Sunday, December 21, 2014

'Made In India' quickly becoming an endangered word

India is a land of festivals, colours and celebrations. We have one or other festival coming in every month from Jan to Dec. Without looking in to economic growth charts, we celebrate every one of them with increasing vigor. As this year comes to an end, we are now celebrating Christmas. I was walking through the streets of Bangalore, lined with stores selling Christmas trees, stars and other decoration items..

Decoration Items for Christmas

'MADE IN CHINA'

I went in to one of them with two friends. While they were buying items for decorating Christmas tree, I just checked the stickers pasted on that. Surprisingly all carry the marks – ‘Made in China’. From teddy bears to crackers to kitchen equipment to electronic gears. What more, even flags for celebrating Independence Day is coming from China in these days.

Just think about the scenario; small plastic toys manufactured in Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai etc travelled all the way through ocean and probably reached Colombo, Chennai or Mumbai seaports and then travelled all the way to Bangalore through land. Imagine!!! all the additional cost that particular toy might have incurred; still it beats Indian products and found prominent places in shops.

I am not a swadeshi camp follower, believe me I am not. Still, I am concerned about the erosion of our manufacturing industry. That day might not be far away when we no longer see any ‘Made In India’ toys, kitchen equipments, sport gears…. The list is too long.

Sajeev

Photo Courtesy: Rakesh

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Saurav Ganguly's speech at IIM-C

Ganguly is one of the most famous captains we saw in recent history. His aggressive style went hand in hand with India’s economic growth of the time. Here is a person who is ready to take Flintoff head on in Lord’s; a captain who no longer hesitant to take the battle back to opponents turf. Indians no longer felt so much awe and fear while playing against foreign teams.

Main points he delivered in his IIM-C speech are,

1. Leadership is about helping your mates at right time.
2. There is no substitute for hard work. You will not become a doctor by sitting in a coffee shop.
3. Leadership is about trust, being at the side of your colleagues. Entire world will be with you when you are up... but when you are down…
4. If you are good at what you do, then no one can stop you for long.




Sajeev

Harsh Bhogle’s speech at IIM-A

Followers of Cricket, the biggest religion in India, might not require an introduction for Harsh Bhogle. 

At 19 he become commentator for All India Radio, later he worked with ABC and covered many cricket world cups. As a commentator he also worked for Star Sports, ESPN and BBC as well.
Below video is the speech delivered by Harsh Bhogle at IIM-A. In this speech he focus on some experiences he gathered during his career. 




Sajeev

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Consumer…. Tax payers too require quality services

Maharashtra “state consumer commission last week directed a builder to pay a compensation of Rs 13.50 lakh to a Jogeshwari couple for a five-year delay in handing over possession of a flat in Thane. The couple has paid more than 95% of the flat's price of Rs 30 lakh. The commission also directed the builder and developer Ganaraj Group to hand over the flat within 45 days failing which Rs 1,000 per day would be payable to the complainants, Prashan and Sailee Dhotre, till handing over of actual possession of the flat.

We, the people, pay tax and submit all documents demanded by government. If failed, even for a day, Income Tax department and many other government agencies will come right in front of you. It was a tax case which delayed global acquisition of Nokia’s phone division by Microsoft. Finally what happened? Chennai plant was moved out of the merger and now Nokia is selling it in parts. Vodafone and IT department argued on how to calculate numbers, which one to put on which sheet for a good number of years.
In return do we get all those things a public administrative body is supposed to provide? In how many cities autos drivers are charging their customer by meter? In how many cities women can walk through the street without fear after ten in the night? The lists of questions are really long. Can’t we expect services like that?

By the way the article also says that, “The Dhotres filed the complaint before the commission in 2010”. I wonder what the commission was doing for last 4 years. Do these things are supposed to take this much time?
Sajeev

Monday, December 1, 2014

Think before you do..... Really?

People often say Think… Think… Think… Is it required always? We have hundreds of proverbs which asks (or threatens!!!) everyone to think before taking any action. Did we ever think what will happen if we didn’t give much time for thinking in certain cases? It may not be as bad as it looks. For e.g. I created hundreds of plans in paper after thinking for hours which eventually didn’t work J

So is it really required in all situations? Let’s see this video before saying yes with a red face.