APJ’S QALAM VISION 2020

Live links: APJ's Qalam Vision 2020
                      Meet our powerpoint president


Shubhreet Oberoi  & Radhika BhallaNEW DELHI25 December, 2005      

WE DROPPED by to wish Merry Christmas to the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. What better way then to spend the rest of December 25 — after a hearty, lazy Christmas lunch with friends over wine and cake — in the company of an intellectual, friend, philosopher and guide. Over mutton cutlets and paneer pakodas, chicken tikkas and sandwiches, plum cake and rasagollas, topped with some fine coffee and conversation with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam... What more could you ask for?    Of course, a stroll in the magnificent Rashtrapati Bhavan and, before logging out, a group photograph with the Prez (which we’ll print another day) is exactly what it takes to make your Christmas Merry and New Year, Happy. We discussed everything — from the state of the nation to his Vision 2020 for a young and restless India; from Sourav Ganguly to politics, music and spirituality...    President Kalam dropped his guard within the heavily guarded Guns-of-Navaronesque fortress that is his home — some 300 bedrooms or is it more? — to a group of 90 odd journalists from the Times group. 

PowerPoint President THE occasion: Dr Kalam had taken a break from his duties as head of state to bring out a special edition of The Times of India, the world’s largest English daily, on Monday.    Sourav Ganguly, piped up a journo, pitch-wet-behind-the-ears — that’s what he wanted to kick off the discussion with. “Sourav Ganguly?” asked the Prez, “So easy... What’s there to discuss?” Having broken the ice, he made a PowerPoint, extempore almost, occasionally using the 21” prompter in front of him. Call him the chief marketing officer of the Republic of India: after all, he makes PowerPoint presentations to PM, Parliament, legislative assemblies, anyone who cares to listen. “I am doing my marketing, you should do yours.” And then, President Kalam changes gears and appeals to the Times power-pack of ninety: “If 10% of you —that is nine journalists present here — are convinced about this presentation, my job is done. That’s why I am talking to you.”    

For the time being, stay with us to listen to the scientist, humanist, friend of media, marketing pro, music buff, an avid reader... His favourite books include Light From Many Lamps by Lillian Eichler Watson and Empires Of The Mind by Denis Waitley. He loves listening to ragas, specifically Sriragam and Veena that are Karnatik ragas and Yemini among the Hindustani ones. Given his scientific background, it was fascinating to learn of his cultivated interest in arts, music and dance. “In every science curriculum, there should be arts, while in the humanities curriculum there should be some science as well. This is important to ensure that people are well rounded,” he said.   

And what is his dream for India? Mission 2020. According to him, the integration of agri food processing with agriculture, education and healthcare, information technology, infrastructure development and self-reliant critical technology are the 'top five'. These would help in uplifting the 260 million people living below the poverty line while simultaneously sustaining the 7% growth in GDP. "We have 540 million people below the age of 25 years, no other country has such a big bank of workable people. Imagine the ignited minds of the youth and what they can do!," he said. His message to the media: The media has become a part of the development. Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are examples of states where media has played a big role in their development. 
Talking about the role of teachers in the lives of the youth, he emphasized that ' moral leadership' should be inculcated in children at school. He narrated a childhood incident - When in class five, the future nuclear scientist couldn't understand 'how birds fly'. "I was not criticized for asking this question again and again. My teacher explained it to me as many times as I asked." Then one day the teacher took him to the seashore to show him how birds flap their wings and the locomotive force they use for the same. Alongwith that the teacher also gave him a mission - FLY IN LIFE. So his message to the youth: Have the courage to think different, to invent, to discover, to combat problems and succeed.

PREZENT PERFECT “Politics = Political Politics + Developmental Politics,” explained the man with a head for numbers. “Devote 30% of your time to political politics, the rest to developmental politics,” he said.

BPO Recruitments to be Streamlined

BPO recruitments to be streamlined

Shubhreet Oberoi
2005, New Delhi
The Economic Times

A sea change has been triggered in the recruitment process of BPOs, thanks to NASSCOM’s initiative to conduct a single national level exam for entry-level jobs at BPO’s. Come next year, call centre aspirants will not be required to write separate entrance tests at every BPO that they apply to. NASSCOM has initiated what can be termed as the “CAT exam of the BPO industry”, only it’s called NAC or NASSCOM Assessment of Competence. The on-line exam conducted to test the aptitude of candidates on different skill sets replace the series of entrance tests carried out by companies while hiring.

