An Open Letter to the Prime Minister of India

Respected Honorable Prime Minister/PMO,

This is my first grievance to the first responsible citizen of this country . I am addressing to you as I felt this is the high time of voicing the hue and cry of the common man the citizen of India, I feel that India has become the richest nation in the world, seeing that nobody is really concerned about the rising inflation or else every body is so engrossed in their daily lives so that they are not feeling the pinch/punch. It is surprising to say that a Mac.Donald burger today costs much less than a kilo of onions, onions are one example sir, there are umpteen such instances. Bottom line is the prices are rising Sir and they are slowly but surely casting a shadow of great difficulties for the future. Today if it this is effecting a common man, tomorrow it can be with every Indian.

I tried to finish my grievance in less than 800 characters but the problems cannot be limited to 800 words.

Sir I felt the responsibility to address this to you, I am one amongst the Billion Population but even one voice can get counted in this democracy.

With Due Respect and Regards,
Anil Deshpande.

Myriad of Thoughts

Myriad of Thoughts

-Anil Deshpande

Goal Of Life:

Enlightenment can neither be experienced nor experimented. Enlightenment can neither be defined nor described. When you are enlightened people don't argue with you they agree with you

Dvaita and Advaita philosophies have always confused me. According to advaita when God can exist everywhere he can also exist with in our self. Dvaita says God himself has created you with a purpose so he cannot exist within you.

Belief :

It is an universal truth that human beings exist because we think, but none have answered this question that what should we think to exist.

Humans have learnt to believe from nature. I mean the five quintessential senses which exist from the primordial form of humans and nature it self has all those. You can only believe when you

• listen something to believe

• see something to believe

• hear something to believe

• touch something to believe

• think something to believe

So, people believe according to their senses, they prioritize which comes first in their list .

Why I spoke of belief is to ask you a question that do you believe that God exists ?

Some people say it is just 6^th sense, its just an extension you created from your thought to believe.

I have a small puzzle for you, using two 3's , I want you to get a result of 8, you can do anything to get 8 , all your beliefs contradict you go into every nook and corner and curse yourself and your teacher that they did not teach me properly.

Energy:

When you say everything in this universe is nothing but energy, then life is also a form of energy which can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only be lived to the fullest, that too only by you not by somebody not for somebody.

Body and Mind:

In prehistoric times sages used to train their body first because it was most important form of your life than anything . Senses etc only come with and after body. It does not listen to you you have to listen to it, but where as mind is totally different from body even when it exists with in your own body. From your birth till you crossed your infancy body used to control you, you were innocent, blissful full of life. When your mind started to dominate your body you fell into this whirlpool called samsara. So the body has to wake up again before waking your inner self.

When your body and mind are trained the only thing left for you understand is your inner self, which is a key to enlightenment.

I always get a question that when do you know that you are enlightened, my inner self suddenly counters this question with why do want to know that you are enlightened .

Enlightenment happens to everybody but differently, some get enlightened in their profession,

Does any body know that God exists, if yes what is their basis, we all are living in a defined finite field you have to be out of this finite field to understand the nature first then you can think about god .

We studied in our schooling about Charles Darwin's evolution theory. “Survival for the fittest”

Now in this fast paced world the theory has changed, there are some more amendments to this theory.

“Survival of the fastest”

I am always amused that are we here just to strive to survive , when you live you obviously survive. To me evolution happens only when we start thinking of “Survival for the finest”

what is the aim of our life to live to the fullest or to survive.

Cut Off -Brunch Story

Cut Off -Chetan Bhagat

Hindustan Times Brunch
July 26, 2009

http://www.hindustantimes.com/thecutoff


Everyone will give you an opinion on how to live your life. No one, no one will give you good advice on how to end it. Worse, they will tell you to continue living, without any respect for individual choice. Yes, hi, I’m Gautam Arora, and after eighteen wonderful years in Delhi, I’ve decided to end my life.
I sat with my best friend Neeraj and his girlfriend Anjali at Costa Coffee, DLF Metropolitan Mall in Saket. The coffee is way overpriced, but considering I had a day to live, I didn’t mind getting ripped off.
“The joke isn’t that funny,” Neeraj said, tearing open the second sachet of brown sugar and mixing it for his girlfriend. If this girl can’t mix sugar in her coffee, I wonder what she will be like after marriage.

“Do I look like I am joking? You are in medical college, and as a friend and someone two years elder to me, I am asking your advice on what is the most painless, graceful way to go. And ideally, it should be available at the friendly neighbourhood chemist,” I said. I ordered a chocolate fudge cake. What are a few extra calories on your last day?
Anjali kept quiet, her iPod plugged in her ears. She had come to the mall to shop with her boyfriend rather than meet me. Neeraj said he only dated Anjali as her father had given her a car and driver, which made it easy to go around. Besides, she looked ok. She was pretty enough to invite a second stare from men, though that’s hardly an achievement in Delhi where men’s standards can be quite modest.
“Dude, you topped your school. How much did you score in your class XII boards again?” Neeraj said.
“Ninety two per cent,” I said.
“Ninety what?” Neeraj said as he ripped out Anjali’s earphones, “Anjali, the dude scored ninety two per cent in commerce! Do you know of anyone who has scored that much?”
Anjali shook her head.
“Wow, you must have studied a lot,” she said.
I nodded. I had done nothing but study in the last two years.
“No time for hobbies?” she said.
I shook my head. My only hobbies were eating three meals and sleeping five hours a day. The rest of the time was with my books.
“With ninety two, you should be fine,” Neeraj said.
“Not according to SRCC, not according to Stephen’s and not according to Hindu, oh what the heck,” I said as I opened my rucksack.
I gave him the special admissions supplement from the newspaper. I had snucked it out early morning so mom and dad wouldn’t see it.
“Wow, check out Lady Sri Ram. B.Com Honours is at 95.5 per cent!” Neeraj said.
“That’s a girl’s college,” Anjali said.
“I know,” I said.
“Don’t worry, he wouldn’t have made it anyway. Anjali, why don’t you go spend some of your father’s money,” Neeraj said and winked at me.
Anjali and I both gave Neeraj a dirty look. Neeraj air-kissed Anjali and gestured to her to leave.
Seriously, don’t kill yourself. To us, you are still the school topper,” Neeraj said after Anjali left.
“So what do I do?” I said, my voice loud, “stay back in school? This topper tag makes things worse. My parents already threw a party for our friends and relatives like I have made it big time in life. I cut a cake with the icing ‘family superstar’.”
“Nice,” Neeraj said.
“Not nice at all. All relatives congratulated my mother. They see me as the next hotshot investment banker on Wall Street. The least they expect me to do is get into a good college in DU.”
“There are still some colleges that you will get,” Neeraj said as I cut him off.
“But none with the same brand value. Thus, you can’t get a decent job after them. You can’t get into the top MBA school.”
Neeraj pushed my coffee cup towards me. I hadn’t touched it. I picked it up and brought it close to my mouth but couldn’t drink it.
“I made one tiny calculation error in my math paper,” I said, “read one stupid unit conversion wrong. That’s it. If only...”
“If only you could chill out. You are going to college, dude! Branded or not, it is always fun.”
“Screw fun,” I said. “What kind of kids are they taking in anyway?” Neeraj said, “you have to be a bean-counter stickler to get ninety seven per cent. Like someone who never takes chances and revises the paper twenty times.”
“I don’t know, I revised it five times. That stupid calculation...”
“Gautam, relax. That paper is done. And sticklers don’t do well in life. Innovative and imaginative people do.”
“That’s not what DU thinks. You don’t understand, my father has proclaimed in his office I will join SRCC. I can’t go to him with a second rung college admission. It’s like his whole life image will alter. Hell, I won’t be able to deal with it myself.”
An SMS from Anjali on Neeraj’s phone interrupted our conversation. At Kimaya, tried fab dress. Come urgently, want your opinion. Neeraj typed the reply back. Honey, it looks great. Buy it.
Neeraj grinned as he showed me his response. “I think you should go,” I said. Rich dads’ daughters can throw pretty nasty tantrums. Neeraj took out the money for coffee. I stopped him. “My treat,” I said. Leave people happy on your last day, I thought. “Of course, I take this as your treat for cracking your boards,” Neeraj said and smiled. He ruffled my hair and left. I came out of the mall and took an auto home.
I met my parents at the dinner table. “So when will the university announce the cut-offs?” my father said.
“In a few days,” I said. I looked up at the dining table fan. No, I couldn’t hang myself. I can’t bear suffocation.
My mother cut mangoes after dinner. The knife made me think of slitting my wrists. Too painful, I thought and dropped the idea.
