APRIL - JUNE 2010

VOLUME - 12, ISSUE 2

We@

Shapoorji Pallonji Corporate Magazine

Launch of ALDEP

Congratulating Mr.

Saini

New Section Your

Space

Down memory lane with Mr.

V. P. Puranik

Editorial
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it. But finally the rainbows have started apologizing for angry skies and the rain is in. The rains are as if life itself is living. In India, the rainy season is a welcome period and there is no association here of rains with loneliness and depression. In fact it is a time of joy. It is like a release from the oppressive heat that confounds the very mind body and soul. During this monsoon season, this issue presents to you an update on projects like Lulu International Shopping Mall at Kerala and Continuous Casting Plant Project, West Bengal. The issue not only celebrates felicitation of our chairman, Mr Pallonji Mistry at World Zoroastrian Congress Dubai but also on behalf of all SP-ites, congratulate Mr M.D.Saini and Mr V.P .Puranik, for their long association with the company and addition of enormous value. For the 2nd consecutive year, The Imperial is awarded at the Asia Pacific Property Awards. Following the belief that all awards and recognition are because of the teams working on the projects, SP has launched ALDEP it's very first leadership , development program. This issue not only talks about the forum established at SP Group for sharing best practices among group companies and our active participation during Indo-African Conclave but also happenings like meditation session at Hyderabad, inauguration of food court at SP Infocity (Pune), EPL Trophy won by SPCLBlue, Aurangabad etc. On the occasion of World Environment Day (5th June), we have also discussed the ominous implication of climate change. In this issue we have introduced a new section called Your Space. This is literally your space as we will be featuring contributions from you in this section. The content featured in this section will be more of a general nature and not necessarily related to work. We hope you will enjoy reading We@SP and keep contributing at we@shapoorji.com. - Editorial Team.

New Projects
Civil and Structural works for Power Distribution System Requisitioner at Jamshedpur for Tata Steel Construction of Phase II of Deenanath Mangeshkar Super Speciality Hospital at Pune for Lata Mangeshkar Medical Foundation Civil and Structural works of Thermal Power Plant at District Angul, Orissa for Jindal India Thermal Power Limited Civil works for Residential and Commercial Development at New Town, Rajarhat, Kolkata for Tata Housing Development Co. Ltd. Flooring works at Synergy Park SEZ, Phase II at Gachibowli, Hyderabad for CMC Limited & TCS Ltd. Construction of Substation and Control Room Building for DHT Project at Visakh Refinery Visakhapatnam, AP for HPCL Construction of Non Plant Building at proposed Ennore T erminal Project, Chennai for HPCL Civil Works for Tablet Production Facility & Office Block at Yelahanka, Bangalore for AstraZeneca Pharma India Ltd. Construction of The METROZONE, Chennai for Ozone Projects Pvt. Ltd. Civil works of Power Plant at Kashipur, Uttrakhand for Sravanthi Infratech Pvt. Ltd. Painting & Kota Repair works at MIDC Shendra, Aurangabad for Wockhardt Infrastructure Development Ltd. Construction of factory building consisting of Coal Fired Thermic Fluid Heater at Mundegaon, Nashik for Jindal Poly Films Ltd. Construction of AFHNB Housing Complex at Coimbatore for Air Force Naval Housing Board Fabrication and Erection of Structural Steel at NTPL Thermal Power Plant, Tuticorin, Tamilanadu for BHEL Civil Work for Raw Material Handling System of Zone-I ,3 MTPA Expansion Project at Jamshedpur for Tata Steel Ltd. Civil Construction, Land Development & Road Construction for Proposed Optical Fiber Plant at Shendra SEZ, Aurangabad for Sterlite Infra-T ech. Ltd. Civil & Structural Works for BWSSB's Water Treatment Plant at T. K. Halli near Bangalore for Degremont Ltd. Supply, Installation, Testing & Commissioning of PHE Works at Synergy Park SEZ, Phase 2 for CMC Limited / TCS Limited, Gachibowli, Hyderabad Civil & Structural works for River Pump House Requisitioner at Jamshedpur for Tata Steel

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Civil and Structural Works for installation of Board Machine, Turbo Generator and Construction of T owers & Security Barracks at Bhadrachalam, Andhra Pradesh for ITC Paper Boards & Specialty Papers Division

Main Feature
Lulu International Shopping Mall And Star Hotel, Kochi
Lulu International Shopping Mall, set to be one of India's biggest shopping malls, is promoted by the UAE based EMKE Group. The US$ 2.6 billion group, which runs more than 77 hypermarkets, is one of the biggest Indian-owned conglomerates in the Gulf and enjoys over 32% of the total retail market share in the GCC. The Mall is strategically located at the intersection of three highways at Edapally, Kochi. Spread across 17 acres of prime land, the facility also boasts of a 17 storey - 315 Room luxury hotel under the Marriott brand name, adjacent to the Mall. With a total investment of Rs. 1,500 crores, the Mall will be one of the biggest landmarks in Kerala. The development also includes a nine-screen multiplex, a family amusement centre with an ice skating rink and bowling alley, a 50,000 sq.ft. food court with 18 outlets and coffee shops, six restaurants, helipad and a multi-level car park (MLCP) with a capacity of 3,000 vehicles. SPCL's Scope SPCL's scope includes civil, structural, architectural finishing and fit out works, structural steel, external finishes including cladding, ACP and structural glazing, roads, external PHE & services like electrical, HVAC, plumbing, DG, CCTV, access control, fire protection and equipment, telephony, data network, etc. for the shopping mall, hotel and the MLCP . Salient Features Commencement Date : June 1, 2008 Expected Completion Date : Dec 29, 2010 SPCL's Contract Value : Rs.415 Crores (including client supplied items) Total Built-up Area : 20,00,000 sft. (G+3 Shopping Mall) (G+17 Hotel Building) (LB+B+GF MLCP) Peak Labour Strength : 1,500 per day Peak Staff Strength : 110

Artist's Impression of the entire complex. W. S. Atkins India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore is the Architect and also the Structural and MEP Consultant for the Project. SPCL mobilised all the plant and machinery, formwork and supervisory personnel in a major way for the Project to achieve the demanding construction programme. There were several challenges faced during construction, including local labour union issues, heavy monsoon showers, nonavailability of river sand, and difficulties in mobilising migrant labour. Quantities of Major Items Civil, Structural & Finishing Works: Earthworks Concreting Structural Steel Plastering Works Tiling Works Formwork Reinforcement Structural Glazing Painting Works : : : : : : : : : 85,000 cu.m. 1,02,000 cu.m. 654 MT 2,50,000 sq.m. 63,300 sq.m. 3,84,000 sq.m. 13,500 MT 6,000 sq.m. 2,40,000 sq.m.

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Artist's Impression of the Hotel. MEP Works: Chillers 900 TR Cooling Towers Transformers (2,000kVA) HT Panels Metering Panels Escalators Elevators Chillers 280 TR AHUs DG Sets (1,500 kVA) LV Panels Main Distribution Boards Travelletors : : : : : : : : : : : : : 04 Nos. 07 Nos. 08 Nos 03 Nos. 40 Nos. 23 Nos. 18 Nos 03 Nos.. 30 Nos. 06 Nos. 04 Nos. 10 Nos. 02 Nos Conclusion The Lulu Project was awarded to SPCL in mid-2008 and since then SPCL has bagged other projects of Lulu such as Lulu Flight Kitchen, Lulu Airport Hotel. With the scheduled completion of the Lulu International Shopping Mall in December 2010, SPCL will further establish its credentials as a strong construction contracting entity operating in the challenging business environment of Kerala. - Rohit Santhosh, Bangalore.

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Continuous Casting Plant ProjectAn Eventful Journey from Precipice to Success.

In its approach paper for Corporate Plan 2011 2012, the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), had envisaged a rise in its production potential from the present 2.2 MTPA of hot metal to 4.2 MTPA. The Structural Work for Continuous Casting Plant (CCP) Complex at SMS-II is a part of the ambitious plan. SPCL bagged the order for Fabrication and erection for the said Structural Work through its EPC-Project Division and its execution was assigned to the Kolkata RO in May June 2009. The Project features are as follows: Name of the Project Type of Contract Client Consultant Project duration Project Value Contractual date of commencement Contractual date of Completion Extended Date of Completion Structural Work for CCP Complex at SMS-II Item Rate Contract SAIL (RSP) MECON 18 months Rs.149.04 Crores August 11, 2008 February 10, 2010 June 30, 2010

No. 01 02 03

Description Columns Crane Girders Structures (Rolled) a) Bracings, ladders, truss etc b) Purlins, Runners, Monitors Total

Quantities 2,900 MT 1,475 MT 4,615 MT 1,425 MT 10,415 MT

To execute this mammoth task, a fabrication yard was established at Kalunga, Rourkela in May 2009. The Yard is equipped with weigh bridge, DG sets, adequate material handling and welding equipments. The first lot of fabricated structure was despatched to the erection site in June 2009. By the end of May 2010, 8,000 MT of fabrication was completed with available drawings of 8,900 MT. The equipment at the fabrication yard and erection site include: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 25MT Gantry 75MT Crawler Crane 150MT Crawler Crane 12MT Hydra Crane 40MT Telescopic TM Crane Diesel Generator (250 KVA) Welding Equipments 60T Weigh Bridge 1 No. 4 No. 1 No. 3 No. 1 No. 2 No. 40 No. 1 No.

The CCP Project entailed fabrication and erection of heavy structural steel of more than10,000 MT. This included 2800 MT of columns, parts of which weigh 35 MT each, and Crane Girder parts having self-weight varying from 11MT to 66MT. The quantum of fabrication and erection of structural steel work would be gauged from the quantities of individual items as shown below:

There were several problems at the outset of the project, relating to release of drawings, approvals, availability of SAIL steel and delayed release of work fronts. However, SPCL made an all out effort with proactive and innovative project management and mobilisation of additional resources to make up for the lost time. Today, the project is well on track, with several lessons learnt. - Aseem Sharma, Kolkata.

View of Shed.

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Happenings
Congratulations, Mr. Saini

Mr. Saini (2nd from right) with Mr. Cyrus Mistry & other senior management members. Heartiest congratulations to our CEO, Mr. M.D. Saini, on completing 25 years in Shapoorji Pallonji. Mr. Cyrus Mistry along with other senior members of the management presented a bouquet to Mr. Saini and congratulated him on this momentous occasion. Mr. Saini joined us on 7th May, 1985 and handled the Tata Steel projects in Jamshedpur at a difficult time when the Jharkhand agitation was at its peak. In 1993, he took charge of the MRPL Refinery project - a prestigious and very challenging industrial job in Mangalore which was SPCL's single largest value contract at that time and also our first foray in the Hydrocarbon sector. He then started the Bangalore Region in 1996 and had made it the largest region in the country by turnover and profitability and then he shifted to Head Office as Director (Operations) in 2001. In Mumbai, Mr. Saini oversaw a major expansion of the company's operations. Three new regions - Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad, and two divisions - Design & Build and EPC - were launched in this period and he also took the company overseas to Afghanistan, Mauritius, Guyana and Ghana. It was only logical that he became the MD and CEO of Shapoorji Pallonji International in Dubai, where he is based currently, in addition to being in charge of domestic operations in India. Besides UAE, he is also overseeing projects in Libya and Doha. Mr. Saini is a pioneer, who with his expertise, took our company into many new territories be it domestic or international. He brought in a new focus on planning and cost control and strengthened our systems in these areas. He also gave a thrust to Business Development and placed Customer Relationships at the top of our operations. He has had a remarkable impact on the company and the people who have worked with him in the past 25 years. We wish him all success in the future. - Mukesh Rao, SP HO.

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Mr. Pallonji Mistry felicitated at World Zoroastrian Congress, Dubai.

Our Chairman, Mr. Pallonji Mistry receiving a memento from His Highness Sheikh Hasher Juma Al Maktourn, Director of information, Government of Dubai, on December 29, 2009, on the occasion of the 9th World Zoroastrian Congress held in Dubai.

The Imperial Wins 3 More!

The Imperial team at the award function (left to right) -Mr. Suleman Budhwani, Mr. Kekoo Colah, Ms. Maya Meshram & Mr. Rayomand Dastur.

The Imperial has done it again! It has won 3 more 'Asia Pacific Property Awards' in the year 2010. This is the second consecutive year that The Imperial has won these prestigious awards. The Imperial had applied in 3 categories and won all 3 awards. These awards were presented by 'International Property Awards (UK)' at a plush award ceremony held in Hong Kong. Mr. Kekoo Colah CEO, SP Real Estate, Mr.Rayomand Dastur Sr. V.P Sales & Marketing, SP Real Estate, Mr. Suleman . Budhwani V.P Business Development, SD Corporation and . Ms. Maya Meshram from the marketing team of The Imperial were present to receive the awards. This year The Imperial has been aptly knighted the 'Best Residential Building in India' in the following categories:

Best Interior Design : 5BHK Duplex - 10,105 sq ft Best Apartment Layout : 5BHK - 3,810 sq ft Best Apartment Layout : 4 BHK Duplex - 4,390 sq ft This honour has been bestowed upon The Imperial again after its own record of winning 7 awards at the 2009 Asia Pacific Property Awards. It was the first time in the history of these prestigious awards that 7 awards were presented to one single development in the same year. The Imperial is now opening its doors to its esteemed residents after receiving the Occupation Certificate (OC). At a towering 827 feet above mean sea level, The Imperial is India's tallest building and has also come to be seen as a symbol that is redefining the Mumbai skyline. - Rahul Sunkersett, The Imperial.

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Launch of
ALDEP SP's very first in-house Leadership Development , program was launched on the evening of 15th June, 2010, at the Dukes Retreat, Khandala. The formal launch was marked by the traditional lamp lighting by our Managing Director, Mr. Cyrus Mistry. He later addressed the successful participants and shared his vision for SPCL and also the SP Group. Mr. Mistry expressed hope that ALDEP would soon become the industry benchmark for any leadership program. The formal launch was preceded by an inspirational film on ALDEP , which witnessed huge cheering by the audience. All the ALDEPers also took a pledge to abide by the SP Values. Besides the formal launch, the inaugural program of ALDEP included a high-energy two and a half-days workshop on Empowered Leadership and a half-days workshop on SP Corporate Values & Culture. As a first step towards identifying the Young Leaders for ALDEP 2010, we had invited applications from all the Graduate Engineers of Civil, Mechanical and Electrical streams from the GET batches of 2007 and 2008 to participate in the ALDEP Entrance Examination. There were 150 aspirants who competed in the entrance examination. The entrance examination was a two-stage process; Stage I comprising of a Written Test and a Group Discussion, Stage II comprising of a Simulation Game followed by two rounds of Panel Interviews. Only 39 Young Leaders who could clear the stringent selection process have joined the 1st Batch of ALDEP 2010. These , Young Leaders who participated in the inaugural program of ALDEP 2010 at Khandala, now look forward to the challenging and exciting times ahead in the coming four years, packed with a pedagogy involving case-study, action learning, task-force and project-based learning. We wish them a great future with SPCL! The list of 39 Young Leaders is given on the following page.

Mr. Cyrus Mistry lighting the inaugural lamp.

The program in progress.

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The ALDEPers taking the pledge.

