US in Iran?

I find this laughable. Perhaps some people don't believe in credibility. US to attack Iran within next 6 months? Unlikely, after seeing their burnt hands in Iraq. I shall get back to confirm on 23rd February, 2008.

US ready to strike Iran: Former CIA man

WASHINGTON: The US could deliver a military strike against Iran within the next six months, a former CIA officer told Fox News. In an interview on Tuesday, the US TV channel asked Robert Baer, a former CIA field officer assigned to the Middle East, whether the US was preparing for military action against Iran, citing Baer's column for Time Magazine on August 18, where he suggested that Washington officials expect an attack within the next six months. I've taken an informal poll inside the government, Baer told Fox. The feeling is we will hit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC). He said the George W Bush administration is convinced that the Iranians are interfering in Iraq and the rest of the Gulf, but what his sources anticipate is not exactly a war. We won't see American troops cross the border, said Baer. If this is going to happen, it is going to happen very quickly and it is going to surprise a lot of people. There were recent reports that Washington would put Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard the largest branch of Iran's military, separate from the rest of the army on the terrorism list. Baer said the US military suspects that the Revolutionary Guard is the main supplier of sophisticated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to insurgents killing coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also said there is a belief among neo-conservative elements in the Bush administration that the Revolutionary Guard is an obstacle to democratic and a friendly Iran.

Ref: ET, 23 August 2007

China as I know

Here are some real life stories that I heard from my friends and colleagues who have first hand experiences with China: 

1. Managers know all:

In Indian factories, we often take feedback from our fellow workers. Managers regard the experiential knowledge of the shop-floor workers. But in China, the manager is expected to know all.

One person from India was deputed to China, and when he tried the same approach there, it was a disaster. When he asked something from the workers, they thought that he didn't know! His image suffered a lot. After some time, he came to know the realities.

In India, even a rag picker will give you tips on your car, or a worker will know much more than a manager on the technicalities. But it is different in China.

2. Look-alikes: 

Chinese are very good in replicating. One of our technical experts saw a bizarre practice. For industrial fans, there are inbuilt vein anemometers installed in the fans so that they can send the feedback to the CCR. That looks like a vein on the periphery of the face of the fan. In China, there is very less automation in the cement plants. The fans are locally manufactured. The manufacturer fabricates a vein like arrangement on the faces of the fans, so as to look like that from international companies! They don't know or don't need the feedback of gas velocity, but they want their fans to look like the international fans. Therefore, they fabricate a similar structure in industrial fans! Nothing can be funnier than this!

3. No English:

Some of my friends were taking training in a Chinese cement plant. This local plant was taken over by our (MNC) company. The language problem was so chronic there that they suffered a lot. Forget the workers and technicians, even the engineers and managers were not able to either speak or understand in English. All plant manuals were in their local language.

4. Anything that moves:

Chinese eat a lot of creatures. You can spend your entire life if you start listing them. In general, we can say that Chinese eat anything that moves! Nothing can be creepier than this.

A MOTHER’S LOVE

Here is a poem, borrowed for this occasion:

A MOTHER’S LOVE

A Mother’s love is something

that no on can explain,

It is made of deep devotion

and of sacrifice and pain,

It is endless and unselfish

and enduring come what may

For nothing can destroy it

or take that love away . . .

It is patient and forgiving

when all others are forsaking,

And it never fails or falters

even though the heart is breaking . . .

It believes beyond believing

when the world around condemns,

And it glows with all the beauty

of the rarest, brightest gems . . .

It is far beyond defining,

it defies all explanation,

And it still remains a secret

like the mysteries of creation . . .

A many splendoured miracle

man cannot understand

And another wondrous evidence

of God’s tender guiding hand.

~Helen Steiner Rice~

Once she asked us, what would be our ultimate desires in our lives? What if we have earned crores of money? This was when the eldest of us was about 15. All three of us talked about the material wishes and all. Then she told us about her dream: All she wanted was to set up a big educational institute, which adopts poor girl children from their childhood, supports them, and takes care of them, till they pass out as graduates, get jobs and become independent. So noble; even at that time we were touched to hear that.

Some good blogs in Hindi

Here I want to list some good blogs in Hindi. Language doesn't matter much; it is the content that is the king. But many posts and many writings are so good in Hindi that translating makes them no better.

Here are some such Hindi blogs. I wish to extend this list. You can also contribute by sending me some links.

*********************************************

आवारा बंजारा

https://sanjeettripathi.blogspot.com/

By Sanjeet Tripathi:

Sanjeet can write better than most of what we get to see in our Hindi press. Some times his sense of humor is too good! He writes on the current events too. His blog also sports several links which are good for any Bharatiya who love India and our intellectual heritage.

*********************************************

Book: India Remembered by Pamela Mountbatten

Pamela Mountbatten, 78, the younger daughter of the Mountbattens (Louis and wife Edwina), has co-authored a book titled “India Remembered.” Pamela accompanied her parents to India at the age of 17 and spent 15 months here. This book is her personal memoir of the time she had in India, in the corridor of power. The co-author of the book is Pamela's daughter named India Hicks (Interesting first name!) Ms. Hicks is an ex-model and author of two other books.

India Remembered

Category:       Non-Fiction 

Author:           Pamela Mountbatten, India Hicks 

Publisher:       Roli Books 

Price:              Rs 1495 

ISBN :             9781862057593

To purchase:  [Link]

�        The book is extracted out of the personal diary that Pamela maintained.

�        It includes some letters by prominent leaders like Gandhiji and Clement Atlee.

�        It includes her father's deliberations of the Indian leaders and kings.

�        Pamela writes that although her mothers had many lovers, her affair with Nehru had no physical dimensions.

�        The book projects her mother Edwina a heroine and describes how she loved India and helped Indians during partition riots.

Excerpt from the back cover of the book:

India Remembered is a pure evocation of this key period of India and Pakistan‘s history. Using diary entries and extracts from the meticulously kept family photo albums as documentary evidence, this book is a brilliantly informative read and a chance to witness first hand a generation of characters whose actions were to change the fate of two nations. 

Some interesting facts which I came across:

1. Title of the Book: 

There is another book with the same title. ‘India Remembered’: an account written in 1982 by Barbara Donaldson of her life in the UP, first as a child and later as the wife of an I.C.S. Officer (J.C. Donaldson, C.I.E., M.C.). [Ref] 

2. Pamela’s views about Gandhi, Nehru and Patel:

"Gandhiji was such a marvellous person that the moment you met him, he had such a twinkle but he was so simple with people that you know one was just delighted to meet him."

When Nehru, the urbane idealist, would go off at a passionate tangent, Patel would say, "don't go ahead of the people so far; come back, take them with you."

3. The way the Mountbattens died:

Lady Mountbatten died at age of 58 on February 21, 1960, while in sleep. She had just returned from a visit to India. To the surprise of many, a packet of letters from Nehru was found by her bedside!!! 

Lord Mountbatten was holidaying at his summer home in Republic of Ireland. Members of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) were aware of Mountbatten’s movements. Despite security warnings, on 27 August 1979, Mountbatten decided to go sailing in his pleasure craft. The IRA had earlier fitted a radio controlled bomb which was detonated, killing Luis and some other family members; a sad end to an eventful life. 

Some references: Amazon [Link], Indian Express Review [Link], NDTV Review [Link], etc.

