Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Presidents too wanna have fun!

Undeterred by moral & societal considerations, Sarkozy courts Carla
Nicholas Sarkozy, the playboy president has transformed the presidency. Instead of transforming the economic situation as expected, Unlike his predecessors, he has let the media write & speculate on his personal life.

His divorce with Cécilia, a former model, had grabbed the media attention as it was the first incident in modern French history that a serving president was divorcing his wife. Soon after the election, he was attacked by the opposition for spending holidays on French millionaire Vincent Bollore’s luxury yacht.The latest in the series is his relationship with former supermodel Carla Bruni.

Nero fiddled when Rome burnt, so goes a proverb. Sarkozy borrowed a private jet from Bollore and flew in to the banks of the Nile along with Bruni to celebrate Christmas, when the workers unions were busy devising new strategies to deal with the government. The opposition has a reason to worry. “When the president is the personal friend of men and women who own newspapers, TV stations, who he makes pay for his holidays, who can say for sure that there aren’t paybacks?” asks socialist MP Benoit Hamon. Sarkozy, however, remains unconcerned of the allegations. “Despite the obstacles, despite the difficulties, I will do what I said I would,” said the president in his New Year address. The labour unions have been given the January 15 deadline to reach a consensual agreement with the government.

If the unions fail to reach a deal, his government would legislate the proposals, says Sarkozy. Is it as easy as celebrating holidays with his girlfriend in the Egyptian valleys? If he fails to swing the public mood in favour of his reform project, he would, to his utter discomfort, know the answer to that one.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Will Middle-East conflicts end?

Solution lies in their interests, not only in peace conferences
Middle-East, though continues to geo-politically important, also has been instrumental in generating maximum complexities to the world affairs. Surprisingly, there has also been reluctance in global initiatives and participation, in resolving its conflicts. Though, Mr. Bush has finally succeeded to sponsor Annapolis peace conference in his last year of presidency and has also succeeded in leaving some positive implications. Instances of sympathy, empathy and donations from many donor countries and organisations in the Paris conference, held just after Annapolis conference, are some examples.

Israel had captured Gaza strip and West Bank during Arab-Israel war in 1967, occupied Golan Heights, then annexed it in 1981. Abbas’s inability to fight for peace and justice has kept the continent in pandemonium. Last few decades have witnessed failure of Israel’s, Palestine’s, even Arab’s call for peace. These remained theatrics, mere exercise of photo, handshakes sessions. Annapolis was also expected to be same. But it is drawing global attention and sympathy. Over 90 countries and international organisations have pledged $7.4 billion to save Palestine from bankruptcy in the Paris conference. However, the trend seems positive but long term resolutions remains cynical. The aid can only save the country from bankruptcy, but is not the solution for the moribund Palestine economy. The last decade of Bush’s Middle East journey is enough to witness America’s self-interest. Thus the solution is not in hand of the US alone, proactive participation by responsible world powers e.g. Russia, Germany, French and the UK is urgent and only option now. But will they realise full potential of their accountability?

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
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Monday, August 25, 2008

You game? Tis’ no child’s play

A bright new millennium lies in wait for Indian game developers. Biggies, watch out for the Indian wave
“Except Indians, almost everyone – right from a 10-year-old kid to people as old as my father goes into the video-gaming room of my hotel and enjoy big time,” says Abhinesh Sikka, a 26-year old software professional working with US-based Trilogy Software Inc. while explaining how gaming is still not very popular in India. Indeed, a typical talk from a GenNext individual who realises the force behind the global gaming industry, which as per PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is forecasted to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.1%, escalating to $48.9 billion in 2011 from the current $37.5 billion (estimated for FY2007). So is Sikka right about Indians not loving video-games?

It was found that the rising influence of broadband, combined with gaming consoles & mobile gaming, was driving the phenomenon into Indian lands too, unlike what Sikka felt. No wonder Nasscom too forecasted that the Indian gaming market would touch $300 million by FY2009 at a CAGR of 78%!

And what makes India special? Well, in the face of a slowing growth in the American market (all set to touch $12.5 billion by 2011 at a modest CAGR of 6.7%; as per PwC) and with the growth predicted for India being much higher than the average for the Asia (touching $18.8 billion with a CAGR of 10%), the Indian market appears more lucrative for game developers who are optimistic about their fortunes in the sub-continent. While speaking exclusively to B&E, Atindriya Bose, Country Head – India, Sony Computer Entertainment claims, “Gaming has become an acceptable entertainment mode in Indian culture and there is a natural positive momentum amongst consumers towards gaming. Ever since the launch of PS3 in India, we have received a phenomenal response from the Indian market.”

With India already having made a mark on global tracks, by even outshining key destinations like Taiwan & South Korea, the potential is there for the taking. And despite the fact that we still can’t talk in order of billions of dollars, there are some Davids – like Dhruva Interactive, DQ Entertainment and many others – mushrooming in the hinterland too, vying to make a mark in the domestic gaming space.

However, there are challenges waiting for the aspirants as well. Rupee appreciation will pose as a major challenge as 75%-80% of total revenues for the Indian video game developers come from foreign markets as per ACNielsen. Besides it, rationalisation of prices and provision of India-centric contents also pose challenges as Atindriya professes, “Indianised content is something we have to focus on… We would like the consumers to be exposed to the true gaming environment.” Surely, for now, it’s game on in India too!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Continental shades of subprime

The European banking industry has braved the subprime meltdown to a large extent but only till now...
For those who wrote off the possibility that the subprime monster’s binge won’t make for a continental cuisine will have to check the order once again. Interestingly, European banks, unlike their US counterparts, seem to have eluded themselves to a large extent from being brutally pulverised by the sub-prime mess and have kept the lid on their balance sheets; but then, times will be getting harder by the day.

“The financial inter-linkages have already resulted into significant spillover into the Euro area, particularly affecting money markets and banks’ balance sheets,” exclaims Silvia Pepino Giuliani, Senior European Economist, Executive Director, JPMorgan. Well, for the past few fiscals, European banks have raked in staggering profits, which has left them with tremendous cushion to sustain write-downs. But the headwinds are getting stronger for them now. Substantiating the fact, the ROE (Weighted average & annualised) of large banks reporting under International Financial Reporting Standards, rose from 18.2% (2006) to 20.4% (1st half 2007).

“Though major write-downs have come from US banks, one shouldn’t underestimate the spillover effects on European banks, which have a major investment banking component,” reveals Elena Guglielmin, Vice President, Credit Research Analyst, Financial Institutions, Credit Suisse. According to a recently (November 14, 2007) published report by ECB’s Banking Supervision Committee, there will be a significant drag on the profitability of European banks because of the subprime meltdown, as a large proportion of their profits stemmed from fee, commission & trading income, most of which might be non-recurrent. Moreover, tightening lending, coupled up with high funding costs, will also undermine profitability of European banks. It is expected that banks like UBS are exposed to further write-downs because of their exposure to CDS, which is considered to be extremely high. Same is the case with Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Capital et al. So, don’t write off the write-downs yet as the subprime monster is just about to unleash itself further.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs