Wednesday, October 31, 2012

We still fail to save a new life...

India’s infant mortality rates continue to be shockingly high

While India is one of the progressive nations in the world in terms of economic growth, it has achieved little in terms of human development. Thanks to ineffective governance mechanisms and killing corruption, India lags miserably when it comes to ensuring inclusive growth – in terms of development, peace and overall prosperity. A stark and shocking indicator of this is the country’s shameful inability to save and nurture its newly born children.

A recent data revealed by the NGO group, ‘Save the Children’ is revealing. Around 2 million children die every year in the world within 24 hours of their birth. India accounts for an alarming 20% of that figure with 4,00,000 children dying within the first 24 hours. In addition, around 2 million children die every year in this country before they reach the age of five. More than half of these children die within one month of their birth.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012. An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Tango on to good health!

If you thought tango is only about passion, oomph and attitude then think again!

“Have feet, will dance” is choreographer and dance educationist Shiamak Davar’s mantra as he asserts that it doesn’t matter if you have two left feet, you can still dance! Well, now doctors will only second that in order to heal diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, various phobias, depression and marital breakdowns! Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine, have reported that balance of patients suffering Parkinson’s improved considerably when they took tango lessons.

Tango was a dance form that originated in the lower class districts of Buenos Aires, sprouting from the black African cultures, as slaves from Africa were brought into Argentina. Tango then was associated with a meeting place where working as well as freed slaves came together to dance. Later in the 19th century, people from poor backgrounds who had left their families and moved to Argentina in order to earn more, would usually do tango. In fact, the passion and sexual overtones exhibited in tango today is a spin-off of the moves that suggested the separation of the slaves from their partners.

For a long time, tango was looked down upon and considered ‘vulgar and distasteful’ due to its long lost connection with poor dance venues, bars and brothels. Well, if the same notions were to be held true today, many diseases would have remained uncured. Stina Almroth, who has been teaching Argentine Tango for many years, or rather is “a tango dancer looking for other people to dance with,” says that “tango requires you to focus and concentrate, and so you develop that ability. It also helps you to balance; you tend to multi-task and do more than one thing at the same time.

Even though tango can look like it is more about steps, but more than anything it is about presence and communication. You have to be really present because socially it is all improvised, which means if you are leading, you have to be able to communicate your lead.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Monday, October 29, 2012

BAJAJ AUTO: VRS IN AKURDI

B&E’s Pawan Chabra peeks into the dissatisfied lives of Bajaj Auto workers who opted for VRS at the Akurdi plant 

Ask any automotive expert and all you can hear is praises for Bajaj’s strategy, “On the business part of it, I believe Bajaj did the right thing by closing the Akurdi plant,” explains Wilried Aulbur, CEO, Mercedes-Benz India (who has the manufacturing facility at Chakan, same as Bajaj). But when one looks at it with a human viewpoint the approach certainly differs a lot, as Dilip Pawar, President, Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana laments, “The kind of image the company portrayed in front of the workers, they had no other option rather than opting for VRS.” In fact, Pawar claims that 75% of those who opted for VRS are either sitting idle in their home or have become alcoholics. Subhash Sareen, General Secretary, Pimpri-Chinchwad Mahanagar Palika agrees, “After opting for VRS the worker loses balance in his life and his mind-set starts tilting towards the bad habits like alcoholism and smoking.”

Take the case of Ashok Nivruttibhole, 54, who spent close to 25 years with the company before opting for VRS in 2007. Nivruttibhole banked a total of Rs.18 lakhs via VRS and after owning a motorcycle (though a Hero Honda!), a Maruti 800 and a 2 BHK in Akurdi, one can say surely that Nivruttibhole is one of the few who have managed their financials very well and by investing in a systematic manner “I have ensured that the money that I got via VRS is not wasted,” he said. However, apart from opting for a three hour long exercise regimen, he is still the part of the majority who is not doing anything productive after leaving Bajaj Auto. Ask him whether he would advise someone to join the company and his answer comes in positive. But there are not many like him.

