Friday, October 30, 2009
USP of IMT - Hats off to Students!
Passion 2009
Cricketing gapshap !!
According to the new tournament rules, eight of the world's top cricketing nations will play each other in a league stage consisting entirely of meaningless dead-rubber matches. The four best teams will then play the two semi-finals and the final, which will also be dead rubbers. The tournament winner will then be decided by a draw of lots.
In another exciting development, India, which recently fired Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh as bowling and fielding coach respectively, has given Singh back his job, albeit in a different role. Singh and former India team-mate Ajay Jadeja will be the new "futile 50-partnership in a losing cause" coaches for the Indian team.
"When your team is down four wickets for 25, chasing a 300-plus total, you need batsmen who can buckle down and put on a dull, pointless 50-run partnership, raise false hope, and then trigger a collapse by needlessly getting run out or holing out to long-on. Robin and I were past masters at this crucial skill, and we're extremely excited to have an opportunity to pass on our knowledge to youngsters," said Jadeja, with Singh nodding his approval.
"It's a skill that has pretty much disappeared from the Indian side, though Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh showed some glimpses of promise in that game against Australia. Still, it was far too exciting to be a true classic in the Jadeja-Robin Singh tradition," said BCCI President Shashank Manohar. "By hiring the former greats as coaches, we hope to bring this aspect of the team back to where it once was," he added, causing a sharp rise in the blood-pressure levels of Indian cricket fans worldwide.
And finally, to save enormous amounts of time and money, New Zealand Cricket has decided to consolidate all their national cricketing awards for bowling, batting, fielding and coaching into a single award called the "Daniel Vettori of the Year".
Monday, October 26, 2009
Ulter Bakwaas : By Ravi
Prior to taking admission at B.Tech., I was languishing at my home. I had had two operations in as many years. None was life threatening but they percolated through my psyche. That free spirit was a thing of the past. I had already wasted one year after XIIth. For this year pre-engineering preparations, my focus was divided. I had altered my lifestyle, modified my eating habits. I did a lot of thinking to gather self-confidence, took decisions on my own. I had to desert my friends, because they were driving my decisions till then. In my efforts to become the best in all aspects, I suffered in competitive exams. My mother had started taunting me. She ideated a business proposition for me, which was a nightmare in my wildest dreams. Somehow, I got admission into an average college.
Taking this chance as the only option to redeem pride, I silently pledged to push myself despite any circumstances. I devised a disciplined study plan for myself. With a caring and competitive room partner like Varun, I had a convenient atmosphere for studies. In the initial days, seniors indulged in mild ragging. Having good relations with one of the seniors certainly helped. But guys in the adjacent rooms were boozers and chain-smokers. Living in the open lobby subjected us to inhale diffusing smoke from cigarettes. We witnessed some extra-ordinary drama by our flat mates in the influence of alcohol. I enjoyed it, though my roomie mustered courage ( rather foolishness ) to instigate the guys and offer doses of laughter induced by conversations.
I mingled with my flat mates well. They considered me as an easy going fellow. I used to avoid chaotic situations, often compromising with others. I had the ultimate goal in my mind and I considered confrontations as hindrances on my path. My lone efforts earned me admirers but no friends. Some of them approached when they required help to complete assignments. I offered them to guide, but they needed my work. I felt insecure as I had to involve in analysis, search and implementation of every task. They could now do it with copy & paste only. Initially refusing them outright, I backtracked to offer my help later. I had realized that I could prepare some sizeable support for coming years in graduation.
Her name was Mahek. I liked her, not because she was beautiful, but she was so different. She used to compete in Athletics Meet, talk loudly to guys. She had more boy friends than girl friends. She used to conquer the class, answering defiantly to the teachers’ questions. Even if she was wrong, the teacher used to feel complex, subsided by her authoritative voice.
I was trying hard to be recognized as a topper in my class, but my ingenuous nature swayed me from realizations of such desires. I stressed on improving my concepts and buildling up the knowledge, disseminating it to my friends with intentions on clarifying my own understandings. My friends were too happy to receive such a help. They would do anything to escape reading text books. Getting an idea initially on the topic would speedup the things. All students in the class knew that I could be consulted to clarify any technical doubts. But more than that, pupils were interested to know whether a person is measurably beneficial to them. I used to complete assignments before time and it was up for distribution among friends. A chain reaction would confirm that the work is finished by all and sundry. Citing the consequences of any wrong answers, it was imperative for me to adequately research for the correct answers. I did it gladly.
Somehow unable to transform my exceptional performance in the class to the mediocre results in the exams, I used to wonder everytime what went wrong. I had a habit of writing concise answers, which the evaluators treated with disdain. My friends used to laugh on me, I would laugh it off. I had an inherent confidence that my understanding of the subjects was better than the most of them. But, as the world demands figures to showcase the claim, I was unable to convince. I had an alternative in taking competitive exams like GATE ( Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering ), in which I scored good marks. They came to know and congratulated me. But the score was a mere spectatory stunt as it has no significance for my future. Being already offered a job, I was inclined to earn money. Only a chance to study in prestigious institution like an IIT or an IIM could have altered my decision.