Any Time Money (ATM)

In the classes of financial accounting, we learnt how to maintain journals and ledgers. The professor gave practical examples, but this art and science of commerce is not that easy, unless you are a B.Com. At one time, I used to keep an account of all my expenses; but I have been happy-go-lucky for a long time now. Now my sixth sense does the account balancing. But some disturbances happen in case of some unexpected events, like lending some money to friends. This is what I did yesterday. My sixth sense was not in guard it seems, therefore when I was returning back this evening; I got to find only a twenty rupee note and some coins with me. I paid my auto-rickshaw fare of Rs 18. (that was debit to expenses account and credit to cash account, if I show off some of my learning) Now some coins remained with me. In the financial capital of India, with only some COINS in my pocket at 10 PM! To have some fun, I purchased one ice cream from the road side vendor. Now I didn't find it motivating enough to count the remaining coins and show off my calculation skills. Did I feel insecure? Did I feel broke? No! Because I had that card in my pocket ' ATM card: apne account ka power!

The way ATMs have changed our attitude towards money is amazing. Ten years back, the fattest wallet was the richest; now that having maximum number of card holding slots is. Call it Automatic Teller Machine or Any Time Money, ATMs have made our lives easier. I remember once I had to borrow money from my bun-makkhan-wallah in Lucknow, because I went out of cash on a national holiday. Now, I just head towards the nearest ATM.

The location of the ATMs also speaks volumes about the quality of banking services of a particular bank. In Thane, I could find two SBI ATMs in my range of movement, one in the Bank building itself, and other in a very neglected building, in a very neglected corner of a very busy market. But the ICICI ATMs were almost everywhere, near Railway station, at the Anand theatre, and one at the entrance of the street leading to my apartment.

Private Banks have taken the experience of ATMs to such a distance, that we can hardly call them ATMs. Along with dispensing cash, the small corner room consists of cash and cheque deposit counter, complaints, requests and suggestion desks, phone banking centres, and many others that I don't use or know. Recently ICICI had started demand draft by phone facility. The philosophy is not only to save costs, but also to enhance the customer satisfaction and delight.

ATMs are just one aspect; the prospects of phone banking and internet banking are tremendous. But the penetration of such facilities is the point of concern. These are things of the future, but how long will it take to get to reach the aam adami?

One of our professors said that banks in the coming time will penalise those customers who go to the bank's brick-n-mortar branches. This would be a horrible situation. We have already fought the government's decision to extract a surcharge on cash withdrawals above a limit. Any step which leads to giving monopoly powers to banks is very bad. Any system should be able to protect the weakest of the customers. ATMs are nice, but the brick-n-mortar branches are equally important. Otherwise the invisible hand would get a bad face.

© Rahul

It will also pass

This moment will also pass is a small realisation, but in many conditions it is a critical one. Last month, I went through one experience which made me realise this.

I had to make two trips between Thane and Vile Parle on a single day. At the end of the day I was tired and was returning by train. It was around 5 PM when my train on western line stopped at Dadar station where I had to change train for central line. The train came, fully packed, as usual. I too was able to board the train, pushing and being pushed like animals. I was able to find a place inside to stand on my feet. Two minutes after the train started, I realised that my mobile phone was not in my pocket. One co passenger gave a call to my number and it showed switched-off: a sure indication that it was stolen. Still, I searched it on the floor, whenever it was visible, in a foolish belief that it would have fallen somewhere.

As the train reached Thane, it was raining cats and dogs, as one of my colleagues used to say. I tried to get an auto, but to my horror, no auto wallah was ready to go to a "not-so-far" distance. My experience with Mumbai rains told me that there was no benefit staying somewhere, as water had started logging on the roads. I had to be on the move. For 15 minutes, I tried to get an auto, but no benefit. It was a very painful situation. I started walking. No bus passed which could have dropped me to my destination. My leather shoe started giving away last year I had lost another loving shoe. I kept walking, realising again that my umbrella was also not enough.

For 25 minutes, I walked in the heavy rains, on water logged roads, and without a phone. I tried to get an auto on the way, but no one agreed to drop me. It was really a miserable condition.

10 minutes after I reached my home, all my pain and discomfort had vanished. I was happy and comfortable as ever. Then I realised nothing is for ever. If we are having a hard time, it will also pass.

Why to hold ourselves back?

Recently there was a small debate on whether we should intervene when people behave irresponsible in public, or should we mind our own business and hold ourselves back. These are three incidents from the last three months when I couldn't hold myself back.

Incident I:

To reach the Elephanta Caves from Mumbai, we need to catch a boat from the Gateway of India. It is one hours ride. I was on board one such time, when I noticed a guy finish a bottle of drinking water. He was about to throw the bottle in the sea, when I intervened and asked him not to throw it in the sea, as it made the sea unclean. He was with 4-5 friends of his, and they were in jovial mood. But he obeyed and interestingly fixed the bottle in the ceiling of the boat! After some time, one of his friends brought a bottle of cold drink and asked him to finish it. He finished it, and before I could even think of intervening, he suddenly threw it far away in the sea!

Though we worship trees and rivers, in our practical lives, we care least about our environment. I could have sat back, and enjoyed the wind; but I intervened. Shouldn't there be some societal pressure on us when we behave irresponsible in public?

Incident II:

I was waiting for my bus. It was a green street in Thane, and there were young trees planted within protective fences. A boy of around 12 came and started picking leaves of a young Ashoka tree. He was making a stack from the collected leaves, for playing. I reached him and asked him not to cause harm to the tree, as it will die without its leaves. He didn't understand me; I think language was the problem. Then I asked him that if he wanted leaves, I could give him plenty. I raised my hand and broke a bigger and greener branch from the big tree above. I gave that branch to the boy and asked him to play with this and leave the young tree. But he shrugged me off, and said he wanted that Ashoka tree only. My bus arrived, and I left in pain, as the boy continued breaking the leaves of the Ashoka tree.

If everyone holds himself / herself back, how would the new generation understand, what is correct and what is not?

Incident III:

I was waiting for my train at Patna railway station. There was one seat vacant on the bench I was sitting on, so when an old couple arrived, the man offered the seat to his wife. After some time, I noticed a splash of water on the floor. Then the old lady asked her husband to go fill up the empty bottle. How could she throw water on the floor like this! I tried to control myself, as I respected her age. But I couldn't. I asked the lady, whether she had deliberately thrown water on the floor. She said that it happened by mistake. If the case were otherwise, I would have given her a lecture.

I couldn't hold me back.

Many times in my daily life, I have hold myself back; due to many reasons. I can remember one such incident.

Incident IV:

Patna to Motihari by road took only four hours this time, thanks to the four-lane highway being constructed. Almost all the buses run movies on the TV aboard. Earlier, we used to enjoy at lease two complete movies. This time, when we were 15 minutes before Motihari, we noticed that the sound of the TV had become very less. It was a movie of Akshay Kumar, in which he had struggled throughout his life, being a police officer, to catch the murderer of his father (So typical Bollywood). The climax had arrived, but the TV was mute! One man shouted at the conductor to increase the volume. He didn't obey. After a few minutes, one more man asked the conductor to increase the volume. This time, the conductor replied that the TV was about to be shut off. Then the driver shut the TV off! This time, there were no protests. We all knew that the conductor and driver had been non-sense; but no one protested further. I too hold myself back. It was 15 minutes of quite journey afterwards before we reached our destinations, still wondering what happened to Akshay Kumar.

We hold ourselves back mainly not to get into any trouble. But imagine a situation where everyone holds himself back. Do we need to break our molds at times? Do we need to be unreasonable at times? GB Shaw shows the way:

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to him. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

B School Rankings in India

Anyone who aspires to be an MBA, must have searched the net for B-School rankings. Even those who have no direct interest in B Schools, browse through the newspaper and magazines reports and special features for rankings and placement figures. And the media helps by creating a hype, by projecting the placement figures which are always scaling up. One fine morning, the headline is: ISB graduate gets 1 Crore as starting salary! The nation wonders, and boys can see something in the eyes of their fathers. Expectations rise.

B School rankings have not always been controversial. The controversies started when the B Schools starting pushing their brands and marketed themselves in all possible ways. They consistently objected in the rankings where they were ranked lower than their immediate competitors. There has been some undercurrents, that some rankings are fixed.

