IIT Kharagpur IPO

This Summer IIT Kharagpur,the oldest and largest among all IIT's opened India's first Technology and Entrepreneurship school to promote technology ventures by the technology and business students on campus.With this IIT Kharagpur is close on heels to becoming the next MIT after successfully diversifying into Management (Vinod Gupta School Of Management) and Law (Rajiv Gandhi School Of Intellectual Proprietary Law).All IIT Kharagpur programmes are now top ranked in their respective domain,and with an excellent blend of world class faculty,students and renowned alumni,Kgp sees itself not far from Harvard's, Yale's and MIT's of the day.

Despite all the above ,and producing some of the most noteworthy global alumni in its relatively short span of existence ,what keeps IIT Kgp and other top class Indian universities from becoming truly world class is the lack of funding and adequate infrastructure.Figure this IIT kharagpur has a n annual budget of approximately Rs 100 crores ($20 million) which is nothing when compared to Harvard's $27 billion endowment fund (after it lost about 20% value in 2008 stock market crash).So far IIT's and IIM's have been successful in producing some of the best managers researchers and enterprenuers merely due to the fact that they provided a congenial learning environment to the best minds of the Indian sub continent.

However in order to move to a new era of higher education that not only produces best minds for industry but also cutting edge research,noble prize winners and solves plethora of industrial consultancy requirements we need a massive amount of funding in public higher education system in India.With Kapil Sibal and Co deciding to opt out of any more investments ,the onus is now on IIT's and IIM's to raise their own finances.

IIMs started this some year ago by raising their fees and trying to make it at par with global B schools.IIM Ahmedabad,for long crowned a the mecca of managment education in India would be charging more than Rs 13 lakhs this year.On PPP basis this would translate almost equivalent to Harvard's $100,000 fee for its flagship 2 year MBA programme.The Ministry Of Higher Education states that IIT's and other IIM's follow suit.However the problem with this approach ,although looking soothingly delicious is that like US it would make higher education a baston of few elites and outside the hands of worthy.The very purpose of social and economic equality that IITs were supposed to achieve would be lost.

An alternate way of raising finances for the infrastructure development would be by following suit of what many public and private sector companies have been doing for long.Yes ,the idea is to tap the untamed power of capital and bond markets which have financed the biggest and wildest projects mankind has ever dreamt of.Its time that institutes of higher learning break their bond with no profitability while at the same time creating social value .

IITs can grow on robust and sustainable business models which dont only create shareholder value but remain profitable propositions in the growth of the nation.Its apt time to replace IIT Kharagpur's "Dedicated to the service of the nation" to "Dedicated to the service of nation,shareholders and academics".

To prove my point let me key some key business propositions that these institutes can ta into to create shareholder value after being listed on key brouses across the world

PATENT LICENSING :While IITs and IIMs today undoubtedly produce the best graduates in the world .However its time that they start concentrating more on research and stop being factories producing exotic minds for the corporate world.The vast money raised through IPO's can be used for promoting research facilities.The patents so produced can be licensed to industry.Think the synergy IIT's and industry can derive by working together .

CONSULTANCY SERVICES:Many IIT and IIM professors already extend high value consulting assignments to industry.IITs should form a separate consultancy company that competes with likes of Mc Kinsey and Bain and Co to tap into the billion dollar consultancy business.How many present companies can compete against the combined might of IIT /IIM infrastructure and intellectual capital

ON CAMPUS BUSINESSES : IIT's and IIM campuses boast of large tracts of unused land in many key parts of top class Indian cities.for eg IIT Mumbai has total land use area less than 60%(700 acres total area) in key commercial hub of Hiranandani in Mumbai.Why cant IITs lease out vacant land to develop business joints that benefits students while generating revenue like shopping malls,restaurants and other commercial ventures.

VENTURE CAPITALISM:Many IIT/IIM student start ventures while being freshmen in college.Many IITs have their own entrepreneurship cells that identify outstanding projects and arrange funding from industry or GOI .Besides incubating facilities like office space,mentorship,telephone etc is provided free of cost.Why cant IIT fund these startups and then like an astute trader exit at a later date.Most of the Silicon Valley is credited to have been created by freshmen from Stanford .

MANAGEMENT SEATS:While the very brings frowns on face of many,theres nothing wrong in putting aside a few coveted IIT seats for the rich and famous.How Narayanmurthy would have liked his son to graduate from IIT Bombay and what price would he have paid for the seat?Its a captive source of revenue that could be used for subsidising education of lesser mortals

Finally its time IITs start attracting foreign students on campus.Indians studying abroad are a major source of revenue for UK and US governments .Whats hindering IIT/IIM's from doing that.

Undoubtedly a listing on public brouses would bring three fold brnefits of much needed funding,superior management and a futuristic vision.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Its time to move into a new orbit altogether

Happy Blogging

33 and Beyond

"We must shape our course ourselves and by ourselves... Political power cannot be a panacea for the ills of the Depressed Classes. Their salvation lies in their social elevation. They must cleanse their evil habits. They must improve their bad ways of living.... They must be educated.... There is a great necessity to disturb their pathetic contentment and to instill into them that divine discontent which is the spring of all elevation"

The above was said by BR Ambedkar while advocating the introduction of special quotas for the socially challenged people of the country.More than 60 years after the introduction of his social reforms India lurks in the same old social divide with the differences becoming more acute.The Reservations over the time have gifted India SP's and BSP's of the day,leaders like Mulayam's and Mayawati's and a caste divide which makes the rise of Socially challenged people more difficult than ever before.It is in this backdrop that the RAJYA SABHA (the upper house of Indian Parliament) passed what is termed as the "HISTORIC" womens reservation bill.The Bill envisages to promote gender equality in the country by reserving 33% seats for women in the Indian Parliament.

