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SAMAVESH 2004 Agriculture has not seen any significant changes since the days of the Green Revolution. Irrigation has to be extended to the maximum extent possible in conjunction with the development of hydroelectric power facilities solving the two issues of energy and irrigation simultaneously. Biotechnology must be used to increase productivity and rural prosperity, which will have a positive rub-off on the entire economy. These and many other fundamental changes have to be conducted to ensure that India lives up to the potential highlighted in the McKinsey report "India: From Emerging to Surging". Dr. P. V. Narsimhan, Director-General, SIMSR took the stage to endorse the views of the guest speakers with his opinion that the Chinese example has proved that Economic Growth and Social Justice are not opposed objectives. Rather only vigorous economic growth can generate the resources to conduct poverty alleviation. He said that this is the time for bold policy measures to rid the country of the sloth of bureaucratic inefficiencies. India must make the shift from production to productivity. A Panel Discussion on the topic "Markets - How efficient are they?" was held during the evening session. Mr. Bhagirath Merchant, Former Chairman, BSE; Mr. V. Shridhar, MD, Inter Connected Stock Exchange and Mr. Anjani Sinha, CEO, Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. were the panelists. Mr. Bhagirath Merchant spoke about the key role that Stock markets play in any economy as well as the various efficiency parameters for their operation. Mr. V. Shridhar enlightened us to the revolutionary changes that the market operations have undergone over the last decade technologically as well capacity wise. He highlighted the fact that the interest that FIIs are currently evincing in the Indian bourses is testimony to the fact that their operations are up to world-class standards now. The Multi-Commodity Exchange whose processes are as efficient as the operations of any stock markets is an exciting new area of operations for India. Mr. Anjani Sinha enabled us to appreciate not only the techno savvy nature of this market and its spread of operations but also highlighted the key role that it plays in smoothening out price fluctuations around the year. Issues like the cost-effectiveness, speed, safety and authenticity of transactions due to the adoption of cutting-edge information technology was also highlighted. The second day of Samavesh started bright and early with a captivating and thought provoking discourse by the renowned yogi & mystic, Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev, of the Isha Foundation. The Sadguru talked about self- management and what it means and ought to mean to those of us who are consumed by the complexities of business management. From there, Samavesh took the audience on a journey to seek the answer to a question as perplexing and ephemeral as the journey through life itself: "Is Marketing Working?" Industry stalwarts such as Mr. Anand Halve, Co founder & Partner, Chlorophyll; Mr. Sanjay Sharma, VP Account Management, Ambience Publicis Advertising; Ms. Vasudha Tanksali, VP, TNS Mode and Mr. Umesh Sharma, GM, Marketing, Alkem Laboratories expressed their opinions and points of view regarding the course taken by marketing in the recent past and the path that needs to be beaten out of the wilderness in order to emerge stronger and more effective from the jungle that marketing finds itself in. While they differed on how much water needed to be bailed out of a sinking ship called marketing, the experts agreed on the need for innovation to drive marketing, brand building and a long term perspective for businesses to grow and flourish. This realization must drive corporations to rationally and responsibly decide on product development, promotion and pricing. The way forward was to acquire mind share, not just market share. In a world where the only constant is change, Marketing needs to be idea driven and consumer informed, they opined. And their contentions were backed by case studies of businesses that had succeeded in the face of competition and unenthusiastic consumers. Contributed by - |
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