MBA coaching institutes play a major role in shaping public opinion. Lately, the coaching institutes have gone quality conscious, they won't put any one up or down because that affects their credibility. TIME [Link] is one such institute offering preparatory classes for CAT and other management entrance exams. TIME had come out with a new concept: they won't rank the institutes, but they will categorize them. Here is the ranking according to TIME: [Link]

India‘s Best B-Schools

The Top 90 management institutes in the country have been divided into five broad categories. A numerical ranking often does not have a sound scientific basis. The parameters and, more importantly, the weightages given to these tend to be extremely subjective.

A qualitative analysis of a B-school on pre-determined parameters can however give you a more comprehensive picture. These parameters include placements track records, quality of faculty members, quality of students, quality of infrastructure, image of the institute, etc. However being based on perspective, the resultant rankings too, are thus subject to many fierce debates. T.I.M.E. has used its extensive student database and years� of experience in the field to categorise the top 90 institutes.

Given below is the categorisation of the Top B-Schools. Please note that within each category, the B-Schools are listed in alphabetical order � there is no ranking or grading WITHIN each category.

For each institute included in our list, it is the flagship course of that institute that has been considered for the purpose of the categorization. For example, while the IIMs have different programmes, it is the PGP programme that has been considered for including the IIMs in the top 10.

As a part of the selection criteria, a number of management institutes also include a minimum percentage of marks to be scored by the students in their graduation for the students to be eligible to apply to such institutes.

Broadly, these categories are meant to aid the students in applying to institutes. Within a category, the institutes are of approximately the same quality. Of course, the categorisation is only indicative and students should make independent inquiries before taking a final decision about which institutes to apply to.

The Top 10 are the so-called ‘Ivy-League’ institutes that every student dreams of getting an admission into. Many of these institutes are comparable with the best in the world. Indeed, some of them regularly feature in the lists released by international business magazines. These institutes invariably have a 100% placement record. Even the not-so-good students at these institutes manage to get very good jobs on account of the rub-off effect of the institute.

The “A+” & “A” categories of institutes are those that fall into the Top 35. They offer a high quality of education in terms of faculty quality and infrastructure facilities. These institutes usually have a 100% placement record. Only the poor performers at these institutes may have some difficulties regarding placements. Some of the top students at these institutes should be able to secure placements that are comparable to those offered at the Top 10 institutes. Most students should be more than happy to join these institutes if they are able to get admission.

The “B+” category of institutes offers a consistent quality of education in terms of faculty quality and infrastructure facilities even though these may not be comparable to those of the top institutes. These institutes are successful in providing placements to their top students, especially those with good communication skills, but do not have a 100% placement record. A student at one of these institutes would have to work extra-hard to secure a good rank and high marks so as to enhance his placement chances.

The “B” category of institutes are those that are well regarded at a local level. These institutes may not provide too many national level placement opportunities but are generally successful in providing placements to many of their students with prominent local companies. 

“TOP TEN” Category (in alphabetical order) – India‘s Best Management Institutes

1.   Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi

2.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad

3.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore

4.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta

5.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore

6.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode

7.   Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow

8.   Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad (one-year course)

9.   Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Mumbai

10. Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur

“A+” Category (in alphabetical order)

1.   Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi

2.   Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi

3.   Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon

4.   Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad (MICA) (for Marketing/Advertising)

5.   Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai

6.   National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai

7.   S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai

8.   SJM School of Management, IIT, Bombay

9.   Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune

10. Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai

“A” Category (in alphabetical order)

1.   Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM), Trichy

2.   Fore School of Management, New Delhi

3.   Goa Institute of Management (GIM), Goa

4.   Indian Institute of Science (IISc.), Bangalore

5.   Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur

6.   Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras

7.   Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad

8.   Institute of Rural Management , Anand (IRMA) (for Rural Management)

9.   International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi

10.  K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai

11. Sydenham Institute of Management Studies and Research and

      Entrepreneurship Education, Mumbai

12. Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resources Development (SCMHRD), Pune

13. T. A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), Manipal

14. University Business School (UBS), Chandigarh

15. Xavier Institute of Management (XIM), Bhubaneswar

“B+” Category (in alphabetical order)

1.   Amrita Institute of Management (AIM), Coimbatore

2.   Birla Institute of Management Technology, NOIDA

3.   Chetna’s R. K. Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai

4.   Department of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Pune, Pune (PUMBA)

5.   Department of Financial Studies, University of Delhi South Campus, Delhi

6.   Great Lakes Institute of Management , Chennai (One year Course)

7.   Hyderabad Central University (HCU), Hyderabad

8.   ICFAIN Business School, Gurgaon

9.   ICFAIN Business School, Hyderabad

10. ICFAIN Business School, Navi Mumbai

11. Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), Kolkata Campus

12. Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), Kolkata

13. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur

14. Institute for Financial Management and Research, (IFMR) Chennai

15. Institute of Management Development and Research (IMDR), Pune

16. Institute of Technology & Management (ITM), Mumbai

17. Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies (KIAMS), Harihar, Karnataka

18. Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi

19. Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA), Chennai

20. National Institute of Technology (NIT), Trichy

21. Nirma University Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

22. S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Dubai Campus

23. SDM Institute for Management Development, Mysore

24. Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB), Pune

25. Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai

“B” Category (in alphabetical order)

1.   Alliance Business Academy, Bangalore

2.   Amity Business School, New Delhi

3.   Bharatiya Vidyapeeth, Pune

4.   Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi

5.   B. K. School of Business Management, Ahmedabad

6.   Christ College, Bangalore

7.   Delhi School of Economics, Delhi

8.   Faculty of Management Studies, BHU, Varanasi

9.   ICFAIN Business School, Bangalore

10. Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal

11. Indian Institute of Planning & Management, Delhi

12. Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad

13. Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE), Hyderabad

14. Institute of Technology & Management (ITM), Bangalore

15. Institute of Technology & Management (ITM), Chennai

16. MBE Program of the Delhi University

17. Osmania University College of Business Management

18. Pondicherry Central University (PCU)

19. PSG Institute of Management, Coimbatore

20. R A Podar Institute of Management, Jaipur

21. School of Communication & Management Studies (SCMS), Cochin

22. SIES College of Management Studies, Mumbai

23. Siva Sivani Institute of Management (SSIM), Hyderabad

24. Sri Ram College of Commerce, MBA-GPO, Delhi

25. St. Joseph‘s College of Commerce, Bangalore

26. Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), Pune

27. Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management (SITM), Pune

28. Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME), Bangalore

29. Xavier Institute of Social Sciences (XISS), Ranchi

30. Xavier Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management (XVJIM), Hyderabad

But there are some who would love number game. Many institutes, magazines and newspapers come out with numbered rankings.

With the popularization of internet, a new medium has come up: internet based preparation aids. These websites make use of all the features of the internet. UrPercentile [Link] is a very good site. It is based on the power of Yahoo Groups [Link]. Here, members get daily practice assignments, which they have to solve and send the answers to the group. Next day, the solutions will come. In case of any doubts, the moderators and other members of the yahoo group will help the person. It is a strong network. It is promoted by the MBAs from IIMs and other top institutes.

Let us see the B School rankings provided by UrPercentile. [Link]

1.                  Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad

2.                  Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore

3.                  Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta

4.                  Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow

5.                  Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur

6.                  Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi

7.                  Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad (one-year course)

8.                  S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai

9.                  Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore

10.              Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi

11.              Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai

12.              Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon

13.              Institute of Rural Management , Anand (IRMA) (for Rural Management)

14.              National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai

15.              Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow

16.              Xavier Institute of Management (XIM), Bhubaneswar

17.              VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur

18.              IIT Delhi

19.              SJMSOM, IIT Mumbai

20.              IIT Kanpur

21.              IIT Roorkee

22.              IIT Madras

23.              Fore School of management, Delhi

24.              Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

The complete ranking list up to All India Rank 101 is available at their site at the link mentioned [Link].

