DMS IIT Delhi March 2012 by Zigu MBA

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ISSUE MAR 2012

REYANSH COVER STORY Not just another brick in the wall

SPECIAL

COVERAGE

Building India Inc, 2012

WINNER ARTICLE Building India & Developing Synergy

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

REYANSH 3 5 7

Not just another brick in the wall - Rahul dravid retires from test cricket

Building India Inc - DMS IIT Delhi annual business summit

Building India & Developing Synergy - Between self, informal & main stream economy

Webinar @ DMS, IIT Delhi

Campus Event

- A paradigm shift in Admissions Process

- All the latest events @ DMS, IIT Delhi

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ISSUE MAR 2012

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Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Pranav Baj

Listening carelessly to a master piece by John Petrucci, I got a message on my cellphone lying so carelessly on the bed as if there was nothing better to do in life. Lost in an ear melting alternative picking, I reached for it and I saw a friend’s name appear, the text read, “ No wall, no bricks! “ Amused and impressed with his reference to Pink Floyd I started replying, but before I could do justice to two alphabets, another message said, “Can’t believe he is retiring! “; and then it struck the last chords of Damage Control, a perfect end for an innings I never wanted to. March 9th , the wall was announcing his retirement, and yes like every fan of cricket I was overwhelmed with not only emotions but an unexplained sense of loss. I should have ran for the television but I rather walked slowly, flipped the channels swarmed with Jalebis and Chamelis slowly. It was true when I saw it flashing on the bottom of a news channel. Disappointed I looked up and tuned my ears to what the smartly dressed gentleman was trying to say with some panelists : “Should Sachin retire now ? “, “Is it a cue for him?”. He should have cared atleast to give one breath of his news, a name called Rahul Dravid. Analogies I always referred to him with, when I talked about him to people who cared to listen. A silent crusader, flying silently over the Gotham city in

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ISSUE MAR 2012

MBA FT 2013

the darkness and anonymity of a bat. Fighting diligently, without any superpower but a passion of steel, so solid that he b e c a m e

a symbol, feared, admired and loathed by the best of players today. Imagine the face of a crest fallen bowler, running from one end of the ground, with eyes of a tiger and pace of a hawk, and all he gets to face is a solid bat, as dead as a fresh meat. Rahul Dravid, played with and against the best of the people around the globe in all possible formats of the game. Once criticized as a snail in ODI, the determined batsman changed his game and evolved as the greatest batsman to have ever walked on the face of the earth after the first blood fell. With technique copied exactly from the classical books, redundancy of cover drives like a never ending loop, Dravid has been an epitome of strength, trust and sincerity. Born in India, cricket with an ease, got into my veins and all I had to do was watch and get inspired by the greats. Discussions and debates, I fought vehemently as a child as to how Rahul Dravid was not a snail. One of the greatest quotes I will always remember in life was by a fan on a television channel ages back, “ Is Dravid the new Bevan ? No, not at all Bevan is Old Dravid.” All I could do is applaud to the tribute to the effort of the man who grazed the field with his buckets of sweat, echoes of silence shining with a touch of class, anytime and everytime.

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Pranav Baj

A champion as I will always recall him with, my favorite innings of his would always be his very first century in ODI, against Pakistan in Chennai in 1997. Overshadowed with Saeed Anwarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 194 , chasing a gigantic total of 328, Dravid sweated a 107, despite of losing by 35, I will always remember the match, not for the outcome, neither for the records, nor for the battle of the arch rivals, but for the birth of a legend who fought all his way when Javed was creating a havoc for the best of the batting line ups in the world. Exponentially increasing cricket, in formats so many and grounds so plenty, I will still watch the test matches when they would play with and against the red cherry, in no colors other than the white, I will still listen to music of the bat tapping the ball, I will still feel the heat of the moment but even then in this musical

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ISSUE MAR 2012

MBA FT 2013

format I will miss the bass, the nudge of the head on the melody, the twisting of eyelids on the harmonics, and the tap of feet on the rhythm. The greatest gig in cricket will miss its greatest guitarist, and I would be glad if Dravid is remembered in cricket like Pink Floyd is remembered today, but not as a brick but the wall itself.

