dms iit delhi march 2012
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DMS IIT Delhi March 2012TRANSCRIPT
REYANSH C O V E R S T O R Y
Not just another brick in the wall
S P E C I A L C O V E R A G E
Building India Inc, 2012
W I N N E R A R T I C L E
Building India & Developing Synergy
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
3 REYANSH
2 | | reyansh | |
3 Not just another brick in the wall - Rahul dravid retires from test cricket
5 Building India Inc - DMS IIT Delhi annual business summit
7 Building India & Developing Synergy - Between self, informal & main stream economy
13 Webinar @ DMS, IIT Delhi - A paradigm shift in Admissions Process
14 Campus Event - All the latest events @ DMS, IIT Delhi
6
6
7
13
7
10
12
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 chan-
nel. 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
c r u s a d e r ,
flying silently
o v e r t h e
Gotham city in
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 peo-
ple around the globe in all
possible formats of the
game. Once criticized as
a snail in ODI, the deter-
m i n e d b a t s m a n
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 al-
ways 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.
3 | | reyansh | |
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
Pranav Baj MBA FT 2013
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 Chen-
nai in 1997. Overshadowed
with Saeed Anwar’s 194 ,
chasing a gigantic total
of 328, Dravid
sweated a 107,
despite of losing
by 35, I will al-
ways remember
the match, not
for the out-
come, nei-
ther 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
format I will miss the bass, the
nudge of the head on the melody,
the twisting of eyelids on the har-
monics, 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 re-
membered today, but
not as a brick but the
wall itself.
4 | | reyansh | |
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
Test average 5
2.31, t
est centurie
s 36, o
ver 13,0
00 test r
uns
6th Batsman in the world to score 10,000 ODI & TEST RUNS Test player of the year & player of th
e year in 2004
Most catches in Test Cricket for A non-wicketkeeper
Pranav Baj MBA FT 2013
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
5 | | reyansh | |
“Building India Inc” (BII) is an annual 2 day
business summit organized by the Depart-
ment of Management studies, IIT Delhi, to
celebrate the great Indian growth story. It
features an eclectic mix of prominent fig-
ures 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 es-
sence 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 confi-
dent 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 suc-
cess needs a solid founda-
tion - a foundation based on
a collective of all the won-
derful idiosyncrasies and
systems already in place.
Hence, it was apt that BII
2 0 1 2 w a s t h e m e d
“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 at-
tendance. Dr. Jain and Mr. Sehwag also
inaugurated ‘Anushthana’ - a unique DMS
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 al-
ready electric, the session on “Indianness:
A flavour of distinctiveness” took it to an-
other 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 promi-
nent 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 audi-
ence 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 jour-
nalism. Mr. Chaitanya Kalbag (India To-
day) 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 re-
call value thanks to the won-
derful 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 opportu-
nity to evaluate ourselves again at BII
2013. So let’s get cracking, ladies and
gentlemen!
Kamath Karan MBA FT 2013
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
6 | |
“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 inevita-
ble and not uncalled for.
“Its not a usual day when one walks in the department and you see
Industrial Interaction Committee running here and there to put every-
thing 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 experi-
ence 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 dili-
gently. 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!”
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 respon-
sible 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 initia-
tive of the Department for
helping underprivileged
children, Sehwag man-
aged to strike a smile on
the children by interact-
ing, smiling and greeting
them with chocolates.
Kamath Karan MBA FT 2013
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 “ Intelli-
gence 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!”
Jitin Munjal, Director – Corporate Marketing and Sales at EI Dupont
In conversation With...
Introduction
More than 45 core people in India who
represent about 90% of the total work-
force 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 econ-
omy among developed and developing
nations it would receive a rank within
10.It is commonly seen in India espe-
cially 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 busi-
ness 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
unorganized yet widely accepted busi-
ness model works, will the informal
economy boom? Or will it die? Or re-
duce to bare minimum let us have a look
at it.
Informal Economy
The street vendors though protected by
“ T H E S T R E E T V E N D O R S
(PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF
LIVELIHOOD )BILL, 2011” it just re-
mains as bill since street vendors them-
selves 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?
A) Corporate B) Government C)
Street Vendors
Answer to this is very obvious
corporate and government. The rea-
son why government has allowed
multi brand retail is that “tax benefit”
the government gets. The amount of
revenue gets generated by street ven-
dors 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 ru-
pees.
Self Economy
Self economy as suggested by Gandhi
as a way of improving India in the ini-
tial years is a circular economy where
money circulates within the system.
Self economy allows people to do ac-
tivities 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 mate-
rials 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
7 | | reyansh | |
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
Mohammad Gani, BIM Trichy
BUILDING INDIA DEVELOPING SYNERGY BETWEEN
SELF, INFORMAL AND MAIN STREAM ECONOMY
8 | | reyansh | |
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
Mohammad Gani, BIM Trichy
BUILDING INDIA DEVELOPING SYNERGY BETWEEN
SELF, INFORMAL AND MAIN STREAM ECONOMY
Self economy V/S Informal Economy
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
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
latent economic forms. Government
exports lot of commodities at a higher
ra te and br ings prof i t to the
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
recognized. As responsible citizens of
India we need to do something
regarding these issues.
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
accounted in order to see how much
Ind ia gene ra tes f rom these
economies ,in other words if these are
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.
9 | | reyansh | |
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
Mohammad Gani, BIM Trichy
BUILDING INDIA DEVELOPING SYNERGY BETWEEN
SELF, INFORMAL AND MAIN STREAM ECONOMY
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
10 | | reyansh | |
Pradipta Bora, IIM Calcutta
Port development in Gujarat a model for PPP
Introduction
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 interna-
tional trade by sea and are handling over
90% of foreign trade.
The major ports are located at Calcutta/
Haldia, Chennai, Cochin, Ennore,
Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva,
Kandla, Mormugao, Mumbai, New Manga-
lore, Paradip, Tuticorin and
Vishakhapatnam.
The 12 major Indian
ports, which are man-
aged by the Port Trust of
Ind ia unde r Cen t ra l
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 India’s overseas trade
effected through the sea route, the maritime
sector plays a crucial role in facilitating
India’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.
Issues In Port Development
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
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
freight cost. Additionally, all leading ports
such as Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port
Trust (JNPT), Visakhapatnam, and Mor-
mugao handle more cargo than their de-
signed capacities, further contributing to
congestion and resulting in a longer turn-
around 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 develop-
ment
The state of Gujarat has 41 minor
and intermediate ports geographi-
cally dispersed across South Gujarat
(13 ports), Saurashtra (24) and
Kutchch (4) regions. The State’s
port policy announced in 1995 envis-
aged 10 new sites along the Gujarat
coastline for development .The Pipavav
and Mundra ports are already in opera-
tion. 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 agree-
ments with Pipavav,Mundra, Dahej,
GCPTCL and Hazira port developers.
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
11 | | reyansh | |
Pradipta Bora, IIM Calcutta
Port development in Gujarat a model for PPP
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 an-
nounced 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 subse-
quently 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 Guja-
rat 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 trans-
lates into Build-Operate-Own-Transfer. This
allows the investor to have a time period to
recover the costs associated with the pro-
ject and hence is suitable for big infrastruc-
ture projects. Most of the new ports in Guja-
rat are operating under this model and
hence the government has succeeded in
attracting foreign investment too into this
sector.
Major private ports
Pipavav - The port is operational since
1996.
Hazira - M/s. Hazira Port Pvt. Ltd., a com-
pany promoted by an international company
M/s. Shell Gas B.V. for the development of
Hazira Port.
Mundra – Adani Shipping Company has
constructed 4 multipurpose berths and com-
menced 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 been-
formed to develop Poshitra port.
The project is awaiting Environment
Clearances. Port of Rotterdam has
shown interest for participation in Poshi-
tra port development.
Conclusion
With the opening up of the economy,
Gujarat has taken giant strides in making
its shores conducive to private invest-
ment. 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 re-
quired huge investment and a dedi-
cated body to clear Greenfield pro-
jects. Gujarat has come up trumps in
all these aspects by utilizing its natu-
ral resources and building an ecosys-
tem of ancillary services such as bet-
ter roadways and connected train
lines has helped in synergizing the
efforts of public and private corpora-
tions towards a common goal.
References
http://www.gidb.org/gidb/cms.aspx?
content_id=103
http://www.indiacore.com/ports.html
http://www.oifc.in/Sectors/
Infrastructure/Ports
http://ww.maritimeprofessional.com/
Blogs/Private-investment-driving-growth-of-Indian-Ports/August-2010/Private-investment-driving-growth-of-Indian-Ports.aspx
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
12 | | reyansh | |
Sarthak Prakash MBA FT 2012
The Dancers Of Dawn
A little after the sun creeps back into above
the horizon, and much before any self-
respecting 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 philan-
thropist 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.
In the short walk to the rest-rooms, I re-
spond 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 war-
zone where many virtuous and valiant men
have been laid slain, or that twenty of them
were simply never quite meant to brush
their pearly-whites gathered around the one
tap.
They’ve been brought together by circum-
stance, 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 synchroni-
sation 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 con-
sidered with due regard, there’s the occa-
sional outburst of impatience – doors are
banged, unpleasantries exchanged, and as
one exits the porcelain lime-light, the slight-
est glare shoots across between them, only
to be forgotten by the time they prepare
themselves to dance for yet another dawn.
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
they stare at themselves in the large mir-
rors above the basins, before innocent-
looking 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 engi-
neers, 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 per-
formance, stuffing keys and wallets and
phones down their pockets, mundane
arsenals of monumental utilities.
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 po-
tential dreams. Breakfast better be warm
and waiting, they’re hungry for more –
these dancers of dawn.
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 se lec t ions used to be
unpredictable and a fight with the un-
known, 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
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
i n f o r m a - tion 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.
T h e B - S c h o o l e n t r y
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
elevate themselves f rom the
engineers of the present day to
business leaders of the future.
13 | | reyansh | |
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
Manu A MBA FT 2013
Webinar @ DMS, IIT Delhi
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.
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.
On the taxation front, the budget offered a mixed
bag for the citizens. There was a clear commit-
ment 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.
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.
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.
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.
What do you have to say about the Union Budget 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.
“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.
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 everyone stand ing aga inst the lack of proper educa-
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.
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
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.
An evening with Montek Singh Ahluwalia
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 .
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 .
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.
15 | | reyansh | |
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
‘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 writ-
ten 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 be-
came 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.
Gadu Sneha MBA FT 2013
Books of the month
‘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 rich-
est 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.
16 | | reyansh | |
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012
Sajal Agarwal & Mayank Sharma MBA FT 2013
No GAS, Please !
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
Department Of Management Studies
Indian Institute Of Technology, Delhi
http://www.dmsiitd.org/
Editorial Board
ISSUE MAR 2012