme (NPS) is yet to become a popular choice because of the complex procedures involved in opening an account. But investors who managed to cross that gap have found it rewarding. NPS funds have not done badly in the past five years.

The returns from the E class funds are in line with those of the Nifty, while corporate bond funds and gilt funds have given close to doubledigit returns. But financial planners believe that the 50% cap on equity investments is too conservative.

The other sore points is the lack of liquidity and taxability of the income. The annuity income will also be fully taxable. To get maximum benefit, start a Tier II account from the low-cost structure of the NPS. BANK FD, NSC bank FDs and NSCs score high on safety, flexibility and costs but the tax treatment of income drags down the overall score. The interest rates are a bit higher than what the PPF offers but the income is fully taxable at the slab rate applicable to the individual. They suit taxpayers in the 10% bracket (taxable income of less than Rs. 5 lakh a year).

The big advantage is that these are widely available. Just walk into any bank branch and invest in its tax saving fixed deposit. Build a ladder by investing every year. After the fourth year, just reinvest the maturity amounts in fresh deposits.

PENSION PLANS Pension plans from insurance companies remain costly investments that are best avoided. Instead, it may be a better idea to go for the retirement funds from mutual funds. They give the same tax benefits but don’t annuitize the corpus on maturity. The investor is also free to remain invested beyond the age of 60. Till now all the pension plans were debt-oriented balanced schemes. Last week, Reliance Mutual Fund launched its reliance Retirement Fund, an equity-oriented fund. However, ELSS schemes and Ulips can be used for the same purpose.

INSURANCE PLANS Traditional insurance plans are the worse way to save tax. They require a multi-year commitment and give very poor returns. The insurance regulator has introduced some customer-friendly changes but these plans still don’t qualify as good investments. The only good thing is that the income is tax free.

But then, so is the income from the PPF and tax free bonds. Another positive feature is that you can easily get a loan against such policies, which gives some liquidity to the policy holder. If you have a highcost insurance plan, turn it into a paid-up policy to ease the premium burden.

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

PASSLINE

12 SOCIETY

Malippuram Khalid

WHOM TO LIBERATE? “Keeping mum why should we forgo further spring?”

O

ne of the placards pinned on the attire of the demonstrator reads thus.

Numbers of demonstrators, all females, can be counted easily; only seven. Demonstration was on first Monday night of December from 10 pm to 2 pm. According to reports these seven ladies walked along the streets of Kozhikode to ‘claim the night’.

Calling themselves as NISA they identified the participants by name and revealed their intention: “We are a group of friends belonging to different professions. We discuss issue of relevance on our Facebook group. We felt that the issue of women being forbidden to step out at night is of much relevance and wanted to voice our protest in a creative way. Following the kiss of love event, the atmosphere today is that of change. We received a lot of energy from kiss of love event, which we support wholeheartedly.”

They continued to say: “It is widely accepted notion that any woman who steps outdoors after 10 pm deserves to be abused. Some men consider it their privilege and even PASSLINE

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

duty to abuse such a woman. The attitude of a lot of women, on the other hand, is ‘that is how things have always been’. We wanted to question this deep rooted belief.”

I went to Kozhikode on the day of staging the kiss of love event there, days after the night walk of Nisa. Atmosphere was certainly tense seeing the posters pasted on the walls on the streets against kiss of love event. Posters did say the participants will be stripped naked.

As happened in Marine Drive of Kochi, spectators were plenty and the participants were very few.

Venue is then shifted to Kairali Theatre of Thiruvananthapuram which was one of the venues of International Film Festival of Kerala(IFFK). Though preplanned, organisers avoided publicity and entered the theatre to see the festival movie. At the fag end of the movie they pinned the posters on their dresses, came out, hugged and kissed each other, singing and raising slogan against fascism and moral policing. It almost went unnoticed but for a few photographers from media crowding around.

Even one foreign delegate was seen commenting: “Let those who want to kiss do it. Why do you care?”

A few photographers turned out to be funny demanding the protesters to pose with lips locked for photographs to their liking’ for publicity. This provoked the protesters and they accused photographers as indulging in voyeurism. Luckily they did not call them as agents of fascism! These photographers then said they boycott and went but clinging photos did appear in next day newspapers!

It seems media hype only created these events kiss of love and night walk. While much publicity was given to kiss of love organized at Marine Drive media failed to notice the touch of love of their colleagues at Thoppumpady, both at Kochi. These noble hearts bathed and offered new clothes to the destitute found in the streets. Though much attention was drawn to night walk even by papers like the Times of India with photos spread over columns, many at Kozhikode never heard of this. Elder men who knew it later commented; “We dare not

walk in the night beyond 10pm fearing hooligans, how do they?”

These so called progressive demonstrators fail to see the real issues of women’s liberation. Our male dominant administration, even in national capital fails to prevent repetition of “Nirbhaya” happenings. Khappanchayats continue to enforce their laws depriving young loved ones the right to live together. Can these protestors take any concrete measures to reduce the humiliation and harassment fellow women suffer at home and outside?

When you were demonstrating for cheap publicity, one of your sister earning her livelihood in Mumbai, thought it fit to write to the big daddies of India seeking solutions to the humiliations women suffer in Indian society. Two post graduate students of Pondicherry University did not surrender their honour and took their battle to the Madras High Court for justice. Do you know them?

Though an actress Shenaz Treasurywala is not that famous. But this former VJ instantly bestowed with salutations on revealing her heart rendering story. In fact her

13 words are for the safety of the entire women of India. None may speak in public fearing ridicule, but every female is coming across such incidents one time or the other while living in Indian society.

Living in urban India all females who venture out and move in public transport for studies and jobs may be endangering in similar situations but seldom react fearing public apathy. Shenaz who grew up in a middle class family narrates every incident in her life with courage and conviction : When she was just 13 groped by a man. At 15,when she was going by train or bus to St Xavier’s College she was groped by co-passengers.

Hell broke out when she went for an audition. She was wearing a red body suit and a black long skirt with slits. She never wore it again as if it was the curse of the dress.

What to speak further? Reading this letter our esteem should go rock bottom as we all belong to the very society , Indian society. See this incident from Hyderabad in Shenaz’s words: “My mom accompanied me to Hyderabad on a shoot once. In Churi Bazar a cyclist groped my mom. My dear respected and lovely mom.”

Demanding death penalty for all rapists Shenaz really shamed the big daddies of India. Who are they ?Narendra Modi, Amitabh Bachan, Amir Khan, Mukesh Ambani, Sachin Tendulkar and the like. Addressing these celebrities she tells them: “Save us, save your mother, daughter and sister please. ….Do not sleep till you save your women.”

How many still silently suffer ragging and harassment in college campus? Do you know gratifying the guide is more important than doing research to get the doctorate?

Kiss of love protesters travelling all cities of Kerala would have gone to Pondicherry University to express solidarity to their sisters who were harassed by senior and the senior was protected by university. But for the Madras High Court these girls would have been deprived of their legitimate right.

The High Court has pulled up the Pondicherry University for its insensitivity in handling the sexual harassment and ragging complaint lodged by two girl students against a senior.

The university had suspended the two first year postgraduate students who had accused a second year physical education student for sexual harassment and ragging. High

Court set aside the orders passed by the university suspending the students and denying them permission to appear for the examination.

The court directed the university to conduct special classes and examinations for the two without insisting on attendance and said it should not deny any facilities to them.

The court directed the university to pay a compensation of Rs 20,000 to each of them. The court further directed the anti-sexual harassment committee of the university to hold a fresh enquiry into the girl students’ complaint without referring to the proceedings of the committee that conducted an enquiry earlier.

Judgment is highly critical of the university. “The handling of the complaints by the university has made the remedy worse than the disease and added insult to injury”, it said. The court directed those in the management of the university “to acquire the required degree of sensitivity to handle these (sexual harassment) issues.” The judge while appreciating the two students, said they “stood their ground and refused to render unconditional apology” as per the order of the vice chancellor.

in the ancient world in respect of education and culture then I would say it was India.” Like Malayalam writer Vaikom Mohammed Basheer this is not to claim possession of “elephants” in the past! But past culture do focus inculcating human values in us which are difficult to part with. Even for most genuine causes what westerners do, can we imitate? For women empowerment singer and actress Cara Delevingne posed topless. Here if some one attempts for the same cause adverse will be the effect. Alicia Keys went one step further. This five time grammy award winning singer posed naked while pregnant to “create a more peaceful world for children through social justice causes including stricter gun laws, criminal justice reform and global girls education”.Those who look at western culture thinking anything they do is progressive should realize they envy our idealistic family system. It is time to remember British historian Dr Arnold Toynbee : “At this supremely dangerous point in history the only way of salvation of mankind is the Indian way.”

There is no doubt that more and more women should be assertive

creating their own space in society.

Large numbers of ladies seeking employment and enterprising can catalyze this process. But, sorry to say, this society where male is dominant seldom respect capabilities of women and offer equal opportunities to them. I find no reason for giving lesser pay to female employees compared to their male counterparts for the same amount of work. Enhancing productivity with better percentage of female employment is an established fact now.

Studies conducted by McKincey has documented that organizations become more productive, profitable and sustainable when middle and higher management are better represented by women employees beyond 30%.This further gives the introspection that our parliament “wrestling” sessions will turn to smooth decision making ones if the bill for 33% reservation for women get enacted. Beyond women’s empowerment it will have the added advantage of sessions with higher productivity, I mean, sessions without interruptions!

(The author can be contacted at: malippuram@gmail.com)

“Their action showed their courage of conviction and refusal to compromise at the cost of honour,” the judge said. He lauded the girls for overcoming the normal tendency and temptation to surrender to the power of authority.

“This could not have been possible unless they had felt genuinely offended. Therefore ordering of a proper enquiry alone and that too after setting at right all the humiliation to which the girl students have been subjected will restore the confidence of girl students in the campus that there is gender justice.

Otherwise the morale of the other girl students would go down and this will prove to be retrograde step for gender equality.” The judgment thus concluded.

Empowering women is all that we need for an equitable society with no atrocities to women. Mark Twain considered India “as the cradle of the human race, the birth place of human speech, the mother of history, the grand mother of legend and the great grand mother of tradition.” India can legitimately take pride of a 5000 years old culture (Indus Valley Civilisation) when many others including westerners were nomadic forest dwellers. German Indologist Max Muller once wrote; “If I am asked which nation had been advanced Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

PASSLINE

14 PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Prof Job K T

U

within five years. The UAV industry claims that it will create 100,000 jobs and contribute $82 billion by 2025. For surveillance, UAVs have gained popularity in the skies over Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

nmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone and also referred to as an unpiloted aerial vehicle (UAV) and a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). They are, further, called UAS (unpiloted air system) and model aircraft by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. ICAO classifies unmanned aircraft into two types:

The market size of UAVs in India is expected to reach $33.5 million (Rs 203 crore) by 2019. A number of startups focusing on this new age technology have set up shops in different parts of the country.

However, major requirement of UAVs is currently met by imports.

• Autonomous aircraft – currently considered unsuitable for regulation due to legal and liability issues.

The Bangalore-based EDALL SYSTEMS conducts training sessions on design and development of UAVs. Karnataka-based Adhiamman College of Engineering is in the process of setting up a drone research and manufacturing facility.

AIRPIX--a Mumbai-based company provides aerial drone photography and gives recommendations to businesses and industries through analysis of the aerial data.

• Remotely piloted aircraft – subject to civil regulation under ICAO and under the relevant national aviation authority.