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Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ISSUE MAR 2012

Kamath Karan MBA FT 2013

“Building India Inc” (BII) is an annual 2 day business summit organized by the Department of Management studies, IIT Delhi, to celebrate the great Indian growth story. It features an eclectic mix of prominent figures from the academia, corporate as well as Government, arguably, the stakeholders of a dynamic and vibrant India. Over the last few years, BII has captured the essence of this fascinating story through its relevant themes. “Incipient India - Cynosure of the World” focused on a country keen on showcasing its ability & muscle to the world. “India – the Golden bird” was about journey of a soaring phoenix confident of its success with its own unique tools to tackle any impediments. This year marks a shift in focus – India is confident. India is well poised to take the next step, but her main concern remains tapping her full potential. It is no secret that India’s continued success needs a solid foundation - a foundation based on a collective of all the wonderful idiosyncrasies and systems already in place. Hence, it was apt that BII 2012 was themed “Developing Synergy”. The aim is not to stop at envisioning a better India but through concrete action which was reflected in our motto “To envision. To endeavour. To enlighten.” BII was organized this year on 17 – 18th March. There couldn’t have been a better way to kick off BII than with the blessings of our HOD, Dr. SK Jain and with Indian batsman extraordinaire, Mr. Virender Sehwag in attendance. Dr. Jain and Mr. Sehwag also inaugurated ‘Anushthana’ - a unique DMS

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student initiative championing the cause, education of less privileged children. Mr. Sehwag had the audience enthralled with his “straight shots” during the Q & A session and graciously posed for a group photo with the entire batch. With the atmosphere already electric, the session on “Indianness: A flavour of distinctiveness” took it to another level featuring motivational speaker Mr. Shiv Khera and Mr. Jitin Munjal of Du Pont. Day 1 also featured sessions on FDI in retail, Energy Self Sufficiency with Mr Hemant Batra, Mr. Siraj Hussain (Chairman, Food Corporation of India), Mr.

Anindya Chowdhury (Country Lead, Shell) and Mr. Sumanto Basu (Partner, J. Sagar & Associates) among a host of other prominent speakers. Day 2 of BII opened with a special talk on “Performance Management, its importance and implementation in the Government” by Dr. Prajapati Trivedi, (Secretary Govt. of India, Performance Management Division) who emphasized on not only envisioning and enlightening but also execution. The post lunch debate on “Web Censorship”

was special, in no small measure, due to the presence of Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar (MP, Rajya Sabha) who had the audience spell bound with his riveting keynote on the topic. He was joined by Ms. Karnika Seth and Mr. Vivek Neb (VP, Grail Research) in perhaps, the most informative and diverse session in terms of the panellists’ viewpoints. BII 2012 was brought to an apt conclusion by a Media Conclave discussing the blurring of boundaries between advertising and journalism. Mr. Chaitanya Kalbag (India Today) and Mr. Anil Anand (Sec General, Press Club of India) were the experts in attendance for the same. The air at BII tasted optimistic. It inspired the speakers and the audience to look at, threadbare, some of the most pressing issues facing the country today. Its flavour was enhanced by the agreements/ disagreements among the panellists on key facets of their topic of discussion. It had a distinctive sharpness and recall value thanks to the wonderful takeaways which the session chairs presented to the audience at the end of each session. BII has gone where it has never gone before. It would be delightful if some of the ideas and blueprints thrown around at BII were implemented which would help India go into realms hitherto unexplored. Till then, we cannot keep dreaming “the great Indian dream”. The time to act is now. For a better India and a better tomorrow. We have the opportunity to evaluate ourselves again at BII 2013. So let’s get cracking, ladies and gentlemen!

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ISSUE MAR 2012

Kamath Karan MBA FT 2013

In conversation With... Jitin Munjal, Director – Corporate Marketing and Sales at EI Dupont Interesting insights and views came out when our team spoke to Mr and Mrs Munjal on various issues regarding how we as individuals can take steps in building our nation. Remarks on inclusion of Board examination Marks in the entrance to IIT. Jitin remarked “So what? . The toppers across the various boards are the best and the brightest ones. They should be having some advantage. Some exceptions would always be there but still it won’t make much of a difference.” Excessive social networking, a boon or bane for younger minds ? Jitin said “ Social media is a co curricular activity. It adds to a personality and I feel it is necessary as it appends to the capabilities of the person.” Mrs Munjal remarked “ Intelligence is multidimensional, but yes this is helping as technology and the new connect is going to drive the future” China vs India Mrs Munjal took the question with a lot of enthusiasm “ We have a tremendous lack in research. We have a very less number of Phd. Scholars in the country as compared to China. Everything in a policy makes the difference. Take for instance UK, a hugely profitable job is research, reasons are simple, they get a consulting lifestyle thus pockets are friendly with the career they picked.” IITs and IIMs “It takes centuries to build an Oxford or Harvard, you cannot expect a nation which is 60 years old to have an institute of that repute. It would take time.” Mrs Munjal initiated the answer. Jitin complied by saying “ IITs and IIMs have the potential, no doubt about that and yes we cannot compare on a very small timeline we have.” Sachin and his Century of Centuries Mr and Mrs Munjal “ Bittersweet moment, India lost!”, smiling and saying “We all are proud of him, aren’t we? “ As interesting as the conversation was, insightful was their message for BII’12. “Just follow your passion!”

“Its not a usual day when one walks in the department and you see Industrial Interaction Committee running here and there to put everything to the utmost sense of perfection. Inauguration of the much awaited Building India Inc. ’12 was enveloping a surprise and added a distinct flavor to the entire event. None other than the first Indian to cross the mark of 300 in test cricket, Virender Sehwag was going to the be the flagman for this chapter of BII. Sehwag walked in the department, with enthusiasm like he is on the way to the pitch. Greeting everyone with a smile and a humble nod were the tactics he used to bat against some inquisitive questions about his life on and off the pitch. Excerpts from the innings I had a chance to play with Sehwag. Remarks on Sachin on achieving the much awaited 100th century. “Well I am in a way unlucky since I was not there to actually experience it on the pitch! But yeah! Finally the wait is over and it is time for all of us to celebrate” Ending that sentence with a million dollar smile. On whether too much cricket and availability of different formats affecting performance of players “Tell me, you guys would be working in sometime, how much time would you be giving to work? If you do the math, it comes out its almost equal to what time we devote to our game. Whether it is a test, or a one day or a T-20 it is our work and we want to do it diligently. Adjusting to a more comfortable position on the chair, “Yeah! what takes a toll on us is the amount of travelling we need to do. That does wear you out!” On how he feels about Dravid’s retirement “I am glad, he retired on his own terms, that’s the best thing one can do. He has an unmatched record overseas and none can match it.” On his favorite innings “219!”

“Sound is measured in decibels and nonsense in Sibbals”. It was Aiyarisms like these that earmarked the arrival of Mani Shankar Aiyar, MP, Rajya Sabha in Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi . Not known for mincing words, Mr. Aiyar was the chairperson of the session ‘The mirage of web censorship’ part of the Building India Inc. 2012 summit hosted by the department. After launching the corporate video of the department, Mr. Aiyar was characteristically undiplomatic when it came to giving his keynote on the topic. He took a particular liking for Salman Rushdie and came down hard on the Man Booker Prize winner for using religion as a means to popularize his books, especially his controversial book ‘The Satanic Verses’. Never allowing any drop in the intensity of his keynote, Mr. Aiyar used his weapon of words effectively to drive home the point that in some situations Web Censorship is inevitable and not uncalled for.

How amusing was the idea of going for a six when you are batting on 294 ? “Sachin came to me and asked ‘Mad?’, and I replied ‘You are the one who is responsible and I am the one who is the risktaker’ ” . Sehwag concluded his innings at DMS with four words “Education is a must!”. Pledging his help for initiative of the Department for helping underprivileged children, Sehwag managed to strike a smile on the children by interacting, smiling and greeting them with chocolates.

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ISSUE MAR 2012

BUILDING INDIA DEVELOPING SYNERGY BETWEEN SELF, INFORMAL AND MAIN STREAM ECONOMY

Mohammad Gani, BIM Trichy

Introduction More than 45 core people in India who represent about 90% of the total workforce are in unorganized sector. This forms an essential part of employment though not considered while predicting the economic conditions of a country as it is difficult to measure. By and large this informal economy derived from small product making units of business or service. It is not taxed or controlled by government orders. If India were to be ranked with respect to the informal economy among developed and developing nations it would receive a rank within

unorganized yet widely accepted business model works, will the informal economy boom? Or will it die? Or reduce to bare minimum let us have a look at it. Informal Economy The street vendors though protected by “THE STREET VENDORS (PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF LIVELIHOOD )BILL, 2011” it just remains as bill since street vendors themselves do not aware about their rights .In 100 years from now there would be no street vendors. Why? Street vendors and Pranab Mukherjee are closely related, you may ask why? Reason being, as finance minister he has brought in so many good reforms especially allowing multi retail brand to enter directly, the million dollar question is that, these reforms are good for whom?

