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February 26 Whether they are in slums or chandeliered living rooms, Indian communities add to the cosmopolitan sheen of Bangladesh’s capitalHowever, Telugus are not the only non-Bangla community in Dhaka. There are many more. Together, they not only help Dhaka wear its cosmopolitan look, but also dispel the myth that all  the non-Muslim communities in Bangladesh have been either prosecuted or expelled. Seetha Shankari is an elderly member from the 50,000-strong Shankari community from Karnataka. These extraordinary jewellers of Dhaka came with the entourage of Ballal Sen in the late 17th century. The latter was a Bengal ruler whose ancestors were Kannadiga kings. Since centuries, families like those of Seetha have worked as jewellers. “Bengalis were not accustomed to conch shell jewelleries. We introduced these to youngsters here and now it is a rage,” smiled Seetha. Unlike Telugus in Dhaka, the Shankaris are mostly well to do middleclass families. It is therefore easier for them to maintain their distinct culture.Pirated DVDs of Kannada potboilers jostle for space with Bangla and Hindi hits in Shankari Bazaar shops. Hotels in the locality serve tasty Kannada cuisines. Hearing that an Indian journalist has come, a small crowd gathers around Seetha’s shop. Some elders try unsuccessfully to converse with me in Kannada. Seeing me helpless they laugh, and switch to Bangla. Seetha offers to pack some conch-shell jewelry for my wife. I politely decline and bid them adieu. With the Banarasis in Dhaka, I didn’t face any language barriers. They are fluent in Awadhi lashed Hindi. Most of them live in Mirpur Benarasi Palli. Impressed by their finesse, Nawab Salimullah settled 5,000 sari weavers in the late 19th century. Today, they number around 1,00,000. When you hear the sounds of the handlooms from afar, you know you are approaching the Benarasi neighbourhood.....Continue February 20 The Indian karate skidAkshay Kumar said in an interview that Rohan Sippy came to him with just a  poster of Akshay wearing a Chinese hat holding two swords in his hands that had vegetables. When asked about the script, the producer did not have one, but was so fascinated with the idea of that poster that he wanted to make a movie on that. This precisely explains why the movie was what it was, where everything was good except that there was no script.“Chandni Chowk to China” (CC2C) is about, well, Chandni Chowk-based Sidhu (Akshay) who believes he is jinxed and has no luck whatsoever. Things change when two visitors from China think him to be the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, manage to take him to China so that he can save them from a kung fu criminal (Gordon Liu). The potbellied Sidhu under the guidance of an amnesiac wanderer, (an ex-Police chief) who also happens to be the twin Deepika’s-separated-at-birth father (typical Manmohan Desai isshtyle!), learns the art of Kung-fu. What follows is an Indianised amalgamation (and a messy one at that) of Kung Fu Panda and Karate Kid. After laugh riots like “Singh is Kinng” and “Hera Pheri”, Akki’s comedy sequences in CC2C were not good enough to make us fall off our seats and the fight sequences try to ape a hybrid style between Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, but fall short. The editing gave the movie a disjointed feel overall – sample this, Tere Naina, though a beautiful song plays through an action sequence! Probably, director Nikhil Advani should reunite with K Jo to retrieve the long lost success of “Kal Ho Na Ho.”....Continue February 06 The Great Sansad MarathonEveryone at the BJP camp is in a daze. The reason: results of an internal survey, commissioned last month by the party in collaboration with RSS to weigh its chances in the upcoming Parliamentary polls,  gave BJP something between 96 and 106 seats. Now, that is even less than the 113 seats BJP got last time.On the other hand, Congress is confident that 25 seats in Uttar Pradesh with her ally Samajwadi Party is all it needs to clear the road for UPA’s return to the Centre. That is precisely why it is willing to portray Rahul Gandhi as LK Advani’s equivalent. Also, notwithstanding recurrent antics by SP, Congress has fixed its eyes on young emerging leaders for striking alliances – from Stalin in Tamil Nadu to Chiranjeevi in Andhra Pradesh. As far as Left parties are concerned, they believe the scene of the 15th Lok Sabha will be worse than the incumbent one, and that the say and sway of regional parties in the functioning of the government will only increase. Left parties are sure that the possibility of a BJP or Congress-led government is dismal. There are realistic chances for a secular parties-led government. In fact, central committees of the Left parties have already started discussing the options. Unperturbed by this, Sangh ideologue and BJP-thrown out, Govindacharya is also mulling over a third alternative stitched up of “like-minded parties”. Though Congress was nervous and jittery on the eve of assembly elections, its results injected a new lease of life in the grand old party. Now, the party has carefully started projecting itself as the party of the youth. The Rahul Gandhi led “Opportunities Amidst Challenges” committee maintains that targeting the