Coughing up $1 billion – Gates!

After having left rival Sony’s Playstation 3 behind in the race, it is now the turn of Microsoft Xbox 360 to face the wrath of luck. Not only it is going to cost Bill Gates a whopping $1 billion to repair ‘an unacceptable number of repairs’ in the game console but also humiliation for not being able to meet the shipments target by 0.4 million units till June end. The innumerable complaints received about Xbox 360 are attributed to certain hardware failures in the console, like the three red flashing lights. To tackle the problem, Microsoft has decided warranty extension to three years now. Customers who have already spent on the repairs would be reimbursed. The total expense of Microsoft is somewhere in the range of $1.05-$1.15 billion excluding taxes.

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Source: IIPM Editorial, 2006

An IIPM and Management Guru Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's Initiative

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Is it fair that while the elite are safe in their protective cocoon, the common man fights the ‘War of Terror’?

The Bushies, it seems, do not believe in paying any of the cost of the fights. They do not believe that they or their friends should face any personal or professional penalties for trivial sins like distorting intelligence to get America into an unnecessary war, or totally botching that war’s execution. Even Paul Wolfowitz, who managed the rare feat of messing up not one but two high-level jobs, has found refuge at the American Enterprise Institute.

Which brings us to the case of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr. The hysteria of the neocons over the prospect that Libby might actually do time for committing perjury was a sight to behold. In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal titled “Fallen Soldier,” Fouad Ajami of Johns Hopkins University cited the soldier’s creed: “I will never leave a fallen comrade.” He went on to declare that “Scooter Libby was a soldier in your – our – war in Iraq.”

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Source: IIPM Editorial, 2006

An IIPM and Management Guru Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's Initiative

Damned if we do!

China’s Three Gorges dam has been toasted by its planners as the engineering marvel of the 21st century. As the world largest hydroelectric river dam, the project is expected to produce more than 100 billion kw of electricity after its completion; and is simultaneously expected to end the requirements for irrigation in the Yangtze-Kiang river basin region, and even the problems of flooding. This postmodern project has the potential to really help China; but unfortunately, the project has also raised high geological, social and ecological concerns.

Yangtze, according to scientists, adds close to 530 million tonnes of silt to its reservoir. Thus, though the dam might address short-term concerns, in the long run, it might result in the death of the unriver itself. Furthermore, the 600 km long reservoir is likely to inundate close to 1,300 archeological sites and displace up to 1.9 million people.

The undemocratic and dictatorial planning for dams in China has historically ensured that no anthropologists or sociologists are included in the planning team. In this case, the unstable geology of the region has great danger of causing dam induced earthquakes, something China has experienced regularly – in 1975, the Banqiao-Shimantan reservoir collapsed affecting close to 12 million before killing more than 200,000; China has recorded as many as 15 earthquakes caused by dams; in 1962, and witnessed one of the most powerful dam induced earthquakes.

The path of modern development should also look at the environmental sustainability. The Three Gorges dam will definitely support development, but its effect on China’s environment has not been properly analysed.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2006

An IIPM and Management Guru Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's Initiative

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Welcome move by Supreme Court attempts to make Real Estate more consumer friendly

To prevent this open loot, the Supreme Court recently issued a notice to the central and state governments seeking guidelines from them on the mass media advertisements carried out by real estate companies and builders. The Apex Court’s intervention was prompted by a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by NGO, Sanrakshak (the Protector).

The genesis of the problem lies in the fact that builders issue illicit advertisements stating that they have government approval for a particular real estate project. The seal of government approval often leads the gullible public to believe that project is genuine and that their money is going into safe hands (that too without proper paper-work!). Misusing media through larger-than-life pre-launch blitz, the real estate developers draw advance from the public for factitious ventures. After a certain time gap, these fl y-by night operators vanish into thin air siphoning off millions with impunity. “These pre-launches sometimes are corporate frauds masquerading as news items. Media must insist on a signed brochure stating what the touted features are, so that responsibility can be fixed. At present, if someone invests based on media reports, he is exposed, as later on the real estate operator can always suggest that the media got it wrong,” emphasised Harish Salve, a noted lawyer and former Solicitor General of India, while talking to B&E.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2006

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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