Dear Reader,

New is exciting, it holds in its cusp a promise . It gives hope for something better and that's a

chance that we must embrace.

I am very grateful to the year 2012. It tried its best to give us signals of awakening. And most

important of all, it did not let the doomsday prediction come true. The year gone by taught us the

value and meaning of hope.

To ring in the alliterative two thousand thirteen, we must surround ourselves with the sound of

words that are positive and energy giving. The collage of words for inspiration and hope that we

came up with are;

To turn every challenge into an opportunity for the greater common good is the wish that we seek

for 2013.

Shirani,

Associate Dean – Academics,

IIPM Hyderabad

FROM THE DESK

New year greetings from the Editor‘s desk!

After what has been an eventful 2012, it is only but necessary that we recount our steps back to

where we‘ve come from, as our past defines our present and our future. Crucibles has been really

privileged to have charismatic and dedicated leaders at the helm, primarily by Praveen Paul and

eventually succeeded by Aijazuddin Ahmed, not forgetting the members of the Academic Department

whom we liaise with.

This saga has only grown by leaps and boundsby their untiring efforts to take Crucibles strongly

into the future. We have had 12 issues released punctually and have also had a considerable number of

guest lectures/seminars,outings etc. with greater plans in store for you.

I am also deeply humbled by my selection as the E-Zine head and co-ordinator and will take up

this responsibility to the best of my ability. Truly, it‘s a great honour to write my first editorial, while

ushering in a brand new year.

I would like to sign off saying that as management students, it is required that we keep ourselves

abreast of the latest happenings, and the conventional way of doing it is through taking up of live cases

and brainstorming on it.

Therefore, we would like to spearhead this through certain initiatives coming your way, so buckle

up guys!

Hope you have a lot to take away from reading this edition. God bless!!

Likitha Raj,

Team : Likitha raj, Benjamin, Sandeep, Manisha, Khadija, Deekshith, Aijaz

EDITORIAL VIEW

An Eye for an Eye?

We believe that an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind, that‘s what our

Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi believed in and preached. Does it now hold true in every situation?

Perhaps in petty affairs, it does. But looking at the larger picture, I do not think so. This is because if

we sit back and do nothing about it, we are nothing but a blind society(pun intended) who cannot or do

not want to see the victim‘s lifelong struggle with his daily life, especially like the recent gang rape of

‗Damini‘ in Delhi. Usually it has become a custom that we boycott the rape victim(s) and ignore their

families which are in despair, and do not mind having a rapist live amongst us. The rapists goes on to

live a happy life, gets married and has children, the example being in the Priyadarshini Mattoo Case,

where the rapist and murderer becomes a lawyer and goes on to have a normal life. He was given the

freedom to live a guiltless life before getting imprisoned for life. Amazingly he got the freedom to be

out in paroles. These atrocious acts deserve capital punishments.

Ashish Chowdhary, an actor, who lost his sister and brother-in-law in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks

said, ―Why should I rejoice over Kasab‘s death? He was brainwashed, and driven to kill in the name of

god―. He is right in some ways, he was just a mere pawn of the terrorist groups and it‘s not about

defending his act in any way. It is just that, when you look at a rapist or a rapist cum murderer, in

some cases, he is self driven and an ill minded person with no shame and guilt for his act of

dishonoring a girl, with complete awareness that what he has done is wrong. He is, no less than a

murderer/ terrorist, but much worse.

We thus see that the Gandhian philosophy, taken from the sayings of Jesus Christ - ―If you are

slapped, kindly show them the other cheek‖ concept, would probably not work here. Capital

punishment for these barbaric crimes is necessary, so that no one else ever thinks of doing it again.

MoonMoon Mohanty

MBA(HRM)

She is an External Writer

US has its way – Averts the fiscal cliff

The fiscal cliff is used to describe a raft of tax increases and spending cuts that will automatically

come into effect at the beginning of 2013 if the Democrats and Republicans cannot negotiate a new set

of budgetary and economic policies to reduce the spiraling budget deficit of $US1.1 trillion.

Bush Era Tax Cuts?