under-40 voters, who constitute around 36 per cent of the electorate, will greatly enhance Congress’ prospects in the elections. The government has approved a Rs 102 crore budget for Bharat Nirman. The party has hired as many as eight advertising agencies for a sleek publicity campaign – similar to that of BJP’s India Shining – for the parliamentary polls that will laud the work done by the government.....Continue January 06 Ian Scot Anderson and company haven’t lost their touch – not even after 40 long years. Jethro Tull is vintage wineThe old rocker wore his hair too long / wore his trouser cuffs too tight /  unfashionable to the end – drank his ale too light / death’s head belt buckle – yesterday’s dreams – the transport caf’ prophet of doom / ringing no change in his double-sewn seams / in his post-war-babe gloom… That’s their Too Old to Rock n Roll: Too Young to Die classic. And so come the crowds, both young and old, many to listen to what was and still is, and so many to just find out what is, and, more importantly, could be. According to Levon Helm, drummer of The Band, the group that once played with Bob Dylan, there came a time when all kinds of music mixed, Bluegrass, Country, Blues… And what did they call it, asks the interviewer in the 1978 Martin Scorsese film “The Last Waltz”, the celluloid recording of The Band’s last concert together. “Rock n Roll,” says Helm. With bands such as Jethro Tull, apart from the genre getting more pleasantly complex and hard, Anderson’s repertoire perhaps does what many failed to do: take forward the great Rock movement even while staying distinctly apart in sound, and often thought. And, of course, versatility has its virtues. For some unexplained reason there seems to be a tradition of being the multitasking rocker among the maestros of the school. Anderson plays guitar, flute, mouth organ, his bassist also plays the xylophone, the keyboard man plays the accordion and piccolo…....Continue December 29 The ambiguous legal status of prostitution in India is set to become muddier as a new law threatens the existence of the world’s oldest profession.Another proposal in the law in Section 3 states that,  “Any person who keeps or manages, or acts or assists in the keeping or management of, a brothel shall be punishable on first conviction with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than two years and which may extend to three years and also with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction, with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years and which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to two lakh rupees”. What this basically means is that the landlord of a brothel and any relative of a prostitute above 18 years of age and financially dependent on her, can be imprisoned. How stupid is that? If you want to declare prostitution illegal then do it, so we can at least contest that in the courts; it’s nothing but a roundabout way to make prostitution unviable.Through our work at G.B. Road, we’ve been able to cut down on child trafficking prevalent in this area; this evil has been rooted out only because of our consistent efforts. We would have to deal with the same problem again if this business was made unviable. As it is, these women exist at the fringes of the society; if this law comes into effect they would be forced out on the roads, deprived of their support structure and their access to NGOs. Many would then resort to begging, or even have unprotected sex, leading to increase in AIDS cases, and years of work of various NGOs in combating the disease will be wasted.....Continue December 03 After five years in the political wilderness, Congress is once again dreaming of staging a comeback in Chhattisgarh.One one hand, there are allegations of nepotism against you. On the other, rebels are dogging BJP's prospects. This is not true. These are allegations by people who have been denied tickets. The Central Election Committee has selected only those who they are sure would win. We have fielded old as well as fresh faces for the polls, and this will yield rich dividends. As far as rebels are concerned, we shall take care of all of them. People must realise that the party is above all.  You had challenged Ram Singh to a contest from any constituency in the state, but now you have stuck to your own bastion Marwahi. Why this tactical shift?Indeed, I had challenged him to do so, but the High Command felt that I am needed for campaigning throughout the state, because our target is not to defeat one single person, but to uproot an entire regime. And that is what I am doing. You are fighting your own elections and fighting for your candidates. Do you think you will successfully manage both, with 51 of your own candidates (out of a total of 90 seats) looking up to you? At the time of ticket distribution, some senior party colleagues had suggested that either I contest or help others contest. This issue had been raised in the High Command as well. But I had made it clear that they should have enough faith that I will manage both. The sole consideration behind this was the benefit of the party. I have full faith that the Marwahi voters will elect me with a huge margin. The main basis of the Congress party stands on the feet of women and minorities, but that is not reflected in the distribution of tickets. Both have been ignored… I do not agree. We have given tickets to those candidates who we felt would win from specific constituencies. It was Congress that advocated reservation for women, and keeping that in mind, adequate number of ladies have been given tickets. Some leaders are trying to upstage you in media coverage. I am not sure how much of this is true, but there are many who are politically over-ambitious. So it is possible that such games are on. But my focus is the benefit of the party and all the top leaders are unitedly doing this. There are allegations of Naxalism flourishing during the Raman Singh regime and doubts have been raised over the ethics of the Salwa Judum movement against Naxalites. Where do you stand? If we come to power we shall ban Salwa Judum because this is damaging for the tribal communities. Sixty-five thousand tribal people have come practically under house arrest. Their lives, lifestyle and culture are all under threat. In three Assembly constituencies, at least two persons have been murdered every day over the past one year. And the BJP government is solely responsible for ruining law and order in the state. ....Continue October 15 If they can afford Iraq, they can bloody well afford this!Gore’s challenge for US to convert to renewable energy needs to be seriously considered As I was listening to Al Gore on the phone, I was thinking: “Uh-oh,  naysayers will have a field day with this one.” The former VP was giving me an advanced briefing on the speech he delivered on Thursday, calling on US to behave like a great nation and actually do something real about its self-destructive, ultimately unsustainable reliance on carbon-based fuel for its 21st-century energy needs. “I’m going to issue a strategic challenge that the US set a goal of getting 100% of our electricity from renewable resources and carbon-constrained fuels within 10 years,” he said.“One hundred percent?” I said. “One hundred percent.” Gore’s focus is primarily on solar, wind and geothermal energy. His belief is that a dramatic, wholesale transition to these sources is not just doable, but essential. My view is that Gore is offering us the kind of vision and sense of urgency that’s so lacking in the presidential campaigns. But the tendency in a society that is skeptical, if not phobic, about anything progressive has been to dismiss his large ideas and wise counsel, as George H.W. Bush once did by deriding him as “ozone man.” .....Continue Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008 An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist). Read also :-
October 07 Alliance shatteredWill the CCI finally decide if the firms are truly guilty? Cartelization- an issue which the  Government has been addressing for quite sometime, an issue which has created quite a furor off late… What with the cement industry fiercely combating the allegations of alliance that the Central Government is entrusting upon them. While the cement Industry is justifying that of the Rs.14-15 rise in cost of each cement bag only Rs.5-7 is passed on to the consumers, the Central Government is indicting the firms heavily. In fact in December 2007, the MRTP Commission accused 44 cement firms including the L&T, Birla and ACC of setting exorbitant price of cement by resorting to cartelization. However, it is anybody’s guess as to why an issue so dubious in nature is being addressed by the MRTP which itself is in a state of dissolution. However, after inefficiency, Competition Commission of India (CCI) had been conceived in October 2003 with the objective of being a more organised body for addressing cartels and monopoly like behaviour, it remains ineffective as it has not yet been notified by the centre. ...........ContinueSource : IIPM Editorial, 2008 An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist). Read also :-
May 13 Think PinkThe year was 1929. The man was called Edward L. Bernay, considered by many as the father of public relations. The Easter parade was about to be staged on Fifth Avenue. This was also the era when women did not smoke much in public. Before the parade, Bernay alerted the newspaper that women would be smoking in public to promote ‘equality of sexes”. Suddenly, Recently Dell’s marketing representatives met Oprah and showcased their products on her show. Its Pocket DJ and 30 inch LCD TV featured on Oprah’s Favourite Things 2004 shopping list. About 70% of Dell’s plasma sets were sold in weeks after the list appeared on Oprah’s show. Twenty years ago, probably women were just considered as “addons” by marketers, with no major decision making roles. A recent survey in America revealed that women now account for $55 billion of $96 billion consumer electronic market (in 2003). With more and more women joining the workforce their purchasing power and decision making power both are increasing. What’s interesting is 25% of these women make more money than their husbands or boyfriends. So marketers are now being forced to give them a long hard second look and formulate plans and strategies to rapture this fast growing market. For complete IIPM article click here Source:- IIPM Editorial, 2008 An IIPM and Management Guru Prof.Arindam Chaudhuri's Initiative IIPM | Arindam Chaudhuri | 4Ps Business & Marketing | Business & Economy | Kkoooljobs | Planman Media | Planman Consulting | Planman Marcom | Planman Technologies | Planman Financial | Planman Motion Pictures | GIDF | The Daily Indian | IIPM Think Tank | The Sunday Indian May 01 (Moni)sha’ttering mythsMonisha SHAH ... with her absolute need to do everything the right way, is surely making a difference Monisha Shah is the 38 year old So in an arena dominated by the opposite sex, how challenging has it been for her? Her response: “The media industry internationally, is better balanced in terms of equal opportunities for both men and women. BBC specifically is a wonderful showcase for how to attract and motivate men and women equally in the workplace. I have to admit that I have personally woman in the media, and have had many opportunities to work with strong, inspiring personalities throughout my work life.” She lives her life on her own terms and makes her every single move count. For sure, a most charming lady, who’s globe-trotting her way to glory! Read More :- B&E,4ps & IIPM Publication IIPM | Arindam Chaudhuri | 4Ps Business & Marketing | Business & Economy | Kkoooljobs | Planman Media | Planman Consulting | Planman Marcom | Planman Technologies | Planman Financial | Planman Motion Pictures | GIDF | The Daily Indian | IIPM Think Tank | The Sunday Indian April 11 Entertainment unplugged...Get ready to be bombarded with more of soppy saas-bahu bickering, put-on talk shows, hapless comedies, over-made-up nasty sister-in-laws (dressed in all their finery even when ostensibly asleep) and the absurdly unreal reality shows that put even real life to shame… Yes! Come the To begin with there’s NDTV with its Imagine (boasting an unimaginable line up of veterans like Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, Sameer Nair and Prannoy Roy). In his typical ‘a family that eats together stays together’ spirit, a buoyant Karan Johar believes that this partnership is like a “family bonding” and is convinced that his family will soon be creating all the celebration possible at a TV screen near you. Sounds suspiciously like more of the same, right? Anyhow, NDTV’s GEC is scheduled for launch by the end of this year. Then we have UTV-Astro’s Bindass, which says that it will be a youth oriented GEC. In fact, Bindass, which is scheduled for launch in mid 2007 with an outlay of Rs.2 billion, says that it will be India’s first local youth entertainment brand (more of those chimerical singing, dancing, doling out slapstick humour, Indian idols?). There is also the recently announced Viacom- 18 venture in the GEC space, which has US-based Viacom, teaming up with India’s very own Raghav Bahl owned TV 18. Read More :-
IIPM | Arindam Chaudhuri | 4Ps Business & Marketing | Business & Economy | Kkoooljobs | Planman Media | Planman Consulting | Planman Marcom | Planman Technologies | Planman Financial | Planman Motion Pictures | GIDF | The Daily Indian | IIPM Think Tank | The Sunday Indian March 27 Spider-Man 3 has been 2007’s only super hit at the Indian BO!While everyone is going gaga over how Bollywood is slowly getting corporatised, fact is that the hype may be a little
While marketing May appear to be the reigning trend in tinsel town, apart from a few big producers (Yash Raj, Dharma Productions, UTV, Sahara One Motion Pictures, Pritish Nandy Communications- PNC), most of the industry is still reeling under low budgets and the age old tussle between distributors and producers. Rauf Ahmed, former editor of Filmfare says that sadly movie marketing still mostly depends on the ‘star attraction’ instead of other merits of the film. “The hero factor works a lot and stars are still the bestsellers in India,” he points out. February 25 Child LabourEconomic February 12 Democracy needs strong oppositionAfter the presidential polls,
“The party did not take a decision to launch such a slanderous campaign against the presidential candidate. It has indeed harmed the party’s reputation. But more than the BJP, it was a media creation,” BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told B&E. Party insiders claim that the Advani camp carried out the smear campaign without taking the party chief into confidence. Rajnath Singh hit back by appointing Advani-baiters like Murli Manohar Joshi & Yashwant Sinha as chief of party’s economic affairs committee & foreign affairs committee, respectively.
With every passing day the schism is growing wider among the two camps & any possibilities of a rapprochement, getting bleaker. This may well delight the ruling coalition, but a weak opposition, does not augur well for the health of a democracy. January 30 Rediff enters content sharing spaceEven in the social networking space, Rediff would have to deal with the likes of Orkut & Facebook, who have already gained popularity amongst millions of users worldwide. Considering the penetration these websites have already achieved,
In terms of business model, however, iShare has nothing unique to offer. Balakrishnan says, “We are looking for revenues from advertising & we are already in talks with a lot of companies for placing advertisements.” Overall, this jammed move from Rediff will require tremendous investment & technical expertise to overcome initial jitters. |
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