“So now, my office people are asking me, ‘when is our party?’,” my father said as he took a slice.
“I told you to call them to the party we did for neighbours and relatives,” my mother said.
“How will they fit with your brothers and sisters? My office people are very sophisticated,” my father said.
“My brothers are no less sophisticated. They went to Singapore last year on vacation. At least they are better than your family,” she said.
My father laughed at my mother’s sullen expression. His happiness levels had not receded since the day I received my result.
“My office people want drinks, not food. Don’t worry, I’ll do another one for them when he gets into SRCC or Stephen’s.”
My father worked in the sales division of Tata Tea. We had supplied our entire set of neighbours with free tea for the last five years. As a result, we had more well-wishers than I’d have liked.
“Even my country head called to congratulate me for Gautam. He said – nothing like Stephen’s for your brilliant son,” my father said.
“Gupta aunty came from next door. She wanted to see if you can help her daughter who is in class XI,” my mother said.
Is she pretty, I wanted to ask, but didn’t. It didn’t matter. I came to my room post dinner. I hadn’t quite zeroed down on the exact method, but thought I should start working on the suicide letter anyway. I didn’t want it to be one of the clichéd ones – I love you all and it is no one’s fault, and I’m sorry mom and dad. Yuck, just like first impressions, last impressions are important too. In fact, I didn’t want to do any silly suicide letter. When it is your last, you’d better make it important. I decided to write it to the education minister. I switched on my computer and went to the Education Department website. Half the site links were broken. There was a link called “What after class XII?” I clicked on it, it took me to a blank page with an under construction sign. I sighed as I closed the site. I opened Microsoft Word to type.
Dear Education Minister,
I hope you are doing fine and the large staff of your massive bungalow is treating you well. I won’t take much of your time.
I’ve passed out of class XII and I’ve decided to end my life. I scored ninety-two per cent in my boards, and I have a one foot high trophy from my school for scoring the highest. However, there are so many trophy holding students in this country and so few college seats, that I didn’t get into a college that will train me to the next level or open up good opportunities.
I know I have screwed up. I should have worked harder to get another three per cent. However, I do want to point out a few things to you. When my parents were young, certain colleges were considered prestigious. Now, forty years later, the same colleges are considered prestigious. What’s interesting is that no new colleges have come up with the same brand or reputation level. Neither have the seats expanded in existing colleges fast enough to accommodate the rising number of students.
I’ll give you an example. Just doing some meaningless surfing, I saw that 3.8 lakh candidates took the CBSE class XII exam in 1999, a number that has grown to 8.9 lakh in 2009. This is just one board, and if you take ICSE and all other state boards, the all India total number is over ten times that of CBSE. We probably had one crore students taking the class XII exam this year.
While not everyone can get a good college seat, I just want to talk about the so-called good students. The top 10 per cent alone of these one crore students is ten lakh children. Yes, these ten lakh students are their class toppers. In a class of fifty, they will have the top-5 ranks.
One could argue that these bright kids deserve a good college to realise their full potential. Come to think of it, it would be good for our country too if we train our bright children well to be part of the new, shining, gleaming, glistening or whatever you like to call the globalised India.
But then, it looks like you have stopped making universities. Are there ten lakh top college seats in the country? Are there even one lakh? Ever wondered what happens to the rest of us, year after year? Do we join a second rung college? A deemed university? A distance learning programme? A degree in an expensive, racist country?
Your government runs a lot of things. You run an airline that never makes money. You run hotels. You want to be involved in making basic stuff like steel and aluminum, which can easily be made by more efficient players. However, in something as important as
shaping the young generation, you have stepped back. You have stopped making new universities. Why?

You have all the land you want, teachers love to get a government job, education funds are never questioned. Still, why? Why don’t we have new, A-grade universities in every state capital for instance?
Oh well, sorry. I am over reacting. If only I had not done that calculation error in my math paper, I’d be fine. In fact, I am one of the lucky ones. In four years, the number of candidates will double. So then we will have a college that only has 99 per cent scorers.
My parents were a bit deluded about my abilities, and I do feel bad for them. I didn’t have a girlfriend or too many friends, as people who want to get into a good college are not supposed to have a life. If only I knew that slogging for twelve years would not amount to much, I’d have had more fun.
Apart from that, do well, and say hello to the PM, who as I understand, used to teach in college.
Yours truly,
Gautam
(Poor student)
I took a printout of the letter and kept it in my pocket. I decided to do the act the next morning. I woke up as the maid switched off the fan to sweep the room. She came inside and brought a box of sweets. A fifty-year-old woman, she had served us for over ten years. “What?” I said as she gave me the box. It had kaju-barfi, from one of the more expensive shops in the city. The maid had spent a week’s salary distributing sweets to anyone known to her. “My son passed class XII,” she said as she started her work. “How much did he score?” I said, still rubbing my eyes. “Forty two per cent. He passed English too,” she said as her face beamed with pride. “What will he do now?” I said. “I don’t know. Maybe his own business, he can repair mobile phones,” she said. I went to the bathroom for a shower. I realised the newspaper would have come outside. I ran out of the bathroom. I picked up the newspaper from the entrance floor. I took out the admissions supplement, crumpled it and threw it in the dustbin kept outside the house. I came back inside the house and went back into the shower.
I left the house mid-day. I took the metro to Chandni Chowk and asked my way to the industrial chemicals market. Even though I had left science after class X, I knew that certain chemicals like Copper Sulphate or Ammonium Nitrate could kill you. I bought a pack of both compounds. As I passed through the lanes of Chandni Chowk, I passed a tiny hundred square feet jalebi shop. It did brisk business. I thought my last meal had to be delicious. I went to the counter and took a quarter kilo of jalebis.
I took my plate and sat on one of the two rickety benches placed outside the shop.
A Muslim couple with a four-year-old boy came and sat on the next bench. The mother fed the boy jalebi and kissed him after each bite. It reminded me of my childhood and my parents, when they used to love me unconditionally and marks didn’t exist. I saw the box of Ammonium Nitrate and tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn’t eat the jalebis. I came back home. I wondered if I should use my chemicals before or after dinner. Maybe it is better after everyone has slept, I thought.

