AVANT GARDE September 2013
EE P U ` CIAL E P S
Monthly e-Newsletter
MBA IIT Kanpur
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
From the Editor’s Desk
AvantGarde took a huge leap forward last month by venturing into a complete new look and design along with the launch of the new eBook format. We take this opportunity to convey our heartfelt thanks to all our readers for all the accolades you have showered on us for this change and for recognizing our efforts. We promise to keep exceeding your expectations! After a successful advent into this revamped design and new format, AvantGarde continues to carry forward the legacy of MBA @ IIT Kanpur, with a new issue, full of articles on current and trending topics as well as on some key corporate affairs. As the Rupee continues to break all records and hit an all-time low (65.94 against 1 USD at time of publication of this issue), usual discussions on the fall in the rupee bring up macroeconomic matters such as slowing economic growth, corporate earnings and market volatility. However, the fall of Rupee burns a hole not only in Dalal Street, but also in the common man’s pocket. Hence, we are dedicating this issue to the burning topic of “Falling Rupee” with Sayantan Ghosh and Chandrajit Mitra of MBA 2013-15 batch sharing their views on it, the causes of this fall and some counter-remedies. Sunny Goyal of MBA 2012-14 batch shares his views and opinions on the NSEL (National Spot Exchange Limited) settlement crisis and talks about Spot markets and how people continue to exploit the existing loopholes in our financial system. Piyush Sharma of MBA 2013-15 batch shares his opinions on the Retail Sector and the Back End Supply Chain process. He takes us back to the early 90s when Retail Sector started to boom and also throws light on the present scenario.
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Varun Sharma of MBA 2013-15 batch talks about an interesting topic of the advantages of BJP in the Lok Sabha elections 2014 as he analyses various factors and highlights how BJP might succeed if it continues to do the ground work of reaching out to the youth. Finally, Arpan Rani of MBA 2012-14 batch gives us a glimpse of the first ever IndustryAlumni meet-cum-Symposium in Industrial Management Engineering (IME) department, IIT Kanpur, held on 6th and 7th April, 2013, with the theme - “Glory of technomanagement: Success, challenges and road map for future.” This issue continues to test and hone your knowledge of current Business Affairs with the Quizomania section, bundled with a complete new set of business related questions. We hope that you like this edition of Avant Garde. We await your comments, criticism and appreciation. Feel free to post your comments on the articles in the “Add Comment” section (for the online edition). Till the next issue, wish you a Happy Reading! Cheers!
Falling Rupee in India
Causes and Impacts
"We invented money and we use it, yet we cannot understand its laws or control its actions. It has a life of its own." - Lionel Trilling, American literary critic The most concerning chapter for India during last two years and specifically last two months is the weakening of rupee against dollar. It is not only that rupee has lost its value in the global context but also dollar has improved its performance in the global trading markets. The outstanding performance of US equities and the improvement in the labor market has made Americans more optimistic about the US economy, thereby stimulating greater hopes of QE (Quantitative Easing) tapering. The government of India is still unable to generate heavy capital inflows. If US Federal Reserve withdraws its bond buying programme; there will be unexpected outward flow of money leaving India clambering for dollars. The slowdown in the Indian economy has made the situation more fickle. The government has a strong role in controlling currency in the form of policy regulation and reforms. The current UPA leadership has failed to strike with some heavy reform to generate more cash inflows. As a result the government has gradually lost its control over rupee depreciation. Investors’ sentiment plays a pivotal role over here.
Sayantan Ghosh MBA 2013-15
Oil and gold imports account for 35 per cent and 11 per cent of India's trade bill respectively. There has been an uninterrupted demand for the dollar from the oil importers pushing the rupee lower. Likewise the falling gold prices have made the central bank to reduce imports, which increases CAD and hits the currency directly. Indian economy requires a strong structural reform to maintain a positive balance of payment. Also, government spends excessively as election approaches just to woo electorate votes. This causes the rupee to depreciate. Then the government beats around the bush to control the currency behaviour. Most of the times these measures worsen the economic crisis to a great extent. The foreign institutional investors have been selling index futures and Indian equity market is weakening. As a result there is a heavy demand for dollar and Indian currency as well as economic situation is looking too gloomy. These worries, combined with a record high current account deficit and now uncertainty over the central bank's monetary policy stance, have prompted foreign investors to sell more than $12 billion of Indian debt and equities since late May. Reserve Bank of India has taken certain steps and some more to be followed to have a control over rupee. But the big question comes here. What are the implications? And is it that bad overall??