UAVs can be classified according to the way their flight is controlled, of which there are three methods. They are: • Pre-programmed • Remote control • Self-thinking (which can be combined) UAVs are often categorized based on performance (linked often to size). There are several categorizations from producers, users and researchers.

They are: • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) operate in the air.

• Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) operate on all types of terrain.

• Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) are floating systems that operate on water.

• Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) operate below the surface of both shallow and deep waters.

UAVs are also designated as: Micro--Weights up to 1 kg. The maximum endurance is 60 minutes Small -- Weights up to 15 kg.

Capable of flying for more than 2 hours PASSLINE

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

Medium -- Has an endurance of 5-10 hours and carry a payload of 5-100 kg Large -- Has endurance of 27 hours which can fly at 60,000 ft UAV flight is controlled either autonomously by onboard computers or by the remote control of a pilot on the ground or in another vehicle. More advanced, radio links and indirect radio links (e.g. via satellites or relay UAVs) are also used.

UAVs were simple remotely piloted aircraft, but autonomous control is increasingly being employed.

UAVs are usually deployed for military and special operation applications, but also used in a small but growing number of civil applications, such as policing and fire fighting and non-military security work, such as inspection of power or pipelines. These are often preferred for missions that are too “dull, dirty or dangerous” for manned aircraft.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle returns

to base for further use once they have fulfilled their mission. Wilderness search and rescue (WiSAR) is a complicated problem requiring thousands of hours of search over large and complex terrains. Using mini UAVs to support WiSAR has the potential to dramatically improve search efficiency.

UAV segment is continuously evolving and gaining global presence with a significant growth in market share across most regions each year. According to Teal Group, UAV expenditure will nearly double over the next decade from the existing global spending of $5.7 billion to $9.9 billion annually.

According to a new market research report, “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Market (2013 - 2018)”, authored by Markets and Markets, the total global UAV Market (20132018) is expected to reach $8,351.1 million by 2018 with a CAGR of 3.30%. It is estimated as many as 7,500 drones could be in commercial use over US towns and cities

ATOMS & BYTES-- Chennaibased startup, manufactures custom-made drones, make-your-owndrone kits and drone accessories are sold both online and offline for Rs 11,000 to Rs 5 lakh. PIXELISM, a Hyderabad-based photography and advertising company, has used drones for aerial photography and videography.

Singapore-based Garuda Robotics set up by 21-year old Indian Pulkit Jaiswal sells drone software. IDEAFORGE has built Nethra UAV in collaboration with DRDO and has the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force and the police forces of about three states as customers.

The various components required for the manufacture of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are: • Microcontrollers+ • Brushless motors • Electronic speed controllers(ESCs) • Propellers

5 6

Direct employment potential Power requirement

15 people 25 HP

15

The approximate investment requirement for setting up of two numbers of UAVs w cost Rs 1140 The lakhapproximate as indicated below: requirement for setting up of two numinvestment bers of UAVs will cost Rs 1140 lakh as indicated below:

• Inertial measurement unit(IMU) • Structure( carbon fibre, fibre glass)) • Ultrasound sensors • Infra red sensors • Camera • Battery

The UAV incubation can be set up in Kerala Startup Villages at Infopark, Kochi, Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, and National Institute of Technology, Kozhikode. Startup Village has already incubated 450 startups.

More than 650 product startup companies have been incubated, out of which 31 raised funds. It focuses primarily on student startups and telecom innovation. Startup Village provides members with workspace, high-speed Internet connection, legal and intellectual property services and access to high-profile investors.

Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Particulars Land Buildings Machinery & Equipment Miscellaneous fixed assets Preliminary and pre-operative expenses Contingency@ 10% Working Capital- (1st Year)

Cost (Rs in lakh) Own 150.00 500.00 25.00 50.00

65.00 350.00 Total 1140.00 In January 2013, Startup Village and the Kerala Government launched It iswould expected that financial institutions will provide term loan to the extent of 65% an initiative called SVSquare. Every year, the Startup Village panel select promising young entrepreneurs from India and send them on an allIt is expected that financial institutions will provide term loan to the extent the fixed assets amounting toassets Rs 480 lakh. Apart from this, thefrom unitthis, is also expense paid trip to the US. of 65% of the fixed amounting to Rs 480 lakh.

Apart the eligible unit loan is alsoof eligible for working capital of Rscapital) 260 lakh (75% workThe incentives available at Startup Village are: working capital Rs 260 lakh (75% of loan working fromofcommercial bank ing capital) from commercial bank in the first year. The balance in the proj• Tax Exemption--Companies in incubators recognised by the Thefirst Na- year. ectThe cost balance of Rs 400in lakh willproject have to cost be mobilized by the promoters.

Theto be mobiliz the of Rs 400 lakh will have tional Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board unit also is eligible for incentives, if it is incubating at Startup Village.

The financialThe viability setting of two for UAVsincentives, is provided below: of the Department of Science and Technology are eligibleby forthe service promoters. unitofalso is up eligible if it is incubating at Start The financial viability of setting up of two UAVs is provided below: tax exemption for 3 years and up to Rs 50 lakh.

Village. • Startup Village Angel Fund--Entrepreneurs can access to Startup Sl. No. Particulars Amount Village Angel Fund. ( Rs in lakh) 1 Annual sales income 1000.00 • Consulting Service by KPMG--KPMG provides initial tax support services to startups. Free advice is provided from an Indian tax and 2 Cost of raw materials, salary, power, 750.00 regulatory perspective. depreciation, sales commission, interest • IP Strategy by Inolyst--Startup teams can avail of IP services by Inon term loan, administrative expenses olyst at a heavily discounted rate. Two hours of personal consultation is provided to every startup individually by the founder of Inolyst on etc.

IPR / innovation and licensing.

3 Operating Profit 250.00 • Hosting by Net4--Every Startup Village company gets massive dis4 Break even point 60% count credits on hosting services.

5 Pay Back Period Less than 5 years • Technical Support--Startup Village companies receive priority technical support from MobME Engineering & Research team.

6 Internal Rate of Return 40% • Free Tickets to Networking Events--Bharat Exhibition will offer 10 passes for each of their events to Startup Village entrepreneurs. In theInevent the event of growing terrorism, natural calamities etc UAVs are often of growing terrorism, natural calamities etc UAVs are often preferred for Normally, these passes cost Rs 5,000 – Rs 10,000. The passes will be preferred for missions that are too “dull, dirty or dangerousâ€? for manned missions that are too "dull, dirty or dangerous" for manned aircraft. The demand for awarded on a first come first serve basis. aircraft. The demand for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in India is estimated Aerial India are is estimated Rs 203 lakh by 2019. are at Rs 203 lakhVehicles by 2019.inThere some who at initiate to assemble UAVsThere in • Legal Services from GyanMagnus—Startups will get legal tips at Unmanned country.

However, the requirement is presently met by imports.

In this a discounted rate. GyanMagnus Associates is reckoned as the trustedsomethe who initiate to assemble UAVs in the country. However, the requirement is context, there is scope for production of UAVs domestically by enterprisspecialist adviser in Corporate Finance, Tax and Corporate Law. presently met by entrepreneurs. imports. In this context, there is scope for production of UAVs ing technical • Interest Free Loan from KFC--Kerala Financial Corporation prodomestically enterprising technical entrepreneurs.

(Professorby JOB K T is a retired Senior Faculty of Centre for Management Developvides Startups with interest free loan. ment, Thiruvananthapuram.

Presently he is the Director, Enterprise Development Ser_______________________________________________________________________ • Accounting support by Themis Consultancy--Startups can avail vice, Thiruvananthapuram, offering training, consultancy, asset valuation and Quality *Professor JOB K T is a retired Senior Faculty of Centre for Management Development, of these services at a highly discounted rate.

Management System services to small and medium enterprises. He can be contacted at he is the Director, Enterprise Development Service, The projectis isproposed proposed a capacity to manufacture two Mob: 9847135571Presently or e.mail: jobkt012@gmail.com) The project for afor capacity to manufacture two numbers of numbers Unmanned Thiruvananthapuram. of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles per annum. A rough requirement for Thiruvananthapuram, offering training, consultancy, asset valuation and Quality Aerial aVehicles annum.below: A rough requirement for such a unit is shown below: such unit ispershown Management System services to small and medium enterprises. He can be contacted

Sl. No. Description 1 Land 2 Buildings 3 Machinery required are test benches, drilling machine, bending machine, tapping machine, painting booth, air tunnel etc.

4 Raw materials required are Microcontrollers, brushless motors, ESCs, propellers, IMU, structures, ultrasound sensors, infra red sensors, camera, battery, etc.

5 Direct employment potential 6 Power requirement

Requirement 100 cents 1000 sq.ft Rs 500.00 lakh Rs lakh

600.00

***

Govt will help HLL set up new unit in Kerala: CM

15 people 25 HP

The approximate investment requirement for setting up of two numbers of UAVs will cost Rs 1140 lakh as indicated below:

at Mob: 9847135571 or e.mail: jobkt012@gmail.com.

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

PASSLINE

16 MARKET REVIEW

Time for buying the dips

V Raghavan

R

ecently, Indian stock market was spooked by few villains – one, Greece and other an oddly behaving character called crude. The market fell 250 points on Nifty on January 6 and it was the steepest in past 15 months. This time the correction was prolonged a bit more and possibly deeper than the brief and shallow ones that investors have been used to in the past 15 months. These phases of corrections come and go in every bull market which could leave it with cuts of 10%-15% at times (and sometimes slightly steeper too, if one goes by the 2003-07 experience). But do not think that this correction (the extent of which is difficult to gauge, as of now) is the start of a structural downtrend for Indian equities. This is the time for buying the dips and reiterate the house call of 9500 Nifty by end 2015.

Global risk appetite remains fairly healthy, despite the recent adverse market action. As long as the US economy is in a reasonable shape (2%-3% real GDP growth) and the US Federal Reserve is in a gradual tightening mode, there is fundamental under pinning for global equities. If QE (quantitative easing) was driving up P/Multiples earlier, a reasonably strong US economy is good for ‘E’ growth. Recent fall in global markets has been driven by risks emanating from expectations that Greece will likely renege on its bail-out terms with funders and potentially exit from the European Union(EU). There is talk of contagion from such a move.

But a look at the yields of 10-year Greek government bonds and more particularly those of the so called ‘peripheral’ European nations like Portugal, Italy and Spain does not indicate any such thing.

Crude: Situation is a bit perplexing One has difficulty in quantifying PASSLINE

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

what is more responsible for lower crude oil prices – rising supply or falling demand. Or is it an effort on the part of legacy oil producers wanting to push out the newcomers (US shale players).The IEA (International Energy Agency) data indicates that crude oil supply has exceeded demand for a large part of 2014 and is likely to do so in the near future. However, a look at the impact of lower crude oil prices on key oil producers indicates that it is only a matter of time (how long is a difficult call) before the prices

Falling current account deficit or CAD, a tighter control of fiscal deficit is likely to keep rupee depreciation orderly and not disruptive to other factors like inflation.

Despite a slow start (as it was in the process of settling down), the pace of policy making has surprised positively over the past few months with a number of path-breaking second-generation reforms poised for clearance by the Parliament.

Some reform measures taken by the new government

Centre will now decide on rules for auctioning and the states will perform the auction and will get revenue from the auctions.