At the heart of the fiscal cliff are the bills passed by Congress under President George W. Bush in

2001 and 2003.These include a lower tax rate and a reduction in dividend and capital gains taxes as

the largest components set to expire at the end of 2012.

Tax increases include,

The expiration of a 2% payroll tax cut, most likely to affect the average American worker

End of the Bush-era tax breaks, which lowered incomes taxes for all Americans as well as

taxes on capital gains and dividends

Spending cuts include,

Automatic spending cuts, including a $US55 billion reduction in defence spending and a

$US55 billion cut to domestic spending in 2013 and subsequent annual reductions in that volume until

2021.

Cuts to unemployment social security and unemployment benefits totaling $26 billion.

A reduction in payments doctors receive for participating in Medicare of $11 billion.

Two Arguments:

Pass another bill to avert the cliff (or)

Adopt a very different track.There's an argument that the cliff itself would be a long-term

positive. The U.S. has to tackle its deficits at some point, and this sort of "bitter medicine" would be a

harsh, but definitive, step in that direction. Although the short-term impact could be severe (recession

in 2013), the bullish argument would hold that the long-term gains (lower deficits, lower debt, better

growth prospects, etc.,) would be worth the short-term pains.

Outcomes:

The US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the combination of all the tax increases

and spending cuts would result in the deficit falling to $US641 billion in the 2013 fiscal year (ends

September 30), but the savings would result in a recession, with GDP shrinking by 0.5 per cent and a

rise in the unemployment to 9.1% by the end of 2013, from 7.9 per cent in October.

However, the CBO projects GDP to return to growth after 2013 and the unemployment rate to

gradually ease to 5.7% by the end of 2017.

If the US government were to continue down its current road, with a deal being struck to keep

all current measures in place, the country‘s deficit is forecast to hit $US8.8 trillion by 2022. This does

little to help the US as its debt and servicing costs become too high and it defaults on its loans.

Policy makers could come to some sort of compromise that would address the country's

spiraling debt but to a lesser extent. This would likely result in a slowing growth and rise

in unemployment but not as severe as option 1.

A quick rundown:

The vast bulk of the Bush tax cuts have been made permanent, with token increases in the

income, capital gains and estate taxes for the top 1%.

Sops to the poor like the earned-income tax credit and the child tax credit were given five

more years, while extended unemployment benefits scored a one-year reprieve.

The reckoning with indiscriminate and automatic budget cuts has been postponed for 60

days.

The payroll tax on the first $113,700 of income will rise by two percentage points,

however, thanks to the bipartisan reflex to stick it to workers.

Abhishek Chinta

Alumni of IIPM

If there‘s one word which can sum up who we were in school, it was ‗Rebel‘. Our

teachers/masters used to chant the same old song of categorizing our answers with side headings,

before every exam and unit tests,etc, however, to no avail as we never used to pay any attention. In our

Ex Comm classes, we were taught mind mapping and simple ways of categorizing our speech.

However, I never really felt the importance of categorizing and customizing until I heard the lecture of

Prof Samdhong Rinpoche, the ex-Prime Minister of Tibet, who was on a brief visit to Hyderabad to

share learnings from his journey of life with us.

The beauty of his speech was evident by preaching the importance of categorizing our speeches

or writings. His teaching on ―MANAGING OUR BUSINESS AND LIFE‖ was well broken down into

simple headers and augered well with everyone, who listened with bated breath. The Professor said

that there are three key elements for a happy life. If we are able to habituate these then one can easily

balance life and business/vocation. They are Sound Body, Sound Mind and Correct Livelihood. Let

me now practicing the art of categorizing by customizing his talk on these three key elements:

Sound Body

Sound body can be understood as exercising and maintaining both one‘s physical and mental

health. This can be achieved by eating healthy organic food, practising eating the same and keeping

oneself physically fit by exercising daily.

Sound Mind

Sound Mind is mainly about one‘s personality. We tend to live by comparing ourselves with

others and weigh our potential, achievements, failures and lifestyles with others.

