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2012-05-02T09:06:00.001-07:00

http://www.trafficwave.net/arc.cgi?reqid=Y367UC6P0YIESSKBIJMXYW9HG

2012-04-07T01:01:00.002-07:00

Six friends were on a large sail boat far out to sea. They had the usual safety gear on board, including an inflatable life raft and personal flotation vests (life jackets). They decided to go for a swim in the calm waters, and one by one jumped over the edge. One had a plastic float toy, another a diving mask, and only one was wearing a life jacket. One man was wearing denim shorts with a knife on the belt, and the rest simply had on their swim suits. You may recognize this as a movie which was supposedly based on a true story.
They realized too late that nobody had put the ladder down. The sides of the boat were smooth polished fiberglass and sloped out over their heads. It was at least six feet up to the railing. They tried jumping high enough, but soon they were tired and cold. A breeze blew a jacket to the edge above, and a sleeve hung low enough that one of the men was able to grab it and pull the nylon jacket into the water with them. There was no land in sight. What could they do to save themselves?

The More Obvious Solutions

As mentioned, they tried jumping out of the water to reach the railing. As I recall, a couple of them even tried lifting another up, but they sunk into the water as they lifted her. Those, and swimming around the boat to see if there was anything hanging down to climb up on, were what I would consider the expected responses.
A bit more creative, although still a fairly "linear" solution, was to use their swim suits, and the jacket tie to create a "rope" that could be thrown up to the railing. Once tangled or caught on the railing, it could then be climbed. In the movie, it took them hours to think of this, and after one attempt during which the clothing broke halfway through the climb, they gave up, as people strangely do in movies.

The More "Lateral Thinking" Examples

Lateral thinking, remember, is moving away from the usual logic and linear line of reasoning. For example, it is logical to think about jumping up to reach the railing, and to help a person do that. A more creative or lateral approach would be to question the logic of using people as "muscle" for this attempt. What else could they be? Flotation.
One man could have leaned over and held his hands on his knees to provide a platform (his back) for another to climb on. Meanwhile, the others could each take a deep breath and swum down under the first to provide more flotation. They could have held the inflatable toy and life jacket under there as well. This might have kept the "platform" man floating high enough for the climber to stand on and reach the railing.
Lateral thinking, then, is sometimes about using what you have in unexpected ways. The knife, for example, might be used more conventionally to cut strips from the clothing and webbing from the life jacket to make a rope - not a bad idea either. But a more "lateral" though is for a man to pound it into the hull of the boat and use it to hang from while the lightest woman climbs over him to the railing.
But to think in lateral or non-linear ways also means to challenge the whole line of thought that the pursuit of a solution is based on. In this case, that line of thought is that they had to get back on the boat. Of course it is natural to think that is the only way to survive, but what if it wasn't? What if they don't actually need the boat?
Those kind of questions can sometimes lead to the most creative solutions. In this case, for example, had they challenged their assumption that the boat was so important, this lateral thinking may have lead to a very creative solution: Use the knife to cut a hole in the hull and sink the boat. As the boat got lower, they could have scrambled aboard and retrieved the life raft and supplies before it sank completely.

In the movie the knife is lost, and eventually four of the six died. The remaining two are saved using a broken piece of the face of the diving mask. This is jammed into a crack where the mechanical ladder normally opens, and the man hangs on it while the woman climbs over him and reaches the railing. Of course, since I did not mention the crack, this wouldn't be one of your solutions. But it is one of the better lateral thinking examples in this realistic scenario.

You are probably most familiar with lateral thinking problems which are puzzles or riddles. They lead you to make certain assumptions, and to solve them you have to look at those assumptions you're making and try to get beyond them. Here is a short example of this type:
The book store owner used one book to destroy thousands of others - all in one day. How did he do this? A lateral thinking puzzle like this relies on setting your thoughts in a certain direction. In this case, the idea of a "book store owner" encourages you assume that a book one reads was used to destroy the others. Drop that assumption and you might find the solution - the man used a book of matches to burn all the other books.
Puzzles of this type are good mental exercise, and fun, but fortunately not all lateral thinking problems are word play or simple riddles. In fact, many are designed to require or encourage creative thinking in ways more applicable to actual situations. This type often has many solutions which are valid.
Some may not like the inconclusive nature of this kind of puzzle or problem. They want one definitive solution, so they know they're "right" once they have an answer. However, these more open-ended lateral thinking problems are just as good for exercising one's creativity, and the thinking skills developed from working on them may be more applicable to everyday life, where there is rarely one definitive solution to a problem.

Situational Thinking Problems

This type usually involves a scenario or situation which is explained, along with a goal. Suppose, for example, you need to get a basketball out of a 12-foot deep pit. That's the goal. The situation? The pit has smooth cement for the floor and walls, and it is square, about four feet per side. You're alone and have only what you are wearing, including whatever is in your pockets at the moment. How can you get the basketball out using only what has been described?
Like any good lateral thinking problem this requires you to think "laterally," which means coming at the problem from other angles, as opposed to the more traditional linear or logical way. You have to use what you have, but in ways that these things are not normally used.
You might, for example, make a "basket" out of your t-shirt, tying your shoelaces to it around the edges. Unravel the threads from your socks and you can make a string to lower the "basket." Then move the basketball onto it and then pull it up to you. A shoe hung on the end of a string made of strips of clothing might work to "kick" the ball into place, rolling it onto your shirt.

You might also use a piece of paper from your pocket. Chew it up, drop it onto the ball using shoe laces or clothing, and when it dries it would perhaps "glue" the line to the ball, allowing it to be lifted. You might "chimney" your body up and down the pit to get the ball (if you are tall enough), as climbers do between rock walls. Certainly there are other possibilities too.
Of course, life itself presents us with many lateral thinking problems, if we approach situations creatively. A judge in a Michigan child custody case could have followed the traditional thinking about how much time the children would spend at each parent's place, but he ruled that the children would stay right where they were in the home they knew. The parents would each get their own place and move in with the kids on alternating weeks. Now that's a good example of applying lateral thinking to real life problems.

lateral thinking

A Collection of Quant Riddles With (some) Answers

The quant riddles or logic or lateral puzzles below have been accumulated from the internet and emails that I receive. They are designed to help training for job or university interviews or just training your brain. The internet is littered with this kind of thing but the answers can be a little harder to find so I've thought about all of them and the ones that I know the answer to can be clicked on and have little at the end. Questions 3 & 5 are probably the easiest and a good place to start. I've coloured them Red, Amber and Green to indicate Very Hard, Quite Hard and Not so Hard. So that's it good luck....

This problem is actually damn hard, I don't know why I put it first.
You are given a set of scales and 12 marbles. The scales are of the old balance variety. That is, a small dish hangs from each end of a rod that is balanced in the middle. The device enables you to conclude either that the contents of the dishes weigh the same or that the dish that falls lower has heavier contents than the other.

The 12 marbles appear to be identical. In fact, 11 of them are identical, and one is of a different weight. Your task is to identify the unusual marble and discard it. You are allowed to use the scales three times if you wish, but no more.

Note that the unusual marble may be heavier or lighter than the others. You are asked to both identify it and determine whether it is heavy or light.

You are given a set of scales and 90 coins. The scales are of the same type as above. You must pay $100 every time you use the scales.

The 90 coins appear to be identical. In fact, 89 of them are identical, and one is of a different weight. Your task is to identify the unusual coin and to discard it while minimizing the maximum possible cost of weighing (another task might be to minimizing the expected cost of weighing). What is your algorithm to complete this task? What is the most it can cost to identify the unusual coin?

You are a bug sitting in one corner of a cubic room. You wish to walk (no flying) to the extreme opposite corner (the one farthest from you). Describe the shortest path that you can walk.

A mythical city contains 100,000 married couples but no children. Each family wishes to “continue the male line”, but they do not wish to over-populate. So, each family has one baby per annum until the arrival of the first boy. For example, if (at some future date) a family has five children, then it must be either that they are all girls, and another child is planned, or that there are four girls and one boy, and no more children are planned. Assume that children are equally likely to be born male or female.

Let p(t) be the percentage of children that are male at the end of year t. How is this percentage expected to evolve through time?

How many degrees (if any) are there in the angle between the hour and minute hands of a clock when the time is a quarter past three?

There are 100 light bulbs lined up in a row in a long room. Each bulb has its own switch and is currently switched off. The room has an entry door and an exit door. There are 100 people lined up outside the entry door. Each bulb is numbered consecutively from 1 to 100. So is each person.

Person No. 1 enters the room, switches on every bulb, and exits. Person No. 2 enters and flips the switch on every second bulb (turning off bulbs 2, 4, 6, …). Person No. 3 enters and flips the switch on every third bulb (changing the state on bulbs 3, 6, 9, …). This continues until all 100 people have passed through the room.

What is the final state of bulb No. 64? And how many of the light bulbs are illuminated after the 100^th person has passed through the room?

A windowless room contains three identical light fixtures, each containing an identical light bulb. Each light is connected to one of three switches outside of the room. Each bulb is switched off at present. You are outside the room, and the door is closed. You have one , and only one, opportunity to flip any of the external switches. After this, you can go into the room and look at the lights, but you may not touch the switches again. How can you tell which switch goes to which light?

What is the smallest positive integer that leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by 2, remainder of 2 when divided by 3, a remainder of 3 when divided by 4, … and a remainder of 9 when divided by 10?

In a certain matriarchal town, the women all believe in an old prophecy that says there will come a time when a stranger will visit the town and announce whether any of the men folks are cheating on their wives. The stranger will simply say “yes” or “no”, without announcing the number of men implicated or their identities. If the stranger arrives and makes his announcement, the women know that they must follow a particular rule: If on any day following the stranger’s announcement a woman deduces that her husband is not faithful to her, she must kick him out into the street at 10 A.M. the next day. This action is immediately observable by every resident in the town. It is well known that each wife is already observant enough to know whether any man (except her own husband) is cheating on his wife. However, no woman can reveal that information to any other. A cheating husband is also assumed to remain silent about his infidelity.

The time comes, and a stranger arrives. He announces that there are cheating men in the town. On the morning of the 10^th day following the stranger’s arrival, some unfaithful men are kicked out into the street for the first time. How many of them are there?

You and I are to play a competitive game. We shall take it in turns to call out integers. The first person to call out “50” wins. The rules are as follows:

Do you want to go first, and if so, what is your strategy?

You are to open a safe without knowing the combination. Beginning with the dial set at zero, the dial must be turned counter-clockwise to the first combination number, (then clockwise back to zero), and clockwise to the second combination number, (then counter-clockwise back to zero), and counter-clockwise again to the third and final number, where upon the door shall immediately spring open. There are 40 numbers on the dial, including the zero.

Without knowing the combination numbers, what is the maximum number of trials required to open the safe (one trial equals one attempt to dial a full three-number combination)?

Inside of a dark closet are five hats: three blue and two red. Knowing this, three smart men go into the closet, and each selects a hat in the dark and places it unseen upon his head.

Once outside the closet, no man can see his own hat. The first man looks at the other two, thinks, and says, “I cannot tell what colour my hat is.” The second man hears this, looks at the other two, and says, “I cannot tell what colour my hat is either.” The third man is blind. The blind man says, “Well, I know what colour my hat is.” What colour is his hat?

You are standing at the centre of a circular field of radius R. The field has a low wire fence around it. Attached to the wire fence (and restricted to running around the perimeter) is a large, sharp-fanged, hungry dog. You can run at speed v, while the dog can run four times as fast. What is your running strategy to escape the field?

You have 52 playing cards (26 red, 26 black). You draw cards one by one. A red card pays you a dollar. A black one fines you a dollar. You can stop any time you want. Cards are not returned to the deck after being drawn. What is the optimal stopping rule in terms of maximizing expected payoff? Also, what is the expected payoff following this optimal rule?

Why is that if p is a prime number bigger than 3, then p²-1 is always divisible by 24 with no remainder?

You have a chessboard (8×8) plus a big box of dominoes (each 2×1). I use a marker pen to put an “X” in the squares at coordinates (1, 1) and (8, 8) - a pair of diagonally opposing corners. Is it possible to cover the remaining 62 squares using the dominoes without any of them sticking out over the edge of the board and without any of them overlapping? You cannot let the dominoes stand on their ends.

You have a string-like fuse that burns in exactly one minute. The fuse is inhomogeneous, and it may burn slowly at first, then quickly, then slowly, and so on. You have a match, and no watch. How do you measure exactly 30 seconds?

Can the mean of any two consecutive prime numbers ever be prime?

How many consecutive zeros are there at the end of 100! (100 factorial). How would your solution change if there problem were in base 5? How about in Binary???

How can this be true???? Have a look at the picture (click to enlarge.) All the lines are straight, the shapes that make up the top picture are the same as the ones in the bottom picture so where does the gap come from????

A man is in a rowing boat floating on a lake, in the boat he has a brick. He throws the brick over the side of the boat so as it lands in the water. The brick sinks quickly. The question is, as a result of this does the water level in the lake go up or down?

You have a 3 and a 5 litre water container, each container has no markings except for that which gives you it's total volume. You also have a running tap. You must use the containers and the tap in such away as to exactly measure out 4 litres of water. How is this done?

I have three envelopes, into one of them I put a £20 note. I lay the envelopes out on a table in front of me and allow you to pick one envelope. You hold but do not open this envelope. I then take one of the envelopes from the table, demonstrate to you that it was empty, screw it up and throw it away. The question is would you rather stick with the envelope you have selected or exchange it for the one on the table. Why? What would be the expected value to you of the exchange?

You're a farmer. You're going to a market to buy some animals. On the market there are 3 types of animals for sale. You can buy:

Horses for £10 each, goats for £1 each and ducks, you get 8 of these per bunch and each bunch costs £1.

The aim is to acquire 100 animals at the cost of £100, what is the combination of horses, goats and duck that allows you to do this? (You must buy at least one of each.)

Adam, Bob, Clair and Dave are out walking: They come to rickety old wooden bridge. The bridge is weak and only able to carry the weight of two of them at a time. Because they are in a rush and the light is fading they must cross in the minimum time possible and must carry a torch (flashlight,) on each crossing.

They only have one torch and it can't be thrown. Because of their different fitness levels and some minor injuries they can all cross at different speeds. Adam can cross in 1 minute, Bob in 2 minutes, Clair in 5 minutes and Dave in 10 minutes.

Adam, the brains of the group thinks for a moment and declares that the crossing can be completed in 17 minutes. There is no trick. How is this done????

A man has built three houses. Nearby there are gas water and electric plants. The man wishes to connect all three houses to each of the gas, water and electricity supplies.

Unfortunately the pipes and cables must not cross each other. How would you connect connect each of the 3 houses to each of the gas, water and electricityic supplies???

How many squares are there on a chessboard?? (the answer is not 64)

Can you extend your technique to calculate the number of rectangles on a chessboard.

3 men go into a hotel.
The man behind the desk said the room is $30 so each man paid $10 and went to the room.
A while later the man behind the desk realized the room was only $25 so he sent the bellboy to the 3 guys' room with $5.
On the way the bellboy couldn't figure out how to split $5 evenly between 3 men, so he gave each man a $1 and kept the other $2 for himself.
This meant that the 3 men each paid $9 for the room, which is a total of $27 add the $2 that the bellboy kept = $29. Where is the other dollar?

There were two men having a meal. The first man brought 5 loaves of bread, and the second brought 3. A third man, Ali, came and joined them. They together ate the whole 8 loaves. As he left Ali gave the men 8 coins as a thank you. The first man said that he would take 5 of the coins and give his partner 3, but the second man refused and asked for the half of the sum (i.e. 4 coins) as an equal division. The first one refused.
They went to Ali and asked for the fair solution. Ali told the second man, "I think it is better for you to accept your partner's offer." But the man refused and asked for justice. So Ali said, "then I say that who offered 5 loaves takes 7 coins, and who offered 3 loaves takes 1 coin."
Can you explain why this was actually fair???