The best business prototype anyone can have is to spend in rupees and earn in dollars, which is what the giants of India Inc, including the top IT companies, excel in. Basically the sector which is targeting exports for its industrial operations are the one wins the game. Dollar appreciation would be positive for sectors such as IT, pharmaceuticals, hotel, textiles and automobiles which have the total foreign exchange earnings of these firms are far greater than their forex spends. As much as the rupee weakens, the foreign exchange earners gain provided the other factors remains constant. A sharply declining rupee triggers inflation, broaden the current account deficit, hits investor sentiment and creates burdens for organization with high exposure to foreign debt. The government and the Reserve Bank of India have taken several reform initiatives to resist the downturn, but their success stories are looking gloomy. Buying imported materials will become very costly. A weak rupee will create extra stress on Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) and this will surely be passed on to the consumers as the companies are allowed to do so after the deregulation of petrol and partial deregulation of diesel. If the OMCs increase fuel prices, there will be a substantial increase in overall cost of transportation which will trigger inflation. If the depreciation is steep and without control, it will strike up inflation. As a result the Central bank would have very less room to impose further rate cut and that’s the burden the borrower would have to bear. Indians who have gone to abroad for tours or studies are highly affected in these times. The only smiling people in this context are the NRI’s who gain more on sending money to their homeland. As a whole we can say that though weakening rupee is the reason for someone’s smile it is a real threat for the country’s overall fiscal health and increase the current account deficit heavily. But in my opinion this huge downgrade is a temporary phenomenon and the rupee is really oversold. Now the Central bank and Government should work hand in hand and find out the policy measures to stabilize the frightening scenario. I personally hope a further cut in SLR to ease the liquidity to save rupee and also import duty hike in gold and other related materials. RBI can buy bonds to ease liquidity in the market. Finally we can say that the situation is tight and challenging for us, but we can not only hope for the best but also should contribute the most to get back Indian economy in the driving seat.
Spotty Spot Market NSEL Fiasco
Sunny Goyal MBA 2012-14
References 1. 2.
www.businessstandard.com www.nationalspotexchange.c om
The NSEL (National Spot Exchange Limited) settlement crisis has brought Jignesh Shah and his FT (Financial Technologies) group into the limelight one more time. However, this time it is for all the wrong reasons. Last he hit the headlines, was by the virtue of his heroics in waging a successful battle with SEBI to open equity exchange MCX-SX. He currently holds membership of boards of around 9 exchanges worldwide. Not to mention that most of these exchanges are using technology services provided by FT. If reports are to be believed, FT group is planning to sell their 44% stake in DGCX (Dubai Gold and Commodity Exchange), as the exchange has partnered with Cinnober (FT’s competitor) for their technology services. As regards NSEL, not many of us had an idea as to what it is all about until recently. But the whole crisis was so alarming that it could have hardly gone unnoticed. Spot markets are best represented by what are commonly known as ‘Mandis’ across the country. Generally, what happens in a typical Mandi is, the farmers bring their produce, and the traders (commission agents or ‘aadhatiyas’) inspect the quality by just looking at the produce and start bidding for the same. Certainly, the agent with the highest bid would acquire the produce. Thus, the ‘Mandi’ system, leaves the farmer with no bargaining power as the price setting power completely rests in the hands of the agents. This results in a very inefficient price discovery mechanism. Whenever, the farmers require finances to raise the harvest, they borrow money from the traders, who conveniently lend at very high interest rates. So invariably, they end up selling their commodities to their moneylenders at whatever price is offered to them. The agents’ commission is decided by the state APMC (Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee) acts. Occasionally, farmers expect that price of a certain grain will increase in the near future. However, due to the lack of warehousing facilities in the mandis, they cannot afford to wait, and are consequently forced to sell at the current price. So the whole mandi system left the farmers with few avenues. To get rid of such inefficiencies, a nationalized and transparent spot market was set up in the form of NSEL by the FT group. On June 5, 2007, NSEL was allowed to conduct trading in ‘One-day duration forward contracts’ in commodities by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Government of India. Subsequently, NSEL commenced live trading on October 15, 2008. At present, NSEL is operational in 16 States in India, providing delivery-based