We believe whatever is said to us. We realise that in our childhood, if we are taught that

stealing is a good habit, we abide by it and practice such ―principles taught to us‖ without questioning

the reality behind it. We need to probe and explore our inner self. We should not blindly accept

whatever we obtain but need to examine the information/teachings carefully. Try to discover the

reality in it. Consequently, the outcome would be your perception. You will realise that you are the

only responsible person who discovered it. We need to ask few questions to our self. ―What I am I ?‖,

―Why I am I?‖ and ―What‘s the purpose of my existence? ―. Answers to these questions will help us

have a sound mind.

Managing our Business and Life

Livelihood

The Tibetans are said to refine their livelihood. We need to filter/introspect our livelihood with

three primary practices.

A correct livelihood should not directly or indirectly affect any living being.

Our earnings and gains should be equal to the efforts put in. We should not anticipate or accept

more compensation than the mental or physical efforts put in.

Our livelihood should be eco-friendly.

To sum it all up, he eloquently described how we are feeding on the resources of our future

generations. It is our responsibility to renew the share of resources of our future generations,

starting from our children. I was inspired by his profound sayings. His achievements in life are

due to the direct result of the practices followed by him throughout his life. I wish we had more

intellectuals who came down from the mountains and who are closer to the Almighty than

us(no offense intended) to visit us frequently, helping us reach greater heights.

Aijazuddin Ahmed

IIPM/WIN/11-13

It now seems that time is passing by faster than ever, something reminiscent of how

flashbacks are portrayed in movies at the director‘s freewill, showing the unbelievable

transition of time periods in a flash. However, it is time to take a chill pill and look at the year

that was or was not and what we as a country and the world expect 2013 to be like.

The year was filled with speculation that fiscal cliff in the US would throw the

economy a $500 billion punch — Politicians may yet save the economy from the $500 billion

in tax increases and spending cuts that make up the fiscal cliff. To put it briefly, a fiscal cliff is

a situation where the Government, in its effort to bail its economy out of trouble, rises taxes

and cuts spending to reduce the fiscal deficit. These contradictory factors, when put together,

can make the economy plunge (it is here that the meaning of cliff comes in) if not handled

properly.

The Euro-zone fell into a deep crisis, with European central bankers struggling to

preserve the euro. Greece slogged through a fourth year of recession and faces an economy

that will be 20 percent smaller next year than it was five years ago. Speculation is on the rise

if the Euro will cease to exist, apart from the actual European Union breaking up due to

various differences. We also see that the banking sector behaved badly this year. UBS,

Barclays, HSBC, and Standard Chartered together paid nearly $5 billion in fines this year

connected to improper actions. These banks have to put their act together and improve

customer confidence again.

Coming to the micro perspective of India, we see that with retrospective tax (taxes

imposed by the Government not based on the current rules being used, but on the past too)

being imposed on companies like Vodafone, it is proving to be a negative factor in attracting

foreign investment. Also, the bare truth of countless scams happening across the country like

the 2G Spectrum Scam, the Coalgate scam etc, have only taken people‘s dislike of

politicians/politics to a whole new level. Stats show that almost 1, 80,000 crores worth of coal

through different coal gates have been directly allocated instead of being auctioned and the

Government lost 10.7 lakh crores due to this. However, we see that the Government, under

the leadership of Dr.Manmohan Singh, has dared to raise the price of diesel and has allowed

FDI into India, allowing 100% in single brand retail and 49% in multi brand retail, apart from

49% in the aviation sector and 74% for the broadcasting sector, something which was not

expected due to political pressure.

Regarding non-economic stories, we see that the uprising over

defunct/monarchial governments increased in countries like Syria and Libya. The Israel-

The Year that was-2012 2013-Expectations galore

Palestine conflict is now at its peak. People‘s changing lifestyles, the n at any cost, resulting

in the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party by Arvind Kejriwal, one of the many reasons for us to

smile in 2012. Twitter and Facebook are being used like never before. Barack Obama has been re-

elected in the US for his people-friendly initiatives rather than Mitt Romney, who has a capitalistic

outlook to solve the burgeoning US economy.

The best-ever-Olympics yet saw India perform its best, though there is much more to expect.

Finally, Samsung is eating into Apple‘s Smartphone and tablet market share with its SII and Tab

series, making Apple go into defensive mode and trying out tactics of taking Samsung to court for

patent infringement. Finally, it is very unfortunate to see to what extent can certain elements of

society go in bringing down the modesty of the weaker sex, as seen by the recent rape and torture of

the medicine student, ‗Damini‘. A sea-change in our mindsets needs to happen for this situation to

improve.A direct consequence of the Euro and the American crisis have had a rippling effect across

the world, even India, with the growth rate(GDP) down to 5.8% and our fiscal deficit at a whopping

6%. If this is not enough, it would shock you to know that the inflation rate is at 7.5%, suggesting

that a lot needs to be done to rein in rising prices and spur investment. The Government needs to

push growth rates into the 6% figures to allow for the economy to sustain in subsequent years.

Private corporate investments needs to increase to around 14.5% of GDP and the Government cannot

just expect FDI to boost the investment scenario of the country. With business stalwarts such as

Ratan Tata and others retiring, the onus now lies in the hands of emerging business leaders like

Cyrus Mistry to show the way forward. Shocking figures show that India is the eight largest victim

of black money loses, said the report 'Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2001-2010,'

released by Global Financial Integrity (GFI). India lost a jaw-dropping US$123 billion, something

which could have given the ‗big-push‘ that developing countries are looking for. Thus, proper

legislation is required to bring back such money which could be stashed in safe havens abroad.

To sum it up, the year 2012 was good, bad and ugly in many ways and as every country is

looking for effective growth and development, it puts an impetus on each citizen of India to play a

supporting role to this end.

Benjamin Taylor,

ISBE/FW/11-13/E

From the very day human conscience started working we believed bringing equality in every

phase of life. For many centuries the principle was inclined towards interest of the royal, the rich

and the strong. Then came an idea that deepened the divide, this (un)fortunate suggestion of

challenging the principles of equality by quota was based on class was raised in parliament.

There was no better alternative and all the parliamentary authorities agreed instantly.

Crafted with innocence to correct centuries of irrelevant social imbalance by proposing a ten

(10) years of reservation to socially backward class. The notation was very specific that the

practice would be for limited duration that failed to take off well, as middle and lower level of

bureaucracy opposed it heavily. After 10 years when results were evaluated and poor

performance of the scheme came into light an extended 30 years of reservation practice was

legislated. Then vote bank politics saw a great scope (Era of VK Singh) by envisioning and

promoting reservation. This was the time when nation first felt cracks with some pro-

reservationist and anti-reservationist battling against one another that got fuel from politicos.

<Rajeev Goswami, A Delhi student, immolating himself during anti-Mandal demonstrations in 1990>

This dividend rule was so powerful that affluent classes translated reservation into something

that gives no sympathy in employment; partiality in politics and insecure quota rules

demotivating healthy competition. The practice got translated as the vanguard for Dalits, SCs

(Scheduled cast) and STs (Scheduled tribe) that will protect from centuries of slavery and

facilitate a new rise. Make them economically sound and live in social freedom.

While some veterans still express it was only to meet promise of primary education for all

while many blame the politicians for not implementing it properly, one of the main reasons for

this was the psyche of the lower classes it was shattered because of years of oppression that they

didn‘t want to do anything except their own trade and didn‘t see the necessity for education.

Since there was reservation in job sector lately they realised that some of them who went to

school had a very bright future.

Some point towards Vedas for atrocity on socially backwards from Indian history. That

brings us to the argument if that was wrong and inhuman, then, clearly again, the present

system is wrong and inhuman too.

As there is caste, there should be reservations. This is a self-defeating argument. As a matter

of fact the truth is, as long as there are caste-based reservations, the caste system is bound to

exist.