10.It is commonly seen in India especially in village where people grow their own vegetables and sellthe excess, and grow their cows and sell the milk, cheese, ghee. A lot of home based business like making papad, some bakery items like chips, homemade sweets etc. This is essentially a self employment and the money they are getting may be used for meeting their needs. How these

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A) Corporate B) Government C) Street Vendors Answer to this is very obvious corporate and government. The reason why government has allowed multi brand retail is that “tax benefit” the government gets. The amount of revenue gets generated by street vendors in major city like Ahmedabad, Patna, Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai is estimated to be Rs.71.26 billion($1.425 billion) but the average street vendor earns around 50-65 rupees. Self Economy Self economy as suggested by Gandhi as a way of improving India in the initial years is a circular economy where money circulates within the system. Self economy allows people to do activities that they know and interested with the customers mostly known and in many cases within close circles. It is barter kind of transaction with money as intermediary. Perfect self economy is missing since all the materials we required cannot be made but when we see the whole world when every country interacts with each other to get the man, material and service, it necessarily follows self economy

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ISSUE MAR 2012

BUILDING INDIA DEVELOPING SYNERGY BETWEEN SELF, INFORMAL AND MAIN STREAM ECONOMY

Mohammad Gani, BIM Trichy

Self economy

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V/S

Informal Economy

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ISSUE MAR 2012

BUILDING INDIA DEVELOPING SYNERGY BETWEEN SELF, INFORMAL AND MAIN STREAM ECONOMY

Mohammad Gani, BIM Trichy

Globalization V/s Informal Economy With new entry of lot of indigenous as well as foreign retailers the informal economy is bound to be an obsolete phenomenon in few years down the line. When we take villages where the most sophisticated place of purchase is still mom and pop stores but giant retailers are entering into villages as well, where

latent economic forms. Government exports lot of commodities at a higher r a t e a n d b ri n g s p ro f i t t o t h e country ,kudos Indian Government but 80% of the people are below poverty line and BPL (below poverty line) income is not even $1. If Government is not taking care of them at least entrepreneurs have to take responsibility to make attempts regarding these economies. Some of the social entrepreneurs like NAMMALVAR and ELAGO are taking steps to improve self economy and are widely

accounted in order to see how much India generates from these economies ,in other words if these are

recognized. As responsible citizens of India we need to do something regarding these issues.

is the point of small business to grow? Nowadays in order to exploit these informal markets the giants use the brain power of Indian itself to destroy the informal economy and make it a formal economy thereby corporate and government gets benefited but life of the people who are involved in the business will become sorrowful.”The richer gets richer and poorer gets poorer” suits this situation well. Government’s responsibility It is absolute necessity on the part of government to encourage these two

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omitted ,then we can have only a narrow vision about our economy as already 2/3rd of the total economy is running as parallel economy , it is high time to look into the issue with all seriousness in order to develop the Nation’s poor , if poor’s life improved country will improve as a whole.

Synergy We need to have synergy between self, informal and main stream economy in order to be well aware about our fullest strength. In GDP calculation informal and self economy should also be

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Port development in Gujarat

ISSUE MAR 2012

a model for PPP

Pradipta Bora, IIM Calcutta

Introduction

Issues In Port Development

The 6,000 km long Indian coastline has 12 major ports and 181 minor/ intermediate ports out of which 139 are operable. Indian Ports are the gateways to India's international trade by sea and are handling over 90% of foreign trade.

The situation of limited capacity and high demand has inevitably resulted in port congestion. This results in overstretched berths leading to pre-berthing delays and longer ship turnaround time. In recent years, major investments in port construction have centred on container as well as bulk facilities. Modern equipment exists for container and bulk handling. The

The major ports are located at Calcutta/ Haldia, Chennai, Cochin, Ennore, Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva, Kandla, Mormugao, Mumbai, New Mangalore, Paradip, Tuticorin and Vishakhapatnam. The 12 major Indian ports, which are managed by the Port Trust of India under Central Government jurisdiction, handle 90 percent of the all-India port throughput, and thus bear the brunt of sea borne trade. The 139 minor ports are under the jurisdiction of the respective State Governments. Dry and liquid bulk make up about 80 percent of the port traffic in volume with general cargo, including the containerized cargo, constituting the remaining traffic. With almost 95 per cent by volume and 70 per cent by value of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s overseas trade effected through the sea route, the maritime sector plays a crucial role in facilitating Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s international trade.At present, around 12 major ports handle 64 per cent of the sea-borne traffic, while the share of non -major ports has increased from seven per cent in 1990-91 to around 36 per cent in 2010-11.

