The Inheritances of Granny 2007....

In another’s few hours time, the new baby would have been born. 2007 has been a good year with lesser natural calamities than 2006, bad year for the medical sector with major medical breakthroughs, worse year for the business sector biggies like Citigroup and Merrill Lynch. Here are the top 10 events that I consider to be significant in 2007.

1. IPhone Mania- Iphone captures the hearts of millions and redefines the mobile market. Gets credited with TIME Invention of the year award. Kudos Steve Job!!

2. Toyota overtakes GM as the largest car maker in the world – Toyota overtook GM as the largest car maker with reported sales of 2.348 billion cars. Add to that the strong growth predictions of Toyota for 2008.

3. Bye bye People’s Prez- Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam demits Rashtrapati Bhavan as a common man with just 2 suitcases. He will be remembered as the People’s President of India, the missile man who inspired millions of Children and motivated them for a better India in year 2020 and the hi-tech President whom even the Brits were agape seeing his presentation and motivational skills.

4. TATA completes acquisition of Corus- With the completion of Corus acquisition, TATA group becomes a true IMMC (Indian Made Multinational Companies). It also moved up as the 3rd world’s most transparent group.

5. The Juggernaut- Mukesh Ambani. How else can I describe him? He has tripled the mammoth Reliance in size and increased the market capitalization by 10 times ater Dhirubhai Ambani’s death. Unquestionably the best business leader of India and well deserved to be named the richest Indian with an annual package of 240 million INR!!

6. Citigroup gets it first Indian CEO- The troubled US bank major has this time turned to an Indian for help. Vikram Pandit has been appointed as the Chairman and CEO. Pandit, who is 50, is the first person of Indian origin to scale such stratospheric heights in the financial world, which has many well-regarded Indian executives.

7. Stem Cell Break through - In November, two groups of scientists in Japan and Wisconsin announced that they had found a way to reprogram human skin cells to behave like embryonic stem cells — without having to make or destroy any embryos. Embryonic stem cells are capable of turning into any of the 220 types of cell in the human body, so scientists have long touted them as a potential medicinal cure-all, from facilitating organ transplants to curing Alzheimer's. It's hoped that the new discovery could appease both sides of the stem cell war, paving the way for medical breakthroughs that do not require killing embryos.

8. Microsoft and Facebook- Here we go again in technology land. Microsoft invests $240 million for a 1.6% stake in Facebook, plus the right to broker the social networking site's international ads. The deal gives Facebook an implied value of $15 billion, for a company expected to earn just $30 million in 2007 but is nonetheless considered the model website of the future. All this just to make sure that Google doesn’t get a stake in Facebook and strengthens its social networking site presence.

9. Google and Doubleclick- When Microsoft can do it Google will definitely do it. Google Buys DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion. A huge price for a company worth just more than $1 billion a couple of years ago. But Google craved DoubleClick's capabilities: The company's specialty is placing advertisements on websites, known in the trade as "serving." Buying DoubleClick also kept it out of the hands of Microsoft. The combo makes Google a more potent player in Web advertising against rivals Microsoft and Yahoo. The European Union isn't happy, though, and is giving the deal extra scrutiny.

10. Bhutto- A Saga ends- The former and future Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Oxford and Harvard Graduate, was assassinated after departing a PPP rally in Rawalpindi in Pakistan. What is more stunning is the chain of assassinations associated with her family. Her son, Bilawal Bhutto, just 19, another Oxford student, has already named as the leader of PPP.

The journey towards my goal...

I was supposed to have started it long ago. But better now than never.

Finally I have begun my Consulting case analysis discussions for getting into my target industry-Consulting. Apart from keeping me busy for most of the time, the case analysis has served some useful purposes:

1. I have got used to the frameworks of the likes of Accenture, BCG and McKinsey-7S Matrix, BCG 2*2 matrix, GE/Mckinsey 3*3 matrix....ufffff........

2. I have got to know about differnet industries, the typical problems they would be facing and how to tide over them

I am sure that I would not have even bothered to know about these frameworks and the industrial issues-thanks to the tighter MBA schedule and my laziness. The cases have ranged from simple (??? definitely not!!) profitability analysis cases to complex cases such as decision making as the Dean of MBA school if I receive a grant of 100Million $.

