Blog Full - Ashok Karania

28 May 2007

Hot Investment Destinations

Investment Bankers regularly come up with their new themes, ideas and destinations to justify their salaries.

BRIC (Brazil – Russia – India – China) is now the popular flavor. Though I admire the BRIC Report Author for walking the talk. She has joined Future Group, Kishore Biyani’s flagship venture.

The new exotic and hot Flavors are :

1. VISTA – Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, Argentina

2. Chindia – China & India

3. N11 – Next 11 – Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Phillipines, Turkey, Vietnam

How many of these HOT sectors / geographies actually perform as expected over the long run? God knows!

22 May 2007

Top 50 Cities

Mercer HR Consulting, a global leader in HR domain, conducts a ranking of Top Cities of the World based on Quality of Living Index every year.

According to Quality of Living Index 2007, Top 5 Cities of World are:
1. Zurich
2. Geneva
3. Vienna
4. Vancouver
5. Auckland

The interesting thing to note is that Top 5 Cities in 2007 are same as in 2006. All the cities are in developed world. No Indian city is here! 🙁

But I was happy to see this disclaimer:

The Quality of Living index is based on several criteria used to judge whether an expatriate is entitled to a hardship allowance. A city with a high Quality of Living index is a safe and stable one, but it may be lacking the dynamic je ne sais quoi that makes people want to live in world-renowned cities such as Paris, Tokyo, London or New York. Sometimes you need a little spice to make a city exciting. But that “spice” may also give a city a lower ranking.

Aha! Bombay has maximum spice. Bombay has high-rises and slums. Bombay can learn from Genevas and Viennas and still retain its spice. Bombay is currently down, but definitely not out. It will rise like a Phoenix. Politicians may talk of it becoming a Shanghai or the next international financial centre, but Bombay will create its own unique space. Amen!

You can download the entire list here. Check the official press release too.

19 May 2007

Innovative Ideas @ Wharton Business Plan Competition

Wharton Business Plan Competition 2006 – 2007 saw various innovative and interesting ideas. Some of them included:- Building a web-based software system that collects and integrates data from multiple software platforms into one intuitive and customizable data base

– Providing proper-fitting business attire to female executives in UK

– Flash-Memory integrated circuits that can operate at lower power and with much higher density

– Predicting likelihood of a heart attack

The winner was Neil Malhotra’s NP Solutions. His idea is to relieve patients of lower back pain with a tiny injection of a hydrogel treament into the affected disc. Back pain is one of the most common pains and is responsible for nearly 15 million physician visits a year.

Hope to see these ideas into successful business models soon!

17 May 2007

India & US : Democracy @ Work

My dear friend and a great artist, Harnish Jani has a unique take on the Shilpa Shetty – Richard Gere Kissing Controversy.

Having been to India several times, Richard Gere should have known the following by now:
Democratic differences between USA & India –
In USA, you can kiss in public places but cannot shit

In India, you can shit in public places but cannot kiss!