Ashok’s ex-colleague, Muhammad Sheikh, 57, strongly disagrees with his point of view, as he asserts, “I will never advice anyone to join Bajaj Auto, it is a company which only cares for money and give a damn to its workers.” After opting for VRS, Sheikh currently works for SBI as an agent and makes around Rs.5,000-7,000 per month. And if the words of Sheikh are to be believed then his life is much better at SBI than at Bajaj. He now spends a healthy 5-6 hours a day looking for prospective customers which according to him is a lot better and more reputed task than what he was doing at Bajaj. But Sheikh was almost in tears when he started discussing how life changed for his friend Chopre who died just a year later after the factory was closed due to a road accident. Chopre had turned alcoholic after taking his VRS. Sheikh and many others like him strongly believe that one should never stop working in his life as it totally disturbs the balance and mind-set of a person.

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Saturday, October 27, 2012

A swipe at the wipe

Give up using toilet paper, and save the planet!

People who are conscious about global warming, and know exactly how our pursuit for comforts is adding on to the problem, usually frown at those driving around town in SUVs, but even they would find it hard to believe that toilet paper is contributing even more to the problem than those fuel-guzzling cars! Yes, believe it or not, in order to save the planet Americans and people around the world will have to learn to clean their derriere with something other than the rolls of soft, white toilet paper! What’s more, in US, a 3% excise tax on toilet paper is being proposed under the Water Resources Protection Act too, as the tissues end up in waste water and need treatment by sewage treatment plants!

Leaving aside clay and stone, sponges and salt water, people in USA began to wipe their behinds with paper about 150 years ago, and today, perhaps as a result of globalisation, people around the world have begun to emulate the Americans. So, while an average American uses 57 squares a day and 50 pounds of toilet paper in a year, the real growth is being experienced in developing countries. But the cost of using tissue paper is immeasurable, as apart from tree farms and previously logged second-growth farms, they are being made from the centuries old Canadian boreal forests. While toilet paper made from recycled fibres is available, people choose to not use them as these are coarse, and in order to keep enjoying the softer, fluffier paper, we’re happily trading our wild forests, which are incredibly important for maintaining the ecological balance – for removing greenhouse gases from the air, and for providing habitat and water purification systems to thousands of species. These finer rolls of paper also require more water and more toxic chlorine bleaches for their manufacture.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Friday, October 26, 2012

Family members move out of their homes...

“The problem comes when the CEO or his family members move out of their homes...”

 B&E: Do they often harm the asset?

VMP: If their ransom demands are not being met, then you definitely are calling for trouble. If the ransom demand has come over the phone, then be sure that their ‘gang members’ are always keeping a track of how you proceed with the execution of the payment. They would know if you are defying their instructions. The moment they find out that you have approached the police, their ransom demand increases. The party also shows little care for the victim, if you try to find their hideout; so in that case, they will most likely do away with the kidnapped individual.

B&E: How critical is counselling for the victim’s family?

VMP: For sure the victim’s family needs to be counselled. What answers they should give when phone calls come, how to monitor those calls, how to react to threats, and how to ensure that the right moves are taken, is what they have to be taught...


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

“I don’t want parents and children to be traumatised”

The latest Union Budget has given ample scope to HRD Minister Kapil Sibal to realise his grand dreams to completely revamp and restructure the education system in India. In an exclusive interview to priyanka rai, Sibal lays down a road map for how he will do to education what Manmohan Singh did with the economy in 1991. B&E wishes him Godspeed.

B&E: At what point of your life did you first think of joining politics?

KS: I think I was 14. I was sitting in the Parliament gallery. I heard someone speak. He was from Kashmir and was speaking in beautiful Urdu. I found it fascinating. I said to myself that I had to be here.

B&E: Was there anything in particular in our education system that frustrated you back then? 

KS: I found the system completely unrelated to the outside world. Basically everything was ratta (learning by rote) examination. Remember, there are all kinds of people, there are those that are by nature disciplined, and those that are not. There are young boys who are full of ideas. For them curriculum discipline is oppressive. The system must make education entertaining. Today education is a torment for young minds. Education is basically about life and the existing syllabus doesn’t complement what you learn from life.

B&E: Did any particular incident make you think this way?

