Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Oh bummer!

Obama should close down TEAB

Obama’s ‘trusted’ Transition Economic Advisory Board (TEAB) is not only irrelevant, but continuing it any further could be a major source of embarrassment for Obama. That TEAB has grossly under-performed can be seen from direct indicators – TEAB has been able to spend just about half the recovery package of $787 billion; TEAB has not given concrete steps for stemming the growing unemployment, now at 9.8%, and job losses of 4 million alone in this year; TEAB’s huge lack of focus on controlling America’s humungous deficit of $1.4 trillion is legendary. Added to that is the clear conflict of interest that some of the 17 members of TEAB have in gaining from the stimulus that they themselves have promoted – for examples, Warren Buffet (had investments in Goldman Sachs and other firms that got huge stimulus support) and Robert Rubin (Chairman of Citigroup; got $45 billion government support).

And if Obama even dreams of getting his rote against outsourcing in action, a few TEAB members will be dancing to a different tune we guess – Robert Rubin created a collection and transaction process centre in 2000, having 12,000 employees now, which has been sold to Tata Consultancy Services.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012. An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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IIPM B-School Facebook Page
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Rogue power

India must fight fire with fire

The world talks about Chindia, except for people in the two countries! For Indians, the question of whether they can trust China endures. While the deep distrust between India and Pakistan is the hot topic of discussion in international media, a significant proportion of Indians have begun to consider China a greater threat. The wounds of the 1962 war have never been really forgotten; and economically, the two countries have been staunch rivals; even though China is now India’s largest trading partner. Moreover, developments in recent times are giving rise to an increasing suspicion that China’s motives w.r.t. India are far from noble.

The very first develpment was China’s military progress and deployment in the bordering areas of Indian state Arunachal Pradesh. China has intentionally kept the state as a flashpoint, even while it claims that they have passed 36 resolutions in order to resolve the border issue with India. Secondly, bilateral military training programs with Pakistan have given rise to deep distrust. China has promised to provide $500 million as economic aid to Pakistan.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012. An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
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Monday, October 29, 2012

Battered Taliban on the retreat

Swat militants’ request for help was declined by the Afghan Taliban, claiming non-interference policies

The Taliban in Pakistan are on the retreat. They suffered heavy losses and now reportedly sought support from Afghan Taliban to carry on their battle against the Pakistan army.

In an article published last week in Pakistan’s national English daily The News, it was reported that Afghan Taliban declined a request for help from the militants in Swat “by reminding them of their policy of non-interference in Pakistan’s affairs.”

“A senior Afghan Taliban official, requesting anonymity, contacted The News from an undisclosed location to confirm that they were approached by the Swat militants for help in their fight against Pakistan’s armed forces,” Rahimullah Yusufzai, a veteran journalist who has written extensively on Taliban reported.

“We told them that the Afghan Taliban have a standard policy of not interfering in Pakistan’s affairs. We reiterated our policy and requested the Swat Taliban not to involve us in Pakistan’s internal matters,” the Afghan Taliban official is reported to have said. While the claim that Afghan Taliban’s “standard policy” not to interfere in Pakistan’s internal matters is ridiculous since Afghan Taliban have been continuously interfering in Pakistan through porous Pak-Afghan borders, it does indicate that militants in Pakistan are on the retreat and the operation launched by the Pakistan army against them is now bearing fruit.

Security forces on September 6 killed 33 militants, destroyed six vehicles and two terrorist training camps and seven hideouts through helicopter gunship in the remote Tirah valley of Khyber Agency. Most of the attacks were reportedly carried out in Naree Baba and Tharkho Kas areas where the banned Lashkar-e-Islam group is believed to have set up private jails and training camps.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Sunday, October 28, 2012

“We need Hunters, not Farmers

LIVE AND EXCLUSIVE:INFOSYS TOP BRASS TALK TO b&e ON LIFE AFTER DEATH AND ON THE ROAD AHEAD. deputy editor virat bahri GIVES THE INSIDER ON THE STRATEGIC LESSONS FROM INFOSYS!

