Waste put to good use

Promote plastic waste for use in road construction

The statement "We are sitting on a plastic time bomb" made by the Supreme Court on April 03, 2013, highlights the grave concern that is posed by plastic waste in India. For instance, the country produces as much as 56 lakh tonnes of plastic waste per annum, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The four metro cities, i.e. Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai, generate plastic waste of 689.5, 429.4 425.7 and 408.3 tonnes per day respectively. Moreover, 40% of the total waste is neither collected nor recycled; so they become a continuous source of pollution. In this scenario, the problem is likely to worsen with time as not only is there an adequate waste management system in place but worse, even the existing system does not function efficiently. But not all hope is lost. A new initiative -- of constructing roads using discarded plastic items -- offers a ray of hope in finding a solution to the problem of disposing off hazardous plastic waste.

R. Vasudevan, the Dean and Head of Chemistry Department of Thiagarajar College of Engineering (TCE), also known as Madurai's ‘Plastic Road Man', had laid the first plastic tar road within the TCE campus in 2002. Since then, thanks to the extensive research carried out by him, Bangalore University, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), New Delhi, have helped the nation to construct several trial roads using plastic waste. The Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BMP) decided to use plastic waste over asphalt to over 40% of the roads under a World Bank scheme in 2005. Similarly, Pune constructed its first plastic bitumen road in 2011. In addition to that, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha recently announced in the assembly that the state is coming up with a plan to relay 1,100 km roads in the rural and urban areas by mixing plastic waste with bitumen. Even Meghalaya might get the first plastic road in the Northeast in the near future.

What's the reason for these states taking a shine to plastic roads? Several reports and experiments have proved that plastic roads are “25% better than unmodified roads and are almost 200% resistant to water absorption. Even the maintenance cost of these roads is very low, while the durability is high. The roads reportedly need no repairing for at least five years.” Moreover, plastic roads would be an added advantage for a country like India, which has a hot and an extremely humid climate, and where torrential rains are responsible for damaging most roads.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

As sales bounce back, AC playersvie to beat the sweat

In order to grab a slice of this growing market and tap new customer segments, players are rolling out products that are energy efficient, have better technology and deliver an acceptable price-performance ratio for the target customers. By Sanjay Kumar

Air conditioners (ACs) are fast becoming must-haves as consumers become increasingly accustomed to air-conditioned environments at the workplace, homes, malls, cinema halls and in their cars. With the consumer durables industry in India growing at 15% annually, and the fact that the air conditioning segment remains among the least penetrated consumer durables segments, at less than 3%, more and more players are entering the AC market with hopes of tapping the growth opportunities. The AC market in India currently has over 20 players who are fighting for a slice of the market amidst high hopes that it will grow substantially in the future.

The fact that 97% of Indian households are still untouched by room air conditioners – while the adoption of comparable products have surged ahead – indicates that industry players are far from realising the full market potential. This has led to players intensifying their efforts to grow the market and reach out to new consumer segments. But despite fierce competition and a sizeable market turnover in the room AC industry, which last year generated sales of 4.2 million units worth Rs.72 billion, there are several issues crimping the growth and potential of the industry. According to industry experts, lack of infrastructure in the form of inadequate power supply is the most important factor inhibiting the growth of the AC industry in India. “Globally, 40 to 50% of the electricity is used by buildings, and out of that 30 to 40% is accounted for by air conditioning,” says Gaurang Pandya, MD, Carrier India. High up-front costs of an AC are also a major barrier to adoption for many Indian households. This is particularly important in India where the traditional air cooler offers a cheaper substitute for households at a time when energy prices are rising. To increase penetration and accelerate market growth, AC manufacturers are now taking a leaf out of the automobile industry's book and offering easy financing and purchasing options with the view to bring ACs within the reach of a much larger percentage of the population. Trade sources say that finance-driven sales in ACs have risen by 7-8% over last year. "Last year, finance-driven sales were 22-23% of total AC sales. This year, it stands at nearly 30%," says Manish Sharma, MD, Panasonic India.

Many players are also banking on innovation and technology to lower their cost of production, which can then be passed on to the customer through a lower ticket price. In fact, several companies have introduced air-conditioners endowed with inverter technology that has a shorter motor run-time and therefore consumes less electricity. Although energy-efficient products are relatively more expensive than the standard variants, a large number of consumers are choosing them to reduce long-term costs. Sanjay Mahajan, Vice President – Sales and Marketing, Carrier Midea India, says "energy-savers, though 15-25% more expensive than the regular models, are now viewed as ‘value for money’ by Indian consumers."

AC manufacturers are also adopting the strategy of offering a portfolio of lower priced products by resorting to economies of scale and focusing on obtaining cheaper components and materials. Currently, Haier and Onida are among the cheapest brands in the Indian market but other players – mainly Japanese and Korean – are also introducing products at cheaper price points. A case in point is the Japanese AC manufacturer Daikin, which in spite of its premium tag, is trying in earnest to tap all segments of the market. "We want to tap all segments, not just the top segment of the market. We have already launched products targeting each segment. And now it is time for us to penetrate the rural and semi-urban cities of India," says Kanwal Jeet Jawa, MD, Daikin India. As part of its strategy to increase its share in the Indian market from 12% to 20% by 2015, Daikin plans to have dealers in all Indian cities with at least 100,000 population. Not only Daikin, which claims the No.1 position in the global air-conditioning market, other Japanese AC makers such as Panasonic and Hitachi have also made a strong inroad into the bulging AC market in India over the past couple of years.


According to industry sources, both Panasonic and Hitachi have maintained a steady growth in the AC market and cumulatively account for more than 15% of the market currently.

The past fiscal year, which saw the overall AC market in India post a negative growth of 26% year-on-year, was particularly bad for the Korean majors Samsung and LG. The market share of LG dropped to 17.3% in February 2013 from 26.3% in March 2011. Samsung's market share, too, dipped to 11.3% by February 2013, from 19.5% in March 2011. On the other hand, the share of home-grown Voltas increased to 18.3% in February this year from 17.5% in March 2011. The company has attributed its latest growth to aggressive marketing of its new all-weather air conditioners introduced early last year. But its success has deeper roots than that. Over the past five years, Voltas has built its brand, introduced new products and expanded its retail presence to a total of 6,000 outlets. Fast-growing smaller towns and cities now contribute about half of Voltas’ sales and the company sees them as its main source of future growth.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

Movie Review: Bombay Talkies

Not as bright as the stars

The quartet of quickies that constitutes Bombay Talkies serves a dual purpose. It tells us what it is that has made Mumbai cinema work for a hundred years. At the same time, at a deeper and probably unintended level, it also concedes exactly what it is that prevents Bollywood, as we know it today, from achieving greater heights as a mode of artistic expression.

Three of the four short films here are not even about the medium of cinema per se, and just one of these three is only tangentially about the art of storytelling and mythmaking that sustains the dream machine.

They are essentially about the deep bond that the Indian masses have with the movie megastars. What they say is: the medium isn’t the message; the dreams are.

The first story, directed by Karan Johar, homes in on a hip working couple (Rani Mukherji and Randeep Hooda) whose less-than-perfect relationship is rocked violently by the advent of a rebellious gay drifter (Saqib Saleem) who has the hots for the hubby.

What does a story about alternative sexuality have to do with the essence and history of Hindi cinema? Not much, as far as this reviewer can see, except for the tenuous connection that Johar makes with a couple of timeless Lata Mangeshkar numbers from the 1960s, which are sung by a girl on a railway station over-bridge.

The gloss is in place and the technical attributes are of the highest order. Johar also extracts a great performance from Rani Mukherjee, who looks and acts every inch the part of an entertainment supplement editor. But Onir did a much better job of addressing same-sex love in the crowd-funded 'I Am...'.

Bombay Talkies is bookended by Anurag Kashyap with a lively story of a young Allahabad man who is dispatched by his father to Mumbai with a little piece of home-made murabba for his favourite movie actor, Amitabh Bachchan. It is entertaining but thin.

The third segment, directed by Zoya Akhtar, narrates the slight tale of a boy whose father wants him to be a footballer but whose own ambition is to be a dancer like Katrina Kaif.

