6 Corporate

HOW I CRACKED IT

THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | THURSDAY | 10 JANUARY 2013

Toppers Say Its All About ...Award Goes To All Discipline and Confidence Those Selfless Friends
SH R EYA B I S W AS & S R EE R ADHA D BASU
KO L KATA | MUMBA I

iddharth Sharma, in his final year of electrical engineering at IIT Kanpur, owes his success to regularity and loads of practice. The topics are easy , but you have to be thorough to crack CAT, he advises. On an average day , he would put in about 2-3 hours preparing for the test, while during weekends and vacations it would go up to 8-9 hours. Preparations at his end started about eight months before CAT, building up in tempo as the exam approached. His father, an associate professor of sociology in NAS College, Meerut; his homemaker mother and his younger brother encouraged him every step of the way. What helped too, was his love for reading, which explains why, unlike many other engineers, Siddharth was as strong in verbal ability as he was in quantitative. In fact, he says, he scored 100 percentile in verbal ability and logical rea-

The topics are easy, but you have to be thorough to crack CAT... I can only decide once I go through the process (getting into the top three IIMs). The thing I know for sure is that ultimately Id love to take up a career in finance
SIDDHARTH SHARMA
CAT Topper

soning, compared with a 99.17 percentile score in quantitative ability and data interpretation in the test. A keen athlete and a mediumdistance runner, Siddharth, supplemented his studying with a classroom programme at Career Launcher over the weekends as well as the test series at TIME once a week. He says he will be happy to get selected at any of the top three IIMs. I can only decide once I go through the process. The thing I know for sure is that ultimately Id love to take up a career in finance, he says.

R AV I T EJA PALLA, 22, ASS T M A N AGE R , CO MM E R C I AL VEH I CLE, T A T A M O T O R S, PU N E

Cracking CAT is all about being disciplined and confident. I appeared for the test last year as well while studying electrical engineering at IIT Madras, but couldnt clear it due to weak verbal ability. I worked on it rigorously and followed a simple strategy . I improved my verbal ability with a lot of reading and practice. I took two mock tests every week and analysed the answers for three hours to understand where I went

wrong. I never went by the mock test scores, as that is not the parameter to assess your performance with. Instead I would check for the accuracy of my scores to monitor my progress. Anybody can crack CAT if given enough time, so the secret is to be accurate and confident at the time of answering the test. While I attempted all the queries, I answered those I was confident about. This is the rule of thumb, else you might waste a lot of time. I prepared for 12 hours a week, which is a tall task for a working professional. So, I would divide the hours six hours on weekends, writing the test, analysing and preparing the test series of the coaching institutes and clarifying doubts, if any , with faculty . The rest of the six hours I would reserve for the weekdays. You have to be disciplined to do that; my three-month-old job at Tata Motors demanded a lot of attention too. I am happy I could do it as are my parents my father is a police inspector in Vishakhapatnam and my mother is a homemaker.

THE JURY
Naresh Chandra
Former Cabinet secretary, Ambassador to the US, governor of Gujarat, advisor to PMs

STRENGTH IN UNIT Y: After an intense discussion, the jury decided Naga Mothers Association (in pic) and Meira Paibi should share the Lifetime Contribution Award. NMA & Meira Paibi have been fighting alcohol & drug abuse, gender violence and rights violations

Nandan Nilekani
Chairman of the Unique Identication Authority of India

LIFETIME CONTRIBUTION
Naga Mothers Association & Meira Paibi, Manipur: Both women-driven organisations are peacekeepers in the troubled north-eastern region. NMA sustains the ceasere between Naga groups and government. Meira Paibi is the largest grassroots civilian human rights movement in Manipur

INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTION TO INDIA

Pratham USA: Volunteerrun fundraising arm of Pratham (India) that works to improve education here; has 14 chapters; raises about $11 million annually through galas and events

Anu Aga
Business leader, Rajya Sabha MP and member of the National Advisory Council

J M Lyngdoh
Former chief election commissioner

Aruna Roy
Member, NAC and architect of RTI Act

HEALTH
CORPORATE: Ziqitza Health Care Ltd Runs 860 affordable ambulances in Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, Kerala, Mumbai GOVERNMENT: National Trust for the Welfare of People with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Metal Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Health insurance for people with disabilities; insured 1.2 lakh people across India NGO: Karuna Trust Free primary healthcare in remote, tribal areas; benets for 9.6 lakh people in 8 states including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh

Deepak Parekh
Chairman, HDFC

Sell KFA Assets to Pay Dues: Staff

OU R BU R EAU
N E W DE LHI

Syeda Hameed
Member, Planning Commission

Let down on several occasions by unfulfilled promises to clear several months of salary dues, the employees of Kingfisher Airlines in Delhi have sought closure of the cashstrapped carrier by initiating legal proceedings against the company on Thursday . Employees of the airlines maintenance and ground support departments, who held a meeting on Wednesday afternoon at the Delhi airport, have also decided to submit a memorandum to the ministries of corporate affairs, civil aviation and labour, seeking an enquiry into the management of the company. They have demanded clearing of salary dues by selling the companys assets. We have already appointed two advocates who will begin the legal procedures tomorrow and will soon go to the

court to file the case. There is no meaning to pull the company like this when it has been grounded for months and our state is worse than being unemployed, the airlines maintenance employees association head Santosh Kumar Gautam said. The windingpetition Employees of up would be filed maintenance under the & ground Companies support depts in Delhi Act to close down the airto file line, which has winding-up been grounded petition, since October seek inquiry 2012. into the The employmgmt of ees, who atcompany tended the meeting, also said employees from other departments such as pilots and flight crew were also kept in the loop about this. They are in constant touch with the employees who plan to take the legal route.

Sunita Narain
Head of Centre for Science & Environment

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

NEW DELHI

EDUCATION
CORPORATE: None GOVERNMENT: Joint Award National Institute of Open Schooling Vocational and academic education to 5.2 lakh students across the country every year Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya No. 2, Zeenat Mahal Turnaround of Urdu medium school in Old Delhi to achieve 100% results for 5 years running; education for 1,300 girls NGO: Room to Read Libraries for poor; education in government schools and for disadvantaged girls; impact on one million children in 9 states, including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal

ENVIRONMENT
CORPORATE: Selco Solar Light Pvt Ltd Solar energy and cooking solutions for low income families; reached 1.3 lakh households in Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat GOVERNMENT: Anand Agricultural University Developed and distributed eco-friendly, cost-effective liquid bio-fertilizers; supplied to farmers in 18,000 villages in Gujarat NGO: Joint Award Foundation for Ecological Security Restoration and conservation of land and water resources; improved earnings of 1.6 million people in 7 states including Nagaland, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh Dhan Foundation Forms farmer associations to restore common ponds, tanks; helps provide water to 3 lakh farmers in six states including TN, Bihar, Orissa

We would like to approach Ram Jethmalani to represent our case, Gautam said, adding that the workers trust has been breached umpteen number of times regarding salary payments. Employees action against the debt-laden carrier comes immediately after lenders to Kingfisher Airlines decided earlier this week to take legal action against the company for its failure to repay over ` . 7,000-crore debt despite repeated reminders. Lenders had been pursuing a soft approach so far in the hope that the company , which has not paid interest on its loans for

more than a year now, can be persuaded to come out with a revival plan. But their patience seems to be running out now. This is the first time that lenders are discussing recovery measures. Officials who attended the meeting said lenders initial step would be to issue a legal notice to the airline. With uncertainty over the revival of Kingfisher airlines, civil aviation minister Ajit Singh last week said the airline should present a satisfactory operati ng plan to aviation regulator DGCA and work on rescue plans for the sake of its employees, stakeholders and passengers.

cale and sustainability were at the heart of the choices made by the jury picking the winners of The Times of India Social Impact Awards. The jury, which represented a seamless coming together of very big names from government, Corporate India and the social sector, debated and deliberated for three hours before picking the winners in five categories Health, Education, Environment, Livelihoods, and Advocacy and Empowerment as well as for Lifetime Contribution and International Contribution to India. The jury settled in after Unique ID Authority chief Nandan Nilekani nominated super-bureaucrat Naresh Chandra as chairman of the panel, a suggestion endorsed by the other five jury members in the room, and HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, who participated via video-link from Mumbai. The discussions began with the contenders in the Health sector. Ziqitza Health Care, which operates an ambulance service that is accessible to all, won in the corporate category. While a number of jury members wondered if it was alright to award an organization for an activity from which it made profits, others felt there was nothing wrong with it as long as the service reached those who would normally not be able to afford it. National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities won in the government category. In the NGO category, Karuna Trust, which provides free, primary healthcare in tribal areas, was chosen. In Education, the jury gave all nominees in the corporate category a miss and moved onto the government sector. The contest was between the National Institute of Open Schooling, which provides academic and vocational education to 5.2 lakh students every year, and Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya No. 2, Zeenat Mahal, which educates girls from the minority community in old Delhi. While the scale of NIOSs operations was undeniable, former chief election commissioner J M Lyngdoh said Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya had gone from being one of the worst government schools to achieving 100% pass results for the last five years. Turning around something is commendable, he said. They decided to award both organizations jointly. In the NGO category, Room to Read was the clear winner. In Environment, for the corporate category NAC member Aruna Roys support for solar electrification in rural areas turned the tide in favour of Selco Solar Light. In the government category, Anand Agricultural University was the choice. The jury found two very strong candidates in the NGO category --- Foundation for Ecological Security, which restores degraded common lands, and Dhan Foundation, which revives rural water bodies. It eventually decided on a joint award. In the corporate category for Livelihoods, Jaipur Rugs Company,

LIVELIHOODS
CORPORATE: Jaipur Rugs Co Pvt Ltd Training marginalised rural poor to weave carpets for export; hires 50,000 people in 7 states including Rajasthan, Jharkhand, WB GOVERNMENT: Central Silk Board Part of textile min; sets up micro enterprises for tussar silk production among tribal communities; helps 3,000 people in Bihar, Jharkhand NGO: Self Employed Womens Association Creating cooperatives to make women self-reliant; impact on 1.4 million women in ve states including Gujarat, Assam, J&K

ADVOCACY & EMPOWERMENT

CORPORATE: None GOVERNMENT: District Administration Gwalior Setting up decentralised hubs to deliver public services efciently and punctually; benets more than 2 lakh every year NGO: Joint Award Association for Democratic Reform Improves voter knowledge by disseminating information on candidates contesting local and national elections through all media across the country Navsarjan Trust Empowers dalits, tribals, religious minorities and women; works with close to 2 lakh people every year in Gujarat

which trains unskilled villagers in seven states to weave carpets for export, took the award. Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed said the government had not been able to do much for unskilled workers in remote areas, and the company was helping them make a living as well as teaching them a skill. In the government sector, Central Silk Board, which sets up micro enterprises for tussar silk production by tribal families, found favour. In the NGO sector, Self Employed Womens Association (Sewa) won over the smaller Gravis, which helps provide water in the arid Thar desert. For Advocacy & Empowerment, the jury decided against an award in the corporate sector. In the government category, it voted for the district administration of Gwalior for delivering 76 services through 48 decentralized hubs. The NGO award went jointly to Association for Democratic Reforms, which works for electoral

change, and Navsarjan Trust, which empowers Dalits and minorities in Gujarat. The last two awards were for International Contribution to India and Lifetime Contribution, for which the jury could make their own nominations. They settled for Pratham USA, the fundraising arm of Indian education NGO Pratham, for International Contribution. After an intense discussion, the Lifetime Contribution Award went to two womens organizations working as peacekeepers in the northeast, Naga Mothers Association and Meira Paibi. Both have battled against alcoholism and drug addiction, and violence against women. Significantly, NMA has also been instrumental in sustaining a ceasefire between Naga underground groups and the government, while the Meira Paibi has campaigned against human rights violations in Manipur.

Telcos Denying Access to Secure Text System: Visa

GULVEE N AULA K H
N E W DE LHI

Electronic payment enabler Visa has claimed that its mobile payments service has been stifled by telecom operators in India that have refused to offer USSD access, a secure text messagebased interactive system that the company wants to use as the backbone for its mobile banking services. Visa has alleged that mobile phone companies on the GSM platform have selectively offered USSD to a few banks while refusing it to Visa since its mobile banking service would compete with the ones offered by telecom operators such as Bharti Airtels Airtel Money and Vodafones m-Paisa. USSD, or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, is a menu-based system that

enables customers to interact with content-based services. A USSD menu acts as a browser to pull content to the phone without requiring internet or GPRS connection. USSD is commonly used by prepaid subscribers to check their balance. It is more secure than SMS and is available on the cheapest of mobile phones. Selective access is being given to some banks and not to aggregators like us. Weve launched a mobile payments company (Movida) on USSD and for one year now theyve blocked it (USSD access). They have said clearly that they will not give us their network to compete with them, Visas group country manager for India and South Asia, Uttam Nayak said, told ET, adding that this has impacted the companys plans to boost financial inclusion in the country . Telecom operators, however, refuted all

these allegations, claiming that they did not offer USSD on a commercial basis. In response to queries from ET, Cellular Operators Association of India, an industry body representing GSM mobile phone companies in India, said that no operator had denied USSD access or blocked it. We would like to state that none of our member companies have blocked USSD channel. In fact, there has been many a discussion between banks, National Payments Corporation of India and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on offering USSD commercially , said director general Rajan Mathews. Vodafone Indias spokesperson said that the industry used USSD mostly for internal customer service and that its current network was not designed keeping in mind any external demand.
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