There are several rankings available and many of them are not fair. If you personally ask me, I would recommend these two, because I know both of these personally. I believe both rankings are fair. The differences between these two rankings, if any, are because they are prepared by two different sets of junta. TIME ranking is based on the experience of the institute's faculty and feedback of the students selected from the past from the institute. And the Ur Percentile ranking has been prepared by the moderators, who are MBAs themselves, and know the inner world, something beyond the hype.

Your take on HR

We had our first lecture for HR, Human Resource and Behavioral Sciences to be precise. The professor who came up to take the class is an industry veteran, with around three dozen years of work experience. He has worked for small Indian family businesses, as well as in big modern firms. No-brainer that we were to be showered by his wisdom. 

He asked two basic questions in front of the class:

1.      How do you define the HR as a department, to a layman?

2.      What is special about HR, that we need a separate department?

We had a hard time ahead. Starting from "managing human resources", the junta fought to satisfy him. But no way! At the end, he described the HR function in a manner most unexpected.

He explained that the work of the HR function is the same as that of a mother while bringing up her child: Feeding, nurturing, developing, correcting, counseling, etc. He emphasized a lot on this mother-child relational aspect.

But I think differently. I believe that the HR is just the facilitator of the management policies. It is just a "facilitator", not an organization as a whole. At the end of the day, the line managers are those who make or break the company's culture. The problem in comparing it with mother-child relation is that the employees begin to think as if the HR department is "responsible" for "all" their problems. So if a boss doesn't treat a subordinate well, the subordinate will think that the HR department is not working. As employees, we forget to think that we need to bring the issues in front of the HR people, before they can help. In my case, when my HR manager came to know about some issues between me and my colleague, he called us and counseled us. But it can't happen every time. Of course at the end of every year there are performance reviews, where the problems in the organization get reflected. But I have noticed that the employees "expect" a lot from the HR department, and the main reason behind that expectation is that they perceive the department in line with the "mother-child" relationships. What is your take? Do you think that the mother-child model for the HR function is OK? If yes, to what extent? 

Now is the time to open up the text-books.

Perils of distance learning in India

Last month, I appeared for the final exams of my PGJMC (Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication) from IGNOU. I had filled up their online form, marking my centre of examination as Thane, in a hope that my centre would be conveniently near my residence. But I discovered that Thane was a huge district, and my centre was at a school in Tarapur, Boisar, which is famous for its nuclear power plant. I reached the centre in time. That had made me woke up at 4 O' clock in the morning, and change trains once. The centre was an IGNOU study centre built up by a trust from Tatas. The examination hall was the same hall used for audio-video trainings. Places were marked for 20 students who were to appear for the exam. A girl was already waiting in the room, deeply engrossed in her last minute preparations. The exam was to be of three hours duration. 

To my surprise, not a single other student turned up for the exams. The examiner came with sealed question paper, and after some rituals, we were allowed to write the exams. The girl was writing her last exams for MBA. But only two out of twenty actually turned up: only 10%! Ultimately it turned up that I too couldn't appear for two out of my four papers because of unavoidable reasons.

The perils of distance education in India are two:

1. Lack of quality educational institutes offering distance learning.

2. Low enrollment rates because the distance learning courses are perceived inferior than regular courses.  

3. Lots of joining students are actually disinclined, and drop eventually.

To our amazement, all of these three points are interrelated. There are some individual institutes like Ignou and Symbiosis distance learning, who maintain a level of quality in their courses. But there are far more number of one-room institutes who sort of sell out the certificates. I have completed a diploma in industrial safety, and I can say that not only the course material was not up to the standard, but the final exam was like a formality. Ignou is an exception; its course materials are of very good quality, written in a narrative manner to facilitate distance learning, it has study centers all across India, and their final exams are rigorous. For example, for my PGJMC course, I received 20 books, had to submit 20 assignments in one year and had to appear for an examination of 4 papers. Otherwise, despite having thousands of colleges, India has not yet fully exploited the potential of distance education. 

To make the matter worse, there are a number of disinclined students who join the courses offered by correspondence. Later, either they change their mind and join some other courses, or they drop out and start a business. The housewives, who take up some courses, may find it hard to continue, eventually dropping. The only loser in all these cases is the distance education system as a whole.

If the present situation continues, the private institutes may drop the idea of running these courses. Or, they will make lesser investments in maintaining the quality of the courses, to make the process economically feasible. A vicious cycle will thus start rolling.

Government can play a very important role here. Distance education plays a very important role in a country like India where both the literacy rate and enrolments in higher education are very less. Institutions like Ignou, though they continue to be beefed up with government funds, must continue. Some inquiry should be made in order to understand why exactly distance learning is not very successful in India. The practice of self correction and continuous development will make courses from these institutes much sought after.

Divinity and Miracles

I have always looked with some awe towards miracles in real life. Not miracles of the nature, but man-made miracles, or chamatkaars. I remember one friend said to me that religion or spirituality is one thing and miracles are another. But I used to argue that as smoke didn't come without fire, there must be some merit in those who are able to perform these miracles. But recent trip to my home changed my perception forever.

My mother has never been a blind believer. She reasons into matters and has been a student of science. One day, a young man came to our home while she was alone. He said he had studied Astrology or Jyotish under some sage at some far off place (I don't want to name it here), and he had taken a vow to complete a major puja after collecting alms from ordinary people near his birthplace. When my mother enquired more about his studies, he asked her to test him. He asked pen and paper, and asked my mother to imagine a name of any flower. As my mother imagined, he wrote the name of the flower on paper. Afterwards, whatever my mother imagined in her mind, he wrote exactly that on the paper.

My mother was astonished! How could he do that? He must be 'some thing'. Then the young man himself started, 'One' has done a charm on your husband, because of that you people would suffer in near future. I can perform a special puja after I finish my mission, and the problem can be solved.

My mother now was in complete confidence of him. He demanded Rs 400, as I remember, for the special puja. My mother offered him Rs 101/-, which he accepted and went away after promising to return back.

Mother says that as she watched him go away, his manner of walking made a flashing realization to her that she had been cheated. Later she narrated the whole story to father in the evening. 

After some days, the young man visited our home again. He had brought something as prasad for us. Luckily, father was present at home, and he asked him to go away. He pleaded his innocence and honesty; but father was not moved. Then he demanded some thing, as he had traveled some distance to reach our place. Father obliged. 

After half an hour, while father was going out, he saw a curious thing in the neighborhood house: The same young man was talking to the landlady, and while he talked, the lady was wondering, from where a smell of liquor came. She was asking some men sitting nearby, as to who had come drunk!

Some days later, father saw the same young man on the railway station, completely drunk, lying with a bottle in his hand.

Now we came to know that ability to do miracles is no indication to divinity. Though I am still not very clear on the matter, but it seems that many people are able to do miracles if they learn it from some expert. But it is in no way an indication of their divinity. 

Can some one elaborate more?

Open letter to editors of all national newspapers of India

This is regarding the news that Saudi Arabia has executed (beheaded) two Indian nationals because they were found guilty of a murder. [Link1] We are living in a gloomy situation. While India is debating issues like the Presidential elections, and entry rules for Hindu temples, things are happening which make my country-men’s head lower in shame. Is not this an attack on our national pride? The two beheaded persons were 'Indian nationals', not the adopted citizens of Saudi Arabia. Is India's diplomacy alive? We dream of becoming super power in next 10 years! Any nation where judiciary faces constant pressure from parliament, where constitution is a blank page, open to cut and paste maneuvers, where bureaucracy is corrupt and ineffective, where politicians facing criminal cases are central ministers, can still be my country, but a country which doesn't care for its fellow citizens and where media doesn't report such incidents on front pages, makes me disgusted.