Amazon Gone!!

Ever thought of world temperatures rising 6-7 degrees! Well, it almost seems imminent, given the Amazons continuous depletion at the current rate. Encompassing 9 nations and accounting for more than half of earth’s remaining rainforests, situated in South America, the Amazons have a big say in the ecosystem of the entire planet, providing 1/5th of the world’s oxygen supply. Shockingly, it has been observed that between 1991 and 2000, an area twice the size of Portugal was cleared in the Amazon. In 2003 and 2004 alone, an area the size of Wales was cut down, all so that soy plantations can come up. Why soy? Soy exports to Uncle Sam’s country for manufacturers of ice cream, margarines, mayonnaise, and lipsticks bring in much revered US dollars. A classic case of ‘feeding the economy’ versus ‘conserving natural habitat’, the winner gets to decide our future!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Microsoft makes a Quantitative move!
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Melting glaciers
Mercury
Slow and steady...
High potential real estate sector
Business Park
An avant-garde Architect’s AlcazarSuccessfully supplemented

Who says US is on the brink of a recession?...

... the author does, and so does every possible statistics related to the United States.
Lakshmi has been very good to shareholders in the last weeks. Defying any gravity, the US stocks – and behind them most other markets – hit new all time highs, late May. But the Dow Jones, currently flirting with the 13,500 mark – not to speak of the Sensex’ record run above 14,000 – faces a lot of hurdles on the way farther north. US economic indicators keep painting a bleak picture. The annual economic growth rate has now slowed down to a dismal 2.8% after expanding 4.4% a year earlier. A look at the key factors for the US economy shows no relief – with 70% of American GDP coming from consumers and falling incomes in 3 of the last 4 months, add to the worries of a housing market that is about to tip to the downside, exposing homeowners to the new horror word of 2007: negative equity or “my house is less worth than my mortgage.” All recent housing numbers have fallen back to recession levels, last seen years ago.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Melting glaciers
Mercury
Slow and steady...
High potential real estate sector
Business Park
An avant-garde Architect’s Alcazar
Successfully supplemented

Global Warming : Financial Impact

Guess what! Companies are now refusing to reveal environmental risks!

Environmental risks?!?!
Now that the climate change discussions have moved from controversial to conventional, and economists expect the world to lose a mammoth 2.6% in terms of GDP this year due to extreme weather events (in fact, the loss in regional GDP will be a killingly massive 6% for the developing and South Asian nations by 2100 – see B&E issue dated February 22, 2007), the question that surfaces is how deep, financially, will the cut be in the global corporate world? Digest this! The most famous and recent survey conducted on S&P 500 companies by US based Ceres, the leading coalition of environmentalists and institutional investors, found out that only a quarter of the respondents posses measurable emissions reduction targets and have decided specific time frames to accomplish the same.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Melting glaciers
Mercury
Slow and steady...
High potential real estate sector
Business Park
An avant-garde Architect’s Alcazar
Successfully supplemented

Anti-developed countries

However grudgingly one might accept, there is logic in this anti-developed countries debate, that while developed nations had their years of passionate romance philandering away natural resources and emitting as much gas as possible, it seems quite extraordinary for them to ask developing nations to invest in technologies that have the potential to decelerate economic growth. As per the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (for 2004), the US per capita emission is at 20.18 metric tonnes, which stands far ahead of UK’s 9.62, Germany’s 10.46, Japan’s 9.91 and France’s 6.71. Of course one of the so-called environment- friendly nations, Canada, comes pretty close to the US at 18.09. And you can well understand why countries like China with 2.9 and India at 1.09 feel shortchanged when accused of global warming!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read More Article:-
Melting glaciers
Mercury
Slow and steady...
High potential real estate sector
Business Park
An avant-garde Architect’s Alcazar
Successfully supplemented

An avant-garde Architect’s Alcazar

Much like those shimmering rays of the sun that not only illuminate Earth, but also bestow bountiful energy for life to grow and prosper, the Hiranandani Group for over two decades has pioneered the art of caricaturing the dream home for millions. They have built up huge green townships that are a testimony to the Group’s continuous endeavour to engage in environmentally friendly practices. With the patience of a truck driver stuck on a mile-long jam on GT Road, we hiccupped through the busy Link Road, witnessing skylines, which were to say the least conspicuous by the vibrant greenery that surrounded them & by the architectural grandeur that has become the Group’s trademark.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

what’s ‘made in india’?

