Thursday, December 13, 2012

The Chuckling Chaebol cheats!


They ignored the potential of ‘Clean capitalism’ ; they were wrong...

Capitalists often wonder why South Korea was nicknamed the ‘Land of the Morning Calm’; there’ve been wars, invasions & power conflicts over decades… So what exactly defines ‘calm’? Alright, for being the capitalists that we are, let us overwrite the follies of the South Korean nicknamers, and move ahead… calling South Korea, the ‘Land of Chaebols’. Yes, we’re talking about those capitalist armies, represented by names like Samsung, Hyundai, LG, Daewoo, SK Corp et al, which are neck-deep into making money, but totally submerged when it comes to attaining power. Now that admixture often leads to one final potion – corruption! And that’s what this tale is all about; about their ride down the path of ‘crony capitalism’... Over the past five decades, as the South Korean economy grew like wildfire, the Chaebols too expanded, gaining great control over almost all the sectors in world economy and today, are proud about being names that control codes to many treasure boxes [or Pandora’s boxes?]. Of course, diversification was most definitely the ‘magic’ key for the Chaebols, with all the big names enjoying multiple feathers in their caps: Samsung, has 63 companies under its umbrella; LG has 51; SK Group has 62 and Hyundai Group has 9. So how did these conglomerates dare to launch a full-fledged attack on Global Inc.? The answer is simple – under the garb of ‘crony capitalism’. 

This confluence of capitalism and policies became the breeding ground for ‘dark secrets and financial manipulations’ by the Chaebols. Dr. Van Jackson of the University of Maryland, who is also the global authority on East Asian History explains how Chaebols should rather be blamed for holding back the South Korean economy, and eroding away fairplay by posing two grave dangers – unstable concentration of capital & corruption. “Both these dangers scare-off risk-averse international investors, which naturally limits FDI. In this sense, it is reasonable to blame the Chaebols for ‘holding back’ the Korean economy,” he asserts. 


 Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Monday, December 10, 2012

INFLUENCE: RELIGIOUS LEADERS

How religious leaders can help the world for its betterment

His recent visit to Africa might have drawn some controversies due to his remarks on condoms as ‘not [being] the solution to end HIV/AIDS’, but what one misses is that his visit in itself helped Africa get enough attention from world authorities.

Even Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos, despite the Pope’s ‘condom-controversy’, had to accept, “We are very grateful for all the advice that you have given to our people.” Similarly, the Israeli chief Rabbi, Shlomo Amar, has contributed considerably by reaccepting the Falash Mura community – a group of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity – and also fighting for the rights of non-Israeli immigrant Jews. Similarly, calls or addresses by Muslim leaders like the 49th Imam, Prince Karim Al Husseini or Imam of Jama Masjid remain very prominent. And the Dalai Lama’s politico-religious influence is in another seventh sphere already. Quite clearly, if with great power comes great responsibility, then would it be too churlish for us to comment that with great responsibility comes great duty? Towards global peace?


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Saturday, December 08, 2012

RACISM: THE US

Believe it or not, the world will witness the resurgence of a new era of racism than the end of it...

Yet the fissures run deeper than what is visible to naked eyes. Bruno Serato, the Presidential-themed restaurant owner in the Anaheim, White House, e-mailed his announcement to some of his several high profile customers that he has dedicated a special room to Obama as has been the customary in the presidential theme (in the past he dedicated similar rooms for Nixon, Reagon, Carter, Kennedy, Washington and Jefferson). But then this time, he literally got the shock of his life with strange and revulsive responses from some of his regular customers. Some of the replies indicated utter disregard for Obama. Later when Serato revealed some of the angry responses to the press, one read as follows , ‘I am not an Obama supporter, I could never be and as much as having an African-American in the White House could be a good thing, having one with Marxist ideals is certainly not a good thing! I will not be patronising your restaurant, much less the Obama Room.’ The next one goes as ‘Do not insult us with a Barack Obama room. … You have no idea whether he is a great leader or a hopeless socialist. You may regret your hasty judgement of what he will do to this country. May you remain Orange County’s hidden treasure with the emphasis on Hidden.’ The one as ‘you must be kidding? He didn’t do anything yet other than weaken our internal security. May be you could house all the Gitmo internees there instead.’