Mahek was also offered a good IT job. Rarely she noticed me, never without a formal reason. On the whole, she wasn’t my friend. But her friend, Esha, became an admirer of our group. By our group, I mean - Ankush, Gurinder, Naveen and me. We were proactively working on our final year project. The task was innovative and intriguing. Our methodical approach and Ankush’s laptop had all anxious to know about our work. But, being the leader of the team, I asked them not to divulge any details prematurely.
My avid interest in electronics forced me to spend my leisure time in libraries. Self-study was required as the teachers were meting out the tonic like material to successfully pass the exams. They did a lot of retrospection and analysis to predict the question papers. It’s a good thing to do but not, if it’s the only thing to do. Majority including almost all toppers, used to like this deplorable ‘teaching’ method. Aware of the ‘unity’ in class, I did not express my mind. In the first year, I had witnessed the after effects of doing things my way. Majority of the students were on the verge of boycotting me. In time, I relented, thinking to make my stay easier.
I had an unusual surrounding around myself. I spoke very limited, often to boys. Some girls tried to befriend me, but I was more bothered about the lesson notes and lab practicals. I tried to focus on my studies unyieldingly, but could not help occasional deviations of mind. One day, after returning from the Lab practicals towards the staircase, I stared at Mahek. The look wasn’t furtive and it wasn’t eye contact either. I thought it might have given her wrong impressions about me. But, that chancy encounter instead made her believe that I was in love with her. Next day, due to non-availability of spare seats, I had to sit adjacent to her bench. Her close friend(he was a boy) observed my reactions and judgmentally told her, “Ravi loves you”. This sentence was loud enough for me to hear. I didn’t react, thinking it would be disadvantageous. I wasn’t convinced that my attraction for her was devoid of lust. She expected me to say something. But everytime we met, I talked about studies. At times, she came too close to me. I think she might have some feelings for me.
Her attitude invited frowns from many guys. I was also somewhat influenced by them. But deep inside, I knew that I like her. I transformed myself into a proactive participant in the class, to get her attention. But she, like some fellow toppers, started bunking the college to study at home. I tried not to fall in love and diversified my interests. My roomie, Nitin, was an IAS aspirant. He would study the ‘THE HINDU’ newspaper like textbooks and vice-versa. Still, he was adept at scoring good marks. He inspired me not to get complacent and prepare for my better future prospects. Although he coaxed me to shun the job and join coaching for the IAS, I did not have the courage to risk more years in the oblivion. Moreover, I never had that zealous feeling.
Note: All characters are fictitious. Any relation to any person living or dead is coincidence.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Lean Production
The methods of lean production aim to combine the flexibility and quality of craftsmanship with the low costs of mass production. In lean-production systems a manufacturer’s employees are organised in teams. Within each team a worker is expected to be able to do all the tasks required of the team. These tasks are less narrowly specialised than those demanded of the worker in a mass-production system, and this variety enables the worker to escape from the soul-destroying repetition of the pure assembly line.
With lean production, components are delivered to each team’s work station just-in-time, and every worker is encouraged to stop production when a fault is discovered. This is a critical distinction from the classic assembly-line process, where stoppages are expensive and to be avoided at all costs. Faulty products are put to one side to be dealt with later, and a large stock of spares is kept on hand so faulty components can be replaced immediately without causing hold-ups. With such a system, workers on the assembly line learn nothing and the faults persist.
When a lean-production system is first introduced, stoppages generally increase while problems are ironed out. Gradually, however, there are fewer stoppages and fewer problems. In the end, a mature lean-production line stops much less frequently than a mature mass-production assembly line.
Lean production gains in another way too. In typical assembly-line operations, design is farmed out to specialist outsiders or to a separate team of insiders. Gaining feedback from both the production-line workers and the component suppliers is a long and awkward process. With lean production, designers work hand-in-hand with production workers and suppliers. There is a continuous two-way interchange. Snags can be ironed out immediately and machine tools adapted on the hoof. With the assembly-line model, the communication is linear.
Lean-production methods have been introduced by many companies without sacrificing economies of scale. Japanese car manufacturers have achieved unit costs of production well below those of more traditionally organised European and American manufacturers with twice their volume. These same Japanese companies have also been leaders in the speed and efficiency of new product design, a crucial skill in a world where time to market is an important competitive lever.
According to Michael Cusumano, who wrote a book on the Japanese car industry, the high productivity achieved by the lean-production methods of Japan’s car manufacturers depends not as some have maintained on a peculiarity of Japanese culture or of Japanese workers, but on technology and management. He wrote:
The methods challenged fundamental assumptions about mass production. These consisted of revisions in American and European equipment, production techniques, and labour and supplier policies introduced primarily in the 1950s and 1960s when total Japanese manufacturing volumes and volumes per model were extremely low by US or European standards.
