Even until a few years ago corporate training programmes in India stood for elaborate off-site jamborees held typically in an &lsquo;easy&rsquo; year when the front-line managers were well on their way to meeting &mdash; or better still, exceeding &mdash; their agreed-upon annual targets. Many multinational companies and a handful of large local ones would ferry their employees to exotic locations, check them into swanky hotels to sit through fancy programmes designed specifically for those occasions. Once the employees were back in their offices and at their work stations the most interesting things wound up lost or forgotten&mdash;it was business as usual.

Measuring training effectiveness

Business Standard

Tom Peters&rsquo; bestselling book, In Search of Excellence, focuses on eight parameters to measure the success of companies that are exceptional.

Companies can win even during an economic downturn: Jim Moffatt

Research indicates that 50 to 70 per cent of all joint ventures fail. The most common causes of failure cited by researchers are cultural differences, poor or unclear leadership and poor integration process. The failure rate is high, but how you go about handling the situation can mean the difference between an amicable split, where you run the business as you deem fit, and a messy separation, in which you wind up losing clients, resources or other critical assets.

Going solo

If you look closely, worldwide, this industry (telecom) has been dominated only by multinationals. When we started, I think more than anything else, everyone (including ourselves) questioned just how we could take on these &lsquo;giants&rsquo; with such deep pockets, backed by phenomenal R&amp;D base.

Flexibility is the biggest asset of an underdog brand: Rahul Sharma

What&rsquo;s the easiest way to ensure your best customers come back to you over and over again? Make them part of a loyalty programme. The concept is simple really: being a member earns them loyalty points and the more loyalty points they earn, the more rewards they unlock. The rewards could be in the form of giving them special benefits (no-queue payment/priority delivery, free parking), giving them first dibs, and most exciting of all, offering a range of freebies and special discounts.

The rewards of loyalty

While studies show that variable pay is being used successfully across the globe, many firms in India have failed to make it work.

Making variable pay work

It is midnight when Anurag Kashyap, sounding unbelievably perky, begins talking about Indian cinema, his need to tell and &ldquo;steal stories from the lives of everyone around me&rdquo; and Gangs of Wasseypur, which he describes as his &ldquo;most ambitious, most fun project&rdquo;.

Cinema on his mind

India's cotton exports are likely to decline 36.53 per cent in the 2024-25 season, beginning from October 1, to 18 lakh bales due to lower production following shrinking acreage of the crop in the north and Gujarat, Cotton Association of India (CAI) said on Wednesday.
The total exports during the 2023-24 season stood at 28.36 lakh bales, according to CAI data.
"The decline in cotton exports is mainly due to a decline in production following lower acreage this year. The acreage for cotton crop has shrunk 35 per cent in the north cotton growing region (Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan) and by 15 per cent in Gujarat. This is going to keep the cotton prices steady compared to the global markets," CAI President Atul Ganatra told PTI.
The total cotton pressing 2023-24 season is estimated at 302.25 lakh bales compared to 327.45 lakh bales in the previous season.
Meanwhile, the total cotton supply till end of November 2024 is estimated at 108.41 lakh bales, comprising the pressing figures of

cotton, fabric, textile industry

New Delhi [India], December 18: U-GO marks its 2nd anniversary by successfully hosting the U-GO India Summit 2024. The event, held from December 9-11 in Bangalore, was organized in partnership with the Milaan Foundation. The summit brought together 199 first-generation college scholars pursuing STEM education under the theme "Together We Rise." It celebrated the resilience of young women scholars and focused on fostering mentorship, community building, and actionable solutions.

U-GO India Summit 2024 Empowers 199 First-Generation Women Scholars to Build a Resilient Future

New Delhi [India], December 18: FOSTIIMA Business School successfully hosted the much-awaited Margdarshak Awards 3.0 at the prestigious PHD Chamber of Commerce  &amp;  Industry, bringing together some of the brightest minds and luminaries in the HR fraternity. Instituted in the memory of the founding faculty of IIM-Ahmedabad, the awards recognize and celebrate individuals who have transformed India Inc.'s HR landscape and elevated it to the international stage.

