(News collection for Management studies)

Volume: 02           Issue: 114          7-December, 2009 – Monday                  Pages: 9

Focus :  Think on it

A Red Indian Chief Speaks….

We are a part of the earth and it is a part of us.

The stillness of the mountains descending upon their green lands children cheerfully playing with their wild forest friends. Men and women living in unison with mother earth and nature. This was the life of the original inhabitants of America – The Red Indians, before it was invaded by Columbus, the Spaniards, The British and many others. The Red Indians, though tribals, were enlightened   people whose life was closely knit with nature.
 

When Theodore Roosevelt became the president of the United States, he sent a letter to the Red Indian Chief in the forest, asking him to vacate the land and move into a secluded territory that would be offered to them by America. Their land would then be converted into one f the modern cities.  

No American’s life was left untouched by the response letter of the pained Red Indian Chief. This widely read letter had a great impact on all Americans, who for the first time recognized the connectivity of all existence.

The letter……..

How can you buy or sell the sky, or the warmth of the land? The idea is a strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.

Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clear rain and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap, which courses through the trees, carries the memories of the Red man.

 The white man is dead. They forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the Red man.

We are a part of the earth and it is a part of us.

The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony and Man all belong to the same family.

So, when the great chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The great chief sends word, he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves.

He will be our father and we will be his children. So, we will consider your offer to buy our land. But it will not be easy, for this land is sacred to us.

The shining water that moves in the streams and the rivers in not just water, but the blood of our ancestors.  If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred and each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the lives of my people. The water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father.

The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes and feed our children.

If we sell you our land you must remember and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

We know that the White man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs.

The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it he moves on.

He leaves his father’s grave and he does not care. He kidnaps the earth from its children and he does not care. His father’s grave and his children’s birthright are forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like the sheep or bright beads.

His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.

I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways.

The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the Red Man. But, perhaps, it is because the Red Man is a savage and does not understand. There is no quiet place in the White man’s cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect’s wings.

But, perhaps, it is because I am a savage and do not understand.

The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frog around a pond at night?

I am a red man and do not understand.

The Indian prefers the soft wound of the wind darling over the face of a pond, and the smell of wind itself, cleaned by a midday rain, pr scented with the pinon pine.

The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath – the beast, the tree, the man; they all share the same breath.

The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.

But, if we sell you our land, you, must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh.

And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by meadow’s flowers.

So we will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept, I will make one condition: the white man must treat the beasts of the land as his brothers.

I am a savage and do not understand of any other way.

I have seen a thousand rolling buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man, who shot them from a passing train.

I am a savage and I do not understand how the smoking iron horse can b e more important than the buffalo we kill only to stay alive.

What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit.

For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happen to man ….. All things are connected.

You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ash of your grandfathers. So that, they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin.

Teach your children what we have taught our children that the earth is our mother.

Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This, we know. The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. This we know.

All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Even the white man, whose God walks and talks to him as a friend to friend cannot be exempt from the common destiny.

We may be brothers after all. We shall see.

One thing we know, which the white man may discover one day – our God is the same God.

You may think now that you own HIM as you wish to own your land; but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for the red man and the white man. The earth is precious to HIM and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.

The whites too shall pass; perhaps sooner than other tribes. Contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.

But, in perishing, you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land, and for some special purpose, gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.

That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand, when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tames, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.

Where is the thicket? Gone.

Where is the eagle? Gone.

The end of living and the beginning of survival…

Don’t think you cannot. Think you can ( contributed by C.Prakash Reddy, 09D61E0033 )

Dear Friend,

You can start to maximize your mind power simply by understanding how your mind works and how you store and access information. In fact, you are gifted with the ability to develop your train in order to become able to do more, have more and be more.

In other words, you must know how your mind works and how it accesses information effortlessly; how to programme your mind. You have to remain conscious of the fact that your mind is like an air traffic controller and takes in any information and directs it according to its current knowledge, without your being aware, new information is stored the moment it comes in each time you access it, the more hard wined it becomes.

One thing should never be lost tack of Mind and body constantly interact.  It is your mind which regulates even your breathing pattern which you are always unmindful of. It is your mind which actually ensures that your heart does not skip a beat. You can have an idea of the immense power of mind whenever you perform a habitual but complex task without any conscious effort on your part. For example, when you multiply two figures. You draw upon your memory of multiplication tables. It is done easily and effortlessly, because you had to repeat them as a child for countless times to get them by heart. In other words, keep doing a thing till you get mastery over it. You mind has infinite potentiality. It is simply your will to do a task which matters.

Think you can , you have powers, you never dreams of ,

you can do things, you never thought, you could do

There are no limitations in what you can do.

Except the limitations in your own mind.

As to what you cannot do. Don’t think you cannot. Think you can.

It is the power of mind that has done wonders by winning the most coveted prize in the world., the Nobel peace prize for the US President, Mr. Barack Obama. The committee attached, special importance to obama’s vision and work for a world without nuclear weapons and said he had created a new climate in international politics. Head of the Norwagian Nobel committee Thorbjorn jagland said, Mr. Obama was honors for his extraordinary   efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples and added that it was a unanimous decision. The committee said it was seeking to encourage Mr. Obama’s ideals rather than recognize concrete results. The Jury in fact, hailed Mr. Obamas’s extraordinary efforts in international diplomacy and to hasten nuclear disarmament.

