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1-2 Tj Brand3-4 E bola5-8 Gandhigiri in Management 9-11 Understanding Empowerment12 Xiaomi

Editors MessageDear Friends, In order to succeed in life and make a mark in the area you want to excel in, you must have an open mind. In other words for making out the true significance of your idea you have to receptive. You knowledge is nothing but an end result of ideas that you collect and store. Every information we collect is directed towards reservoir of knowledge and gets stored. But a new piece of information doesn’t become a part of permanent knowledge until you have ac-cess it to time to time. Once you get the habit of accessing your newly acquired skills that remains in your reservoir permanently.As you start linking thought together and making connections, your mind lays down the neutral network. This is like a busy highway with matter dirt roads alongside it. The highway carries infor-mation held more frequently. If you want the information collected by you remain at your fingertips, you should always use your brain. Great men believe in gathering as much knowledge as they can.You can differentiate between a good thought and a bad thought only when you have a large mind. Once you enlarge your mind, you will develop to overcome negativity then you will not be carried away by people around you and negative thoughts that you will not make it will never come to your mind. Your will convert failures into minor setbacks and keep your efforts on non chalantly.Mahatma Gandhi believed” Strength doesn’t comes from physical capacity. It comes from an indom-itable will”.Every great man has faced hardships in the initial stages of his life, but no hardships could outweigh resilience, no failure could dampen their spirit. It is rightly said “Where there is a will, there is a way; Prove your will and find your way”. Always thriving and working for your success. Yours Sincerely, (Kunal Patil) [SIMPLICITY IS ALWAYS ADMIRED. BE AN INSPIRATION]

Efforts to bring the best out of Prisoners:Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in his book “Prison Land” had written:“Any reforms must be based on the idea that a prisoner is not punished but reformed and made into a good citizen .If this objective is once accepted ,it would result in a complete overhauling of the prison system .”

Tihar jail is one of the biggest jail complex-es in India and World .Criminals with grave charges as well as with charges such as theft are confined behind the bars of the jail . Way back in 1958, Tihar jail was located at Delhi Gate and had the capacity to keep 1273 prisoners .But Today ,the jail is spread over 400 acres and has the capacity to accommodate more than 10,000 prisoners .

The officials at Tihar fully understand the importance of rehabilitation work to make prisoners and criminals better citizens ,better human beings and over all better persons af-ter their release .Working on the same lines , many rehabilitation programs ,welfare activi-ties and self-development schemes have been launched inside the jail premises .The superlative numbers associated with the Tihar Jail ¬¬in Delhi are not what a self re-specting Indian would want to boast about .When KiranBedi ,an irrepressible woman po-lice officer was posted there in 1993 ,it seemed to her colleagues that she had been condemned to the rows of Tihar’s inmates. Wherever she was posted she sought to innovate and reform .No one could easily silence her either,for she is always up to the fight that there is .She had developed new perspectives on policing and life.

What she saw there provoked new respons-es :The jail was a mad house .Its working was shrouded in secrecy .The inmates were treated like animals and had come to practice a mob culture .It is true that mind of prisoners is not at peace which led to all sorts of heinous crimes . And so she revived it all . They started with the yoga classes , and began to work on formal education .Indira Gandhi Open University joined up to of-fer graduate and master courses and vocation-al training were begun too. To create a peace of mind , a meditative program ‘Vipassana’ is orga-nized in Tihar Jail .This was brought to Tihar Jail by the Inspector General of India , KiranBedi in 1993 .In 1995 ,they even started a venture to multiply loaves of bread and feed the multitude in Tihar jail. They succeeded handsomely in it that the enterprise has evolved into a brand .