A drinks machine offers three selections - Tea, Coffee or Random but the machine has been wired up wrongly so that each button does not give what it claims. If each drink costs 50p, how much minimum money do you have to put into the machine to work out which button gives which selection ? .

Monday, 12 March 2012

Dr. Kiran Mazumdar‐Shaw
Entrepreneur Dr. Kiran Mazumdar‐
Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director of
Bioon Ltd. She was educated at the Bishop
Cotton Girls School and Mount Carmel
College in Bangalore.
She founded Biocon India with a
capital of Rs.10,000 in her garage in 1978 ‐
the initial operation was to extract an
enzyme from papaya. Her application for
loans were turned down by banks then ‐
on three counts ‐ biotechnology was then a
new word, thecompany lacked assets, and
(most importantly) women entrepreneurs
were still a rarity. Today, her company is
the biggest biopharmaceutical firm in the
country.
In 2004, Biocon went for an IPO and the issue was over‐subscribed by over
30 times. Post‐IPO, Shaw held close to 40% of the stock of the company and was
regarded as India’s richest woman with an estimated worth of Rs. 2,100 crore (~U.S.
$ 480 million).
�� Anu Aga
This woman became the Chairperson of
Thermax Engineering after the death of
her husband Rohinton Aga. The
company’s condition was critical at that
time. Its share price dipped to Rs. 36 from
Rs. 400. Anu Aga, the then Director of
Human Resource, Thermax, was
compelled to take charge of the company.
In order to make the company profitable, she brought a consultant from
abroad and restructured the company. The strategy worked and the company saw
profit again. She stepped down from the post of chairperson in 2004. Now, she
spends most of her time in social activities. Bombay Management Association
awarded her Management Woman Achiever of the Year Award 2002‐2003.
After retiring from Thermax, she took to social work, and 2010 was
awarded the Padma Shri (Social Work) by Govt. of India.

Indra Nooyi
Indian born American
businesswoman, Indra Krishnamurthy
Nooyi born October 28, 1955 is the
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of PepsiCo, one of the worldʹs
leading food and beverage companies.
On August 14, 2006, Nooyi was named
the successor to Steven Reinemund as
chief executive officer of the company
effective October 1, 2006. On February 5,
2007, she was named Chairperson,
effective May 2, 2007.
Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and was named president and CFO in 2001.
Nooyi has directed the companyʹs global strategy for more than decade and led
PepsiCoʹs restructuring, including the 1997 divestiture of its restaurants into
Tricon, now known as Yum! Brands. Nooyi also took the lead in the acquisition of
Tropicana in 1998, and merger with Quaker Oats Company, which also brought
Gatorade to PepsiCo. In 2007 she became the fifth CEO in PepsiCoʹs 44‐year
history.
Nooyiʹs key contributions include promoting and supporting socially
responsible business practices, including taking on one of the planetʹs most
pressing problems, climate change. Her commitment to global citizenship is
evidenced by her multi‐year growth strategy, ʺPerformance with Purposeʺ.
Nooyi was named on Wall Street Journalʹs list of 50 women to watch in 2007
and 2008, and was listed among Timeʹs 100 Most Influential People in The World
in 2007 and 2008. Nooyi has been named 2009 CEO of the Year by the Global
Supply Chain Leaders Group (GSCLG).

Posted by yatheesh.blog at 03:12 0 comments

itc company e chopal

2012-03-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

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Home > Businesses > Agri Business > e-Choupal

e-Choupal

The Big Picture:

ITC's Agri Business Division, one of India's largest exporters of agricultural commodities, has conceived e-Choupal as a more efficient supply chain aimed at delivering value to its customers around the world on a sustainable basis.

The e-Choupal model has been specifically designed to tackle the challenges posed by the unique features of Indian agriculture, characterised by fragmented farms, weak infrastructure and the involvement of numerous intermediaries, among others.

The Value Chain - Farm to Factory Gate:

'e-Choupal' also unshackles the potential of Indian farmer who has been trapped in a vicious cycle of low risk taking ability > low investment > low productivity > weak market orientation > low value addition > low margin > low risk taking ability. This made him and Indian agribusiness sector globally uncompetitive, despite rich & abundant natural resources.

Such a market-led business model can enhance the competitiveness of Indian agriculture and trigger a virtuous cycle of higher productivity, higher incomes, enlarged capacity for farmer risk management, larger investments and higher quality and productivity.

Further, a growth in rural incomes will also unleash the latent demand for industrial goods so necessary for the continued growth of the Indian economy. This will create another virtuous cycle propelling the economy into a higher growth trajectory.

The Model in Action:

Appreciating the imperative of intermediaries in the Indian context, 'e-Choupal' leverages Information Technology to virtually cluster all the value chain participants, delivering the same benefits as vertical integration does in mature agricultural economies like the USA.

'e-Choupal' makes use of the physical transmission capabilities of current intermediaries - aggregation, logistics, counter-party risk and bridge financing -while disintermediating them from the chain of information flow and market signals.

With a judicious blend of click & mortar capabilities, village internet kiosks managed by farmers - called sanchalaks - themselves, enable the agricultural community access ready information in their local language on the weather & market prices, disseminate knowledge on scientific farm practices & risk management, facilitate the sale of farm inputs (now with embedded knowledge) and purchase farm produce from the farmers' doorsteps (decision making is now information-based).

Real-time information and customised knowledge provided by 'e-Choupal' enhance the ability of farmers to take decisions and align their farm output with market demand and secure quality & productivity. The aggregation of the demand for farm inputs from individual farmers gives them access to high quality inputs from established and reputed manufacturers at fair prices. As a direct marketing channel, virtually linked to the 'mandi' system for price discovery, 'e-Choupal' eliminates wasteful intermediation and multiple handling. Thereby it significantly reduces transaction costs.

'e-Choupal' ensures world-class quality in delivering all these goods & services through several product / service specific partnerships with the leaders in the respective fields, in addition to ITC's own expertise.

While the farmers benefit through enhanced farm productivity and higher farm gate prices, ITC benefits from the lower net cost of procurement (despite offering better prices to the farmer) having eliminated costs in the supply chain that do not add value.

The Status of Execution:

Launched in June 2000, 'e-Choupal', has already become the largest initiative among all Internet-based interventions in rural India. 'e-Choupal' services today reach out to over 4 million farmers growing a range of crops - soyabean, coffee, wheat, rice, pulses, shrimp - in over 40,000 villages through 6500 kiosks across ten states (Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerela and Tamil Nadu).

The problems encountered while setting up and managing these 'e-Choupals' are primarily of infrastructural inadequacies, including power supply, telecom connectivity and bandwidth, apart from the challenge of imparting skills to the first time internet users in remote and inaccessible areas of rural India.

Several alternative and innovative solutions - some of them expensive - are being deployed to overcome these challenges e.g. Power back-up through batteries charged by Solar panels, upgrading BSNL exchanges with RNS kits, installation of VSAT equipment, Mobile Choupals, local caching of static content on website to stream in the dynamic content more efficiently, 24x7 helpdesk etc.

Going forward, the roadmap includes plans to integrate bulk storage, handling & transportation facilities to improve logistics efficiencies.

As India's 'kissan' Company, ITC has taken care to involve farmers in the designing and management of the entire 'e-Choupal' initiative. The active participation of farmers in this rural initiative has created a sense of ownership in the project among the farmers. They see the 'e-Choupal' as the new age cooperative for all practical purposes.

This enthusiastic response from farmers has encouraged ITC to plan for the extension of the 'e-Choupal' initiative to altogether 15 states across India over the next few years. On the anvil are plans to channelise other services related to micro-credit, health and education through the same 'e-Choupal' infrastructure.