“Our growth has significantly come down – from 35% to 7% to much lesser. It is a failure in some sense, since the opportunities are there, we have customer relationships, so I do feel we could have done better.” We’ve met S. Gopalakrishnan (Kris, for everybody), CEO and MD of Infosys, previously too, but perhaps this is the first time we sense his dejection that things could have turned out better for Infosys. Of course, nobody could have predicted the financial crash with accuracy; but given the fact that the crash happened, and with it a quasi bloodbath amongst Infy’s clients in the financial sector, could things have turned out differently at Infosys? Kris seems to feel so, pointing out how marketing initiatives in terms of business development are taking more time, as well as the inappropriately high dependence of Infosys on repeat business; a factor which has touched 97.6% now. For him, these could well be considered his current failures.

Factually, it’s not as if things are that bad. In reality, they’re brilliantly good, at least when you look at annual figures! For starters, they’ve been rated India’s 7th most profitable company in the 2009 B&E Power 100 listings. The five year CAGR for revenues, till the month ending June 2009, was 32%. The five year net income CAGR at the same time stood at 34%. Market capitalisation was screaming at $21.08 billion in July ‘09. Now it’s screaming better. The number of clients contributing to business has grown from 141 in the year 2004 to 330 this year. Since Kris took over, the revenue per client has regularly increased, Infosys has gone into newer services, entered newer markets, hired more people, consolidated existing clients, won a few awards, and a lot more. What else could a CEO, whose company is growing annually, both in revenues and profits at an obscene rate of 30%, ask for? Well, it’s actually which side of the ‘half-empty and full’ glass you’re viewing the flat world from. That is, if you thought the world was one glass.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Friday, October 26, 2012

Three strikes for the Indian Fat Cats

In recent weeks, India Inc. has witnessed two resounding calls for 'strikes'. The first, the stillborn one, was masterminded and spearheaded by Vijay Mallya and Naresh Goyal. Their plan was to stop all flights by private airlines on August 18 to "highlight their demands". The second one is on even as this magazine goes for printing. This one is by employees of public sector banks who are demanding better salaries and perks. Being highly patriotic, the union leaders of the Bank strike have deemed that ATM machines will function during the two day strike. Similarly, a late upsurge of patriotism in the hearts of Mallya and Goyal made them cancel (Or defer?) their planned strike to 'respect public sentiments'. Of course, both the Mallya-Goyal duo and the bank union leaders insist that they are victims. But I would rather call them the fat cat aristocracy of India Inc. who are greedy, myopic and brazenly arrogant in their quests to protect their turfs and vested interests. And I think it is time the mainstream media shamed them into admitting as much; by persistently highlighting their willingness to blackmail.

Nobody asked Mr. Mallya to personally select air hostesses or buy out Air Deccan or offer 'gourmet' cuisine on full service flights to economy class passengers. Nobody asked Mr. Goyal to blithely ignore the danger posed by low cost airlines or gamble by buying out Sahara in an expensive and messy deal. And now that competition is beginning to hurt them; they are clamouring for government bailouts. The fact is, almost all their claims are specious. The charges imposed by new airports are paid by passengers; the high costs of fuel are paid by passengers. So why are they cribbing? Imagine a situation where manufacturers of TV sets, soaps and shampoos start demanding government bail outs when input costs rise while smarter and cheaper rivals eat into their market shares and margins. Have you ever heard small entrepreneurs – responsible for almost all the growth in jobs in India – making similar demands?


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Of budgets and off budgets

For the middle class families, rising food prices have proved to be killing and the steps by government are a big joke, say Vikas Kumar and Niharika Patra

Sadhana Singh gets perplexed, mystified, exasperated and even infuriated when she watches news on TV or reads the front pages of her newspaper these days. She is sick and tired of Baluchistan, the fight between Anil and Mukesh Ambani, the antics of participants in Rakhi Ka Swayamvar and the statues that UP Chief Minister Mayawati is erecting. She is terribly disappointed with the media; she never had any hopes from august members of Parliament anyway. “Rising costs of groceries have completely damaged our monthly budget. It is really difficult to maintain the same standard. Our monthly saving is now nil,” says this agitated bank employee, even as she struggles to identify one ‘cheap’ vegetable in the market.

There are literally millions of consumers, homemakers and families across India who share the rising desperation of Sadhna Singh. For them, all the stuff that comes out in newspapers about the rate of inflation falling below zero is a bad joke inflicted upon them in poor taste. School teacher Rajarshi couldn’t care less about the subtle differences between the wholesale and the consumer price index; it is ‘price’ that is killing her, day in and day out. But as former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan says, we should focus on the consumer price index rather than the wholesale one while talking about consumer inflation. And that index is galloping ahead at double digit rates.

Most of them still think that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has the experience and the wisdom to stem the rot; but they can’t help wondering why Mr. Singh is not paying more attention to such ‘bread and butter’ issues. Reality for them is the relentless rise in prices of goods and services that account for the bulk of a middle-class family budget. And the price hikes in many cases are incredibly high. Fond of cauliflower and capsicum? Be prepared to shell out Rs.80 per kg. Think you can increase the ‘nutrition’ quotient in the diet of your child by adding more Arhar Dal? You need to be ready to shell out close to Rs.100 per kg. Have a sweet tooth? Well, sugar is touching Rs.30 per kg.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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My son would be back...

I realised... if I pay them the ransom, my son would be back...

B&E: So how did you proceed and how long was it before Anant came back home safe?

NG: The consultant told me very clearly that it was a business deal and that they would never harm the asset if I fulfilled their demand. I did just that. I had the consideration and I realised that if I gave them their price, without making any mistake or taking any foolish step, my son would be back with me. It took us three days, the deal was done and I paid them Rs.60 lakh. Yes, I paid them the money, and the deal closed. Anant was back home and all in my family were greatly relieved...

B&E: Did the event lead to any emotional or mental stress on Anant?

NG: Not really. He is rather proud about it and goes on telling all his friends his heroism when he was kidnapped. He explains the situation well and is rather proud to be the protagonist of the tale (Naresh laughs).


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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dos & don’ts: After attack

1 First thing to do after the kidnapping has been confirmed is to “Just keep cool” and think logically. There is always a solution to every problem, even when it comes to kidnapping!

2 Don’t give in to the demands easily and ensure that your moves should not be very apparent to those keeping an eye on you. Again, take the help of experts to ensure you make no mistake.

3 Don’t allow too much media exposure, because once that happens, the demands will naturally go up. Also the threat to the victim’s life increases greatly, for the criminals may fear getting caught.

4 Don’t over-depend on local police as 80% of them are not available for investigative duties.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

The international financial crisis and its impact on India

C. Rangarajan, ex- RBI governor and member Rajya Sabha, speaks on where India stands today and what needs to be done

The world is passing through a difficult time. More so, the developed world. The industrially advanced countries are now officially in recession, having had two consecutive quarters of negative growth. It is not known at this stage how long will this recession last and how deep will it be. This will be perhaps the deepest recession in the post-Second World War period. The impact of the financial crisis is felt by the developing economies as well. India’s growth rate in 2008-09 was 6.7 % as compared to 9% in the previous year. Prospects for 2009-10 do not appear to be better. While in 2008-09, the first half escaped the impact of global recession, in the current year the impact will be felt throughout the year. Globalisation spreads both prosperity and distress. The contagion works both ways.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

A new beginning called Iran

Fake family and friends for weddings

Iran has come through a lot and is now looking at the future with dreamy eyes. And now its relations with India matter

Many consider Iran a threat while others see it as a friend. A lot is said about the country, but there is a lot more to be heard. The only Islamic republic which has dared to take on the world’s mightiest power, Iran is blessed with some inherently unique policies. B&E’s Akram Hoque brings them forward in an exclusive interview with the Ambassador of Iran to India, Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh (SM).