What separates 'em is a hear's breadth

Shubhreet Oberoi
New Delhi, 27 October 2005

Non-voice in BPOs gains ground over voice processes with 75% growth

It's probably a sign of growing maturity of the Indian BPO market. Non-voice business in the ITeS industry is all set to overtake the traditional voice business. It has already shown an overwhelming growth of 50-75% over the last year. At this rate, the number of non-voice processes will soon surpass the voice processes.

What is driving this change is the global economic scenario, which is forcing companies to outsource more of non-voice to India. Besides, it faces less attrition, offers better margins and technology advancement. This coupled with increasing expertise and increasing level of confidence of international clients has resulted in a sudden spurt of non-voice in India.

It's in black & white: There's grey everywhere

Shubhreet Oberoi & Saadat Ali
New Delhi, 2 September 2005

The other market has 40% share in sales of low end, electronic products

Spending Rs 3,500 to buy a VCD player from a showroom does not sound like an attractive deal, especially when its available for Rs 1,000 at Palika Bazaar. It's not surprise that the grey market accounts for 50% of total VCD sales in India. And if all low end electronic products are included, then dealers say that 35-40% of the sales are dominated by the grey market.

A market survey conducted by ET shows how customers get attracted towards the use-and-throw options.For instance, a particular model of Sony digicam, priced at Rs 24,000 in a showroom is being sold at Rs 16,000 in the grey market. Though such offers do not come with a guarantee, a price differential of more than 30% does influence the customers. A few more examples include Sony Playstation, which costs Rs 12,000 in the showroom, being sold for less than Rs 8,000, Casio's scientific calculator, whose original price is Rs 550, being sold at less than half the price at Rs 250 and an Olympus camera with a showroom tag of Rs 2,600 available at Rs 1,500. In fact, most of the shops in the grey market keep both choices available, but also add that there is a huge difference in the sales.

Westerlies blow into BPOs

Shubhreet Oberoi
New Delhi, 9 January 2006

India Calling
There are 30,000 expats working for Indian outsourcing companies. Earlier, they held highly paid jobs but now the western GeNext gets paid $350 a month to work the phones for six months to a year. This stint is followed by a chillout session in Goa, Rajasthan or the Himalayas.
A couple of decades ago, parents in developed countries told their children: Finish your dinner, millions in India are dying to eat. These days, they tell them: Boy, finish your homework, there are millions in India waiting to take your job.

You've heard that by now. How the west got Bangalored. Now hear this: 20 something westerners are chasing the rainbow all the way to India in search of jobs!

Just when you thought you're CAT's whiskers

Shubhreet Oberoi, Abhishek Shanker & Radhika Bhalla
20 November 2005

Toughest test to date, fewer Qs but premium on accuracy

It's set The CAT among the pigeons. For the 155,ooo IIM and B-school aspirants, this year's was the toughest shot at cracking the CAT. At the Common Admission Test for the prestigious and blue-chip IIMs, accuracy, not speed, will stand out to be the clincher this year. And for those CATting -- a term used in ungrad circles to describe what preparing for this Test is all about -- one of 1,300 seats at the six IIMs could be yours for asking. Provided, of course, you also make it through the next two rounds --group discussion and interview --next February and March.

For the few lucky among the also-rans, the choice could be any of the 75 other management schools that also look at your CAR scores before taking the final call. Sunday, there were fewer questions to answer -- barely 90 in two hours against 125 last year. The maximum score, though, remained unchanged at 150.

So what was it like at the end of the test? ET reporters who wrote the CAT in various centres in India bring you a field report and how trends have changed over the years. We also bring you a sense of what the cut-off -- the bare minimum score to make it for next two rounds -- is likely to be for different sections of CAT.

Union Isn't strength for BPO

Shubhreet Oberoi
New Delhi, 11 October 2005

Here's to C2. And to all other Left wing labour unions that go with it. The IT and ITeS sector is crying foul at the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Citu)'s move to unionise  its 5,00,000-strong workforce. Companies fear that trade unionism will prevent the sector's future growth and restrict job opportunities for NextGen Indians.

Cos worry over BPOs being left out of data security law

Shubhreet Oberoi
News Delhi 24 November 2005

BPOs are disappointed with the draft report to amend IT Act as it has failed to provide for any stringent punishment. Offshoring cos demand separate legislation for data safety.

All the noise made over the amendment in the Information Technology Act seems to have been rather futile. The move to amend the IT Act so as to introduce legal provisions for data security has failed its purpose. Why?...because the draft report does not provide for stringent punishment for data security breaches. This has disappointed BPOs whose clients are concerned about the data security provisions in the country. Now, the BPOs are demanding separate legislation for data security.