Another path-breaking initiative - the 'Choupal Pradarshan Khet', brings the benefits of agricultural best practices to small and marginal farmers. Backed by intensive research and knowledge, this initiative provides Agri-extension services which are qualitatively superior and involves pro-active handholding of farmers to ensure productivity gains. The services are customised to meet local conditions, ensure timely availability of farm inputs including credit, and provide a cluster of farmer schools for capturing indigenous knowledge. This initiative, which has covered over 70,000 hectares, has a multiplier impact and reaches out to over 1.6 million farmers.

Would he get a fair price for his crop?
Farmer Ashutosh Dixit was never sure.
Not any more. Thanks to ITC.

Awards

ITC's e-Choupal has won numerous awards:

United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Award at the international conference on Sharing Innovative Agribusiness Solutions 2008at Cairo for ITC's exemplary initiatives in agri business through the e-Choupal.
The Ashoka - Changemakers 'Health For All' Award 2006 for the Rural Health Services model for delivery of health services through the e-Choupals.
The Stockholm Challenge 2006. This award is for using information technology for the economic development of rural communities.
Innovation for India Award 2006 for ITC e-Choupal in the Social Innovations category for business organizations. The first of its kind in India, based on parameters of number of lives impacted, degree of impact on organization and environment, uniqueness, leverage of resources and whether it was scalable and sustainable, e-Choupal was declared as one of 'India's Best Innovations'.
The Development Gateway Award 2005 (previously known as the Petersberg Prize) for the trailblazing e-Choupal initiative. ITC is the first Indian company and the second in the world to win this prestigious award.
The 'Golden Peacock Global Award for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Emerging Economies for 2005'. The Company received this award for its e-Choupal and social and farm forestry initiatives that are impactfully transforming lives and landscapes in rural India.
The Corporate Social Responsibility Award 2004 from The Energy and Resources Institute(TERI) for its e-Choupal initiative. The Award provides impetus to sustainable development and encourages ongoing social responsibility processes within the corporate sector.
The inaugural 'World Business Award', instituted jointly by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the HRH Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This award recognises companies who have made significant efforts to create sustainable livelihood opportunities and enduring wealth in developing countries.
The 'Enterprise Business Transformation Award' for Asia Pacific (Apac), instituted by Infosys Technologies and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
PC Quest's IT Implementation Award in the 'Best Project' category.
The Golden Peacock Innovation Award 2004.
The NASSCOM award for 'Best IT User in FMCG' in 2003. The Award is a recognition of ITC's successful integration of its IT usage with its business processes.
The Seagate Intelligent Enterprise of the Year 2003 Award, for the most innovative usage of Information Technology.

» IT Guru Mohanbir Sawhney's article on e-Choupal

» Chairman Y C Deveshwar speaks on the e-Choupal

Links to Press Releases :-
	ITC wins Top UNIDO Award for e-Choupal	Dec 01, 2008
	ITC's e-Choupal expands to Tamil Nadu	Jul 31, 2008
	ITC e-Choupal wins Development Gateway Award 2005	Sep 16, 2005
	ITC wins TERI Award for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)	Jun 01, 2005
	ITC wins Golden Peacock Global Award for CSR	May 13, 2005
	ITC's 'e-Choupal' wins Wharton-Infosys Business Transformation Award	Jun 03, 2004
	ITC's e-Choupal wins inaugural 'World Business Award'	May 19, 2004
	UK grant for promoting rural insurance on e-Choupal	Jan 21, 2004
	ITC wins 'Intelligent Enterprise of the Year Award' for e-Choupal	Nov 29, 2003

Links to Press Reports :-
	ITC plans personalised crop management services via e-Choupal 3.0 The Hindu Business Line	Feb 15, 2012
	ITC readies model for brand Choupal evolution The Times of India	Dec 07, 2011
	Sluggish reforms hit e-choupal expansion: ITC The Hindu Business Line	Nov 21, 2011
	ITC, HUL aim for bigger rural push The Financial Express	Jun 08, 2011
	How innovation really works Business Today	May 12, 2010
	ITC e-Choupal to quintuple reach Economic Times	Apr 12, 2010
	Ecosystem Marketing - The New Equation Brand Equity, Economic Times	Mar 24, 2010
	Worth a hill of soyabeans The Economist	Jan 07, 2010
	Monster.com and ITC e-Choupal collaborate to launch Rozgarduniya.com Financial Express	Aug 12, 2009
	e-Choupal among the '10 biz ideas that changed India' The Week	Aug 31, 2008
	e-Choupal lauded by President of India Jun 05, 2007	Jun 05, 2007
	e-Choupal: Networking rural India NDTV.com	May 17, 2007
	Internet brings prosperity for farmers CNN-IBN	Feb 23, 2007
	ITC plans 7500 farm demo plots Business Standard	Nov 22, 2006
	COLLABORATION is at the heart of NEW AGE MARKETING Economic Times	Aug 14, 2006
	ITC starts farm extension services The Hindu Business Line	Aug 14, 2006
	Lintas Media arm, e-choupal join to launch Bharat Barometer blonnet.com	Aug 08, 2006
	E-Choupal eyes power, health & BPO The Economic Times	Jul 24, 2006
	ITC-IBD to set up e-choupals in Telangana Business Standard	Jul 10, 2006
	Fuelling latent rural demand The Economic Times	Jul 07, 2006
	ITC to set up a shopping complex at Ujjain Business-standard.com	Mar 30, 2006
	ITC-IBD to extend e-Choupal network to three Telangana districts Business Standard	Mar 23, 2006
	$200,000 more for e-choupals Business Standard	Sep 17, 2005
	Now, e-choupal goes pay-to-use Hindustan Times	Jul 29, 2005
	ITC holds out mall hope for villagers The Telegraph	Jul 04, 2005
	Rewarding resourcefulness, lifting lives The Hindu Business Line	Jul 02, 2005
	Ground reality Business Standard	Jun 28, 2005
	ITC e-choupal on awards shortlist Business-standard.com	Jun 23, 2005
	e-choupal to cast the rural Net wide Business-standard.com	Jun 02, 2005
	Global award for ITC's e-choupal Business-standard	May 16, 2005
	ITC e-Choupals to touch more lives The Asian Age	Apr 11, 2005
	Call of the Countryside India Today	Dec 13, 2004
	ITC Signs MoU with MCX teamindia.net	Dec 05, 2004
	Give them empowerment first The Hindu Business Line	Nov 19, 2004
	Grain revolution The Hindu Business Line	Nov 19, 2004
	APMC Act review may abolish mandi tax Business Standard	Nov 02, 2004
	From toothpaste to tractors, this rural mall has it all Outlook	Oct 04, 2004
	CHAUPAL SAGAR - Unlocking rural markets Businessworld	Sep 20, 2004
	ITC sows seeds of hypermarkets in rural India The Economic Times	Sep 10, 2004
	BEST PROJECT - e-Choupal, ITC International Business Division PCQUEST	Jun 09, 2004
	Cigarettes and Virtual Cathedrals The Economist	Jun 03, 2004
	Empower the poor for growth Hindustan Times	May 27, 2004
	Farmers e-nabled - Markets Not Antipathic To Masses The Economic Times	May 26, 2004
	ITC connects Rajasthan to e-choupal The Business Standard	May 21, 2004
	Distribution's Disruptive Duo Business Today Magazine	Jan 18, 2004
	Everybody Wins The Economic Times (Brand Equity)	Jan 14, 2004
	The Village People The Economic Times (Brand Equity)	Jan 14, 2004
	The eChoupal experiment has the potential to transform the farm sector The Times of India	Jan 12, 2004
	Indian Soybean Farmers Join the Global Village The New York Times	Jan 01, 2004

» Traditional farmers to new-age marketers

Please visit our site :

www.echoupal.com

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2012-03-24T01:47:00.001-07:00

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Seoul, March 24, 2012

N Korea parliament to meet amid rocket launch tensions

PTI

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Kim Jong-Un has been proclaimed the "great successor" but has so far been formally appointed to only one of the late Kim’s posts, commander-in-chief of the 1.2 million-member military.