B&E: How does Iran look at democracy and democratic set up?

SM: Before the Iranian revolution, we didn’t have democracy. But we have tried to bring democracy for long. The Iranian revolution was not just the transformation of power and a mere success story. We made the Constitution, Parliament, adopted a suitable electoral system and a democratic presidential system. There was great debate on whether the name should be ‘Islamic Republic of Iran’ or simply ‘Iran’. However, 99% Iranians agreed with the first. Now we have separate elections for Parliament, Mayor and President. The 10th presidential election of Iran took place on June 12.

B&E: The biggest issue with Iran is the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). How do you view this?

SM: No, not exactly. We are a member of the NPT. The NPT always observes whatever activities we undertake. And they have approved of it. Whatever few questions that come up by the observers is answered by us in one or two months given timeline.

B&E: How does Iran react to allegations levelled by the West for building its Uranium-enriched plan to fuel its nuclear ambitions?

SM: Many other countries are developing nuclear weapons, there is no objection to that. Then why is objection being raised against us? It’s US propaganda against us. After the revolution, the US lost its last chance of extracting political as well as economic benefit from Iran. Since then, US is after Iran, asking us to balance our power equation in Asia. Iran is neighbour of Afghanistan, Pakistan and we have good presence in many other Asian countries. For this reason, US actions are all bunkum and aimed illegally against us. We have a lot of documents that the war of Iraq-Iran was supported by the US.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

You have again written off a loser

One of the biggest shortcomings of hacks like me is the unwavering ability and willingness to jump to conclusions and mistake hindsight for foresight! Something similar can be seen in abundance in newspapers, television channels, news portals and magazines across India. As Rahul Gandhi is hailed as the new messiah and Sonia the new Gandhi, self styled pundits, hacks, experts and assorted doomsday prophets are tripping over themselves in a rush to write gleeful obituaries of the BJP and the Left. It is as if the new King Singh and the Indian voter have delivered such a decisive and brutal knock out blow that both the BJP and the Left are presumed down for the count. Pundits say that the BJP, till recently an alternative to the Congress, has no future. And the Left, kingmakers till recently, are history. Of course, the pundits also say that assorted regional chieftains like Ram Vilas Paswan, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav can now start looking for alternate careers.

I humbly disagree and present a few footnotes from recent history to show how breathless, shallow and shortsighted hacks and mass media can be.

Back in 1971, Indira Gandhi swept the Lok Sabha elections with her slogan of Garibi Hatao. So complete was her sway and dominance over the country that even opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee praised her as Durga! The same Indira Gandhi was routed by the voters after the Emergency in 1977, losing even her own seat. A fractured and fractious opposition, which was totally written off in 1971, swept to power as the Janata Party. In 1984, Rajiv Gandhi won a mandate that even his grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru was never able to win. In the same elections, as India celebrated a “Youth” renaissance under Rajiv Gandhi, the leader of opposition party, the BJP, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was staring at a complete loss of face.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Saturday, October 20, 2012

FAITH & MONEY: TAKE A TAILSPIN

Arguably, this must be the biggest bungle in recent history

In an effort to raise farm incomes, FDR forced up food prices by paying farmers to destroy crops when millions were hungry, and then he paid farmers to not to grow anything on a portion of their land. All this made food more expensive for the three-quarters of Americans (about 100 million) who weren’t farmers. The Anti-Chain Store Act (1936) made it illegal for chain stores like the A&P to buy goods in volume, get great discounts and pass savings to consumers.

Government thought that “universal” banks (engaging in both commercial banking and investment banking) had something to do with the Depression-era bank failures, so he signed the Glass-Steagall Act (1933) mandating the break-up of these banks into pure commercial banks and pure investment banks. Eugene White (Rutgers University) analyzed the failure rates of different types of banks, and he reported that universal banks – the banks broken up– were the strongest banks. Incidentally, FDR’s federal deposit insurance (the FDIC, launched in 1933) didn’t stop bank failures– it just transferred the cost of bank failures to taxpayers when there were any bailouts.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Missing the Ambani touch?

