Future of Smartphones use

6 Reasons Why people use smartphones more than desktops by 2015

This is a topic under serious discussion for last 2 years. With high-end smartphones dominating the public conversation these past few years, lower-end smartphones have been under the radar.

Nevertheless, this market segment offers a fast-growth opportunity particularly in emerging countries such as China and India.

 "Seven Shades of Mobile" study, conducted by InsightsNow for AOL and BBDO, 2012

Consumers in emerging markets are growing less tolerant of basic mobile handsets, known as feature phones, that can only be used to conduct a phone call and other rudimentary functions. They want their smartphones to do more than that, at least be able to download email and have some level of Web browsing capability.

Which  will cause the propel of the growth of smartphones

(1) Improve battery live with inductive technology

In future smartphone will have an inductive receiver loop embedded into the device itself which can be placed on a wireless pad and have its batteries fully replenished without the need for wires or an electrical connection.

(2) Flexible screen

These new displays will allow manufacturers to produce devices that can be easily rolled into a shirt or pants pocket. Prototypes of these types of devices are being developed and the first signs of commercially available models are expected to be avaialble by 2015.

(3) Use for shopping

Today 12% people expected to use smart phones for shopping and the same is expected to cross at least 20% in next 2 years.With online sales increasing more than 30 percent on Cyber Monday compared to last year, mobile devices can take credit for a large chunk of what has been called online retailers’ biggest day ever; according to IBM, mobile sales grew by more than 96 percent from 2011.

(4) Enable residents to conduct their own home energy audits.

Using phone sensors, cameras and GPS data, today’s smartphones could analyze appliances, break down their energy use and provide energy-efficiency rankings of comparable homes, the study found. They could even potentially let users know when federal rebates or better rates take effect so they can make changes when they would bring the highest financial benefit.

(5)The mobile payment system allows the use of any smartphone or iPad as a point-of-sale terminal and is aimed at small businesses.

(6) Use of smartphones as virtual assistant for smartphones, automobiles, natural language virtual assistants  like google glass.

Apart from these six reasons there are additional trends in smartphones  like water proofing of smartphones using surface coating called Liquipel, dawn of HTML5 enabled phones which work on low power devises, synchronized operating system  so that users won’t need to use one OS for a smartphone and another for the desktop computer.

You may get more detailed information on "What do consumers use their mobiles for" at http://mobithinking.com. Here you can find country specific utilization summary.

Author, Arindam is working as strategic consultant for business transformation project.  

Boom In American Economy in 2013

What Anthony Robbins , Warren Buffet Predicts For World Economic Performance?

Several eminent people believe that the wold economy will not do well in 2013. But, there are several positive signs in the current state of the economy.

Tony Robbins along with other great minds like Warren Buffett, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and Spanx founder Sara Blakely talk about 2013's economic outlook .

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

9 positive signs for the 2103 economic outlook

1. People are buying second home. A housing renaissance is already underway in USA.

2.Strong profits and low interest rates have allowed firms to substantially lighten their debts and generate a flood of cash. Businesses will soon realize that to keep their earnings and stock values healthy, they need to seek new growth opportunities.

3. People are investing in recreational activities

4. New restaurants are opening and needs prior reservation to get a seat.

5. Not easy to get flight tickets at the last moment for business hubs

6. Hotels in top 50 cities across the globe has healthy occupation

economic growth

7. Governments are trying to reduce debt liabilities. This will improve investment and reduce uncertainty.

8. Arrival of NEW disruptive technology is creating new job opportunities.

9. Asia will grow, especially the emerging countries (which include China and India). The advanced economies (the largest of which are Japan and Australia) are expected to grow moderately. My own inclination is to bump up the IMF forecast for Asia by about a percentage point for both sub-groups.

10.  Foreseeable external threats—euro collapse and a hard Chinese landing—seem less worrying now than they have over the past two years.

11. An immigration reform that makes it easier for workers to move to America, especially those with high skill levels, seems achievable. 

The way in which Fed policy evolves this year will tell us a lot, not just about the growth trajectory to expect but about when and why the next downturn might occur.

On the whole, the global economy, while not yet free of downside risk, appears set for a year of transition to better-balanced economic growth, albeit with lagging employment and income inequality continuing to hamper a robust recovery.