We sat at the dinner table. Dad had told mom not to cook as he’d brought Chinese takeaway for us. Mom brought the soya sauce, chilli oil and the vinegar with cut green chillies in little katoris. We ate American chopsuey on stainless steel plates. I looked at my watch, it was 8 pm. Three more hours, I thought as I let out a sigh.
“One thing Kalpana,” my father said to my mother, “job candidates aren’t what they used to be these days. I interviewed for new trainees today, disappointing.”
“Why, what happened?” my mother said.
“Like this boy from Stephen’s, very bright kid. But only when it came to his subjects.”
“Really?” my mother said.
“Yeah, but I asked him a different question. I said how would you go about having a tea-shop chain like the coffee shop chains, and he went blank,” my father said, an inch of noodle hanging outside his mouth. My mother removed it from his face.
“And then some kid from SRCC. He topped his college. But you should have seen his arrogance. Even before the interview starts, he says ‘I hope at the end of our meeting, you will be able to tell me why I should join Tata Tea and not another company’. Can you imagine? I am twice his age.”

I could tell my father was upset from his serious tone.
“If you ask me,” my father continued, “the best candidate was a boy from Bhopal. Sure, he didn’t get into a top college. But he was an eighty per cent student. And he said ‘I want to learn. And I want to show that you don’t need a branded college to do well in life. Good people do well anywhere.’ What a kid. Thank God we shortlisted him in the first place.”
“Did he get the job?” I said.
“Yes, companies need good workers, not posh certificates. And we are having a meeting to discuss our short listing criteria again. The top colleges are so hard to get in, only tunnel vision people are being selected.” “Then why are you asking him to join Stephen’s or SRCC?” my mother said.
My father kept quiet. He spoke after a pause. “Actually, after today, I’d say don’t just go by the name. Study the college, figure out their dedication, and make sure they don’t create arrogant nerds. Then whatever the brand, you will be fine. The world needs good people.”

I looked at my parents as they continued to talk. Excuse me, but I have a plan to execute here. And now you are confusing me, I thought. “So should I study some more colleges and make a decision after that?” I said. “Yes, of course. No need for herd-mentality. Kalpana you should have seen this boy from Bhopal.”
Post-dinner, my parents watched TV in the living room while eating fruits. I retracted to my room. I sat on my desk wondering what to do next. The landline phone rang in my parent’s room. I went inside and picked it up.
“Hello Gautam?” the voice on the other side said.
It was my father’s colleague from work. “Hello, Yash uncle,” I said. “Hi,” he said, “congratulations on your boards.” “Thanks uncle,” I said, “dad is in the living room finishing dinner, should I call him?” “Dinner? Oh, don’t disturb him. Just tell him his mobile is with me. It is safe. We were on a field trip today. He left it in my car.” “Field trip? For interviews?” I said. “What interviews? No, we just went to the Chandigarh office,” he said.

I wished him good night and hung up the phone. I switched on the bedside lamp in my parents’ room. Confused, I sat down on my father’s bed, wondering what to do next. To make space, I moved his pillow. Under the pillow lay a crumpled newspaper. I picked it up. It was the same admissions supplement I had tossed in the bin this morning. My father had circled the cut-offs table.
I left the newspaper there and came to the living room. My father was arguing with my mother over the choice of channels. I looked at my father. He smiled at me and offered me watermelon. I declined.
I came back to my room. I picked up the chemical boxes and took them to the toilet. I opened both boxes and poured the contents in the toilet commode. One press, and everything, everything flushed out.
“Gautam,” my mother knocked on the door, “I forgot to tell you. Gupta aunty came again. Can you teach her daughter?”
“Maybe,” I said as I came out of the toilet, “by the way, is she pretty?”

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

India Perspective

India, a nation of one billion people,Home to Indus valley civilization and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early eighteenth century and colonized by the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by widespread nonviolent resistance. It has the world's twelfth largest economy at market exchange rates and the fourth largest in purchasing power. Economic reforms since 1991 have transformed it into one of the fastest growing economies however, it still suffers from high levels of poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition. For an entire generation from the 1950s until the 1980s, India followed socialist-inspired policies. The economy was shackled by extensive regulation, protectionism, and public ownership, leading to pervasive corruption and slow growth. Since 1991, the nation has moved towards a market-based system. Agriculture is the predominant occupation in India, accounting for 60% of employment. Service sector makes up 28% and industrial sector 12%. One estimate is that only one in five job-seekers has had any sort of vocational training. The labor force totals half billion people. With a brief history and background about Indian economy we try to get familiar with some big words like innovation and entrepreneurship.

