PMPC 2012

Today was Day 1 of Project Management Practitioners' Conference 2012 here in Bangalore. It was held at Nimhans Convention Center. More than 750 attended today's event.

Dr. Trivedi, Secretary, Govt. of India, Cabinet Secretariat, gave an introduction to Results Framework Document (RFD) - their website is here.This is the framework that is used to measure performance of Govt. ministries.

Bhaskar Bhat, MD of TITAN, gave a speech on Industry perspective of Project Management. He gave example of TATA projects - Tanish (jewelry) that failed initially and then picked up after understanding the market requirements. He emphasized that we learn more from failed projects than successful projects.

Dr. Mohan Sundara Rajan, Science Writer ended the day's proceedings with his talk on Nano technology. With lot of humor and interesting words, his speech was very entertaining (I should say, infotainment).

Few quotes from the day:
One person asked, "Why have train time table when all trains always run late?"
Answer: We should have a time table. That will give us a comparison to tell if trains are really running late.

It was during Nehru's time IITs were started and given full support. He used to say, "You IITians must build the nation." (He forgot to tell 'which' nation. That is why most of IITians are abroad).

Few years ago when nano-technology was coming in, a group of scientists went to Haryana Govt. and said, "We want to build a semi-conductor industry here. Please help us." The minister replied, "No, no. Not required. All our buses are having full fledged conductors. No need for semi conductors."


In Project Management and entrepreneur talks, it is a mantra to say, "think big."
But, in early days of nano-technology, people started saying, "think small" to get chips as small as possible.

It is said, Indian bureaucracy was opposing to color TVs to come to India. Both politicians and bureaucrats were made dumb to this idea. But, Vasant Sathe (read about him here)  convinced Indira Gandhi to get color TV in India!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Music+Food at Kamat Bugle Rock

There are not many restaurants in Bangalore with a chance to enjoy Classical Indian music and food together. Kamat Bugle Rock in Basavanagudi is one place for that. On Friday night, one of our music friends was performing and it was a good change for my wife and I to visit that place for dinner. Apart from music, 'jOladdh rotti' (corn roti), North Karnataka's main food, is the attraction of this restaurant. When we were listening to music, hot rotti-s were being prepared across the aisle. Cooks were patting the rotti-s (an authentic way; here, rotti-s are not rolled or automatically pressed) with their hands and were directly baking them on low flame stoves. Men with white 'Gandhi cap', green kurtha and white dhoti help in serving these 'jOladdh rotti-s' to customers. Unlimited dinner for little over $2 is worth the price.
Read more

Returning back to India

This blog will go for a long discussion within me. If this is Chapter 1, there will be many more chapters to come till I make a decision. Very often, I get this question - "Should I go back?" If so, when? Sometimes I feel, I should. Other times, I don't see the need. This change of answers inside me is just swinging like a pendulum. I have seen people being in this phase and then finally deciding to go back. The end result is so much to take and give that it is a total change of life for someone who has lived outside India for nearly 5 years. Hasn't India changed in the past 5 years? Can I adjust to the latest society and trends? How is it to live in a busy city and work in an office 20 miles away from home. How is the work environment in India? I don't know have an answer to the last question as I haven't worked in India. What will I get going back to India? That is a touch question to answer too. In simple sense, I will get back to 'my' place - the f...
Read more

Kalasmelogra

Kalasmelogra - noun and adjective - A word our dad often uses when everything in the plate is mixed up before eating! Usage - 1) "What have you done there? Full of kalasmelogra." (adjective form) 2) "Don't mix things up like a kalasmelogra." (noun form) This blog is a kalamelogra of topics. So, expect this to filled with mixture. 1) Couple of weeks ago, my cell phone stopped working. Reason - no reason! Took it to someone nearby and got to know that it was 'software crash'. I don't know what he really meant. Couple of days ago, I wanted the phone repaired. Started walking from home and reached one marketplace. Rightly found one "Computerised Cellphone Service Center". Went in and for Rs. 250, got the phone repaired. Downside - All my stored contacts got wiped off :( 2) My wife is happy to see the hardcopy of photos of our son. She was asking for it for the past couple of months. She did a big project of selecting a few from around 1000 pho...
Read more