Moreover, tensions between the national and state security forces are not at all healthy for the US or its president. No one can kill an American President without involvement of someone from its own intelligence forces (read: Vantage Point). Obama’s failure to replace FBI director Robert S. Mueller reveals Obama’s hard struggle against racism. Muller was appointed FBI director in 2001 by former President, George W. Bush and was obvious to be replaced by someone nominated by the next President. When Obama pronounced his time tested aide Sandy Berger as the next FBI director, Muller didn’t agree to resign and made it clear that he intends to complete his first ten years term which will be over by 2011.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Friday, December 07, 2012

In good hope...

Cape Town is one of the few cities in the world with an array of tourist attractions, rich-cultural heritage, stunning locales, friendly people and a plethora of things to choose from. All that makes the second most populous and the most popular city in South Africa a year-round holiday destination.

Invaded by, and has been, for long, the centre of trade for many like the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British, the brighter side is that these invasions have helped Cape Town shape into the city it is.

Cape Town’s most prominent landmark is the Table Mountain, which is a flat-topped mountain overlooking the city, and can be reached either by using the cableway or just hiking up all the way. Caving, hiking and rock climbing are some of the activities that tourists can take up on the Table Mountain.

Cape Town is heaven for all the wine lovers as it is internationally renowned for its vineyards, Cape Winelands being the largest wine producing region in South Africa. Tourists can take a tour of these vineyards and taste some of the best wines in the world! Beaches mark another tourist attraction in Cape Town and are divided into three regions by the Cape Peninsula – the False Bay, the Atlantic Seaboard and the West Coast. The water at False Bay is often warmer than Atlantic Seaboard and West Coast beaches and the entire False Bay is covered by long sandy beaches. While West Coast beaches are promise surfing and kite-surfing, whale watching and shark diving are some of the other sea-attractions. Dutch had major architectural influence on Cape Town and thus the city has the highest number of Cape Dutch style buildings in the world. The style, primarily a combination of Netherlands, Germany and France, has houses that are usually H-shaped with elaborately rounded gables. The city has a Mediterranean Climate and the best time to go is May to September. However, February to March should be avoided as the weather can be uncomfortably hot during these months.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Thursday, December 06, 2012

Virgin by choice!

The most reckoned tourist destination in the tropics is on the south-western borders of the Caribbean Sea. Its legendary global reputation is not solely based on immaculate sand, tropical climate, and crystal-clear waters, but also on the most racially diverse, ethnically rich, and creatively vibrant society amongst the islands.

United States Virgin Islands, an archipelago belonging to the family of Virgin Islands is a physically distinct area of the US. Saint Croix, Saint John, Saint Thomas and Water Island are the main islands and even have popular names suiting their character: "Twin City" (St. Croix), "Rock City" (St. Thomas), "Love City" (St. John), and "Small City" (Water Island). All islands have a beautiful mixture of races with African descendents forming the majority. Although the prominent language is an English-based Creole since the 19th century, the islands are much more receptive to English language than any other.

The US Virgins offer a superior and gratifying vacation through astounding national parks, secluded beaches, exotic tropical forests and authentic campgrounds. They don’t just look good, but also keep one busy through thrilling kayaking, hiking, ecological tours, world-class diving, superb sailing, duty-free shopping, local crafts, island art, sunbathing, fine dining and rocking nightlife. Phew!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Tuesday, December 04, 2012

5 more months & Elvis leaves!!!

January 20, 2009, Bush leaves the White House; but before that, he ‘updates’ the ‘official’ US terrorists list.

It’s called the US National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). The NCTC “serves as the primary organisation in the US government for integrating and analysing all intelligence pertaining to terrorism.” And it has become the latest weapon in the comic armoury of George Bush’s theatre of absurdities. Not that till now Mr. Bush had underplayed the NCTC’s role – more of that later – but of critical current interest is the fact that the NCTC has a list of an estimated 3,25,000 people all across world who pose “serious threats” to US security. Experts estimate now that US nationals form less than approximately 1% of these teeming numbers.

