AvantGarde

Dear Readers,

WELCOME to the latest edition of Avant Garde !!

A new year has ushered in a new hope for the country. A hope to usher in a new decade of peace, prosperity, self-sufficiency and progress. With this hope for the future, here at AG, we focus on a few of the positives that have occured over the past year.

The true arrival of India on the diplomatic stage was visible in 2010 as the heads of all the P-5 nations of the UNSC made a visit to India and were unequivocal in their praise for the country as a powerhouse which has already made it big on the global stage. The strategic alliances made with these countries were cemented by economic ties in the form of trade and commerce.

The emergence of Indiam cinema and Indian entertainment industry on a global scale was truly represented by the ambitious plans of Indian corporates in acquiring US production houses. The corporatization of Bollywood in turn proved to benefit the entertainment industry by producing films having world-class technology and production standards as well as supporting many indie films which made it big in the box office.

The rise of India in the global consciousness surely reached its crescendo during the Common Wealth Games hosted by India. The world class facilities and eye catching new IGI airport truly announced to the world that India had finally arrived and was capable of rubbing shoulders with the best in hosting a major event of this magnitude.

Though the specter of corruption, scams, embezzlement, frauds and collusion have haunted us in 2010, but we hope that the future will see an India which finally sheds its emerging tag and truly steps onto the global stage with head held high, spreading its message of democracy, inclusive growth, soft-power and tolerance.

This issue of Avant Garde brings a fusion of topics from business, current affairs, politics, philosophy and a bit of fun – IITK style. While Atul Mishra gives us an analysis of Pantaloon Retail from a marketing perspective, and the low-down on US President Barack Obama’s Indian visit and what it really meant for us. Our guest editor Saumya Aggarwal, 2nd year student of MBA at IMI Delhi,  gives us a peek into the Blackberry story while Nabarun Sengupta gives a philosophical perspective on exploitation of nature in ‘Slow Fly Paradox’ and then regales us with an MBA Diary on what it takes to survive in IIT-Kanpur.  This issue also includes a report on mobile buying trend analysis. This was submitted by a group of first year MBA students to Dr. Jayanta Chatterjee, Professor and Head of IME department, IIT Kanpur. We thank him for his guidance and support.

We hope that you like this edition of AG. Do post your comments on the articles in the “Add Comment” section, or write back to the editorial team at agteam@lists.iitk.ac.in.

Awaiting your comments, criticism and appreciation

Till the next issue, Happy Reading !

AG Team