Brand TJ's it is !!!TJ’s the label has been derived from the jail’s name , it is a brand with a diverse product port-folio. It’s a unique brand with a wide range of products which are manufactured by the prison inmates in Tihar Jail Factory. TJ's has a variety of products such as Bakery products, Handloom & Textile, Apparel, Furniture, Pure Mustard Oil, Recycled hand-made paper products, paint-ings, designer candles & lamps, Jute bags, herbal products and many more. It’s a brand developed with a non-commercial and non-profit objec-tive. Tihar Jail Factory provides an opportunity of reformation & rehabilitation to the prison in-mates of Tihar Jail by channelising their ener-gy towards a positive direction.The brand offers best quality products at very competitive prices to the public, government and private institu-tions.And it is now looking to hit the big time through tie-ups with mainstream retail stores.

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Initially, the TJ'S products were sold to pris-on inmates and their visitors, who could buy them at a store just outside the jail. Soon they began to appear in stalls located in court premises around Delhi. In all, Tihar Jail has 16 such stalls around Delhi. In addition, TJ'S supplies its products to government offices, educational institutions and even Parliament House, among other institutions. It is even sold through local kirana (grocery) shops. Since last year, the products have also been sold through a small, rent-free kiosk in the upscale Select Citywalk mall, in South Del-hi. "They have sales of around Rs 25,000 a day, which is a small start, but not bad," says Arjun Sharma, director at the mall. The Jail has also tied up with re-tail chains Reli-ance Fresh and Vishal Mega Mart recently .The food products are about 25 per cent cheap-er than the popular Haldiram's brand.

TJ’S even has its own website, detailing the enterprise’s activities, products and store lo-cations. The popularity of products made by the inmates of Tihar jail is on the rise in the Capital, and as a result, the brand’s sales have increased manifold in the past four-five years. In 2012, the turnover of Tihar jail was record-ed at Rs 30 crore as compared to Rs 12.20 crore

The TJ’s units are managed by the prisoners themselves with technical experts guiding them. Wages are paid at rates decided by the Delhi government. While unskilled workers earn around Rs 70 in a day, skilled ones get Rs 99. The money that the inmates get is depos-ited into their jail account, which they can then use to transfer to their families. As per the procedure, the inmate writes to family members asking if they need money. If they reply in the affirmative, jail authorities send a money order on behalf of the inmates.Inmates also can use their earning for pur-chasing goods from the prison canteen – like beedis, cigarettes of the brands allowed in the jail, soaps, oil and bakery items.

- Rishu Gupta

Resettling people after completing their sen-tence is indeed a very good initiative by the jail authorities.

Tihar may not be paradise today but ,it’s not an evil then either .

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Ebola Retro Virus (ERV) or Ebola is a rare deadly viral disease caused to humans and primates with a fa-tality rate of more than 90%. The origin of this disease dates back to 1976 in Congo where 2 simultaneous outbreaks occurred in Congo, Yambuku, Sudan and nearby remote villages. However, latest studies have revealed that the Plague of Athens (430-425 B.C.) which wiped out the entire Greek civilization was actually to an attack of Ebola.

Transmission:

The first case of Ebola was reported in February this year with an increase in the number of cases from July. Claiming more than 2600 lives till date, and case reporting to around 5800 it has become one of the most feared outbreak of the world. It is transmitted through direct and indirect contact with blood secretions, bodily fluids and contamination with fluids of infected people. It is supposed to have been transmitted through handling of infected, ill or dead animals in the tropical rain forests of Africa. Fruit Bats are consid-ered the natural host of ERV. The case of ERV has also been reported in Pigs, Monkeys, and Guerrillas.Several workers handling pigs, monkeys have been reported with cases of ERV. Health workers, doctors, photographers who have been involved in helping the infected people have all been reportedly been infected by the deadly virus. The virus had a great toll on Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Sudan, Congo, and Uganda. The Deceased have been buried to prevent the spread of the disease.

Signs and Symptoms:

With an Incubation period of 12-21days, the initial signs include sudden onset of fever, muscle pain and weakness. From the 4th day onwards the patient develops severe headache, diarrhea, bloodvomiting and anemia. Towards the end, the patients suffer from rashes, heavy internal and external

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bleeding leading to coma, shock and death. In some cases it has even affected the functioning of liver and kidney.

Prevention and Cure:

Till date, there is no cure for ERV. However, many experimental drugs are being tested. On September 2014, an experimental vaccine, currently known as the NIAID/GSK vaccine,commenced simulta-neous phase 1 trials. The vaccine was developed jointly by GlaxoSmithKline and the NIH, based on a modified chimpanzee adenovirus. It completed phase 1 successfully. It has been successful in case of animals. The drug has been tested on Humans and it is still in its initial stages. If it proves suc-cessful, the company is set to manufacture 10,000 doses and will be made available while the tests are in progress.Apart from these, patients are being closely treated so that the doctors could arrive at some result. An American Aid worker who was infected with ERV is being treated at Nebraska and is actually mak-ing recovery. But the after effects, severity are still unknown

Global Effect and Steps taken:

With growing number of cases, European coun-tries didn’t allow travel to the countries of Africa.US President Barak Obama has agreed to send around 3000 troops to the rescue of people. UN Security Council has also called for an emergency meeting to discuss about the epidemic. Cuba which is famous for its training of doctors and nurses is sending a team of 165 members including doctors, nurses, epidemiologists, IC Specialists. UN has also requested to lift the travel ban imposed on the countries and to join hands and help in curbing the spread of the disease.The Outbreak has shown a major effect on the economy of West Africa and it could drain billions of dollars by the end of the year. Furthermore, in worst case scenario according to the

global development lender the economic growth would be reduced by 2.3 percentage points in Guinea, 8.9 percentage points in Sierra Leone and 11.9 percentage points in Liberia by the next year. The productivity in the sectors of agriculture, min-ing would be largely affected and less workers will be willing to work which will fuel poverty.IMF is due to consider a proposal to give Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia an additional of $127mil-lion to combat the economic impact of Ebola. It es-timated the countries would soon fall short of $300 million in the next six to nine months. -G.V.D.Shree.Harsha

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Management Lesson #3: Brand Creation for companies should be done to reflect the company’s true values and beliefs as an organization. Only brands built on the impeccable platform of transparency and truthfulness lead markets in the longer run.

4. Team Building & Workforce Diversity:

Mahatma Gandhi had built a great team of leaders from diverse beliefs and principles. Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajgopalachari, Valabh Bhai Patel, Jinnah and many others worked in tandem for a com-mon cause; the freedom of India. Great leaders build great teams with members who complement each other. It has leadership at all levels. It has great bench strength which grabs the baton and continues the race to achieve a common goal. Organizations with great teams have the potent force to conquer the market.

Management Lesson #4: A good leader should recruit his team not on the basis of who they are but on the basis of what results they can produce.

5. Engage people:

Mahatma Gandhi enthralled and engaged people like a magician. He was apt in the art of making people devote everything for the cause. In every single movement he led for India’s freedom, he pulled the people together for a common mission. Every one of them was so engaged that they were ready to go to any extent to achieve the goal of India’s freedom.He believed that people generally assume they can get men to do work by force. This is not the correct approach for organizations to further grow and lead. As he very rightly said once, “If I cease stealing for fear of punishment, I would recommence the operation as soon as the fear is withdrawn from me.”

Management Lesson #5 A team leader must ensure that each one of his team members are aware of their role in the project and take due responsibility for their actions.

6. Innovation:

All his approaches towards Independence including the Non Cooperation Movement to Non Violence were innovation driven approaches during India’s struggle for Independence. Mahatma Gandhi em-braced innovation and being the visionary leader behind these approaches took it as his responsibility to spread awareness and implement these approaches as day to day practices for his entire workforce.

Management Lesson #6: Innovation is the key to succeed; there will always be alternative optimal ways to achieving any goal. The team should work together and be open to implement Innovative ideas to their projects.

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7. Grassroot Level Approach:

Mahatma Gandhi believed in decentralization, he create self sustainability among masses and taught them to be self dependent. He worked towards the Grassroot levels and em-powered the lower classes of the Indian society by promoting untouchability as a very large movement across the country.Corporate houses through their business projects or as a part of their Corporate Social Re-sponsibility should always implement a grassroot approach by starting on a local scale before going global.

Management Lesson #7: Decentralization improves the group dynamics and reaches the lo-cal consumer directly. It helps in nurturing sustainable and scalable growth throughout an economy.

8. Gender Equality

With all the conundrum these days over feminism and masculism, the need of the hour is Gender Equality. Mahatma Gandhi practiced gender equality and believed that the wives should be treated as a better half and not as a slave of husband. His independence struggle movements saw the participation of men and women alike. Gandhi's urge to women to join India's struggle for independence paved the way for women empowerment even in those times. The civil disobedience in 1930 marked the first time women became mass participants in the struggle for freedom. Thousands of women, from large cities to small villages, became active participants in the satyagraha andolan.

Management Lesson #8: There is a positive correlation between gender diversity on boards and corporate performance across most industries. The benefits of having women in leader-ship positions are not unknown and can be seen in companies like Yahoo, ICICI, Pepsi Co, Facebook (COO Sheryl Sandberg) & more.

9. Change Management

Mahatma Gandhi’s most famous quote is “Be the change you want to see in the world”. He was a firm believer of the inevitable need to change with time and preached change manage-ment. He realized that change needs time and quoted, “Patience and perseverance can move mountains.” Not always were his methodologies accepted by everybody which made him remark, “I do not expect my views to be accepted all of a sudden.”Organization Development and Change Management go hand in hand. Organizations that want to continue to grow must embrace changes and implement them in due course of time.

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Management Lesson #9: Change management is crucial for organizations who seek growth and the change process lies in the hands of its change agents. There are many more priceless management lessons which can be derived from Mahatma Gand-hi’s life. We simply need to embrace his fundamentals and imbibe Gandhigiri in our day to day corporate culture.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Ishita GuptaThe Author is co-founder of a startup company in Odisha. She is an MBA & computer engineer. She is currently the director of Kamtech Associates Pvt. Ltd., Jaipur, Vice President (Interna-tional Marketing) of S.S. Agri Businesss Pvt. Ltd., Odisha and Chairman of Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI), Kotputli, Rajasthan. She was awarded the MSME-IT Excellence Gold Award 2011in Bangalore by Hon’ble Minister for Large & Medium Industries, Government of Karnataka & Cabinet Minis-ter, Information Technology.

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UNDERSTANDING EMPOWERMENT

Over the course of 9 days, I had an opportunity to visit, meet and interact with leaders at 6 social enterprises across Delhi, Tilonia and Jaipur and reflect on their work, their values, approach and leadership style. Traveling with a group of 9 other leaders from across countries helped me gain a wider perspective and further refine by own thoughts and understanding.I saw at work different ideas and a model of empowerment at each of the organizations visited and was left re-flecting on “What is Empowerment?”At one organization, doing selfless service in providing artificial limbs to the poorest of the poor for over 40 years, I saw the commitment, the focus, and the determination in their work. . Having grown up in India, I have seen how the disabled are treated as a burden, many a time confined to their homes, considered a liability, subject to pity and sympathy and incapable.

A person who is disabled due to and accident not only loses their livelihood but also their sense of self, their dignity and many a times the love and re-spect of their family. Hence, the work of this organization is unquestionably important and needed.Yet, amongst all this good work, I felt a discomfort. I felt uncomfortable when the founder asked an am-putee to remove his artificial limbs and show it to the gathering in full public view. Something didn’t sit well with me when he asked another to run with them. Something didn’t feel right when he asked a woman who had just got a limb to remove it, showing her legs and put it back on. The woman obliging in full public view and looking visibly uncomfortable for having to lift her sari while we watched.I cringed with embarrassment but tried to keep my judgment at bay. I attempted to understand the need to prove the sturdiness and durability to their prod-uct but the approach didn’t seem to find favour with me.He invited another young man, always referring to the Hyoung or old as Beta/Beti (Son/Daughter). He asked him how much money he had on him

the man was hesitant feel-ing singled out but even-tually said he has Rs.22. One of us was asked to count the money just to be sure. The founder then responded to this man in third person, not

asking his name and went on to say that this man is so poor that he cannot afford even a single meal and how can someone ex-pect to charge him for the limbs. I cringed as the man was visibly embarrassed at being poor in full public view.The founder was making a valid point around af-fordability. 95% of the poor were the ones who lost their limbs in accidents. Losing limbs in India meant loss of dignity, loss of livelihood and in many cases abandonment by the family. Hence, the poli-cy of the organization to support the poorest of the poor and not charge them a single rupee. It costs the organization Rs.3000 t0 fit one artificial limb and there is no way that the poor can afford this cost.No one is sent back. In fact, they gave them a place to stay three meals a day and even train fare back to their village. They ensured that each individual got a limb within 3 days.

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All great approaches deeply entrenched in understanding their customer and delivering on their promises. All approaches coming from experiences and having worked in the field for over 40 years. Yet, I felt uncom-fortable that the poor and the disabled were assumed to have no dignity and self-esteem and could be singled out in a crowd to showcase their work. While customer endorsement and feedback is important, could there be sensitivity in the way we seek it?

As we walked out of the premises, we saw a group of people waiting for him, some who had go their limbs fixed and some waiting got them to be fixed. He made us stand around, he himself sat on a chair and asked the patients to approach him one by one.“What is your name? Where are you from? How did you lose your limb? Do you do any work? How much money do you have? How much do you earn? And based on what he heard, he either gave them a livelihood kit of not. What is livelihood kit you might ask? They have 3 kits – a tailoring unit for a woman and a Tea-Stall unit or food stall unit for the man. An initiative to support the livelihood of people who have lost their jobs because of their disability and give them a chance at earning some income. A very noble gesture indeed and one could see that the people were extremely grateful for the support. I was wondering if the poor could have a choice of livelihood, shot at pursuing their dreams and if it might have been more empowering to give them money to choose their own livelihood instead. One can argue that money can be misused and the founder mentioned, that 20% of the people who receive livelihood kits do misuse it.

However, where is dignity if there is no trust. Could we give wings to their dreams instead?The imagery of that moment left me deeply disempowered. What I saw was the poor waiting for him, he sitting there like a king doing out goodies. His body language showed distrust of the poor. he poor standing with flooded hands and hopeful eyes and feeling terribly obliged when he did provide them support. The people did feel empowered with a new limb as they saw it as a second shot at life.

The people felt grateful at the opportunity to start a new livelihood. I wonder of this is enough.Isn’t empowerment treating them with dignity in their disability and ensuring they go away feeling that they are capable of achieving all their dreams and desires and their is no limit to what they can achieve in life?

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Isn’t empowerment, using our cause to change mindsets about disability and fighting for laws that ensure the rights of the disabled?

Is giving limbs enough? I am reminded of an American friend who lost his limbs in a landmine accident at an early age of 19 and went on to start an International organization fighting for a land-mine free world that won the noble peace prize. His artificial limbs gave him his life back but it was his sense of purpose, sense of self that made him change the way the world looks at the diabled.

In our group, we had blind participant from UK. Traveling on her own for the first time to India, she came with confidence and a sense of purpose. She managed to traverse the complexity of India and its chaos on her own not once feeling dependent or vulnerable. Her sensitivity and insights left us spell-bound as she saw India with her other senses. I wonder what did her family, her community and her society do to build this sense of dignity in her, to make feel that she was capable and not disabled in anyway.

I am deeply inspired by this organization’s commitment and dedicated self-less service. With over 24,500 artificial limbs been fixed every year, it takes tremendous amount of hard work to make it happen. I am delighted that organizations such as these exist who are not worried about sustainability, scale, replicability, etc. But truly believe that if we continue to do our work with sincerity and a sense of purpose, God will always find a way to help us. The founder has been a dedicated volunteer for over 39 years and runs the organization on principles of frugality even paying for our tea from his pocket. His child-like enthusiasm and a sense of curiosity in endearing. His commitment to the poor is unquestionable. It takes courage to take on such a difficult cause and stick with it for over four decades. As I sit back and ask myself, “What is empowerment?” this is what I receive. Giving limbs is the first step to empowerment which this organization does beautifully. However, for me, it also breaking my own prejudices about the poor and disabled; about truly believing that the poor and disabled are capable and able: they have dignity just like I do and it’s not only my actions but also my intentions that are critical as I chose to bring them products and service. Being sensitive and treating each human being, irrespective of their background and disablility, with respect is truly empowering myself and through my being empow-ering the people I work with. -Vishal Tareja CEO of Dream a Dream

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Xiaomi – The Ultimate Marketing Strategist?

Have you ever come across something that appears for a few seconds and then disappears? We would call that ‘thing’ a genie. Let us rephrase the question, Have you ever come across something that is made in CHI-NA, appears for a few seconds and then disappears? If your answer is yes, then unless itssome Chinese black magic culture that you profoundly follow, you are thinking about XIAOMI MI3.

Xiaomi Inc. is s a privately owned Chinese electronics company headquartered in Beijing. It is one of China’s biggest electronics companies that designs, develops, and sells smartphones, mobile apps, and consumer electronics. Xiaomi is a major force in China,howev-er, it’s taking baby steps out-side of its home country and one of the first few landings has been in India. Xiaomi brought its flagship Mi 3 to India at a scarcely-believable Rs 14,999. With a Snapdrag-on 800 on board, this is by far the cheapest high-end phone in the market, making it competition for the likes of Nexus 5, Galaxy S4, and Xpe-ria Z at nearly half the price.

Besides it’s ‘buy-me’ price tag, XIAOMI injects various attractive strategies that are bound to make even the most loyal customers of other brands,XIAOMI-fied. Firstly,Xiaomi’s revenue stream comes from its software — the highly-custom-izable MIUI firmware that is based on Android which already has more than 30 million users, earning ap-prox $4.9 million monthly revenue from apps, games, and theme customizations installed on MIUI. Xiaomi is more like E-bay,flipkart where it wants to earn via its ecosystem by selling various goodies and reap prof-its like an ecommerce company.

We’ve all heard the saying, ’To rich, stop spend-ing’. XIAOMI saves loads of money by avoiding extravagant advertising costs. Xiaomi uses social media to spread word about their project ,be it forums , making comments, sending posts and advertising. In fact ,customers do a lot of adver-tising for XIAOMI on social media. All they have to do is keep on selling the exclusive product and the customers will make their brand viral.

If these strategies weren’t enough ,Xiaomi came up with the ‘Flash sale’ scheme. Xiaomi MI3 was offered at the current price on flipkart but for

a very short period of time .So short ,that it was over in one breath. Yes Xiaomi strategies had done their magic on Indian customers as well. On 2nd Septem-ber 2014,Xiaomi sold 40,000 smartphones in a mere 4.2 seconds. Earlier on August 26, 20,000 Mi3 phones sold out in just 2.4 seconds. This even caused flipkart to expe-rience a slowdown, claim-ing ,the traffic load when the sale began, was 4 times

higher than the heaviest level ever experienced by Flipkart’s infrastructure.

Clearly ,it seems XIAOMI has found its way to INDIA.

Xiaomi’s CEO,LEI JUN is being quoted as China’s Steve Jobs

Looks like a Nexus ,priced like Motorola. This is Xiaomi MI3. -Shivam Mehta

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