Three point something - MBA courses/CGPA and their grading methodology

I was just ruminating on my IIFT roller coaster ride completed over two years ago and was pondering over their associated letter grades that they had assigned over my three trimesters over a span of 1.5 years and another three months for my research project (which was a 6-credit course).

My IIFT EMIB CGPA was 3.63/4 and I was in the top 10% of my class of practicing managers across the country, with an average class work experience of over 10 years.

123 agreement almost done

The last few days have been straight out of the political rulebook with every politician worth his/her salt coming up with their own antiques!

iPhone in India shortly/comparison with the Blackberry

I have been contemplating purchasing an Airtel Blackberry since 2005 February when it was new in India but was driven off by their lackluster customer service agents in Jayanagar, Bangalore then.

http://www.blackberry.com

I again rekindled my interest in the Blackberry in 2006 May but it fizzled out back then.

I finally decided to buy it on two seperate occasions in 2007 (once when I lost my Sony Erickson 810i in August 2007) and again when I lost my Nokia N 73 in December 2007) but given the rate at which I was losing my mobiles, I decided against making such an expensive purchase!

Now, I am captivated by what the Apple iPhone has to offer (when it is launched in India later this year). I am equally captivated by the Blackberry 8820 series and am trying to see if I can ask one of my associates/peers to pick it up from the USA and then unlock the phone in India and use it with Airtel - lets see.

Now, lets take a sneak peek at what the iPhone has to offer. http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Its a fantastic gadget and is at the top of the mind recall on every gadget lover’s shopping list. I have registered myself with Airtel when they do start selling the iPhones in India (expected around Diwali).

Indian inflation rises to double digits / The 123 agreement - a revisit

The Wholesale price index (WPI) - a key measure of inflation was at a 13-year high last week. It is only predicted to increase. What does inflation do? Well, in simple terms and without getting into the jargon, it increases the price of your commodities - everything from a simple cup of tea to the groceries to a house purchase (rising interest rates) to investments and deposits in the bank. The value of money gets eroded away. This is why gold is considered as a hedge against inflation since its value remains largely unchanged during inflationary times. Paper currency does not have much value and if it does, it only deteriorates gradually as the inlation figures creep up.

Its not just the inflation that is giving sleepless nights to the seasoned politiico’s cum economists - Mr. Manmohan Singh (our PM) and Chidu (our FM).

They are also facing politcal backlash from the left, right and center - for their decision to go-ahead with signing of the 123 nuclear agreement with the USA.

These are interesting and worrying times for India’s political top brass and its to be seen how it pans out. I will be observing the developments closely.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) - economics

Today is the final cricket match between the Chennai superkings (led by M S Dhoni) and the Rajasthan Royals (led by Shane Warne)!

Redefining cricket has once again been attempted with great pomp and flourish deacades after the great Kerry Packer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Packer) introduced the world series cricket in Australia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_overs_cricket).

Please also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cricket

Lalit Modi (the scion of the $2billion, Modi enterprise) has done just that with the fusion of India’s icons – the cricketers themselves who are auctioned, the owners of the teams (each IPL cricketing state has been bought out by the bigwigs), the Bollywood actors, the large # of spectators and of course, the television viewers in millions of viewers across over 100 countries.

Its been a success – without doubt, but is this the key to the future of world cricket?

One year PG Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights Law - NLSIU

Before I begin this post, this is my mantra since the last few years when I have been exposed to this: I have a fondness for IP creation or Intellectual Property creation and this blog probably stands testimony to that fact! Which better place than to study IPR law from India’s topmost institute - National law school of India University (NLSIU).

I have written about this earlier too: http://ecofin.wordpress.com/2007/05/17/captive-product-units/

Hooked onto wireless and to my DELL Vostro 1200 notebook

I was never a firm believer in notebooks till I bought this DELL mini. The amount of deliberations I made and the thought process that went into analyzing the investment of about half a lac on this utility item would have driven most of the people around me crazy! And, that is not even my usual nature - I am a spontaneous decision maker - if everything about a cost-benefit analysis looks good, I don’t think much but this was different.

Procured my new DELL Notebook - the Vostro 1200 (mini notebook)

I finally received my DELL Vostro in 7-days flat since ordering it last Friday. I am a true DELL fan and as you would find on earlier posts have read up every book and article on DELL’s strategy of Direct sales to consumers/businesses and the Direct model. I admire Michael DELL’s guts to take on the established players such as IBM, Lenovo, HP etc. who used to go through distribution channels. All my systems on the last 3 years have been DELL branded - my DELL Inspiron 6000 that I bought from Texas in 2005, my DELL Vostro desktop that I bought in 2007 or my latest acquisition - my DELL Vostro 1200 mini notebook!

A re-look at consulting

I did some look n feel changes to my blog appearance because I was tired of the old design. I also changed the tagline from “The economic rationale of the 21st century” to “Consulting|Technology|International business” as this is what we want this blog to serve in future posts.

A year later — a sneak preview / status of the Devanahalli airport and Bangalore real estate sector

We are still stuck there though things are looking better this year. Though real estate activity in and around Devanahalli area has heated up (the government has raised the guidance value per acre to almost Rs. 7 crores in main Devanahalli township) but any large projects are yet to see the light of the day. There is a huge water shortage in Devanahalli - its basically barren land and our guide from L&T had told us the same thing last year too. So, things have not improved on that. But, if Dubai can improve by building an Oasis in the middle of a desert, our politicians can tear a leaf out of the Dubai story and make Devanahalli better indeed.