KS: Not in my case. I was the captain of my school team in cricket, hockey and football. I was also the winner of the first prize in 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. I was an athlete. I was least interested in studies. As life moved on, I became more serious about studies. I took up theatre in college. In my first year I was Julius Caesar with Kabir Bedi playing Casca. Then I was the lead character in Richard III. I also directed plays in St. Stephen’s College.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

That’s what friends are for?

A Tokyo firm rents fake family and friends for weddings, but the trend is not exactly alien to us Indians...

It’s that time of the year in Japan, the time when people decide to take a wife (or husband); but while Japanese weddings have a very similar tradition to India’s – being a formal event that must be attended by as many family members, friends and colleagues as possible – there’s a distinct yet a very recent trend in India that remains largely unheard of. Astounding as it may sound, a Japanese firm actually offers fake family and friends for hire at weddings!

At a typical Japanese wedding, one can find the boss, of either partner, give out a speech, the co-workers staging a performance and family members at their hospitable best, welcoming the guests… a regular Indian fare you’d say; but one can never tell if that smile is genuine or fake (from a hired relative).

Office Agents, the firm that rents out guests maintains that their services come in handy when some important guest is unable to make himself available for a function, or there is a huge number difference between the guests of the couple. Also, temporary workers, a trend prevalent across Japan, may not always be comfortable inviting the boss for various reasons, so these guys fill in instead.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Of Kings, Queens, Mistresses & 456 million paupers

Mr. Prime Minister, congratulations! We, the 456 million paupers (living below the miserable poverty line, for information), feel delighted that 62 years after Independence, India has you as our Prime Minister, for a second term...

“Eat well Mr. Prime Minister, every morning, afternoon and night. At your age, you could perhaps choose to eat a healthy diet; with a good mix of fibres, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and proteins too. Hope you don’t have trouble planning a good diet. We, the 456 million poverty stricken vagrants (or should we use ‘paupers’, which surely sounds better) prefer to stick to the calorie method of eating that you very kindly introduced to us some decades back. It’s safe, simple to remember and doesn’t get into the stupidities of deciding a diet control plan. Well, someone from your ilk had once told us that to be considered paupers, we should be eating less than 2,100 calories per day if we live in urban areas; and less than 2,400 calories per day if we live in rural areas.

Brilliant, we should say. Firstly, there are days when some of us permanently homeless scallywags temporarily drift above the poverty line having had our quota of calories; at least it gives us a good feeling on those days that we’re not ‘below the poverty line’. Secondly, we’ve heard that eating less keeps one healthy, slim, away from the headaches of following a GM diet, and if research is to be believed (TIME magazine, nothing less), life expectancy of rodents and monkeys has been increased by dramatically restricting the amount of calories taken every day; the same effect can be replicated in humans too. Don’t worry dear Mr. Prime Minister, we’re well acquainted with rodents and monkeys; some of us live with them, some of us live like them, and some fortunate ones of us live only as long as them...”


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Wall Street falls

Financial deregulation started the madness

They rode the Reagan revolution and called themselves the Masters of the Universe. Within a few years of financial deregulation, the massive Savings & Loans scandal erupted in America, prompting credible analysts to start questioning the excesses of unbridled capitalism. But then, the Berlin Wall, followed by the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Fracis Fukuyama declared the ‘end of ideology.’ Capitalism emerged as the triumphant alternative while pundits got busy writing obituaries of Marxism, Socialism and even plain common sense Pragmatism. The merchants of capital literally started ruling the global economy by literally causing hundreds of billions of dollars to flow out of one country into destinations that became the latest fancy. Good old fashioned hard work, manufacturing and thrift became objects of derision as the West thought it could leverage consumerism forever to lead an unstainable lifestyle.

Some Asia economies tried to follow the same model and were pulverised by the East Asia crisis of 1997. At that time, pundits and financial wizards in New York and London lectured the Asian economies on how to implement capitalism in the best possible manner. It was a matter of time before the mania for unbridled capitalism and complete freedom to financial markets and instruments created a Frankenstein’s Monster. Fancy words like sub-prime mortgage, LBO, Junk Bonds and CDOs became accepted vocabulary even amongst those who were skeptical of this sustained defiance of common sense. And then came the day to pay the bills when the ‘great’ Lehman Brothers went bankrupt.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Friday, October 19, 2012

Namaskar! And all ‘thi bast’...

