Suicide in India: Harassment Is the Silent Killer Worse Than Terrorism

India is the Suicide Capital of the World:

I reproduced in this article, the suicide trend and facts in India from the news-blog with an objective of highlighting the need to reform a system that slowly tortures and kills, a system that silently smothers the spirit which in my opinion is worse than a terrorist instantaneous killing and I consider it a far worse crime.

It is estimated that over 100,000 people die by suicide in India every year. India alone contributes to more than 10% of suicides in the world. The suicide rate in India has been increasing steadily and it has reached 10.5 (per 100,000 of population) in 2006 registering a 67% increase over the value of 1980. Majority of the suicides occur among men and in younger age groups. Despite the gravity of the problem, information about the causes and risk factors is insufficient.

India is now reported to be the suicide capital of the world with over 121,000 people taking their lives in 2009. The people who often commit suicide in India include farmers in debt, women without many rights, and students who are love-sick. In India, one farmer committed suicide every 32 minutes between 1997 and 2005 based on calculation on the statistics from National Crime Records Bureau. According to the latest statistics of India’s National Crime Records Bureau, 127,151 people in India committed suicide in 2009. This indicates an increase of 1.7 percent over the previous year’s figures. Farmers and students are most at risk. Suicide in the service category constitutes 11 percent. The recent suicide cases reported in the news indicate the rise of suicide in this category.

Main Cause of Suicide is Harassment and Victimization:

In most cases, harassment appears to be the primary cause but so far no one is found to be punished for torturing a subordinate, wife or client. A few years ago, a senior level officer in my colony in Delhi committed suicide by jumping from the roof top, the reason I suspect is harassment. The recent news today is about a young Police Officer belonging to 2002-batch IPS, posted at Bilaspur, Chattisgarh. He shot himself in the head on March 12, 2012. The Police found a suicide note which revealed that he suffered mental agony because of the high handedness of his senior officer and a high court judge. Another recent news dated 11 March, 2012 reported suicide of one 31-year female aspiring to be in the civil service. Against this kind of developments, the irony becomes either to commit suicide for failing the test to be a civil servant or commit suicide after passing the test for the coveted job. Considering the possibility of many unreported deaths caused by stress and depression under harassment and also unreported cases of victimization, the statistics and evidences need to be ascertained through proper research, as this is an area found to be grossly lacking in India.

When I joined service, my top boss, who belonged to the older generation of the esteemed Indian civil service advised me to pack and go back home as I would be wasting my talents and potentials in the jungle of wolves. Thereafter, throughout my career, I have often heard and seen unhappiness in all streams of civil service mainly emanating from bully and harassment. Most of the times, one is compelled under the circumstance to waste abundant precious time and resources to iron out the problems and little time is left for building positive contribution towards organizational growth. The ”crab mentality” as we called it in India is causing decadence in the Indian civil service and I identify this to be the key constraint in India’s growth as a global power. In a recent Television debate on India’s governance problem, none among the discussion panelists appeared to have understood the missing link in India’s governance except the co-founder of In-fosys Technologies, who had highlighted the Indian civil service ineffectiveness and inefficiency. But how does one start the process of rectifying the mistakes? No one seemed to know how to begin the correction process.

Positive Thinking in a Negative Environment:

Instead of taking the extreme step of self-demolition, one may choose to struggle in the midst of the negative environment to bring positivism for improving the system, no matter how impossible it may seem. While a few strong individual can withstand harassment and torture, the exception is not the rule for the majority who often succumbed to the torture. To protect the right to life as mandated under the constitution, the act of harassment and victimization deserves the severest condemnation and its practice made punishable under the law. A responsive government will hold accountability to the wrong action, would encourage research for improving the condition and think of a way to reward contributors for building a better system. The opposite occurs in India where the agents are unresponsive to problems, discourage talents and potentials and instead punish the good performance mostly out of jealousy under the psychological trap of the so-called ‘crab mentality’.

India’s democratic governance is still far from the dream of a real liberty and freedom under the vicious chain of such harassment and victimization. A nation that cannot protect and nurture its human asset is a failed nation despite the impressive economic growth.

Challenges for The Supply Chain Management In India

The average supply chain cost in the U.S is almost 8.5 % of its entire GDP. On the contrary, the average supply chain cost in India is as high as 13.5 % of its entire GDP.”

But wait a minute! cause the bad news does not end here. In 2018, India’s rank on World Bank’s Global Logistic Performance Index(LPI ), one of the most recognized way of measuring the ease of doing business based on the condition of existing supply chain and logistics infrastructure in a particular country, went down to 44 from her earlier position of 35 in 2017.

Whereas countries like Germany, Netherland, Belgium and UK which always tend to eliminate all sorts of disruptions in their entire national and international supply chain management system successfully acquired first, second, third and fourth rank respectively.

All of these above-mentioned factors do not show any bright side of Indian Economy. According to the latest survey, the net worth of losses that are occurring, especially because of poor supply chain infrastructure and lack of proper managerial strategies, are nearly around $65 billion. Clearly, the supply chain and logistics management companies in India are definitely suffering from a lot of challenges.

Problems and Challenges:

In India, Supply chain & logistics management is facing both the demand side challenges and supply side challenges which are explained below.

Demand Side Challenges:

Demand-side challenges are basically related to the unstable price factors and the differentiating varieties if consumer requirements. We all know that India is a country of infinite contradictions and full of unimaginable diversity.

You can simply understand this fact by just taking a ride from one state to another. You will be able to recognize new culture, new languages, new dialects, new food style and above all idiosyncratic traditions, just after crossing almost every 40-50 km geographical distance.

As a result, it is not quite possible for a single manufacturer or even for a small group of industrialists to satisfy such a varying and highly differentiated set of consumer requirements.

What we require in this context is a bridge or more precisely a perfect organized supply chain collaboration system between the manufacturers, distributors, local agents and retailers who are directly connected with the domestic consumers.

Supply-side challenges:

There are dozens of Supply-side challenges which basically hamper the entire supply and distribution system. Some of them are listed as follows:

1-Poor Distribution System

2-Inadequate Infrastructure.

3-Amature 3PL companies

4-Complexities in Taxation

5-Stringent Trade policies

6-Closed Economic Policies

7-Dispersed Market

8-Old & outdated technologies.

9-Lack of Skill & professionalism.

Advent of Foreign Law Firms in India

The opening of a legal firm by a Nigerian in Delhi has not only lawyers up in arms against the unauthorized practice but has also revived the decade-and-a-half-old debate over the more important question – should foreign lawyers be allowed entry into India?

It is often asserted that India has the potential to become one of the world’s great legal centers in the 21st century, alongside London and New York. It has innate advantages in its common law traditions and English language capability. But until very recently India had not recognized the role that advisory legal services have to play in attracting foreign investment and developing a broader-based services economy.

India being a signatory to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) which is an organ of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is under an obligation to open up the service sector to Member Nations.

“Services” would include any service in any sector except services supplied in the exercise of governmental authorities as defined in GATS. “A service supplied in the exercise of governmental authorities” is also defined to mean any service that is supplied neither on a commercial basis nor in competition with one or more service suppliers.

Legal profession is also taken to be one of the services which is included in GATS. With the liberalization and globalization policy followed in India, multinationals and foreign corporations are increasingly entering India. Foreign financial institutions and business concerns are also entering India in a fairly large number. Their business transactions in India are obviously governed by the Indian law and the foreign law firms (FLF’s) and foreign legal consultants (FLC’s) being not fully conversant with the Indian legislation require the assistance of lawyers enrolled and practicing in India. This has led to the idea of entry of foreign legal consultants and liberalization of legal practices in India in keeping with the guidelines evolved by the International Bar Association (IBA) and the GATS. If this idea is to be put into practice, the Advocates Act, 1961 which governs legal practice in India needs to be amended.

Legal “practice” is not defined in the Advocates Act but a reading of Sections 30 and 33 indicates that practice is limited to appearance before any court, tribunal or authority. It does not include legal advice, documentation, alternative methods of resolving disputes and such other services. Section 24 (i)(a) of the Act provides that a person shall be qualified to be admitted as an Advocate on the State Roll if he is a citizen of India provided that subject to this Act a national of any other country may be admitted as an Advocate on the State Roll if the citizens of India duly qualified are permitted to practice law in that other country.

Section 47 of the Act provides that where a country specified by the Central Govt. in this behalf by a notification in the Official Gazette prevents the citizens of India from practicing the profession of law subjects them to unfair discrimination in that country, no subject of any such country shall be entitled to practice that profession of law in India.

The basic principles set out by IBA on the question of validity of FLC’s are fairness, uniform and non-discriminatory treatment, clarity and transparency, professional responsibility, reality and flexibility. The guidelines laid down by the IBA are as follows:

“Legal consultant means a person qualified to practice law in a country (home country) and who desires to be licensed to practice law as a legal consultant without being examined by a body or an authority to regulate the legal profession in a country (host country) other than a home country, such a person has to apply to the host authority for a license by following the procedure for obtaining a license subject to the reasonable conditions imposed by the host authority on the issue of licenses. This license requires renewal. A legal consultant has to submit an undertaking alongwith his application not to accept, hold, transfer, deal with a client found or assigned unless the legal consultant does so in a manner authorized by the host authority to agree and abide by the code of ethics applicable to host jurisdiction besides to abide by all the rules and regulations of both the home and host jurisdiction.

It is open to the host authority to impose the requirement of reciprocity and to impose reasonable restrictions on the practice of FLC’s in the host country, that the FLC’s may not appear as an attorney or plead in any court or tribunal in the host country and the FLC’s may not prepare any documents or instruments whose preparation or performance of other services, is specifically reserved by the host authority for performance by its local members.

Many experts have given their views on entry of FLF’s and FLC’s in India pursuant to GATS. They are not opposed to the idea but it is suggested by them that some restrictions, adequate safeguards and qualifications should be provided for besides reciprocity.

The restrictions, if any, will have to be reasonable. Obtaining Indian law degree and practicing Indian law for a period to be stipulated for entry may be the only reasonable restrictions. Canadian model of University training, examination and articleship administered through a joint committee accreditation may be a viable solution. To follow the principle of non-discrimination, it may not be possible to impose any onerous restriction limiting the clientele, the nature of legal work, the fees to be marked, the form of fees (Rupees or foreign currency) etc. So far as reciprocity is concerned level playing field and uniform code of conduct will have to be worked out. Many western nations allow their lawyers to advertise whereas in India the lawyers are not allowed to do so. In California the FLF’s were only permitted to deal in laws not specific to California. Even in countries like Singapore, Hong-Kong and Japan the FLC’s are restricted to servicing only foreign firms. The treatment meted out to FLC’s and FLF’s in other countries and the rules, regulations made to govern their practice in the foreign country should be thoroughly scrutinized before allowing the entry in India.

Even if reciprocity were allowed, no Indian firm would go abroad to conduct legal business not because it has no talent, competency or efficiency but economically it would not be a viable proposition. The Indian lawyers have no resources to set up an establishment in a foreign country nor will the Indian Government render any assistance to them to promote their business in a foreign country. Even the large population of non-resident Indians would not desire to patronize the Indian lawyers even though they may be experts in their own field because the resident lawyers having full knowledge of the law of the country would be available to them at reasonable price because for the legal experts from India apart from the fees charged for the legal consultancy/service they may have to spend on their traveling expense also. The legal service by calling Indian experts would be very expensive for the non-resident Indians and they may not get full effective service since the Indian legal consultants may not be very conversant with the laws applicable there. It is only if any Indian party is concerned in a dispute and the question relates also to Indian law that Indian legal Consultant would be invited to a foreign country and not otherwise. Such occasions will be rare. The picture is different in case of foreign firms who do business across national borders, due to globalization. They demand foreign lawyers since they like to rely on the services of professionals in their own country who are already familiar with the firm’s business. If the foreign firms carrying on business in India require advice here on home country law, that can be made available to them by the Indian law firms or the Indian legal consultants. They can also prepare the legal documentation or provide the advisory service for corporate restructuring, mergers, acquisitions, intellectual property rights or financial instruments required by the foreign firms. These aspects will have to be seriously considered while considering the principle of reciprocity. Reciprocity should therefore be clearly defined and must be effective. It should be ensured that the rules and/or regulations laid down should be strictly complied with otherwise as is the experience, the rules remain on paper and what is practiced is totally different. The authorities either do not pay any heed to the violations or they overlook or ignore it as in the case of the Foreign law firms in India in the Enron deal, the permissions for such law firms to set up liaison offices came from the RBI which reports directly to the Finance Ministry. When these law firms violated the very conditions of being liaison offices the RBI overlooked or ignored it.

Some are of the view that instead of being perceived as a threat to lawyers, this should be seen as a move to raising standards within the profession but with reciprocal arrangements. The legal profession as it was practiced years before by the legal stalwarts did have a very high standard. However, today that standard of profession is nowhere to be seen or experienced. Legal profession has also become totally commercialized with no human or moral values. The standard has gone down considerably. However, the fees charged have tremendously increased, disproportionately to the service rendered to the clients. No effort is being made in any corner to set the wrong or malpractices which have crept in in the legal profession. On this background, what would be the “raised standards”? If at all the standards are raised, would the entire class of legal practitioners in India benefit or will it be only a small section of the legal practitioners who would be able to take advantage of the new situation? In that case, can this move be said to be in the interest of the legal practitioners? The situation so far as the FLC’s are concerned would be completely different since all the FLC’s who aspire to come to India will get equal treatment whereas the Indian legal practitioners would be deprived of equality in profession. Besides the FLC’s will have foreign clients and even though they are allowed to practice in India with a reasonable restriction of obtaining law degree in India, for some time definitely they will need Indian lawyers to get their work done. With the resources at their end and with the higher exchange rate in currency, they will be able to hire and retain young lawyers with substantial pay packages, though as compared to their fees in their country it would be much lower, with the result that good reputed Attorney’s/Solicitor’s Firms in India would lose their good hands and their work may suffer. Law Firms in U.S.A have funds equal to the annual budget of the State of Maharashtra. With such resources, in a short time, such FLF’s would do away with the existing law firms in India. On this background would our law firms withstand the competition and the quality of service, is an important question to be examined.

The U.S and some other advanced countries have large law firms operating on International scales which are primarily business organizations designed to promote commercial interest of their giant client corporations. The size, power, influence and economical standards of these large international law firms would definitely affect the legal system of our country adversely. We cannot match howsoever far we may stretch it, their size, power and most importantly economical standard. There is a limitation here on the number of partners in an Attorney’s/Solicitor’s firm. The number is restricted to 20 under the Partnership Act, which restriction is non-existent in a foreign law firm. To bring uniformity this limitation will have to be removed allowing for more partners, increasing of funding and manpower.

Moreover the FLF’s have “single window services” meaning services which not only include legal but also accountancy, management, financial and other advice to their clients. The multidisciplinary partnerships will cater to the needs of the clients in the above-mentioned different fields. Such partnerships may endanger the ethics of the legal profession as confidential information may be passed out within the partnership to the non-lawyer professionals. This would prejudicially affect not only the clients but also the lawyers since the independence of the lawyers would be compromised. Once the FLF’s and FLC’s are allowed entry into India the Bar Council of India will have to make rules and regulations also for such multidisciplinary partnerships or single window services. The multidisciplinary partnerships may look attractive but the crucial question is whether the quality of services and accountability of systems can be maintained? The code of ethics needs review to bring international legal practice under its purview.

The Foreign law firms may seek license for full and regular legal practice like that of Indian lawyers or they may come for a limited practice of consultancy for foreign partners on home country laws. Accordingly the rules and regulations will have to be framed to meet both these situations. The FLF’s who intend to come for regular legal practice may have to be subjected to immigration and citizenship laws. Those who seek limited practice may enter into partnerships with the home country law firms without any scrutiny from the organized legal profession. It is therefore necessary that a transparent, fair and accountable system be evolved to regulate and control the internationalization of legal practice.

With the globalization and liberalization policy not only foreign businessmen have come to India for investment but even the foreign goods and products such as agricultural products and other goods have entered the Indian market. The Indian goods and products have to face a tough competition with these foreign products which are cheaper though may not be better in quality. The result is that the Indian agriculturists and merchants are seriously prejudiced in their business. We also have the example of Enron which was in news where the Indian law was modified without probably realizing the adverse effect it would have on the electrical companies in the State. The agreements signed with Enron do not appear to be in the interest of the State or the Nation. However, such matters are thought of only later and not when the actual action is taken. With the present experience, it is felt that we should not be carried away with the idea of raising our standards or of being on par with the other developed countries where the guideline of reciprocity may be followed and the FLC’s and FLF’s would be allowed to enter the country. We have to be very alert and watchful and think well in advance to do away with any lacunas or loopholes in the rules and regulations that may be introduced to safeguard the interest of the lawyers in our country.

One more point which may need consideration is about the countries who would be interested in India. Would these countries be the members of the World Trade Organization or would even the non-member countries be allowed to enter India? If the entry is restricted to only the members of the WTO and if any non-member country desires to enter India, would the entry be denied merely on the ground that it is not the member of the WTO or whether the non-member would be allowed entry to show our fairness and equality of treatment? Thus many countries may be interested in coming to India due to the liberalization; globalization and privatization policy followed in India but the chances of the Indian firms going out of India to enter any foreign country would be remote. The principle of reciprocity may be introduced on paper but may not be effectively followed.

It may be mentioned here that the “Lawyer’s Collective” has filed a public interest litigation before the Mumbai High Court questioning the phrase “practice the profession of law” under section 29 of the Advocates Act. The respondents in their petition include some of the FLF’s which had set up their own liaison offices in India. It is needless to point out that all the above points may be discussed and examined in the above petition, the result of which is awaited.

The Indian legal profession has, in recent years, undergone a significant change, emerging as highly competitive and ready to move along with the ongoing wave of globalization. The interest of foreign law firms to open shop in India therefore is hardly surprising, since India offers a full range of legal services, of comparable quality, at literally a fraction of the price that would otherwise have to be paid. The rather conservative and if one may use the word, “protectionist” stand of the Bar Council of India on the matter has, however, prohibited foreign law firms from operating in India. A number of the more established ones, perhaps unable to resist the immense potential of the Indian legal markets, and in anticipation of the “globalization of legal services” under the aegis of the WTO, are slowly (and quite discreetly) establishing their presence in India, this in a considerable number of cases taking the form of their entering into associations with Indian firms, and in the process, literally operating in India indirectly, despite the prohibitions against the same. An issue that has therefore started to attract the attention of not simply Indian lawyers, but also law school grads, is the likely consequences of the entry of foreign firms in India. Shall this help an already growing Indian legal market, or shall it only mean a job loss for Indian law grads?

The fact remains that India is in the process of globalizing its economy. In the process, the legal market opening up to competition from the international legal market is rather inevitable. Instead of deliberating about the advantages and disadvantages of the legal markets being opened up to foreign firms, it is perhaps more sensible to accept that the entry of foreign firms in India is only a matter of time. However, this should not mean that their operations should nor be regulated, since otherwise they may just push out the Indian firms. For law school grads, their presence in India could well translate into an increasing range of job opportunities, apart from their presence in India significantly influencing the way in which the Indian legal market evolves in the 21st century.

Renewable Energy: Can India Realize Its Unlimited Potential?

Driven by it increasing appetite for energy to fuel its economic engine, an over dependence on fossil fuels, increasing pollution levels across its major cities and a rising fuel import bill, India’s need to adopt and propagate the use renewable sources is more pressing than most.

To its credit, India has already made rapid strides towards achieving its core objectives in the renewable energy development domain. As a result of the concerted efforts put in by the central government and its Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in tandem with several state bodies and NGOs, India today is a leading global player in terms of its total installed wind power capacity and decentralized solar energy projects.

Solar energy is fast becoming the preferred option in the generation segment across a large number of states, driven largely by the ample sunlight across most parts of the country and multiple government incentives like tax holidays and capital subsidies.

Key factors like rapid improvements in technology, entry of fully integrated players and the sheer economics of scale have all combined to reduce capital costs of solar energy projects significantly in recent years. With this, several renewable energy projects including solar are expected to achieve grid parity as early as next year, when compared with costly to fuels such as LNG and imported coal.

According to the global clean energy communications and consulting firm, Mercom Capital, Indian solar installations are forecasted to be approximately 2,200 megawatt (MW) by the end of this year while its wind energy market is expected to attract investments totalling INR 1,00,000 crore ($15.7 bn) by the year 2020 while wind power capacity in the country is expected to almost double from over 23,000 MW in June 2015, with an estimated capacity augmentation of around 4,000 MW p.a over the next five years.

Realising its vast potential, the new Indian government has also announced a slew of big ticket programmes aimed at providing a new impetus to the Indian renewable energy development story. A list headlined by the announcement of a massive renewable energy power production target of 175,000 MW by 2022 (100,000 MW-solar, 60,000 MW-wind, 10,000 MW-biomass, 5,000 MW-small hydro power projects).

Other key initiatives include: announcing the National Wind Energy policy, approval for 15,000 MW of grid-connected solar power projects by the NTPC and the inclusion of the renewable energy under priority sector lending (PSL) by the RBI which has paved the way for banks to provide loans upto US$ 2.36 mn to borrowers for renewable energy projects.

Clearly, if things go as planned, India looks well set to occupy its rightful place as a leading producer of clean energy and a shining example for the rest of the world to follow.

Welspun Renewables is one of India’s leading players in the clean energy domain and is committed to establishing mega renewable energy projects in the country.

India Should Move With Caution On The Fijian Coup

India has done the right thing by reacting in a very cautious way to the coup in Fiji. The statement of the External Affairs Ministry is a pointer to this. The spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs, Navtej Sarna, said, “We are saddened to learn about the turn of events in Fiji and hope that the rule of law will prevail and power will be returned to the people at the earliest.” In a brief statement, Sarna said, “India greatly values its relations with Republic of Fiji Islands, a country with which we share historical and cultural links.”

New Delhi’s cautious response to the crisis in the South Pacific islands was based on the fact that this is the first coup which is not directed against the Indian community in Fiji. The issues, which have led to the coup, are two crucial bills the Prime Minister Laisinia Qarase sought to introduce. The first one was to provide amnesty to participants in the previous coup which had ousted the previous legitimate of Dr Mahendra Chaudhry, while the other related to fishing rights in coastal areas being given to indigenous Fijian Tribal landowners. If this two bills were passed it would have resulted in the people of Indian origin becoming a second rate citizen of that country. As land owing and fishing rights would have deprived the Indian community of its traditional business. Granting amnesty to the previous coup participants would have resulted in the political venerability of the Indian community. After coups in 1987 and 2000, over 100,000 Fijians of Indian origin have emigrated from Fiji between 1987 and April 2004, mainly to Australia, New Zealand, US and Canada. Prior to the 1987 coup the Indian community formed 51 % of the total population today it has come down to 44%.

The Indian community forms the backbone of the Fijian economy as most of them are in business related to tourism, sugar industry, plantations etc the rest are professionals. Passing of these two bills would have resulted the total isolation of the Indian community, as they would have become the object of hate and target .Now that the coup has been staged India should play its role well. Shrewd and fine art of diplomacy is the need of the hour for India now in relation to Fiji. India has to tread her path very cautiously as the coup have resulted in the overthrow of a democratically elected government at the same time she has to keep in mind the interest of the Indian community.

Fiji’s multi-government comprised Qarase’s Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) and the Fiji Labor Party (FLP) led by former Indo-Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry. Qarase, in a state-of-the-nation address around the same time as Bainimarama’s announcement, however rejected the military takeover and said that he was still very much in charge. “Let me assure you, categorically, that under no circumstances will I resign as prime minister, or give advice to His Excellency (President Ratu Josefa Iloilo) to dissolve parliament. I am the democratically elected prime minister, appointed in accordance with the constitution, and the general election in May gave my party a clear majority in parliament.”

Already Australia and New Zealand has imposed sanctions on Fiji after the coup .The United Nation has threatened to pull out the Fijian troops from UN peacekeeping mission and Britain has threatened to expel Fiji from the commonwealth. It is now time for the Indian government to act at the international level to ensure that democracy is restored in Fiji soon at the same time India should not loose the opportunity to bargain hard with the military controlled interim government there to restore the traditional rights of the Indian community so that they can get back their previous political and economic space in the Fijian society. The return of the Fijian Indians who left that country after the previous coups also should be settled once for all. Till India is able to achieve the rights of the people of Indian origin she should use all her diplomatic skills to ensure that Fiji is not isolated within the International community including the commonwealth as this could prove to very dangerous for the safety of the people of Indian origin in that country.

The Duke of Wellesley’s Military Campaigns in India

History of the world is the history of warfare and India is no exception. Right from the times of the ancient epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, war as a culture has dominated Indian history. To start with there was what is known as the Hindu period, when Hindu kings ruled almost the entire sub-continent and beyond, like Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia.This was followed by the Muslim period, when progressively over a period of 9 centuries the Hindus became the ruled and the Muslims the rulers.

The Muslim period ended when the British came to India to trade, by forming the East India Company. It is one of the wonders of history that a company that came to trade, within a matter of 100 years became rulers of the sub-continent. This was by a superior application of military technology as well as a single mind devotion to the King of England and country. This was another period in Indian history when the war was the epitome of domination.War was the centerpiece and the clue to domination by the East India Company. It was only in 1858, after the mutiny in 1857 by a few sepoys of the Company’s army that Company rule was abolished and the crown itself took up the administration of the sub-continent. Queen Victoria was then designated Empress of Hindustan.

The English became the rulers of this vast area that at that time had a population of about 250 million. The English produced soldiers of caliber, who adapted to Indian conditions better than the Indians themselves. By means of superior tactics and devotion, they were able to defeat the Indians ( Both Muslims and Hindus) decisively. There were some men who played more than a greater part in this establishment of English rule and two of the foremost are Sir Robert Clive and two brothers Richard and Arthur Wellesley.

The Wellesley’s

The role of the Wellesley’s is something of which legends are made. They had no Indian blood, yet both deserve the epithet ” great”. Richard Wellesley was the Governor General of India while his brother Arthur Wellesley was a military genius. Arthur Wellesley became later the first Duke of Wellington and led the English and Prussian force as a Field Marshal against Napoleon at Waterloo ( 1815) and defeated him. The Napoleonic years ended and later Arthur Wellesley also later became Prime Minister of England.

Richard Wellesley was always a bit jealous of his brother, yet his contribution to British rule in India was immense. He presided over the English domain in India from Calcutta and proved that he was a genius himself. In his plan to wrest India from Indians, he was assisted by his brother Arthur, who put into practice the dream of Richard and in a series of military campaigns defeated the foremost Indian kings at that time. This was in the 18th/early 19th century.

Arthur Wellesley is bracketed along with the greats of world history in the pantheon of great warriors and conquerors like Alexander the Great and Chengiz Khan. He was however a chivalrous soldier who fought a war as a noble profession and treated the vanquished with compassion.The only act for which he can be held guilty was his order to shoot the tigers kept by Tippu as pets. All the tigers were shot dead.

Arthur Wellesley landed in India towards the end of the 18th century. He had a head start as his brother was the Governor General. This was the time when Tippu Sultan had spread terror among Hindus and Christians in the Malabar region. His father Hyder Ali had deposed the Hindu ruler of Mysore and crowned himself as Sultan. He had also attacked Madras. The English had no love for Tippu Sultan and a decision was taken to remove him. Part of this decision was the culmination of representations by Hindus to the Governor General complaining of atrocities on them by Tippu.

Campaigns of the Ist Duke of Wellesley in India

Arthur Wellesley started his military career in 1787 as a commissioned officer in the infantry. In 1796 he set sail for India and landed in Madras. His decision was influenced to a great extent by the fact that his brother was Governor General of India. He was part of the 33rd Infantry regiment which was moved to India to combat Tippu Sultan who had let loose a reign of terror.

Arthur Wellesley on arrival took stock of the situation and made an assessment of the military capability of Tippu Sultan. In a service paper which was presented at the Staff College, it was informed that his opinion of Tippu was of a bigoted ruler and on the advice of his brother he was tasked to defeat Tippu and restore the Hindu dynasty. He was also of the opinion that Tippu had little or no concept of tactics of offense and initiative in a campaign. He was proved right.

Arthur Wellesley got his act together and got ready for what is known as the 4th Anglo-Mysore War(1799). In this campaign Wellesley marched with his force from Madras towards Mysore. The army covered 10-15 miles a day and was accompanied by servants, comfort women, shopkeepers and cooks. Tippu heard of the advancing army, but decided to shut himself in his fortress. This is an action difficult to comprehend as offence is the best form of defence. He could have moved against the Company force, but his playing a waiting game by holing up in his fortress gave the initiative to the Company army.

Wellesley surrounded the fortress of Seringapatnam and he ordered an assault. the fort was breached and Tippu died fighting. Wellesley had removed the greatest obstacle to English rule in the South. He was appointed as governor of Seringapatam and also promoted to Major- General. It was a great victory. The Hindu ruler was reinstated and Arthur was congratulated by his brother Richard.

A look at the map of South India will show that Wellesley marched nearly 300 km from Madras to battle Tippu and there is no doubt that despite coming from a cold area like England, he adjusted to the rigors of the sub -continent and heat of South India in particular with aplomb.

Arthur was now tasked by his brother to destroy the Maratha Confederacy. The mantle of rulers of India had fallen on the Maratha’s after Mughal rule had collapsed and they had to be checked. The Duke took part in the Second Maratha war ( 1803-5) and once again showed his military genius.

At the turn of the 19th century, the Maratha’s were a divided lot. The ruler of Indore, Holkar had fled to the British for help. Arthur Wellesley was tasked with curbing the power of Peshwa Baji Rao II. Arthur commenced his campaign in 1803. He was a Major -General at that time. This is known as the Deccan campaign and he started with an assault on Ahmednagar, which he reduced on 12 August 1803. this was a significant move as Ahmednagar was a pivot for supply chain of the Maratha army.

Wellesley now marched towards Assaye with a force of 4500 soldiers. He was opposed by Scindia and the Peshwa with a force of 10500. In a bloody battle, the English carried the day and over 6000 Maratha soldiers were killed. The British also suffered 1600 dead, but this victory effectively sealed Maratha dominance. Subsequently on orders of Wellesley, the British force under Colonel Stevenson occupied Burhanpur( now in Madhya Pradesh).

The Marathas were getting ready for a last fling and Bhosle with a force of 40000 opposed the English at what is known as the Battle of Argaon. This battle on 29th November resulted in over 5000 Maratha being killed to only about 350 English dead. It was decisive victory and once again Wellington showed his genius as a soldier.

Arthur continued his march and surrounded the fortress of Bhosle and captured it. The Maratha’s again suffered heavy casualities and over 4000 were killed to a handful of English soldiers.

Wellesley decimated the Maratha’s who then sued for peace. By end of the year Scindia signed the Treaty of Arjungaon and ceded vast rights to the English.

Assessment of Arthur Wellesley’s Campaigns in India

When we study the military campaigns of Arthur Wellesley in India, we realize that he led a campaign spread over two thousand miles. Though Wellesley went back after the Second Maratha war, the effect of his military campaigns was stupendous. He beat the Indian Generals and Kings at their own game and put the East India Company Raj on a firm footing. The Company became the paramount power in India and all credit must got to the First Duke of Wellington. Later when the Duke met Napoleon in Battle, he was a Field Marshal and there also he won. So in case Tippu and the Marathas were defeated by him, it was no shame as they were confronted by a man with a razor sharp brain and military strategist. The Indian generals failed to size Arthur Wellesley who along with his brother Richard laid the foundation of the Raj.

One can debate endlessly as to whether the Raj was good or bad for India, but what can’t be debated is that men like Arthur Wellesley beat the Indians fair and square. There is no doubt that just on the strength of his military campaigns in India, the First Duke of Wellington deserves the title “great”.

The Outsourcing History of India

The outsourcing history of India is one of phenomenal growth in a very short span of time. The idea of outsourcing has its roots in the ‘competitive advantage’ theory propagated by Adam Smith in his book ‘The Wealth of Nations’ which was published in 1776. Over the years, the meaning of the term ‘outsourcing’ has undergone a sea-change. What started off as the shifting of manufacturing to countries providing cheap labour during the Industrial Revolution, has taken on a new connotation in today’s scenario. In a world where IT has become the backbone of businesses worldwide, ‘outsourcing’ is the process through which one company hands over part of its work to another company, making it responsible for the design and implementation of the business process under strict guidelines regarding requirements and specifications from the outsourcing company. This process is beneficial to both the outsourcing company and the service provider, as enables the outsourcer to reduce costs and increase quality in non core areas of business and utilize his expertise and competencies to the maximum. And now we can see the benefit to the service companies in India as they mature, prosper and build core capabilities beyond what would generally be possible by the outsourcing company.

Since the onset of globalization in India during the early 1990s, successive Indian governments have pursued programs of economic reform committed to liberalization and privatization. Till 1994, the Indian telecom sector was under direct governmental control and the state owned units enjoyed a monopoly in the market. In 1994, the government announced a policy under which the sector was liberalized and private participation was encouraged. The New Telecom Policy of 1999 brought in further changes with the introduction of IP telephony and ended the state monopoly on international calling facilities. This brought about a drastic reduction and this heralded the golden era for the ITES/BPO industry and ushered in a slew of inbound/outbound call centres and data processing centres. Although the IT industry in India has existed since the early 1980s, it was the early and mid 1990s that saw the emergence of outsourcing. One of the first outsourced services was medical transcription, but outsourcing of business processes like data processing, billing, and customer support began towards the end of the 1990s when MNCs established wholly owned subsidiaries which catered to the process off-shoring requirements of their parent companies. Some of the earliest players in the Indian market were American Express, GE Capital and British Airways.

The ITES or BPO industry is a young and nascent sector in India and has been in existence for a little more than five years. Despite its recent arrival on the Indian scene, the industry has grown phenomenally and has now become a very important part of the export-oriented IT software and services environment. It initially began as an activity confined to multinational companies, but today it has developed into a broad based business platform backed by leading Indian IT software and services organizations and other third party service providers. The ITES/BPO market expanded its base with the entry of Indian IT companies and the ITES market of the present day is characterized by the existence of these IT giants who are able to leverage their broad skill-sets and global clientele to offer a wide spectrum of services. The spectrum of services offered by Indian companies has evolved substantially from its humble beginnings. Today, Indian companies are offering a variety of outsourced services ranging from customer care, transcription, billing services and database marketing, to Web sales/marketing, accounting, tax processing, transaction document management, telesales/telemarketing, HR hiring and biotech research.

Looking at the success of India’s IT/software industry, the central government identified ITES/BPO as a key contributor to economic growth prioritized the attraction of FDI in this segment by establishing ‘Software Technology Parks’ and ‘Export Enterprise Zones’. Benefits like tax-holidays generally enjoyed by the software industry were also made available to the ITES/BPO sector. The National Telecom Policy (NTP) introduced in 1999 and the deregulation of the telecom industry opened up national, long distance, and international connectivity to competition. The governments of various states also provide assistance to companies to overcome the recruitment, retention, and training challenges in order to attract investments to their region. The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) has created platforms for the dissemination of knowledge and research in the industry through its survey and conferences. NASSCOM acts as an ‘advisor, consultant and coordinating body’ for the ITES/BPO industry and liaisons between the central and state government committees and the industry. The ardent advocacy of the ITES/BPO industry has led to the inclusion of call centers in the ‘Business Auxiliary Services’ segment, thereby ensuring exemption from service tax under the Finance Bill of 2003.

These measures have led to a steady inflow of investments by large foreign companies such as Reuters, for establishing large captive ITES/BPO facilities across India. Moreover, the existing ITES/BPO operations of major multi-nationals are also being ramped up to cater to the ever increasing demand for better and speedier service. Almost all of India’s top ITES/BPO giants have announced some form of expansion and are in the process of hiring manpower to fill the additional seats. India’s competitive advantage lies in its ability to provide huge cost savings thereby enabling productivity gains and this has given India an edge in the global ITES/BPO marketplace. NASSCOM studies pinpoint the following factors as the major reasons behind India’s success in this industry (Source: http://www.nasscom.org):

o Abundant, skilled, English-speaking manpower, which is being harnessed even by ITES hubs such as Singapore and Ireland.

o Improving telecom and other infrastructure which is at par with global standards.

o Strong quality orientation among players and their focus on measuring and monitoring quality targets.

o Fast turnaround times and the ability to offer 24×7 services based on the country’s unique geographic location that allows for leveraging time zone differences.

o Proactive and positive policy environment which encourages ITES/BPO investments and simplifies rules and procedures.

o A friendly tax structure, which places the ITES/BPO industry on par with IT services companies.