Additional resources on economic forecast :Indian economy may beat expectations in 2013: Goldman Sachs

obesity treatment guidelines to lose weight quickly

A Guideline For Easiest Way To Lose Weight

Treatment of obesity is required because wide girth is closely linked with various chronic diseases.

WHO blames excess fat for 44% cases of diabetes, 23% of ischemic heart disease and 40% some types of cancer.

obesity management & treatment

 Why excess fat is so dangerous? 

•   Fatty tissue secrets hormones that promote inflammation and in the long run inflamed organs stop working.

• Inflammation & inappropriate fat storage keep cells from responding to hormone, causing insulin resistant. This causes pancreas to pump more and more blood sugar which causes high blood sugar . High blood sugar leads to blindness, kidney disease etc.

• People who are obese and diabetic are more likely to have certain forms of cancer.

How Can You Lose Weight Fast?

Read the guide on best way to lose weight quickly.

  

Why excess fat is a serious concern for global health?

Obesity related diseases

America’s Institute of Medicine reckons that Americans spend between $150 billion to $190 billion in a year on obesity related illness. This is a grave concern for countries like India & China due to absolute number of people suffering from obesity related problems.

Given how hard it is to lose weight Government need to concentrate on their efforts to prevent people from gaining it because health care cost for obese patients are 40% higher than those of normal weight.

Treating Obesity With Drugs and Surgery

• Orlistat approved in 1999.

• Vivus launched Qsymia . It suppress appetite by boosting leptin. A control group of patients who took Qsymia along with proper diet & exercise lost almost 11%.

Webmd reported that for the week ending Dec. 7, more than 2,000 new prescriptions for Qsymia were filled, according to Source Healthcare Analytics, a provider of pharmaceutical market data. That compares to 1,163 filled prescriptions for the week ending Nov. 23.

However, it might have some impact on central nervous system. Moreover, Qsymia is very costly.

• Next year, Area will launch Belviq which makes patients to feel more satisfied.

• Research is going on to use micro bacteria which help in food digestion. Jeffrey Gordon from Washington University is working on this concept.

• Bariatric surgery is a more drastic measure with more dramatic results but it also has many side effects. Surgeries for obesity should be done for morbidly obese person.

I think above few are the clinical practice guidelines for the management of overweight and obesity. You should consult doctor for more accurate information for how do you lose weight.

Who is possibly gaining from the obesity endemic? 

 This is a big market for pharmaceutical companies and producers of medical kit. Diabetes market will jump to $58 billion by 2018.

Demand for dialysis equipment is set to increase by 6% from 2011 to 2010. There will be more demand for cardiac gadgets such as pacemakers, valves & stents.

In summary, there is no such best treatment for obesity. Regular exercise, proper balanced diet, visualization and manage stress still are the most harmless & cost effective steps for management of overweight.

If you are young put more focus on building muscle rather than losing weight only.

Disclaimer – Author himself is obese. I collected various information from various renowned magazines like CNN, The economist and other online portals. I am just sharing that information for you all. You need to consult a doctor before you take any step for your obesity management. I will publish my results every month along with actions I took.

I’m not responsible for any financial or health damage due to this article. You are solely owner of your action. 

Related articles :

Helpful tips for plus size people is to learn how to dress your body type using our body shape calculator or use or body shape guide. 

Other  Weight Loss related articles in health category

• Tips On Best Way To Lose Weights
• Why  Brown Fat is the key for your quick fat loss
• Why am I fat?
• obesity treatment guidelines to lose weight quickly
• Is Obesity A Caveman Curse ?

Share your comments on how to lose weight quick and easy, please like us in facebook and discuss below.

How CMO Can Improve IT Project execution?

CMO  as Innovation Leader

Forrester Research and Heidrick & Struggles conducted a survey of CMOs across the globe that shows that nearly 80% want to prove their capability as business and strategy leaders. Now, business strategy and digital execution drive are top two priorities for CMO because digital marketing has surpassed brand strategy and positioning.

Main role of CMO is to connect the corporate boardroom with the customer because unless company connects with the customer, success will remain elusive.  The advent of social media, big data, and analytics opened up new opportunity for marketing which requires technological innovation.

3 facts why smarter CMOs driving more IT decision

 (1) 2.5 quintillion of data produced everyday. Hence 45% big data initiatives are taken by marketing. 

(2) Big data market will grow from USD 3 billion in 2010 to  USD 16 billion in 2015. 

(3) Over the next 3 years spending on marketing will grow by 60%


CMO need to use latest technology and IT systems to implement his strategy. This requires close working with technical department for these creative works. Here is a gap because the goals of CIO & CMO are not aligned in most cases.

Most of the organization has CIO who leads IT department.

And, the main KRAs for a CIO role includes

•    In depth working experience in technical vertical like technical, banking etc
•    As enforcer who knows how to develop policies and best practices and implement them
•    As a protector who will ensure IT department retains appropriate certifications and professionally trained skills to best maintain and protect companies IT investment.

But, I found that business requires a "The translator" who translate how the technology can help a given business unit to achieve the desired business outcome instead of  talking about servers and software.

CIO Roles

Actually, this is missing in most of the companies.

Some companies have a perception that the older CIO tends to use more "old-boy" cliques and are not up to date enough on technologies, methods and techniques. Business heads have indicated in surveys that older CIOs no longer "excite" them, "aren't innovative enough", do not create new ideas often enough to solve problems or transform business, and are less willing to act as change agents often enough.

As  per current trend CMO owns the budget & investment decision.  CIO own the responsibility of execution and operation of the system. But a closer interlock is necessary between IT & marketing department for the actual success of any program.

We did some survey on failed IT projects.

5 top reasons for failure of IT projects 

(1) Schedule delay of the execution of projects,

(2) Inadequate business requirements

(3) Insufficient business process

4) Delay in budget approval

5) Ambiguity of responsibility between CIO & CMO etc.

This brings to my conclusion that CMO should lead IT strategic projects. This will remove any ambiguity of responsibility in strategic project execution, improves adherence of SLA , following & maintaining standard business process. 

Business should use process tools like Aries to document & follow business process. Any change should be initiated from business process tool. This will be possible if CMO leads from front end in this type of  technology investment.

This will help CMO to introduce new products which are aligned to existing product framework and architecture. This will improve predictability of IT delivery.

I don’t think CIO should report to CMO. Rather, CTO should look after technological part of IT like performance enhancements, capacity planning, infrastructure planning, maintaining data centers, various operational level agreements, protection of digital assets like patents etc.

CIO should focus more on IT & business alignment and should work closely with CMO. CIO should have sufficient knowledge on various aspects of technology, latest development, industry trend, risk management etc.

About the author : Arindam is a thought-leader on value creation through enterprise architecture. He facilitates business leaders and organizations to think bold for future strategies. By focusing on completing complex transformation projects on time he contributes in getting value from the program which can help to create sustainable competitive advantage.

Arindam brings more than 20 years of technical & management experience. He is a valuable contributor to any senior management discussion on the subject of leadership, innovation, growth, organizational excellence and brand equity.

Resources : images sources are pwc & U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

4 tips to get promotion

How to get the promotion in 2013?

Doing your job really well isn't enough if you want to climb the career ladder – you need to be positive, resilient and strategic

This is the time to  reevaluate your career aspirations, choices and make new decisions.

5 things you need to do to get recognized at work:

1. Manage your personal brand.

2. Bring your own unique  value so that you become a go to person.

3.  You need to systematically train yourself on  hard skills. Psychology professor K. Anders Ericsson called this deliberate practice.This will be the main differentiators between average hard working people and you.

4. You need to smart enough to stand out in the crowd – amongst your peers and colleagues. Here is a great article "Want That Promotion? Practice Your Job." by CAl Newport on WAS.

5. Promotions are not just a function of skills and aptitude, the CTI (Center for Talent Innovation) report argues. Executive presence is “a required yet unwritten” competency for leaders.

I was talking with Dr. Malavika, a famous Calcutta based human resource consultant on recent trend of management training and steps to getting paid more and promoted faster.

How to get promoted: Secrets to promotion success 

Malvika explained one of the strategies for getting yourself promoted in knowledge based industry to get training in latest techniques. She mentioned 4 games you need to play & learn to get recognized at your work. 

She put forth  a very important concept on importance of games in development of business skill. She told that playing games and learning game theory is must of those who want to be successful at 'cxo' level.

4 games that can help to get next promotion

Be bold to get recognized

1. 'Beer game' by John Sterman of MIT-Sloan. This is based around the production, sale, and distribution of the eponymous beverage, and can be played by as few as four to as many as several hundred participants.You will learn virtue of wait and how to act instead of complain.

2. She mentioned that there are some coaching centers who took the concept a step further—out of the office or factory scenario. These games are actually play involving real hot issues. Where aspiring managers plays instead of professional actors.

Common topics are euro zone problem, how America should overcome financial cliff, how to find price & production anomaly, how to manage the company during disaster.

It develops analytic skill as well as train the people on how to influence others in an important meeting. Actually, these games help you to learn reframe of your experience. You need to convert most horrible experience into a learning lesson.

3. She mentioned that the management institute Mannaz, in Denmark has devised a program based around the world’s most popular online game, World of Warcraft, which aims to show how international teams can improve their leadership effectiveness through shifting strategies that place high demands on communication and the management of tasks and team mates.

4. Chess is one of the best game for learning strategy. Chess demonstrates the need for combining big-picture thinking with the balance of resources and an in-depth understanding of your competition. If you are a regular chess player, you know the importance to build a network of players also.  This is important.

Every employee in the workplace is 100% responsible for his or her promotion.

I asked Malavika why smart people having good track records fail?

She mentioned that in an attempt to be useful and adaptable people normally say yes to too many good projects and opportunities. But, I finally they end up feeling overworked and underutilized.

How to get a promotion

She continued that we hold the key to unlock our true potential & success.  You need to find which ideas from the past are important and pursue those. Throw out the rest. This life audit is important for your professional success.

Greg McKeown  article "The Disciplined Pursuit of Less" is a must read to avoid career regrets.


The reality is, your boss or your company will not go out of their way to give you a promotion or a raise. You have to prove to them that you are worthy of a promotion .


You have to do the things that trigger or merit promotions. In a moment, I will reveal to you exactly how to do so. Read "How To Get A Promotion And Pay Raise At Work ?", an  interesting article referred by Malavika .

As a departing comment she told all these games will make a person more deserving. 

You can follow  Glenn Llopis, article on "5 Ways to Get Promoted in 2013"

Is Obesity A Caveman Curse ?

 What causes Obesity and How to Prevent It?

Obesity - Isn't  a Laughter

 Some of us were discussion about obesity and how to prevent it. So we all decided to research and publish a report on our opinion on what causes obesity and how to prevent obesity. 

Ancient caveman needed to eat what they could when it was available because next meal could be a long way of. Tough mankind made an outstanding progress in science & technology but our body is hopelessly out of sync with the modern environment.

Advertisement:

Paleo eating plus smart exercise and lifestyle adjustments will help you lose fat and get healthy. It's Easy! 

Follow  Paleo Diet 

What's the biggest challenge for you to lose weight?

If you lose weight, your body will work hard to make sure they regain it. 

Reason for your obesity


1. Over eating : If you eat sugary good, your body releases dopamine which signals pleasure and gives motivation. But if you are already obese, you are conditioned to getting excited by the sight of sugary food. But it's found that fat people seem to have fewer dopamine receptors. This actually lead you to overeating.

Role of hormones

I found after some research that ghrelin , made in the stomach signals hunger and Leptin, a hormone secreted from fatty acid tells the brain to stop eating. 

Actually Leptin plays a crucial role in managing your weight. A study by Joseph at Melbourne university found that even after 1 year leptin level is low but ghrelin is high for people who lost weight by dieting. You may refer to my article on "obesity treatment guideline".

2. Sedentary lifestyle

Yaro  published an interesting article on this at his blog "sitting down is killing you". Sitting down is killing because we put all this junk into our body, then by sitting down for long periods we switch our body off from doing anything with it. It is found that obese people sits 2.5 hours more than thin people.

You may read JAMES VLAHOS on why sitting is a lethal activity. In this article. he described the danger of sitting long. Sitting long reduces body's electrical activity as a result Calorie-burning rate immediately plunges to about one per minute. It reduces Insulin effectiveness also The enzymes responsible for breaking down lipids and triglycerides plunge, which in turn causes the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol to fa

 

Check out the full infographic from medicalbillingandcoding.org for more scary data and some suggestions on how to reduce your risk.

In this context, I found George Orwell suggestion is very true where he mentioned "changes in diet" is more important than :"changes of dynasty or even of religion"

Controlling of obesity is responsibility of individual as well as state.

You may read   "obesity treatment guideline" to know how as an individual you can control obesity.

 How state can help to manage this obesity epidemic?

Let' see what does obesity cause to state. American Institute of Medicine reckons that Americans spend between $150 billion to $190 billion for obesity related diseases. This is a economic problem for a state. Apart from cost it impacts productivity and army also.

You may get facts of obesity at world obesity statistics along with ranking here .

8 steps state can take for obesity management

1. Starting a campaign like anti obesity like anti smoking & anti HIV.
2. Check the kid's health and encourage them to pick good habit. This will help to control teen obesity.
3. Provide discount on health insurance for thoe who are not overweight
4. Encouraging exercise by creating a suitable environment and providing discounted access.
5. Put strict regulation in serving junk food to kid because change in diet is single most effective way to lose weight.
6. Put more taxes on soda & soft drinks.
7. Increase tax for obese people
8. Easy access to clinical counseling for obesity management at least for morbidly obese patients.
 
Reference: What is the definition of obesity?

Other  Weight Loss related articles in health category

• Tips On Best Way To Lose Weights
• Why  Brown Fat is the key for your quick fat loss
• Why am I fat?
• obesity treatment guidelines to lose weight quickly
• Is Obesity A Caveman Curse ?

Share your comments on how to get motivated to lose weight and your fat loss tips!

Security Risk in IE

Another Security Threat Of IE

A vulnerability affecting Internet Explorer versions 6 through 10 could make it possible for a hacker to monitor the movements of your mouse, even if the browser window is minimized.

Video on Security Risk of IE 

According to UK-based web analytic firm Spider.io, this means that passwords and PINs could be captured by a man in browser  if they are typed on a virtual (on-screen) keyboard.

However, there are no reported cases of any consumer having their information compromised.”

The security loophole essentially allows attackers to track an IE user's mouse movements, even if they haven't installed any software as such.

All that attackers have to do is buy a display ad slot on any website. Spider.io adds, "This is not restricted to lowbrow porn and file-sharing sites. Through today’s ad exchanges, any site from YouTube to the New York Times is a possible attack vector."

2 impacts of this security loophole in IE

1) First those using virtual keyboard as a way to avoid possible keyloggers can now no longer assume that the virtual keyboard is safe.

2) Secondly it appears that unscrupulous ad companies have been using this flaw for a while to  measure the view ability of display ads.

 How the loopholes exactly works?

The way it works is this: IE’s event model logs attributes relating to mouse events. When combined with the ability to trigger events manually using the fireEvent() method, researchers explained, JavaScript in any webpage or iframe can poll for the position of the mouse cursor anywhere on the screen and at any time. The fireEvent() method also exposes the status of the control, shift and alt keys.

Opinion of Microsoft

Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft corporate vice president for its Internet Explorer division, disagrees with Spider.io’s assessment:

“The underlying issue has more to do with competition between analytics companies than consumer safety or privacy. … We are actively working to adjust this behavior in IE and will provide more information when it is available.”

Will Samsung Be Number 1 In Mobile Device Market?

"Top 6 reasons why Samsung will top mobile device seller in consumers & enterprise market"

1. Timothy Wagner, who runs the Texas-based Samsung unit has a vision to capture top slot in Enterprise market. Company has vision and company is making investment in this direction.

2. Apple is top seller of company-issued smartphones. As per IDC analyst Stacy Crook they will hold the position till 2016. Apple has one-size-fits-all formula but Samsung is ready to partner with third-party software makers to target specific industries.  This will help Samsung to crate new market. 

3. Samsung is fast capturing the Blackberry's market. This is a quick opportunist movement.

4. Samsung is promising to lower companies’ mobile-computing costs. CIO loves to hear this considering budget for IT department is reducing every year.