Post liberalisation, MNCs gatecrashed without the due diligence

Liberalisation seemed godsend for numerous multinationals that were waiting since ages to tap the lucrative Indian market. They were extremely confident that their global strategies would work wonders in India as well. Some, out of their desperation, could hardly wait for the right Indian partner. The result?!? A woeful saga of strategic blunders, which shocked them to the roots one by one. Consider some examples.

US-based watch company Timex, which jumped into the Indian market within one year of liberalisation, tied up with Tata’s Titan, but faced issues from the word go. Titan wanted Timex to grow under their umbrella. “Titan was interested only in our technology and we found that we need to have our own strong brand positioning, which was difficult to achieve with Titan. We were totally in the wrong place,” explains Kapil Kapoor, Senior VP, Asia Pacific, Timex Corporation. Finally in 1998, Timex bid adieu to the Tatas and decided to go ahead on its own. Similarly, US-based consumer durable major Whirlpool felt the need to break free from the shackles of TVS. The Whirlpool-TVS tie-up was a mismatch, as being a primarily electronic company, TVS could not match standards with the home appliances business of Whirlpool.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Four Seasons Hotel, (Istanbul)

Situated in Sultanahmet, this hotel has been converted from a century-old neo-classical Turkish prison, which was first constructed between 1918 and 1919. With close proximity to the mosques, one can clearly hear the prayers and soak in the mood of the region. The hotel, which has a limited capacity of 65 guest rooms and suites, resonates with the beauty of Turkish architecture.

The view: Decorated with unique interiors, the hotel acquaints one with the true essence of rich Turkish history from its every corner. Built around courtyards, all rooms and suites offer a stunning view reminiscent of the old world charm.

Archi type: The interior of the hotel is artistically done with the originality of the building being untouched. The hotel has also retained the neoclassical prison’s wooden door. Besides, the hotel is done-up with Ottoman tapestries and mosaic art. Most interestingly, the headboards and bedposts of the rooms are such that it would remind one of a mosque’s domes and minarets.

Bon appétit: A variety of international cuisines as well as local delicacies can be savoured at Seasons Restaurant. Awarded the best hotel restaurant in Turkey, it has a glass-enclosed courtyard and an outdoor terrace to cater to different moods of the guests. Exotic beverages and a light lunch can be enjoyed at The Lounge.

Around the Corner: One can pay a visit to Hagia Sophia, the mosques and museums which are close to the hotel. Inspite of being situated away from the hustle and bustle of the city, all the major attractions of Istanbul are at a walking distance from the hotel.

From under the carpet: Luxury comes at a price and this holds true for Four Seasons Istanbul too. Make sure to check your pockets before you order for drinks at The Lounge or for the hotel taxi service, for they are exorbitantly priced. Also, do not expect picturesque views from the hotel rooms.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

MILITARY: AFGHANISTAN

Iran may be involved if the US opted for drone attacks in Balochistan and this is bad news for Pakistan

Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan with sparse population, is already in a state of war. Discontent is rife there against the federation and hundreds of Baloch activists have gone 'missing'. “The drone attacks in Balochistan will further strengthen Taliban and they will gain sympathy. It will further intensify hatred against the US,” says Tahir Bizenjo, ex-Senator and General Secretary, National Party. “Balochistan Assembly has already passed a resolution against drone attacks,” he further adds. Dr. Syed Jaffar Ahmed, leading Political Analyst and Director, Pakistan Study Centre, University of Karachi asserts, “I think the drone attack in Balochistan will have far reaching consequences, which one may not comprehend at the moment. In the first place I would say this adventure would involve Iran, since the Iranian Balochistan will also feel the heat. Within Pakistan too, this will further heighten the resistance against Americans and will escalate extremism. Moreover, the control of Pakistani federal centre over Balochistan will further weaken.”

During Bush administration, the Americans provided military aide worth $5.6 billion to Pakistan and now it is expected to increase. One is not sure to what extent this would help to eradicate Al-Qaeda and Taliban, but one thing is certain that the democratic movement of Pakistan would be at great risk.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

And the poor got poorer...