All these case analysis has also helped me personally to analyse issues in a more structured way-to such an extent that I have begun framing a structure in mind even if takling/chatting with some one. :-)

Let me see where this takes me-whether this is a start of a new beginning or beginning of end!!

( And to all the beginers of case studies, I would sincerely recommend to visit this link..
http://www.bcg.com/careers/practice_revenue_growth.html

This is supposed to be a simple, straight case.. :-))

Ratatouille

Another day..Another good movie..Difference this time: my taste has been towards animated movies..

This movie is about Remy (our rat hero) who departs from the regular customs of the rats-stealing and eating food from the garbage and wants to leave his benchmark in the world. He has his interests in cooking and could make good dishes that humans can eat. Separated from his family accidentally, he lands in the Gusteau's restaurant, once known for its great food and was rated one of the best restaurants in the world.

As Rémy looks into the kitchen from a skylight a young man with no culinary talent, Linguini, arrives with a letter of introduction from his recently deceased mother, and is hired to do janitorial duties. While cleaning, Linguini spills a pot of soup and attempts to cover up his mistake by adding nearby ingredients. Horrified, Rémy drops into the kitchen and attempts to fix the ruined soup rather than trying to escape. Linguini catches Rémy in the act, just as Skinner catches Linguini. In the confusion some of the soup has been served. To everyone's surprise, the soup is a success.

Linguini notices that Remy is more human than a rat and could understand him. They both become friends and our little rat hero helps Linguini in making the best dishes. The story takes new turn when the will of Gusteau says that Linguini is his son and would be owner of the hotel. The current head chef turns into villain and how Remy rescues Linguini and the hotel back as the best restaurant is the rest of the story.

One fact is to be accepted-As the quality of acting of our real heroes worsen day by day, the animated heroes are getting better day by day. No call sheet problems, no salary to be given and above all they will do whatever you want them to do. What else do you need?

Another must watch from the portal of Walt Disney!!

The Road to Guantanamo..

The Road to Guantanamo is one of the movies which impressed me recently.

Directed by Michael Winterbottom, this docudrama is the story about 4 Pakistani Britons (Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal and Shafiq Rasul and Monir), who travel to Pakistan for a wedding and in a urge of idealism decide to see the situation of war torn Afghanistan which is being bombed by the American forces in retaliation for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Sensing the situation in Afghan they decide to return back to Pakistan, when the situation worsens. None of them are ready to help them return to Pakistan as the entire area is getting occupied by United Front soldiers. Finally they manage to sneak into a truck, whose driver agrees them to get transported to Pakistan. During night time, their rest place gets attacked by the Northern Alliance soldiers and they get caught along with all the Talibans and militants. Monir dies in the bombing attack and the rest three are transported to prison camps.

What follows is a series of tortures, where all the army officers force them to agree that they are part of the Al-Qaeda. They are then transported to Guantanamo bay base in Cuba. What follows is three years of relentless imprisonment, interrogations and torture to make them submit to blatantly wrong confessions to being terrorists. In the midst In the midst of this abuse, the three struggle to keep their spirits up. Finally to their surprise the US/Brit Govt decides to release them. (which I think has never happened!!)The film will penetrate deep into your mind. The tortures they face, the way they are treated and the way the Army officers frame them of their charges, the camera, the pace at which the movie moves..every second of the movie impresses you.

And about Guantanamo:

Guantánamo Bay Naval Base is located at the southeastern end of Cuba and has been used by the United States Navy for more than a century. It is the oldest overseas U.S. Navy Base and the only one in a country with which the United States does not have diplomatic relations.

Since 2002, the naval base has contained a military prison, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, for persons alleged to be militant combatants captured in Afghanistan and later in Iraq. Prior to July 11, 2006, the Bush Administration maintained that these detainees are not protected under the Geneva Convention.

Beginning in 2002, a small portion of the base was used to imprison several hundred individuals — some of whom were captured by US forces in Afghanistan, though the majority were 'bought' for a substantial bounty (generally in the region of $US 5000) from various warlords and mercenaries both in Afghanistan and elsewhere — at Camp Delta, Camp Echo, Camp Iguana, and the now-closed Camp X-Ray. The US military has asserted that some, but not all, of these captives are linked to Al-Qaida or the Taliban. The military has withheld the evidence against captives asserted to be linked to terrorist organizations or enemy states. In litigation regarding the availability of fundamental rights to those imprisoned at the base, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that the captives "have been imprisoned in territory over which the United States exercises exclusive jurisdiction and control." Therefore, the captives have the fundamental right to due process of law under the Fifth Amendment. A district court has since held that the "Geneva Conventions applied to the Taliban captives, but not to members of al Qaeda terrorist organization."