North Korea on Saturday said that it would hold an annual parliamentary session next month around the time of a planned rocket launch by the nuclear-armed state that has sparked widespread condemnation.

The meeting of the body will also take place just two days before deceased founder Kim Il-Sung’s 100th birthday and will be the first under new leader Kim Jong-Un.

Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the Supreme People’s Assembly would convene on April 13.

The Assembly is constitutionally able to appoint the chairman of the National Defence Commission, a top military decision-making body wielding great influence over the highly militarised communist state.

It remains to be seen whether Kim Jong-Un, currently serving as vice chairman of the commission, will be promoted to the commission’s highest post held by his father Kim Jong-Il, who died in December from a heart attack.

Separately, the North’s ruling communist party last month said it would convene a rare special conference in April on an unspecified date in an apparent attempt to wrap up the power transfer to the new leader.

Kim Jong-Un has been proclaimed the “great successor” but has so far been formally appointed to only one of the late Kim’s posts, commander-in-chief of the 1.2 million-member military.

The April party meeting is likely to appoint Jong-Un to his father’s old posts of party general secretary and chief of its Central Military Commission, analysts said.

North Korea announced earlier this month it would launch a rocket in mid-April to put a satellite into orbit to celebrate the centenary of Kim Il-Sung’s birth -move seen by the United States, South Korea and other nations as a pretext for a long-range missile test banned by the UN.

The North on Friday said preparations “have entered a full-fledged stage of action” and promised unspecified “counter-measures” against opponents of the operation.

Amid mounting tensions, North Korea’s main ally China urged that “all parties should keep calm and exercise restraint”, while a special adviser to US President Barack Obama warned any launch will generate a “strong response.”

World leaders including Mr. Obama are meeting in Seoul next week for a summit officially focused on nuclear terrorism.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon plans to raise the rocket launch at the meeting on Monday and Tuesday.

Keywords: North Korea, Korean Central News Agency

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2012-03-17T02:36:00.001-07:00

1.1 Introduction.

1.2 Industry Profile.

INDIAN

INSURANCE

MARKET

THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN INDIA

AN OVERVIEW

With the largest number of life insurance policies in force in the world, Insurance happens to be a mega opportunity in India. It’s a business growing at the rate of 15-20 per cent annually and presently is of the order of Rs 1560.41 billion (for the financial year 2007 – 2008). Together with banking services, it adds about 7% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The gross premium collection is nearly 2% of GDP and funds available with LIC for investments are 8% of the GDP.

Even so nearly 65% of the Indian population is without life insurance cover while health insurance and non-life insurance continues to be below international standards. A large part of our population is also subject to weak social security and pension systems with hardly any old age income security. This in itself is an indicator that growth potential for the insurance sector in India is immense.

A well-developed and evolved insurance sector is needed for economic development as it provides long term funds for infrastructure development and strengthens the risk taking ability of individuals. It is estimated that over the next ten years India would require investments of the order of one trillion US dollars. The Insurance sector, to some extent, can enable investments in infrastructure development to sustain the economic growth of the country.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The history of life insurance in India dates back to 1818 when it was conceived as a means to provide for English Widows. Interestingly in those days a higher premium was charged for Indian lives than the non - Indian lives, as Indian lives were considered more risky to cover. The Bombay Mutual Life Insurance Society started its business in 1870. It was the first company to charge the same premium for both Indian and non-Indian lives.

The Oriental Assurance Company was established in 1880. The General insurance business in India, on the other hand, can trace its roots to Triton Insurance Company Limited, the first general insurance company established in the year 1850 in Calcutta by the British. Till the end of the nineteenth century insurance business was almost entirely in the hands of overseas companies.

Insurance regulation formally began in India with the passing of the Life Insurance Companies Act of 1912 and the Provident Fund Act of 1912. Several frauds during the 1920's and 1930's sullied insurance business in India. By 1938 there were 176 insurance companies.

The first comprehensive legislation was introduced with the Insurance Act of 1938 that provided strict State Control over the insurance business. The insurance business grew at a faster pace after independence. Indian companies strengthened their hold on this business but despite the growth that was witnessed, insurance remained an urban phenomenon.

The Government of India in 1956, brought together over 240 private life insurers and provident societies under one nationalized monopoly corporation and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) was born. Nationalization was justified on the grounds that it would create the much needed funds for rapid industrialization. This was in conformity with the Government's chosen path of State led planning and development.

The non-life insurance business continued to thrive with the private sector till 1972. Their operations were restricted to organized trade and industry in large cities. The general insurance industry was nationalized in 1972. With this, nearly 107 insurers were amalgamated and grouped into four companies- National Insurance Company, New India Assurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company. These were subsidiaries of the General Insurance Company (GIC).

KEY MILESTONES

1912: The Indian Life Assurance Companies Act enacted as the first statute to regulate the life insurance business.

1928: The Indian Insurance Companies Act enacted to enable the government to collect statistical information about both life and non-life insurance businesses.

1938: Earlier legislation consolidated and amended by the Insurance Act with the objective of protecting the interests of the insuring public.

1956: 245 Indian and foreign insurers along with provident societies were taken over by the central government and nationalized. LIC was formed by an Act of Parliament- LIC Act 1956- with a capital contribution of Rs. 5 crore from the Government of India.

INDUSTRY PROFILE

INSURANCE:

Insurance can be defined as assurance for uncertainty. Insurance is about something going wrong. Its’ often about things going right; One of the Wonders of human nature is that we never believe anything can actually go wrong.

The insurance sector in India has come a full circle from being an open competitive market to nationalization and back to liberalized market again. Tracking the development in Indian insurance sector reveals the 360 degree turn witnessed over a period of almost two centuries.

The business of life insurance in Indian in its existing form started in India in the year 1818 with the establishment of Oriental Life Insurance Company in KOLKATTA. Some of the important milestones in life insurance business in India are.

1912: The Indian Life insurance Companies Act enacted as first statue to regulate the life insurance business.

1928: The Indian Insurance Companies Act enacted to enable the government to collect statistical information about life and non-life insurance businesses.

1938: Earlier legislation consolidated and amended to by the insurance Act with the objective of protecting the interests of the insuring public.

1965: 245 Indian and foreign insurers and provident societies take over by the central government and nationalized. LIC formed by an act of parliament viz. LIC. Act. 1956, with a capital contribution of Rs. 5 Crore from the government of India.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority

Reforms in the Insurance sector were initiated with the passes of the IRDA Bill in Parliament in December 1999. The IRDA since its incorporation as a statutory body in April 2000 has fastidiously such to its schedule of framing regulations and registering the private sector insurance companies.

The other decision taken simultaneously to provide the supporting systems to the insurance sector and in particular the life insurance companies was the launch of the IRDA online service for issue and renewal of licenses to agents.

Several Companies have entered into the Indian Insurance Market. The following are the companies are:-

Insurance Companies in India
Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance	AMP Sanmar Life Insurance	Birla Sun Life Insurance
Aviva Life Insurance	HDFC Life Insurance	ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
Max Newyork Life Insurance	MetLife India Insurance	Reliance Life Insurance
Shiram Life Insurance	Tata AIG Life Insurance	SBI Life Insurance
Bharti AXA Life Insurance	ING Vysya Life Insurance	Sahara Life Insurance
Kotak Mahindra Insurance	General Insurance Corporation India	Royal Sundaram Insurance

2.1 Company Profile.

2.2 Product Profile.

COMPANY PROFILE

HDFC standard life insurance company was started on 14th august 2000 and received a licence 23rd October 2000.