The UPA government would like all of us to actually believe it did much for rural India, but Rajan Prakash disputes that tall claim left, right and centre

I know that you won’t believe me when I say that Kisen Gangwar of Muradabad, who is the owner of a huge 20 acres of tillable land, works as an auto rickshaw driver in Delhi. And that the auto-rickshaw he runs is not owned by him and he has to part away with 250 bucks daily in order to pay its rent. I myself had a problem believing any part of this story. But outlandish as it might sound; it is sadly true.

Kisen’s siblings share the burden of his household. While two of them work on their lands, the third one works at a tile factory in Kota. Kisen says that earlier he, as well as the one in Kota, shared the workload at the farm with their two brothers. While the earnings were just enough to meet their household demand, saving was out of question. And so was further investment in agriculture. They had to take loan to buy fertilizers and seeds and that made them borrow money. Once they got stuck into the vicious cycle of interest and capital, two of them had to leave their home in order to look out for alternative sources of livelihood.

Kisen might just be a name. But he represents rural India, which has the maximum participation in any election, but is promptly ignored as soon as the party comes to power. Talking of UPA, the ambitious Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar only agreed to take charge of the ministry, when the government assured him of the glamourous post of the President of Board of Cricket Control in India. The next five years were on expected lines. In Pawar’s home state, on an average, 46 families mourned the death of their loved ones daily. Statistics provided by NCRB state that as many as 16,632 farmers committed suicide in the year 2007 alone. Agriculture expert Devinder Sharma says, “The sixth pay commission raised the salary of a peon, who has been working for last 20 years, to Rs.15,000. And with elections at hand, it also announced an allowance of 8%. Why should a man till his land? By increasing the loan amount for the farmer, the government thinks that it has absolved itself.”


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Monday, October 15, 2012

M & A

Are companies strategising their inorganic growth any better amid global turmoil? B&E presents an in-depth analyses of some top global and Indian M&As...

Boa: merrill lynch
Weekend fun!
Dine, wine and buy a company

The credit crisis sweeping across the American financial system has helped sound buyers to claim opportunity from ordeal; Bank of America (BoA) happens to be amongst the sound buyers. In a gut wrenching weekend when Lehman Brothers was headed for a possible liquidation and AIG was facing the investors’ wrath, Merrill Lynch (ML) was quick to strike a deal with BoA. In a deal valued at $50 billion ($29 a share with 70% premium over the last traded price of $17.05 a share), BoA acquired ML at about two thirds of its value a year ago and half its all time peak value of early 2007. The dramatic deal, a marriage of a commercial bank and an investment bank, which took less than 48 hours to be finalised, is one kind of a deal that has earned a dubious reputation.

Given the deal’s size, scope, complexity, and the short time in which the deal was completed; even a child could say it is humanly impossible that a thorough due-diligence could have taken place. Analysts argued that it will set a record for merger integration disaster and the fact that BoA’s shares have been massacred by 78% ever since the deal was announced on September 15, 2008, goes on to justify the same. According to Marco Boschetti, Towers Perrin’s Head of Global M&A and Restructuring, “Market turmoil has conjured up the concept of Express M&A… but increased speed brings increased risk and makes prioritisation critical.” The risks associated with the merger were not analysed and the shareholders were kept in dark that Merrill had hemorrhaged $13.8 billion during the final three months of 2008, leave alone the fact that ML had to write down $52 billion of credit related losses.

Ken Lewis, CEO, BoA, can continue to boast on the synergies and that acquiring ML was a great opportunity for BoA’s shareholders, but the reality is that investors have now filed a lawsuit against him accusing him of failing to disclose risks associated with ML takeover. And now after six moths of the deal, the only visible winners are the advisors of the deal, Fox – Pitt Kelton and J. C. Flowers & Co., who just reaped a handsome $20 million for a weekend’s work!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Saturday, October 13, 2012

A beggar means an Arab?!?!

And the US ex-Veep was a Dick! Online dictionaries shock in racism

Why this hasn’t created a global controversy is a wonder to us! Over time, the world has seen the emergence of different kinds of racists; English dictionaries now join the inglorious club.