Then comes the story of Opportunity, Quota, Talent and Merit. Any two when with a person

can turn around the fortune with seats in education or employment benefits in appointment

as well as promotion which are extremely scarce national resources. Some reserved category

are getting both opportunity and quota that is hurting nation by under-utilizing the capacity

Reservation-An Equaliser or Flame of the new

divide

As there is caste, there should be reservations. This is a self-defeating argument. As a

matter of fact the truth is, as long as there are caste-based reservations, the caste system

is bound to exist.

Then comes the story of Opportunity, Quota, Talent and Merit. Any two when with a

person can turn around the fortune with seats in education or employment benefits in

appointment as well as promotion which are extremely scarce national resources. Some

reserved category are getting both opportunity and quota that is hurting nation by

under-utilizing the capacity in educational institutions and Services for the state.

Historically reservation or any such kind of action was taken only to FULFIL the need of

constitution or PROGRESS of minority or GAIN vote banks. I say, anything that divides

people will never help country. There are many ways of bringing social balance by good

primary education, sufficient employable opportunity, deploying capital at right place to

create small islands of prosperity. Why should youth suffer consequences of inefficiency in

execution of policies back in 1960s, Even if corrections are needed in constitution is it the

right time when there is flaw in performance measurement system of Government. Census

data are insufficient and inadequate policy on such basis will only harm more.

Finally reservation is not a necessary evil like friction is; in physics Friction helps you to

walk, build things, anything you name but it also wears and tears your engine causing

heavy losses. You can only minimise it, can‘t eradicate it. But, reservation is just a white lie

with a lot of ill intentions.

Thanks

Rahul Patnaik

REFERENCES-

o Reservation in Promotions Needed to Ensure Representation in Governance

Structure Mainstream Weekly by Vidya Bhushan Rawat.htm

o M. Nagraj v. Union of india: legal and theoretical reflections.

o Battles Are Forever Reservation- A necessary Evil or a Farce.

II

Justice beyond equality

If you are confused about what I‘m going to talk about, so am I, in certain contexts where

people ask for equality and justice at once. I have never thought that they were the same and can go

hand in hand.

Let us look at history. Firstly, women have been assaulted in many forms for centuries.

Eventually we broke some superstitions and customs, apart from other factors relating to the same

that holds us back and established the ‗weaker sex‘ as an equally important gender. However, I

believe that we are stillin the familiar ‗female stereotype‘ after having been exploited and suppressed

for a really long time. This is because we have to remember that we are not being exploited just by

men of our society, but also by our own gender who in various forms eloquently explained our

limitations since our childhood. The ‗gender inequality‘ issue taunting us all these centurieshas been

misunderstood, rather the cultural discrimination that our society laid on us has done us in. We

claimed for equality but forgot that the basics of justice is not being given. We are having equal

opportunities but not justifying situations that can help us feel at par with men.

The recent incident of the rape of a 23 year old medical student in Delhiis a clear example of

how a human being under no fear of law can be so cruel, canloose his senses and commit such

brutalities. We see that after such an incident, people talk about women crossing her boundaries and

her way of dressing herself is one of the major reasons. I clearly can see the equality given to us is

just by force when we hear such statements. The lawmakers give us freedom but can‘t promise our

survival. I believe that we are in immense need of justice rather than equality. We need to be

protected, not protested against. I support capital punishment and quick justice to the other victims of

similar situations. I was angry and conscious all of a sudden like the others in the nation. I wanted

the accused to suffer, in a way to teach others who might plan to commit such dastardly acts, but I

almost forgot that won‘t change a thing. There are many such cases including situations where

protests took place but resulted in victims who vanished. That‘s the factor that is making a criminal

reborn. They know they may not be forgiven, but eventually would be forgotten. They know that our

law can be bypassed.

I cannot blame the system for such atrocities because we all know we dint cure it in its

nascent stages and now want a trauma to be cured overnight. The Indian system can be compared to

a patient who has a multiple organ failure and that can‘t be cured in a way we want to. As you know,

such conditions don‘t accept treatment, hence rather that changing the system we have to go through

a self reformation process in the first place.

Taking into account women‘s status in India, we agree that it was not formed by the

government and the law but by us. Then why are we not being blamed first?

