'Look for fair trade'

Book Mark
50 Simple Steps to Save the Earth from Global Warming
Green Patriot Working Group
( http://www.jaicobooks.com/)

Celebrate with ‘green’ balloons

Do you drive to the store, or have your groceries delivered? If your answer is the latter, you have reason to cheer, for implementing one of the eco-friendly measures outlined in 50 Simple Steps to Save the Earth from Global Warming compiled by the Green Patriot Working Group.

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Shoplifter

Book Mark
The Ethical Executive
Robert Hoyk and Paul Hersey
( http://www.vivagroupindia.com/)

Traps at work

One of the examples in The Ethical Executive by Robert Hoyk and Paul Hersey describes an experiment by Donna Gelfand at the University of Utah, which had, as its subjects, about 300 men and women, who were adult shoppers in two drugstores.

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Economic displacement

Book Mark
The Other India
Rajesh Chakrabarti
(http://www.sagepublications.com/)

Negative economics

It is the poor farmers and small farmers who are destroyed by the globalisation of a negative economy, rues Vandana Shiva in one of the essays included in The Other India: Realities of an emerging power. Negative economics push people out of production, she observes.

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‘Don’t be a customer fanatic’

Say Cheek
The Moneymakers
Anne-Marie Fink
( http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/)

Eleven rules for leaders

Do you want to find out if the company executives are moneymakers or value destroyers? Anne-Marie Fink’s ‘The Moneymakers’ offers ready tips in the form of a framework with eleven rules. True moneymakers, for starters, are that rare breed of leaders who perform consistently, as Fink describes. “A leader who is a moneymaker is very profitable all around – for shareholders as well as the company and its employees.”

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The reincarnation of DFIs

Books of Account
Dynamics of Indian Banking
Manoranjan Sharma
( http://www.atlanticbooks.com/ )

Universal appeal

Has the reincarnation of DFIs (development financial institutions) into universal banks affected the resource requirement of industry and services? No, argues an essay by A. Karunagaran included in Dynamics of Indian Banking: Views and vistas, edited by Manoranjan Sharma.

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Poverty involves any form of inequity

Books of Account
Analysis of Multidimensional Poverty
Louis-Marie Asselin
( http://www.idrc.ca/ )

Beyond poverty lines

Don’t pay any attention to what they write about you, advises a helpful quote of Andy Warhol addressed to those worried about news stories. “Just measure it in inches,” he adds. By that handy measure, ‘poverty’ as a theme has been richly written about. But, do we measure poverty right when drawing a monetary line and then counting all those below it, as accountants are wont to do? Alas, income is just one of the m any dimensions of poverty, says Louis-Marie Asselin in Analysis of Multidimensional Poverty: Theory and case studies.

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The new surveillance era

Books 2 Byte
Virtual Shadows
Karen Lawrence Öqvist
( http://www.vivagroupindia.com/)

See yourself as part of a conversation

Public resistance to the growing use of surveillance is marginal due to the overriding motivation for a safe society and a growing desire for an easy life, says Karen Lawrence Öqvist in Virtual Shadows: Your privacy in the information society.

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IT, a critical contributor to success

Books 2 Byte
The New Data Imperative
Raj Nathan, Irfan Khan and Sinan Baskan
( http://www.eastonsp.com/)

Transforming data into insight, profitable decisions

As principles-based enforcement takes hold, senior management in capital market firms will have to develop the capability to demonstrate accountability over the outcomes and build auditable workflows, advises a new book authored by Sybase experts ( http://www.sybase.com/). This will mean improving cooperation across business, technology, operations, risk management and CFO functions, write Raj Nathan, Irfan Khan and Sinan Baskan in The New Data Imperative: Managing real-time risk in capital markets.

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Online publishing

Books 2 Byte
How to Publish Your PhD
Sarah Caro
( http://www.sagepublications.com/)

Academic publishing

Online publishing of books, unlike journals, is still in its infancy and there remain prejudices about the quality of online material and a reluctance to read large amounts of text online, opines Sarah Caro in How to Publish Your PhD.

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Failures, a practice shots

Books 2 Byte
Autodesk Inventor 2010
Thom Tremblay
( http://www.wileyindia.com/)

Assemblies of parts

An inventor fails 999 times, and if he succeeds once, he’s in, says Charles Kettering. For, “an inventor treats his failures simply as practice shots.” Perhaps, with all the right tools in place, the ‘Inventor’ software reverses the proportion; so much so, you may find it ‘a breeze to work with,’ with only ‘a handful ways to make it difficult,’ as Thom Tremblay assures in Autodesk Inventor 2010: No experience required.

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Free software legal concepts

Books 2 Byte
Implementing the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Development Agenda
Jeremy de Beer
( http://www.idrc.ca/)

Law, technology, and society

If you are looking for an example of a grassroots national movement, check the discussion on the Centre for Technology and Society (CTS) in Implementing the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Development Agenda, edited by Jeremy de Beer.

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Computer languages

Books 2 Byte
Programming: A beginner’s guide
Richard Mansfield
( http://www.tatamcgrawhill.com/)

Computers are language-neutral…

If you are a talented computer programmer, there is nothing to stop you from learning several computer languages and becoming ‘multilingual,’ encourages Richard Mansfield in Programming: A beginner’s guide. “Some people excel at this, just as some find it easy to learn multiple human languages.

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BookValue

Option Trading

Sasidharan K. and Alex K. Mathews

(www.tatamcgrawhill.com)

Volatility smile

Quant, as a topic to study, may not bring a smile to the numerically-challenged among most us, who may, in all probability, wince at hearing that an active area of research in quantitative finance is the modelling of the volatility smile. "Typically, a quantitative analyst will calculate the implied volatility from liquid vanilla options and use models of the smile to calculate the price of more exotic options," write Sasidharan K. and Alex K. Mathews in Option Trading: Bear Market Strategies.

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SHG-friendly banks

BookValue
Multiple Meanings of Money
Smita Premchander
(http://www.sagepublications.com/)

Reaching microfinance to the poor

Poor women do not see finance in isolation, but as one of the resources they use in order to improve their livelihoods, writes Smita Premchander in Multiple Meanings of Money: How Women see Microfinance. "Women may not regard economic development (or availing microfinance) as a goal, but see it as a limited means of improving their immediate livelihoods."

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Policy issues

BookValue
Monetary, Investment, and Trade Issues in India
Ramkishen S. Rajan
( http://www.oup.com/ )

Monetary and real aspects of economy

How flexible is the rupee? What is driving OFDI (outward foreign direct investment) by Indian corporates? Are there alternative uses for India’s international reserves? Should India adopt an inflation targeting framework? How have the export structures of India and China evolved? What is the impact of exchange rate movements on inflation in India? For detailed answers to these and more questions, dip into Monetary, Investment, and Trade Issues in India by Ramkishen S. Rajan.

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Follow-up

Book Mark
How to Negotiate Like a Pro
Mary Greenwood
( http://www.macmillanpublishersindia.com/)

Tracking is worth the expense

In eBay auctions, follow-up is very important if you do not want negative feedback posted against you, counsels Mary Greenwood in How to Negotiate Like a Pro: 41 rules for resolving disputes.

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Poll survey

Book Mark
A Handbook of Poll Surveys in Media
N. Bhaskara Rao
( http://www.gyanbooks.com/)

Pulse of polls

Research agencies engaged in conducting poll surveys will be appreciated far more than at present if only they treat such poll eve opportunities beyond commercial concerns, suggests N. Bhaskara Rao in A Handbook of Poll Surveys in Media: An Indian Perspective.

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Golden rules within the organisation

Book Mark
HR Strategy for the High Performing Business
Ap Eigenhuis and Rob van Dijk
( http://www.vivagroupindia.com/)

Space for new activities with ‘must stops’

Not surprisingly, therefore, whenever the management announces a strategic review and launches new initiatives, the perception that is created is generally one of greater burden for everybody. Wait, you can counter such a perception to some extent by looking explicitly at those activities that need to be stopped, advise Ap Eigenhuis and Rob van Dijk in HR Strategy for the High Performing Business.

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Routine criticism

Book Mark
How Toyota Changed the World
K. Dennis Chambers
(http://www.jaicobooks.com/)

Seven attributes that distinguish Toyota

The first of the seven attributes that distinguish Toyota from all other carmakers is humility, writes K. Dennis Chambers in How Toyota Changed the World.

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Effective communication

Book Mark
Mastering Communication at Work
Ethan F. Becker and Jon Wortmann
(http://www.tatamcgrawhill.com/)

Create a culture of communication

What happens when effective communication is absent? Organisations shut down, say Ethan F. Becker and Jon Wortmann in Mastering Communication at Work: How to Lead, Manage, and Influence.

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Developing the right message

Book Mark
Street-Smart Advertising
Margo Berman
(http://www.macmillanpublishersindia.com/)

Your headline must have stopping power

In successful creative work, the message comes before you begin designing, says Margo Berman in Street-Smart Advertising: How to Win the Battle of the Buzz.