To start off with, the San Francisco based online dictionary, www.freethesaurus.net, provides the synonyms of various English words. Imagine our surprise when we noticed that the synonym for the word ‘beggar’ is given as ‘Arab’. That for the word ‘terrorist’ are ‘Castroist, Communist, Leninist, Maoist and Marxist’. A ‘loafer’ is again our lucky ‘Arab’; an ‘atheist’ is a ‘blasphemer’, and so on so forth! If freethesaurus.net was too free for our digestion, Webster’s dictionary churns it further, hilariously defining ‘fundamentalism’ as a movement in American Protestanism that arose in the 20th century.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Friday, October 12, 2012

Trail of death and destruction

Global Warming rears its ugly head in Australia, leaving a trail of death and destruction!

commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) stating that the estimated 65% of fire-danger in the year 2020 may go up to 300% by 2050 under cruel warming scenarios. Studies prove that average temperatures have already risen by 0.9 degrees Celsius since 1950, with 2005 as the hottest year on record. Also, rainfall is predicted to lessen even further by up to 30 percent if greenhouse gas emissions are high. Dr. R. K. Pachauri, Chairman of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) informs, “The earth has started to give signals of imminent effects of global warming. It’s now that we take precautions and act on decreasing the amount of carbon emissions. Otherwise, the world will keep experiencing natural disasters.”

As the death toll is disputed upon discovery of fused corpses by forensic scientists, relief measures like sporadic tent settlements are being set up in Whittlesea by the relief agencies as temporary shelter for the dispossessed victims. Expressing his concern for the disaster, an Australian Green Party leader, Bob Brown, said, “The fires are a sobering reminder of the need for this nation and the whole world to act and put at a priority the need to tackle climate change.” (As told to Sky News). This upheaval is just a trailer for the entire race to reckon with the fury of Mother Nature; that it’s enough of playing possum towards the universal concern of Global Warming.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Thursday, October 11, 2012

Time to snap all ties with Pakistan

 The whole damn thing – like as always in the past – is fast descending into a farce and a bloody masquerade. Close to three months have passed since the 26/11 carnage in Mumbai and we now get ‘credible’ reports from investigators in Pakistan that those who planned the brutal attack were not from Pakistan. By the time you read this, the Pakistani Foreign Minister or Interior Minister would have almost certainly officially informed India of the same. Indian citizens and the Establishment would be outraged at the duplicity and perfidy of Pakistan. But then, in a response that is typically Indian, the Mumbai carnage would be a fading memory and the media would be more preoccupied with the love story of Chand and Fiza. There will be some chest thumping because the American Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, will announce that Pakistan needs to do much more to curb terrorism. Bleeding hearts will keep up their rant that Pakistan is as much a victim of terrorism as India. More bleeding hearts will preach that only ‘people to people’ interaction will lead to lasting solutions. And of course, there will be those disposed towards misplaced bellicosity who will keep insisting that only sustained attacks on training camps based in Pakistan will teach ‘them’ a lesson. But eventually, one more bomb blast will kill and maim dozens or hundreds in another Indian city and the whole cycle of accusations and denials will resume; only to end again in a farce.

I completely agree with level headed and sober analysts that launching a military offensive against Pakistan will not necessarily result in an end to cross border terrorism. That could have been a risk worth taking if the Indian military had the power and punch to decisively knock out and decisively defeat the Pakistani military in a short and swift conflict. The unpalatable reality is: the Indian military doesn’t have that kind of punch. In any case, the powers that be know that the Big Boys will force India to go for a quick ceasefire and a stalemate. Pakistan will again make promises to stop encouraging jehadi attacks against India. It will again break that promise with impunity. So, is India to sit impotently and not be able to do anything about it?

I strongly suggest that we simply cut off all ties and relations with Pakistan. I don’t mean just the recall of the diplomats; I mean the complete works. No people to people contacts, no cultural exchange programmes; no cricket matches either in India or Pakistan or even in another country. No Indian artistes in Pakistan and vice-versa. All embassies, consulates and the likes must be shut down and there should be a complete and unequivocal ban of travel between the two countries.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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