Public sector bank reforms: This is very critical as public sector banks form 70%-75% of Indian system wide assets and have been plagued lately by lack of capital and large non-performing assets (largely a function of a slowing economy).

With this, the government indicated that it is open to greater autonomy and greater professionalism.

Goods and Services Tax or GST bill: The government has substantially narrowed differences with the states over the past six months and is likely to table the bill in the upcoming Budget session of Parliament.

Insurance bill: Increase in foreign direct investment or FDI limit from 26% to 49%. This is likely to bring in capital to enable the sector to grow.

Petroleum product pricing: Full diesel price decontrol - not a difficult task under the current scenario of falling crude oil prices.

move up to higher levels. This is likely to happen through production cuts. Data indicates that the existing price of crude oil is likely to hurt a number of oil producing countries. For these oil producing countries (many of which are nondemocracies),crude oil forms a substantial portion of their revenue and helps fund social spending.

Prolonged periods of low crude oil prices could lead to political upheaval, something the ruling regimes are likely aware of.

Indian picture is looking better, relatively While we seem to be living currently in a multi-speed world - with Euro zone and Japan flirting with recession, as has been the case over the past many years, China witnessing a gradual decline in its growth rate, and the US continuing to grow albeit at rates lower than in ‘normal’ times - Indian data has been looking up in the recent past. This is the effect of natural bottoming out of the economy which started before the new Narendra Modi-led government came to power.

Land Acquisition ordinance: Incrementally positive for infrastructure growth and certain types of investments. The amendment does away with the mandatory consent clause and also social impact assessment (SIA) for five sectors. However, there is no change in: (1) Compensation, and (2) Rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) terms. The act is an attempt to balance the interests of landowners and the industry.

Coal mining ordinance: Allows the government to allocate coal mines to private sector through the auction route. This should ease problems for players in the power and metals sectors in the medium term and creates a cleaner mechanism to transfer resources to private players.

MMDR ordinance: Changes have been approved to the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act to make auction as the preferred mode to sell important minerals. There are apparently 60,000 mining applications pending with the states. The

Direct Benefit Transfer: Significant efforts seem to be underway to shift subsidy payments to the bank account of the ultimate beneficiary so as to reduce leakage in the system. Once this is scrolled out nationally and encompasses more and more products under it, there is likely to be substantial savings.While a non-cooperative opposition in the Rajya Sabha is a hurdle, recent government move on issuance of ordinances shows its commitment to push things through. Parliamentary approval to come through in some form or the other over the next 12-18 months for some of these key reforms.

Let us come to the conclusion that the execution of these measures would push the economy into a higher orbit of growth (assuming that global macro-economic situation does not deteriorate dramatically from where it is currently).

This in turn could result in higher revenue and earnings growth for a number of domestically-oriented sectors like banking, infrastructure, capital goods, automotive, etc.

(Author is the Regional Head-Kerala, Nirmal Bang)

17

Simple money tips for better financial future Passline News Service

O

ne should analyse spending patterns to observe how much is essential spend, and how much is luxury spend.

When there is a significant amount of personal debt, it is best to put off luxury purchases for later and stick to the essential expenses. This will leave more money at the end of the month. Also, see if there are ways to reduce essential expenses, such as option for a car pool, or buying a cheaper brand of coffee.

2. Keeping a strict budget It is advisable to create a budget, which takes into account current expenses, and helps you to keep money aside to repay debt. This budget needs to be realistic and take into account one’s lifestyle and spending patterns. Following a strict budget will assist you in achieving your financial goals.

3. Choose the time line Fix a time line to achieve your goal, a long term investment always reaps you the benefit of your money compounding. For example, let us assume you have a financial goal of reaching Rs 50 lakh as your target amount in 10 years. If the rate of interest is 14 per cent, then you need to invest Rs 18,853 every month to reach your financial goal.

If on the other hand, the goal is to have a corpus of Rs 50 lakh to be reached in 15 years with the same interest rate, then you need to invest only Rs 8,316 every month.

This is because of the power of compounding.

4. Credit card woes Most people have multiple credit cards, leading to high interest costs and other charges. The best solution is to reduce the number of cards, to one or maybe two cards, which should be used only in emergency situations. It is better to use a debit card for all shopping, as one can spend only within one’s means and not overspend (as happens when using a credit card).

5. Prioritising goals Without prioritising your financial goals it is impossible for you to achieve those goals. Once you decide your financial goals, it is advisable to prioritise them in order of importance, such as children’s education, followed by buying a new car, etc. One should then look at how much is required to achieve these goals and plan an investment strategy accordingly. This should be a realistic investment plan, with money being set aside each month for saving against the goals.

6. Set up investment plans It is also important to start to save simultaneously, and the best way to do this is to automatically transfer funds from your salary account into some form of investment -- be it a recurring deposit, mutual fund, or fixed deposit. This will leave less temptation to spend, and will also help one build a nest egg for future

contingencies.

7. Keep a contingency fund Try to save money in a contingency fund. This money should be used only in the case of an emergency.

For example, if one has been laid

off and has to pay bills and rent, one can use the contingent fund money. This fund will be maintained separately from savings, and should constitute at least 4-5 months’ living expenses.

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

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18

Climate justice is only way to solve our climate crisis TWN Feature

A climate-safe, sustainable

energy system which meets the basic energy needs of everyone and respects the rights and different ways of life of communities around the world is possible.

By Jagoda Munic

L

IMA, PERU — In November, the world’s top climate scientists issued their latest warning that the climate crisis is rapidly worsening on a number of fronts and that we must stop our climate-polluting way of producing energy if we are to stand a chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.

Science says that the risk of runaway climate change draws ever closer. Indeed, we are already witnessing the consequences of climate change: more frequent floods, storms, droughts and rising seas are already causing devastation. Around the world people and communities are paying the cost of our governments continues inaction with their livelihoods and lives and this trend is likely to increase significantly in the future.

Good Energy, Bad Energy The fact is our current energy system— the way we produce, distributes and consumes energy — is unsustainable, unjust and harming communities, workers, the environment, and the climate. Emissions from energy are a key driver of climate change and the system is failing to provide for the basic energy needs of billions of people in PASSLINE

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the global south.

people and the environment.

The world’s main sources of energy like oil, gas and coal are devastating communities, their land, their air and their water. And so are other energy sources like nuclear power, industrial agro fuels and biomass, mega-dams and waste-to-energy incineration. None of these destructive energy sources have a role in our energy future.

So the goals are set, and it is time to act immediately towards a transition period in which the rights of affected communities and workers are respected and their needs provided for during the transition.

There are real solutions to the climate crisis. They include stopping fossil fuels, building sustainable, community-based energy systems, steep reductions in carbon emissions, transforming our food systems, and stopping deforestation.

Surely, a climate-safe, sustainable energy system which meets the basic energy needs of everyone and respects the rights and different ways of life of communities around the world is possible: An energy system where energy production and use support a safe and clean environment, and healthy, thriving local economies that provide safe, decent and secure jobs and livelihoods. Such an energy system would be based on democracy and respect for human rights.

To make this happen we urgently need to invest in locally-appropriate, climate safe, affordable and low impact energy for all, and reduce energy dependence so that people don’t need much eergy to meet their basic needs and live and a good life.

We also need to end new destructive energy projects and phase out existing destructive energy sources and we need to tackle the trade and investment rules that prioritse corporations needs over those of

Climate Politics at Odds with Climate Science So how are our governments tackling the issue? In the 20 years of the UN negotiations on climate change, we haven’t stopped climate change, nor even slowed it down.

Proposals on the table, negotiated by our governments, now are mostly empty false solutions, including expanded carbon markets, and a risky method called REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), which will not prevent climate change, and will impact and endanger poor and indigenous communities while earning money for big corporations.

Our government’s inaction is obvious: they have to create a strong and equitable climate agreement at the UN for 20 years and their baby steps in Lima do not take us in the right direction. The reason is that, unfortunately, the UN climate negotiations are massively compromised because the corporate polluters who fund and create dirty energy are in the negotiating halls and have our governments in their pockets.

Major corporation and polluters are lobbying to undermine the chances of achieving climate justice via the UNFCCC. Much of this influence is exerted in the member states before governments come to the climate negotiations, but the nego-

tiations are also attended by hundreds of lobbyists from the corporate sector trying to ensure that any agreement promotes the interests of big business before people’s interests and climate justice. If we want any concrete agreement that would ensure the stopping of climate change for the benefit of all, we must stop the corporate takeover of UN climate negotiations by those corporate polluters.

There is also an issue of historic responsibility. The world’s richest developed countries are responsible for the majority of historical carbon emissions while hosting only 15% of the world’s population.

They emitted the biggest share of the greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere today, way more than their fair share,. They must urgently make the deepest emission cuts and provide the most money if countries are to fairly share the responsibility of preventing catastrophic climate change.

Of course, tackling climate change and avoiding catastrophic climate change necessitates action by all countries. But the responsibility of countries to take action must reflect their historical responsibility for creating the problem and their capacity to act. While the emissions of industrializing countries like China, India, South Africa and Brazil are rapidly increasing, these nations made a much smaller contribution to the climate problem overall than the rich developed countries and their per capita emissions are still much lower.

Industrialized countries’ governments are neglecting their responsibility to prevent climate catastrophe and their positions at global climate talks are increasingly driven by the narrow economic and financial interests of wealthy elites and multinational corporations. These interests, tied to the economic sectors responsible for pollution or profiting from false solutions to the climate crisis like carbon trading and fossil fuels, are the key forces behind global inaction.

This year in Lima there are big plans to expand carbon markets.

Friends of the Earth International argues that carbon markets are a false solution to climate change that let rich countries off the hook and do not address the climate crisis. Expanding carbon markets will make climate change worse and cause further harm to people around the world while bringing huge profits to polluters. The UN climate talks are supposed to be making progress on implementing

the agreement that world governments made in 1992 to stop man-made and dangerous climate change.

The agreement recognises that rich countries have done the most to cause the problem of climate change and should take the lead in solving it, as well as provide funds to poorer countries as repayment of their climate debt.

But developed countries’ governments have done very little to deliver on these commitments and time is running out. What’s more, rich countries continue to further diminish their responsibilities to tackle climate change and dismantle the whole frame work for binding reductions of greenhouse gases, without which we have no chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change.

What needs to happen in the climate talks?

Within the UN, rich developed countries must meet their historical responsibility by committing to urgent and deep emissions cuts in line with science and justice and without false solutions such as carbon trading, offsetting and other loopholes.

They must also repay their climate debt to poorer countries in the developing world so that they too can tackle climate change. This means transferring adequate public finance and technology to developing countries so that they too can build low carbon and truly sustainable economies, adapt to climate change and receive compensation for irreparable loss and damage.

This will help ensure a safe climate, more secure livelihoods, and clean affordable energy for all.

For now, the UN talks are still heading in the wrong direction, with weak non-binding pledges and insufficient finance from developed countries, and huge reliance on false solutions like carbon trading and REDD. Unfortunately, if the UN climate negotiations continue in the same manner, any deal on the table at the UN climate negotiations in Paris next year will fall far short of what is required by science and climate justice. To achieve a binding and justice-based agreement based on the cuts needed, as science tells us, our governments must listen to those impacted by climate change, not to corporations, which, by definition aim at more

profits, not a safer climate.

Movement building and climate justice Preventing the climate crisis and the potential collapse of life supporting ecosystems on a global level, requires long- term thinking, brave leaders and a mass movement. We have to challenge the corporate influence over our governments and exert real democratic control over the energy transition so that the needs and interests of people and the planet take priority over private profit. And at the heart of this movement we need climate justice—action on climate change that is radical, that challenge the system that has led to the climate catastrophe, and that fights for fair solutions that will benefit all people, not just the few.

is gaining power and integrating actions at local, national and UN level. The solution to the climate crisis is achievable and it is in our

hands (Jagoda Munic is chairperson of Friends of the Earth International)

It is already happening. In September we saw massive mobilizations around the world, with hundreds of thousands of people marching and actions across every continent, including 400,000 people on the streets of New York. And at the latest UN talks in Lima, we see people from all walks of life—indigenous people, social movements, youth, farmers, women’s movements—from across Peru, Latin America, and around the world joining together in the people’s summit to collectively articulate the people’s demands and the people’s solutions to climate change.

But we need to grow much bigger and much stronger. We are calling on people to join the global movement for climate justice, which Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

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20 ON THE ROAD

Passline News Service

E

ver since the opening up of Indian economy in 1991 a lot of revolutions had happened in the Indian automobile industry particularly in car segment. Once Indian roads were ruled by our own vehicle Amby and Fiat.

But things were changed swiftly from 1991 and number of renowned global brands started to tap Indian market. All the companies are competing each other to improving the existing variants or bringing new models. This has no pause and in 2015 also expecting a slew of models in Indian roads from the car companies. Below given are the much awaited models which are going to hit the roads immediately.

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Datsun Go+ will be expected to launch later in January 2015 India’s budget MPV, Datsun Go+ is a much anticipated project from Datsun, the budget brand of Nissan. To set the MPV segment on fire, the Go+ will be priced around Rs. 5,00,000 for the base version and will have a 5+2 seating arrangement, making it the cheapest 7 seater in India. The only issue with the MPV could be the brand image, which Datsun is not very proud of.

Ever since the NCAP fiasco, Datsun is facing a lot of heat and the Go+ MPV is their desperate attempt to revive the Datsun moniker and hence they have targeted one of the coveted segments in India right now Ford Endeavour is scheduled to be launched in February 2015.

Ford Endeavour or Everest, as it is known in most of the countries, will get a major change for the 2015 model. Infact, the SUV will be an all new model and not merely a facelift. Ford Endeavour has always been known to be the original mas-

culine SUV, which created a niche for itself, only to get deluged over the years from the slew of vehicles launched in the SUV segment.

The Everest has already been launched in many international markets and we already know the specifications and looks of the SUV and going by what we are about to receive, this will definitely create a stir among the buyers and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it is one of the highly anticipated cars in 2015.

Honda Jazz priced at Rs 25,00,000 will launch in March.There was a time when hatchbacks were associated with a price range of say Rs 2,00,000 to Rs 6,00,000 in India, and going upwards of it made you look like you wasted the money. As a result, Honda Jazz was not a success in India when launched 3 years ago. But now the paradigm has shifted and hatchbacks can go beyond Rs 25,00,000 and people will still go for it. So, Honda will also make a comeback in the country with its premium hatchback Jazz,

which was indeed a good vehicle in terms of space and finish. This time, the pricing is expected to be right and once launched, it will compete against Maruti YRA and Hyundai Elite i20.

New Ford Figo will aso be launched in March. Ford Figo can be credited with changing the fortune of the American brand in India. Now, Ford has decided to bring the complete new Ford Figo on the Indian shores along with its sibling - the Figo sedan.

The Figo hatch and sedan were already launched in Brazil under the names Ford Ka and Ka+. While the speculations are that the names could be changed, it is widely believed that the company will retain the Figo moniker and call the sedan Figo+. The looks are inspired from new Fiesta. Pricing will be competitive too.

Hyundai iX25 is available in many international markets and its India launch is in April. If it’s Hyundai, it definitely will be a stonker of a looker. Hyundai, ever since switch-

21

ing to the fluidic design language, has produced vehicles which are not only the best lookers in their segment, but also feature-rich.And now, Hyundai is ready with the product for the hot compact SUV segment. The SUV is named ix25 and has been already launched in many international markets. The compact SUV, if priced right, can be one of the best sellers in India, and going by the looks, it definitely is a good looking vehicle.

Hyundai’s sales figures were really impressive in 2014 and the ix25 compact SUV will give the graph a significant push.

Mahindra is known to keep pricing right and that is one anticipation everyone has from this Indian manufacturer from this upcoming Mahindra S101. The utility vehicle manufacturer from India is all set with 3 new vehicles to be launched next year. One of the said three vehicles is the S101 compact SUV(codenamed), which is highly anticipated as it is coming from the Mahindra’s stable. Not much of details are revealed for the SUV,

albeit only a few camouflaged shots.

Mahindra is known to keep pricing right and that is one anticipation everyone has from this Indian manufacturer from this upcoming vehicle too.

The S-Cross will fill the gap between Swift and Ciaz and will have competitive pricing to cater to more customers expected to launch in May. Maruti may be the undisputed leader of the hatchback segment, but it surely isn’t visible in any other segment, other than the newly launched Ciaz sedan, which is doing good. Maruti has decided to up the ante and tap other hot segments too, one of which is the compact SUV segment. The automaker will be launching two vehicles next year in this genre, XA Alpha, for which details are relatively scarce and it may extend to 2016, the most prominent would be the SX4 based S-Cross crossover. The S-Cross will fill the gap between Swift and Ciaz and will have competitive pricing to cater to more customers.

Tata Kite will be based on the

company’s design next philosophy and will take forward the vision of Horizon Next. Tata Motors is sure to create ripples in the automotive market in the coming years. Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Car Division, Tata Motors, has signalled the return of the brand among the top manufacturers in the country.

And rightfully so, they are performing well with their Tata Zest sedan and upcoming Tata Bolt hatchback.

Tata is also hopeful from the Kite, which is the upcoming compact sedan and hatchback from the Indian automotive giant. While Tata will replace the Indica with the Kite hatchback, the Indigo eCS will be replaced by the Kite sedan. Tata Kite will be based on the company’s design next philosophy and will take forward the vision of Horizon Next.

The Maruti YRA, expected to launch in July. Maruti Suzuki is the largest manufacturer of cars in the country. While it is the undisputed leader of the hatchback segment, it still is struggling for dominance in other segments. Maruti knows

it well, hence is preparing another hatchback, but this time a premium one. The car has a completely new design language and interior quality are a notch up. Once launched, it will rival against the Hyundai Elite i20 and upcoming Honda Jazz.

Renault Logdy’s India launch is scheduled for October 2015. As mentioned above, the MPV segment is the next big thing in India.

Who won’t buy a seven seater, spacious vehicle to move people from point A to B at the cheapest possible cost. While the MPV market has been dominated by Toyota Innova for many years now, 2014 saw a leap in the segment with major manufacturers coming into play and launching their own version of MPVs, be it the Maruti Ertiga or the Honda Mobilio. However, none was able to provide the space and comfort that Toyota Innova offers.

Now Renault is ready to unleash its Innova killer, Logdy, which not only is spacious and big, but also will be priced to match the Japanese giants.

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

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kma convention to instil

entrepreneurial insight

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he one year wait of the management fraternity in Kerala for the flagship event of Kerala Management Association(KMA) has zeroed in on 14th of January 2015. The association’s mega annual event, 34th Annual National Management Convention, will be held in Kochi on January 14 & 15 instant. This year’s convention will be based on the theme ‘India 2.0 Opportunities’ . The two-day event will address a topical theme of national importance and is addressed by a number of world- renowned national and international speakers. The convention will be an opportunity for business leaders and management professionals to

develop an insight in their respective areas. The three areas that will be discussed more in detail at the conclave this year are: `Changing business models’, `Emergence of the global manager’, `Branding the New India’.

With more than 1,000 delegates spread across various management verticals, including academia, from across the State and country along with approximately 250 management students are participating. The KMA Annual National Management Convention will, no doubt, be one of the largest congregations of managers in the State of Kerala. The ensuing Valedictory Function will feature some of the

best corporate chieftains sharing their thoughts. The leadership for organizing the convention is bestowed on Prasad K Panicker as Chairman of the Convention Committee and Mathew Jose Urumbath as Co-Chairman comprising P Premchand (President, KMA), Vivek Krishna Govind (Hon

Coveted awards The Valedictory Function will also see two sets of awards being presented to the winning companies in a number of defined areas.

The first series of awards are the KMA—Rajagiri Excellence Awards, which are five in numbers, given in the areas of “Corporate Social Responsibility, Technology Innovation, HR Initiatives, Green Initiatives and Corporate Communications”.

The second series of awards are the IBS sponsored KMA— NASSCOM IT Awards given in four categories viz The Most Promising Startup, The best IT User, for IT Leadership and for best IT Innovation.

Secretary, KMA), C S Kartha, Francis Cherunilam, S Rajmohan Nair, Capt K C Cyriac ( Ex Director) are the members of the executive committee.

SPEAKERS

T N Ninan

Chairman & Editorial Director, Business Standard Limited

Peter Laser

MD, IKA India Pvt Ltd

Abraham Kuruvilla Partner at EY

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V G Mathew

Harish Bijoor

A K Balyan

MD & CEO, South Indian Bank

Brand Expert & CEO Harish Bijoor Consults Inc

MD & CEO of Petronet –LNG Limited

Sridhar Ganesh

Rajendra Theagarajah

H M Nerurkar

Former Director, HR, Murugappa Group

Sanjay Vijaykumar

CEO, MobMe Wireless.com Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

Director & CEO, National Development Bank, Srilanka

Poornima Vardhan

Leading Management Consultant & Entrepreneur

Akshay Verma

President AIMA Former MD, Tata Steel Ltd.

Founder & Director, Agratam India | Skillhippo.com | Arion Ratings

D Rajiv Krishnan

Partner & India Leader, P&O Practice, EY

K Ullas Kamath

Joint Managing Director, Jyothi Laboratories Ltd.

V K Mathews

Founder and Executive Chairman, IBS Group

CA V Pattabhiram

Leading Management Consultant & Entrepreneur

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Why should attend the KMA convention?

P Premchand

Successful Indian companies today are putting continuous innovation at the centre of everything they do. It is important for the business models of companies to continue boosting this area with amiable and encouraging policies.

T

he KMA Annual National Management Convention is the flagship event of the Kerala Management Association(KMA) which is the apex body of professional management in Kerala. This mega annual event aims to focus on the challenges faced by the Corporates in India, their implications on the business scenario and deliberates on key strategies for successful business performance. The twoday Convention addresses a topical theme of national importance and is addressed by a number of world-renowned national and international speakers. The Convention through its deliberations endeavours to help corporate and professional managers draw an action agenda with a view to meet the needs of Business and Industry and

also develop India as an International Financial and Business Hub. The Convention brings almost 1250 participants representing senior management from all sectors of business, industry, bureaucracy and academia from across the country on one platform for an in-depth discussion of the theme.

This event has been rightly termed as one of the most important in the National Management Calendar of the country.

The main theme of the conference is India 2.0 Opportunities. This encompasses the influencing of international perspectives through insights found in Indian realities as well as enhancing Indian thought leadership through engagement with international best practices.

Over the past couple of decades India underwent a process of greater integration with the outside world. However the economic crisis challenged some of the accepted wisdom of practicing management in a globalized world. The convention will reflect on lessons from the past, critically analyze current imperatives and develop a path for the future of management theory, education and practice. The three areas of focus this year are: Changing business models, Emergence of the global manager and Branding the ‘New India’.