The closing-down of the Guantánamo Prison has been requested by Amnesty International, the United Nations and the European Union.On 6 September 2006, President Bush announced that enemy combatants held by the CIA will be transferred to the custody of DOD, and held at Guantánamo Prison. Among approximately 500 prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, only 10 have been tried by the Guantanamo military commission, but all cases have been stayed pending the adjustments being made to comply with the Hamdi decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The so called "much deserved holidays.."

It has been not yet 24 hours yet..But I have already begun feeling “what the fcuk is happening”..

Let us rewind back 24 hours when I was expecting when my Q2 exams would get over..I was having plans to catch up with my left over sleep, see some long pending movies and catch up with the latest gossips in my friends circle..I was desperate..I was happy and elated, jumped back home..

What actually happened was different....I came back home ,called up all my friends in the evening, saw 3 movies in the night and slept till 11AM today morning..What else..all my so called long-pending wishes were satisfied in matter of hours..I was not knowing what would I be doing for the rest of the day..I desperately needed some deadlines to be met, some pressures to be encountered..all of a sudden day seemed to move slower..

I have got addicted to the fast pace in MBA and all of a sudden I realised that I need not do anything, Life began to suck..No exaggeration but truth!!

Thank God..I have some work later in the week..My case analysis discussions, negotiation skills classes, team building exercises would be beginning soon and would keep me busy..How relieved I am..First time in my life, I cud see myself happier when I get more work..

So near..Yet so far...

This is a long over due post..I was (infact we all were!! )getting screwed royally by all the Profs in the exam..While the strategy subject was a marketing case, the marketing subject had a strategic case..business finance and accounting subjects stripped everyone naked..Anyways just one more exam to go for me to finally say that I am done with my Q2 and have become a 25% MBA..

The strategy case competition is beginning tomorrow and I need to slog in entire tomorrow night..new team..new faces..new ideas..no time for settling down formally..get into the groove and start delivering immediately...the entire 1st year has been divided into 49 teams with each team comprising of 5-6 students..we would be put into 7 rooms and given 24 hours to come out with a recommendation for the case..we would then have to make a presentation to the panel of judges..one team from every room would be selected and would go to the next round when we would be given a final twist to the case..the biggies from the Bay street ( bay street is 2nd wall street of North America) are expected to be judges in the final round..the winning team would get to manage the Impact Consulting Group (the internal consulting company of Rotman) for the next one year..this is a prestigious role which means a lot in MBA world and I look forward to the competition eagerly...

the winter vacations are due to begin from wednesday and we will be having the much awaited break for 15 days..though the college would be officially closed during this period, the schedule is already filled up..negotiation lessons, case discussions, business plans, meetings and not to forget the planned Toronto tours (yup..the road Romeos and Juliets are back to rock Toronto again..;-))..I also plan to make (better to say "try" to be on the safer side) some new dishes
..above all these stuffs i need to polish my resume and cover letter and start applying to companies and start networking...the countdown has already begun..the clock has begun ticking..let me hope God bestows his blessings on me...:-)

Cerebration and Exam Celebration !!!

And it is here around the corner again. With more vigor this time. And I am preparing myself in the best possible way. But the opposition is so strong that it is very difficult to predict their strategies. Wonder what I am talking about. Yes. You guessed it right. My Q2 exams are starting in another 4 days. While the temperatures are dropping down, the exam temperatures are running high. Listening to lecture videos, going through the class notes, understanding the fundas..things are getting hectic as the benchmarks keep on raising.

Couple this with the Cerebration, the case competition @ NUS in which we (me, Kavitha and Manoj..Yes..again!!!!) are participating. The executive summary is due on Dec 8th, 2007 and we need to allocate sufficient time to this also. Desperately in need of a win, somewhere..somehow...!!

Two hot games worth waiting for the results!!