5. Instead of multiple handset models offered, Samsung decided to focus on one handset for its flagship phone. Samsung Electronics (005930) moved 18 million such handsets, while Apple (AAPL) sold 16.2 million during the three-month period, says the research firm. This will actually boost the world wide branding for Galaxy just like ipod, iphone, ipad.

6. Samsung makes its own chips to power phones, Super Amoled handset displays, and flash memory for internal storage for its Galaxy S, the Galaxy S II, and now the Galaxy S III.

To be market leader, Samsung might have to distance itself from Andriod as Google is focussing mainly consumer market. This will reduce security risk from various malware.

Best Sleeping Position

What Your Best Sleeping Position Reveals About You?

 Find out how a little thing like your sleeping position can predict your personality-type.

It’s no secret that how we sleep affects how we feel, but did you know that your sleeping position, or how you usually like to sleep, is also related to your personality type, and can maybe even be predictive of your personality?

Research conducted by Professor Chris Idzikowski, director of the UK sleep assessment and advisory service, in connection with insomnia cure found that each of the typical sleeping positions are somewhat correlated to a particular personality type.

Best Sleeping position

Sleeping Positions And Personality Types Explained

Here are 4 personality types as per Emerald Robinson,the host of the Daily Orbit,

Emerald on sleeping position

1. People whose  sleeping position is on their backs with their  arms stretched out in front are typically quiet and reserved, and they set high standards for themselves. This is called the soldier position.   Professor Idzikowski concluded that those who sleep in the soldier position were more likely to snore and sleep unsoundly.

2. If your sleeping position is face down with your arms outstretched,  you may be feeling "out of control". This position leaves people feeling tired with no energy.

3. Those who sleep with a straight body are stubborn, and will feel stiff in the morning.

4. The fetal or thinker position is the most popular sleeping position . 58 percent of people sleep on their side with their knees up and head down—which is no surprise considering it is associated with stress.

The Foetus position is characterized by sleeping on one's side, in a curled up position. Arms are curled on top of the pillow, or occasionally one arm will be under the pillow. Those whose best sleeping position is the foetal position can expect to awake refreshed, having dealt with the previous day’s issues.

Here’s a short video on the best sleeping position and how to get out of bed:

You should check the meanings of your sleeping position and try to improve the same.

Which is the best sleeping position to prevent teeth grinding and insomnia

Bruxism, or teeth grinding, is one of the most common sleep disorders, along with insomnia and sleep apnea. Bruxism occurs predominantly during sleep, always and only in those people who sleep lying face downwards on the bed, on their stomach or on their hips, as they weigh heavily with static load on their jaws.

Teeth grinding can be very mild, causing few problems, or it can be very severe, causing damage to both your teeth and your jaw. Teeth grinding can improve with a better sleeping position, some natural solutions or a special mouthpiece created by a dentist to prevent it in some cases.

Click here to learn a natural solution to stop teeth grinding during sleep.


Resources for good sleep  & sleep position

1. Natural insomnia cure : This program is very effective for people with physical pain problems and for people who have worries that keep them up.

2. Best sleeping position for neck pain : If you have chronic neck pain, experts suggest avoiding sleeping on your stomach. Use a pillow that is as thick as the space between your neck and shoulder and position it above the shoulders so they don't become hunched.

3. What your sleep position says about you (and your relationship)?

4. Slideshow on the best and worst sleep positions for your body .

Now that you know your best sleep position and how it affects you, you are ready to get the most out of your sleep.

Happy dreams! 

Updated on 26th July'2013

Skills to be successful in Professional life

I got 127 comments & mails on my last post "How To Get A Promotion?". Several people gave various idea . In this post, I'm adding top 5 mush have skills based on people comment and my research on this topic.

1. Effective communication & Building rapport 

2. Personal Accountability

3. Persuasion

4. Interpersonal skill

5. Working knowledge on subject matter

In summary,  people are successful for a reason and many of them highly display certain personal skills.

Let's discuss this below...

What I learned from Live of Pi Movie

A very personal review of Life Of Pi of by Ang Lee

Let me first share the story


Based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, is a magical adventure story centering on Pi Patel, the son of a zoo keeper. Dwellers in Pondicherry, India, the family decides to move to Canada. After a shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a 26-foot lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, all fighting for survival. In short “Life of Pi” is a wonderful adventure story with a philosophical message.