Sustainability has evolved into a guiding principle for business in the last few years. The core message is to integrate economic, environmental and social aspects, also referred to as the triple-bottom-line. When comparing the research on services to those research activities that focus on material goods, an obvious gap can be observed: While there exists a broad range of methodologies and tools for the development of goods, the development of services has hardly become a topic of scientific literature. However, many companies have recently begun – not least as a result of the growing pressures of competition – to rethink their strategy for service provision. Successful Indian companies today are putting continuous innovation at the centre of everything they do. It is important for the business models of companies to continue boosting this area with amiable and encouraging policies. Organizations are becoming increasingly focused on authenticity as a means of responding

to dynamic market forces. In the midst of rapidly-changing technology and an ever-changing culture, organizations are challenged to be competitive. There is a rising interest in how to organize R&D and innovations, especially considering new possibilities to involve internal and external stakeholders or networks. In this connection managerial practice shows that increasingly new forms of more informal and latent organizing for innovations and R&D are sought for. Our managers should form a three-tier model of different perspectives that balance one another. Studies are proving already a serious impact of the workplace model on communication patterns as well as individual levels of motivation, performance and well-being. Besides individual aspects, there is an ever growing interest on the influences of the working environment on

more group- and innovation-related success factors such as knowledge sharing, reciprocal inspiration and collaboration. Business model innovation is essential for companies to create and form new markets and to achieve a competitive advantage over rivals. Moreover, companies that determinedly foster specific initiatives and approaches toward business model innovation are often able to better reflect on changing parameters in the organisational ecosystem. Effective knowledge management is an increasingly important source of competitive advantage, and a key to the success of contemporary organizations, bolstering the collective expertise of its employees and partners. The convention will be extremely useful for CEOs and managers to face challenges and grab the opportunities in changing times.

(Author is KMA President)

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

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SNGCE committed for excellence in Technical education

S

ree Narayana Gurukulam College of Engineering (SNGCE), established in 2002, is committed to its Vision of “empowering the masses to achieve economic and social freedom through technological and management education”. International collaboration is the latest step taken by SNGCE for providing world class education for the desirous students.

The College has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Stevens Institute of technology, USA, Wayne State University, USA, Colorado State University, USA and Regenesys Business School, South Africa. These Universities have also agreed to provide opportunities for higher studies and researches to our students. International Conferences in SNGCE in future will be in collaboration with these Universities.

SNGCE offers B Tech programme in Naval Architecture and Ship Building along with conversional branches like Civil, Mechanical, Electrical &Electronics, Electronics & Communication, and Computer Science. M Tech programmes are offered by all the branches except PASSLINE

Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

Naval Architecture and Ship Building.

SNGCE also offer MCA 3 year course and 2 year lateral entry programme. MBA is offered as a residential programme to give more opportunities for training and soft skill development, which will lead to better placements.

State-of-the-art infrastructure facility is a highlight of SNGCE. Special

M A Raju areas of focus like solar energy and environmental researches are being developed. Training programmes are provided to the students for getting placement after their graduation.

271 job offers to the students in the final year by 67 companies in 2014 stands as a testimonial for the effort.

Academic excellence is ensured by providing best teaching-learning process by teachers with M Tech and Ph D qualifications. All the teachers do have either M Tech or Ph D qualification. University ranks and higher pass percentages in all the branches of study is the outcome of committed efforts from the teachers.

Quality hostel facility is provided for boys and girls inside the campus. Hostels are provided with Wi-Fi facility for better utilization of e- based learning.

Every department in the college is publishing journals of international standards that provide opportunity to students and teachers of engineering community for publishing their original research work.

Two international conferences conducted every year gives opportunity for teachers and students of different universities to interact with people who are doing research in similar areas.

300 research papers received in the last international conference is the proof of its acceptance by the

academic community. Departments are also publishing newsletters for making the activities of department public.

Talents of students in related as well as cultural areas are promoted through annual cultural competitions and technical project competitions. An incubation centre named “Gurukulam Technological Business Incubation Centre (GTBIC)” provides facility for starting their own business for the students. Students can start working in GTBIC when they are in the campus and they can continue in GTBIC for 3 years after passing out from the college.

Computing facility in SNGCE is known for its quality. Various Government and private organizations partner with us to conduct online tests for GATE, CAT, JEE, AIIMS, JIPMER, NIMHANS, SBI, DNB, UPSC-CMOE etc.

Altogether, SNGCE uniquely provides all the facilities required for learning and conducive ambience is set for excellent performance by any student who is willing to work hard for a better and secured future.

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KERALA TOURISM — TIME TO REKINDLE THE SPIRIT OF INNOVATION

K N Shastry

K

erala always has given priority for tourism sector.

The state is definitely ahead of other states in south atleast by 10 years. The government of Kerala has recognized that tourism is one of the major economic activities in the state in employment generation and revenue. But one wonders whether the focus is now lost? Or is it that the decision makers have decided that there is nothing much to be done as the tourism industry is already well established.

Take for example. We have a minister for tourism who has to share the burden of other portfolios like Welfare of Schedules Castes and Backwater classes along with tourism. Normally the central government gives a low priority for tourism. We don’t have a full time minister dedicated to tourism. So much for the priority of tourism.

But the Modi Government has appointed Dr. Mahesh Sharma as the tourism minister with additional portfolio of Civil Aviation and culture. Both these segments are aligned to tourism industry.

It is also heartening to note that Prime Minister has made direct reference to tourism in India in his addresses abroad in Japan, US and other countries. He has requested each Non resident Indians to send at least five persons to India every year. For the first time an Indian Prime Minister talking about tourism promotion in numerous platforms in India and abroad is a matter of satisfaction to the people in the industry.

But the story in Kerala is one of desperation. We seem to be in a proverbial race between the tortoise and the hare. While other states are making rapid gain in the tourism sector we seem to be content with our past glory. We take it for granted that we have arrived. But this is a fallacy. The threats to the tourism comes from various directions and new challenges come every

day. Some of them are beyond our control and many of them are self made. The new challenge comes from Srilanka. With the domestic trouble coming to an end, the Srilanka has picked up the threads of development. In 2014 the FDI is above 2 billion dollars mostly invested in infrastructure. With better roads, beaches and liberal policy of government Sri Lanka has become an attractive alternative destinations to Kerala. Kerala is mired with the problems, mostly of its own creations. Road development program is directionless. Every visitor complains about the bad roads or narrow roads. The tourist spends more frustrating time on the road than the resort.

Government’s flip-flop policy on bar licenses has caused major embarrassment to the hospitality industry. Every hotel and tour operator has stories to tell about the disappointment and frustrations of international and domestic tourists.

The overnight change in policy has caused irreparable damage for the tourism industry. The tourist is right in demanding as to why this restriction on alcohol was not informed to him when he made the booking. Well, the bookings were made months in advance. Rightly or wrongly the worldwide publicity sent a message that Kerala is going in for prohibition. It is difficult to undo such damages. The issue of high taxes, alleged beauruocratic impediments, policy paralysis in decision making and above all an depleted state treasury has all put the tourism industry in a fix. The plummeting global oil prices will negatively impact Kerala. Large number of Arab tourists come to Kerala for holiday and medical treatments which might get adversely impacted as the oil prices are going south.

of these borrowed ideas fit into the unique Kerala story.

One of the bright spot is the domestic tourism The domestic travel is expanding exponentially because of better connectivity and the optimism pervading the nation after the New Government has come to power in New Delhi. There again there is a catch. Government proposed to include the SAARC countries in the Leave Travel facility which in effect will reduce the inflow into Kerala.

Secondly the E visa to India for about 50 countries is a big step in the right direction. Most of the western countries which generate the tourist traffic had easy access to our neighbouring countries like Maldives, Srilanka, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand. India stood alone in the midst demanding advance visa for tourists. For years the tourists have bye passed Indian and gone to neighboring countries. Even those who were eager to visit India

changed their mind because of the hassles of sending their passport to Indian embassy in the respective countries. With two airports, Cochin and Trivandrum, having the of visa on arrival facility is a great boon to the state.

Kerala still has great advantage compared to other states which will take atleast another 10 years for others to catch up. Kerala holds the top position in the Quality of Life index (QLI) among the Indian states. The better QLI gives an advantage to the state over others.

QLI creates an eco system that is more favourable to attract tourists.

This QLI is based on health, education, safe drinking water, gender equality and toilet facilities. While other states can expedite some of these infrastructures, it will take a whole generation to transform the society in the field of education.

So we still have time for course correction and remain in our toes to be the top and best brand in India.

(The autor is past president of KMA)

We, in Kerala, also seem to be running out of ideas. We seem to try and imitate others in creating new tourists attractions. Recently newspapers have reported we will have a wax museum (probably because London has one?), We will have a Mermaid statue in the Cochin backwaters ( because New York has one?). All these years we have been the innovators in Kerala for tourism promotion. Ayurveda, houseboats, backwaters, tree tops, festivals, cultures and numerous other attractions have been highlighted through decades to position Kerala as a unique destination. It is disappointing that now we are into wax museums and Statues. None Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

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SNGIST making education contextual & practical S

NGIST Group of Institutions was given shape by a few broad-minded persons with a deep commitment to provide equal opportunity for all people across beliefs, geographies, and ethnicities on the broader theme of the great visionary thinker and philosopher, Sree Narayana Guru: “Through education we prosper”. Formed in 2001, Gurdeva Trust promoted SNGIST Group of Institutions, in 2003, with management, computer applications, and life sciences courses. In 2010, SNGIST started offering engineering courses and in 2011, commerce and business courses. Today, SNGIST has five main streams, as follows:

wards the holistic development of personality: physical-mental-social-

Engineering Studies (BTech in Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics & Communications, Civil and Computer Science)

Practical bias is the hallmark of SNGIST Group of Institutions: industrial visits, visits to R&D/ laboratories/ scientific institutions,

Linkage with Technopark Incubation Centre:T-TBI, the incubation centre of Technopark,

sanctioned the IEDC of SNGIST. The possible benefits of SNGIST through this incubation centre are: SNGIST can source innovations and forward them to Technopark TBI for further technical assistance.

The students, whose projects are being sanctioned, will get grace marks for the university examination as per the guidelines of the government.

National seminar held Prof C K Ranjan, Chairman spiritual/ ethical base (encourage students to take to playgrounds, yoga and meditation), so that learning penetrates, education becomes contextual and meaningful.

Management Studies (MBA) Computer Applications Studies (MCA as well as Dual Degree MCA) Life Sciences Studies (MSc Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Bioinformatics)

Institute of Science and Technology (SNGIST), North Paravur, fructified in the formation of ‘Entrepreneurship Development Cell (EDC)’ which was formally inaugurated on 19th September 2014

by Sarath Babu Elumalai, CEO of Food King, Chennai.

Dr K S Divakaran Nair, Director

Commerce & Business Studies (BCom, BBA, MCom) SNGIST Group of Institutions has 23 courses, close to 2000 students, 147 Faculty and 92 non-teaching personnel.

SNGIST Group of Institutions just does not believe in preparing students for degrees but strives to-

live industrial projects, organisational study, field work and industry internships; so that students are able to better understand, appreciate, criticise and reflect/ relate practice to theory.