The question of gender stereotyping is raised all right, just as Johar’s story touches upon the theme of sexual orientation, but the treatment is strictly surface level.
The segment that stands out is the one crafted by Dibakar Banerjee. It is the second, and is the only one that remains etched in the mind after the two-hour tribute to Hindi cinema has run its course.

It is a loose adaptation of a short story by Satyajit Ray about a lower middle class man, a one-time actor grappling with the drudgery of his dead-end life in a big city, who stumbles upon a moment of ‘stardom’ when he is roped in to play a walk-on part in a big film. The chance break gives the man an ‘exciting’ story to tell his daughter.

Banerjee uses sound, light, and the purity of hand and body gestures to great effect and, with an actor as astounding as Nawazuddin Siddiqui breathing life into the vision, this is a knockout show. The rest of Bombay Talkies, including the scene of two men kissing, isn’t quite that bracing!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA

What after mandela?

South Africa risks sliding back into recidivist politics

"For as long as he lives, South Africans breathe a little easier and believe in their country a little more. When the day after Mandela dawns, that belief will be shaken, not dramatically or immediately, but slowly and perhaps imperceptibly. South Africa will, quite simply, be a different country." That was British Prime Minister David Cameron’s message in the Telegraph, echoing the fears of world leaders about the possible unraveling of South Africa's racial harmony once the charismatic and healing presence of its tallest leader is no more. There are speculations, not only in the South African media but even elsewhere, that in the absence of Nelson Mandela’s guiding principles, the country could once again descend into apartheid politics.

The apprehension is that Blacks would vent their anger and frustration against the Whites. There is a simmering discontent  against the white community lording over 80 per cent of the country’s wealth. Till now, Mandela's spiritual and moral authority had had a calming influence. But once that authority is gone, repressed emotions could come to a head.  It is debatable whether the current political leadership can be counted on to keep fissiparous forces from taking over.  Even Ernst Roets, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of AfriForum, has expressed his anxiety on the issue. "We do get calls from people saying they're scared about the day Mandela dies and what they should do. There are fringe organizations that say flee the country."

The fear, though speculative, is not altogether chimerical. There are hate messages doing the rounds of social media. "You guys just wait until the day Mandela dies and then we'll come for you," reads one such threat. A cursory trawl of the Web throws up many such minatory hints. South African whites are reading the tea leaves and taking necessary precautions. There are reports that Whites are building bunkers and stocking food to meet any eventuality. They fear that the restraint that has so far been exercised by black rabble rousers will cease to exist after Mandela.

Such apprehensions may still prove to be unfounded.  After all, many tribal clans and communities in South Africa have had their outlook and weltanschauung shaped by Mandela's sterling legacy. To expect them to disown those principles in a jiffy would be heretical to Mandela's ideals and reputation.  Also, the country now has a vibrant democracy in place, with strong institutions enshrined. In fact, the post Mandela era could pave the way for some ground-breaking political shift in the African National Congress Party, which has been the political bulwark for South Africa's blacks but has struggled to grow out of Mandela's overpowering influence. While new leaders with a modern outlook and vision could come into their own in the ANC, Mandela's exit could also spawn other political formations for the country's blacks.  Global experience shows that multiparty democracy is always a better option.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
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IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face

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Small films, big gains

Mumbai directors who followed their hearts and fought a dour, unflinching battle to protect their cinematic vision from market-imposed dilution have come up trumps at the 60th National Film Awards. The Sunday Indian analyses why ‘Bollywood’ movies that are not made for the 100-crore club are really the only ones that are worth celebrating

The 60th National Film Awards announced on Monday, more than anything else, have come as a strong vindication of the efficacy of independent cinema that blends the need for entertainment with a spirit of creative adventure. Nowhere is that truer than in the case of the healthy complement of Hindi-language films that have been adjudged worthy of being feted by the President of India.

The value of the National Film Awards stem primarily from the fact that they aren’t, as a rule, influenced by extraneous commercial considerations or the crowd-pulling capacity of the reigning movie stars, which, incidentally, are the two principal pillars on which all the Mumbai cinema-dominated, made-for-television award shows firmly stand.

The National Awards are meant to recognize excellence in Indian cinema – and that, barring stray aberrations, is exactly what they do. This year has been a perfect demonstration of what sets these awards well apart from the all the other glitzy star-driven events that are avowedly about showcasing the biggest and the brightest of the industry and not necessarily about celebrating cinema for its own sake.