Criticism of the idea has centred on the feeling that it is possible to be too lean. Beyond a certain point, a sort of corporate anorexia sets in. The total absence of surplus stock or labour can become a serious liability when there is even the slightest disturbance in normal processes or procedures.
Business This Week
On October 13th AIG, an insurer, announced the sale of its Taiwanese life-insurance business to Hong Kong-based buyers for $2.15bn. But there was trouble over past bonus payments at the firm. A report from the head of America’s Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) has condemned the American Treasury for failing to monitor bonuses paid by AIG before giving it $30 billion in bail-out funds in March. In March AIG executives promised to return $45m in bonuses. But less than half that amount has been repaid, according to the report.
After months of stalling, Bank of America (BofA) agreed to hand over documents detailing legal advice it received during its purchase of Merrill Lynch in January. Andrew Cuomo, attorney-general of New York, is investigating whether BofA executives should face charges over their failure to disclose Merrill’s mounting losses to shareholders ahead of the purchase.
General Motors, Magna International and Sberbank were expected to sign binding agreements for the sale of Opel/Vauxhall. Separately, Magna secured British backing for the deal after giving assurances of continued vehicle production at Ellesmere Port and Luton. Final closure of the deal on November 30th is still conditional on EU approval.
Helped by lower costs, Philips, a Dutch electronics company, announced a third-quarter net profit of €174m ($249m), three times the figure for the same period last year.
Xstrata, a mining company, dropped a proposed $48 billion bid for Anglo American, a rival, five days before a deadline to make an offer was due to expire.
A rising tide
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a widely followed price-weighted average of 30 shares of American industry leaders, crossed 10,000 for the first time in over a year on October 14th, ending the day at 10015.86. It was aided by better-than-expected profits at giants like JPMorgan Chase and Intel. But a dismal set of figures on retail sales, which fell by 1.5% in September, sent the dollar reeling to new lows. It ended October 14th at $0.671 to the euro, its lowest level since August 12th last year.
Feeling chipper
Intel, an American firm that is the world’s biggest chipmaker, reported profits of $1.9 billion for the third quarter. This was $2.3 billion more than the previous quarter, but still $158m lower than the third quarter of 2008. Revenues were $9.4 billion. Sales of microprocessors and chipsets did particularly well.
McGraw-Hill, a publisher, has agreed to sell BusinessWeek, a magazine founded in 1929, to Bloomberg, a provider of financial data and news. The price, as yet undisclosed, is rumoured to be in the region of $5m, with $10m in liabilities attached. BusinessWeek is estimated to be losing around $40m a year.
Jeffrey Peek, the chairman and chief executive officer of CIT Group, a struggling American commercial lender, announced that he would resign on December 31st this year. The 101-year-old company received bail-out funds under the American government’s TARP scheme, and is in the process of restructuring its liabilities to avoid bankruptcy.
On October 13th America’s Supreme Court agreed to allow Jeffrey Skilling, the former chief executive of Enron, the disgraced energy company, to appeal against his conviction for his role in the company’s collapse. Mr Skilling is three years into a 24-year jail sentence. See article
Code black
Profits at Infosys, one of India’s largest outsourcing companies, rose by 15% to 19.4 billion rupees ($403m), in the three months to the end of September, from 16.8 billion rupees for the corresponding period last year.
Nokia, a Finnish mobile-phone company, posted a third-quarter loss of €426m on sales of €9.8 billion, which were nearly 20% lower than a year earlier, and 1% lower than in the previous three-month period.
Bruce Wasserstein, the head of Lazard, an investment bank which he took public in 2005, died on October 15th. Mr Wasserstein brokered many big deals, like the merger between AOL and Time Warner, during a legendary Wall Street career.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Life These Days
2nd term in IMT is arguably the most hectic of all. 9 subjects within 2.5 months is tough proposition for one and all. Add the vagaries of summer placements and the situation becomes a perfect chaos. Adding spice to it, all the teachers are hell bent on projects from the first day. So, lectures, projects, placements .... phew !! the seasons definitely sounds tough!! but wait a min! , we people can never be away from fun. I sneaked out to watch "wake-up sid" , although in end it proved to be "wake-up rahul" as i was sleeping most of times ind 2nd half of the movie.
In college, as soon as the intimation regarding inter branch cricket tournament came, rain gods have opened there gates. But even this does not proved to be dampner for the cricket enthusiasts in IMT. 24*7 ,in every possible playing area, you can find people playing cricket. Where to pitch the ball, where to put extra fielder , what total should be safe are the points of discussion now a days in canteen and mess. Thats why the adage , IMT never sleeps !!!!
As the festive season arrives, i am looking forward for a blast in diwali and then explosions in the mid terms examinations. One way or another, coming days are bound to be eventful. You cant afford to blink, as you may miss some action !!.. So, taking life as it comes, humming the great rafi sahab's song Mein Zindagi ka sath nibhata chala gaya!!!!