Outsourcing to India offers significant improvements in quality and productivity for overseas companies on crucial parameters such as number of correct transactions/number of total transactions; total satisfaction factor; number of transactions/hour and average speed of answer. Surveys by NASSCOM also revealed that Indian companies are better focussed on maintaining quality and performance standards. Indian ITES/BPO companies are on an ascending curve as far as the quality standards are concerned. Organizations that have achieved ISO 9000 certification are migrating to the ISO 9000:2000 standards and companies on the CMM framework are realigning themselves to the CMMI model. Apart from investing in upgrading their CRM and ERP initiatives, many Indian ITES companies are beginning to acknowledge the COPC certifications for quality and are working towards achieving COPC licences.

Despite being a fledgling in the global ITES/BPO industry, the Indian ITES industry recorded a growth rate in excess of 50% in 2002-03. Industry experts consider this a positive indication of the times to come and a look at the ranking and the revenue and headcount statistics show the potential of the industry.The global ITES/BPO industry was valued at around US$ 773 billion during 2002 and according to estimates by the International Data Corporation worldwide, it is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9% during the period 2002-2006. NASSCOM lists the major indicators of the high growth potential of the ITES/BPO industry in India as the following (Source http://www.nasscom.org)

o During 2003-04, the ITES-BPO segment is estimated to have achieved a 54 percent growth in revenues as compared to the previous year.

o ITES exports accounted for US$ 3.6 billion in revenues, up from US$ 2.5 billion in 2002-03.

o The ITES-BPO segment also proved to be a major opportunity for job seekers, creating employment for around 74,400 additional personnel in India during 2003-04.

o The number of Indians working for this sector jumped to 245,500 by March, 2004.

o By the year 2008, the segment is expected to employ over 1.1 million Indians, according to studies conducted by NASSCOM and leading business Intelligence Company, McKinsey & Co. Market research shows that in terms of job creation, the ITES-BPO industry is growing at over 50 percent.

Surveys of the Indian ITES/BPO industry in 2004 expected it to follow the trends given below:

Customer care: Customer care and support services will continue to lead in terms of revenue generation, with a turnover of around US$ 1200 million in 2003-04., up from last year’s turnover of US$810 million.

Finance: With the financial services segment moving into value added domains like insurance claims processing, financial management services and equity research, this segment is expected to clock the highest growth, with estimates of US$820 million in revenue in 2003-04, up from US$510 million in 2002-03.

HR services: HR services are also expected to grow and revenues are expected to touch US$70 million during 2003-04, thereby providing latent opportunities to the industry’s dominant players.

Payment services: This segment has also been identified as a high growth area within the industry, and is expected to generate revenues of around US$430 million for 2003-04, up from US$210 million in 2002-03.

Administration: Revenues from the administration services segment are expected to increase from US$ 310 million in 2002-03, to US$540 million during 2003-04.

Content development: The content development services segment which includes engineering and design services, digitization (GIS), animation, network management and biotech research, is expected clock a turnover of around US$520 million in 2003-04.

The availability of technically trained and skilled manpower in India is making companies across the world look at the country as a profitable base to shift their high-end support services. Companies like COLT Technology Services are considering outsourcing their technical back-office support work to India. Other areas are high-end network engineering/management support. Another field which is showing immense potential is that of digital content creation and animation. Animation studios like Walt Disney, MGM and Warner Brothers are already outsourcing low-end work like clean-ups, tweening and modelling to India. The availability of skilled and trained manpower and India’s ability to keep in step with the latest technological advances in the industry is prompting foreign studios to consider India as a base to shift other high-end animation work like storyboarding and developing original content for animated films ad TV series. Tele-radiology is the next segment that holds great promise, mainly due to the time zone differences and the availability of highly skilled radiologists and companies like Teleradiology Solutions have been offering their services to US and South-East Asian hospitals for the past two years. Engineering services like CAD/CAM 2D, 3D and CAE modelling and design automation are the latest additions to the ever increasing list of processes being outsourced to India.

Chartered Accountancy Profession in India and Your Career Prospects

A career in chartered accountancy is for the people who have a penchant for numbers and accounts. The demand of CA’s has been growing in between 10 percent to 15 percent over the last three years and the trend is expected to continue in the coming years.

Chartered accountancy is one of the highest paying careers in the country. It is not only remunerative but is considered to be one of the most respected professions in India. As per the news published in one of the leading newspapers, in ICAI campus placements 952 Chartered accountants were placed with an average annual salary package of around Rs 7.28 lakh. This is a clear indication of high demand for accountancy professionals in the market. ICAI has organized this placement drive across different cities in India like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune.

Some of the high-profile recruiters of chartered accountants in India are Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Federal Bank, ITC, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, L&T, Wipro, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Engineers India, GAIL, etc. Some other good paymasters of CA are E&Y, Deloitte, ICICI Bank and PWC.

Where are the CA jobs available?

As per the current job trends, CA’s are in high demand not only in the core sectors like banking, financial services, or manufacturing but even in new age sectors like Information Technology, telecom, risk and assurance services, infrastructure and retail. High earning potential jobs are available in banks, PSU’s, auditing firms, finance companies, mutual funds, portfolio management, stock broking firms, legal firms and so on and on. Financial inclusion is the next high potential job generating sectors.

The work of a CA is mainly involved in auditing financial reporting, creating and maintaining accounting systems, corporate finance, and tax management, among others. A fresh chartered accountant can earn somewhere in between INR 5 to 7 lakh per annum. With the increase in the years of experience and expertise, the salaries can go as high as INR 18-24 lakh per annum.