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40 ways of ‘stealing’ government wealth

Books of Account
Kautilya’s Arthashastra
Priyadarshni Academy
( http://www.jaicobooks.com/ )

Pay cap

“If the amount of the actual cash in the treasury was inadequate, salaries could be paid partly in cash, and partly in kind. Grain could be substituted for cash wages according to the formula that an annual salary or wage of 60 panas was equ al to one adhaka of grain per day,” informs Kautilya’s Arthashastra brought out by Priyadarshni Academy.

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The borrower and the asset

Books of Account
FIDC Handbook on Repossession
Finance Industry Development Council
( http://www.fidcindia.com/ )

Guidelines on repossession

Every act of repossession by an agent must be supported by a specific authorisation letter from the NBFC (non-banking finance company), in each specific case clearly identifying the borrower and the asset, states one of the guidelines in FIDC Handbook on Repossession from the Finance Industry Development Council.

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CIDCO, the real-estate agency

Books of Account
Beyond Relocation
Renu Modi
( http://www.sagepublications.com/ )

Iniquitous acquisition

In the 1970s, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), as the sole development authority for the New Bombay region, initiated the process of land acquisition in 54 villages, and acquired more than 16,000 ha (hectare) of private lands in phases. And the pace of acquisition was accelerated in the late 1990s, recounts R. N. Sharma in one of the essays included in Beyond Relocation: The imperative of sustainable resettlement, edited by Renu Modi.

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WAN infrastructures

Books 2 Byte
Building Service-Aware Networks
Muhammad Afaq Khan
( http://www.ciscopress.com/)

Tomorrow’s WAN

The WAN is a place in the network that aggregates various types, speeds, and links running a disparate set of protocols together crossing metropolitan, state, and even country boundaries, says Muhammad Afaq Khan in Building Service-Aware Networks: The next-generation WAN/MAN.

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The successful agile methods

Books 2 Byte
Managing Agile Projects
Kevin Aguanno
( http://www.macmillanpublishersindia.com/)

Customer influence vs interference

One of the interesting characteristics of agile methods is the active participation of ‘customer,’ says Kevin Aguanno in Managing Agile Projects. Such close customer influence over the internal workings of the development team has been cited as a major cause of failed projects using traditional methods (often cited as ‘customer interference’), but is also a major reason why agile methods are so successful, he adds.

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Flash presentation

Books 2 Byte
Flash CS4 in Simple Steps from Kogent Solutions Inc.
( http://www.dreamtechpress.com/)

Flash and bones

Shockwave, Macromedia, Adobe. Different first names, but what is popular is the second name, ‘Flash,’ known for its widespread adoption in Web animation and interactivity. ... Several applications are able to display Flash content, including Adobe Flash Player, which is available for almost all Web browsers,” informs Flash CS4 in Simple Steps from Kogent Solutions Inc.

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News online

Books 2 Byte
Digital Strategies for Powerful Corporate Communications
Paul A. Argenti and Courtney M. Barnes
( http://www.tatamcgrawhill.com/)

Optimise your digital assets in online newsrooms

Blogger relations, social media news releases, and the monitoring of online news outlets. If your company is already doing all these, it may be useful to know that these are only a part of the overall media relations picture, as Paul A. Argenti and Courtney M. Barnes write in Digital Strategies for Powerful Corporate Communications.

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Test run

Books 2 Byte
Oracle Data Guard 11g Handbook
( http://www.tatamcgrawhill.com/)

Smart testing

One of the biggest IT challenges is to minimise the risk of introducing changes to systems, databases, and applications in critical production environments, say the authors of Oracle Data Guard 11g Handbook.

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The search engine

Books 2 Byte
How Google Changed the World
Virginia Scott
( http://www.jaicobooks.com/)

Future of Google

Google may know everything about us, but it may be tough for us to know everything about Google. “Future courses of action for any company are, to some extent, unpredictable. Add to that the fact that Google loves secrecy and considers it a strategic tool, and the crystal ball into which we gaze to try to determine Google’s future gets murkier,” concedes Virginia Scott in How Google Changed the World.

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'Creep management'

Books 2 Byte
Effective Project Management
Robert K. Wysocki
( http://www.wileyindia.com/)

Four types of creeps

Not too differently, a monstrous fright for project managers is about ‘creeps.’ Granted, that some of the team members ‘may occasionally seem like creeps to you,’ but that is not the ‘creep management’ Robert K. Wysocki discusses in Effective Project Management: Tradition, agile, extreme, fifth edition.