spot trading in 52 commodities. Basically, ‘One-day duration forward contract’ means that the contracts open every day for trading and the position open at the end of the trading session results in compulsory delivery of the commodity traded. for US. For various contracts, exchange has notified particular delivery locations or additional warehouses where the commodities can be delivered and lifted by the sellers and buyers respectively.The seller willing to sell any particular commodity on the exchange platform is required to bring the commodity to the exchange warehouse where weighing and quality checking is done. The quality assessment is done by a quality certifying agent based at the exchange warehouse. For withdrawal of the commodity from the exchange designated warehouse, the buyers are required to give at least 1
day prior intimation to the warehouse for necessary arrangements. Based on the intimation received from the buyer, delivery schedule is communicated by the warehouse supervisor to the buyer. NSEL obtained licenses from State Governments under respective State APMC Acts, where it intended to launch contracts for agricultural commodities. It was operating in a complete regulatory vacuum though. On February 6, 2012, Forward Markets Commission (FMC) was appointed as the designated agency to which all information or returns, relating to the trade, as and when asked for, shall be provided by the NSEL. Meanwhile, NSEL launched various contracts with settlement cycles ranging from 1 day to 36 days (T+0 to T+35). That is, if the settlement cycle for a contract is T+3, then it implies that payment and the physical delivery must take place no later than three business days, immediately after the trade is executed. Because of the longer settlement cycles, traders were able to re-trade without taking delivery of the goods. Last December, Department of Consumer Affairs received a complaint stating NSEL’s involvement in illegal financing operations. Subsequently, an investigation was initiated to look into the matter. On July 23, 2013, NSEL reduced delivery, payment and settlement period for 40 live contracts of various commodities to less than 11 (T+10 or less) days in accordance with the orders of the ministry. The government believed that allowing any settlement beyond 11 days was like futures trading, which can be driven by speculators rather than genuine traders. As a result of this, daily trading volume on NSEL halved to around 3 billion rupees. On 31 July, 2013 the exchange notified that it will suspend trading in most of the contracts for an indefinite period owing to the plunge in trading volumes. It also merged all the outstanding contracts and declared that the settlement will take place after 15 days. The total value of suspended contracts stands at 55 billion rupees. NSEL claimed that the exchange has commodities worth about 62 billion rupees to meet the outstanding payment obligations. However, investors fear that NSEL’s warehouses do not have the full value of commodities to cover all the contracts that have been sold on the exchange. Broker houses and investors are accusing the FT group and Jignesh Shah of keeping them in the dark. Facing the wrath of the investors and threatened with legal action by brokers, NSEL announced the detailed settlement plan on 14 August, 2013. NSEL stated that it will clear all the dues in the coming 30 weeks. However, according to the NSEL, there are only 24 buyers who are liable to pay these obligations. This clearly suggests that something was seriously wrong in the exchange operations. It is suspected that the exchange allowed a small group of people to collect money from a large number of investors, assuring them high returns by allowing them to sell commodities which they did not own. Because of long settlement cycles, contracts were re-traded without actual deliveries. As small investors continued investing money in the want of high returns, new money that was being collected by the buyers, was probably being used to pay off the returns due to the older investors. Once the inflow of new money ceased due to banning of trades in long-cycle contracts, borrowers could not pay their liabilities. It is estimated that there are around 8000-15000 small investors, whose investments are in quagmire due to the crisis. In a nutshell, the investors were taken for a ride by the exchange by promising high returns to them. This double-cross could be executed by exploiting the existing loopholes in our financial system. This time it was a complete lack of regulation by the government which led to the crisis. The least the government can do is, monitor the whole settlement process and try to ensure that all the investors get their money back in due time. Further, it is high time that all the spots tainting the spot market be erased by an efficient and watchful regulatory mechanism. Undoubtedly, the investors should take this as a lesson to refrain from investing in schemes or products promising exceptionally high returns. Of course, high returns are irresistible for any investor, but a careful and practical approach in dealing with such contracts could safeguard them. After all, as the saying goes, ‘There is no such thing as a free lunch!!’ Time to remember Harshad Mehta, yet again!!!!
Falling Rupee Against Dollar Reasons and Possible Remedies
The rupee has plunged to an all-time low against the dollar and its fall has become a subject for debate. The usual discussions on the fall of the rupee bring up macro economics matters such as slow economic growth, huge current account deficit, rising imports etc. At the time of independence when India had no foreign borrowings the rupee was at par with the dollar. With the introduction of the 5 years plan and the subsequent requirements for foreign investments the dollar slowly rose. In 1985, after the Bofors scam, which toppled Rajiv Gandhi’s government, the dollar was equal to 12.35 rupees and since the economic liberalization in 1991, there was a sharp devaluation of rupee and the rupee had dropped to Rs.24.5 against a Dollar. The dawn of the third millennium gave a further worsened the condition rupee against dollar and the rupee has hit an all time low of Rs. 65.42 against a dollar on the 22 nd of August 2013. Indian economists are trying hard to chalk out a strategy to counterbalance the falling value of rupee but it seems the attempts are futile. There major reasons for the plunging fate of the rupee are: Current Account Deficit (CAD)
Shashank Shivhare MBA 2012-14 Chandrajit Mitra IIT KANPUR MBA 2013-15
CAD is considered to be the key factor behind the steep volatility of rupee against dollar. CAD occurs when the total import of goods and services of a country is greater than the total export goods and services thus making India a debtor to the rest of the world. India’s current account averaged a deficit worth 1.5 billion USD since 1947 until 2013. In the first quarter of 2013 the CAD was 18.1 billion and at present it has gone up over 20 billion. This has hit hard on the rupee. Strengthening of Dollar In the last six months the dollar has strengthened by 3.52 percent with the strengthening of the US economy. The dollar has been rising on signs of growing economic momentum and talk of an early end to the Fed’s stimulus effort. This is something which is beyond the control of the Indian Government and it is hampering the recovery of the rupee.
References 1. 2. 3.
http:// www.tradingeconomics.com http://stockmusings.com http://profit.ndtv.com
Insufficient inflow of FDIs and outflow of the foreign investments. The downfall in the Indian economy has worsened the situation and the government is unable to generate heavy capital inflows. Despite all the government effort to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), there hasn’t been significant FDI inflow. The US federation has withdrawn some of its bond buying programmes resulting in a sudden outflow of money that in return has left India far behind in the race .Foreign investors has been pulling out of the Indian economy. The month of May has seen a record outflow of foreign investments of Rs. 44162 crore. With the giants like Posco pulling out of its Rs. 30000 crore steel plant project in Karnataka followed by ArcelorMittal pulling out of its Rs. 50,000 crore project in Odisha due to delays and land acquisition delays. This has shrunk the total inflow of capital in India. Indian investors have been spending more abroad than foreign investors have been spending in India. This has led to the further deficit of current account.
Rising Imports The rising import bill is one of major concern and is has hindered the government effort to tackle the falling rupee. Oil accounts for 35% of the total imports and gold 11% on India’s current bill. There has been a heavy demand for the greenback from the exporters of oil, the most prolific buyers of dollar in the world market, thus pushing rupee lower. In the gulf countries, the dealing of oil is done in dollars, i.e., if India has to purchase oil, it has to pay in dollars, so for this India needs purchase dollars from USA in exchange of gold. This has led to the further devaluation of the rupee. Also, the sliding prices of gold have triggered the government to lower the imports of gold, thereby increasing the Current Account Deficit (CAD) and concurrently weighing heavy on the currency. Poor Economic Growth The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has hit its lowest patch in the last 10 years. With fall of the GDP to 4.8%, it had significant effect on the stock markets and the falling rupee. The manufacturing, mining and the agricultural sector has faltered and investors have become cautious of investing in India. The central government has unravelled a multipronged strategy to bring about an increment in the inflow of dollars and limit the outflow to compensate for the sliding value of rupee. A planned increase in import duty has been exercised to shore up the decrement in rupee. Some of the other possible remedies that can be emphasized are:
The customs duty on several red-hot imports like gold and silver is on the rise as it’s a strategic movement by the central government to ease the gap between dollar and rupee. NRI bank deposits can be made more attractive and foreign loan norms eased. The government has also decided on three public sector institutions based on finances to raise funds in dollars through bonds. Electronic goods top the list when it comes to making big business. In order to stabilize rupee a significant increase in customs duty on Electronic goods needs to be exercised. Another point that can be kept on the anvil is that some imports should be denied. The products can include crude palm oil, copper and certain varieties of coal.
Economists believe that these measures will bridge the foreign exchange (forex) gap by $1.8 billion. Even finance minister P.Chidambaram anticipates that the government will be able to prune annual imports by $7 billion and thereby increasing inflows by $11billion. This would in return help maintain the Current Account Deficit (CAD) at $70 billion which roughly estimates to 3.7 % of the gross domestic product. This calculated statistic with these measures is lower than that of last year that had estimated to $4.8 billion. There have been a slew of measures that have been undertaken by the government but to no avail. It clearly shows its urgency to deflect a possible crisis on the left over payments. Way back in 2001, as an aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and Dotcom bust, State Bank of India (SBI) managed to mint $5 billion through Indian Millennium Deposits. This time State Bank of India refuses to play a role in decrementing dollar debt. A quasi-sovereign has been signed by the government and other financial institutions like Power Finance Corporation and Indian Infrastructure Finance Corporation Ltd. There have been many other efforts to lift rupee but rupee continues to be at 63.20 today, on the 23rd of August, marginally short of the lifetime low of 65.42.
Retail Sector : Then & Now
Piyush Sharma MBA 2013-15
Long since I have known business, it was of the form when a vendor used to give free candies and a smile along with the grocery - provided I am staring at the candies, now who says that consumer calling back then was not incentive driven. Well, that is not the topic of my comments; my take is on "Retail Sector back then and now". I take you to the era after 1991, when McDonald was unknown to most of the Indians but it existed for half a century in the outside world, when telephone, TV were the commodities of rich, when 1 rupee on the palms of children was meant for 16 orange candies, when Mahabharata and Ramayana had the highest TRP and when Shahrukh was spreading the magic of romance. This was the time when organized retail was in the design phase of its existence in India and unorganized retail was the way of living. Then something hit India which is considered as the best reflection of Indian political fraternity till now, and it was Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG). Though the idea struck in 1991, the slow process of opening up the retail sector to FDI started in 1995 when a free trade policy passed by WTO directed India to allow FDI in cash and carry (wholesale) which ultimately got materialized in 1997 and Indian government allowed 100% rights subjected to government’s approval. If we talk about the situation of retail at ground level that time, there was not much change except the expansion of Indian middle class and their purchasing power and a demand for more organized market. Kirana or mom-and-pop stores with limited goods on the shelves and its owners with their family business values were leading the Retail market. Occasional fairs open Kiosks and stalls – also known as Mandis – were the sources for food and grocery during that time. The flavour of western culture was also tasted by some traditional retail chains like Nilgiri and Akbarallys who made supermarkets on similar lines, which indeed led the foundation of organized retail in India. During the same time, high streets like Linking Road and Fashion Street emerged as the busiest markets of Mumbai. The choices for a customer were limited which gave birth to a concept called “Everything under one roof”. As time passed, joint families started changing into nuclear families. There too both members started earning which resulted into a new way of lifestyle. Since then growth of mom-and-pop type of stores started diminishing, and organized retail stores came into existence. Big veterans of the global retail industry in the likes of McDonalds and Dominos stepped in the Indian market with support from the domestic conglomerates. Same period witnessed a revolution of new retail formats like departmental stores, hypermarkets and supermarkets whose popularity grew several folds nationally. Flourishing with an exponential rate, Indian Retail Sector transformed itself continuously to become the most desirable retail destinations in the world. The start of twenty first century brought the retail sector as one of the quickest growing sectors in India. Some of the companies who started their operations that time are renowned names today – Liberty Retail Revolutions, Welspun Retail Ltd, Hypercity Retail (India) Ltd and METRO Cash