FOSTIIMA Business School Hosts MARGDARSHAK 3.0, Celebrating HR Excellence with Dr. Shashi Tharoor

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 18: Arena Animation, one of the leading animation institutes in the country and training brand of Aptech Limited, has launched its latest initiative "Yuva Scholarship" which offers online entrance exams, special limited scholarships across India to its students and interested aspirants in the field of animation, multimedia, VFX, game design and more.

Arena Animation Launches \'Yuva Scholarships\' to Make Students Employable and Future-ready

After an impressive maiden show, Bihar will on December 19-20 host the second edition of Bihar Business Connect - the global investor summit that looks at boosting industrial and entrepreneurial growth in the state.
The prestigious event, curated by the state's Department of Industries, seeks to showcase Bihar as a vibrant investment destination.
"The inaugural edition in 2023 witnessed participation from over 600 entrepreneurs from India and abroad. Bihar Business Connect 2023 was a landmark initiative. During the two-day summit held last year, a total of 278 investment proposals amounting to Rs 50,530 crore were signed as MoUs, out of which 244 projects worth Rs 38,000 crore have already been implemented on the ground," an official statement said.
This investment has significantly accelerated industrial development in the state and created numerous employment opportunities.
"Considering the success of last year's Bihar Business Connect, the Department of Industries, Government of

Investors must keep 'dry powder ready' for investment in case the markets decline further |

Investors must keep 'dry powder ready' for investment in case the markets decline further | Photo: Shutterstock

Stock Markets Today Highlights: 33 of the 50 constituents of Nifty50 ended in the red, dragged by Tata Motors, Power Grid, BEL, JSW Steel, and NTPC, extending losses of up to 2.92 per cent

Market, BSE, NSE, NIfty, Stock Market, investment, Loss, Lost

Latest news updates: Catch all the latest developments from around the world here

Amit Shah, Home Minister

Investors await Fed move; concerns grow over widening trade deficit

Stock market

The Enforcement Directorate has restored assets worth Rs 22,280 crore to victims or rightful claimants from cases involving economic offences, the finance minister informed Lok Sabha

Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister

Industry leaders such as Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai, and MG Motors are gearing up to introduce a range of EVs in India

car sales

Nepal's Minister for Home Affairs Ramesh Lekhak on Sunday said a consensus of all political parties will be ensured to amend the Constitution, a media report said.
Lekhak, speaking at a press meet, stressed on the need for the Constitution amendment for strengthening the federal democratic republic, The Himalayan Times newspaper reported.
"The preliminary dialogue on this issue has commenced. But the constitution amendment will not be determined by two political parties, he said.
Lekhak said that the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN UML), the largest parties in Parliament, had decided to form the incumbent coalition government to promote stability, prevent corruption, strengthen good governance and economic activities and accelerate the pace of development.
The minister further said that the existing political alliance between the NC and CPN (UML) has no issues and it will continue until the next general election.
Responding to 

KP Sharma Oli, Nepal

Fundraising through qualified institutional placements (QIPs) reached an all-time high in 2024, surpassing the Rs 1 lakh crore-mark for the first time ever in a calendar year, fuelled by strong stock market conditions and higher valuations.
Indian companies have raised Rs 1,21,321 crore through QIPs till November, according to data compiled by Prime Database.
This represents a more than two-fold increase compared to the Rs 52,350 crore mobilised in the previous calendar year.
The sharp increase showed market resilience has been a key factor driving this growth as companies will continue to garner capital through Qualified Institutional Placements (QIPs), analysts said.
According to the data, 82 companies have tapped capital markets with QIP issues till November this year, compared with just 35 that raised Rs 38,220 crore during the same period last year.
QIP is one of the quickest products to raise funds from institutional investors. It is designed for listed firms and investment

India Inc salary wage

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate a project worth about Rs 40,000 crore to link 11 rivers in Rajasthan that is projected to make it a water-surplus state, Union Jalshakti Minister C R Patil said on Sunday.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of semiconductor plant of Suchi Semicon, Patil appealed to corporates to work on water harvesting to address the issue of water crisis in the future.
"Rajasthan faces severe water crisis. The project that Modi Saheb is going to dedicate there on December 17 will link 11 rivers. This project, worth about Rs 40,000 crore, will be announced by Modi Saheb. After this, Rajasthan will have maximum water," Patil said.
He said people have saved enough money to even take care of their seven generations but there is a need to conserve water for that generation.
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh governments signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Jal Shakti in January 2024 to prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) and onbroa

Droupadi Murmu, Murmu, President, CR Patil

The Punjab Police chief along with a senior officer in the Union Home Ministry Sunday met farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been staging an indefinite hunger strike since last month, and enquired about his health.
Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav and Director in the Ministry of Home Affairs Mayank Mishra met Dallewal at the Khanauri border point and heard his demands.
Their visit came two days after the Supreme Court directed the Centre and Punjab government representatives to meet Dallewal immediately. The top court had further directed that the farmer leader be provided medical help and persuaded him to break his indefinite fast, saying his life was precious.
The 70-year-old Dallewal, a cancer patient, has been on a fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border point between Punjab and Haryana since November 26 to press the Centre to accept the agitating farmers' demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP on crops.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Dallewal, 

Farmers Protest, Protest, Farmer Protest

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday said the ruling Mahayuti will also give a chance to other legislators, who have not found a place in the current ministry, during this government's tenure.
"We will give an opportunity to others also for two-and-a-half years," NCP leader Pawar said addressing a gathering of his party workers in Nagpur before the cabinet expansion.
Everybody wants to become a minister and deserves an opportunity, but the ministerial berths are limited, he pointed out.
The 10-day-old BJP-led Mahayuti alliance ministry in Maharashtra was expanded here on Sunday, with 39 ministers being sworn in, taking its strength to 42.
In the expansion, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got 19 ministerial berths, followed by 11 to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and 9 for Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Among the prominent leaders left out of the ministry include NCP's Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil and BJP's Sudhir Mungantiwar.
While 33 ...

Ajit Pawar

Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy advocates for a 70-hour workweek, urging youth to work hard for India's progress; underlines the importance of job creation as a solution to poverty

NR Narayana Murthy, Narayana

On Vijay Diwas, PM Modi honoured Indian soldiers whose sacrifices secured victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war, leading to the liberation of Bangladesh

1971 Surrender pic India Pakistan

The shift will comprise women employees for all the mining activities of the shift, including heavy earth-moving machinery

Tata Steel, Tata

While Jaiswal flicks the ball on the pads straight to square leg fielder Mitchell Marsh, Gill tried to play an extravagant drive and managed an outside edge to flying Marsh at gully region.

Virat Kohli

Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav, who purportedly gave controversial statements at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad function, appeared before the Supreme Court collegium on Tuesday, sources said.
According to the sources, Yadav appeared before the collegium headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and was asked to put forth his version on the statements made.
The top court on December 10 took note of news reports over the statements and sought a report from the Allahabad High Court on the issue.
"The Supreme Court has taken note of newspaper reports of a speech given by Mr Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, a sitting judge of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. The details and particulars have been called from the high court and the matter is under consideration," an official statement had said.
According to the established norm, a judge, against whom a report is sought by the apex court collegium on any controversial issue from the high court concerned, is given opportunity to 

Abhilasha Ojha

Abhilasha Ojha

Page 5 - Abhilasha Ojha

Measuring training effectiveness

Companies can win even during an economic downturn: Jim Moffatt

Going solo

Flexibility is the biggest asset of an underdog brand: Rahul Sharma

The rewards of loyalty

Making variable pay work

Cinema on his mind

Latest News

In this Section

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CAI expects 36.5% dip in cotton exports to 1.8 mn bales on lower output

U-GO India Summit 2024 Empowers 199 First-Generation Women Scholars to Build a Resilient Future

FOSTIIMA Business School Hosts MARGDARSHAK 3.0, Celebrating HR Excellence with Dr. Shashi Tharoor

Arena Animation Launches 'Yuva Scholarships' to Make Students Employable and Future-ready

Bihar to organise investor summit for 2nd time to boost industrial growth

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