03.08.2008

• MP’s efforts at making Chambal known for green energy rather than dacoits
• The government has embarked on an ambitious programme to cultivate jatropha in the Chambal valley waste lands.
• It’s been able to weed out criminals in the area and killing over 50 dacoits, including dreaded gangster Jagjivan Parihar in the last one year. Therefore, many private companies have now shown an interest in the cultivation of jatropha, a bio-diesel plant, in the Chambal Valley.
• Seed yields under cultivation may range from 1,500 to 2,000 kg per hectare, which may translate into oil yields of 540 to 680 litres per hectare.
• Breakthrough Management
• Breakthrough management is all about creating new markets in the fast growing economy. Companies need to adopt business strategies for creating new markets. The idea is to create a consumer segment where it didn’t exist earlier. One of its foremost proponents is Professor Shoji Shiba of MIT.
• Look at some representative initiatives of this management technique in this piece that appeared in today’s ET. Worth a read. I think it’s time the management literature starts looking at India and China for updating their case studies.
• On India’s ultra rich
• According to Household Wealth Index, developed by Barclays Wealth and the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), India will jump from its current position of 14 to become the eighth largest wealth market by 2017. The index estimates that the Indian HNI households wealth in India would total to around $1.7 trillion by 2017.
• India has a captive wealth market valued at over $400 billion. Unlike other Asian countries, in India most of the wealth is still held onshore because most HNIs believe India is the best investment market in the world. In addition, in India the wealth growth rate is around 24% annually.
• Language lessons: “One swallow does not a summer make”
• This means that one good or positive event does not mean that everything is all right.
• Will Pakistan live up to its promise?
• Papers reported that the Pak PM, Yousuf Raja Gilani has offered to have an ‘independent’ probe made into the July 7 suicide bombing on the Indian embassy in Kabul. This attack killed more than 50 people.
• The US intelligence appears to have intercepted the communication between ISI and the terrorists, which points to ISI’s involvement in the attack on the Indian embassy.
• Papers have also reported that George Bush grew impatient with the Pakistan’s inability to rein in its ISI and had asked the Pak Premier as to who controls the ISI in Pakistan. With the Pak Premier being seen only as a protégé of the PPP, will he be able to deliver on this promise? Though they have said that ISI is now placed under civilian control, it is only time that can tell whether civilians have gained mastery over their military.
• What is good about fatty foods?
• Despite the bad press, fats are necessary for good health in young people. Fat is important for children because it is a calorie-dense food, which is helpful if you have a small stomach. Fat helps in absorbing other nutrients and for brain development.
• WHO (World Health Organization) says the diet of young children should have at least 45% fats. But the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau reports fat intake among Indian children is barely 30% of the recommended daily allowance. Overall, fat accounts for 15% of average Indian calorie intake, according to National Sample Survey data, with much lower figures among poor households. Obviously there is huge fat deficiency. At the very least, per capita fat consumption should spiral from 11 kg today to 15 kg in two years.
• Sports events give infrastructure a leg up
• India’s preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is going to see investments in the region of Rs. 65,000 crore compared to the approximately Rs 84,000 crore that China is spending for the Olympics. And in both cases, the funds are mainly being directed towards overhauling the infrastructure.
• Know about gymnastics in Olympics?
• Look at this ‘Know Your Sport’ column in TOI.
• Compared with a vault performed by a gymnast, what is the level of difficulty or consequences of preparation for Civils?
• I know comparisons can be odious at times; but these are the ramblings of a sports enthusiast who is trying to pep up his wards. You hard land on your Civils, what you lose is only a bruised ego at best; but a gymnast hard landing on vault or balance beam can end up with serious debilities.