SNGIST EDC cell The efforts of the faculty and students of Sree Narayana Guru

FMS,SNGIST organised a national seminar titled ‘Innovations and Strategic Business Practices’ on 15th and 16th October 2014 at SNGIST campus. Jaiveer Srevasthava, Chairman & Managing Director, FACT; inaugurated the National Seminar and Hrishikesh Nair, CEO, Infopark, Kochi; was the keynote speaker. Prof P R Poduval, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, CUSAT; addressed the gathering on the occasion of the inaugural function.

Karl Delaronde, Workshare Manager, Worley Parsons Ltd; spoke on “Insights on Global Marketing Strategies in Oil and Gas sector” and V A Joseph, Former Chairman, SIB; shared the “Transformation story of SIB”.

Mathews Markose ,VP, Kotak Mahindra Bank ; Rajeev Aggarwal, CEO, MK Projects and Consultants and Former COO Reliance and Videocon Industries ; Thomas Kadavan, Assistant VP –HR & Administration, AVT Naturals Pvt Ltd; Roshan K Menon, Executive VP, Binani Zinc Ltd; S Murugan, DGM, Havell’s India Ltd; Jayaram, Deputy Director and Associate Professor, AISAT; Dr Kandan Muthusamy, VP and Head-Technology and E-Channel Delivery , Reliance Industries Ltd; Dr Joffy George, DGM&CS, TELK; and Manomohanan, CEO, Muthoot Capital Services; gave commendable presentations.

M P Sreeram, Partner, Aventus Partners; Prof D Sampath (IIM-A), Strategic Consultant and Visiting Faculty, IIM (B) and TAPMI ; Anuradha Satyanarayan & Samindara Sawant, Counseling Psychologist & MBTI Practitioner; Archana Chhabra, Senior HR Manager, Tata Projects; Dinesh M Prasad, Manager- Human Resources, HPCL, Bombay; and Dr Surekha Zacharia, Senior Director, (HR) Sutherland Global Services; were the other eminent speakers.

Dr M Bhasi, Director, SMS, CUSAT; chaired the technical session. Dr Sam Thomas and Dr Mavoothu D, Associate Professors, SMS, CUSAT; chaired the academic sessions.

The valedictory ceremony was addressed by Capt Kishore Sundaresan, MD, Kongsberg Oil & Gas Tech (India) Pvt Ltd, Mumbai; Prof (Dr) Anandakuttan B Unnithan, Chairperson, MDPs, IIM-K; spoke on the topic “VUCA Times”. Vesta Mathews, HR Head, Kongsberg Oil & Gas Tech (India) Pvt Ltd, Mumbai; also was a prominent presence at the national seminar.

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F

FISAT—committed to excellence always

projects like Decennial homes ederal Institute of Science to poor as part of its Decennial and Technology (FISAT) is celebration,” said Paul Mundadan, an educational enterprise of FISAT Governing body Chairman.

Federal Bank Officers’ Association Education Society, started in 2002.

Paul, a native of Angamaly and Hormis Nagar at Mookkannoor presently residing at Ernakulam, is is proud of accommodating it in also Manager in Corporate a sprawling 40 plus acre Service Departland and 5 lakh plus square ment of Federal feet built-up area. There Bank Ltd. Apart are more than 3,000 stufrom this, currentdents studying in various ly he adorns the streams of BTech, MTech, positions of All MBA, MCA and also it is India General Seca research centre of MG retary of Federal University. The college has Bank Officers Asall infrastructure, facilities Paul Mundadan sociation (FBOA), and a very high percentGeneral Secretary age of placement service in highly of FBOA Educational reputed companies.

Society, Trustee of Hormis Memorial Foundation, ``Focus to Excellence and ComState Senior Vice President mitment to Society is the motto of All India Bank Officers’ of the institution. Upholding its Confederation (AIBOC), social commitment, hundreds of General Secretary of All economically weaker but meritoriIndia Private Bank Ofous students are studying in FISAT ficers’ Federation (AIPSunder Fee-waiver scheme. The BOF). institute has crossed excellent existence of 12 years and has launched Early he had held posi-

tions like State Secretary of Kerala Catholic Students League (KCSL), National President and acting President of All India Catholic University Federation (AICUF), Asian Council Member of International Movement of Catholic

Students (IMCS) and has visited several foreign countries and was also the Charter General Secretary of United Nations Youth Organization (UNYO-India). His family consists of wife Mary Paul and two sons Jithin and Joyal.

Healthcare: comparative analysis of pricing needed

I

Sundaresh Gopala Pai

ndia being the second largest country in population is indeed a strength, which once acknowledged can make us one of the most successful models in democracy, least in healthcare services. In the turn of this century the healthcare systems and its outcome largely lagged behind peer nations.

From such a weak position to the situation today has been a mixed bag, with due respect to quality and pricing. The government spending on healthcare has been rising at current level of 4% of GDP along with private investments which has made the access to healthcare manageable. The availability of healthcare has improved over the years;

unfortunately the cost of service has increased in nonlinear tangent for the patient.

With a burgeoning population and inequality in incomes, we are experiencing a different problem; quality and pricing. Though the urban citizen has embraced health insurance (at approx 32%), the rural counterpart (at less than10%) is yet to receive the benefits of the opportunity on a larger scale.

This makes things difficult for patients to avail affordable quality healthcare.

Better models of healthcare delivery, putting innovation to practice along with PPP initiatives can better the situation to a large extent.

Tele medicine, cheaper drugs, low capital driven pieces of equipment for detection and increasing the reach of primary care centres are recommended as some measures to make healthcare services affordable.

Innovation alone can do wonders in the capital intensive detection regime, like a $ 1 microscope ( Fold-

scope) invented by Manu Prakash of Stanford School of Medicine, where the current microscope limitations are overcome by allowing minimum technical expertise needed to use it.

Cost based pricing rather than a cost shifting approach is a major consideration to bring down the prices associated with healthcare services.

Rationalizing the cost is a difficult and complex exercise since high cost involved is only going to lower on quantity of patients using the hospital. Providing the pricing before using the service will be commendable given that in most of the cases the patient is not informed the price due to lack of transparent costing methods.

But transparency

built in to the pricing will help bring down cost reduction for the patient.

Comparative analysis of prices which is in existence in most services/products should make a positive impact in healthcare as well.

Improved systems are often better able to meet patients’ needs and desires and are able to effectively reimburse providers and practitioners for delivering without compromising quality and swelling the prices.

(The autor is General Secretary & CEO, Sree Sudheendra Medical Mission, Kochi, Kerala. Views are personal)

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H

Holy Grace : mentors of future executives

oly Grace Academy of Management Studies (HGAMS) is a fully residential B-School recognized by AICTE New Delhi and affiliated to Calicut University conducting a PG programme in Business Administration. HGAMS prepares its students to understand key interactions among the functional areas of a business system and apply key concepts to arrive at meaningful solutions. According to Chairrman Vackachan Thakkolkaran, “Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies strives to give the best features of the global management education”. HGAMS is the largest residential B-School in Kerala with more than 81,000 sq ft of built in space. Located just 15 km from Kochi International Airport, HGAMS is away from the hustle and bustle of the city amidst lush green and tranquil environment, perfect for preparing tomorrow’s career-oriented executives. HGAMS is A-rated by All India Management Association and is an exclusive coed B-School of the State.

HGAMS is the second offspring of the Holy Grace Foundation, Mala, which has carved a niche in the field of education by offering unique style of teaching methodologies. The group has a 10-year old CBSE school Holy Grace Academy which imparts education with a difference by providing smart class rooms and a well-defined innovative pattern of study. Holy Grace Academy of Engineering offers high quality technical education through state-of- the- art facilities to develop future scientists and engineers through problem identification, modelling, simulation and evaluation.

Holy Grace

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Academy of Management Studies started its journey in 2005 and since then it has been consistently pursuing its mission of excellence with great zeal and perseverance in the area of management and research.

The programme, Masters in Business Administration, it offers, is a complete industry-endorsed package with the University syllabus at

Vackachan Thakkolkaran Chairman its core, and all that the industry needs strategically-bound around as super competency add-on modules. It stands out from the usual unpromising rut in its content and design so much that it sounds to aspirants as ‘MBA with a difference’.

Objectives of the MBA programme: The PG programme in Business Administration at Holy Grace is intended to prepare the students to understand key interactions among the functional areas of a business system and apply key concepts to arrive at meaningful solutions. The programme focuses on a Global outlook and grooms young men and women to become future business leaders. The core idea of the programme is to inculcate

confidence, improve communication skills, develop personality and give exposure to multi-culture.

Spread over 2 years (4 semesters), the programme specifically aims at: • Imparting state-of- the-art knowledge of the concepts and techniques of management.

• Developing the ability to comprehend the changes in the business environment.

• Imparting analytical and decision-making skills.

• Fostering a novel approach to core areas of work, irrespective of the undergraduate specializations • Producing people with right kind of value systems and culture to work for society as well.

• Developing programmes that meet the quality expectations of students, employers and stakeholders.

• Obtaining comprehensive and current information about management education.

• Locating professional development programmes to keep administrators, faculty, and academic programmes current and effective.

Students without appropriate foundation business course experience will be required to complete additional coursework in quantitative methods, economics and business psychology.

Features of the MBA programme:

• An enriched curriculum for about 1000 hours per semester.

• Personality development programmes like simulation exercises, role-plays, case analysis, psychometric tests, group works etc.

• Curriculum revised and updated every year based on faculty interaction with employers • Competent and committed faculty having industrial experience • Interactions with leading industry practitioners • Unique 16 weeks Summer Internship Programme • 100% placements assistance • On-the-job-training arrangement • On-line share trading experience • Executive education programmes, in-company train-

K T Benny, Secretary ing programme, seminars, and workshops for continuing professional education • Fully equipped Wi-Fi computer lab and library • Focus on Indian and International Case Studies • Global Affiliations The students at Holy Grace are

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AIM moulds managers in tune with industry demands

A

lbertian Institute of Management (AIM), Kochi, is one of the leading B- Schools, that moulds the best managers conforming to the business and industry demands. AIM offers two year full-time MBA programme, affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University and approved by the AICTE. Administered by the Archdiocese of Verapoly, AIM imparts high quality, value based, industry focused management education. Teaching and learning process at AIM is so designed to achieve excellency by enhancing the knowledge and skills of the students. AIM nurtures the philosophy that a perfect blend of positive attitude, right skills and appropriate knowledge is the cream for the success of a manager. Dr Rajagopala Nair, after serving 33 years as professor in the Department of Commerce and Research Centre at St Albert’s College, has assumed the position of Director of AIM. He is supported by the excellent and dedicated faculty who are committed to the cause of management

the Specialisation papers. AIM ofeducation. According to Rev Fr fers specialisation in Finance, MarAntony Arackal, Manager, AIM, keting, HR, Information Business Management Systems and Production is technology driven and Operations. As a part and the focus now is of Industry-Institution being shifted to ‘profit interaction, Ten per cent making through of the classes are handled social commitment’.

by Industrial Experts.

Therefore, the Vision Industrial Tours and visits of AIM is “to be a are being organized by leading B-School of the institution to expose international repute, Rev Fr Antony Arackal the students to real time constantly strivsituations.‘Colloquium’, a ing to contribute to monthly talk by the experts from societal needs and welfare”. The the industry is an added attraction MBA programme at AIM is beof AIM. Value added programmes, ing imparted as per the University Spoken Engrules and regulations. A Bachelor’s lish classes, Degree recognized by MG UniverPersonality sity with 50% marks in aggregate or Development a CGPA of 2 with ‘C+’ grade is the programmes, minimum requirement. Applicants Orientation should have appeared for MAT/ classes for CMAT, attend a Group discussion the beginners, and a Personal Interview. Final club activities year degree students can also apply. etc. are being During the first two semesters of Dr Rajagopala Nair imparted to MBA, the students have to learn the students core papers, during the third and fourth semesters, they have to learn to make them employable. Wi Fi Campus, well equipped laboratories,

equipped with a holistic outlook towards life based on ethical values; and social responsibilities have many first to its credit.