Before I move on to discuss the implications of this controversial piece of legislation let me pen down some of the most important points enlisted in the Bill

• Reservation for women at each level of legislative decision-making, starting with the Lok Sabha, down to state and local legislatures.
• If the Bill is passed, one-third of the total available seats would be reserved for women in national, state, or local governments.
• In continuation of the existing provisions already mandating reservations for scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, one-third of such SC and ST candidates must be women

An important point not mentioned above is that the reservation of seats would be done on rotational basis,implying each seat would be made reserved once in 3 years.Keeping the above points let me enlist my views on the ablove piece of legislation.

Reservation in any form has been a failure around the world.US introduced it for blacks ,yet blacks remain at the bottom of social progress in American society.Canada has introduced many pieces of legislation to empower women in politics but yet ranks a lowly 50th there.Contrast this with the progress Jews have made around the world after the Second world War.A devasted race after facing the brunt of Hitler,Jews today have become the most advanced social group in the world.Estimates range from Jews controlling 2/3 of corporate America to over 50% of fortune 500 companies. Some people estimate that Jews are the most influential group in American Congress.This all has been achieved without any social or economic reservations by any country but rather by the groundwork done by various philanthropist governments and organisations around the world.In this respect it is important to mention that besides proving ineffective reservation is counter effective for other social groups n the society.This results in overall decline in the standard of living and progress rates of the country.

Another point to be looked with great interest is some structural defects in women reservation bill.For one we all know the implementation of rotational policy will inhibit the development of grass root leaders around the country.Also another important fact is that the Congress government wants to implement the bill without adequate groundwork.for one there is inadequate knowledge about the bill in the poorest and most challenged members of society.Facing a great supply demand shortage of talented women politicians ,we might constitute 1/3 (though i have doubts even about the remaining 2/3) of the parliament consisting of pseudo Rabri Devi's acting as rubber stamp for the Lalu Parsad yadav's of the day.if this is what you call women empowerment then I pity all the women of the country.A recent issue of a leading national journal estimated that about 60% of the women elected through 33% reservation already prevalent at the Panchayati Raj system are nothing more than rubber stamps for their husbands.Further with low level of education penetration among the fairer sex it would be interesting to view ,if increased representation of women in the country would help in accelerating the social progress of the country in general and women in particular.Infact historically women have been known for the misuse of power right from Cleopatra of Egypt to Indira Gandhi of India.

Keeping in mind the general faults of reservations in particular of the Bill in particular, the positive implications for society as a whole seem questionable.A better and more effective way towards women empowerment is to work on the grass root levels with NGO's and panchayats to solve the problems from the roots.A huge amount of money and human resources need to be spent on woman education,stopping problems like female foeticide, spreading awareness among general public.Besides the parties advocating the so called "historic" Bill should introspect and redefine their ticket allotment system so that women have at least a fair chance to move up the political ladder.Without such support by political parties even 33% reservation would be ineffective and would introduce nothing more than rubber stamps in parliament,leading to creation of distance power centers and ineffective administration.Thus if we are really interested in making our women leaders of modern India ,instead of passing stupid bills in parliament its time we introspect and start working at grass root level

Happy Blogging

7 Reasons why girls are better politicians

Women seems to be ruling the roost in world politics.The last baston of male dominance seems to be going away and women are all set to dominate the world.So in this world of democracy ..we set to find out,why women are better politicians than males.And heres the list of top 7 reasons.

So just for fun here is it all :

1)Open Ended Answers:A politicain never gives a definite answer..remeber how the party rounded off the guilt of the corrupt politicain...a girl doesnt even know how to answer straight...remember how you had to work with your crytographer friend to decode her no :P

2)Horse Trading:Politics is a game of dynamism..you need to switch sides and swith them really fast.The girl you loved who eloped with your friend when he became a multi millionire..can you beat them at the game

3)Preceptions:Politics is a game of preceptions.Its your preception and not your work that wins you elections.Oh yes the whole world thinks your wife manages the house while its your poor soul that cooks the meal and then sleeps on d couch every night :)

4)Emotions:Playing on the emotions is a politicains favourite play.Remeber how Modi won gujrat and how your gf gets you to do all she wants...u need more explanations

5)Atitude:Politics is a game of right atitudes...of being snooty yet open ..of being devil yet playing angel...the girl next door..makes you feel like a beggar while the case should be the reverse :P

6)Time Managment:Its been 8 years and the babus at south block have still not decided between Boeing and Airbus....it took her 3 days ..20 traffic jams and 25 km of local market walk to buy that pair of jeans

And this is the best

7)Power:The social servant changed the party for the position of CM....if your gf doesnt control you..she'll change you :)

DISCLAIMER:All views expressed are just for fun and may or may not represent the personal views of the author and contributors :P