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Saturday, November 30, 2013

IIM - AHMEDABAD SUCCESS STORIES Malavika Pillai


IIM - AHMEDABAD SUCCESS STORIES
Institute

IIM-Ahmedabad

Name

Malavika Pillai

Age*

20

Educational Qualification*

(Degree and College)

B.A. (Hons) Economics,

Hansraj College, D.U.

Work Experience(Years)*

-

Work Experience(Company)*

-
: Information refers to date in which candidate appeared for GDs/Interview.
Names of other MBA institutes where offered admission(if any)

IIMs- B,C,L, I,K, FMS, SP Jain

Group Discussion
Topic

Case Study

Number of Evaluators

3

Number of Participants

6

Time Duration

12 mins

Brief Description of the GD: (issues raised, whether noisy or quiet GD etc.)


CASE STUDY:

There is a textile company which has shifted to a new place. In the new place, when the company hired people from the companies which were already functioning there. These workers were not being treated well by the existing companies and are ready to join the relocated textile company.
However, the management of the existing companies have threatened to block the raw material supply if the relocated company poaches its workers.
What should the relocated company do? Should it ask the newly employed workers to go back? How should it recruit people?

GD Details :
Very quiet, possibly because most participants knew each other.

Quality seemed to be very high; the most talkative members did not get selected.

Comments on your performance in the GD


Okay, knowing fellow participants really helped.

Quality of points made is very important.
Before GD, introduce yourself to everybody and talk by name.

Interview Process
Number of evaluators

3

Time duration

10 mins


Description of the Interview (Questions asked and your response) – please elaborate


Q: What do you like about Delhi?

Q: What do you mean by Diamond Water paradox?
A: Answered correctly
Q: Gave me a cost function and asked to draw average and marginal cost.
A: Was able to answer
Q: Why do you not want to do a masters in economics?
A: I would like to apply economics and not to go more into theoretical aspects of the subject.
Q: It you got admission abroad, why do you not want to go?
A: I don’t have the money to do an MBA from the USA. Also, I have got admission into MS and I am not interested in that. I am more interested in doing an MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad.
Q: What is the difference between Padmabhushan and PadmaBibhushan?
A: Don’t know.
Q: What are your parents’ occupations?
Q: What is your favourite subject?

A: Development Economics.
Q: How much do you know about the rural sector in India?

Q: What about the diary sector?

A: India is the largest producer of diary products in the world.
Q: What do you know about the productivity of Indian cows?
A: It is pretty low.
Q: What do you know about Ahmedabad other than IIMA?
A: NIIT, SIFT, Malaika Sarabai
Q: Why not IIM-Indore?

A: Indore is an excellent place and even faculty from IIMA have gone to IIM-Indore. But the infrastructure is not good as yet.

Comments on your performance in the Interview



I was very tense – so messed up some very easy questions. But they seemed to realise it, and did not pressurise me at all.

The interviewers were usually with expressionless faces and did not show much interest in the selection procedure.
It is very important that you know about IIM-Ahmedabad. Do check out their web-site.

CASE_study,GD PI experiences of students

IIM - AHMEDABAD SUCCESS STORIES Chebiyyan. V. B. Sankar



IIM - AHMEDABAD SUCCESS STORIES
Institute

IIM-Ahmedabad

Name

Chebiyyan. V. B. Sankar

Age*

23

Educational Qualification*

(Degree and College)

B. Tech(Metallurgy) IIT – Madras

Work Experience(Years)*

-

Work Experience(Company)*

-
: Information refers to date in which candidate appeared for GDs/Interview.
Names of other MBA institutes where offered admission(if any)

IIMB, IIMC, IIML, XLRI

Group Discussion
Topic
Case study – Case of dying fish – Zuari Agrochemicals

Number of Evaluators

3

Number of Participants

8-9

Time Duration

25 mins

Brief Description of the GD: (issues raised, whether noisy or quiet GD etc.)


CASE STUDY TOPIC:

There is a chemical factory(for fertilisers) in Goa set up with foreign collaboration, which is releasing waste to sea. The atmosphere is getting polluted and fish are dying. People of the region who are fishermen raise a lot of hue and cry about this. Other than killing fish, it is also contaminating the agricultural lands. Th State government supports the fishermen. However the central government feels that state should view the full country’s food situation and fertiliser requirements and not close down the plant. What are your views about the case?

GD :
Very cool GD.
Not a fish market at all.
There were 6 or 7 IITM participants – so, not very aggressive, everybody put forward points and linked them to reasons(perhaps because of this, from the group, 5 got through finally).
As it was an analytical case study, so anyone could talk and look at issues from different perspectives.

Evaluators were pretty cool – no interference from them – they were watching and standing in a circle.

Comments on your performance in the GD


I got a chance to speak whenever I wanted to.

Put forth 2-3 strong points which I made(e.g. for a foreign collaboration to shut down, it could send wrong signals to the whole investor community)

Spoke 4- 5 times., and was satisfied with my participation.
In IIM GDs, there is no need to dominate, as profs want active participation and aggressiveness is not required. Make sure when you speak, others are listening – also listen to the others points to be aggressive. It is important to listen clearly in the GD as it would help you summarize later.

Interview Process
Number of evaluators

3

Time duration

20 mins


Description of the Interview (Questions asked and your response) – please elaborate
Q: Draw an Iron Carbide(FeC) phase diagram.(since I am Metallurgical Engg, this is a usually asked question)

A: I was well prepared and could draw the same easily.

Q: what is stainless steel, what is their composition?

A: Answered correctly.
Q: Find a stainless steel object in this room.
A: Looked around the room – then showed them the watchbase which is made of stainless steel.
Q: (I had participated in the Maths Olympiad and represented A.P. which was mentioned in the biodata) They gave me a problem of differential calculus
A: I could solve it easily.
Q: Suppose a ladder is sliding down when it is leaning against a wall. What is the maximum area it will enclose during falling?
A: I was able to solve this using calculus- but the answer is really simple, greatest area enclosed is when the 2 sides(the wall and the bottom) in which ladder leans are the same. If length of ladder is "L" max. area enclosed would be : (L^2)/4)
Q: The second questioner asked me a very vague question about suns and stars which did not make any sense at all and was very abstract. Whatever I answered, he said no.(maybe he wanted to check out whether I am open to others points of views when I am not sure)
A: After sometime, I admitted that I did not really understand the question.
Q: (I read newspapers about politics – mentioned in Biodata) What is the performance of parties in AP?
Q: why is Chandrababu Naidu not doing well in the present elections(that was a couple of years ago)?
Q: Tell us about the Naxalite problem in the state.
A: Answered well
A: Would you like to have a look at my certificates?(I asked them this question for a change…)

Q: Yes – they took the certificates and glanced through them

Comments on your performance in the Interview


Fill up the form very well and carefully - the questions are asked about that.

The interviewers are not testing your analytical skills etc. I feel that they would like to know more about your communication skills.





IIM - AHMEDABAD SUCCESS STORIES Ajay Zener

Institute

IIM-Ahmedabad

Name

Ajay Zener

Age*

23

Educational Qualification*

(Degree and College)

B. Tech(Diary Tech.),

Karnal

Work Experience(Years)*

-

Work Experience(Company)*

-
: Information refers to date in which candidate appeared for GDs/Interview.
Names of other MBA institutes where offered admission(if any)

-

Group Discussion
Topic

Personnel Related Case Study

Number of Evaluators

3

Number of Participants

8

Time Duration

15 mins discusion

Brief Description of the GD: (issues raised, whether noisy or quiet GD etc.)
CASE STUDY:

There is a Corporate Head(HR) in a company who is very nice and gets along well with all people. People often consult him for help and advice. One person(named "A") approaches him for a job because he is right now jobless. The HR head takes the guy’s qualifications and asks him to come after a week – however, since no job available, he keeps frequently postponing the job offer. A keeps visiting the HR head often and becomes his close friend.

Then, one day, "A" confides with the HR Head " I was in prison for 18 years for a crime that I had not committed. When two years remaining of the sentence, I ran away from jail. Even now, police is in look out for me."
The HR Head tells the person to go home and that he would give him a job – however as soon as he leaves, the HR head calls up the police and gives the details of "A" and asks them to arrest "A."
Because of this betrayal of trust by the HR head, people in the organisation have started losing faith in him A senior person in the office complains to the VP that the HR head has "broken faith" – so, others could not come to him.

Assume that you are the VP of the company. What would you do about the situation?

GD Description:



Very structured GD, no chaos and very smooth.
Everybody spoke and put forth points

People also gave an introduction before starting
.
Comments on your performance in the GD


The professors usually keep moving about and stand close to the persons talking – so, the GD does not degenerate to a fish market.
IIMA GDs do not look for a solution but at different viewpoints.

I talked the least in the GD – but I was the only person in the whole group who got selected. Maybe that was because I made good points.

Interview Process
Number of evaluators

3(only 2 asked questions, the thrid only looked through certificates.)

Time duration

25 mins

Description of the Interview (Questions asked and your response) – please elaborate


Q: Academics related questions for 10 mins.
Q: Which diary product do you like the most(because I am from Diary Tech)
A: Asido-philous milk.
Q: Why do you like this product?
A: This product is made only in India and in Karnal.
Q: What are the characteristic of products and how are they different from actual milk. How is it pasteurised and what are the problems faced in pasteurisation?
Q: How is cheese made?
Q: What are the micro-organisms used for making cheese.
Q: What is your favourite micro-organism?
Q: Question on different cycles – Kerb cycle, Electron transport chains, Browning equations
A: I was able to give a brief answer to what these cycles were about.
Q: Please draw the Browning Equation on paper.
Q: Sorry sir, I have a very limited knowledge of Browning Equation. I cannot draw it on paper.
Q: In 1991,. Yoghurt was launched as a complete milk product. However, it flopped in the market. How would you market "Yoghurt" in case you were the marketing manager?
A: Yoghurt is not consumed in India traditional – I feel that to make it popular, it should be made as close to curd as people identify with the taste. Yoghurt is used as a dessert but curd is taken during meals. If we use "Yoghurt" as a dessert, then it would compete with ice-creams and not the usual milk products.




Q: What do you mean by animal husbandry?
A: Do not know as I have not studied as yet.
Q: So, you are not eligible for IIM-A.
A: I told them about my summer training where I did market research survey and my achievements in the project. I am good at marketing and would like to pursue the same in IIMA.
Q: If you are a collector of some district in Patna, then what are the three main social problems?
A: Population rise, illeteracy, and unemployment.
Q: What is the main problem?
A: Illiteracy
Q: How can you remove illiteracy?
A: (I am from Kerala and had seen how the illiteracy campaign was carried out there)talked about how they could go about removing illiteracy.
Q: What are the socia-political issues in Kerala?( 15 mins. on Kerala)
Q: what is the illiteracy rate in India?
A: I don’t know.
Q: Make a guess.
A: 54.56(the interviewers laughed as I made a guess upto two decimal places. After coming out, I realised how close I had been to the answer – the actual illiteracy rate is 54.55)
Q: Who pioneered the illiteracy program in Kerala?
A: I do not know.



Comments on your performance in the Interview


  • One part of the interview related to B-Tech, remaining about Kerala.
  • I never beat about the bush, when I did not know, I said so.




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IIM - AHMEDABAD SUCCESS STORIES(Abhishek Poddar)


IIM - AHMEDABAD SUCCESS STORIES(Abhishek Poddar)
Institute

IIM-Ahmedabad

Name

Abhishek Poddar

Age*

20 yrs

Educational Qualification*

(Degree and College)

St. Stephen’s College, Delhi

B.Sc(Mathematics)

Work Experience(Years)*

-

Work Experience(Company)*

-
: Information refers to date in which candidate appeared for GDs/Interview.
Names of other MBA institutes where offered admission(if any)

IIMB, IIMC, XIM, XLRI

Group Discussion
Topic

Case Study – Case of the dying fish (Zuari Agro case)
(First case in IIMA Study material)

Number of Evaluators

3

Number of Participants

10

Time Duration

15-20 mins

Brief Description of the GD: (issues raised, whether noisy or quiet GD etc.)


Started off with 5-6 people in the same time. In the middle a bit chaotic.
One evaluator intervened And tried to calm us down. Then became very ruly.
Proper flow of ideas.

Jot down issues raised – 2-3 minutes for that.

Comments on your performance in the GD


I thought I had done well.

I started off the case study – I had read the case before and so I knew about the case. I felt that it was pretty impressive.

Interview Process
Number of evaluators

3

Time duration

25-30 mins

Description of the Interview (Questions asked and your response) – please elaborate


Q: (we were asked to get xerox of marksheets – I went without them) How can you come without your marksheets. What happens when you become a manager and continue to be so careless?
A: Sir, it is totally my fault – no one else has to blame for it. I admit it is a gross blunder on my part.
Q: Who stands to lose?
A: I
Q: Only you? Who else will lose?
A: I and the company I will be working for.
Q: Not just you and your company – who else would lose?
A: (after some thought) I think it will be a multiplier effort – the society, the country also would lose.
Q: Express the repercussion that your carelessness would have on society mathematically.(since I have mathematics background)
Q: Sir, the repercussion cannot be captured in mathematics equations – there is a lot of difference between theory and reality. I don’t think that mathematics would be able to express the repercussion of my actions on the society.
Q: Try to express as a mathematical equation.
A: (After thinking for sometime)
R = e ^ (-kT)
Q: What are the terms used?
A: R : Repercussion ; k : constant term; t : a parameter which is defined by four variables.
Q: What are the four variables?
A: (gave them four variables – and the interviewers were visibly impressed)
Q: Tell us two examples which are similar to Zuari Agro?
A: Talked about 1) the Narmada Dam project and 2) Enron Project



Q: What are your extracurricular activities?
A: I had worked for Social Service League – which is a college society involved with social causes.
Q: Why are you interested in Social causes?
A: Makes me happy and satisfied…
Q: What was your role in the organisation?

Q: Will you be able to do similar things after MBA?

 Comments on your performance in the Interview
Second part about examples similar to Zuari Agro went very well.

Thought it was okay.




Friday, November 29, 2013

Pakistan should be given a befitting response for border incident


FOR
AGAINTS
The retaliatory action for the Pakistan army’s brutal
killing of Indian soldiers at the Line of Control should be
punishing and decisive. We need to make a pragmatic
assessment of Pakistan as a state and its mindset on India,
its capabilities and intentions and pattern of its
engagement with us.
There can be no denying the excesses of the Pakistan
army in brutally killing two Indian soldiers at the Line of
Control. But an eye-for-an-eye (or ‘ten heads for one
head’) response can only lead to an escalating spiral of
violence, with huge human, social and economic costs.
Better then to sit across the table, under the institutional
mechanism of CBM (confidence building
measures), to prevent the occurrence of such
incidents. Keeping CBM going does not mean
ceding ground on security concerns; a two-track
approach is needed.
In the wake of recent experience, we need to amend our
policy of appeasement and accommodation. Einstein’s
definition that insanity is doing the
same thing over and over again and
expecting different results next time,
holds out a lesson for India. Our
confused and inconsistent policy
based on faulty assumptions needs to
be substituted by a realistic assessment of our neighbour’s
intentions and actions.
As for the current episode, macabre though it is, it should
be kept in mind that such acts have allegedly occurred in
the past on both sides of the border, going by our own
media accounts.
A plea for peace is not meant to wish away serious
differences. Pakistan has erred repeatedly — this time,
26/11 and Kargil. However, the Pakistan state is under
siege, and provoking a conflict at this stage will
strengthen the Pakistan Army and religious extremists in
their bid to wrest more political power from and further
weaken the civilian government. Hence, this is the time to
exercise restraint.
The gruesome act of barbarism displayed by the
beheading of an Indian soldier followed by total denial
and blustering, though reprehensible, is neither the first of
its kind, nor unexpected from Pakistan. What is
unacceptable is that despite many such incidents in the
past, India did not press into action a well-thought-out
response within hours of the incident; not as a retaliatory
measure but to make tactical deterrence credible.
Ensuring tactical deterrence and preventing any border
violation is the responsibility of local commanders
It would be foolhardy to overlook the spin-offs from
increased bilateral trade, particularly when the developed
countries are in crisis. The business community on both
sides is only being pragmatic in pressing for a reduction
in trade barriers. Bilateral trade talks held last year
marked a major step forward, with both countries
agreeing to keep their ‘negative lists’ to a minimum.
After policy guidelines and Standard Operating
Procedures are laid down, local decision-making and
execution should be left to the local commanders.
Pakistan should be informed that our response will be in
real time, and decisive. The deterrence content of our
actions should be enhanced through improved equipment
and technological support. Given the clarity of
instructions, our troops are capable of delivering the
impossible. A delayed, hesitant and confused response not
only conveys a wrong message to our adversaries, but
demoralises our own forces and dents the national will.
Over the last decade, despite Kargil and 26/11, both
countries have improved cultural, commercial and peopleto-
people exchanges. This has set in motion an
irreversible change in popular perception: Pakistan is no
longer the mysterious ‘other’ it used to be. Cricket
matches between the two countries are now a benign
affair, and not ‘war by other means’.
The Prime Minister’s statement that there would be no
more “business as usual” and the Defence Minister
terming the incident as a ‘turning point’ send a strong
message. Unfortunately though, in the past too, much
braver assertions were made and forgotten. Pakistanis
laugh it off as a bluster meant for domestic consumption
As psycho-analyst Salman Akhtar has observed, the
wounds of Partition have started to heal, with the urge for
revenge giving way to remorse, reconciliation and
forgetting.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Government should increase tax rate on the ‘super-rich’



FOR

AGAINTS
·         The case for increasing the tax on the super-rich has to be
seen in the context of the potential fiscal crisis the country
finds itself in. At a time when the need to reduce the fiscal deficit is widely acknowledged, the issue is one of how much each section of society will contribute to this task. The official effort to improve targeting of subsidies, including food subsidies, makes it clear that even those who are only marginally above the poverty line should be asked to pay more for their food.
·         When the poorest of the middle classes are contributing tothe task of reducing the fiscal deficit, it is difficult not to ask the super-rich to do their bit. If the definition of
super-rich and the rate of surcharge are done with care
some of those paying the surcharge may not even notice
the extra burden.
·         We need to note that the relatively modest rates of
taxation of the rich over the last decade and a half
have not really led to a massive increase in tax
payers. Income tax payers account for just about 3
per cent of India’s population. If lower tax rates
have not attracted too many additional tax payers
why should we assume that higher rates would drive
the existing ones away? It may well be that those
who pay taxes today have no way of evading it, and a
surcharge on the super-rich is not going to change that.
·         The Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic
Advisory Council, C. Rangarajan’s recent remarks
suggesting imposition of a surcharge, if not creating a
separate higher marginal income tax slab, on the ‘superrich’ seems to have been intended to test the waters more than anything else.


·         If taxes on the super-rich are raised wouldn’t it encourage
them to simply evade them? The higher rates could then
be more than offset by the increased evasion, leading to
lower collections.


·         The proposal, in any case, makes no sense at this stage. It
only disturbs a successful model of stable and moderate
tax rates adopted in India, going back to the 1997-98
Budget of somebody, who also happens to be the Finance Minister today. It was P.Chidambaram’s ‘Dream Budget’
that lowered the personal income tax rates from 15, 30 and 40 per cent to the current slabs of 10, 20 and 30 per cent. Moreover, it slashed the corporate tax rate for domestic companies from 40 to 35 per . The direction was clearly towards a regime of moderate and stable rates.That approach has paid rich dividends. From a level of Rs 31,500 crore in 1996-97, the Centre’s direct taxes revenues have almost touched Rs 5 lakh crore in 2011-12.
A 17 times jump in 15 years, with corporate tax
collections growing 20 times (from Rs 16,250 crore to Rs 3,27,000 crore) and personal income tax by over 11 times
(from Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 1,72,000 crore)!


·         A new tax for the ‘super-rich’ is unlikely to garner
anything substantial in terms of revenues. But it will
unnecessarily restore an element of unpredictability and
arbitrariness that was the hallmark of the old preliberalisation
era.