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Interacting with digital technologies

Books 2 Byte
Delivering E-Learning
Kenneth Fee
( http://www.vivagroupindia.com/)

When today’s devices become ‘glorified typewriters’

The biggest likely development in e-learning will be in new interfaces, says Kenneth Fee in Delivering E-Learning: A complete strategy for design, application and assessment. Voice recognition and handwriting recognition software, and touch-sensitive screens, show the way ahead, and the current standard interfaces — the mouse and the keypad — will become obsolete, he foresees.

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Family budget

BookValue
His Needs Her Needs
Willard F. Harley, Jr.
( http://www.magnamags.com/ )

Three budgets

Every family must come to grips with what it can afford, counsels Willard F. Harley, Jr. in the fifteenth anniversary edition of His Needs Her Needs: Building an affair-proof marriage. Budgets are not a necessary evil, but ‘good,’ he says, because a budget helps you discover what a certain quality of life really costs.

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'Be different - be a winner'

BookValue
The Way to Trade
John Piper
( http://www.visionbooksindia.com/ )

Approach to analysis

Most people approach analysis in the wrong way, laments John Piper in The Way to Trade: Discover your successful trading personality. Looking at people who come into contact with one particular technique — such as Elliott, Gann, and MACD — get to know how this technique works, and then start to use it, Piper says that it is like putting the cart before the horse.

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Survival plans

BookValue
Crash Proof 2.0
Peter D. Schiff
( http://www.wiley.com/)

Three survival tips

Three imperatives that Peter D. Schiff prescribes in Crash Proof 2.0 are: Rethink your portfolio, gold rush, and stay liquid. He recommends investment in the foreign markets (read, non-American) as the most conservative place right now. In the US, economic freedom, just like sound money, is a distant memory, the author rues. “So too are the low taxes, minimal regulations, and the high savings rates that went along with them.

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'Unmistakable red flags'

BookValue
Madoff with the Money
Jerry Oppenheimer
( http://www.wiley.com/ )

Largest fraud in Wall Street history

Bernie Madoff shocked the world earlier this year as the perpetrator of the largest investment fraud in Wall Street history. “In March 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 felonies and admitted to defrauding thousands of investors of billions of dollars from the early 1990s... And, dedicated to ‘all the legitimate victims of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme,’ here is a book by Jerry Oppenheimer: Madoff with the Money.

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Five elements of change

Book Mark
The Way of Innovation
Kaihan Krippendorff
( http://www.vivagroupindia.com/)

Innovation through five phases

Metal, water, wood, fire, and earth. Seemingly close to the panchabhutas or the elements making up the universe, but these are the ‘five elements of change’ that Kaihan Krippendorff discusses in The Way of Innovation.

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Change fatalities

Book Mark
Who Killed Change?
Ken Blanchard
( http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)

A dead change in your office…

A lounge that is meant for leaders and managers is the venue for an evening meeting. All the suspects are to be gathered there at 7 pm, and the murderer is to be announced! Hey, where are we? In one of the concluding chapters of Ken Blanchard’s ‘thriller’ titled Who Killed Change?

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Apple’s new modus operandi!

Book Mark
How Apple Inc. Changed the World
Jason D. O’Grady
( http://www.jaicobooks.com/)

How Apple bites into the market

In less than a decade, Apple reinvented itself, removing the ‘Computer’ from its name to be simply Apple Inc., and this move speaks volumes about where the company is headed, says Jason D. O’Grady in How Apple Inc. Changed the World.

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The five traps

Book Mark
The First 90 Days
Michael D. Watkins
( http://www.tatamcgrawhill.com/)

Failure to focus, the first trap

Unwary new leaders can fall into some common traps, says Michael D. Watkins in The First 90 Days. The first of the five traps that he lists is the failure to focus. The advice to leaders, therefore, is ‘to identify promising opportunities and then focus relentlessly on translating them into wins.’

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The village santhai

Book Mark
Notes from Gandhigram
Samir Banerjee
( http://www.orientblackswan.com/)

Village market

To those who have migrated to cities, the word santhai can stir up memories of the village market in Tamil Nadu. And a redeeming development in recent times is the popularity of uzhavar santhai or farmers’ markets in the suburbs. “Not very long back, the village santhai, haat or weekly market was a thriving albeit quaint affair by present standards,” reminisces Samir Banerjee in Notes from Gandhigram.

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Mumbai, the city to eat in India

Book Mark
Eat My Globe
Simon Majumdar
( http://www.johnmurray.co.uk/)

Unstoppable Mumbai

Mumbai crackles with a raw energy that seeps out of every open sewer and explodes with every ‘parping’ horn from the black and yellow taxis that churn out enough pollution to make your eyes weep the moment you set foot out into the decaying streets, describes Simon Majumdar in Eat My Globe.

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