The venture was flawed from the beginning in more ways than one

The Indian retail sector has grown at a stupendous rate and is touted to touch $450 billion by 2015 (as per McKinsey). At that rate, it is not surprising how major business houses have made inroads into the sector. But the chequered journey of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail in this sector merits analysis.

It was the winter of 2006 when Ambani announced the arrival of his Rs.250 billion retail gamble – Reliance Fresh convenience stores in India. Reliance Fresh had to face the wrath of all be it middlemen, small retailers or politicians. The company had to shut down shops across the country amidst vehement protests. Gibson Vedamani, ex-CEO, Retailers’ Association of India points, “Reliance Fresh failed because it was too aggressive with its strategies and wanted to capture the entire market without leaving any space for the middlemen and local retailers.” The company planned a number of formats viz. hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores & specialty stores. This attracted unwanted media attention & got them into trouble.

With the looming spectre of economic slowdown, Reliance has had to cut down severely on its expansions. It merged the management of its hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores last year to save on administrative, man-power and operational costs. However, the biggest blow came earlier this year, when Ambani, after deferring the launch of its wholesale market, finally scrapped its cash & carry (C&C) model and showed the door to the entire team of 36 professionals headed by Harsh Bahadur (erstwhile CEO of Metro AG’s C&C business in India).


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Growing, growing, gone…

Aviators in India, in their race to get ahead, fell way behind

Circa 1997-98 –11.5 million passengers carried by four domestic aviation giants with a combined fleet of 25 – Indian Airlines (and Alliance Air), Jet Airways, Sahara Airlines and Archana Airways (yes, it did exist!). A kingly 50.7% share belongs to Indian Airlines. And profits? Well, that’s the only good news doing the rounds, with Rs.3.6 billion in operating profits flashing on their financial tablets! (Even Archana Airways with a fleet-size of just 2, made Rs.16.8 million in profits). The Indian domestic aviation sector ‘has arrived’! Or has it?

Circa 2002-03 – The number of airlines has been reduced to just three, with Indian Airlines, Sahara and Jet making merry with 53 aircrafts. Of course, Jet has the largest market share of 48.4%, with a fleet size of 41. Shamefully though, it becomes the only airline returning operating loss that year, of Rs.521.3 million.

Circa ‘the present’ – Six years back, some unknown face called G. R. Gopinath entered the Indian aviation sector with hopes of making the common Indian fly with the thoroughly untested ‘Low Cost Carrier’ LCC model, which had been a success in many First World countries.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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...is a town dreaded by some, understood by few, and remains unknown to most...

Merely three hours north of Manhattan, Islamberg remained unnoticed for over two decades. It came into limelight after the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. There have been accusations against members of this community for being in touch with Pakistani terrorist groups, though the truth according to a certain few remains that members of Islamberg have always helped locals in times of distress. There have been instances when families from Islamberg have come forward and volunteered to help people who suffered in 2006, when due to flooding many houses were ruined and the town Deposit was almost washed off the map. The volunteers cleared debris, cleaned basements, provided first aid, food and shelter to many.

It’s unfair when baseless accusations ruin the stature of a community all over the world. Individuals from all communities have faltered at some point or the other in their lives, but defaming their entire community or religion for their mistakes is unjust. Even in the present day scenario, there have been claims that gun shots can often be heard in the vicinity of Islamberg. But then there are also people who vouch for the residents of Islamberg and assert that they are a quiet lot and mind their own business. Also, the residents of neighbouring Columbia Lake vouch that the sound of gun shots does not come from Islamberg.

And so Islamberg’s citizens try building for their children a peaceful and prosperous future, and daily put up a fight against people’s prejudices and struggle to douse their neighbours’ fears...


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Raj of the satraps

The elections this year is seeing a trend' parties vying for larger pie shun pre-poll alliances

The eleventh Lok Sabha was a defining moment for Indian politics. Despite emerging as the single largest party with 161 seats in 1996, BJP could not prove its majority. Who can forget images of Pramod Mahajan talking simultaneously on two mobiles, claiming confidently of having the required numbers? They were all false claims, as BJP simply did not have allies that could help it reach the magic figure. During the next two years, the party worked hard on stitching alliances. That heralded the era of coalition politics, which necessitated pre-poll alliances.

BJP again forgot this lesson in 2004, when it entered the elections with only five allies. The Congress by then had learnt from its past mistakes. Party Chief, Sonia Gandhi, quietly buried her party’s Panchmarhi resolution to fight all elections on its own and have no alliances. She personally visited regional satraps like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan, and forfeited own seats to have pre-poll alliance with their parties.

Cut to 2009: Both NDA and UPA are devoid of partners. Barring NCP, DMK and JMM, all UPA constituents are contesting against 'big brother' Congress. They were apparently irked by Congress’s political posturing refusing a national alliance and restricting itself to state-level alliances only. That put paid to ambitions of allies like the NCP to grow outside Maharashtra and of Samajwadi Party to grow out of UP.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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The UPA has provided little more than lip service

India’s education system, be it the primary level or higher education, remains in shambles, the UPA has provided little more than lip service, says ANIL PANDEY

Out of the total budget allocated to the ambitious Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Mid Day Meal schemes, 70% is being paid from the education cess. To make education a fundamental right, a bill has been unsuccessfully presented six times in the Parliament during this government’s tenure. Dr. Ramakant Rai, Convenor, National Coalition for Education reasons with B&E, “Had this Bill been passed, then the government and administration would have been answerable to a lot of questions.”

Even in higher education, the UPA had made a lot of announcements, but just on paper. As per the Eleventh Five Year Plan, opening of 15 new universities, six new IIMs, eight new IITs, five new Indian Institutes of Science, Education and Research and two new SPAs was announced. But, in most cases, the government has not been able to even acquire the land. Interestingly, most of the higher education institutions have been opened in Madhya Pradesh. Of course, it’s just a coincidence that out HRD Minister, Arjun Singh hails from that state! Professor Praveen Jha of Jawaharlal Nehru University told B&E, “Neither the required infrastructure is in place nor are there enough teachers. In such a scenario, what’s the use of these institutions?” Even the Yashpal Committee, while criticising UGC and the government, has questioned the rationale behind setting up such institutions without the infrastructure. Also, there has been a substantial increase in the fees of the universities during the UPA tenure. Almost one and a half years ago, the National Assessment Councils report claimed that the quality of education in 90% colleges and 68% universities is of medium to very low levels. This goes to show that the quantity is improving but not the quality.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Sunday, October 14, 2012

Dare you waste it

Mind your wallet if you waste...

If you are planning to eat Japanese food at Hayashi Ya Japanese restaurant on the Upper West Side of the US, be careful not to leave even bits and pieces of it on your platter. Or else you may end up paying $27.75 instead of $26.95. Amazed! The Hayashi Ya restaurant charges 3% extra if there are leftover of food in your plate. This may seem very weird to most in West who make it a norm to waste much of the food they order for. And it isn’t a home-grown hypothesis. WCBS TV confirms that 27% of all food in the US finds itself in trash bin (works out to a pound of food every day for every American), while Stockholm Water Institute study extends this figure up to 30% or food worth around $48 billion annually. This amusing food-wasting habit of the West leads to annual wastage of 30 million tons of food. However, the UNEP 2009 report depicts an even more grim picture. Food waste in the US could be as high as 50% which means around one-fourth of all fresh fruits and vegetables is wasted between the field and belly. Among all the food-wasted, 15% are never opened in spite of being within expiry date.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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