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freight cost. Additionally, all leading ports such as Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Visakhapatnam, and Mormugao handle more cargo than their designed capacities, further contributing to congestion and resulting in a longer turnaround time. Weak connectivity with the mainland is a challenge for most Indian ports, reducing accessibility. Despite investments from the private sector that are encouraging the modernization and development of ports, infrastructure continues to be a major issue. Gujarat : A model for development

equipment- mix for handling general cargo has to be planned and provided in a manner that suits the needs of each port. The productivity of ports in terms of Average Ship Turn Around (ASTA) and Average Ship Berth Output (ASBO) is one of the lowest among international ports. Several major ports lack sufficient draft for large crude tankers. Large vessels are berthed at Colombo, Singapore, or Dubai, and cargo is shipped to India later in smaller vessels, thereby escalating the

The state of Gujarat has 41 minor and intermediate ports geographically dispersed across South Gujarat (13 ports), Saurashtra (24) and Kutchch (4) regions. The Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s port policy announced in 1995 envisaged 10 new sites along the Gujarat coastline for development .The Pipavav and Mundra ports are already in operation. The Gujarat Chemical port terminal at Dahej has commenced operations since Jan 2001. The LNG terminal at Dahej is developed by M/S Petronet India Ltd is operational from February, 2004. The LNG terminal at Hazira is developed by Shell India Ltd. and is operational from April 2005.The Solid cargo terminal at Dahej is under construction. The Govt. of Gujarat has signed concession agreements with Pipavav,Mundra, Dahej, GCPTCL and Hazira port developers.

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Port development in Gujarat

ISSUE MAR 2012

a model for PPP

Pradipta Bora, IIM Calcutta

Among the maritime states, Gujarat was the first to set up a maritime board to oversee the privatization of minor ports. It was also the first state to announce a separate port policy. The Government of Gujarat has announced the Port Policy in December, 1995, which integrates the development of ports with industrial development, power generation and infrastructure development. The policy envisages the development of 10 green field ports, 6 of them as fully private and 4 as joint sector ports. The BOOT policy for the ports was announced in 1997 and subsequently the BOT law (the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Act) has been framed to invite private sector participation in the State through international competitive bidding. The National Conference on Ports & Shipping of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) noted that major contributor to this sector was Gujarat and their growth rate too was the highest. The contribution of non -major ports (viz. minor ports) was twice that of the major ports. This indicates a new model of investment for investors. The basic model is B-O-O-T which translates into Build-Operate-Own-Transfer. This allows the investor to have a time period to recover the costs associated with the project and hence is suitable for big infrastructure projects. Most of the new ports in Gujarat are operating under this model and hence the government has succeeded in attracting foreign investment too into this sector.

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Major private ports Pipavav - The port is operational since 1996. Hazira - M/s. Hazira Port Pvt. Ltd., a company promoted by an international company M/s. Shell Gas B.V. for the development of Hazira Port.

The project is awaiting Environment Clearances. Port of Rotterdam has shown interest for participation in Poshitra port development. Conclusion With the opening up of the economy, Gujarat has taken giant strides in making its shores conducive to private investment. It is perhaps testament to the broad and long term vision of Mr. Narendra Modi that has made the state realize the potential of its long shoreline. Development of ports in India required huge investment and a dedicated body to clear Greenfield projects. Gujarat has come up trumps in all these aspects by utilizing its natural resources and building an ecosystem of ancillary services such as better roadways and connected train lines has helped in synergizing the efforts of public and private corporations towards a common goal. References

Mundra – Adani Shipping Company has constructed 4 multipurpose berths and commenced cargo operation from September 1998. Ships up to 80000 DWT can berth at the jetty. Dahej - A joint sector company M/s. Petronet LNG Ltd., have been formed by Oil sector PSU's of Government of India for development of the port. All PSUs holding 12.50 % equity in the company. Poshitra - A joint sector company namely Gujarat Poshitra Port Co. Ltd. has beenformed to develop Poshitra port.

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http://www.gidb.org/gidb/cms.aspx? content_id=103

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http://www.indiacore.com/ports.html

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http://www.oifc.in/Sectors/ Infrastructure/Ports

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http://ww.maritimeprofessional.com/ Blogs/Private-investment-drivinggrowth-of-Indian-Ports/August-2010/ Private-investment-driving-growth-ofIndian-Ports.aspx

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ISSUE MAR 2012

The Dancers Of Dawn Sarthak Prakash MBA FT 2012

A little after the sun creeps back into above the horizon, and much before any selfrespecting twenty year old is likely to have woken up instead – there’s a loud knock at the door. It’s not urgent, but it’s meant to be immediately responded to. And it’s not rude, but it’s certainly not intended to be very polite either. It’s a wake-up call, and it screams wake the heck up! A light rain drizzles in through the window wide open and collects in the empty scotch bottle tentatively balanced on the precipice. I consider flinging something heavy (and preferably with sharp corners) at the philanthropist behind the door, but then, I would have to open the door anyway. There’s another knock, more urgent this time, and sighing longingly, I give up on sleep.