If that was enough to raise eyebrows, what brought out the total shallowness of the NCTC’s list was the amusing attempt by the US government last month to update the list! Most hilariously, on the eve of Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday, his name was officially removed from the US terror list. Incidentally, this was done almost 15 years after this legend won a Nobel Peace Prize. If the list prepared by NCTC is to be believed, the 90 year old Nelson Mandela who has played the most important role in getting South Africa free from the draconian clutches of apartheid, has posed serious threats to US internal security for the past so many years.

Shallow is what shallow gets! And if ‘threat to internal security’ is the debate, then anything goes, whether in war or in business! The US has made it a norm to take recourse to this ‘threat to internal security’ as a reason to even block key business deals. When CNOOC, a subsidiary of CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) bid for the US based petroleum giant Unocal, the US House of Representatives approved the Resolution No 344, which gave the US President the authority to review the deal keeping US strategic interests in mind. The key points of the resolution, as stated in a policy paper of CATO Institute by James A. Dorn, states that if Unocal gets taken over, this “would result in the strategic assets of Unocal


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Monday, December 03, 2012

Was nice knowing ya, Chief!

US CEOs face uncertain times, & it's not just their companies that worry them

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” says a famous adage. Nowadays, that adage extends to some CEOs too, for they sure have quite a few things to beg for; now that economic downturn can't be wished away.

Well, if not choosers, they can certainly make the best of their predicament by begging in style, at least till it lasts. The top honchos of Detroit’s trio, viz Rick Wagoner, General Motors; Alan Mulally, Ford Motors; and Robert Nardelli, Chrysler, are a case in point. Imagine using luxury private jets to land in Washington, seeking a $25 billion bailout option to save their respective companies!

But why luxury jets? Well, obviously because of “security reasons.” After posting pathetically low profit figures (combined net loss of the three exceeded $5 billion for the quarter ending September 30, 2008), they definitely need protection from stakeholders! And if these humungous losses were not enough, the three have also been extremely successful in eroding the share price of their stocks (from January 1, 2008, General Motors has come down by 85.29%, while Ford Motors’ stock price has fallen by 76.36% till November 24, 2008).

And its not just the auto CEOs who face such overwhelming dilemmas. CEOs across the board are making news nowadays for reasons entirely different from what they had ever imagined. Some CEOs have seen their companies go underwater like Philip J. Schoonover, CEO, Circuit City (which recently Chapter 11’ed itself); some are stepping down like Jerry Yang, CEO, Yahoo! (per force exited); some are announcing a sizeable lay-off (Vikram Pandit, CEO, Citi Group announced to axe as many as 52,000 jobs); and we also have a macabre incident where one of them Sid Agrawal, CEO, SiPort has been shot dead by a revengeful employee. God bless his soul.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Saturday, December 01, 2012

Is India the next Africa for Hollywood?

With movies like The Darjeeling Limited and Slumdog Millionaire acknowledging India as a subject for international cinema, is India the next Africa for Hollywood?

This started changing when filmmakers in Hollywood started taking on actors of Indian origin like Om Puri, Gulshan Grover, Amrish Puri, Kabir Bedi, and more recently Aishwarya Rai, to play Indians, unlike in movies like the 1968 comedy, The Party, where American born Peter Sellers played an Indian, or even Gandhi, a movie based on the life of the legendary Indian leader, where the protagonist was played by Brit-born Ben Kingsley.

Hindi film industry is commercially and artistically giving stiff competition to its peers, but still seeks vindication in the form of the most coveted golden statuettes of all – the Oscars. Says Shyam Benegal, “Everyone wants to win a prize in the international arena and in India everybody is convinced that an Oscar is the biggest award, and why not? When you get an Oscar, people want to watch your movies, at least in the Americas and the European and South East Asian countries. An Oscar does make a difference, for if a filmmaker gets revenue of $5 mn, he might do a business of $50 mn after winning an Oscar!”

Indian cinema and audience is one of the largest in the world and now even the foreign filmmakers are realising the same. We now await the next paradigm shift when Indian filmmakers will move out of their comfort zone, stick their necks out and give their western counterparts a run for their money!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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