So while the world is shouting-out-loud about alternatives, what’s the state of affairs concerning the perils from conventional fuels in the Indian sub-continent? Oil companies in India have only just started giving their public image a shade of bright, beautiful, fluorescent green. ONGC CMD R. S. Sharma, at the ONGC analyst meeting stated on the issue, “We are moving towards integration of energy business... Talking about alternate sources of energy, we have wind power, clean coal opportunities. CBM (coal bed methane) & UCG (underground coal gasification) have added new dimension to our business.” ONGC is setting up a 50 MW wind energy plant in Gujarat for their own use, with investments of Rs.2.5 billion. Simultaneously, BPCL is also investing Rs.5 billion for a 100 MW plant in phases. IOCL too is making significant investments in bio-diesel, procuring it from UP farmers at Rs.25 per litre.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Carban Coolers!

The so-called green fuels could control global warming, but what about shareholder wealth? Can they perform this delicate balancing act?

Lacking the punch to scare us Indians out of our skins are terms like ‘pollution’, ‘greenhouse effect’ & ‘global warming’. Meanwhile, the developed world, alarmed by consequences of its actions, is groping for concrete, practicable solutions. Is it all in vain? Are alternative fuels nothing beyond political rhetoric & piece meal measures? B&E presents a green world view...

While flying over the US Postal Service’s processing headquarters located in West Sacramento, California, the dazzling aerial view gets your heart thumping... what else would you expect when you look a few miles below and the sun’s glare is reflected at our tiny chopper by an ultra-gargantuan 28,000 square feet of solar plates!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Flower plucker!

Profit motive prevents Bush from caring for the Nature
For Bush, oil means profits & politics. His politics is to build finance capital & his profits are to buy political capital. And he just hates all impediments like environmental concerns, which come in between his profit-maximising march. Emboldened after defeating one of the top American environmentalists Al Gore at the hustings, Bush has been ruthless in pursuing his not-so-green policies with impunity, & sadly with aplomb. On the important issue of environment, the radicalism portrayed by the Bush led Republicans has been mind boggling. Be it the refusal to accede to the Kyoto Protocol or the refusal to obey any international treaty that would reduce American economic growth projections, Bush’s misadventures know no limits. Former Vice President Al Gore told B&E, “The unwillingness to solve the climate problem is not only the result of a lack of political will, but it has also been caused by the emergence of a new political environment, dangerously hostile to reason, knowledge and facts. In the long-term, this poses a threat to the very basis of American democracy.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Black Dragon!

Genuine efforts are needed to save environment
China is racing against time. Not only to put in place its sports infrastructure before the 2008 Olympics, but also to spruce up its records on the human rights and environment protection front. With this in mind, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) recently blacklisted 11 major commercial pollutants that had dubiously emptied waste into Songhua River. The 11 companies were booked under the law of manufacturing wide ranging products from beer to dairy. Earlier this year, authorities levied a fine of $125,000 (the Chinese environmental laws stipulate a fine of up to one million yuan on industries found to cause severe water pollution) on the Jilin Petrochemical Company, when one of its subsidiaries had added large amounts of toxicants into Songhua river, jeopardizing the water safety in major cities along the river. In another bold move, the SEPA recently declared the 21 km.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Tribal tribulations

Who takes the blame for this?
Tribals in India have been badly hurt rather than being helped by India’s pursuits of development. The suffering of almost 80 million tribals in India has increased with the increase in large industrial, mining and irrigation projects, leading to massive deforestation and displacement. The fast depletion of forests due to industrialisation and SEZs has affected the life of around 533 tribes.

The annual rate of depletion of vegetation is estimated to be around 1.5 sq. kms per year. The proliferation of stone quarries and stone crushers in India’s continuing quest to exploit its natural resources to the maximum has ensured that entire landscapes, erstwhile populated by various tribes, have regularly been converted into vast areas full of pits, where nothing can be produced and cultivated. Worse, the winds carrying stone dust from these machines, apart from causing cancer and other fatal lung diseases, pollutes the air, reduces the fertility of the soil and collectively gives rise to large-scale soil erosion, effectively hitting the tribals where it hurts the hardest. Who takes the blame for such tribal tribulations? It’s the butler, stupid! The government, of course!


For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative