Science-Niels bohr!!!!

*_How do you calculate the height of a sky scraper using a barometer ?_

*The following concerns a question in a physics degree exam at theUniversity of Copenhagen:

"Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with abarometer.

"One student replied:"You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer, thenlower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. Thelength of the string plus the length of the barometer will equal theheight of the building."This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that thestudent was failed immediately.

He appealed on the grounds that hisanswer was indisputably correct, and the university appointed anindependent arbiter to decide the case. The arbiter judged that theanswer was indeed correct, but did not display any noticeable knowledgeof physics. To resolve the problem it was decided to call the student inand allow him six minutes in which to provide a verbal answer whichshowed at least a minimal familiarity with the basic principles ofphysics. For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creasedin thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to whichthe student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, butcouldn't make up his mind which touse.

On being advised to hurry up the student replied as follows:

"Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of theskyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes toreach the ground. The height of the building can then be worked out fromthe formula H = 0.5g x t squared. But bad luck on the barometer.

"Or if the sun is shining you could measure the height of thebarometer, then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow. Thenyou measure the length of the skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter it isa simple matter of proportional arithmetic to work uut the height of theskyscraper.

"But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie ashort piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum,first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The heightis worked out by the difference in the gravitational restoring force T =2 pi sqrroot (l/g)."

Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would beeasier to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper inbarometer lengths, then add them up.

"If you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course,you could use the barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof ofthe skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference inmillibars into feet to give the height of the building.But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independenceof mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would beto knock on the janitor's door and say to him 'If you would like a nicenew barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height ofthis skyscraper'.

"The student was Niels Bohr, the only Dane to win the Nobel prize forPhysics.

The Not So Secret Secrets of Success

Have you ever heard of the "secrets of success"? Many times people are trying to sell you these "secrets" for a very high price! Well, in my five years of Internet marketing experience, I haven't learned any "secrets". These so-called "secrets" are mostly common sense and hard work. We all know these "secrets". We just have to apply them and use them consistently.

"Secret" #1 - People Dealing with people can be hard, but we all know we must be courteous and professional. You need to accept the fact that you cannot please everybody. When you come across one of these people you cannot please no matter what you do, just deal with them firmly, but courteously and professionally. Not a "secret"! MOE Motto -Treat people as you would like to be treated!"

Secret" #2 - PassionWe all know that we need to like we do in order to be really successful at it. If you are interested in pets do not start a business dealing with cars! ;-) Building an online business will take a lot of passion to get through the frustration, obstacles, and other difficulties. There will be many times when we will need our passion to get us through! Not a "secret"!

"Secret" #3 - Customer ServiceAnother "secret" is to treat the customer with respect and courtesy. It will not be easy to deal with difficult customers this way, but it can be done. I have worn down some of the nastiest customers by a continuing campaign of courtesy, politeness and professionalism! Each time I dealt with this one lady, she was less and less rude and upset and more relaxed and easy to deal with. Eventually, she was thanking me and praising me for being so helpful and nice. Don't be condescending and don't let yourself get upset. Remain calm, yet be firm and respectful. Not a "secret"! "

Secret #4 - PromotionTo build a business, people must know that you and your business exist. Advertising, promotion and networking are how this is done. Set up a promotion schedule and stick with it. Be consistent. This may get tedious at times, but it must be done! Write and submit articles, publish an ezine, get listed all over the web, do link exchanges, swap ezine ads, compile a fr~e ebook for viral marketing, subscribe to announcement lists, visit message boards, get involved in discussion groups...... ..there are hundreds of ways of promoting yourself and your online business! Not a "secret"! "

Secret" #5 - Hard WorkDespite what many people have said, it is not easy to "get rich overnight" and "making thousands a week, while doing nothing" just doesn't happen. To be successful you will need to work and work hard. This is where passion for your work comes in! Not a "secret"!

"Secret" #6 - CommitmentExpanding on the hard work "secret", you will need to make a commitment to success. You must be willing to make sacrifices and work long hours. This will not happen overnight... .it could take years. Are you prepared for years of frustration, hard work, ups and downs, dealing with people (good and bad), rejections, and everything else that comes along with building a business? Not a "secret"!

"Secret" #7 - PrideTake pride in your work. Your work and your business will be a reflection of you. Build your reputation for a solid foundation of success. Be true to yourself and your business. Not a "secret"!

"Secret" #8 - GoalsBe aware of what you want and how you want to get it. Do not go blindly into business without some planning of your goals and accomplishments. Use short term smaller goals to eventually reach your long term ultimate goal of success. Not a "secret"! So we know in order to start and build a business, we must plan our goals, be prepared for the work and commitment of building that business, and that we must build a reputation of trust and professionalism.I know we all knew that. It just helps to be reminded once in awhile! ;-)About

The AuthorTerri Seymour owns and operates MyOwnEzine.comLearn to publish and promote your own ezine. mailto: subscribe@myownezin e.comSign-up for the FR~E MOE Ezine Publishing Ecourse mailto:moe-mini-course@ getresponse. comYou can contact Terri at mailto: ter02@newnorth. net

Informative-tips for mailing!!!!

7 RULES FOR GAFFE FREE EMAILS


E-mail is like a digital postcard—anyone can read it. Of course, that doesn't mean you have to send that postcard to everyone on the planet. But with instant communication can come instant e-gaffes. One wrong click can drop your career or your reputation into the dumpster. Follow these rules to save yourself from embarrassment.

Rule 1: Always check the To field before you click Send.
Rule 2: Always check the To field before you click Send.
Rule 3: Always check the To field before you click Send.

Rule 4: Remember the carpenter's rule, "Measure twice, cut once," and think twice before sending once. In other words, put that message aside and let your temper (or lust) cool before you send it.

Rule 5: Use draft folders with caution. No matter what e-mail program you use, it can be easy to send an e-mail in progress by accident. Save that hot-and-heavy note on a floppy—and lock it in a vault.

Rule 6: Old news can become bad news. Find your inner Yoda (or inner editor) and pause before you write something that could come back to haunt you later. In short, avoid future embarrassment by not writing anything even remotely off color or off the cuff. When in doubt, hit the Cancel key instead of Send—and remove anything potentially mortifying. Remember, too, that deleting sent e-mails on your system is only half the story; they could be sitting out there on some server, just waiting for a subpoena. (Remember the ancient e-mails exhumed for Microsoft's antitrust trial?)

Rule 7: Don't make jokes or comments via e-mail that you wouldn't make in person. "E-mail can be a minefield of unintended insults," says Judy Heim, communications maven and longtime PC World writer. "I've stopped wisecracking in e-mail. It's too easy for comments to be misconstrued. "

Informative-Corporate ladder

Tips on climbing the corporate ladder

http://us.rediff.com/money/2005/nov/29gupta.htm

I have a dream that my children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character. -- Martin Luther King, American civil rights leader, 1963.

There probably isn't a person in the world who would not wish for a fair chance, and an opportunity to succeed. We would all prefer to be measured by the content of our character. In the business world, this translates into an opportunity for a rewarding career.

American companies like Rohm and Haas have been working for more than 40 years to be more inclusive, to put the diverse talents of their workforce to full use. There's no doubt that significant progress has been made, and no doubt that more needs to occur. For that to happen, both individuals and corporations need to take responsibility to effect change.

There have always been differences between perception and reality. During my career, I have observed that the perception of a successful leader in a small, entrepreneurial company can be quite different from the perception of a successful leader in a large corporation. In an entrepreneurial organisation, one's success is almost always the result of individual performance. Measurement of success is absolute -- and can be tied to the amount of money one makes, or the amount of individual recognition one achieves.

In a large corporation, success is somewhat dependent on individual abilities, but also heavily reliant upon team performance and influence skills. Here, success is relative -- one's degree of success is measured against the performance of others, before the next move up the corporate career ladder.

Ultimately, we are all responsible for our own careers. However, it is important to know and understand the impact of perceptions, and a willingness to recognise that companies expect different skills at different points in one's career.

As a man of Indian ancestry, I have developed my own beliefs about the perceptions of Indian professionals. These are my personal opinions, and may not reflect reality, but when I mentor or speak with Indian groups, these are some of the perceptions we discuss:

Excellent academic credentialsSmart and aggressiveAmbitiousVery good individual contributorsGood communication skillsGood functional leadersNot necessarily good leaders of large, diverse organisations
What's the missing link here? Strong influence skills.
Whether you are Asian, African, Japanese, French, Polish, Brazilian or American, the skill sets expected of you will change as you rise through an organisation.

Early in your career, you are known for specific, often specialised skills. For example, you know the intricacies of tax law especially well, or you are up to date on the latest generally accepted accounting rules. People seek you out for your expertise, individual knowledge and aptitude.

Those incredible skills you had at the beginning and middle part of your career -- in accounting or tax -- become less important as you move higher up in an organisation. These skills are replaced by your ability to influence and persuade people -- often your peers, or people higher in the organisation than yourself.

In these later stages, people seek you out because of your collective experience across many endeavours, and for the people you know both within and outside of your company. Your ability to move a project forward that involves many team members is valued. You bring solutions to the organisation even before they realize that a problem exists.

These are the skills to develop in order to reach these higher levels of performance:

Learning agility: The ability to learn new things even as you let go of outdated conceptsFlexibility: Being multi-dimensionalRisk-taking: Get out of your comfort zone and try something newFocus on results/performanceSurround yourself with positive thinkersForm deep and meaningful relationships, personally and professionally Find mentors/sponsors within and outside the organisationDeliver on your commitmentsBehave transparentlyConfront realityFind the right balance between work and the rest of your life
These are characteristics to avoid:
Rigidity, being one dimensionalPlaying organisational politics to the exclusion of developing your own skillsCynical/negative thinkingMaking false promisesHarbouring hidden agendas
Above all, as you make this journey, be true to yourself. You will not get ahead by trying to act like, talk like or behave like anyone else. You must be sincere, open and straightforward.

The best advice I ever received was to find the kind of company whose value and standards most closely match your own. You will spend a large portion of your life in the work environment, and you will struggle if you constantly feel different than others around you. Seek out a company where it feels 'right' -- where you can use the full extent of your intelligence, passion and drive -- to move both your career and the company forward.

A good company will value the differences it sees in the workforce. A smart manager will understand that there are legitimately effective ways to get things done that might look different than the path he or she would have chosen. A smart employee who wants to be a successful manager will understand that influence skills really are a combination of aptitude, attitude and approach.

I'm talking here about diversity. In my own company, diversity is an essential component of our business strategy.

Diversity of thought; sensitivity to regional differences, a sensitivity to gender, race, ethnicity and sexual preference -- along with an understanding of the common business trends and principles that transcend political boundaries -- are essential to our longterm survival and success.

We take diversity so seriously at Rohm and Haas that I am accountable to our board of directors on this topic on an ongoing basis -- and they are not shy about encouraging our efforts toward further improvement.

I have also been the personal beneficiary of working for a company that has valued diversity throughout my time here. When I first came to Rohm and Haas 34 years ago,

I was not quite feeling at home anywhere. I was young, living outside my native land, and new to the chemical industry. However, I can say with assurance that, early on, my colleagues made me feel welcome everywhere, enabling me to develop my own career in part with their help and guidance. This is a tribute to the culture of Rohm and Haas, its core values, and the values of my co-workers.

Jack Welch, the former chairman of General Electric, made an observation that I happen to agree with wholeheartedly. It sums up my belief in what every leader needs to do to ensure success: 'We spend all of our time on people. The day we screw up the people thing, the company's over.'

The discovery, deployment and development of talent is the lifeblood of any company, and the competitive difference in the ability to bring innovation to the global market.
If we believe we should all be judged by the content of our character, then an ongoing commitment to diversity is an integral part of being citizens and companies of the world.

Diversity just makes good business sense.

Raj L Gupta is chairman, president and CEO, Rohm and Haas, a Philadelphia-based Fortune 500 firm that makes products for the personal care, grocery, home and construction markets, and the electronics industry.

Informative-Mailing etiquete..........

Kindly read and adhered to the following Golden Rules of the mailing group.

1. Please monitor the messages for a few days to get a feel for what common questions are asked, and what topics are deemed off-limits. This is commonly referred to as lurking. When you feel comfortable with the group, then you can start posting.

2. Typing mail messages all in upper case is considered SHOUTING! and rude.

3. When quoting someone else, remove what isn't directly applicable to your reply. Don't automatically quote the entire body of messages you arereplying to when it's not necessary. Leave only the minimum necessary to provide context for your reply.

4. Nobody likes reading a long message in quotes for the third or fourth time, only to be followed by a one line response: "Yeah, me too."

5. Be professional and careful what you say about others. Email is easily forwarded and often archived or stored, so whatever you say may come back to haunt you.

6. Never send chain letters through the Internet. A chain letter is simply sending the same e-mail someone sends to you to other people, just for the sake of sending the letter.

7. Be careful when using sarcasm and humor. Without face to facecommunications the other person may take your words as criticism. When being humorous, use emoticons to express humor. (tilt your head to the left to see the emoticon smile) :-) means happy face.

8. It is extremely rude to forward personal email to mailing listswithout the original author's permission.

9. Sending a subscription or unsubscription notice directly to the listinstead of to a listserv is annoying to others. Only messages meant to be read by the entire group should go to the list.

10. Send a personal mail message aimed at one person to that person. Not to a publicly distributed news group or list-serv. Otherwise, be prepared to get e-mail messages teasing you or expressing people's annoyance.
Follow any and all guidelines that the list owner has posted; the list ownerestablishes the local "netiquette" standards for her/his list.

11. When posting a question to a discussion group, request that responses be directed to you personally. Post a summary or answer to your question to the group.

12. Posting an advertisement in news groups, unless it is speciallychartered for that purpose like the forsale newsgroup. or sendingunsolicited advertisements with e-mail is consideredrude and in violation of the spirit of the Internet.

13. If you must cross-post messages to multiple news groups, include the name of the groups at the top of the mail message with an apology for any duplication.

14. The Internet is a limited resource that needs to be conserved. If you lose interest in a newsgroup or list-serv, unsubscribe from it so that the postings or messages do not clog up the network being sent to you. Do not send messages to a 2000 people, when you only want 5 to see it.

15. Be courteous and respect other people. If youare abusive, you run the risk of the Internet community using its own form to chastise you. The Internet community can use their individual orcollective "voices" to inform and sometimes even ostracize you with "flame" messages. If your boorish behavior persists, they can contact your Network Administrator to report your abuses. Acting responsibly and followinggeneral customs allows everyone to experience a global adventure of open communication, information, and resources which ultimately provides a unique and fun exploration of the electronic frontier called Cyberspace.

Inspiration-RESOLUTIONS

Quit Those Bad Habits

Do we really need to name them again? Okay just one last time: smoking, drinking, reckless driving, junk food, junk TV, these are all bad for your health. Over time these habits can mercilessly dent you health and shorten your life. Now you can't say you have not been warned. Quitting means improving your health right away.

Exercise

Remember the old saying… use it or lose it. Its healthy to raise your pulse, get your blood moving and flushing those sweat glands. Make it a daily routine. Alternatively, a 20-minute low impact workout three to four times a week can do wonders for your heart, circulatory system, digestion and even mental clarity.
Sprinkle your day with spurts of activity. Use the stairs. Walk briskly. Run on the spot as you watch television. Do not overdo it. When it comes to exercise, take it easy but take it .

Enjoy Life

Remember, all work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy. It may even make him a sick boy. Is there enough laughter in your life? Laughter is a good medicine. It is also a great stress buster and a mind liberator. If you have gotten bored, dull and predictable, buck the trend. Hang out with the kids. Be silly and spontaneous. Play a game without keeping score. Learn a new skill. Play an instrument. Learn to express yourself artistically. Use recreation to "recreate" yourself.