their pearly-whites gathered around the one tap. They’ve been brought together by circumstance, armed with their toothbrushes and toothpaste, steeping on toes and slapping aside stray hands to get to that lone source of water gurgling. But then, they have danced this dance before. With synchronisation that would shame a tuning fork, they go through the motions of preparing to brush their teeth, and eventually having been at it. Their weapons change, they reappear with bars of slimy soap. The ablutions are considered with due regard, there’s the occasional outburst of impatience – doors are banged, unpleasantries exchanged, and as one exits the porcelain lime-light, the slightest glare shoots across between them, only to be forgotten by the time they prepare themselves to dance for yet another dawn.

they stare at themselves in the large mirrors above the basins, before innocentlooking slivers of stainless steel claim the kills. The entries compliment the exits, and well within the advent of dawn, just the three shower heads have managed to bathe an entire army of potential engineers, managers and doctorate scholars. In they stream into their doubly-allocated single rooms, and out they come reeking of deodorant and after-shave, dripping with beads of reluctant moisture, looking around for more pairs of feet to walk the long walks along. They’re costumed for yet another performance, stuffing keys and wallets and phones down their pockets, mundane arsenals of monumental utilities.

The battleground moves to the shower stalls, even that one with a missing latch is part of the spoils. A multitude of towels wrapped around the respective waists and shoulders, healthier looking bars of soaps, and the occasional bottles of shampoo, conditioner and hair-oil. There are those who will attempt to harvest facial hair, and

In the short walk to the rest-rooms, I respond to greetings from men in various stages of partial undress, and make my way into towel-infested murky interiors of the rest-rooms. The basins resemble that warzone where many virtuous and valiant men have been laid slain, or that twenty of them were simply never quite meant to brush

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The doors to their domains are latched and locked, and with one last glance down the emptying corridor, they begin to file out on the way to their theatre of potential dreams. Breakfast better be warm and waiting, they’re hungry for more – these dancers of dawn.

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ISSUE MAR 2012

Webinar @ DMS, IIT Delhi Manu A

The dynamics of B school selection activities has been the most significant cause of the increased competition among aspirants in recent times. Times have changed drastically from when B school selections used to be unpredictable and a fight with the unknown, to the present where tonnes of material are available on internet for the prospective aspirants on patterns of questions over years, suggested readings and tips and tricks for doing the right thing on the D-Day. The recent initiative by the students of DMS, IIT Delhi is undoubtedly going to add a new dimension to this complex environment. The Utility of mentorship programs has always been doubted owing to the lack of time and flexibility in such interactions due to the highly demanding B -School culture of the mentors as well as the mentees, many of whom are working professionals. The Webinar session conducted by the students of DMS, IIT Delhi aimed precisely at overcoming this issue. This particular problem seemed to get accentuated in case of queries related to deeper understanding of the most pertinent topics in the current world. The novel idea of a webinar session was hence born which would serve as a solid platform for aspirants to understand the concepts of some of the most relevant issues. The first of its kind webinar

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MBA FT 2013

session where the aspirants shortlisted were able to get first hand in depth analysis of complex issues such as The Euro Crisis, The 2G Debacle and the implications of the Supreme Court judgment on the telecom licenses. The sessions were conducted by some of the best students in the respective field of specialization and hence provided the aspirants more than a glimpse of the academic rigor at one of the best B-schools of the country. The students also were able to get first hand information on their

queries related to GD-PI preparations and the process in general. The overwhelming responses from the participants stand testimony to the utility of these sessions in getting an edge in the preparations over their peers. The session was conducted as a part of the revamped mentorship program that was dynamically different from its version in the previous years.

The Admissions Committee, DMS IIT Delhi has conceptualized this as just the starting of a rigorous set of sessions to be followed even after the GD-PI interviews scheduled on the 23rd to 25th of March, 2011.These sessions would aim at further preparing the selected candidates on various aspects of B-School life that would ensue once they step into the famed halls of IIT Delhi. From case studies discussions, to presentations and to basics of business domains like Finance, Marketing and Operations these sessions aims to bring the new students in sync with the culture at the institute. The same would culminate at the most exhaustive and arduous trainings that the aspirants would have ever undergone in their career during the first 2 weeks of their joining the institute the induction session at DMS, IIT Delhi. The B-School entry environment will be dynamic for the foreseeable future. But initiatives such as this would surely add a lot of value to the aspirants who hope to e l e va t e t h e ms e l ve s f ro m t h e engineers of the present day to business leaders of the future.

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ISSUE MAR 2012

It was a day of Reminiscences – Remembering the cherished moments. It was the day when ‘Bengaluru chapter’ of Memoirs’12 happened. Alumni committee of Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi has conducted lot of alumni meetings before, but this one was special. It was the first time an Alumni Meet was conducted in Bangalore. With usual alumni meetings conducted in Delhi and Bombay, this year Alumcom of DMS, IIT Delhi , decided to go beyond the horizons by extending it to Bangalore and they did it in real style, which was evident from the shower of praise they received from the alums.

As part of the AL_Sagar Emeritus Chair Professorship activities, Prof. Vinayshil Goutam organized a Symposium to further the research in the area of organizing for growth with the focus being on the issues of management of enterprise, finance and resources. It built upon the work done on a research project with a similar title initiated in 2010, supplemented with wisdom and experiences of thinkers and practitioners. Some of the topics that were discussed were , 'Emerging concerns in IT' , 'Resources and energy: Select Dimensions' & 'Concerns in managing Finance' .

The desire to contribute to the society living up to the concept behind Building India Inc. , saw e ve r yo ne st a nd i ng ag a i nst t he l ack of pr o pe r e d uca tion for underprivileged children in unison and vow to take that quintessential step towards sparking a much-needed alteration in the running course through Anusthana. The effort is conceived to be an year long one where students from a couple of schools will benefit from the best minds of the country by interacting with them both in class and person. The focus is on the schools where children of contracted workers who aid IIT study.

An evening with Montek Singh Ahluwalia

What do you have to say about the Union Budget 2012

The beginning of the mid sem break had the students beaming for reasons more than one. Along with the holiday mood there was the excitement of meeting the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia who delivered a Guest Lecture @ IIT More than a lecture it was an interactive session, with Mr. Ahluwalia answering questions from the audience. He spoke about how the government is subsidizing inappropriately in various sectors .

This year’s budget which aims at fiscal consolidation was greeted positively by the Indian corporate sector. The budget attempts to reverse the fiscal slippage of the current year by Introducing amendments to the FRBM Act. The concepts of “Effective Revenue Deficit” and “Medium Term Expenditure” have been introduced to keep a check on the fiscal deficit of the country.

The raise of 2% in the service tax means that country's over 900 million mobile phone users will have to shell out more money on their bills. Also the excise duty was hiked by 2%. The major cheer came after the proposal to raise the exemption limit of income tax from 1.8 lacs to 2 lacs. Also there is a proposal to raise the 20% taxation bar from 8 lacs to 10 lacs.

A welcome endeavor of the budget is to curtail the ever burgeoning revenue deficit of the country. The budget lays down a target to reduce the subsidy bill to 2% of the GDP in 2012- 13 and further bring it down to 1.75% in the coming 3 years.

The rupee reacted positively to the Budget proposals to allow overseas borrowings for more sectors and doubling import duty on gold. Budget proposals to allow ECBs for aviation, power, road and other sectors raised hopes of more fund flows to the country. The corporate were especially buoyant by the special attention given to the infrastructure spending in this budget.

On the taxation front, the budget offered a mixed bag for the citizens. There was a clear commitment to finally roll out the GST by August 2012 and also there were tax sobs offered for retail equity investors. The Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving Scheme allows for income tax deduction of 50% to investors who invest upto Rs. 50,000 and have their annual income below Rs. 10 lacs.

There was a special focus on financial inclusion with schemes to expand the network of Rural Regional Banks (RRM) and also to extend the ‘Swabhiman’ campaign to more rural locations and make Krishi Credit Card a smart card usable in ATMs. In education and healthcare, RTE funding increased by 21% and 6,000 new schools are proposed to be opened at the block level.

While the only essential public services are elementary education and health care – for example the petroleum prices which are far less than they should be. He also talked about the asymmetrical usage of fertilizers in various parts of the country, the inconsistency in retail policy which allows single brand retail but not multi brand . He also mentioned the reason for sustainability of democracy, which is people like the idea of democracy succeeding. He mentioned the thing holding the country together is not a central authority but cricket and Bollywood i.e the common culture and said that the 2G scam arrests reaffirmed the faith in judicial system which corrects the overreach of executive system. He concluded his lecture by saying that role of good economics is not to bypass politics but to inform politics. Montek Singh Ahluwalia is an Indian economist and civil servant. He is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of the Republic of India.