When a large gap existed between the isolated Indian economy and world standards, benchmarking to best practices made sense. But in the current environment, where Indian companies aspire to be world leaders, benchmarking to best practices could result in mediocrity. Strategy is about folding in the future, not extrapolating the past. A review of the theories surrounding entrepreneurship and innovation reveals an immense amount of material. We need to connect the poor through entrepreneurship and innovation which enables wealth creation through transparent and legitimate means. This way businesses could create wealth for themselves too through poverty alleviation. Lots of opportunities exist for innovation and entrepreneurship to thrive in India, especially in areas such as technology, health care, education, rural marketing and social services. Among the keys to innovation are the ability to imagine tomorrow's world, to think in quantum leaps rather than in small increments, and being prepared to fail. While Indians have strong innovative and entrepreneurial instincts, they have much to learn from the U.S. about germinating ideas in university and corporate incubators and providing incentives to budding entrepreneurs.

Innovation:

Innovation has been traditionally defined as the successful implementation of creative ideas. Contemporary economic theorists have tried to address the concept and related issues with varying success. This is despite widespread recognition of the fact that innovation is crucial to the success of an economy at both the micro and macro levels . Over the last decade a great deal of attention has been directed at the study of the actors, the institutions, and the relevant linkages that together are deemed to constitute different models of innovation. An understanding of models of innovation, including their diffusion and dissemination throughout the economy and society, is very important. In addition an understanding of what shapes these developments is critical. Innovation has become the industrial religion of the late 20th century. Business sees it as the key to increase profits and market shares. Governments automatically reach for it when trying to fix the economy. Around the world, the rhetoric of innovation has replaced the post-war language of welfare economics...yet there is still much confusion over what it is and how to make it happen."

Entrepreneurship:

Entrepreneurship is the result of three dimensions working together: conducive framework conditions, well-designed government programmes and supportive cultural attitudes . This view is entirely consistent with the implications of this discussion so far. Across these three perspectives of entrepreneurship, two major conclusions are apparent. Firstly, the economic, psychological and sociological academic fields accept that entrepreneurship is a process. Secondly, despite the separate fields of analysis, entrepreneurship is clearly more than just an economic function.

Think Today and Plan for Tomorrow-Indian Perspective:

The lifestyles of the poor are different than their income levels might suggest, as can be seen from the way poor people allocate their income to consumption. Indeed, in urban slums, it is commonplace to find homes that are cramped and surrounded by squalor but have TV sets, refrigerators and pressure cookers. Often, at least one family member will possess the latest cell phone. The poor, even if they live in shanty towns, want to consume like wealthier people. This factor potentially can create surges in consumption. resources and aspirations must be related to each other for entrepreneurship to flourish. By creating a mismatch between aspirations (more) and resources (less) you create entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs leverage resources and change the business model to get more, for fewer resources. So the task for us is, how to create aspirations that rest outside the current resource base. Innovative solutions by imaginative entrepreneurs would help solve poverty. “To discover a new approach to development [India needs to] move from best practice to next practice”.

Aspiring entrepreneurs should have the courage to discover something new by asking who else is doing what they plan to do. "If no one is doing it, and you are smart, you can do it better," to name a few car companies around the world want to come to India to find out how to build a $2,500 car -- such as the Tata Nano. The $20 computer -- designed in partnership with Intel for rural India -- has more innovations than conventional laptops .

Entrepreneurs should use Price - Profit = Design as their guiding principle rather than the shortage economy paradigm of Cost + Profit = Price. Challenge and change the price performance equations. If we can satisfy 500 million (poor) customers in India by producing world-class quality, then that can become the biggest export opportunity in the world. Innovating to create solutions the market needs at a price it can afford is important if Indian enterprise has to be globally competitive. Electricity in India is twice as expensive as China and the railways cost three times as much as China, the need to innovate to deal with the infirmities of the Indian ecosystem.