When a girl is born, being lucky from not being killed inside the womb is considered cultural

ethics in everyday life. A father who is well educated is proud that he raised his daughter as a son.

But I believe he is starting her life by teaching her of her inferior status. Is this not the basic form of

inequality we happen to encounter?

A mother who restricts her daughter to come home early should also take care that her son is

not out late, probably becoming a threat for other women. We need not request our incumbent

governments to wake up all of a sudden, but should stop teaching ourselves that we bestowed

women the position she‘s in. She should learn that she earned it herself. In this world which is going

to the dogs, there is no scarcity of evil and she should be alert. There are no safety zones. Thus, it is

of paramount importance that we ask our families and our brothers and fathers and sons to be more

responsible and teach respect and humanity more than culture and religion.

As Hubert Humphrey said ―There are not enough jails, police forces and courts to enforce a law not

supported by the people. We should understand that the victims and the criminals both belong to our

community and it is us who need to change backed up by a better government, law and police.

Let there be no such unforgettable loss of brave hearts but let us promise to contribute in

seeking her justice.

Likita Raj

ISBE/S&SS/12-14

One of the key reasons for the success of Apple was the huge bank of applications available on its

iStore. In fact it was a competitive advantage that Apple held over its rivals for years. However,

with the ever rising popularity of Android based phones (75% market share in Q3, 2012 as per

IDC) developers are now taking a very keen interest in developing apps for the Android operating

system. This is being done despite the fact that most Android apps do not generate revenue through

direct sales, a complete contrast with Apple which boasts credit card details of more than 400

million people.

As of November 2012, both Apple and Android had 700,000 apps. People look at the number

of apps available when making a purchasing decision regarding a smartphone or a tablet. With the

launch of Google Play, the android market now sells books, movies and music through its online

store. Stats prove that September 2012 saw Google reach 25 billion App downloads. Though the

fragmentation of Android market poses a huge challenge due to various versions of Android

running simultaneously, the sheer number of Android users is pushing developers to start

developing more and more apps on this platform. The only flipside is that while Apple follows

stringent vetting process for its apps ensuring only highest quality, Google does not review or

check the apps before allowing them on the store. This gives developers more freedom but puts

users at risk. However, off late Google has started checking its content. The Google‘s new App

Scanner in Android 4.2 scans apps downloaded from sources other than Google Play and compares

it against a database of known applications and warns user if any suspicious content is in the

application. Also, Google has started scanning apps submitted to its store thereby reducing

dependency on anti-virus for mobiles.

With a huge demand for people developing mobile apps, more and more people are taking

up application development seriously. Over time the costs have dropped and the wide talent pool

available is making it possible to develop applications for multiple platforms.

Chaitanya Mella

PGP/FW/11-13

Android Apps Put Pressure on Apple

Bitter pills for a sweet future, (testimonials by faculties)

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Shirani Ma’am

There is no vice in the old and virtue in the new , but a chance for change is a chance not to be

missed. There is no point in rewinding nor in fast forwarding but just playing in the present and

playing it well ! Here's wishing the wish that will orbit our lives for 2013. :)

- ======================================================================

Krishna Chaitanya Sir

Work for what you're passionate about and money will chase you. Besides, do a lot of voluntary

work such as going to companies and improving your network to become successful. Don't look for

money, because companies nowadays are looking for people who have good exposure.

======================================================================

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Gary Sandhu Sir Year 2012 was very interesting and meaningful for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with you guys. Each individual has added his/her bit in my learning. I sincerely want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to teach, interact and learn new things. I feel that at times we all play a role of teacher and student. When you share your knowledge with your colleagues / teachers /parents, you play a role of a teacher and whenever you learn new things from others, you play a role of a student. Going forward in 2013, my advice is that put your soul in whatever you do (Study, Sports, Dance, Quiz, and Competition). The best students whom I came across in my life are the one who excel in all the things. Time management is critical for you guys. Make sure you make a realistic plan, in which you have time not only for study, but also for extracurricular activities and most importantly for your family. I wish you guys all the very best for year 2013 and I am confident that all of you will do your level best!!

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