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ISSUE MAR 2012

Books of the month Gadu Sneha MBA FT 2013

‘Sam Walton in his book of Wal-Mart’s story gets candid about the path to being one of the most famous retailers of the USA. Fighting cancer and all the unwanted attention he received due to the media coverage since Forbes named him the richest man of America, Walton talks about the initial years of his life and how he grew up during the time of Great Depression with a father who had according to him the best negotiating skills in the world when it came to bartering, and a brother who inherited them. Starting his career early being the newspaper guy, milk man and doing a hundred odd jobs, Walton was hugely influenced by his father-in-law, who was a salesman himself and ran a family partnership business. After attaining a college degree from Missouri, he joined JC Penney and that was the first step he took into retail. Walton always checked the competition, visited their stores and observed how they worked and that is how he says he is even after all these years. Working in army for a short time after JC Penney, he read every book he could find on retailing and dreamed of going into the business. The journey of the Waltons began with a small store franchised from Ben Franklin variety stores where Walton looked for offbeat suppliers or sources who would sell to him at a lower price than the parent chain, and learnt the essence of discounting – price them low and sell more which will give you a higher overall profit, then moved on to create the ‘Walton’s Five and Dime’ store which was the third self-service variety store in the entire country. Walton constantly innovated, experimented and expanded and did something for the five and dime store which he would do for the rest of his time in the retail business i.e nosing around other peoples stores searching for good talent. He tried getting into the shopping center business which he envisioned would be the future of retailing but after difficulties faced, he left it alone though he learnt a lot about real estate through it. The first Wal-Mart was opened by him in Bentonville and since then there was no looking back. Opportunities out of necessity has been what he says has helped him be where he is. Selling all the goods at low prices, analysing sales reports for what item was selling the best, Merchandising and promoting the items which he had a hunch would sell in bulk, taking the company public, setting up stores in small towns where nobody else would, managing by looking over ones shoulder, building a partnership with the associates (the workers with hourly wages) are a few things he mentions which worked for him in building the biggest variety store chain in USA. He concludes what he has to say by writing down something he calls Sam’s rules for Building a Business. A good book for those students of retailing and for others, one of life’s lessons told through a wealth of experience.

| | reyansh | |

‘Umrao Jaan Ada’ – A movie which has made me sit up and take notice of the melodious tunes of Khayyam as much as Rekha’s eyes which spelt poetry, so much so that I felt compelled to read a translation of the original in English written by Khushwant Singh. A journey thus began, continued with his candid autobiography ‘Truth, Love and a little Malice’, a collection of obituaries he has written over the years ‘Death at my doorstep’ and the most recent ‘Train to Pakistan’. The cover page of ‘Train to Pakistan’ looks deceptive, with a train at the station making you imagine the quotidian whistling of the steam engine in the background, while as you travel down the pages the picture of imagination reverberates with cries of the victims of post partition massacres which the author puts succinctly in the following words: “The fact is, both sides killed. Both shot and stabbed and speared and clubbed. Both tortured. Both raped.” The story rather than talking about the post partition India’s cultural or social issues of the highest level, as do most books on partition, describes it through the eyes of, the peasants of Mano Majra – the simpletons who lived in harmony until the external forces that advocated religious intolerance became too loud to ignore and turned them against each other. The story weaves three tales together. Of Jugga Singh– the village badmash, who falls in love with the mussalman weaver’s daughter Nooran, Iqbal – a worker from the people’s party come to advocate peace and Hukum chand – the magistrate with a fatalistic attitude. The story is about, how disharmony entered driving Muslims to evacuate the village and how finally the Sikhs prodded by an angry mob, plot to kill the same neighbours of theirs who are on their way to Pakistan on a train. The reaction of the three characters to the situation is contrasted and summed up in the last few pages as: while the cowardly Hukum Chand escapes from his duty as a protector of the people and hides in fear, the intellectual Iqbal mulling over futility of religion and of his sacrifice which would go unnoticed dismisses the thoughts of protecting the people, drowned in a flask of whisky, Jugga the badmash finds the courage to give up his life to let his Nooran pass safely into the Pakistan territory. The depiction of massacres seemed so real while reading that I was wiping away imaginary drops of blood that sprayed from the pages. The pliant minds of the peasants seemed a little unrealistic but I guess not having gone through the ‘kill or get killed’, ‘limb for limb’ situation ever I can’t be the one to judge. The book gives a view of the partition at an individual level – the passions and priorities which made people do what they did – the good, bad and the ugly.

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

ISSUE MAR 2012

No GAS, Please ! Sajal Agarwal & Mayank Sharma MBA FT 2013

This entry qualified for the finals of ‘Economist of the year’, Manfest 2012, IIM Lucknow

| | reyansh | |

The Team Pranav Baj Gadu Sneha Mayank Sharma Kamath Karan Sajal Agarwal Robin Jain

reyansh ISSUE MAR 2012

Editorial Board Department Of Management Studies Indian Institute Of Technology, Delhi reyansh@dmsiitd.org http://www.dmsiitd.org/