Eat Natural and raw
Organic is best. Modern foods have been altered to justify commercial interests. The challenges of the farming industry: How can plant produce be kept longer? How can they be ripened slowly on the shelf after early plucking? How can they look good so that the customer would be tempted to buy?
Most of the time, your food is a frightening cocktail of chemicals. Organically grown foods are best for our bodies, families and the environment. Let's resolve to support farmers and merchants who support the earth.

Take your vitamins
In the long run, using a proper vitamin/mineral supplement is like a health insurance, only better. You will feel good physically. More importantly, it will give you peace of mind. You are worth it. Strive to take wholesome natural vitamins.

Cut Sugar
We are sugar addicts. We take too much refined sugar. It is bad for us. The human species is suffering from obesity in unprecedented proportions. We are more obese that any other animal. Hence, diabetes and heart disease are rising at alarming levels.

Cut Salt
Salt is an acquired taste. It is really bad news. There is an alarming increase in high blood pressure in the population. Cutting salt is the simplest way to keep hypertension in check.

Eat a balanced diet
Make sure you get your daily fill of high quality protein like fish, eggs, yoghurt, cheese and soy. Of the three main food groups, proteins are the most vital. Cut the refined starches. Make sure you get good quality fat.

Learn
Our tenure on this earth is precious. Use it well or lose it. When we stop learning we start dying. Don't kill time, fill it by reading, listening, discussing, creating, producing and contributing something worthwhile.

Set goals
We are basically goal-seeking organisms. We are motivated and inspired by goals. In his book, Slaying The Dragon, Michael Johnson tells how goal setting took him from the devastating loss in Barcelona in 1992 to two unbeatable golds and an amazing record breaking performance in Atlanta in 1996. If itt can work for Michael, it certainly can for you.

For your health, set goals- what is your ideal weight, how much do you want to work out, when do you want to quit smoking etc. Making and meeting commitments can be fun, motivating and exciting. The beauty about goal setting is that it will creep into other areas of your life. Soon, things improve all round.

Plan and Review
Take time to plan your life. Spend an hour every Sunday. Planning the week ahead. Spend 15 minutes every morning planning each day. This will make your life less stressful as you will put "first things first" in and around your life.

Fast once a month
Take a juice fast for 24 hours once a month. This puts the system in low gear, detoxifies it, conserves energy and restores the hormonal balance. It also helps you appreciate your food more.

Meditate
Meditation is refreshingly different from any other human activity. It fosters calmness, insight, energy, inspiration and creativity.

The health benefits are enormous. Minding the mind it seems also mends the body. It is simple and absolutely free. It is also relatively easy to learn. The investment of time is also minimal, about 20 minutes per day.

Think positively
Attitude is everything. Keep your chin up. Smile. Loosen up. Deliberately choose an optimistic outlook. People who are positive have better chances of winning battles against serious illness. It really seems that the mind is master over matter. If that's the case, you would do well to mind your thoughts.

Take care of mother earth
We have been taking her for granted for too long. It is no surprise that she is not well. Still, it is not too late. There is much that can be done still. Each of us can play a role protecting and preserving the environment. We need to create a sustainable future for ourselves and all the generations that follow. When it comes to it, it is still about the 3Rs - reduce, reuse and recycle.

Commune with the spirit
Whether it is in Nature, in halls of worship or on your meditation cushion, take time to relate to your should on a deeper level. Who are you? Why are you here? What is your mission? Call it God, Creator or the Universe, see yourself in the greater scheme of things, What is good for the soul is good for the body, your family, the community and the world, Be at peace with yourself.

Help someone
Service also heals the should and spirit. The sacrifice comes from "scared fired". Visit an old folks home. Try volunteering for hospice work. Join the Red Cross or a service organisation.

Or just remember a neighbour in need. You will both benefit. Be ready to connect. Make eye contact. "Smile" with your eyes. Spread cheer. Be an instrument of love.

Economy-made in INDIA gets stronger!!!!

Made-in-India brand gets stronger

Suveen K Sinha in New Delhi February 18, 2006
http://us.rediff.com/money/2006/feb/18spec.htmThe Pune factory of Tata Motors has a training wing where one can observe young apprentices at work. Some of them have studied up to Class X, some up to Class XII. Few of those faces have had contact with a razor
.
However, their hands move deftly over basic tools as well as laser and computer numerically controlled machines. This focus on skills - the training wing was the first to be set up by the factory's founder, S Moolgaokar, in 1965 - also manifests itself in the company's production engineering wing, which makes dyes for global marquees such as Jaguar, Ford, Toyota and Fiat.

This skill set came to the aid of the company when it found itself driving through uncertain terrain in the 1990s, as it embarked on a three-phase programme to rejuvenate itself by increasing productivity, cutting costs and improving quality.
Nine years ago, Tata Motors had close to 38,000 employees earning an annual turnover of Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion). At present, its turnover is Rs 21,000 crore (Rs 210 billion) earned by 30,000 employees. Its salary cost has dropped to 5.5 per cent of turnover from 10-11 per cent five years ago.

"The attitude of 'can do' pervades the organisation," says Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant. Skill, innovation, productivity and cost efficiency are also the leit motif at other Indian manufacturing houses, most of which found themselves wobbling when faced with the challenge of becoming globally competitive in the 1990s – a task made more onerous by the industrial downturn in the decade's second half.
Mahindra & Mahindra's 5,000 employees churned out 60 vehicles a day in 1994. The company now has 2,000 employees rolling out 160 vehicles every day with zero overtime.

Essar Steel has constructed the world's second-longest iron ore slurry pipeline of 267 km from Bailadilla to Visakhapatnam that can carry 8 million tonnes of iron ore a year and bring down transport costs from Rs 550 to Rs 80 a tonne.
Last year, when Japan's automotive giant Honda Motor expressed an intention to use two spark plugs in its 100-125 cc motorcycles to reduce engine friction, a cheer went up in the research and development wing of Bajaj Auto, which claims to be the first to use two spark plugs in motorcycle engines.

Maruti Udyog Limited, during the three years to 2004-05, cut costs by 30 per cent and increased productivity by 50 per cent. It has embarked on a similar programme for the next three years.

These are also companies that have traversed the great distance from the wobbly to the bountiful in just a few years. Tata Motors made a Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) loss in 2000-01. It made a profit of Rs 1,236 crore (Rs 12.36 billion) in the last financial year.

Maruti Udyog has moved from a loss of Rs 269 crore (Rs 2.69 billion) in 2000-01 to a net profit of Rs 853.6 crore (Rs 8.53 billion) in 2004-05.
Mahindra & Mahindra's Rs 512.6 crore (Rs 5.12 billion) profit for 2004-05 marked a steep climb from just Rs 96.9 crore (Rs 969 million) in 2001-02.
Essar Steel has, between 2002 and 2005, reduced its term debt by Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion). When the two-wheeler market shifted overwhelmingly from scooters to motorcycles, it was expected to claim Bajaj Auto as a casualty.

Today, the company is a strong number two in motorcycles with a 36 per cent share of the market.

As these companies turned around, they also turned economic theory on its head. In general, economies move from agrarian to manufacturing to services. In the 1990s, it was generally expounded that India had missed the manufacturing bus.

It remained untouched by the first wave of industrial offshoring revolution, which gravitated to China, Thailand and other countries in East Asia, helping a vast section of the working population migrate from agriculture to industry.
India's future, they said, lay in services. This gained credence as agriculture's share in India's gross domestic product fell to barely 20 per cent from 32 per cent in 1991, and that of services soared to 52 per cent from 41 per cent.

Industry's share remained flat at 27 per cent and within that, manufacturing's remained stagnant at 17 per cent. The industrial downturn of 1996-97 doused whatever little hopes there may have been of a manufacturing renaissance.
However, services are much less efficient in creating jobs compared with manufacturing. That didn't work for India, 2.5 per cent of whose population is joining the workforce every year, compared with a population growth of 1.5 per cent.

Says Shirish Sankhe, a partner in consultancy company McKinsey: "Without manufacturing, India could not grow. Manufacturing is the best avenue to create jobs that may not be very education-intensive - services need education - and pull people out of agriculture."

There had to be a way to get on to the bus. It could not be done the China way, which was one of China's high-volume low-cost model, since China had already mastered it. Given its thrust on special economic zones and flexible labour policy, it would be difficult to upstage. Why would, say, a Walmart, which sources most of its goods from China, turn to India?

The solution was found in skill-based manufacturing, which increased cost efficiency while keeping quality high.

Says Baba N Kalyani, "India's strength lies in products that require multiple skills, using technology to increase productivity," says Baba N Kalyani, chairman and managing director of Pune-based Bharat Forge.

Over the last five years, the employee cost of Bharat Forge, the world's second-largest forging company, has dropped from 9 per cent of the turnover to 5 per cent, even as wages have doubled.

Bharat Forge was an early bird. Starting in 1989, it overhauled its business model to usher in modernisation. In the subsequent years, a similar wind quietly blew in to other manufacturing companies, dismissed in the 1990s as "old economy".
This was the time when Indian manufacturing was moving from the doomed low technology-low capital-cheap labour model delivering "just about" quality to a combination of high technology, higher capital and a very highly skilled workforce that promised global competitiveness.

Around this time, the business climate too changed. The country had always had a steady supply of technical manpower. Interest rates fell from 19-21 per cent to about 10 per cent and under.

Labour, which used to think of management as the devil's own, began to realise that their interests were not very divergent after all.

Ten years ago, M&M's Kandivli plant, near Mumbai, had a quota system under which each worker's actual work time was under 240 minutes a day. Today, every worker puts in 450-460 minutes a day, excluding the lunch break.
The coming of age of services, especially software, helped. People began to appreciate the technology-driven business model. M&M got into nuts and bolts, literally, to reduce the time taken for each activity in terms of seconds.

Its utility vehicle Scorpio, in the beginning, had about 6,000 welding spots. As the company gained confidence in its product, the number of spots came down to 5,500. Tata Motors' Pune plant alone has 100 robots. You wouldn't find a soul on Essar Steel's shopfloor, except in the electric arc furnace.

Even the public sector - whose prime function once upon a time was to create employment - caught on. In 1998, Steel Authority of India Ltd had 1,77,000 employees and produced 10 million tonnes of steel. Its private sector rivals produced half that amount with a workforce of just 5,000.

Having spent Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) on modernisation, SAIL now produces 13 million tonnes with 1,24,000 employees. Five years ago, SAIL was groaning under a debt burden of Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion). It is debt-free now. "We can withstand the dynamics of the market," says V S Jain, the company's chairman.
Cost efficiency has made it lucrative to do business in India. According to the Confederation of Indian Industry, the average return on investment in India is over 19 per cent, compared with just over 14 per cent for China.

That higher return is a reflection of higher value-added manufacturing. M&M spent a mere Rs 600 crore (rs 6 billion) on the Scorpio project. "For a multinational doing a similar project overseas, the cost would be Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion)," says the company's president (automotive), Pawan Goenka.

The result is a blow to the old wisdom that in vehicle manufacturing only a very high scale - Detroit pegged it at 1 million - can ensure profitability. The Scorpio is profitable on sales of 33,000 a year. Macroeconomic data too is beginning to show that Indian manufacturing is riding a crest, growing at 9 per cent a year, the highest in recent memory.

But more to the point is the changing world attitude. When Ratan Tata had announced Project Mint, which yielded Indica, in the 1990s, it was greeted with universal scepticism.

Experts thought the project would finally undo the man, whose track record had not been exactly exemplary. Two years ago when Tata said he would make a car that retailed for $2,000, the reaction was one of anticipation. The experts wanted to know how he would do it.
And, as the company's vice-president Rajiv Dube points out, no one uses the phrase "old economy" any more.

Next stage: The world
The once-troubled Daewoo Commercial Vehicles has turned around. Acquired by Tata Motors two years ago and renamed Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles, its net profit increased three times to Rs 45.8 crore (Rs 458 million) for April-December 2005. It has a 27 per cent share of the South Korean market.

"We cut costs there, just like in India, and increased exports substantially to South Africa, Middle East and South Asia, where Tata is already an established brand," says Tata Motors' managing director Ravi Kant.

Kant's explanation, though small, tells a big story - an Indian company acquiring a multinational and helping it prosper on the strength of cost efficiency and brand development in India.

India's exports account for just 0.8 per cent of world trade, compared with 6.4 per cent for China. But its share could quadruple in a decade, according to McKinsey.
"Manufacturing exports from India could increase from $40 billion in 2002 to approximately $300 billion by 2015, leading to a share of approximately 3.5 per cent in the world manufacturing trade," says the consultancy.

In part, that will be a result of the downsizing of blue-collar America - such as auto-component giant Delphi - and the subsequent outsourcing to low-cost countries in a way that does not increase exposure to China. But a big role will be played by Indian companies that are making the world take notice of the "Made in India" label.
Close to 5 per cent of Mahindra & Mahindra's turnover now comes from overseas, but it has been growing at 90 per cent. The company hopes to earn a fifth of its turnover from abroad in three years. "We have the ambition to become a truly global company," says M&M president (automotive), Pawan Goenka.

Last year, the company took control of Chinese tractor maker Jiangling, which gave it a foothold in the world's third-largest market and a low-cost base from which to export tractor kits to the US. Starting May this year, it will start selling the Scorpio and Bolero in Spain and Portugal.

Indian automotive component companies have already notched up a number of acquisitions overseas. Pune-based Bharat Forge, which has made six acquisitions in four countries in the last two years, has set a target to become the global leader in its business by 2008.

Tata Steel is the world's lowest-cost producer of steel. Hero Honda is the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer. And Maruti Udyog, in which Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp holds about 55 per cent of the equity, is slated to soon become bigger than the parent.

Infrastructure remains a constraint in India. Most infrastructure services cost 50-100 per cent higher here than in China, with Indian manufacturers paying twice as much for electricity and three times as much for rail freight.

However, according to consultancy firm KPMG, India scores better than either China or Brazil on business regulation, better than either on the burden of tax and customs administration, and better than Brazil on the perceived level of corruption.According to KPMG, many companies have developed effective "workarounds" to deal with India's infrastructural challenge. For instance, ports are indeed congested. But if you have the right clearing agents, you can ship cargo.

Humor-office etiquete n ethics!!!!

Funny but true!..


1. Never walk without a document in your handsPeople with documents in their hands look like hardworking employees heading for important meetings. People with nothing in their hands look like they're heading for the canteen. People with a newspaper in their hand look like they're heading for the toilet. Above all, make sure you carryloads of stuff home with you at night, thus generating the false impression that you work longer hours than you do.


2. Use computers to look busyAny time you use a computer, it looks like "work" to the casual observer.You can send and receive personal e-mail, chat and generally have a blast without doing anything remotely related to work. These aren't exactly the societal benefits that the proponents of the computer revolution would like to talk about but they're not bad either. When you get caught by your boss -and you *will* get caught- your best defense is to claim you're teaching yourself to use new software, thus saving valuable training expenses.


3. Messy deskTop management can get away with a clean desk. For the rest of us, it lookslike we're not working hard enough. Build huge piles of documents around your workspace. To the observer, last year's work looks the same as today's work; it's volume that counts. Pile them high and wide. If you know somebody is coming to your desk, bury the document you'll need halfway down in an existing stack and rummage for it when he/she arrives.


4. Voice MailNever answer your phone if you have voice mail. People don't call you justbecause they want to give you something for nothing - they call because they want YOU to do work for THEM. That's no way to live. Screen all your calls through voice mail. If somebody leaves a voice mail message for you and it sounds like impending work, respond during lunch hour when you know they're not there - it looks like you're hardworking and conscientious even though you're being a devious weasel.


5. Looking Impatient and AnnoyedAlways try to look impatient and annoyed to give your bosses the impression that you are always busy.


6. Leave the office late Always leave the office late, especially when the boss is still around. You could read magazines and storybooks that you always wanted to read but have no time until late before leaving. Make sure you walk past the boss' room on your way out. Send important emails at unearthly hours (e.g. 9:35pm, 7:05am, etc.) and during public holidays.


7. Creative Sighing for EffectSigh loudly when there are many people around, giving the impression that you are under extreme pressure.


8. Stacking StrategyIt is not enough to pile lots of documents on the table. Put lots of books on the floor etc. (thick computer manuals are the best).


9. Build VocabularyRead up on some computer magazines and pick out all the jargon and new products. Use the phrases freely when in conversation with bosses.Remember: They don't have to understand what you say, but you will sound impressive.


10. Have 2 JacketsIf you work in a big open plan office, always leave a spare jacket draped over the back of your seat. This gives the impression that you are still on the premises. The second jacket should be worn while swanning around elsewhere

11. MOST IMPORTANT:DON'T forward this to your boss by mistake

Inspiration-quotes

Indigeniety

1. The calf forgets its mother before the mother forgets the calf.
2. We are not judged by what we say,but by what we do.
3. It is better to bleed than bruise.
4. It is never a struggle to teach an eagle to fly.
5. Work is the grindstone that puts an edge to the knife.
6. A good laugh is better than a day's wages.
7. Loud laugh is the sign of an empty mind.
8. Having a retired husband is like having a piano in the kitchen.
9. A man generally talks best about himself.
10. Together,everyone,achieves,more. (TEAM).
11. Financial success is empty until it serves a purpose.
12. Don't learn tricks of trade learn the trade..................anonymous.

1. If you live in the river you should make friends with the crocodile--Punjabi
2. Know when to speak,for many times it brings danger to give the best advice
to kings.---Robert Herrick.
3. If your strength is small,don't carry heavy burdens.If your words are worthless
don't advice.---Chinese.
4. Hearken unto they father that begat thee and despise not thy mother when
she is old.---old testament.
5. Pride thyself on what virtue thou hast and not on thy parentage.--Saadi.
6. Be not deceived with the first appearance of things,for show is not substance.
English proverb.
7. Whenever you measure somebody,make sure you have taken into account
what hills and valleys he came through before he got to wherever he is.
Lorraine.
8. Always hold your head up,but be careful to keep your nose at a friendly
level.-----Forman.
8. Before you borrow money from a friend,decide whixh you need more.
anonymous.
9. In doing good avoid fame. In doing bad avoid disgrace.--Chungtse 275 b.c.
10.Remember value of time,success of perseverence,pleasure of working,dignity of simplicity,worth of character,power of kindness,influence of example,obligation of duty,wisdom of economy,virtue of patience,improvement of talent,joy of origination.---Field.
11.Secret of life is not to do what you like but to like what you do. anonymous.
12.World is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is
generally interrupted by someone doing it.----Harry Emerson.

1. Do all the good you can
By all the means you can
In all the ways you can
In all the places you can
At all the times you can
To all the people you can
As long as ever you can. -----Wesley 1791.
2. Make money your God and it will plague you like the Devil.---Fielding.
3. Things one ought to desire in a wife:
Chastity,Sobriety,Industry,Frugality,Cleanliness,Knowledge of domestic
affairs,Good temper,Beauty.----Corbett.
4. Never look down on anybody unless you are helping him up.---anonymous.
5. A husband should tell his wife everything that he is sure she will find out and
before anyone else does.---Dewar.
6. Take care that old age does not wrinkle your spirit even more than your
face.---Montaigne.
7. Consider people as tea bags.They don't know their strength until they get
into hot water.----Mckinnon
8. Do not hold the deluson that your advancement is accomplished by
crushig others.---Cicero
9. Most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their
mother.----Hesburgh
10.Where there is hate let me sow love
Where there is injury pardon
Where there is doubt faith
Where there is despair hope
Where there is darkness light.------Humphrey
11.The heights great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight.
But,they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.
Wadsworth.

Humor-freedom at midhalf!!!

If You Love Someone

THE ORIGINAL QUOTE If you love someone, Set her free... If she comes back, she's yours, If she doesn't, she never was....

THE NEW VERSIONS R.....

Pessimist: If you love someone, Set her free ... If she ever comes back, she's yours, If she doesn't, as expected, she never was

Optimist: If you love someone, Set her free ... Don't worry, she will come back.

Suspicious: If you love someone, Set her free ... If she ever comes back, ask her why.

Impatient: If you love someone, Set her free ... If she doesn't come back within some time forget her.

Patient: If you love someone, Set her free ... If she doesn't come back, continue to wait until she comes back ...

Playful If you love someone, Set her free ... If she comes back, and if you love her still, set her free again, repeat ....

C++ Programmer: if(you-love(m_she)) m_she.free() if(m_she == NULL) m_she = new CShe;

Animal-Rights Activist: If you love someone, Set her free, In fact, all living creatures deserve to be free!!

Lawyers: If you love someone, Set her free, Clause 1a of Paragraph 13a-1 in the Second Amendment of the Matrimonial Freedom Biologist : If you love someone, Set her free, She'll evolve.

Statisticians : If you love someone, Set her free, If she loves you, the probability of her coming back is high If she doesn't, your relation was improbable anyway.

Schwarzenegger's fans: If you love someone, Set her free, SHE'LL BE BACK!

Over possessive person : If you love someone don't set her free.

MBA : If you love someone set her free instantaneously and look for others simultaneously

Psychologist : If you love someone set her free If she comes back her super ego is dominant If she doesn't come back her id is supreme If she doesn't go, she must be crazy.

Somnabulist : If you love someone set her free If she comes back it's a nightmare If she doesn't, you must be dreaming.

ERP functional expert : If you love someone set her free If she comes back, map her into your system If she doesn't, carry out a gap-fit analysis

Finance expert : If you love someone set her free If she comes back, its time to look for fresh loans If she doesn't, write her off as an asset gone bad.

Marketing Specialist : If you love someone set her free If she comes back she has brand loyalty If she doesn't, reposition the brand in new market.

Humor-traffic vows by a dutchman from baan,ne in benelux,he spent two years in hydrabad!!

For the benefit of every Tom, Dick and Harry visiting India and daring to drive on Indian roads, I am offering a few hints for survival.. They are applicable to every place in India except Bihar, where life outside a vehicle is only marginally safer.

Indian road rules broadly operate within the domain of karma where you do your best, and leave the results to your insurance company. The hints are as follows: Do we drive on the left or right of the road? The answer is "both".

Basically you start on the left of the road, unless it is occupied. In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess. Simply trust your instincts, ascertain the direction, and proceed. Adherence to road rulesleads to much misery and occasional fatality.

Most drivers don't drive, but just aim their vehicles in the generally intended direction. Don't you get discouraged or underestimate yourself except for a belief in reincarnation, the other drivers are not in any better position. Don't stop at pedestrian crossings just because some fool wants to cross the road. You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back. Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly or has come to a dead stop because some minister is in town. Still some idiot may try to wade across, but then, let us not talk ill of the dead.

Blowing your horn is not a sign of protest as in some countries. We horn to express joy, resentment, frustration, romance and bare lust (two brisk blasts), or just mobilize a dozing cow in the middle of the bazaar. Keep informative books in the glove compartment. You may read them during traffic jams, while a waiting the chief minister's motorcade, or waiting! for the rainwater to recede when over ground traffic meets underground drainage.

Occasionally you might see what looks like a UFO with blinking colored lights and weird sounds emanating from within. This is an illuminated bus, full of happy pilgrims singing bhajans. These pilgrims go at breakneck speed, seeking contact with the Almighty, often meeting with success.

Auto Rickshaw (Baby Taxi):

The result of a collision between a rickshaw and an automobile. This three-wheeled vehicle works on an external combustion engine that runs on a mixture of kerosene oil and creosote. This triangular vehicle carries iron rods, gas cylinders or passengers three times its weight and dimension, at an unspecified fare. After careful geometric calculations, children are folded and packed into these auto rickshaws until some children in the periphery are not in contact with the vehicle at all. Then their school bags are pushed into the microscopic gaps all round so those minor collisions! with other vehicles on the road cause no permanent damage. Of course, the peripheral children are charged half the fare and also learn Newton's laws of motion en route to school. Auto-rickshaw drivers follow the road rules depicted in the film Ben Hur, and are licensed to irritate.

Mopeds:

The moped looks like an oil tin on wheels and makes noise like an electric shaver. It runs 30 miles on a teaspoon of petrol and travels at break-bottom speed. As the sides of the road are too rough for a ride, the moped drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road; theywould rather drive under heavier vehicles instead of around them and are often "mopped" off the tarmac.

Leaning Tower of Passes:

Most bus passengers are given free passes and during rush hours, there is absolute mayhem. There are passengers hanging off other passengers, who in turn hang off the railings and the overloaded bus leans dangerously, defying laws of gravity but obeying laws of surface tension. As drivers get paid for overload (so many Rupees per kg of passenger), no questions are ever asked. Steer clear of these buses by a width of three passengers.

One-way Street:

These boards are put up by traffic people to add jest in their otherwise drab lives. Don't stick to the literal meaning and proceed in one direction. In metaphysical terms, it means that you cannot proceed in two directions at once. So drive as you like, in reverse throughout, if you are the fussy type.

Lest I sound hypercritical, I must add a positive point also. Rash and fast driving in residential areas has been prevented by providing a "speed breaker"; two for each house. This mound, incidentally, covers the water and drainage pipes for that residence and is left un tarred for easy identification by the corporation authorities, should they want to recover the pipe for year-end accounting.

Night driving on Indian roads can be an exhilarating experience for those with the mental make up of Genghis Khan. In a way, it is like playing Russian roulette, because you do not know who amongst the drivers is loaded. What looks like premature dawn on the horizon turns out to be a truck attempting a speed record. On encountering it, just pull partly into the field adjoining the road until the phenomenon passes.

Our roads do not have shoulders, but occasional boulders. Do not blink your lights expecting reciprocation. The only dim thing in the truck is the driver, and with the peg of illicit arrack (alcohol) he has had at the last stop, his total cerebral functions add up to little more than anaught. Truck drivers are the James Bonds of India, and are licensed to kill.

Often you may encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above the ground. This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a single light on, usually the left one. It could be the right one, but never get too close to investigate. You may prove your point posthumously. Of course, all this occurs at night, on the trunk roads. During the daytime, trucks are more visible, except that the drivers will never show any Signal. (And you must watch for the absent signals; they are the greater threat). Only, you will often observe that the cleaner who sits next to the driver, will project his hand and wave hysterically. This is definitely not to be construed as a signal for a left turn. The waving is just an statement of physical relief on a hot day.

If, after all this, you still want to drive in India, have your lessons between 8 pm and 11 am-when the police have gone home and - The citizen is then free to enjoy the FREEDOM OF SPEED' enshrined in the constitution!!.

Howsit???

Homor-Annoying truth........

Subject: Barber & Asian Americans

There is this good ol' barber in some city in US. One day a Caucasian florist goes to him for a haircut. After the cut, he goes to pay the barber and the barber replies: "I am Sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I am doing a community service." The florist is happy and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber goes to open his shop, there is a "Thank you" card and a dozen roses waiting at his door. An African American cop goes for a haircut and he also goes to pay the barber and the barber replies: "I am Sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I am doing a community service." The cop is happy and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber goes to open his shop, there is a "Thank you" card and a dozen donuts waiting at his door. An Asian Software Engineer goes for a haircut and he also goes to pay the barber and barber replies; "I am Sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I am doing a community service." The next morning when the barber goes to open his shop, guess what he finds there - A dozen Asians waiting for a free Haircut. Those of us who don't belong to that group can laugh and cry with me. Others of us may want to use this joke as a mirror. We can't think that the more freebies we can get from others, the better we will be. For example, our past tendency to let others fight for our battles has resulted in NO ONE FIGHTING FOR US AT ALL, not us ourselves and not even some of the AsAm politicians.

Laughing and crying at the same time,

Economy-Business leaders of india..........

Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy has emerged as India's most admired business leader, for the fifth consecutive year, in the 5th Annual B-School Study conducted by Brand-comm, a leading brand consulting, advertising and PR firm headquartered in Bangalore

About 545 students from 13 leading management institutes across the country participated in the survey.

B-school students admire Narayana Murthy for being a socially responsible individual. He is looked up to as a leader who is honest and passionate about his work. The clarity and consistency in Murthy's personal branding and positioning seem to have been highly effective for the last five years.

Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Group, occupies the second position in the list of most admired business leaders. Though Ratan Tata was in the second position last year as well, the margin between the first and the second positions has widened this year.

The Ambanis, including the late Dhirubhai Ambani occupy the third position, and Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro Limited, Vijay Mallya, Chairman, UB Group, and Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, are jointly placed in the fourth position.

MOST-ADMIRED BUSINESS LEADERS
1
N R Narayana Murthy
Infosys Tech
2
Ratan Tata
Tata Group
3
Dhirubhai, Mukesh and Anil Ambani
Reliance Group
4
Azim Premji, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Vijay Mallya
Wipro, A V Birla Group, UB Group
5
Subroto Bagchi
MindTree Consulting
6
K V Kamath
ICICI Bank
7
Capt G R Gopinath
Air Deccan
8
Nandan Nilekani
Infosys Tech
9
Kishore Biyani
Pantaloon

If Ratan Tata is admired for being a visionary and for his commitment for the country's development, Azim Premji is admired for his values towards his employees, for his integrity, discipline and vision for Wipro.

The flamboyant Vijay Mallya, who was low in rankings last year has climbed up to the fourth position and is admired for contrasting set of qualities as compared to the top three. The qualities admired in Mallya are his energy, dynamism, flair, foresight and capacity to innovate.

The changing face of Indian economy seems to have triggered the entry of a whole new set of business leaders into the top 10 this year. With the retail industry seeing a boom period, the 'Badshah of retail' Kishore Biyani has found his way to the top 10 of the most admired B-school leaders.

The other new names in the top 10 include MindTree CEO Subroto Bagchi, ICICI Bank CEO K V Kamath, Air Deccan Managing Director Capt. G R Gopinath and Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani.
MOST-ADMIRED COMPANIES
1
Infosys
2
Tata
3
Wipro
4
HLL, MindTree, TCS and ITC, McKinsey
5
Oracle
6
Google
7
GE
8
Bharti
9
HSBC

Ramanujam Sridhar, CEO, Brand-comm, said, "There aren't too many surveys that I know that have survived for five years. We at Brand-comm are extremely proud and happy for having been able to conduct this survey successfully for five years now. This study reiterates the value of personal branding. People, like brands, can make a difference to companies."

Infosys and Tata continue to be the two most attractive Indian companies to work for, for the B-school students participating in the study. While Wipro has moved up the rankings, FMCG major HLL, which occupied the third rank last year, has slipped to the fourth place.

Procter and Gamble has also slipped below and moved out of the top 10.

Interestingly, this year's survey has thrown up some new 'most admired companies'.

The list includes MindTree Consulting, which has come up many notches to occupy the fourth place. Likewise, Reliance also has come back into the top 10 this year and occupies the fourth place jointly with MindTree, TCS, ITC and HLL. Companies like Oracle, Google, GE, Bharti and HSBC are the other companies who have entered the top 10 this year.

Though both Infosys and Tata were chosen as companies providing the best work environment, work culture and excellent HR practices and were chosen by a majority of the respondents, the IIM students were found to have a strong preference for McKinsey and Reliance.

Tata / Tata Group was named as the 'most admired corporate brand with operations in India.'

Infosys follows Tata in this category, with TCS and HLL, a remote third. TCS has moved up the ladder from being fifth last year. Notably, 'Indian' companies occupy the top 8 slots as best corporate brands and even the IIM students rate Infosys and Tata on par as the best corporate brand.

Pavan Padaki, director, creative planning, Brand-comm, who has been the architect of the study said: "This year the study has affirmed the power of personal branding. This is evident in the fact that despite the death of the great Dhirubhai Ambani and the subsequent family feud, the Ambanis continue to be in the top 5. This is a wonderful example of the enduring impact of personal branding."

"Also, 'sunshine' sectors like BPO, telecom, biotech, pharmaceuticals/healthcare, insurance, BPO, fashion, retail, etc. have failed to attract the B-Schools as potential industry sectors to build their careers. Consulting, software/hardware /EDP, banking/financial services, FMCG, followed by Investment Banking continue to be the top five industry sectors, as a choice for immediate placement for the B-school students."

The study also reveals that, unlike last year, the opinion of B-school students who are next generation business leaders is divided on whether they want to be entrepreneurs or want to work for an organisation. Surprisingly, no significant difference in opinion was found between the IIM and other B-school students in this regard.

Economy-y $ flling faster-ministrations!!!!

Why the dollar is falling so fast

AnalysisBy Steve Schifferes BBC News economics reporter

The US dollar is plunging in world currency markets - and bringing down share prices in its wake.

But why is the dollar under pressure - and what would be the consequences for the US economy if it continues to fall?

Behind the problems of the dollar lies the huge and growing US trade deficit, and the large Federal budget deficit.

A fall in the greenback could hit Asian countries whose governments hold huge foreign currency reserves in dollars
For many years financial markets have worried about the growing size of the US trade deficit - the difference between the amount the US imports from the rest of the world, and the amount it can sell to the rest of the world.

That deficit has now reached a record $742bn , or 7% of the US economy, and shows no signs of diminishing.

At the same time, tax cuts and the war in Iraq have kept the US budget deficit at around $400bn despite the booming economy.

Asian giants
Much of the trade gap relates to US commerce with East Asian countries such as China, Japan, and Korea, who sell much more to America than they buy.

Together, the East Asian countries have accumulated foreign currency surpluses of nearly $1 trillion, much of it held in US Treasury bonds denominated in dollars.

Thus they are funding both the budget gap and the trade gap.

These huge global imbalances are threatening to derail the world economy, the IMF and other international organisations have warned.

The classic economic view of how to correct such changes is to adjust the exchange
rate in order to make US goods cheaper and Asian goods more expensive.

But many Asian currencies - especially the Chinese yuan - do not float freely on international currency markets, and the US has long been pressuring China to revalue its currency.

Now the markets are beginning to take matters into their own hands, by forcing the US dollar down.

In the last few months, speculators selling off dollars are not just buying other currencies like the euro or yen, but they also buying commodities like gold and oil, forcing up their prices further.

In the long run, the fall in the dollar could lead to a cut in the trade deficit and a boost to US exports.

But this process often takes a long time, and in the meantime, it is fraught with dangers.

The fall in the dollar is worrying the IMF, the international organisation charged with surveillance of the world economy.

"A disorderly unwinding of global imbalances would be very damaging," IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato warned at its spring meeting in April.

Run on the dollar
In the first place, a rapid fall in the dollar, if it accelerates, could cause short-term problems for the US economy.

The higher price of imported goods could lead to a hike in domestic inflation, and it could take several years before consumers switch back to buying more US goods.
High inflation, combined with the stronger-than-expected growth of the US economy, could force the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, to keep raising interest rates.

They have already been raised 15 times, and now stand at 5%, partly on fears of a growing housing boom.

But the fears of inflation are also likely to affect the interest rates on long-term bonds, which determine mortgage rates.

The rising mortgage rates, while they may eventually dampen the housing boom, will also give a further boost to inflationary pressures.

International exporters hit
Meanwhile, foreign companies who have derived an increasing proportion of their sales and profits from the US market could also be hit by falling demand for their exports.

The sharp falls in non-US stock markets, especially in Asia, are a response to this fear, with electronics and car companies like Toyota and Sony especially vulnerable.

And that in turn could affect the growth rate of countries like China, who derive much of the growth in their economies from exports.

But the Asian exporters also have another reason to feel vulnerable.

As the value of the dollar falls, their reserves of the currency also reduce in value, as do the yields on the US Treasury bonds held by many of their central banks.

In buying such bonds these governments are, in effect, underwriting the large US Federal budget deficit as well.

This deficit is set to increase as the baby boomer generation faces retirement.
The Asian governments and investors may be tempted to sell many of their dollar holdings in order to protect themselves - but this would have the effect of weakening the dollar further.

And it would force the Fed to raise interest rates even more to protect the dollar.
Countries like China are reluctant to massively revalue their currency - because it would make investing in China much more expensive and could deter valuable foreign investment.

Managed float
This problem with the dollar has happened before, in the l980s, when it was Japan rather than China that was seen as the main threat.

At that time, the main industrialised countries worked together for a managed currency float in an agreement called the Plaza Accord.

The coordinated approach led to a managed decline in the value of the dollar, which then stabilised at a more sustainable level, supported by central banks.

However, the current US administration does not favour such an approach, believing that the markets should be left to their own devices.

And given the vast size of foreign currency markets today, it is doubtful that central banks could make such an effective intervention again.

The downside for the US in the l980s was that it was forced to enter into an international agreement with other governments that reduced its freedom to set its own domestic policy.

But in the absence of such an agreement, it looks like the markets themselves are finally deciding that the US 'twin deficits' are no longer sustainable.

And when the world's largest economy begins to look shaky, it is not surprising that confidence among financial markets is weakened around the world.

Humor-four worms in a feast fete!!!!!

A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.

Four worms were placed into four separate jars.

The first worm was put into a container of alcohol.
The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke.
The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup.
The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.

At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the followingresults: The first worm in alcohol - Dead.
The second worm in cigarette smoke -Dead.
Third worm in chocolate syrup - Dead.
Fourth worm in good clean soil - Alive.

So the Minister asked the congregation -

What can you learn from this demonstration?

Maxine was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said,

"As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!"

That pretty much ended the service --

Puzzle-whimsical brain gym!!!

Brain Gym!

Exercise of the brain is as important as exercise of the muscles. As we grow older, it's important that we keep mentally alert. The saying: "If you don't use it, you will lose it" also applies to the brain.

Below is a very private way to gage your loss or non-loss of intelligence. So take the following test presented here and determine if you are losing it or are still a MENSA candidate. OK, relax, clear your mind and . . . begin.

1. What do you put in a toaster?
The answer is bread. If you said "toast", then give up now and go do something else. Try not to hurt yourself. If you said, "bread", go to question 2.

2. Say "silk" five times. Now spell "silk". What do cows drink?
Answer: Cows drink water. If you said "milk", please do not attempt the next question. Your brain is obviously overstressed and may even overheat. It may be that you need to content yourself with reading something more appropriate such as "Children's World". If you said, "water" then proceed to question three.

3. If a red house is made from red bricks and a blue house is made from blue bricks and a pink house is made from pink bricks and a black house is made from black bricks, what is a greenhouse made from?
Answer: Greenhouses are made from glass. If you said "green bricks", what the heck are you still doing here reading these questions? If you said "glass", then go on to question four.

4. Twenty years ago, a plane is flying at 20,000 feet over Germany. If you will recall, Germany at the time was politically divided into West Germany and East Germany. Anyway, during the flight, TWO of the engines fail. The pilot, realizing that the last remaining engine is also failing, decides on a crash landing procedure. Unfortunately the engine fails before he has time and the plane crashes smack in the middle of "no man's land" between East Germany and West Germany. Where would you bury the survivors - East Germany or West Germany or in "no man's land"?

Answer: You don't, of course, bury survivors. If you said ANYTHING else, you are a real dunce and you must NEVER try to rescue anyone from a plane crash. Your efforts would not be appreciated. If you said, "Don't bury the survivors" then proceed to the next question.

5. If the hour hand on a clock moves 1/60th of a degree every minute then how many degrees will the hour hand move in one hour?
Answer: One degree. If you said "360 degrees" or anything other than "one degree", you are to be congratulated on getting this far, but you are obviously out of your league. Turn your pencil in and exit the room. Everyone else proceed to the final question.

6. Without using a calculator - You are driving a bus from London to Milford Haven in Wales. In London, 17 people get on the bus. In Reading, six people get off the bus and nine people get on. In Swindon, two people get off and four get on. In Cardiff, 11 people get off and 16 people get on. In Swansea, three people get off and five people get on. In Carmathen, six people get off and three get on. You then arrive at Milford Haven. What was the name of the bus driver?

Answer: Oh, for heaven sake! It was YOU, Read the first line!!!

Economy-bar stool postulate-a gud piece of work by david kamerchen

Bar Stool Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So,

that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers?How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings) .

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings) .

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!

''Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!

''That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!

''Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!

'The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.Professor of Economics, University of Georgia

Economy-corporate gamble

‘Grand Game’ is a money multiplying game on the American television game show ‘The Price is Right’. It involves stakes of $10,000 a day. It is gambling — the oldest game known to mankind. There is another money multiplying game, but a modern one. This involves millions of US households as victims and trillions of dollars as stakes. That is the US Fed policy-run game of first multiplying actual money several-fold as notional wealth, and again turning the multiplied notional money into actual by making it collateral for the actual but borrowed money.

There is another aspect to this new game. In the Grand Game, the player who stakes his money may win a fortune or lose his stake. But, in the Fed’s money multiplying game, the match is already fixed. The player that stakes its money, the US household, is destined to lose, and someone else — the US corporate, that is already chosen to win — is certain to win.

This dangerous game played in the US is being offered to all other nations as part of global financial integration and as a universal model. The unfolding story is about how the Fed policy game that bankrupts households and enriches corporates is passed off as the sophisticated end of modern economics.

In the last decade and more, particularly with the advent of globalisation in early 1990s, the US Fed seems to have chosen corporates as the principal vehicle to handle US household money. The economic rationale to bank on US corporates seems to be this: that money — read wealth — cannot be multiplied by households the way corporates can.

Money multipliers

Normal householders are just savers, not multipliers, of money. But corporates know how to multiply money. This money multiplying game policy-hosted by the US Fed is very different from the actual, not notional, money multiplier idea expounded by John Maynard Keynes.

The short story of the new game begins now.
Let’s assume that the Fed interest rate is 10 per cent and at that rate the US households have the potential to save $400 billion. This $400 billion is no imaginary number. Had the US households’ share of savings continued to be 80 per cent of the total, as in early 1980s, in the year 2006 it would have been $400 billion at the Fed rate of 10 per cent as in 1980s. US families would have kept most of their $400 billions savings in safe and fixed rated investments.

The next act of the story begins now. The Fed rate cuts the interest rate to levels of, say, 1 per cent or 2 per cent, as it was from 2002 to 2004 — that is intended repel savers and invite spenders. Americans are unlike the Japanese, who will save even at no interest. Snubbed by low rates, Americans prefer to spend rather than save. And the most of what little they save, they don’t bank but invest in corporate stocks, seeking risky but high returns. A major part of their indirect savings through pension and other funds is also invested in stocks.

The state-administered social security provided by the US government also unburdens the households from their traditional need to save for a rainy day and helps them take risks with their savings. So, thanks to the low Fed rate regime, what households would otherwise save and bank finds its way, through the retail malls, into the reserves of corporates as their income or into their capital or as market capitalisation through Wall Street. How does the money thus removed from the pockets of households multiply through the corporates, and for whose benefit?

Investment in stocks

Assume that $200 billions, that is 50 per cent of the $400-billion savings mentioned earlier, is diverted into stocks by savers directly or through pension or other funds and the balance 50 per cent is converted into consumption spend. The $200 billion fresh investment in stock market will push the stock prices and the market index or fill the coffers of the corporates to the extent it is subscription to new stocks. This will create extra demand for stocks in the market and will push stock prices and index.

Thus the fresh investment in stocks multiplies into notional wealth in the form of higher, but unrealised, stock prices. Next, the extra consumption expenditure of $200 billion too multiplies several-fold, thanks to the high velocity of circulation of the dollar. Given the current velocity of circulation of the dollar of 10 or more — namely the number of times the dollar changes hands in a year — the $200 billion consumption spend turns into a revenue aggregate of $2,000 billion ($200 b x10) for the corporates.
Assuming a profit rate of 10 per cent on sales, the pre-tax corporate profit on the revenue aggregate of $2,000 billion will be $200 billion. As a third of it goes for tax, the post-tax profit will be $133 billion. On the basis of the arithmetic average price-earnings ratio of 16 in the US stock market, this will lead to appreciation in stock values by $2.133 trillion.

So, the $400 billion inducted as capital into the stock market and as income to corporates has a multiplier effect that produces notional wealth several times the actual. But the climax of the game is yet to come. And here it is. The actual money that multiplies several-fold into notional money is turned into actual money again, as if by a magic wand.

This happens by asset value-based lending, where the notional values act as collateral to borrow and fund more consumption or further investment in stocks by borrowers.
This leads to yet another round of multiplication of the borrowed actual money into notional money. In this multiplication game, the distinction between notional and actual values disappears. The result is a sub-prime crisis and the like. More.

Corporate control

In whose hands does the actual money multiply? Not with the households that stake their money. Nor for their benefit. The Fed game ensures that it is the US corporates that will own and control the wealth. The numbers speak. From 1960 to 1980, US households had a share of 70 per cent of the national savings, and corporate savings formed the remaining 30 per cent.

In the early 1980s, families’ share rose to 80 per cent plus and the corporate share was down to 20 per cent. This was when the US Fed interest rates were at their peak — mostly above 10 per cent, encouraging families to save.

Despite an inflation rate of 1 per cent the Fed had increased its rates from 6-7 per cent in 1987 to 9 per cent and above in 1989. In 1990, the Fed rate was 7-8 per cent, the share of family savings was over 71 per cent; and the corporate share 29 per cent.

This is where the new game begins. The Fed cuts the rate gradually and brings it to just 1 per cent in 2002. The high family savings dwarfed from 71 per cent to a negative, yes negative, figure of 22 per cent in the year 2006, indicating that US families spent 22 per cent more than they earned, that is they were living on borrowing.

During the same period, the share of the corporates in total savings rose from 30 per cent in 1990 to 122 per cent of the national savings in 2006. The extra 22 per cent corporate surplus is directly sourced in the debt incurred by families to spend on corporate goods and services.
In actual terms, US family savings, which were $299 billion in 1990, fell to nil and then turned into a negative figure of $112 billion in 2006. Against this, corporate savings, which was $123 billion in 1990, sky-rocketed to a huge figure of $512 billion in 2006.

During this period, the debt owed by US households on credit cards rose from $686 billion in 1987 to $2,339 billion by September 2006. Result? Between 1990 and 2006, family savings fell by 138 per cent and their debts rose by 341 per cent, but the corporate savings rose by 416 per cent.

No expert is needed to interpret these figures. What it means to the US and to the world is yet another topic by itself. QED: The US Fed has bankrupted US households to enrich the US corporates. It is gambling not just with family money but with the idea of family itself.
(The author is a corporate adviser. His e-mail is guru@gurumurthy. net)