Hindi, Malayalam and Marathi cinema have cornered the lion’s share of the major National Awards this year, with cinema in the national language securing a greater presence on the honours list than usual.

Tigmanshu Dhulia’s critically acclaimed Paan Singh Tomar has been adjudged the best film of the year gone by. The film’s male lead, the redoubtable Irrfan Khan, has won the best actor. Nothing could have been better for Hindi cinema – the two awards for Paan Singh Tomar are not only richly deserved, they provide a fillip to filmmakers who, while staying within the parameters of the Mumbai movie industry, desire and strive to carve their own niche.

The jury, in its citation, has lauded Paan Singh Tomar for its “sleek and sensitive handling of a not-too-common subject with remarkable aplomb”. Indeed, unwavering authenticity of location and lingo is the prime strength of the film, which narrates a gritty tale of the eponymous athlete-turned-brigand whose brief run from the law in the ravines of Chambal ended in dusty death in a police encounter in the early 1980s.

It certainly wasn’t easy for Dhulia to bring to the screen the compelling story of an ordinary villager, soldier and steeplechase champion who was forced by rural oppression and lack of redress to take up arms against the law.

The director worked on the idea for close to a decade, researched his subject thoroughly and, when he eventually got down to filming, he shot on actual locations, including the places in Chambal and the barracks in Roorkee where the real Paan Singh Tomar lived.

After it was wrapped up, Paan Singh Tomar languished in the cans for a year and a half for want of takers despite the critical applause it earned at festivals around the world. The film finally hit the screens in March 2012 and instantly garnered both critical accolades and commercial success. The rest, as they say, is history.
Recognition for Paan Singh Tomar at the National Awards is also recognition for the kind of culture-specific and rooted cinema that the Mumbai film industry has all but abandoned in its unthinking pursuit of big box office returns.

Significantly, all the other Hindi films that have won National Awards this year have emerged from independent spaces where funds weren’t plentiful and star power was barely available. These films swam against the tide with intent: one revolved around a heroine who is heavily pregnant all through a narrative set in Kolkata, the other dealt with the travails of a young sperm donor in Delhi.

Neither Kahaani nor Vicky Donor left any stone unturned to capture the essence of city that it was set in, even resorting to hit-and-run guerrilla filmmaking methods (especially in the case of the former) to shoot scenes on crowded streets and bylanes. Despite being fictional stories with dramatic twists, both films had a real feel to them.  

In both Kahaani, which has fetched director Sujoy Ghosh the best original screenplay award, and Vicky Donor, which has been named the “best popular film providing wholesome entertainment”, the script was supreme. The actors, outstanding as they were, had to play second fiddle. It was cinema that was the ultimate winner.
Indeed, who would have imagined that a film about a guy who works for a fertility clinic with little-known actors in the cast would go on to conquer all manner of scepticism and score big at the box office and in the critical ratings? An unqualified triumph for director Shoojit Sircar, Vicky Donor also fetched two best supporting actor awards – for Annu Kapoor and Dolly Ahluwalia. What a story that!

The jury noted that Vicky Donor is “a wholesome entertainer presented in a breezy and humorous fashion” and went on to praise the filmmaker for “deftly avoiding falling into the beaten track of formula films”.

Kahaani was definitely no less. Vidya Balan may have been beaten to the best actress prize by Usha Jadhav (who won for her powerful performance in the Marathi film, Dhag), but the suspense drama, whose editor Namrata Rao won a well deserved nod from the jury chaired by veteran filmmaker Basu Chatterjee, proved that there can be no substitute for artistic integrity.

The director made no compromises with his vision – the refusal to kowtow to demands of the marketplace served to make Kahaani a huge success story that it eventually became. The National Awards are only the icing on the cake.

It is significant that all the three Mumbai-based directors in question – Dhulia, Ghosh and Sircar – dared to follow their hearts in a movie industry where it is customary for superstars and big banners to call the shots and determine what kind of cinema gets into the distribution chain. These directors are among those that are spearheading a much-needed revolution and the National Awards for their work is proof that they are well on course.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA