Poverty

Poverty is a problem that the world is grappling with today. But when we refer to the word, we often tend to interpret the word in purely materialistic sense. The picture that springs up in front of our eyes is often that of homeless, malnourished destitutes. It is a serious and thought-provoking issue that despite achieving so much, man still has not found solutions to provide the basic necessities of subsistence to all human beings. But for me there is another kind of poverty that is spreading like an epidemic and that possibly could threaten the very existence of mankind.

This is the poverty of emotion, the poverty of patience and sensitivity towards other human beings and other creatures. Today we are so engrossed in this struggle for survival and this mad race that we don’t even pause to think whether our actions are affecting people around us adversely. We have become so insensitive that we don’t even feel the pain and the loneliness of those who are near us, leave alone the starving, malnourished children in some foreign land.

I have often wondered how journalists could go about filming a man who sets himself on fire in broad daylight without making even the smallest attempt to stop him. An entire village watching a man being lynched to death without one person coming forward to help or support. All this points to the poverty of our core feelings.

It is sad indeed that as we become rich materially, our souls become poorer.

By Pravda

Applying for a Loan? Check Your Responsibility Score

Banks may very soon rely on your school grades, driving habits, shopping habits and tax payments to appraise your capacity to borrow or absorb a credit. These nontraditional metrics apparently help a lot in judging a borrower’s behavior in the long term, according to industry experts. Risk analysts term these metrics as “responsibility” scores.

How are these scores arrived at? Let us see this example – A person who pays all his utility bills is more likely to follow his exercise regimen in a gym. This accomplishes his objective of weight loss and demonstrates his responsibility. A habit like this ranks him well in his responsibility score.

Nowadays, lenders harvest huge amounts of borrowers’ financial data to assess risks associated with credit, but the need for a broader read and more comprehensive social profile of people is imminent. Industry leaders like SAS are already working towards this by surveying a number of Americans in order to investigate and infer their behavioral patterns in daily life. Lenders may one day take into account lots of nontraditional metrics, such as whether the borrower has a good reputation on eBay or pays cell-phone bills on time before deciding whether to extend credit.

Borrower’s appetite for credit – not for their ability to afford the risks was something banks were glued into till now. However, the credit crunch has pushed analysts to paying more attention to newer risk models that call for more revenue projections from each borrower. In future, the responsibility scores may well earn you admission in a reputed college or employment in the same.

Social statistics would always be subjected to privacy laws and regulations. Even so, analysts are highly skewed towards introducing new risk analysis models. So, do we need to be a little paranoid with the thought of borrowing? Well, I would say…just act responsible!

By Debanjan

Give a Balanced Treat to Sachin – Please!

Newspapers splashing the recent achievement of Sachin Tendulkar across the world are a testimony to the fact that he is equally celebrated worldwide as he is worshipped in India. Sachin enjoys the distinction of enthralling cricket lovers not only with his immaculate strokeplay, but also with his dignified charm and humility off the field.

What I believe is that the connoisseurs of the game must take the responsibility of placing him in a position where the little master deserves to be, ignoring the emotional cravings that we Indians show for him. Not long ago (2002), very few remember that Kapil Dev was honored as the Wisden Indian cricketer of the century. The feat, well deserved by Kapil, is unique and stands out to be the best all round achievement of a cricketer. The former Indian captain aggregated over 5000 runs and over 400 wickets in tests.

An overdose of applause does come with its baggage of emotional outbursts that we Indians do express time and again. And that is well understood and taken in the right spirit always. But the debate regarding whether Sachin is the greatest cricketing mind will be carried on and on…without the possibility of reaching a consensus. Sir Gary Sobers, Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar, Allan Border (leaving Sir Don apart) and current player Ricky Ponting belong to the same level or very close to it.

Little research will show that there is a lacuna in Sachin’s CV. A triple hundred, scoring centuries in each test innings, 750 test runs in a five-match series, 500 test runs in a three-match series are some of the elements that are missing from his aggregates. These achievements are considered common in the list of greats.

Being a cricket enthusiast myself, I believe that India can again produce someone close to a Gavaskar or a Tendulkar, but producing a great all-rounder like Kapil is next to impossible. There was no hullabaloo of hailing Gavaskar as the greatest when he crossed the hitherto unimaginable milestone of 10,000 test runs and similarly for Kapil when he reached the pinnacle of bowling glory by taking Mark Taylor’s wicket in the 1991–92 home series.

The achievement of Sachin is spectacular, after all not everyday does a batsman cross 12,000 test runs. However, I believe that the instead of going overboard, the media and the so-called experts should treat Sachin in a much more balanced manner, carefully examining his unique achievements.

By Debanjan

A Photograph that Shook the Satiated World

Whenever I think of poverty, there is one image that invariably pops-up. Yes! That photograph is the one you see below.

The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can survive. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child.

This photo was the “Pulitzer Prize” winner taken in 1994 during the Sudan Famine by Kevin Carter. The picture depicts a malnourished child crawling towards a United Nations food camp, located a kilometer away.

Kevin Carter

I had seen this stomach-wrenching image before. But what startled me was when my dad gave me a paper clip on the story behind this photograph. This is what it said, “In March 1993 Carter made a trip to southern Sudan. The sound of soft, high-pitched whimpering near the village of Ayod attracted Carter to a young emaciated Sudanese toddler. The girl had stopped to rest while struggling to a feeding center, wherein a vulture had landed nearby. He said that he waited about 20 minutes, hoping that the vulture would spread its wings. It didn't. Carter snapped the haunting photograph and chased the vulture away.”

The photograph was sold to The New York Times where it appeared for the first time on March 26, 1993. On April 2, 1994 Nancy Buirski, a foreign New York Times picture editor, phoned Carter to inform him that he had won the most coveted prize for photography. Carter was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography on May 23, 1994 at Columbia University's Low Memorial Library.

Carter came under heavy criticism for just photographing — and not helping — the little girl.
On July 27, 1994 Carter drove to the Braamfonteinspruit River and took his own life by taping one end of a hose to his pickup truck’s exhaust pipe and running the other end to the passenger-side window. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 33. Portions of Carter's suicide note read:

"I am depressed ... without phone ... money for rent ... money for child support ... money for debts ... money!!! ... I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain ... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners ... I have gone to join Ken if I am that lucky."

Dan Krauss shot a documentary titled “The Life of Kevin Carter” which released in 2004.
I feel that people are ignorant of the fact that some of their fellow humans don’t even get a mouthful on many days. And when they see the truth in front of their eyes, they are LOST. Lost for words. Lost for actions.

By Guruvardhan

Recession Or Boom….Consumers Always Have Alternatives!

Recession is heading north as unemployment grows, energy prices soar and property prices nosedive. I had a strong feeling that during a recession, people tend to hold back assets than cash. However, the slump in property prices across Europe and its ripple effects in Asia have dented the confidence of investors in Asia. Consequently, consumer spending also took a beating in retail, services, entertainment and others.

An economic downturn represents breakaway growth opportunities for those clever enough to help consumers feel good about migrating to “inferior goods” by enabling them to justify their decisions in terms other than affordability. A status-conscious car owner would not feel bad about trading his/her Accord or Teana or Camry for a more economical Toyota Prius, because he can boast of saving the environment.

So, how does a common man like me, (provided he is aware of the global crisis and weighs its implications on an individual level) would have a shift in spending behavior? Basically, as a consumer, the following factors would prompt me to buy a new product:

1. Dissatisfaction with a current product
   
2. The Need/Want for a new substitute
   
3. Availability of the substitute
   
4. Market price
   
5. Utility factor of the new substitute
   
6. Post-buying evaluation

Among these factors (in trying circumstances), I would give utmost importance to the utility factor and see if the product is living up to my constantly changing set of expectations.

This shift of my buying behavior for different kinds of products and services is technically termed as preference for “inferior” goods. Well, I am happy with it, what else do I need? Whether it is “inferior” or “cheap”, I look into the utility of the product in the near-term, enough to weather away the recession storm. What is noteworthy here is that companies with smartly cultivated “inferior goods” in their portfolio will ensure repurchase of its premium products.

In these situations, marketing holds the key, because in an age of pressure consumption, insights and understanding of marketers can make all the difference. Sooner or later the economy will bounce back. So, with my amateur marketing know-how I would suggest that companies should remain focused on consumer behavior dynamics rather than blunt selling, for a consumer is the best judge.

Debanjan

Blood In The Name Of Religion

Sathish Andricks

It’s been more than 60 years since India attained independence and it is hard for me to digest that even today there is bloodshed in the name of religion. I am amazed at the fact that in a country which boasts of “Unity in diversity,” secularism is today just a word in our constitution. It is indeed an irony that India is being congratulated by the world leaders on the one hand for reaching an important mile stone by signing the nuclear treaty with the US, while on the other hand the same leaders are questioning our Prime Minister on the violence happening in Kashmir, Kandhamal and Karnataka.

Even though I am a Christian by birth I am not being biased towards what has happened to my brothers and sisters in the violence affected states, but I do strongly feel as a rational human being that by harming people from other religions you are not going to attain whatever your goal is. I do agree as a Hindu or a Muslim or even Christian one has a duty to spread the word of god to all people irrespective of their faiths but please follow the virtuous paths shown by the religious leaders of the past. These leaders were known for the services they rendered to mankind and not by their religion. Today’s religious heads unfortunately are busy in creating more controversies by throwing oil into troubled waters.

If these atrocities do not stop we may have more and more hot-blooded youth alienating themselves from mainstream society and taking to the path of violence and terrorism as is seen in the recent instances of “Jihad” in the name of religion. I know that luckily the majority of fellow-Indians share my sentiment and are secular in their outlook. But unfortunately this majority chooses to be passive and the small voices of sanity are drowned in the cacophony of violent slogans. I am raising my voice against the radicals from all religions, an issue which is threatening to tear the secular fabric of this glorious nation. Most of us have become so passive to the happenings around us that we don’t even bother to react to atrocities as long as they don’t directly affect us. In our busy modern lifestyles where we don’t have time for our families, where are we going to have time for others?

This is indeed a sad state as we do not realize that if we don’t unite now to tell these radical Indians that the majority of us do not endorse their views, it may be too late tomorrow. If India is to take its rightful place in today’s world, it has to be a united and secular country. O fellow Indians please raise your voice against atrocities committed against any religion because I personally believe that no religion in this world preaches bloodshed. It is people with vested interests who twist the preachings to suit their selfish needs and to gain money, power or even position. Ours is the only country in the world which does not have a national religion and boasts of people of all religions. So my dear Indians please believe in “Unity in Diversity” because India is not about Hindus or Muslims or Even Christians but it’s a a beautiful mixture of race, color and religion, - JAIHIND

People!!! No Thank You

Vijai G

With shrinking margins, it’s now the turn of IT & ITES companies to go the way all other industries have gone in the past---- Amused, yes that’s the truth

Bangalorean’s would probably remember the tale of the three great cotton spinning mills, which provided employment to thousands of people and helped many families to survive, but which are no more. They were Binny mills, Minerva mills and Raja mills, which were the Infosys, Wipro & TCS of yesteryears. But today, they are nowhere and most of us do not know what happened to these spinning mills

Even though it may seem irrelevant to make a mention of this information in this article, I feel it is important for you to know, how these mills were considered by people living in Bangalore. Landlords would be ready to lease their houses if the person was working in these mills, bridegrooms who worked in these mills would be preferred over others and would also be assured of all kinds of luxuries. Such was the clout that these mills had in the past.

As organizations conclude their mid year performance appraisals at work and revise their goal sheets for the year ahead for each of their employees, they are also keeping a closer watch on employee productivity and making strategic moves by doing more with less people, I mean, less resources

Bear in mind the downward spiral that the US economy is heading into…Lehman Brothers is gone…Goldmansachs and Morgan Stanley have other plans and the trust on US companies is slowly eroding…what would come next is always a question…every day there is some news that sends shockwaves down the spine

So, what would be the strategies servicing organizations would follow in these troubled times…?

“Lean” also called as “Lean Manufacturing” or “Lean Production” is the latest buzzword in the services-based organizations today. Few companies have already adopted Toyota motors’ renowned lean production concept to its services. Lean is about eliminating waste by continuously analyzing every step to see if it adds value to the end product. Toyota, the inventors of this method, is said to have even determined an optimum method for how bolts are tightened…surprising right, yes that’s the way they work

However, you might feel how this can be implemented into IT & ITES sectors, yes it can be implemented, remember the time-sheet, which we casually fill up, that is the Brahmastra of this production system. It would help the top level management, to pull out even daily reports

Then comes automation, which helps in reduction of 40 -50% of the usual time. It also helps in fewer defects from the team.

It is better for us to wait and watch and be alert to see what comes next…

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