So, never thin that anything is impossible. With a positive mind you can readily access the information you have stoned. Training and exercise are tools to programme your mind in a way that you can use it when it is needed.

DAY FOCUS:  Focused by J.Deepthi, 1-Sem MBA (09D61E0011)

Mutual Funds - Markets - Insight

International funds lag domestic equity funds - Only 7 out of 22 funds improve average returns. - Global blues -The rupee appreciating over 7% against the dollar affected the returns on all international funds -Global funds that invested in telecom, consumer durables, semiconductors, and banks lost out - International funds that focused on gold have performed well

If you wanted to make the best of the recent stock market rally, equity funds investing in domestic stocks have been a better bet than funds that invest overseas.

In the market fall last year, overseas funds contained losses better than domestic equity funds.

However, the tables have turned this year with a little over a third (seven out of 22) of the international funds managing to better the average returns of diversified equity funds.

If the more stringent S&P CNX 500 is taken as a benchmark, less than a fifth of international funds managed this act.

Domestic equity funds have returned 90.2 per cent over one year.

Rupee factor

The rupee appreciating over seven per cent against the dollar in the last one year affected the returns on all international funds relative to their India-focused peers.

Funds focused on other emerging markets such as China and other Asian countries or those that invested in a diversified basket of global stocks turned out to be the slow movers among the international funds.

These funds lost out as they invested in sectors such as telecom, consumer durables, semiconductors, and banks, which did not rally as much as ‘hot' themes such as commodities or natural resources.

Others betting on themes such as real-estate or investing in US bonds and treasuries also lost out. Funds such as Sundaram BNP Paribas Global Advantage and ING OptiMix Global Commodities that invest in mutual fund units of other global fund-houses such as Credit Suisse, First State and Martin Currie also underperformed.

Themes that clicked

The out-performers among international funds were the ones which either had a mixed mandate (with some allocation to India) or ones betting on gold or natural resources. Gold prices, which have rallied over 56 per cent over the last one year, have benefited funds investing in this commodity and the companies involved in mining it.

AIG World Gold and DSP BR World Gold, which gained 122.5 per cent and 96.7 per cent respectively for one year, in addition to investing in gold, also invest directly in stocks of mining companies such as Goldcorp, Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp benefiting from the rally in gold and the stocks.

Overseas funds managed by well-known global houses also did well with Templeton India Equity Income and Fidelity International Opportunities both delivering 120.1 per cent and 92.6 per cent respectively.

These funds have invested about 25-30 per cent of their portfolio in overseas equities and the rest in domestic markets. Apart from the Indian exposure, overseas exposure to mining stocks such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto as well as some gold mining stocks also played a key role.

ING Latin America Equity benefited from investing in stocks in countries such as Brazil, which benefited from both rally in oil prices (around 30 per cent in the last one year), and other commodities. Mirae Asset Global Commodities Stock Fund has also benefited mainly by playing the same themes.

Airlines - Logistics - Mergers & Acquisitions

GVK buys L&T's 17% stake in Bangalore airport co for Rs 686 cr –
Now, with 29% stake, gets a seat on the board.

GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd has acquired 17 per cent stake in Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL) from L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd for Rs 686 crore.

GVK said on Sunday that it paid Rs 105 a share for the L&T stake. With this, GVK's stake in BIAL has gone up to 29 per cent. The company had earlier acquired 12 per cent stake from Zurich Airport for Rs 484 crore through its subsidiary GVK Airport Developers.

The L&T stake was acquired through the GVK subsidiary, Mumbai Airport Developers, said a spokesperson for the company.

“With the 29 per cent stake, we get a seat on the board. Going forward, we may further increase our stake. But, there is no immediate plan,” said thespokesperson.

Currently, Siemens holds 40 per cent stake in BIAL, the Airport Authority of India and KSIIDC, the financing arm of the Karnataka Government for infrastructure projects, hold 13 per cent each and Zurich Airport five per cent.

“The acquisition of additional stake in BIAL is in line with our objective of expanding GVK's presence in the airports business,” Dr G.V. Krishna Reddy, Chairman of GVKPIL, said in a statement here.

Recently, the L&T Chairman, Mr A.M. Naik, had reportedly stated that the company was planning to sell the stake in the Bangalore airport as it did not want to have a minority holding.

Besides being an equity holder, L&T had been the EPC contractor for the airport project.

GVK, the Hyderabad-based infrastructure major, has already invested over Rs 5,000 crore in various projects. The company holds 37 per cent stake in Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) as well. Dr Reddy had earlier said that the company was also in talks with South African company Bidvest Group to acquire its stake in MIAL. Bidvest has 27 per cent stake.

The Bangalore airport, opened in May 2008, is the second major airport built with private participation, the first one being the Kochi International airport.

Climate & Weather -Industry & Economy - Environment
A global initiative towards clean Earth - The United Nations Climate Change Conference: Copenhagen, December 07-18, 2009.

Climate change refers to changes in the concentration of the greenhouse gases (water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons), which trap infrared radiation from the Earth's surface, heating it, much like a normal greenhouse. This is called the greenhouse effect. This effect is a natural phenomenon, which helps maintain a stable temperature and climate on the Earth, essential for life. However, this balance is precarious. An increase in infrared radiation captured by the atmosphere has caused changes in the air temperature, precipitation patterns, sea-level rise, and melting of glaciers.

How is it caused?

A change in the global climate is caused by the greenhouse effect. The concentration of these gases is increasing, mainly due to human activities, such as the combustion of fossil fuels (which release carbon dioxide) and deforestation (because forests remove carbon from the atmosphere). The atmospheric concentration of carbon-dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, has increased by 30 per cent since pre-industrial times. There are natural forces at work that are heating the Earth's surface, as well. Solar radiation, deviations in the Earth's orbit and volcanic activity are some natural processes that can raise the Earth's temperature.

What are some of the possible consequences?

Projections of the effect of global warming and the direction climate change will take are derived from the global climate model or the general circulation model (GCM) experiments. Climatologists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) review the results of these experiments for global and regional assessments.

One study estimated that the global mean surface temperature will rise by 1.5°C to 3.5°C by 2100. This is a significant increase, and would have a major impact on the climate of almost all the regions on Earth. There is likely to be a major change in rainfall patterns in the tropics. A study found that climate change can affect the frequency and intensity of weather events, such as storms and floods, around the world. The melting of the mountain and polar ice caps will lead to the raising of global sea levels. The global mean sea level is anticipated to rise by 15 cm to 95 cm by 2100. This, in turn, will increase vulnerability to coastal flooding and storm surges. The faster the climate change, the greater will be the risk of damage to the environment. Climatic zones (and thus ecosystems and agricultural zones) could shift toward the poles by 150 to 550 kilometres by 2100. These are but some of the projections of the effect of climate change on the world in the next century.

What is the IPCC?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a scientific inter-governmental body that is meant to evaluate the risk of climate change caused by human activity. The panel was established in 1988 by the two United Nations organisations, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The IPCC does not carry out its own research, nor does it do the work of monitoring climate or related phenomena itself. It, however, published special reports on climate change, its effects, what can be done about it, and the like. The IPCC bases its assessment mainly on peer reviewed and published scientific literature.

What is the Kyoto Protocol? What is expected at Copenhagen?

The Kyoto Protocol is a code to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC), aimed at combating global warming. It was adopted on December 11, 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, and put into force on February 16, 2005. As of November 2009, 187 states have signed and ratified the protocol. The most notable non-member of the protocol is the US, which was responsible for 36.1 per cent of the 1990 emission levels.

Under the Protocol, 37 industrialised countries commit themselves to a reduction of four greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride) and two groups of gases (hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons) produced by them, and all member countries give general commitments. Annex I countries agreed to reduce their collective greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 per cent from the 1990 level. The United Nations Climate Change Conference will take place at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, between December 7 and December 18, 2009.

What is carbon sequestration?

Carbon sequestration is a technique used to combat global warming by storing carbon dioxide and other forms of carbon on a long term basis. This method has been proposed to mitigate the effect of greenhouse gases released with the burning of fossil fuels.

What is carbon emission trading?

This is a form of emissions trading specifically and currently makes up the bulk of emissions trading. It is one of the ways countries can meet their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon emissions and thereby mitigate global warming.

Personal carbon trading is a proposed emission trading scheme under which emissions credits are allocated to adult citizens, within national carbon budgets. These citizens then surrender these credits when buying fuel or electricity. Individuals wanting or needing to emit at a level above that permitted by their initial allocation would be able to engage in emissions trading and purchase additional credits. The converse can be true for those who use less than they are allotted.

 

MANAGEMENT TIPS: GO ABOVE AND BEYOND

Managing people isn't just about getting the job done. To truly be a great leader, sometimes you need to go above and beyond what the job calls for.

Lead by example. You can talk until you're blue in the face, but the best way to get a point across is to be the model to emulate. Let employees follow your lead.

Get your hands dirty. Sometimes you need to show your employees that no one's above doing unattractive tasks.

Make a difference to your employees. Don't just be a generic manager — stand out as a leader and role model for your employees.

Gain your employees' trust and respect. You'll have a much easier time managing employees when they respect your rules and boundaries and trust your leadership.

Be empathetic to personal problems. Whether it should or not, what happens outside of work can have a big affect on the quality of work produced. Be sensitive if employees have personal issues that keep them from concentrating on work.

Be unique as a manager. Every position demands something different and you should be proud to be adept at your particular role rather than trying to emulate other managers.

Remember that ethics matter above all. Be honest and reliable in all of your business and personal relationships.

Be on the lookout for new ideas. You never know where your next great inspiration will come from.

Get to know your employees. Learn more than just their names. Get to know your employees' family backgrounds, likes and dislikes. Doing so will make you more personable.

Focus – Day Tip A good friend is one who always has good thoughts, speaks good words and performs good deeds.