All work & no play: India Inc make big deals on green turf

Shubhreet Oberoi
New Delhi 21 December 2005

Shell Chairman Vikram Mehta & Pepsi CEO Rajeev Bakshi Popular At Golf Clubs 

DECADES ago, a club was a place to visit after work to relax, have a drink and play cards. Boy, don't you think things have changed since then. Clubs, now, are a popular turf for networking and closing business deals. They are no longer an after-work haunt, rather an ex tension of the office itself. No wonder that corporates are piling up memberships at a high speed.

FDI may not be hit, it's to be taken as an isolated case

ET catches up with Japanese Ambassador Y Enoki

The labour dispute at Honda Motorcycles & Scooters India has just snowballed into not just a law and order problem in Gurgaon but also a major political controversy nationally. ET's Shubhreet Oberoi and Diya Seth caught up Japanese Ambassador Y Enoki for his views on the issue. Excerpts:

How do you react to the incident at the Honda factory yesterday?
I can't make general comments about yesterday's incident without full information about the company's internal affairs. My initial reaction is that a peaceful, satisfactory solution should be arrived at between the labour unions and the Honda management.

Do you think this incident will affect Japanese investments in India?
Well, it is disadvantageous for India's image as an foreign direct investment destination. However, this needs to be treated as an isolated incident. Labour problems occur everywhere, including the US and Europe, so it is not fair to generalise the impact on foreign direct investment as a whole.

Does the embassy intend to take the matter up with the Indian government?
This is not a matter which requires intervention through diplomatic channels. Local remedial action is the first step that needs to be taken with consultation between the management and the workers. The embassy has no role to play in this.

Do you think the issue has been unnecessarily politicised?
In my opinion too much politicising should be avoided at all costs as no satisfactory solution can come for it.

Where do you see India and Japan's relations heading in the future?
India and Japan are complementary to each other, as both countries have a lot in common. Both Japanese and Indian companies stress highly on creativity, quality management (kaizen). Both cultures are different but can learn a great deal from each other.

While Japanese manufacturing culture focusses on on finger and the eyes, Indian culture focusses on mind and mouth. India is all set to become the infotech and manufacturing destination so there is good reason for optimism.

Tear away the low-cuts, ethnic chics storm town

Live links: Tear away the low-cuts, ethnic chics storm town

Shubhreet Oberoi & Radhika Bhalla
New Delhi, 5 August 2005

Move over cool cats, she's an ethnic chick walking by! Go, junk your tank tops and jazzy jeans. Because India's young urban fash frat is stocking up ghagra skirts, kurtis and bandhini dupattas. No wonder the queues just got longer at fabindia, while Anokhi and Cottons got a new lease of life.

Last heard, fabindia, Anokhi, Cottons and Sabhaiyata were all exploiting 'culture clothing', expanding businesses all over the country. Sabhaiyata which started four years ago in Delhi, is planning to launch stores in Mumbai, Calcutta, Hyderabad and a few other metros. Fabindia, the largest player with stores in Delhi, Mumbai, bangalore and Chennai, is also planning a dozen outlets in Mysore, Pune, mangalore, Hyderabad, Goa and Nasik.

So what makes ethnic attire a rage? Says Jasmine Kaur, a second year student at LSR, " Ethnic is the in-thing these days. Jeans and tank tops have given way to long skirts, kurtas and dupattas. Other than looking hip, thet are also very comfortable. In fact, mix-n-match is the order of the day, be it Indo-Western attire or a combination of Indian dresses."

Traditional Indian beauties have always fancies the salwar kameez. So, whats new this time?

It's the style quotient, stupid! An entire generation in the 18-25 age group is taking to ethnic wear. Just look up that girl driving the black, flashy Honda to Delhi's happening club, Elevate. She's exchanged her halter and mini for ghagra and spaghetti. Indo-western fusion is whereitsat. And it's not only in India. In fact, its scorching the ramps the world over. Designer Preeti Bahll, who recently showcased her fusionwear collection in KL says," Traditional Indian garments look very beautiful, but fusion is really the flavour these days in many parts of the world, including Europe. An offshoulder poncho made from tie 'n' dye chiffon with sequence embroidery, teamed with a tie 'n' dye short chiffon cow skirt looks stunning. It carries the signature of our country and is very werable in global fashion circuits."

So, whats driving entrepreneurs to sell hand-woven, traditional clothing in an increasingly westernised society? Says Samantha Millwards of Anokhi," There's always been a market for ethnic clothes. In India, people dress with reference to their culture and lifestyle but the reason it's become so prominent is because now they like to mix and match traditional and western outfits." To further explore the market, Anokhi plans to set up 4-5 stores by end of this year. Time your wardrobe got a makeover. 

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