1. The first institute in Kerala to be accredited by IAO, and ACBSP, USA 2. The first B-School in Kerala to offer International study tour to China, Singapore, Paris & Germany.

3. Confidence building out-bound training programmes like paragliding, rappelling, rock climbing and cave exploration under the guidance of Air Force personnel.

4. Corporate-Academia Interaction by top Management Executives and entrepreneurs.

5. Training modules on domains ranging from soft skills, Statistical packages, share broking and corporate finance drills.

6. Wi-Max and Wi-Fi enabled campus 7. Physical and psychological nurturing through out-door and indoor games and sports like Football, Cricket, Volley ball, Billiards, Tennis and Yoga.

8. Contributes to the body of knowledge through research publications and International conference

A virtual library with most advanced IT Bay keeps students updated and profoundly informed of the happenings of the business world, in addition to contributing to their computer wizardry. To top it all, the J-Gate and ProQuest databases to which the Academy is a regular subscriber, offer full text referencing of about 8000 world-class academic journals.

Following courses are also included in the curriculum based on the trends and the requirements of the market: • Retailing • Supply Chain and Logistics Management • Advertising Management • Enterprise Management • Banking & Insurance Management • Performance Management In addition, the MBA programme starts with a two-week orientation programme called Course Immersion Module, which offers introduction to: • Accounting.

• Business Statistics • English Language skills • Soft Skills Development

library with online data base including EBSCO and J-Gate is provided at AIM to enhance the knowledge of the students. The class rooms are designed to promote and facilitate participative learning. The students have the most modern learning and presentation equipment at their disposal. The students get opportunities to showcase their talents in the annual cultural event ‘Finesse’. Sports and games are also encouraged in the institute.

AIM brings out ‘Erudition’ a Journal in Business Management, which incorporates research articles on various areas of management, business and case studies. Students are actively involved in Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) activities which help them in cultivating the habit of social commitment. A monthly news letter titled ‘Reflections’ is brought out every month

by AIM to highlight the activities of the institution and to communicate the same to the parents.

The studenst of AIM are members of professional bodies like Kerala Management Associaation( KMA ) and NIPM.

• Team building, Ethics, Business Communication.

• Train the trainer • Theatre workshop

seminars, workshops, and skill enhancement programmes of various magnitudes at regular intervals.

Specialisations: Every student will

Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies curriculum is designed to give students an extensive understanding of the disciplines like Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Operations, and MIS. Spread over Four semesters, the course includes an extensive pedagogy which is rigorously followed catering to the needs of its students. HGAMS follows a credit semester system with evaluations on periodical basis.

The course curriculum of Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies includes Industrial Training and work project. In addition to these the students have to undergo training, development programmes,

study subjects based on the electives opted for. The electives are chosen from the subjects listed herewith while the industry internship and project will be based on the student’s preference. Students are required to choose any two streams (Dual Specialisation) from the list of electives given below: Indicative List of Electives - For Semesters 3 & 4 1.

Marketing 2.

Finance 3.

Systems 4.

Human Resource 5.

International Business Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

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M

ao Tse Tung discovered that the economic wheel of 20th century China had many missing spokes. It was incomplete as women were more or less absent. Mao realized that without involving women who make up roughly half of the labour resource, the Chinese economy would be like a horse that can at best trot. He understood that women’s participation was critical for nation building and for enabling Chinas’ gallop into the 21st century. Mao changed the scenario by educating girls and employing them in productive roles in farms, factories and offices, and we know where China is today.

Narendra Modi, our prime minister who was elected with one of the biggest mandates in recent times, may also choose a similar path for India. He should invest in improving the human capital of the country, through education and skill training for all, but with bigger emphasis on improving education and employment opportunities for girls and women.

History of Education in India from Vedic times was reserved for the privileged and higher castes and was mainly the preserve of the Brahmins or priestly class.

The ruling class or the Kshatriyas were also imparted education, which remained prohibited for all others, particularly for those belonging to lower castes and for women. Any attempt by lower castes to enter the kingdom of knowledge was met with severe punishment of either death or other measures (such as blinding) that would incapacitate further learning and also act as deterrents for all.

The Christian missionaries were the first to open up education with Rev Alexander Duff bringing in English education to India in the 18th century.

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positions under the British government. But despite these ‘efforts’, at the end of British Raj in 1947, the literacy rate in India ranged just around 2-6 percent.

Education in Independent India right from the start gave emphasis on improving literacy levels (the first step towards formal education and further progress of nations) which was a stated and laid out goal with achievable targets from the first five year plan, though women’s literacy and education as such was emphasized only from the sixth plan (1980-85). As a result, literacy rates of men improved from 25 per cent in 1951 to 75.3 per cent in 2001. In the case of women, the literacy rates during the same period rose from 7.9 to 53.7 per cent. The improvement was impressive, but in absolute numbers about 193 million women remained illiterate.

The 2011 Census figures indicate further improvement in literacy rates with 82.2 and 65.5 per cent of men and women in India being able to read and write. But there are still

MAO, MODI and women’s education By

P K Abraham

D T Abraham

31 31 many miles to go particularly with regard to the status of women’s education and closing the gender gap (difference between male and female literacy rates).

In addition to literacy levels, enrolment of girls at all levels was also given significant attention from early years. The National Education Policy, the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and finally the path breaking legislation “RIGHT OF CHILDREN TO FREE AND COMPUSLORY EDUCATION ACT 2009” passed under UPA II has ensured higher levels of enrolment and substantial improvement in primary enrolment rates (93 per cent today); The Act provides for compulsory education to children 6 to 14 years of age or up to Class VII.

spurt in self financing institutions in engineering, medicine, management and technology education. We had spent 3.67 percent of the GDP (roughly about 65 billion US dollars in 2014-15) on education in 200708, indicating quite a significant focus on education (please note that in 1991-92 it was 3.8 per cent).

Role of Governance The funds allocated are not sufficient, and we need better and smarter governance and efficient utilization of the available funds. It is estimated that to completely implement the Right to Education Act alone, we

Concerted efforts are required to bring back the ‘missing girls’ to schools and further complete higher levels of education. Since more than half of the girls in the age group 5 to 14 goes missing from schools after enrollment there is no enforcement of the RIGHT TO EDUCATION (the most recent of all fundamental rights).

Socio-cultural bias and discrimination against girls by families and society need to change for bringing back the missing girls. Care responsibilities at home right from childhood (cooking, taking care of siblings) is the main reason behind

Enrolment rates at Secondary levels are only around 62 per cent, but drop-out rates are higher than completion rates. Thus many millions are not reaching class X levels.

Out of the enrolled, millions drop-out or discontinue education at secondary level itself, or even earlier for various reasons, thus permanently closing higher level education opportunities.

The drop-out rates of girls in 11-14 years age group is comparatively higher than that of the boys indicating socio cultural pressures, and lower importance given to girls’ education by families and society in general. This drop-out is even higher in rural areas of many north Indian states like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh where even now substantial numbers marry as soon as attaining puberty.

Thus though our overall enrollment in higher education (graduation and above) is over 20 percent, it is pitiably low compared to the OECD countries where it is above 55 per cent.

Investment in Education The Central and State governments has substantially invested in improving educational infrastructure in the country, and currently supports or runs 80 per cent of all primary schools in the country, with 5.8 million elementary teachers and 2.1million secondary school teachers.

Higher Education in India is also mostly funded and run by the government except for the recent

should raise education spending to 6 percent of GDP (that is, should spend 120 billion US dollars). The increased allocation should be efficiently and effectively utilized, and

not as salary to about 35 percent ‘permanently absent’ teachers and as ‘grant’ to non- existent school buildings.

our patriarchal and male dominated society devaluing the importance of girls’ education to family well-being.

The government both at national, state and local levels need to actively work on transforming the mind-set for bringing back our girls into schools.

Incentivise girls Education Communist or military discipline is not possible in democratic systems, and therefore the only way to bring back girls to higher levels of education and ensure completion of the same is by incentivizing girls and her family members, particularly the parents. Certain monetary allow-

ance should be given for ‘completing’ every year of education right from primary classes onwards, with higher levels of incentives as the child progresses upwards. The incentive should be credited into a joint bank account of the girl and her mother. The government should also ensure appointment of sufficient number of women teachers in rural and backward areas (as parents are reluctant to send their teenage girls to schools without female teachers).

Emphasis on education of girls should also be supplemented by enabling learning environment in schools and colleges. This may include infrastructure development for accessing education, beginning with transportation facilities for reaching educational institutions, adequate number of female teachers particularly in higher levels of learning, availability of toilet and hygiene facilities and so on.

Education should also ensure skill development and girls who have completed higher levels of education should be imparted employable skills. Some posts and even professions like teaching should be reserved for women who have completed prescribed levels of education and training. This may incentivize parents who will understand that there are sufficient economic returns in educating girls. Many look up to the prime minister for creating equal opportunities in education that would lead to skills and thereby gainful employment, which may become the catalyst of change that may transform lives and destinies of millions.

Incentivizing girls’ education, with an emphasis on ‘completion’ rather than ‘enrolment’ can alone transform the nation. The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) or ‘NITI Aayog’ that has replaced the 65 years old Planning Commission should address and take up education of girls as a major focus for economic growth, development and national prosperity. Out of the seven guidelines laid out by Niti Ayog the fourth states ‘women Empowerment in all spears” and education alone can empower women completely.

(P K Abraham is former chief editor at Deepika and Veekshanam daily and is a management professor and consultant; Dr D T Abraham is at the Centre for Women’s Development Studies at New Delhi) Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

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A

di Shankara Institute of Engineering & Technology (ASIET), established at Kalady in 2001 with the aim of providing value-added technical education, soon became the mostsought-after institute in the technical education sector in Kerala.

ASIET is a budding example of socially committed tech education deeply rooted in technical as well as moral excellence. The institute is keen to serving the nation and humanity by bestowing quality education well-grounded in the principles of engineering and technology and by providing an ambience that is conducive to the growth of professional education, industrial and social upliftment.

ASIET was set up with a mission to build a strong centre of excellence in Engineering and Technology targeting global standards. The idea was to provide a good environment for individuals to transform into technologically superior, socially committed, spiritually elevated and nationally responsible citizens. As a result of this focus, the institute has industrial tie-ups with Infosys, Sriram Groups, TCS etc. Inspired by the ancient philosophy of Adi Sankara, the Adi Sankara Trust keeps the light burning for the generations to come. It has been a pioneer for the last 50 years in catering to the growing demands of highly specialized science graduates and technologists. The trust today PASSLINE

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owns six prestigious educational institutions, namely, Sree Sankara College, Sree Sarada Vidyalaya, Adi Sankara Institute of Engineering & Technology, Adi Sankara Business School, Bharathi Theertha Education Society, Adi Sankara Training

K Anand College, PNNM Ayurveda Medical College, Sree Sarada Special School & Adi Sankara College of Arts & Science.