and Carry India Pvt Ltd. The rejuvenation of the sector can be attributed to foreign players who publicized the cash and carry format. The rapidly evolving shopping centres, multi-storey lifestyle malls, giant complexes that offer shopping, food and entertainment concepts in tier I, II and III cities are overwhelming and they are attracting companies to invest in the rapidly growing Indian organized retail space. These companies have too much inclination towards new retail formats like departmental stores, hypermarkets, convenience stores, supermarkets, and they are contributing substantially in the Indian organized retail. Many big business houses like Reliance, Aditya Birla, Tata etc. have aligned themselves in this retail market during the last two decades by investing heavily keeping in mind the long term benefits. Some companies have expanded their presence in the booming market through the inorganic route by acquiring existing retail players; for instance, the Aditya Birla Group took over Trinethra supermarkets and Indiabulls acquired Piramyd Retail Ltd. Now a large chunk of middle class prefer to buy grocery monthly from big bazaar like marts rather than a Mom n Pop store, they prefer to browse the variety of fashion in Lifestyle, Pantaloons etc. rather than going to a local garment shop, they prefer to do the whole shopping in a big Mall rather than going to a specific product market. Well, what is so promising about organized retail stores? My opinion, it’s their stress on providing the best customer experience which comprises of an air conditioned building with good maintenance, trained workforce, technologically advanced electronic machines, parking facilities and organized display of products so that customers can browse easily, be satisfied with his selection and save time on top of it. This is nothing but a new way of making shopping a luxurious experience along with the joy and entertainment it brings along for the customer. Fix cost removes the threat of misleading and bargaining is not an option which is a relief for someone who is really bad at it. Certainly times have changed and it goes without saying that we are living in a constantly evolving India with its prevailing retail revolution which might surpass the achievements of IT industry in the near future. Because, "High expectations are the key to everything" Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart.
Why BJP will do better in 2014 Lok Sabha elections
Economy is not doing well. The situation is gloomier than what our politicians will think. And India, UPA (United Progressive Alliance) in particular, has experienced it the hard way. Our nation has been going through rough waters and this time there have been more hiccups than before. Some of the renowned economists have gone to the extent of comparing the present situation to that of 1991 crisis. But the reality is not that bitter. At least a highly optimistic person like me would like to think so. Here I’m not going to talk about what happened back in 1991 or the opportunities missed by UPA-II. Rather I’ll be focusing on the opportunities that are there right now and since there are Lok Sabha polls scheduled for next year, so I’m going to talk about what could possibly be the strategy of Bhartiya Janta Party (I believe we’ve let UPA inflict enough pain to us in last 9 years) to come out victorious and then take the nation forward from there. An established platform for BJP
Varun Sharma MBA 2013-15 References 1.
2.
3.
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http:// www.hindustantimes.com/ India-news/Gujarat/Congressto-give-Rs-1-001-to-babiesborn-on-late-PM-sanniversary/Article11110351.aspx http://www.firstpost.com/ politics/2013-is-not-1991-butit-feels-much-worse-andmatters-more-1046107.html http:// articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.c om/2013-07-27/ india/40832953_1_povertyline-poverty-criteria-digvijaya -singh http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ indiahome/indianews/article2396682/Advani-backsNaMos-youth-formula-BJPpoll-strategist-tells-partyfocus-young-voters-win-272seats.html
Law and order especially the safety for women has worsened in UPA regime. The entire world noticed a nationwide protest after the Delhi rape case. In UPA, the nation has a ruling party which doesn’t like to run by logic. The strange commitments like gifting INR 1001/- to babies born on the birth anniversary of Shri Rajiv Gandhi by Vadodara District Congress Committee are unjustifiable. UPA’s claims of reducing poverty from 37.2 per cent in 2004 to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 was a tough pill to swallow considering that the criteria to decide threshold for poverty line itself defies logic. All the measures till date to revive falling rupee have failed and the nation is heading towards a bigger mess. The entire nation has been boasting about the young generation at our disposal, but the challenge is to utilize these resources by generating employment opportunities. A number of corruption scams involving politicians have surfaced. The reason behind the reluctance of UPA in investigating them and bringing the culprits to book is anybody’s guess. Effective leadership The best thing that BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) has done is to declare Mr. Narendra Modi as new head of the BJP Campaign committee for upcoming 2014 LS elections. This move has succeeded in bringing almost all the party workers together. This has acted as a solace for a party which has always been accused of infighting. There was an exception under Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the nation has started to see another capable leader in Mr. Modi who has proved his mettle thrice in Gujarat. Mr. Modi will be expected to emulate the Gujarat model in the entire country. Here we have a person who can speak his mind on the critical issues that the nation faces, a strong contrast to the UPA scion Mr. Rahul Gandhi, who was once projected by the UPA as its candidate for the post of PM for next polls, but the bitter experience of UP legislative assembly polls has made UPA to back off on its decision. More than 50% of Indian population is under-25 years of age and there would be a flurry of new voters who hardly care
about past reputation and rather want results which UPA don’t have to show off. Mr. Modi, from the very first day of his campaigning, has made it clear to party workers to focus on these voters by reaching out to them through various social media like Facebook. Uttar Pradesh factor Not many would know that UP (Uttar Pradesh), the largest state in terms of area, has as many as 80 Lok Sabha seats. So going by the logic, if BJP can do an encore of 1998 when it won 57 seats, rest assured journey to Delhi would be a cakewalk. Increase in crime in UP and widespread protest for cases like Ms. Durga Shakti’s suspension give us reasons to believe that. Threats Muslims (the largest minority) and the poor hold the key to UPA’s fortunes. They have realized it big time and that is why one can see bills like Food Security Bill and Direct Cash Transfer being implemented at a rapid pace. Also, NDA (National Democratic Alliance) has split with the elevation of Mr. Modi. Even though BJP is very optimistic about achieving its ‘Mission 272+’, doing it alone without the support of allies will take some beating. Every now and then Mr. Modi’s name is linked to 2002 Gujarat riots and he is portrayed as anti-Muslim. But so far, he has done exceptionally well in keeping his image intact. The trend is also changing as was evident from Gujarat polls. In spite of not fielding a single Muslim candidate, the BJP managed 12 out of the 19 seats which had Muslim voters as the determining factor in Gujarat. Muslims in Gujarat have shown faith in Mr. Modi’s development model. There is no reason why Muslims all over India won’t do that. Fortune favors brave. India’s most popular politician is an effective administrator with a rare talent of turning adversity into opportunity. Online polls have shown Mr. Modi as the most followed leader among the Indian population. But BJP will need to guard against complacency and focus on continuing to do the ground work of reaching out to the youth for there is still some time left before the race ends next year.
IndustryAlumni meet cum symposium6th& 7th April, 2013
Shashank Shivhare MBA 2012-14 Arpan Rani IIT KANPUR MBA 2012-14 Alumni Relations Team
The spark to organize the first ever Industry-alumni meet-cum-symposium in Industrial Management Engineering (IME) department, IIT Kanpur “Glory of techno-management: Success, challenges and road map for future” on 6th and 7th April, 2013 stemmed from the idea of strengthening the IME alumni network. The event was a grand success with alumni reliving their fond memories and they were enthused with the zeal to fortify the relationship between the alumni community and the institute. “Glory of techno-management: Success, challenges and road map for future” provided a platform to all of us for interacting with our alumni. The program started at 10 A.M on 6th April 2013 with the welcome address by our honourable Head of the department Dr. Jayanta Chatterjee. This occasion also marked the opportunity to felicitate the oldest serving professors of our institute. Our respectable professors Dr. N.K. Sharma & Dr. A.K. Mittal were felicitated for their distinguished services to the department. It was a rare occasion and perhaps the first time in the history of the IME department where the alumni, students and all the professors had gathered together for a common cause under the same roof. It was truly an overwhelming experience for all of us to be there. The following two days were complete with events ranging from healthy discussions, curious insights, thoughtful suggestions and heated debates. During the symposium numerous topics were discussed, beginning with the insights in to the up and coming Analytics industry and tips to survive and blossom in this industry. Alumni were also keen to understand the growth of the department and how it has progressed over the years since their departure from the institute. It was not just a nostalgic moment for the alumni to re-live their college memories but also an opportunity to share their experiences and obstacles they faced in the industry. The students listened in reverence and rapt attention as it was a great experience in itself to listen to the real life experience shared by a few of our alumnus.The students of IME department also gave the glimpse of current scenario of the IME department through presentations. Numerous thoughtful suggestions were discussed during the fruitful meetings with the alumni. Alumni were involved in a heated but a healthy discussion with the professors post lunch. The discussions with the professors were predominantly centredon improving the corporate relations with the department including improving placement prospects for the department. The evening culminated with a beautiful dinner party including a birthday celebration of an alumna organized by the cultural committee. The following morning, 7th April began with the faculty alumni interaction that continued from the previous day. The discussion was aborted the previous day due to time constraints. Once the discussion was complete, it was time for the closing ceremony and vote of thanks. Like all good things even this event had to come to an end. The event ended leaving us wanting for more such events in the future.
The interest, enthusiasm and energy shown by the students of IME department always encourage us to keep planning and organizing such activities. We received numerous suggestions on how we would interface the alumni and current batches in a streamline fashion, we also got an understanding on how to organize such events that help us to become better organizers of ourselves and the organization we will be working for. On behalf of the Alumni Relations Team, I would like to thank everyone who helped in making this event such a memorable event, one that would be etched in our memory for years to come.
UIZOMANI 1. Which commonly used term gets its origin from ‘okios’ and ‘nomos’ meaning ‘mgmt of the household’? 2. Who is the author of the book “Fault lines: how hidden factures still threaten the world economy”? 3. If e-commerce stands for electronic commerce, then what does v-commerce stands for? 4. “Ashley News” is in-house journal of which Indian automobile company? 5. As per a recent Forbes study what is the average revenue per app earned by developers who build Apple apps? 6. In a move to reduce outgo of forex and earn customs duty, what is the duty imposed by Govt. of India in import of TVs from August 26 ? 7. Expand VCES, the service tax amnesty scheme launched by GoI. 8. Which co has patented a 'pay-per-gaze' technology that will help advertisers track emotional response to real world and online ads ? 9. Which is India's largest permission marketing firm which uses 'missed call' to get potential customers? 10. In which district did the FM P.Chidamabaram inaugurate the 15000th branch of SBI on August 17 th 2013? 11. Who is the partner of Shripal Morakhia in the sports entertainment venture Smaaash Entertainment which has augmented reality simulators ? 12. Which agency owns the not for profit venture capital firm In-Q-Tel that invests in cutting edge IT related to intelligence ? 13. First life insurance company established by the Indians? 14. Which was the 1st Mutual Fund Company in India? 15. Which was the first Indian bank to open its branches outside India? 16. Which airport is credited to have the first ever duty free shop in the world ? 17. With which website would you associate the company BigTree Entertainment 18. Which web major has launched a ' 30 days of change' campaign after which it will reveal its new logo ? 19. Of which international confectionery major has IIM-B alum Sameer Suneja taken over as the CEO ? 20. Which company is the biggest buyer of used jets in 2013?
UIZOMANI Answers 1. Economics 2. Raghuram Rajan 3. Virtual Commerce 4. Ashok Leyland 5. 17.5 Cents 6. 35% 7. Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme 8. Google 9. Zipdial 10. Sivagangai Distt (Tamil Nadu) 11. Sachin Tendulkar 12. CIA 13. The Oriental Life Insurance Company 14. Unit Trust Of India(1963) 15. Bank Of India 16. Shannon Airport, Ireland 17. Bookmyshow.Com 18. Yahoo 19. Perfetti 20. Boeing To Create A Market For New 747s
About the Editorial Team MBA 2012-14 Team :
Angshuman Sarkar (Lead)
Anand Prakash Gautam
Upcoming Events
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Navrati Kapoor (Lead)
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Gargi Nirmal
Hemant Thekkumthala
upcoming events and seminars
Business Analysis competition and symposium,29th September 2013
Campus update
MBA students of 2013-15 batch won 1st prize in the madvertize competition of IMI Delhi
The Team - aditya raghunandan, ajit singh, piyush sharma, vishwa pratap, sanjay george, sunita mehta, hemant thekkumthala
MBA students of 2012-14 batch won 2nd prize in SOCHA event of IIT KANPUR E-CELL.
The Team - arijit pathak, himanish chattopadhya, sagar bhardwaj
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