Here are the top career options for the chartered accountants, take a look-

· Audit and Taxation

· Finance Advisory

· Investment Banking

· Banking and Financial Services

· Outsourcing

· Academics

· Corporate Sector

Chartered accountants are one of the most rewarding career domains to be in. The courses required are common proficiency test (CPT), Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC), CA final and Articleship.The modern age CA is technically armed to serve as management consultants and play a pivotal role in helping business and industry to optimize the use of resources, increase their efficiency and accomplish their targets.

People in this occupation must work strategically and maintain utmost amounts of precision. There is a huge scope for the budding CA’s. To conclude, it would be good to say that CA jobs are financially rewarding and personally gratifying.

Clive Of India – Short Biography Of Robert Clive

Robert Clive was born on 29th September 1725 and died on 22nd November 1774.

He was also known as “Clive of India” – where he established the East India Company’s (EIC) military and commercial power in South India and Bengal. Clive was born in Shropshire to an old and prominent family. When he was 18, he was sent to Madras as a clerk and bookkeeper in the East India Company.

Commercial and political rivalry between the French and the British in southern India sparked an interest in Clive. He volunteered for military service and participated in a couple of battles. In 1748 at Pondicherry he distinguished himself right before the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended hostilities. He was appointed to captain of commissary to supply the provisions of the troops.

Clive set out and led an expedition to Trichinopoly or Tiruchirappalli in 1751. The British Candidate for “nawab” or ruler, Mohammad Ali had been besieged by Chanda Sahib — the French candidate. Clive had only three field pieces, 200 European and 300 Indian troops. He seized Chanda Sahib’s capital – Arcot forcing Chanda Sahib to divert his 10,000 men from Trichinopoly.

Robert Clive was able to resist the 50-day siege until the reinforcements arrived. He began guerrilla warfare tactics against the French and the French-supported troops and soon the French had to withdraw. A truce was signed in 1754, officially recognizing Mohammed Ali as the new ruler. As a result, by 1765 the British had considerable influence over the emperor in Delhi.

Robert Clive’s returned to England and ran for Parliament but failed. He then sailed back to India in 1755 – this time as the governor of Fort St. David, a lieutenant colonel in the British Royal Army.

Suraja Dowla, a new nawab, captured Calcutta – the principal city of Bengal and the most valuable trading center in Indian in 1756. Clive led a relief expedition from Madras in October and by February the East India Company’s privileges were taken back. In June of 1758, Clive defeated Suraja at the Battle of Plassey and became EIC’s governor and master of Bengal. Clive’s new position allowed him to reinforce the authority of Mir Jafar, a new nawab. They were able to launch successful military campaigns against the French and stop the Dutch expansion.

Robert Clive returned to England in 1760 with his declining health. He was knighted, made a member of the Parliament and was given Irish peerage. He had to return to Calcutta as governor and commander-in-chief because of chaos and fiscal disorders in Bengal. He restored order by a series of administrative reforms. He also reorganized the company’s army.

With order restored, Robert Clive left India in February 1767. The corruption in the East India Company remained, however, and the company appealed to the British government to save it from bankruptcy. In 1772, Clive’s enemies in Parliament had built up a case that said he was responsible for the situation. Clive was forced to defend himself before Parliament. Although exonerated, he committed suicide on 22 November 1774.

Top MBA Colleges in India – The Breeding Ground For World Class Professionals

India has obtained a special place in the world map as far as imparting managerial education and nurturing industry-ready professionals are concerned. MBA which is the contraction for Master in Business Administration is the most sought-after course in India as well as abroad. This 2-year course is generally pursued after graduation. Luckily, students in this country have access to some of the top MBA programs in the world. These programs are offered by renowned institutes like IIMs, XLRI, FMS-Delhi, MDI, etc.

The need for world-class managers is always felt by various industries like IT, automobile, hospitality, insurance, FMCG and many more. To fulfill this growing need for efficient managers, many management institutes are coming up in various parts of the country. However, Indian Institute of Management or IIMs are the top MBA colleges in India with excellent track record since their inception.

The youth in India is frequently opting for MBA after completing their graduation as the course offers plenty of growth opportunities for them. It certainly assists them in climbing up the corporate ladder quickly. As effective management is turning out to be an integral part of any business, the demand for MBA professionals is increasing day by day.

The scope of MBA is very wide-ranging in comparison to any other courses. A management graduate always has the opportunity to work in any sector of his preference. The pay packages are always attractive and include allowances and other emoluments to increase the standard of living. Graduates passing out from top MBA colleges in India have occupied high positions in many corporate houses. Besides building careers in the corporate sector, one can become an entrepreneur, or work in co-operatives and NGOs as the options are simply unlimited.

Various MBA and post-graduate diploma in management or PGDM courses are designed in such a manner that they instill multi-dimensional and multi-tasking capabilities in the graduates, thereby making them least affected by recession of economy or changes in business environment. For instance, a MBA professional with finance specialization does not inevitably feel the heat when the finance sector experiences stagnation. He can always maintain his career growth by getting into the marketing of the financial services (e.g. marketing of insurance products).

The top MBA or PGDM institutes in India offer specialization in subjects like finance, human resources, marketing, operation, banking and insurance, international business, and IT and systems. Specialization in niche fields such as hospitality management, event management and fashion technology are also available.

There are total 8 IIMs in cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Kozhikode, Indore, Shillong, and Ranchi. The admission into its top Post Graduate Program in Management (PGP) programs is conducted through Common Admission Test (CAT). The list of employers includes HSBC, Larsen & Toubro, Proctor & Gamble, Tata, ICICI bank and Deutsche Bank.

Founded in 1949, Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur is well-known for its two-year post graduate diploma in business administration and two-year post graduate diploma in personnel management and industrial relations. It selects candidates for its programs through the all-India entrance exam known as XAT.

The salary of MBA graduates is dependent upon the reputation and credibility of their business schools. Students from IIMs are always known for getting the best salary packages all over the country. Business schools like XLRI-Jamshedpur, FMS-Delhi and S P Jain-Mumbai are also not far behind. As per the placement records of 2010, there is an average 25 percent increase in average domestic salaries across top MBA colleges in India. For example, IIM-Calcutta has recorded an average salary of Rs. 15 lakh for the year 2010. Many other business schools have also similar encouraging news related to salary. Numerous global blue chip companies like Mckinsey & Co, The Boston Consulting Group, Bain and Company, etc. have hired graduates form these institutes.

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