Opportunities for Innovation and entrepreneurship in Indian Business and Government:

The budding entrepreneurs should have a clear vision of their goal but to take small steps toward it since both speed and stamina are required to succeed. The goal should be "broken up into smaller milestones that need to be pursued with the vigor of a Cheetah. The Indian academics should have the courage to create their own concepts and steer India to next level. "Our problems have no precedent since they are huge in scale, so let's invent our own concepts."

India's per capita income – when seen over a 300-year period in real terms -- has not grown. "But if you take the last two years, India's consumer spending, which totaled Rs 17 trillion in 2005 has ballooned to Rs 34 trillion in 2007. When companies project 40% to 50% annual growth, eyebrows are no longer raised (at institutions whose funding is being sought) . Even more importantly from an entrepreneur's perspective, venture capitalists (VCs) are now willing to value that kind of growth when acquiring a stake in a startup firm. India's chief election commissioner, spoke about entrepreneurship in government. "The biggest enterprise in India is maintaining democracy. Our elections, involving 700 million voters, are the single largest event management exercise in the world," , adding that the Election Commission of India saved more than 8,000 metric tons of paper by using electronic voting machines to tabulate votes for all candidates. These one million machines have a failure rate of just 0.5%, and now the new ones will be able to track minute-by-minute voting records and store them for at least five years.

Interface Between Innovation and Entrepreneurship: A key ingredient for India's Success Story

With a background about Innovation and entrepreneurship we have to become familiar with each of the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship independently. To use the framework for thinking about possible government policy mechanisms for facilitating and stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation in India. In order to exploit various opportunities, the entrepreneur must purchase the necessary inputs or the services of the input owners. No production takes place if the entrepreneur cannot secure the necessary inputs for the exploitation of his/her opportunity. Most entrepreneurial opportunities are only fully realized in the long term. Consequently, the entrepreneur will often be required to secure the use of his/her inputs, presumably via a series of long-term contracts.

Unleashing the Indian Potential for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:

Promotion of entrepreneurship culture is one of the key policy objectives and it represents an integral part of wider activities that contribute to economic development. Therefore, the following broad areas need to be considered in policy development:

· Developing a culture in which links between business, schools, and education more generally, are seen as a natural partnership;

· Providing opportunities for individuals and communities to build specific and practical knowledge and skills for enterprise;

· Developing confident individuals that have the skills to deal with constant change and that look at their environment with “eyes of opportunity” where the glass is half-full rather than half-empty;

· Promoting the success of enterprising and entrepreneurial Indians in both business and social development activities; and

· Fostering a culture that encourages risk-taking and accepts failure as permissible social and individual norms.

-Anil Deshpande

10-03-2009

India.

Recession-Crisis of Confidence!

What is recession?

This story is about a man who once upon a time was selling Hotdogs by the roadside. He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers. He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio. His eyes were weak, so he never watched television. But enthusiastically, he sold lots of hotdogs.

He was smart enough to offer some attractive schemes to increase his sales. His sales and profit went up. He ordered more a more raw material and buns and sold more. He recruited more supporting staff to serve more customers. He started offering home deliveries. Eventually he got himself a bigger and better stove. As his business was growing, the son, who had recently graduated from college, joined his father.

Then something strange happened.

The son asked, "Dad, aren't you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?" The father replied, "No, but tell me about it." The son said, "The international situation is terrible. The domestic situation is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad times."

The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, listened to the radio and watched TV. He ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly. So the next day onwards, the father cut down the his raw material order and buns, took down the colourful signboard, removed all the special schemes he was offering to the customers and was no longer as enthusiastic. He reduced his staff strength by giving layoffs. Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his Hotdog stand. And his sales started coming down rapidly and so did the profit. The father said to his son, "Son, you were right". "We are in the middle of a recession and crisis. I am glad you warned me ahead of time."

Moral of the Story: It's all in your MIND! And we actually FUEL this recession much more than we think.

Confessions of a Chairman/CEO

Confessions of a Chairman/CEO

What Business Demands:Fraud,Scam,Scandal

The title seems to be shocking and a shame on what we call as business. Before going into the details let me ask a serious question Is this what business demands ????Being Unethical, fraud, breach of confidence .

Probably first time in the history of corporate world a founder Chairman/CEO has confessed publicly about his involvement in a crime of highest degree,so publicly that other Chairman/CEO's may have not even dreamt in thier widest of their dreams. Chairman/CEO's are considered to be one of the most reserved community in the world, it can be said that they belong to a secret sect who hold some of the world's darkest secrets. Even the Indian CEO's want to prove a point that they are not inferior to their US counterparts. When Satyam Computer Services Limited Chairman B.Ramalinga Raju on 07-Jan-09 at about 10:59AM submitted a resignation letter to the board, which with in minutes sent jitters across the world corporate fraternity. The lettter was not a simple resignation letter instead it contained something none would have thought of. The letter talked about one of the most shocking revelations in the Indian corporate history.

A person who started the company with 3 computers in 1987 grew to an organisation with a global clientale of 654 companies with a market capitalization share of around $2 Billion Dollars and has been rated as one of the best oursourcing companies in the world. The current fraud does not end here it has given whole world to have a second option about the Indian Corporate diaspora and who knows how many companies are following the foot steps of what this organisation has laid. There is no doubt to say that this is just a tip of an iceberg. This reminds me of a situation where blind people are trying to sense a white elephant which is really non existing.

In this current great global depression companies in the name of survival are resorting to an extent to adopt unethical practices to weather this current situation . We should not blame politicians when well educated people retort to these kind of scams and fraud. These so called white collared CEO's who define the rules of business,retort to these frauds .

Finally, at the end of the day the whole fiasco shatterd the trust and confidence of employees and investors. Corporates are the face of developing India if they resort to these kind of crimes then really we have to think about India being so called as a global knowledge hub and outsoucing IT power house.


Anil Deshpande,
08-01-09,
Hyderabad.
12:15 AM

Global Financial Turmoil

Global Financial Turmoil
Anil Deshpande
Recent thunderstorms ‘Hanna’ and ‘Ike’ really shook USA with their devastating effect leaving many people homeless, but there is one more devastating phenomenon which has sent shock waves across the global economy with epicenter as USA. When one of the world’s biggest and most respected investment banking firm Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy the global financial fraternity felt the jitters of much talked slowdown, the pain aggravated when AIG (American International Group) stretched its alms for the US Govt to rescue it. This spiral effect was felt across the global economies when their local stock markets tumbled down like a pack of cards. Slowdowns in the past had a silver lining or hope and thought that they were market regulators but this appears to be stealthier and more dangerous than the previous ones. The one in 2001 was due to a dotcom bubble and major terror attacks which created panic.
A very famous adage saying “History repeats itself” has a proof which reminds us about the present situation.
Having said much about the effects and aftermath, time has come to seriously think the cause. It is the working class which is hit worst, when the economy was booming the kind of commitments they made and dreamt for better living standards has landed them into deep troubles due to massive layoffs across the organizations globally.
The US Corporate lobby or the Corporate having an upper hand in the major decision making policies of the super power USA could be one of the primary cause as they look for their own benefits. The country should stop being called as a “global market place” and start thinking about from the sustainability point of view. The present credit crunch which started off primarily with a sub prime mortgage crisis has spread its poisonous web which has almost all the sectors. The recent fiasco of Bear Sterns which set a classic example that something devastating is in the offing. The US Federal Reserve has acted timely on cutting the interest rates which is kind of makeshift solution which cannot be extended beyond one point. The US government’s initiative on biofuel has made an acute shortage of the food which led to an all time high inflation in some countries.
The US government should at least take the present crisis as a serious wakeup call. Even the best financial minds are not able to contemplate how to contain this because this has grown to such an extent which is out of reach from their think tank
Finally , this slowdown calls for a greater commitment from the global citizens, the companies to understand that it’s a global and a recurring phenomenon and should take this into account in their decision making policies in the future so that they can reduce these risks and mitigations.