DMS IIT Delhi March 2012

REYANSH C O V E R S T O R Y

Not just another brick in the wall

S P E C I A L C O V E R A G E

Building India Inc, 2012

W I N N E R A R T I C L E

Building India & Developing Synergy

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ISSUE MAR 2012


3 REYANSH

2 | | reyansh | |

3 Not just another brick in the wall - Rahul dravid retires from test cricket

5 Building India Inc - DMS IIT Delhi annual business summit

7 Building India & Developing Synergy - Between self, informal & main stream economy

13 Webinar @ DMS, IIT Delhi - A paradigm shift in Admissions Process

14 Campus Event - All the latest events @ DMS, IIT Delhi

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Listening carelessly to a master piece by

John Petrucci, I got a message on my

cellphone lying so carelessly on the bed

as if there was nothing better to do in

life. Lost in an ear melting alternative

picking, I reached for it and I saw a

friend’s name appear, the text read, “ No

wall, no bricks! “ Amused and impressed

with his reference to Pink Floyd I started

replying, but before I could do justice to

two alphabets, another message said,

“Can’t believe he is retiring! “; and then it

struck the last chords of Damage

Control, a perfect end for an innings I

never wanted to.

March 9th , the wall was announcing his

retirement, and yes like every fan of

cricket I was overwhelmed with not only

emotions but an unexplained sense of

loss. I should have ran for the television

but I rather walked slowly, flipped the

channels swarmed with Jalebis and

Chamelis slowly. It was true when I saw

it flashing on the bottom of a news chan-

nel. Disappointed I looked up and tuned

my ears to what the smartly dressed

gentleman was trying to say with some

panelists : “Should Sachin retire now ? “,

“Is it a cue for him?”. He should have

cared atleast to give one breath of

his news, a name called Rahul

Dravid.

Analogies I always

referred to him with,

when I talked about

him to people who

cared to listen.

A silent

c r u s a d e r ,

flying silently

o v e r t h e

Gotham city in

the darkness and anonymity

of a bat. Fighting diligently,

without any superpower but a

passion of steel, so

solid that he

b e c a m e

a symbol, feared, admired and

loathed by the best of players today.

Imagine the face of a crest fallen

bowler, running from one end of the

ground, with eyes of a tiger and pace

of a hawk, and all he gets to face is

a solid bat, as dead as a fresh

meat. Rahul Dravid, played with

and against the best of the peo-

ple around the globe in all

possible formats of the

game. Once criticized as

a snail in ODI, the deter-

m i n e d b a t s m a n

changed his game and

evolved as the greatest

batsman to have ever walked

on the face of the earth after

the first blood fell. With technique

copied exactly from the classical

books, redundancy of cover drives

like a never ending loop, Dravid has

been an epitome of strength, trust and

sincerity.

Born in India, cricket with an ease, got

into my veins and all I had to do was

watch and get inspired by the

greats. Discussions and debates, I

fought vehemently as a child as to

how Rahul Dravid was not a snail.

One of the greatest quotes I will al-

ways remember in life was by a

fan on a television channel ages back,

“ Is Dravid the new Bevan ? No, not at

all Bevan is Old Dravid.” All I could do

is applaud to the tribute to the effort of

the man who grazed the field with his

buckets of sweat, echoes of silence

shining with a touch of class, anytime

and everytime.

3 | | reyansh | |


Pranav Baj MBA FT 2013

A champion as I will always

recall him with, my favorite

innings of his would always

be his very first century in

ODI, against Pakistan in Chen-

nai in 1997. Overshadowed

with Saeed Anwar’s 194 ,

chasing a gigantic total

of 328, Dravid

sweated a 107,

despite of losing

by 35, I will al-

ways remember

the match, not

for the out-

come, nei-

ther for the

records, nor

for the battle

of the arch

rivals, but for

the birth of a

legend

who

fought

all his way

when Javed was

creating a havoc for

the best of the batting

line ups in the world.

Exponentially increasing

cricket, in formats so

many and grounds so

plenty, I will still watch

the test matches when

they would play with and

against the red cherry, in

no colors other than the

white, I will still listen to

music of the bat tapping

the ball, I will still feel the

heat of the moment but

even then in this musical

format I will miss the bass, the

nudge of the head on the melody,

the twisting of eyelids on the har-

monics, and the tap of feet on the

rhythm. The greatest gig in cricket

will miss its greatest guitarist, and

I would be glad if Dravid is

remembered in cricket

like Pink Floyd is re-

membered today, but

not as a brick but the

wall itself.

4 | | reyansh | |


Test average 5

2.31, t

est centurie

s 36, o

ver 13,0

00 test r

uns

6th Batsman in the world to score 10,000 ODI & TEST RUNS Test player of the year & player of th

e year in 2004

Most catches in Test Cricket for A non-wicketkeeper

Pranav Baj MBA FT 2013


5 | | reyansh | |

“Building India Inc” (BII) is an annual 2 day

business summit organized by the Depart-

ment of Management studies, IIT Delhi, to

celebrate the great Indian growth story. It

features an eclectic mix of prominent fig-

ures from the academia, corporate as well

as Government, arguably, the stakeholders

of a dynamic and vibrant India. Over the

last few years, BII has captured the es-

sence of this fascinating story through its

relevant themes. “Incipient India - Cynosure

of the World” focused on a country keen on

showcasing its ability & muscle to the world.

“India – the Golden bird” was about journey

of a soaring phoenix confi-

dent of its success with its

own unique tools to tackle

any impediments.

This year marks a shift in

focus – India is confident.

India is well poised to take

the next step, but her main

concern remains tapping her

full potential. It is no secret

that India’s continued suc-

cess needs a solid founda-

tion - a foundation based on

a collective of all the won-

derful idiosyncrasies and

systems already in place.

Hence, it was apt that BII

2 0 1 2 w a s t h e m e d

“Developing Synergy”. The aim is not to

stop at envisioning a better India but

through concrete action which was reflected

in our motto “To envision. To endeavour. To

enlighten.” BII was organized this year on

17 – 18th March.

There couldn’t have been a better way to

kick off BII than with the blessings of our

HOD, Dr. SK Jain and with Indian batsman

extraordinaire, Mr. Virender Sehwag in at-

tendance. Dr. Jain and Mr. Sehwag also

inaugurated ‘Anushthana’ - a unique DMS

student initiative championing the cause,

education of less privileged children. Mr.

Sehwag had the audience enthralled with

his “straight shots” during the Q & A session

and graciously posed for a group photo with

the entire batch. With the atmosphere al-

ready electric, the session on “Indianness:

A flavour of distinctiveness” took it to an-

other level featuring motivational speaker

Mr. Shiv Khera and Mr. Jitin Munjal of Du

Pont. Day 1 also featured sessions on FDI

in retail, Energy Self Sufficiency with Mr

Hemant Batra, Mr. Siraj Hussain

(Chairman, Food Corporation of India), Mr.

Anindya Chowdhury (Country Lead, Shell)

and Mr. Sumanto Basu (Partner, J. Sagar &

Associates) among a host of other promi-

nent speakers.

Day 2 of BII opened with a special talk on

“Performance Management, its importance

and implementation in the Government” by

Dr. Prajapati Trivedi, (Secretary Govt. of

India, Performance Management Division)

who emphasized on not only envisioning

and enlightening but also execution. The

post lunch debate on “Web Censorship”

was special, in no small measure, due to

the presence of Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar

(MP, Rajya Sabha) who had the audi-

ence spell bound with his riveting keynote

on the topic. He was joined by Ms.

Karnika Seth and Mr. Vivek Neb (VP,

Grail Research) in perhaps, the most

informative and diverse session in terms

of the panellists’ viewpoints. BII 2012 was

brought to an apt conclusion by a Media

Conclave discussing the blurring of

boundaries between advertising and jour-

nalism. Mr. Chaitanya Kalbag (India To-

day) and Mr. Anil Anand (Sec General,

Press Club of India) were the

experts in attendance for the

same.

The air at BII tasted optimistic.

It inspired the speakers and

the audience to look at,

threadbare, some of the most

pressing issues facing the

country today. Its flavour was

enhanced by the agreements/

disagreements among the

panellists on key facets of their

topic of discussion. It had a

distinctive sharpness and re-

call value thanks to the won-

derful takeaways which the

session chairs presented to

the audience at the end of

each session. BII has gone where it has

never gone before. It would be delightful

if some of the ideas and blueprints thrown

around at BII were implemented which

would help India go into realms hitherto

unexplored. Till then, we cannot keep

dreaming “the great Indian dream”. The

time to act is now. For a better India and

a better tomorrow. We have the opportu-

nity to evaluate ourselves again at BII

2013. So let’s get cracking, ladies and

gentlemen!

Kamath Karan MBA FT 2013


6 | |

“Sound is measured in decibels and nonsense in Sibbals”. It was

Aiyarisms like these that earmarked the arrival of Mani Shankar

Aiyar, MP, Rajya Sabha in Department of Management Studies,

IIT Delhi . Not known for mincing words, Mr. Aiyar was the

chairperson of the session ‘The mirage of web censorship’

part of the Building India Inc. 2012 summit hosted by the

department. After launching the corporate video of the

department, Mr. Aiyar was characteristically undiplomatic

when it came to giving his keynote on the topic. He took a

particular liking for Salman Rushdie and came down hard

on the Man Booker Prize winner for using religion as a

means to popularize his books, especially his controversial

book ‘The Satanic Verses’. Never allowing any drop

in the intensity of his keynote, Mr. Aiyar

used his weapon of words effectively to

drive home the point that in some

situations Web Censorship is inevita-

ble and not uncalled for.

“Its not a usual day when one walks in the department and you see

Industrial Interaction Committee running here and there to put every-

thing to the utmost sense of perfection. Inauguration of the much

awaited Building India Inc. ’12 was enveloping a surprise and added

a distinct flavor to the entire event. None other than the first Indian to

cross the mark of 300 in test cricket, Virender Sehwag was going to

the be the flagman for this chapter of BII.

Sehwag walked in the department, with enthusiasm like he is on the

way to the pitch. Greeting everyone with a smile and a humble nod

were the tactics he used to bat against some inquisitive questions

about his life on and off the pitch.

Excerpts from the innings I had a chance to play with Sehwag.

Remarks on Sachin on achieving the much awaited 100th century.

“Well I am in a way unlucky since I was not there to actually experi-

ence it on the pitch! But yeah! Finally the wait is over and it is time for

all of us to celebrate” Ending that sentence with a million dollar smile.

On whether too much cricket and availability of different formats

affecting performance of players

“Tell me, you guys would be working in sometime, how much time

would you be giving to work? If you do the math, it comes out its

almost equal to what time we devote to our game. Whether it is a

test, or a one day or a T-20 it is our work and we want to do it dili-

gently. Adjusting to a more comfortable position on the chair, “Yeah!

what takes a toll on us is the amount of travelling we need to do. That

does wear you out!”

On how he feels about Dravid’s retirement

“I am glad, he retired on his own terms, that’s the

best thing one can do. He has an unmatched

record overseas and none can match it.”

On his favorite innings

“219!”

How amusing was the idea of going for a six

when you are batting on 294 ?

“Sachin came to me and asked ‘Mad?’, and I

replied ‘You are the one who is respon-

sible and I am the one who is the

risktaker’ ” .

Sehwag concluded his innings

at DMS with four words

“Education is a must!”.

Pledging his help for initia-

tive of the Department for

helping underprivileged

children, Sehwag man-

aged to strike a smile on

the children by interact-

ing, smiling and greeting

them with chocolates.

Kamath Karan MBA FT 2013

Interesting insights and views came out when our team spoke to Mr and Mrs Munjal on

various issues regarding how we as individuals can take steps in building our nation.

Remarks on inclusion of Board examination Marks in the entrance to IIT.

Jitin remarked “So what? . The toppers across the various boards are the best and the

brightest ones. They should be having some advantage. Some exceptions would always

be there but still it won’t make much of a difference.”

Excessive social networking, a boon or bane for younger minds ?

Jitin said “ Social media is a co curricular activity. It adds to a personality and I feel it is

necessary as it appends to the capabilities of the person.” Mrs Munjal remarked “ Intelli-

gence is multidimensional, but yes this is helping as technology and the new connect is

going to drive the future”

China vs India

Mrs Munjal took the question with a lot of enthusiasm “ We have a tremendous lack in

research. We have a very less number of Phd. Scholars in the country as compared to

China. Everything in a policy makes the difference. Take for instance UK, a hugely

profitable job is research, reasons are simple, they get a consulting lifestyle thus pockets

are friendly with the career they picked.”

IITs and IIMs

“It takes centuries to build an Oxford or Harvard, you cannot expect a nation which is 60

years old to have an institute of that repute. It would take time.” Mrs Munjal initiated the

answer.

Jitin complied by saying “ IITs and IIMs have the potential, no doubt about that and yes

we cannot compare on a very small timeline we have.”

Sachin and his Century of Centuries

Mr and Mrs Munjal “ Bittersweet moment, India lost!”, smiling and saying “We all are

proud of him, aren’t we? “ As interesting as the conversation was, insightful was their

message for BII’12. “Just follow your passion!”

Jitin Munjal, Director – Corporate Marketing and Sales at EI Dupont

In conversation With...

Introduction

More than 45 core people in India who

represent about 90% of the total work-

force are in unorganized sector. This

forms an essential part of employment

though not considered while predicting

the economic conditions of a country as

it is difficult to measure. By and large

this informal economy derived from

small product making units of business

or service. It is not taxed or controlled by

government orders. If India were to be

ranked with respect to the informal econ-

omy among developed and developing

nations it would receive a rank within

10.It is commonly seen in India espe-

cially in village where people grow their

own vegetables and sellthe excess, and

grow their cows and sell the milk,

cheese, ghee. A lot of home based busi-

ness like making papad, some bakery

items like chips, homemade sweets etc.

This is essentially a self employment

and the money they are getting may be

used for meeting their needs. How these

unorganized yet widely accepted busi-

ness model works, will the informal

economy boom? Or will it die? Or re-

duce to bare minimum let us have a look

at it.

Informal Economy

The street vendors though protected by

“ T H E S T R E E T V E N D O R S

(PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF

LIVELIHOOD )BILL, 2011” it just re-

mains as bill since street vendors them-

selves do not aware about their rights .In

100 years from now there would be no

street vendors. Why?

Street vendors and Pranab Mukherjee

are closely related, you may ask why?

Reason being, as finance minister he

has brought in so many good reforms

especially allowing multi retail brand to

enter directly, the million dollar question

is that, these reforms are good for

whom?

A) Corporate B) Government C)

Street Vendors

Answer to this is very obvious

corporate and government. The rea-

son why government has allowed

multi brand retail is that “tax benefit”

the government gets. The amount of

revenue gets generated by street ven-

dors in major city like Ahmedabad,

Patna, Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and

Chennai is estimated to be Rs.71.26

billion($1.425 billion) but the average

street vendor earns around 50-65 ru-

pees.