9 Great Lessons I learned from Life of Pie book by Yann Martel 

1. It’s difficult to follow different paths at the same time, as many of them are conflicting in nature and often create confusion and make it difficult to stay focused and at times, lead to wastage of crucial resources.

2. Ensure your own identity. Pi associated a story with his name and that does the trick for him.

3. In spite of your intelligence, a well thought out plan is necessary just like PI followed the survival guidebook after his ship capsized

4. It’s NOT advisable to enter unknown and uncharted territories without adequate research. Pi decided to shift to the raft because he got scared of Richard Parker (tiger) but he was not aware of the whale that will upturn his raft throwing all his supplies to the water.

5. Learn to leave with your aggressive colleagues in a very competitive market. After the whale incident, Pi had to reconcile to the fact that he has to live with Mr. Parker on the lifeboat, an idea, which he had been resisting so far. You need to define your territory & protect the same from your competitor.

6. Don’t stop midway because this might deprive you from larger success. When Pi reached the mysterious floating island of carnivorous algae inhabited by meerkats, it seemed like, he has reached an oasis of life with bountiful food, water and shelter. But, it probably symbolizes the idea of settling for something average when there could be something much better in store. But, covering the last mile is often the most difficult part of the journey when body and mind wants to give up.

7. Never stop and always try to innovate even in a toughest time. Only mentally tough people can survive. I just like the attitude how Pi never gave up hope of survival even in the black sea or the dark clouds or the ominous waves or the hungry predator as company.

8. The idea of timeless existence makes Pi more spiritual because it takes away the obligations in life leaving only the peace you need to become one with whatever religion you may choose. This is a revelation to me. First my life I understood spirituality starts where religion ends.

9. Tough time challenges your creativity. This innovative skill is important to overcome all odds in life.

In summary -  Life of Pi is an intelligently scripted and gorgeously crafted piece of film making. It’s a visual touchstone in modern film making. And if you’re going to see it, you need to see it in theaters and in 3D. 

Importance of GDP growth rate to manage financial crisis

I was talking with few eminent economists on the current financial crisis. I was trying to find out what’s their opinion on the real reasons behind the current financial crisis across the globe.

Our discussion started with a question “Why the high GDP growth rate is not the solution?”

Dr. Sugato mentioned that according to IMF, Libiya’s economy will grow by an astonishing 122% growth rate this year. But this does not mean that the Libya is fastest growing economy in the world.

Dr. Sugato went on to explain the fallacy in Libya’s 120% GDP growth rate with simple definition of GDP.

GDP is   measure of income, not wealth. It gauges the flow of economic activity in a country, not its stock of productive assets. To understand this, we need to understand fiscal multiplier. Fiscal multiplier measures the impact of changes in Govt spending (or taxation) on broader GDP growth.

GDP = Consumption+ Investment+ Govt. Spending+ Imports+ Exports

Change in any one of these components will also impact other components. If Govt. cuts spending by 1% , GDP falls more than 1 percent. It also impacts taxation i.e. Govt. income. This is the problem in most of the debt ridden Governments like Greece, Spain. These countries earlier financed their growth by debt but did not try to reduce the debt. Most of Government took the easy way to get over the financial crisis by printing paper money.

Even if Libya’s economy grow by 120%, it’s GDP will be no bigger than it was in 2010 because it’s economy shrunk by over 60% in 2011.

Dr. Marjit explained another important point on current recession i.e. less corporate spending or investment.

He mentioned that this recession also triggered “dead money” problem because corporate started sitting on cash pile.

Corporate are afraid of
(1) euro-zone crisis,
(2) political upheaval in middle east,
(3) possible recession in China and
(4) America’s economic health.

In Japan liquid assets have been soared by 75% to 2.8 trillion. Same is true for UK, Canada & US.

Corporate are neither investing nor distributing the money to shareholders. This frugal way of working is also impacting employment.

In this context you can read an article by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International business editor "

Five years on, the Great Recession is turning into a life sentence".

 In the next post, we’ll discuss why radical tax reform is necessary to boost the economy.