The Partnership:

HDFC and Standard Life first came together for a possible joint venture, to enter the Life Insurance market, in January 1995. It was clear from the outset that both companies shared similar values and beliefs and a strong relationship quickly formed. In October 1995 the companies signed a 3-year joint venture agreement. Around this time Standard Life purchased a 5% stake in HDFC, further strengthening the relationship. The next three years were filled with uncertainty, due to changes in government and ongoing delays in getting the IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development authority) Act passed in parliament. Despite this both companies remained firmly committed to the venture. In October 1998, the joint venture agreement was renewed and additional resource made available. Around this time Standard Life purchased 2% of Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd. (IDFC). Standard Life also started to use the services of the HDFC Treasury department to advise them upon their investments in India.

Towards the end of 1999, the opening of the market looked very promising and both companies agreed the time was right to move the operation to the next level. Therefore, in January 2000, an expert team from the UK joined a handpicked team from HDFC to form the core project team, based in Mumbai.

Around this time Standard Life purchased a further 5% stake in HDFC and a 5% stake in HDFC Bank.

In a further development Standard Life agreed to participate in the Asset Management Company promoted by HDFC to enter the mutual fund market. The Mutual Fund was launched on 20th July 2000.

Incorporation of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited:

The company was incorporated on 14th August 2000 under the name of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited. Our ambition from as far back as October 1995 was to be the first private company to re-enter the life insurance market in India. On the 23rd of October 2000, this ambition was realized when HDFC Standard Life was the only life company to be granted a certificate of registration.

HDFC are the main shareholders in HDFC Standard Life, with 81.4%, while Standard Life owns 18.6%. Given Standard Life's existing investment in the HDFC Group, this is the maximum investment allowed under current regulations.

HDFC and Standard Life have a long and close relationship built upon shared values and trust. The ambition of HDFC Standard Life is to mirror the success of the parent companies and be the yardstick by which all other insurance companies in India are measured.

LOCATION

HDFC standard life insurance company limited operates its business through its Branches the HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company holding their main Regional office in Mumbai.

Corporate Office:

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited,

IL&FS Financial Centre,

Plot C22 - G Block,

Bandera Karla Complex, Bandera (East),

Mumbai-400051.

Tel: 56932666

Website –www.hdfcinsurance.com

Following are Some of the branch offices in India

Branch Offices:

Agra Ahmedabad

Ajmer Allahabad

Ambala Bangalore

Bhubaneswar Bhopal

Calicut Chandigarh

Chennai Coimbatore

Delhi Durgapur

Faridabad Hyderabad

Indore Jaipur

Jalandhar Kanpur

Kolkata Lucknow

Mangalore Madurai

Mumbai Mysore

Nagpur Nashik

Pondicherry Pune

Surat Trivandrum

Vadodara Vijayawada Vishakhapatnam

STANDARD LIFE

Standard Life is Europe’s largest mutual life assurance company. Standard Life, which has been in the life insurance business for the past 175 years is a modern company surviving quite a few changes since selling its first policy in 1825. The company expanded in the 19^th century from kits original Edinburgh premises, opening offices in other towns and acquitting other similar businesses.

Standard Life Currently has assets exceeding over £ 70 billion under its management and has the distinction of being accorded “AAA” rating consequently for the six years by Standard and Poor.

SNAPSHOT

· Founded in 1875, company supporting generation for last 179 years.

· Currently over 5 million Policy holders benefiting from the services offered.

· Europe’s largest mutual life insurer.

JOINT VENTURE

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited was one of the first companies to be granted license by the IRDA to operate in life insurance sector. Reach of the JV player is highly rated and been conferred with many awards. HDFC is rated ‘AAA’ by both CRISIL and ICRA. Similarly, Standard Life is rated ‘AAA’ both by Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s. These reflect the efficiency with which HDFC and Standard Life manage their asset base of Rs. 15,000 Cr and Rs. 600,000 Cr. respectively.

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd was incorporated on 14^th August 2000. HDFC is the majority stakeholder in the insurance JV with 81.4% staple and Standard of as a staple 18.6% Mr. Deepak S.Parekh is the MD and CEO of the venture.

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd. Is one of India’s leading Private Life Insurance Companies, which offers a range of individual and group insurance solutions? It is a joint venture between Housing Development Finance

Corporation Limited (HDFC Ltd.) India’s leading housing finance institution and the Standard Life Assurance Company, a leading provider of financial services from the United Kingdom. Both the promoters are well known for their ethical dealings and financial strength and are thus committed to being a long-term player in the life insurance industry- all important factors to consider when choosing your insurer.

Associate Companies

HDFC LIMITED

HDFC BANK

HDFC MUTUAL FUND

HDFC SALES

HDFC ERGO GENERAL INSURANCE

Some of valued banc assurance partners.

HDFC LIMITED

HDFC BANK SARASWAT BANK UNION BANK OF INDIA INDIAN BANK BAJAJ CAPITAL BANK OF BARODA

Product Profile

Individual Products

Each of us leads a unique life and so has unique needs. HDFC Standard Life offers a range of products and invites you to choose the one that suits you best.

With Profits Endowment Assurance:

This policy provides a combination of saving and life insurance. The sum assured plus any bonuses will be payable at the end of the term or on death if earlier. The customer commitment is to pay a level premium regularly throughout the life of the policy. The Endowment Assurance can be customized to meet your needs by adding any combination of up to_4 rider benefits.

With Profits Money Back:

This policy provides a combination of savings, regular cash payments and life insurance. Over the course of the contract, a proportion of the sum assured will be paid at regular intervals. The sum assured plus any bonuses will be payable on death before the end of the contract. On survival to maturity, you will get the sum assured plus any bonuses less the regular payments already made. Your commitment is to pay a level premium regularly throughout the life of the policy. The Money Back can also be customized to meet your needs by adding any combination of up to 4 rider benefits.

Term Assurance Plan:

Under the Term Assurance plan, a sum assured is payable in case of death of the life assured during the term of the contract. One can choose the lump sum that would replace the income lost to one's family in the unfortunate event of one's death. The Term Assurance Plan comes to you at a minimal cost and is well suited for the value-conscious customer. The Term Assurance Plan can also be customized to suit your needs by adding optional rider benefits

Loan Cover Term Assurance:

The Loan Cover Term Assurance plan provides a lump sum on death of the life assured during the term of the plan. The lump sum will be a decreasing percentage of the initial sum assured. It is an affordable plan that has been designed to help your family repay the outstanding loan in case of your unfortunate death on this product.

Personal Pension Plan

The Personal Pension Plan is basically a savings contract, which is designed to provide an income for life from retirement, with an option to take the lump sum elsewhere to buy the annuity, provided it is permitted by the prevailing regulations. Your commitment is to pay a single premium or level premiums with installments due every quarter, half-year or year throughout the deferment period of the policy, after which you will start receiving your pension.

Children's Plan

The future of your child is most important to you. You need to plan today to ensure a bright future for your child, whether it is education, marriage or establishing a professional career. To help you save for your child, we at HDFC Standard Life present the plan is affordable, customized to your needs, and above all, enables you to realize your dreams for your child. This plan is well suited for the value-conscious customer, and above all, for every loving parent. Grandparents, other relatives or any adult for the benefit of a child can also choose the plan.

3.1 Organization Study.

3.2 Objectives of study.

3.3 Organization Chart.

Organization Study

Organization is defined as the “Association of various departments in the firm in which all work collectively in attaining the goals & objectives of the company by rendering the valuable services towards it by both employers and management.

Organization study means which includes the organization structure, administration, hierarchy of the organization recruitment, HR divisions and other activities in the organization and observing the teamwork in the organization ,behaviour of the employers inside the structure.

Importance

· Knowing and getting the information about the firm.

· Division of workforce.

· Authority and responsibility.

· Discipline.

· Unity of command.

· Unity of direction.

· Salaries.

· Scalar chain.

· Equity.

· Stability in tenure.

3.2 Objectives of the study

1. To understand the nature of the organization.

2. To acquire the appropriate work culture.

3. To develop self awareness.

4. To apply the theoretical knowledge in the field.

5. To exhibit professional behavior and the values.

Methodology

The data is collected from the various departments, and respective heads through interaction with the staff &employers, company reports and broachers, study material, reference notes and observation of the daily work in the firm through the factory visits at regular period during the internship time.

ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

BRANCH MANAGER

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

BRANCH MANAGER:

§ Overall management of the branch.

§ Achieving target given by the General Manager in head office.

§ Weekly report to the head office.

§ Take over the full in charge of the department of administration.

§ Looking after preventive maintenance planning activities.

§ Identification of training needs to staff and Business development
managers.

§ Call upon weekly meeting to every Business Development Managers.

§ Verification of progress of the BDM's.

§ Implementing new techniques adopting in marketing.

§ Follow the principles of life insurance.

DEPUTY BRANCH MANAGER;

1) Assisting manager in day-to-day operations.

2) Managing the affairs of manager during his absence.

3) Maintenance of office in healthy environment.

4) Execution of work as per the rules given by the head office.

5) Day-to-day verification of login policies and proposed policies.

4.1 Functional Department.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT

Asst. HR MANAGER

The primal resource of an organization is the people. Managing its people is the most important aspect of managing an organization. Scope of personnel management has also increased considerably in recent years. Some of the reasons are as follows:

§ External influences

§ Changes in expectations

§ Changes in technology

§ Intense competition

§ Gaining of additional knowledge

No longer is manpower just one of the resources in business organizations. It is the most important of all resources this is because manpower is that resource through which management wants to direct control all the other resources. To keep the human power happy and content the most important objective of every management in order to meet this objective, management must design and implement a set of policies procedures and practices absolute.

For the purpose of the efficient running of business the HDFC standard life insurance company limited, holding separate manager/officer called H.R. development officer in the every branch office in all over the India

Human Resource and Human Resource Management have always been key factor in the group success. The group of HDFC offers you not merely a job but an opportunity to fulfil your long term carrier plans.

Specifically the HDFC Standard Life Insurance offers:

1) An unlimited choice of opening.

2) Executing global carrier opportunities.

3) The resource to back to your ideas and upgrade your skills.

4) Challenges aplenty and the chance to make good earnings.

5) Training schemes.

In the same way the HDFC Standard Life Insurance as an aim to get the award given by International Standard Organization within one year in the field of service and management.

The main objectives of Human Resource department in HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd.

1) Peace among employees in the office.

2) Better Co-ordination in the working environment.

3) Motivational activities.

4) Sense of belongingness.

5) Recognition of work.

6) Carrier and self-development of employees & Consultants.

EXECUTIVE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AT HDFC STANDARD LIFE.

Instructions to the appraise.

Self-appraisal is a very important part of the executive appraisal system in the company. It gives you (the appraise) an opportunity to present a record of your performance for the year, as you perceived it. The form must be filled with care and thoroughness giving emphasis o the key aspects of the job.

You are required to indicate clearly the record of our job performance during the year. Please write only what you had achieved. Write the appraisal legibly and briefly.

Normally, the executive appraisal is for the financial year-April 1st to March 31st. Therefore, you must submit the duly completed self-appraisal with a covering note to your Reporting officer latest by 15th April of the following year.

Instructions to the Appraiser

Try to be as objective as possible in your rating. Please do not allow any personal prejudices to collar in the rating of your executives. Do not evaluate on the basis of isolated incidents, but base your judgment on the entire period under review. In case you have used the significant incidents sheet, it could be a great help to you in judging the performance of your subordinates during the entire period of review.

While writing the report, one item/factor at a time should be considered and weighed only in relation to the requirement of the job and level of the appraise.

Performance categorization, grades and equivalent marks

Outstanding performance	A	91 & above
Very good	B	81-90
Good	C	71-80
Average	D	61-70
Below Average	E	51-60
Poor	F	Below 50.

SCOPE OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

The people in an organization have an upper hand in deciding the fate of organization by achieving the objectives. For the realization of these goals there should be step-by-step planning and performance by the human force of an organization. In this sense, true performance ties in achieving a vision. As we perform, the yardstick for measuring, our performance keeps changing with every step forward, we perceive our mission better ad related goals get more closely and easily defined.

METHOD, TECHNIQUES OR TOOLS USED BY HDFC

HDFC Standard Life Private Limited has taken keen interest for the development of correct, clear and complete performance appraisal system. In order to overcome the problems of appraisal techniques and to run the appraisal system successfully, HDFC follows a mixture of different appraisal techniques. Through this unique method the organization is able to have complete and necessary details of employees.

It is conducted annually and the time duration starts from 1st April and to 31st March. It is done every year with the object of increasing ability, efficiency, skills etc of work force. But easy sixth year promotion, transfers, job rotation and necessary actions are taken place. Every assessment year’s records are taken into considerations in order to implement the above mentioned actions.

The organization maintains 2 different booklets for two categories of executives. The performance appraisal system of HDFC contains an executive appraisal of 6 different parts involving employees, reporting officer, wing officer. In addition there is a provision for the HRD officer to make recommendations based on the outcome of above parts. This helps in training for the appraisal.

MARKETING DEPARTMENT

HDFC's Life Insurance products are not a marketing products but it is cover under the marketing department. It is a service given by the HDFC group to the public in the way of assurance of life of the people who are insured.

In the realistic manner the product selling is a type of service given to the public. The marketing of products of life insurance holds line and staff organizational structure.

CFC

CHIEF MARKETING MANAGER

1) Managing the affairs of BDM'S.

2) Execution of work.

3) Day-to-Day verification of login policies.

4) Implementing new techniques.

5) Fulfill the training needs to BDM'S and his financial consultants.

6) Rewarding the best achiever.

7) Maintain co-ordination between the BDM'S.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER'S

1) Holding of several financial consultants in hand.

2) Doing part of the tarter plan given by branch manager.

3) Maintaining separate group of financial consultants.

4) Identification of training needs to financial consultants.

5) Putting effort on taking policies from his financial consultants.

6) Motivational and Morale support to financial consultants.

7) Day to day interaction between financial consultants.

8) Flow of commission as per the norms with their respective policies.

9) Go along with the financial consultants when ever appointment with the proposed clients when the financial consultants in not able to convince.

10) Recording the day-to-day log inn policies from financial consultants.

Marketing is an activity of distributing the products among the public. Marketing never stops with selling, where as marketing continues after sales also. Selling is nothing but the mere delivery of goods but marketing acts apart from sales. The marketing department studies the market and the target customers, decides the best way to reach these customers, and works with the rest of the company to help determine the new product needs of the market. In this competitive world each and every product is meant for marketing, none of the products without having the concept of marketing. Marketing plays an important role in any business organization.

Generally, Marketing is divided into two types viz.

a. Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing is nothing but approaching the customer directly to sell our Products. As we see already each and every product has to meet the market condition. The Product is produced to sell it to is called direct marketing, in Direct Marketing there is no concept of intermediation. Direct marketing gives higher return to the marketers because it reduces the intermediate commission. Now a day’s many business units prefer direct marketing to sell their product to the customers.

b. Indirect Marketing

Indirect Marketing is just opposite to direct marketing i.e. marketing the product by using the distribution channels.

FINANCE DEPARTMENT

The HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd. dealing their business through financial consultants. Financial consultants are got license from the IRDA through their online examination conducted in training centres.

Financial consultants are the real assets of the HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd in which financial consultants have separate corner for doing business with proposed clients.

Finance is the lifeblood of every organization. It is the requirement of every organization to maintain records of finance which consist of all

Expenditure and incomes of the organization. This organization has financial statements like Trading & profit & loss a/c and balance Sheet. These accounts show the financial position of the organization. They show the total debt and equity, the assets and liabilities and the cash holding of the organization.

Finance department is concerned with the money &money worth transactions which may include the:-

§ Allocation of funds.

§ Investment procedures.

§ Decision making relating finance.

§ Payroll.

§ Collection & remitting the balances from clients.

§ Preparation of the accounts and the statements.

§ Publishing the accounts & statements.

§ Raising the money from external &internal sources.

§ Dealing with the working capital and its requirement.

§ Investment and purchase decisions.

§ And much more.

Commission payable to the consultants

The Company has decided to review the commission rates with effect from 1.11.2006.

This note details the changes in the commission rates payable to individual financial consultants with erect from 1.11.2006.

The company has been offering first year commission at a uniform rate across all tenors. The cost for the short-term policies are deferent from long-term policies, hence the consultant would henceforth be paid commission at a rate, which differs as per the tenor of the policy.

The company has not been differentiating between the basic commission and the bonus commission so far. This decision was taken in view of the fact the financial consultants were new and required some time to understand the life insurance business. It has now been decided to pay performance based bonus commission, linked to production levels, to the consultants with effect 1.11.2007.

The following are the details of the commission structure and NEP thresholds with effect from 1.11.2007 and are valid till 30^th June 2008.

Basic First Year Commission

a) Basic First Year Commission payable on regular premium policies issued with a premium paying term of 15 years and above.

Name of the Plan	Basic commission as a percentage of First Year Premium received
Endowment Assurance Plan	25%
Money Back Plan	25%
Children's Plan	25%
Term Assurance Plan	20%
Loan Cover Term Assurance Plan	20%
Personal Pension Plan	7.5%

b) Basic First Year Commission payable on regular premium policies issued with a premium paying term of less than 15 years

Name of the Plan	Basic commission as a Percentage of first Year Premium received.
Endowment Assurance Plan	20%
Money Back Plan	20%
Children's Plan	20%
Term Assurance Plan	15%
Loan Cover Term Assurance Plan	15%
Personal Pension Plan	7.5%

Name of the Plan	Basic Commission	as
	a percentage	of
	Single Premium
	received
Single Premium Whole of Life Insurance Plan	2%
Term Assurance Plan	2%
Loan Cover Term Assurance Plan	2%
Personal Pension Plan	2%

Basic Commission would be payable on the actual amount received and adjusted towards first year premium on regular premium policies and single premium policies by the company. In case the policy is cancelled in the first three policy anniversary years or the policyholder exercises the option to withdraw the policy in the look in period or the benefits under the policy are reduced, some or all of the basic an bonus commission, as applicable, would not be payable and if paid, the same would be reclaimed.

System

A system is defined process or a set of processes, that links and orders activities to enable work to be done and goals to be achieved. These systems are very significant and should be chosen carefully as they determine the speed, quality, accuracy and efficiency of the different activities that are carried out on a daily basis. The system in an organization is chosen considering different factors. These factors include the size of the organization, the nature of business and so on.

Systems in HDFC Standard Life Insurance

Computers are so versatile that they have become indispensable to administration and other official procedures. They can strengthen man’s power in numerical computation and information processing there by increasing the effectiveness of organization.

Some of the characteristics of computer are:

1. Speed

2. accuracy

3. consistency

4. versatility

5. Diligence.

The systems followed by the company are given below.

a) Management Information System:

A separate software is using in each branch to account all transactions and to generate all those information needed by the management. The details of all customers are entered in to this system.

b) Human Resource Information system

It is computer based system followed in HDFC Standard life Insurance to maintain a better human resource. Recruitment, selection, training are done in a systematic manner.

PERFORMANCE OF THE COMPANY

TABLE-1

TABLE SHOWING THE MONTHLY INCOME OF THE

RESPONDENTS ARE KNOW THE INSURANCE POLICIES

INCOME	NO. OF RESPONDENTS	PERCENTAGE
Below 5000	10	10%
5000-10,000	40	40%
10,000-20,000	30	30%
Above 20,000	20	20%
TOTAL	100	100%

GRAPH-1

GRAPH SHOWS THE MONTHLY INCOME OF THE RESPONDENTS ARE KNOW THE INSURANCE POLICIES

GRAPH-2

GRAPH SHOWING PREFERENCE IN BUYING INSURNCE REQUIREMENTS

5.1 SWOT Analysis.

5.2 Vision, Mission and Objectives.

5.3 Findings.

5.4 Suggestions.

5.5 Learning Experience.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

Ø Money value for customers.

Ø Customer service of the highest order.

Ø Use of technology to improve service standards.

Ø Increasing market share.

Ø Professionalism in carrying out business.

Ø Innovative products to cater to different needs of different customer.

Ø Trust and security among the best.

Ø Over 30000 consultants in India.

Weakness

Ø Less number of branches.

Ø Low volume of financial consultants.

Ø Effectiveness of organizational health study.

Ø Insurance is still considered as tax saving device rather than protection.

Ø Relationship.

Ø Difficult to change position of the employee.

Ø High volume of attrition rate.

Opportunities

Ø Easy availability of manpower for vacant positions specifically in marketing.

Ø Only 5% of the Indians having life insurance.

Ø Improvement in sales after service.

Ø Chance to improve more beneficial products.

Ø Encouragement for young financial consultants, achievers and identification of fast track financial consultants and employees.

Ø Recognizing the different needs of customers.

Threats

Ø Lowering of interest rate to policy holders.

Ø Lowering of bonus on the occasion of maturity of policies.

Ø Cut throat competition due to more number of other insurance

Company.

Ø IRDA policies towards life insurance.

Ø Increase in cost due to competition.

Ø Lack of customer satisfaction level reduced because of competitors policies.

Company Mission:

The company aim to be the top new life insurance company in the market. This does not just mean being the largest or the most productive company in the market; rather it is a combination of several things like,

§ Customer service of the highest order.

§ Value for money for customers.

§ Professionalism in carrying out business.

§ Innovative products to cater to different needs of different customers.

§ Use of technology to improve service standards.

§ Increasing market share.

Company vision

• Financial strength

• Recognitions

• Establishments

• Location

• Service backup

• Collaboration

Company Objectives

· To deliver value for our customer.

· Better investment opportunities.

· Well being of the society.

· Customer service of the highest order.

· Value for money for customers.

· Professionalism in carrying out business.

· Innovative products to cater to different needs of different customers.

· Use of technology to improve service standards.

· Increasing market share.

FINDINGS

It was found that most of the customers are professionals as well as salaried people.

1. 40%of the customers are interested in taking high risk investment in insurance.

2. Company providing good service to customers.

3. Has the product are giving texts benefits contingents plans. Some people are interested to take the insurance product.

4. Customers are benefited through unit linked plans.

5. Need based selling policy.

6. More importance to customer safety and security.

SUGGESTIONS

1 Provide more and more training to employees and financial consultants.

2 Introduce new life insurance product.

3 Open more and more branches as according to the growth of business.

4 Increase financial consultant commission and incentives.

5 Increase sales promotional activities and advertisement.

6 The company can use latest advertisement media like TV, Radio, news paper etc.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Since the incorporation of HDFC Standard life Rajaji Nagar, Bangalore branch has become an integral part of the joint venture between HDFC and Europe based life insurance company, which has a history of more than 200 years in the insurance industry.

HDFC Standard Life is the top most insurance company in the service industry HDFC Standard life doing lot of work to sustain in the national insurance market, because of the keen competition. Customer’s service is the word for the company to develop itself, in the competitive market with the word of "Survival is the fittest". Company is trying too hard to sustain in the global market. With the work force consisting of more than 15000 employees along with around 30000 financial consultants in all over India.

The company is very much concerned about customer service and security. This has made the company well ahead in the race with their competitors. So applying latest possible service manuals and methods in their customer satisfaction and compay main aim to become NO: 1 Life Insurance company.

In 2008 Company received CIO BOLD 100 SECURITY AWARD for most respected private insurance company.

With all these we can conclude that company is trying to develop and grow itself in the insurance industry because whoever stay in this market he is the winner.

6.1 Bibliography.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ø Text Books

§ Organizational Behaviour - K Ashwathappa

§ Personnel Management - C B Mamoria

§ Insurance in India - Kapoor

Ø Other References

§ Broachers, pamphlets & financial consultants manuals published by HDFC Standard Life

Ø Websites

§ www.hdfcinsurance.com

§ www.hdfc.com

§ www.managementparadise.com