Self Economy

Self economy as suggested by Gandhi

as a way of improving India in the ini-

tial years is a circular economy where

money circulates within the system.

Self economy allows people to do ac-

tivities that they know and interested

with the customers mostly known and

in many cases within close circles.

It is barter kind of transaction with

money as intermediary. Perfect self

economy is missing since all the mate-

rials we required cannot be made but

when we see the whole world when

every country interacts with each other

to get the man, material and service, it

necessarily follows self economy

7 | | reyansh | |


Mohammad Gani, BIM Trichy

BUILDING INDIA DEVELOPING SYNERGY BETWEEN

SELF, INFORMAL AND MAIN STREAM ECONOMY

8 | | reyansh | |





Self economy V/S Informal Economy

Globalization V/s Informal Economy

With new entry of lot of indigenous as

well as foreign retailers the informal

economy is bound to be an obsolete

phenomenon in few years down the line.

When we take villages where the most

sophisticated place of purchase is still

mom and pop stores but giant retailers

are entering into villages as well, where

is the point of small business to grow?

Nowadays in order to exploit these

informal markets the giants use the brain

power of Indian itself to destroy the

informal economy and make it a formal

economy thereby corporate and

government gets benefited but life of the

people who are involved in the business

will become sorrowful.”The richer gets

richer and poorer gets poorer” suits this

situation well.

Government’s responsibility

It is absolute necessity on the part of

government to encourage these two

latent economic forms. Government

exports lot of commodities at a higher

ra te and br ings prof i t to the

country ,kudos Indian Government but

80% of the people are below poverty line

and BPL (below poverty line) income is

not even $1. If Government is not taking

care of them at least entrepreneurs have

to take responsibility to make attempts

regarding these economies. Some of the

social entrepreneurs like NAMMALVAR

and ELAGO are taking steps to improve

self economy and are widely

recognized. As responsible citizens of

India we need to do something

regarding these issues.

Synergy

We need to have synergy between self,

informal and main stream economy in

order to be well aware about our fullest

strength. In GDP calculation informal

and self economy should also be

accounted in order to see how much

Ind ia gene ra tes f rom these

economies ,in other words if these are

omitted ,then we can have only a

narrow vision about our economy as

already 2/3rd of the total economy is

running as parallel economy , it is high

time to look into the issue with all

seriousness in order to develop the

Nation’s poor , if poor’s life improved

country will improve as a whole.

9 | | reyansh | |






10 | | reyansh | |

Pradipta Bora, IIM Calcutta

Port development in Gujarat a model for PPP

Introduction

The 6,000 km long Indian coastline has 12

major ports and 181 minor/ intermediate

ports out of which 139 are operable. Indian

Ports are the gateways to India's interna-

tional trade by sea and are handling over

90% of foreign trade.

The major ports are located at Calcutta/

Haldia, Chennai, Cochin, Ennore,

Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva,

Kandla, Mormugao, Mumbai, New Manga-

lore, Paradip, Tuticorin and

Vishakhapatnam.

The 12 major Indian

ports, which are man-

aged by the Port Trust of

Ind ia unde r Cen t ra l

Government jurisdiction, handle

90 percent of the all-India port

throughput, and thus bear the

brunt of sea borne trade. The

139 minor ports are under the

jurisdiction of the respective State

Governments. Dry and liquid bulk make up

about 80 percent of the port traffic in

volume with general cargo, including the

containerized cargo, constituting the

remaining traffic.

With almost 95 per cent by volume and 70

per cent by value of India’s overseas trade

effected through the sea route, the maritime

sector plays a crucial role in facilitating

India’s international trade.At present,

around 12 major ports handle 64 per cent of

the sea-borne traffic, while the share of non

-major ports has increased from seven per

cent in 1990-91 to around 36 per cent in

2010-11.

Issues In Port Development

The situation of limited capacity and high

demand has inevitably resulted in port

congestion. This results in overstretched

berths leading to pre-berthing delays and

longer ship turnaround time. In recent

years, major investments in port

construction have centred on container as

well as bulk facilities. Modern equipment

exists for container and bulk handling. The

equipment- mix for handling

general cargo has to be planned and

provided in a manner that suits the needs of

each port. The productivity of ports in terms

of Average Ship Turn Around (ASTA) and

Average Ship Berth Output (ASBO) is one

of the lowest among international ports.

Several major ports lack sufficient draft for

large crude tankers. Large vessels are

berthed at Colombo, Singapore, or Dubai,

and cargo is shipped to India later in

smaller vessels, thereby escalating the

freight cost. Additionally, all leading ports

such as Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port

Trust (JNPT), Visakhapatnam, and Mor-

mugao handle more cargo than their de-

signed capacities, further contributing to

congestion and resulting in a longer turn-

around time.

Weak connectivity with the mainland is a

challenge for most Indian ports, reducing

accessibility. Despite investments from

the private sector that are encouraging

the modernization and development of

ports, infrastructure continues to be a

major issue.

Gujarat : A model for develop-

ment

The state of Gujarat has 41 minor

and intermediate ports geographi-

cally dispersed across South Gujarat

(13 ports), Saurashtra (24) and

Kutchch (4) regions. The State’s

port policy announced in 1995 envis-

aged 10 new sites along the Gujarat

coastline for development .The Pipavav

and Mundra ports are already in opera-

tion. The Gujarat Chemical port terminal

at Dahej has commenced operations

since Jan 2001. The LNG terminal at

Dahej is developed by M/S Petronet India

Ltd is operational from February, 2004.

The LNG terminal at Hazira is developed

by Shell India Ltd. and is operational from

April 2005.The Solid cargo terminal at

Dahej is under construction. The Govt. of

Gujarat has signed concession agree-

ments with Pipavav,Mundra, Dahej,

GCPTCL and Hazira port developers.


11 | | reyansh | |

Pradipta Bora, IIM Calcutta

Port development in Gujarat a model for PPP

Among the maritime states, Gujarat was the

first to set up a maritime board to oversee

the privatization of minor ports. It was also

the first state to announce a separate port

policy. The Government of Gujarat has an-

nounced the Port Policy in December,

1995, which integrates the development of

ports with industrial development, power

generation and infrastructure development.

The policy envisages the development of 10

green field ports, 6 of them as fully

private and 4 as joint sector ports.

The BOOT policy for the ports was

announced in 1997 and subse-

quently the BOT law (the Gujarat

Infrastructure Development Act) has

been framed to invite private sector

participation in the State through

international competitive bidding.

The National Conference on Ports

& Shipping of the Federation of

Indian Chambers of Commerce &

Industry (FICCI) noted that major

contributor to this sector was Guja-

rat and their growth rate too was

the highest. The contribution of non

-major ports (viz. minor ports) was twice

that of the major ports. This indicates a new

model of investment for investors.

The basic model is B-O-O-T which trans-

lates into Build-Operate-Own-Transfer. This

allows the investor to have a time period to

recover the costs associated with the pro-

ject and hence is suitable for big infrastruc-

ture projects. Most of the new ports in Guja-

rat are operating under this model and

hence the government has succeeded in

attracting foreign investment too into this

sector.

Major private ports

Pipavav - The port is operational since

1996.

Hazira - M/s. Hazira Port Pvt. Ltd., a com-

pany promoted by an international company

M/s. Shell Gas B.V. for the development of

Hazira Port.

Mundra – Adani Shipping Company has

constructed 4 multipurpose berths and com-

menced cargo operation from September

1998. Ships up to 80000 DWT can berth at

the jetty.

Dahej - A joint sector company M/s.

Petronet LNG Ltd., have been formed by Oil

sector PSU's of Government of India for

development of the port. All PSUs holding

12.50 % equity in the company.

Poshitra - A joint sector company namely

Gujarat Poshitra Port Co. Ltd. has been-

formed to develop Poshitra port.

The project is awaiting Environment

Clearances. Port of Rotterdam has

shown interest for participation in Poshi-

tra port development.

Conclusion

With the opening up of the economy,

Gujarat has taken giant strides in making

its shores conducive to private invest-

ment. It is perhaps testament to the broad

and long term vision of Mr. Narendra

Modi that has made the state realize

the potential of its long shoreline.

Development of ports in India re-

quired huge investment and a dedi-

cated body to clear Greenfield pro-

jects. Gujarat has come up trumps in

all these aspects by utilizing its natu-

ral resources and building an ecosys-

tem of ancillary services such as bet-

ter roadways and connected train

lines has helped in synergizing the

efforts of public and private corpora-

tions towards a common goal.

References

http://www.gidb.org/gidb/cms.aspx?

content_id=103

http://www.indiacore.com/ports.html

http://www.oifc.in/Sectors/

Infrastructure/Ports

http://ww.maritimeprofessional.com/

Blogs/Private-investment-driving-growth-of-Indian-Ports/August-2010/Private-investment-driving-growth-of-Indian-Ports.aspx


12 | | reyansh | |

Sarthak Prakash MBA FT 2012

The Dancers Of Dawn

A little after the sun creeps back into above

the horizon, and much before any self-

respecting twenty year old is likely to have

woken up instead – there’s a loud knock at

the door. It’s not urgent, but it’s meant to

be immediately responded to. And it’s not

rude, but it’s certainly not intended to be

very polite either. It’s a wake-up call, and it

screams wake the heck up!

A light rain drizzles in through the window

wide open and collects in the empty scotch

bottle tentatively balanced on the precipice.

I consider flinging something heavy (and

preferably with sharp corners) at the philan-

thropist behind the door, but then, I would

have to open the door anyway. There’s

another knock, more urgent this time, and

sighing longingly, I give up on sleep.

In the short walk to the rest-rooms, I re-

spond to greetings from men in various

stages of partial undress, and make my way

into towel-infested murky interiors of the

rest-rooms. The basins resemble that war-

zone where many virtuous and valiant men

have been laid slain, or that twenty of them

were simply never quite meant to brush

their pearly-whites gathered around the one

tap.

They’ve been brought together by circum-

stance, armed with their toothbrushes and

toothpaste, steeping on toes and slapping

aside stray hands to get to that lone source

of water gurgling. But then, they have

danced this dance before. With synchroni-

sation that would shame a tuning fork, they

go through the motions of preparing to

brush their teeth, and eventually having

been at it.

Their weapons change, they reappear with

bars of slimy soap. The ablutions are con-

sidered with due regard, there’s the occa-

sional outburst of impatience – doors are

banged, unpleasantries exchanged, and as

one exits the porcelain lime-light, the slight-

est glare shoots across between them, only

to be forgotten by the time they prepare

themselves to dance for yet another dawn.

The battleground moves to the shower

stalls, even that one with a missing latch is

part of the spoils. A multitude of towels

wrapped around the respective waists and

shoulders, healthier looking bars of soaps,

and the occasional bottles of shampoo,

conditioner and hair-oil. There are those

who will attempt to harvest facial hair, and

they stare at themselves in the large mir-

rors above the basins, before innocent-

looking slivers of stainless steel claim the

kills.

The entries compliment the exits, and

well within the advent of dawn, just the

three shower heads have managed to

bathe an entire army of potential engi-

neers, managers and doctorate scholars.

In they stream into their doubly-allocated

single rooms, and out they come reeking

of deodorant and after-shave, dripping

with beads of reluctant moisture, looking

around for more pairs of feet to walk the

long walks along.

They’re costumed for yet another per-

formance, stuffing keys and wallets and

phones down their pockets, mundane

arsenals of monumental utilities.

The doors to their domains are latched

and locked, and with one last glance

down the emptying corridor, they begin to

file out on the way to their theatre of po-

tential dreams. Breakfast better be warm

and waiting, they’re hungry for more –

these dancers of dawn.

The dynamics of B school selection

activities has been the most significant

cause of the increased competition

among aspirants in recent times. Times

have changed drastically from when B

school se lec t ions used to be

unpredictable and a fight with the un-

known, to the present where tonnes of

material are available on internet for the

prospective aspirants on patterns of

questions over years, suggested

readings and tips and tricks for doing the

right thing on the D-Day. The recent

initiative by the students of DMS, IIT

Delhi is undoubtedly going to add a new

dimension to this complex environment.

The Utility of mentorship programs

has always been doubted owing to

the lack of time and flexibility

in such interactions due to

the highly demanding B

-School culture of the

mentors as well as the

mentees, many of whom

are working professionals.

The Webinar session conducted

by the students of DMS, IIT Delhi aimed

precisely at overcoming this issue. This

particular problem seemed to get

accentuated in case of queries related to

deeper understanding of the most

pertinent topics in the current world.

The novel idea of a webinar session was

hence born which would serve as a solid

platform for aspirants to understand the

concepts of some of the most relevant

issues. The first of its kind webinar

session where the aspirants shortlisted

were able to get first hand in depth

analysis of complex issues such as The

Euro Crisis, The 2G Debacle and the

implications of the Supreme Court

judgment on the telecom licenses. The

sessions were conducted by some of the

best students in the respective field of

specialization and hence provided the

aspirants more than a glimpse of the

academic rigor at one of the best

B-schools of the country. The students

also were able to get first hand

i n f o r m a - tion on their

queries related to GD-PI preparations

and the process in general. The

overwhelming responses from the

participants stand testimony to the utility

of these sessions in getting an edge in

the preparations over their peers.

The session was conducted as a part of

the revamped mentorship program that

was dynamically different from its

version in the previous years.

The Admissions Committee, DMS IIT

Delhi has conceptualized this as just

the starting of a rigorous set of

sessions to be followed even after the

GD-PI interviews scheduled on the

23rd to 25th of March, 2011.These

sessions would aim at further

preparing the selected candidates on

various aspects of B-School life that

would ensue once they step into the

famed halls of IIT Delhi. From case

studies discussions, to presentations

and to basics of business domains like

Finance, Marketing and Operations

these sessions aims to bring the new

students in sync with the culture at the

institute. The same would culminate at

the most exhaustive and arduous

trainings that the aspirants would have

ever undergone in their career

during the first 2 weeks of

their joining the institute -

the induction session at

DMS, IIT Delhi.

T h e B - S c h o o l e n t r y

environment will be dynamic for

the foreseeable future. But initiatives

such as this would surely add a lot of

value to the aspirants who hope to

elevate themselves f rom the

engineers of the present day to

business leaders of the future.

13 | | reyansh | |


Manu A MBA FT 2013

Webinar @ DMS, IIT Delhi

This year’s budget which aims at fiscal

consolidation was greeted positively by the Indian

corporate sector. The budget attempts to reverse

the fiscal slippage of the current year by

Introducing amendments to the FRBM Act. The

concepts of “Effective Revenue Deficit” and

“Medium Term Expenditure” have been introduced

to keep a check on the fiscal deficit of the country.

A welcome endeavor of the budget is to curtail

the ever burgeoning revenue deficit of the

country. The budget lays down a target to reduce

the subsidy bill to 2% of the GDP in 2012- 13

and further bring it down to 1.75% in the coming

3 years.

On the taxation front, the budget offered a mixed

bag for the citizens. There was a clear commit-

ment to finally roll out the GST by August 2012

and also there were tax sobs offered for retail

equity investors. The Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving

Scheme allows for income tax deduction of 50%

to investors who invest upto Rs. 50,000 and

have their annual income below Rs. 10 lacs.

The raise of 2% in the service tax means that

country's over 900 million mobile phone users will

have to shell out more money on their bills. Also the

excise duty was hiked by 2%. The major cheer came

after the proposal to raise the exemption limit of

income tax from 1.8 lacs to 2 lacs. Also there is a

proposal to raise the 20% taxation bar from 8 lacs to

10 lacs.

The rupee reacted positively to the Budget proposals

to allow overseas borrowings for more sectors and

doubling import duty on gold. Budget proposals to

allow ECBs for aviation, power, road and other

sectors raised hopes of more fund flows to the

country. The corporate were especially buoyant by

the special attention given to the infrastructure

spending in this budget.

There was a special focus on financial inclusion with

schemes to expand the network of Rural Regional

Banks (RRM) and also to extend the ‘Swabhiman’

campaign to more rural locations and make Krishi

Credit Card a smart card usable in ATMs. In

education and healthcare, RTE funding increased by

21% and 6,000 new schools are proposed to be

opened at the block level.

What do you have to say about the Union Budget 2012

It was a day of Reminiscences – Remembering the cherished moments. It was the day

when ‘Bengaluru chapter’ of Memoirs’12 happened. Alumni committee of Department of

Management Studies, IIT Delhi has conducted lot of alumni meetings before, but this

one was special. It was the first time an Alumni Meet was conducted in Bangalore. With

usual alumni meetings conducted in Delhi and Bombay, this year Alumcom of DMS, IIT

Delhi , decided to go beyond the horizons by extending it to Bangalore and they did it in

real style, which was evident from the shower of praise they received from the alums.

“Building India Inc” (BII) is an annual 2 day business summit organized by the

Department of Management studies, IIT Delhi, to celebrate the great Indian growth story.

It features an eclectic mix of prominent figures from the academia, corporate as well as

Government, arguably, the stakeholders of a dynamic and vibrant India. Over the last few

years, BII has captured the essence of this fascinating story through its relevant themes.

“Incipient India - Cynosure of the World” focused on a country keen on showcasing its

ability & muscle to the world. “India – the Golden bird” was about journey of a soaring

phoenix confident of its success with its own unique tools to tackle any impediments.

As part of the AL_Sagar Emeritus Chair Professorship activities, Prof. Vinayshil

Goutam organized a Symposium to further the research in the area of organizing for

growth with the focus being on the issues of management of enterprise, finance and

resources. It built upon the work done on a research project with a similar title initiated in

2010, supplemented with wisdom and experiences of thinkers and practitioners. Some of

the topics that were discussed were , 'Emerging concerns in IT' , 'Resources and energy:

Select Dimensions' & 'Concerns in managing Finance' .

The desire to contribute to the society living up to the concept behind Building India Inc. ,

saw everyone stand ing aga inst the lack of proper educa-

tion for underprivileged children in unison and vow to take that quintessential step

towards sparking a much-needed alteration in the running course through Anusthana.

The effort is conceived to be an year long one where students from a couple of schools

will benefit from the best minds of the country by interacting with them both in class and

person. The focus is on the schools where children of contracted workers who aid IIT

study.


He also mentioned the reason for sustainability of democracy, which is -

people like the idea of democracy succeeding. He mentioned the thing

holding the country together is not a central authority but cricket and

Bollywood i.e the common culture and said that the 2G scam arrests

reaffirmed the faith in judicial system which corrects the overreach of

executive system.

He concluded his lecture by saying that role of good economics is not to bypass politics

but to inform politics.

An evening with Montek Singh Ahluwalia

The beginning of the mid sem break had the students beaming for

reasons more than one. Along with the holiday mood there was the

excitement of meeting the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission,

Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia who delivered a Guest Lecture @ IIT

More than a lecture it was an interactive session, with Mr. Ahluwalia

answering questions from the audience. He spoke about how the

government is subsidizing inappropriately in various sectors .

While the only essential public services are elementary education and health care – for

example the petroleum prices which are far less than they should be. He also talked about the

asymmetrical usage of fertilizers in various parts of the country, the inconsistency in retail

policy which allows single brand retail but not multi brand .

Montek Singh Ahluwalia is an Indian economist and civil servant. He is currently the

Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of the Republic of India.

15 | | reyansh | |


‘Umrao Jaan Ada’ – A movie which has made me

sit up and take notice of the melodious tunes of

Khayyam as much as Rekha’s eyes which spelt

poetry, so much so that I felt compelled to read a

translation of the original in English written by

Khushwant Singh. A journey thus began, continued

with his candid autobiography ‘Truth, Love and a

little Malice’, a collection of obituaries he has writ-

ten over the years ‘Death at my doorstep’ and the

most recent ‘Train to Pakistan’.

The cover page of ‘Train to Pakistan’ looks

deceptive, with a train at the station making you imagine the quotidian

whistling of the steam engine in the background, while as you travel down

the pages the picture of imagination reverberates with cries of the victims of

post partition massacres which the author puts succinctly in the following

words:

“The fact is, both sides killed. Both shot and stabbed and speared and

clubbed. Both tortured. Both raped.”

The story rather than talking about the post partition India’s cultural or social

issues of the highest level, as do most books on partition, describes it

through the eyes of, the peasants of Mano Majra – the simpletons who lived

in harmony until the external forces that advocated religious intolerance be-

came too loud to ignore and turned them against each other.

The story weaves three tales together. Of Jugga Singh– the village

badmash, who falls in love with the mussalman weaver’s daughter Nooran,

Iqbal – a worker from the people’s party come to advocate peace and Hukum

chand – the magistrate with a fatalistic attitude. The story is about, how

disharmony entered driving Muslims to evacuate the village and how finally

the Sikhs prodded by an angry mob, plot to kill the same neighbours of theirs

who are on their way to Pakistan on a train.

The reaction of the three characters to the situation is contrasted and

summed up in the last few pages as: while the cowardly Hukum Chand

escapes from his duty as a protector of the people and hides in fear, the

intellectual Iqbal mulling over futility of religion and of his sacrifice which

would go unnoticed dismisses the thoughts of protecting the people,

drowned in a flask of whisky, Jugga the badmash finds the courage to give

up his life to let his Nooran pass safely into the Pakistan territory.

The depiction of massacres seemed so real while reading that I was wiping

away imaginary drops of blood that sprayed from the pages. The pliant

minds of the peasants seemed a little unrealistic but I guess not having gone

through the ‘kill or get killed’, ‘limb for limb’ situation ever I can’t be the one to

judge. The book gives a view of the partition at an individual level – the

passions and priorities which made people do what they did – the good, bad

and the ugly.

Gadu Sneha MBA FT 2013

Books of the month

‘Sam Walton in his book of Wal-Mart’s story gets

candid about the path to being one of the most

famous retailers of the USA. Fighting cancer and

all the unwanted attention he received due to the

media coverage since Forbes named him the rich-

est man of America, Walton talks about the initial

years of his life and how he grew up during the

time of Great Depression with a father who had

according to him the best negotiating skills in the

world when it came to bartering, and a brother

who inherited them.

Starting his career early being the newspaper guy,

milk man and doing a hundred odd jobs, Walton was hugely influenced by his

father-in-law, who was a salesman himself and ran a family partnership

business.

After attaining a college degree from Missouri, he joined JC Penney and that

was the first step he took into retail. Walton always checked the competition,

visited their stores and observed how they worked and that is how he says he is

even after all these years. Working in army for a short time after JC Penney, he

read every book he could find on retailing and dreamed of going into the

business.

The journey of the Waltons began with a small store franchised from Ben

Franklin variety stores where Walton looked for offbeat suppliers or sources

who would sell to him at a lower price than the parent chain, and learnt the

essence of discounting – price them low and sell more which will give you a

higher overall profit, then moved on to create the ‘Walton’s Five and Dime’

store which was the third self-service variety store in the entire country.

Walton constantly innovated, experimented and expanded and did something

for the five and dime store which he would do for the rest of his time in the

retail business i.e nosing around other peoples stores searching for good talent.

He tried getting into the shopping center business which he envisioned would

be the future of retailing but after difficulties faced, he left it alone though he

learnt a lot about real estate through it.

The first Wal-Mart was opened by him in Bentonville and since then there was no looking back. Opportunities out of necessity has been what he says has helped him be where he is. Selling all the goods at low prices, analysing sales reports for what item was selling the best, Merchandising and promoting the items which he had a hunch would sell in bulk, taking the company public, setting up stores in small towns where nobody else would, managing by looking over ones shoulder, building a partnership with the associates (the workers with hourly wages) are a few things he mentions which worked for him in building the biggest variety store chain in USA. He concludes what he has to say by writing down something he calls Sam’s rules for Building a Business. A good book for those students of retailing and for others, one of life’s lessons told through a wealth of experience.

16 | | reyansh | |


Sajal Agarwal & Mayank Sharma MBA FT 2013

No GAS, Please !

This entry qualified for the finals of ‘Economist of the year’, Manfest 2012, IIM Lucknow

reyansh

The Team

Pranav Baj

Gadu Sneha

Mayank Sharma

Kamath Karan

Sajal Agarwal

Robin Jain

Department Of Management Studies

Indian Institute Of Technology, Delhi

[email protected]

http://www.dmsiitd.org/

Editorial Board

ISSUE MAR 2012

http://www.dmsiitd.org/

Documents

DMS IIT Delhi March 2012