At present the management of ASIET is in the hands of Sri K Anand, the Managing Trustee. The college is headed by Dr S G Iyer, as Director (Academics) and Dr Hariharan N as the Principal, who are ably assisted by a group of young, dedicated and competent faculty.

S G Iyer The institute

has been accredited with ISO 9001:2008 certification. This is the first Engineering college to get the prestigious international standards certification for the quality system of technical education. From that moment, the transformation of the student into a totally competent engineer is the responsibility of the institution. The certification is done

by ISOQAR. Some Land Mark Achievements of ASIET are: a) ASIET is the first new generation engineering college that has acquired ISO certification in Quality Management. b) The college has launched the first national cultural and technical festival called “Brahma� which is being conducted every year. c) So far ten batches have passed out with excellent academic results under MG University with 24 university ranks & 85% pass percentage. d) Dr A P J Abdul Kalam visited the college twice and had an interaction with students. e) ASIET is conducting free computer literacy programme for people in Kalady Panchayat. f) Rain water harvesting project for conserving water resources (16 Lakh Litre capacity rain water harvesting) was commissioned.

ASIET offers following courses under graduation level: B Tech Degree( 4 Years in 8 Semesters) courses in Applied Electronics & Instrumentation, Electronics & Communication Engineering (Two

Batches), Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Information Technology, Mechanical Engineering (Two Batches) & Civil Engineering.

ASIET also provides PG Courses in engineering which are: i) M Tech in VLSI & Embedded Systems, ii)M Tech in Power Electronics & Power Systems, iii) M Tech in Computer Science & Engineering & iv)M Tech in Communication Engineering.

MBA at ASIET is offering specializations in Marketing Management, Human Resource Management and Financial Management. The Institute is also offering non-credit papers in contemporary areas of management like logistics, entrepreneurship management etc.

Multinational companies regularly visit the campus to get energetic Hariharan and qualified employees.

Some of the companies who visited ASIET during 2013-2014 are TCS, CTS, UST Global, Reliance Communications, PCIL, L&T Infotech, Godrej Infotech, I Gate Patni, Sri Ram Group of Companies, Videocon, Nippon Toyota, SAP, KPMG, Federal Bank, South Indian Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Life etc.

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BMIM: B-School for future managerial experts

B

ment expert is the outcome of an harata Mata Institute experienced management resource. of Management (BMIM) BMIM has been established to of Kochi is a leading BSchool in Kerala. Its approach to serve as a centre for training future managerial education and training managerial experts. is different. It is not simply groom- BMIM, under the decades-old ing economy-oriented students achieved. We are holistic in whatBharata Mata College, is affilibut nurturing socially committed ated to Mahatma Gandhi ever we do. We empower managers. our students to achieve University, Kottayam, and more. Our watchword Unlike most well-known B-Schools approved by the All India is flexibility, planning, which produce just management Council for Technical patience, commitment, Education (AICTE). A robots, BMIM engages itself in humility and networking. nationally accredited instimoulding socially committed We give comprehensive tution of higher learning, management professionals. And training to students with the college knows that bringing out BMIM is owned and manspecial emphasis on socially committed managers is just aged by the archdiocese making them responsible like extracting diamond from coal. of Ernakulam-AngaRev Dr Varghese citizens having a secular But this is what it has been doing maly.

Kalamparambath outlook, moral values since its establishment in 2005.

Nestled in all sides of and abiding faith in In this era of globalization where a developed township of Greater God expressed in active concern the economy is the supreme power Kochi, proximity to the indusfor others,” says Rev Dr Varghese for sustainable development, man- trial hub of Kerala backed by the K V, Director of BMIM, about the agement experts serve as an axis prestigious Smart City, nearness to institution’s secret of success. power. The development of indus- the Cochin International Airport MNCs and other companies like tries and the economy is vested in at Nedumbassery—with all these Max New York Life Ltd, Reliance the hands of management profes- facilities and future opportunities, Telecom, Apollo Tyres Ltd and BMIM provides the best ambience sionals. Analysing each minute Tata-AIG Life are the college’s change in the economy and creat- for nurturing and nourishing entreindustry partners. A dynamic and preneurial spirit in its students. ing new tactics for development vibrant placement cell guarantees are not easy tasks in a competitive ``BMIM believes that what human 100% job assurance. The coaching economy. A successful managemind can conceive can surely be

given is meant to create managers with a wide vision of social commitment and humanitarian considerations for fellow beings.

The experienced faculty members also focus on shaping the students into first-rate citizens, apart from providing the usual curriculum-oriented training. They also help them acquire soft skills. Thus BMIM is preparing for a revolution in the field of management studies with a different approach to training students. ``Today’s students are tomorrow’s citizens. The future of the nation should be safe in their hands.

It does not matter whether the students are from management or technology wings. Social commitment and a humanitarian approach go a long way in making good citizens. BMIM’s role is to help its students become good citizens. We want to make the coaching that we give a brand in itself,” this is what the college says.

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‘Give because you have the power to give’ “Ask nothing, Want nothing.... Give because you have the power to give...”

Sw ami Vivekananda

T

oday, the most talked about concept and one that is bound to spread across the country and the world is CSR Corporate Social Responsibility.

CSR is not Charity . Nor is it Philanthropy.

But CSR is intended to make a difference in the life of others. An opportunity for companies to look beyond their aggressive push for turnover, targets and profits and consider the society, community and environment around them.

An approach to integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interactions with their stakeholders.

R Balachandran

One definition states that CSR the way through which a company achieves a balance of economic, environmental and social imperatives - alternatively called the TBL approach - “Triple-Bottom-LineApproach”. The concept of CSR goes beyond brand building and enhancing the reputation of the company.

The new Companies Act has brought in a clause that makes CSR mandatory for companies with a net worth of Rs 500 crore, or a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore, or net profit of Rs 5 crore. Such companies need to spend at least 2 per cent of their average net profit for the immediately preceding three financial years on CSR activities.

While these are the expectations from the Government , one really does not have to wait for a law or a mandatory rule to engage on CSR activities. Size or profit really does not matter if someone would like to exercise their social responsibility and make a contribution to the protection of the environment or make a difference in the life of someone else. It is ultimately your inner conscience and decision to spend whatever you can, accordingly to your ability to spend. Every act, big or small, complements and snowballs into fulfilling a larger purpose. The needs are indeed many. But , one crucial factor of CSR is to ensure that it does impact the beneficiary directly.

However, the biggest concern most companies big or small have is “I would like my company to involve in CSR . But what do I spend it on. How do I choose a project?

Who will execute it “ and so on..

A recent survey by Mercer indicates that of the activities done by various companies, Education by and large tops the chart with 81 per cent adopting it as their mandate. This is followed by 64 % on community-based developmental activities and 61 per cent adopting environmental sustainability within their own companies and immediate vicinity of their factory or in a chosen location,” says the Mercer survey.

The Act indicates that these areas are permissible activities under CSR. - Eradicating extreme hunger and poverty; ► Promotion of education; ► Promoting gender equality and empowering women; ► Reducing child mortality and improving maternal health; ► Combating human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, malaria and other diseases;

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35 ► Ensuring environmental sustainability; ► Employment enhancing vocational skills; ► Social business projects; ► Contribution to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund or any other fund set up by the Central Government or the State Governments for socioeconomic development and relief and funds for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes, minorities and women; and ► Such other matters as may be prescribed...

With the launch of the Swach Bharat programme on a massive scale, there has been a nudging by the Government, particularly to the Public Sector undertakings to allot a good portion of the CSR funds for this Mission to increase the availability of toilets and encouraging use of them. Undoubtedly, there is an urgent need for promoting health and hygiene by using formal toilets. It is indeed shocking that there are schools with hardly any formal toilet facilities and even if there are any, the numbers are far least than what is the prescribed ratio- students: toilets. Further, female toilets are a must. In fact, many schools do not provide separate toilets for the teachers either.

However, an highly critical area that a company or an individual ,wanting to support CSR can take up is in the area of Skill Development.

The country is heading towards a possible crisis with the increasingly large population of youth . Economists call it the Demographic Dividend - the gains a country can derive from a youthful population of over the next decade or more.

In contrast, most of the developed countries in the world are turning out to be ageing populations with low birth rates and high life expectancy. India is already home to the world’s largest population of 10-24 year olds- almost 356 million. It is projected that by 2025, the average age of India will be around 29 years. What scares one more is that ONE MILLION plus youth will turn 18 years of age, every month, for the next two decades!

Hence, the biggest worry for India today is whether this so called global advantage will in turn become a DEMOGRAPHIC DISASTER ?!!.

This is one of the reasons that Prime Minister Modi, early in his tenure, started talking of the need for a massive skill development to

transform the youth power into productive members of the country. How can this youth power be harnessed for the good of the country? The PM and his team realise that irrespective of all the bonds of friendship being built with countries across the world and exhorting them to come to India , the key factor would be the availability of skilled people. As a slogan , “Make In India , Sell to the World” sounds stimulating. Yet, in real terms it can be achieved only if we have the manpower who are qualified, competent , skilled and employable. As a nation, India is in a hurry to kick start its economy which has been floundering for the last five years.The expectations from the industry and the people are very high considering the massive mandate they have given the PM and his party in the elections.

India has set itself a target of Skilling close to 500 million by 2022. A massive challenge considering the skill development capacity available in the country. There is also the issue of mindset - an unnecessary stigma attached to vocational courses . If comparisons are needed- a country like South Korea has a formally skilled workforce of close to 96% , Japan 80% , Germany 65% and India just over 2%. So the magnitude of the task to skill 500 million is a mega challenge .

results in creating a pool of trained and skilled manpower who could be picked up by the industry as required.

One angle that could be explored by a company to identify a panchayat or a specific locality, identify and muster all unemployed youth, conduct an assessment and aptitude analysis and customise a skill development programme with a standardised and approved curriculum and ensure their employability.

This becomes an inclusive programme for factories or companies in various locations and is one of the best ways to ensure economic empowerment. As it says in the Bible , “Give a man a loaf of bread, You give him a meal.Teach him how to make bread , You give him a living.”

It is now time for the industry and business owners to Walk the

Talk. Even if one only commits to Skilling only a batch of 25 in a year, it has a multiplier effect if 100 companies or individuals join the mission to skill the emerging youth of India.

As a company involved in Skilling and Upskilling in Kerala for the last nine years , we have been feeling the pulse of the youth across all levels and adapting the training to their needs and supporting them in gaining employment.

It becomes a genuine contribution to building the nation and positioning India as the number one economy in the world by 2050, as predicted by leading think - tanks of the world.

Hence, CSR is the ideal vehicle to launch your individual commitments to the society.

(Author is CMD, SB Global, Kochi)

The task of Skilling so many has been entrusted to organisations like NSDC and over 23 ministries. The Government has also allotted large sums as part of their social commitment to uplift and empower the EWS segments, the BPL, the SC/ ST, Urban poor/ Rural poor and so on. However, there are still a large number of people who are outside these schemes and do not obtain the benefit of government funding.

It must also be realised that it is not possible for the Government to do everything. This is where the private sector and individuals can step forward to complement the Skilling mission.

Every sector complains of the lack of quality manpower. Qualifications alone do not make one skilled or employable. Today, the industries compromise and hire from the available pool and spend time and money on training them.

The concept of Pre- Hire Training needs to be encouraged and one could budget amounts for Skilling youth for employment according to their capacity to do so.Any support to the Skilling mission adds to the numbers who are better equipped to perform better on the job.It Jan 15 - Feb 15, 2015

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