The ALDEPers. Name Pratibha Singh Saurabh Bansal Ravindra Raveendra G.N. Pranay Reddy B Karthik Nair Arjun Vyas Shivin V S Adeep Jacob Abhishek Sharma Tandon Yash Deepak Kumar Mittal Tanik Kumar Batwara Jitendra Singh Mohit Malani Amit Kumar Jain Abhijeet Nandi Upananda Rath Anil Kumar Singhdeo Tavneet Bhalla Srinadh Kandada Vijaya Saradhi Kodali Sanku Konai Sandeep Kumar Anupam Mandal Mahadev Mahato Puspak Gupta Anshul Turkar Shrikant M Mehul Vivek Kate Rohit Abhaykumar Jain Sonia Chimote Kiran Bharamshetti Kshirsagar Ajinkya Shashank Dhamane Jagriti Ramesh Singh Larry Cooper Banks Shedbale Abhijeet Sayak Banerjee Region Stream Ahmedabad Civil Ahmedabad Civil Bangalore Civil Bangalore Civil Bangalore Civil Bangalore Civil Chennai Civil Chennai Civil Chennai Civil Delhi Civil Delhi Civil Delhi Electrical Delhi Electrical Delhi Mechanical Delhi Production EPC Civil EPC Industrial Hyderabad Civil Hyderabad Civil Hyderabad Civil Hyderabad Civil Hyderabad Civil Kolkata Civil Kolkata Civil Kolkata Civil Kolkata Civil Kolkata Civil Mumbai Civil Mumbai Civil Pune Civil Pune Civil Pune Civil Pune Civil Pune Civil Pune Civil Pune Civil RE-Kolkata Electrical SP Centre Civil SP Centre Civil

The1st Batch of ALDEP .

- Sohan Mohanty, SP HO.

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Group Practice Sharing Forum

Mr. Subodh Dixit, SPCL & Ms. Bhakti Prasad, AFCONS at the event.

Mr. Vasant Sanzgiri welcoming the gathering.

Mr. Cyrus Mistry presenting a bouquet to Mr. Bhupendra Sharma.

The first Shapoorji Pallonji Practice Sharing Forum was held on 16th April, 2010 at SRCC Centre for Child Development, Mumbai. This initiative, planned to be held every quarter, was launched by Group Centre with the objective of sharing the practices which have been successful with all Group companies. The theme of the first forum was to share practices in the area of Knowledge Management and Human Resources practices. The hall was packed with executives from all the Group companies SPCL, SPRE, SP Fab, SPCMG, AFCONS, Sterling & Wilson, Eureka Forbes, Forbes, Next Gen and SP Infra. Mr. Vasant Sanzgiri, Group Head - Human Resources, welcomed the gathering. Mr. Cyrus Mistry, Managing Director, in his opening address said that Group practices were the fabric that bind us together. He stated that the Group had aspirations requiring tremendous abilities and scalability and capability building need to be tackled. One way to achieve this is by adopting the relevant practices that have worked for other companies in the Group.

The first presentation was by Mr. Bhupendra Sharma of Nxtlyf, a management consulting firm. Mr. Bhupendra cautioned the companies against blindly copying practices from elsewhere. This would introduce decadence in the organization. What is required is adaptability and innovation. He gave the case studies of Disney Entertainment, Arvind Eye Hospital and Circus Soleil who accomplished spectacular results by being creative, ingenious and adapting to the requirements. In the next presentation, Mr. Mathi, National Sales Head of Eureka Forbes Ltd. (EFL), outlined the growth of the company. Pioneers in Direct Retail, the Customer Sales Specialist (Sales Representative) is the lynchpin - the man who makes the doorto-door sale. In EFL, he is called a Eurochamp who is a Friend for Life to his customer. EFL retains talent and builds leadership through the 4 pillars of Earning, Learning, Pride and Fun. Performance is rewarded through generous incentives and membership in elite company circles. EFL is a people company with a buddy scheme to nurture new recruits, Leader Coach to train and develop Eurochamps and a

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The attendees of the forum.

mentoring programme for high potential leaders. Training is mandatory for upgradation / promotion. Ms. Shubha from EFL spoke about the highly acclaimed Knowledge Management (KM) initiative in Eureka Forbes. The KM portal Euroshare was created in 2001 to capture the learning in the 18 Strategic Business Units. The results were impressive. KM added Rs. 9.2 crores to the revenue apart from uncovering hidden talent and leaders. The world also took notice. The KM initiative at EFL was the subject of a case study at IIM, Ahmedabad and won several MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise) awards. Mr. Mohan Singh and Mr. Basavaraj spoke about the HR challenges in Sterling & Wilson in the face of rapid expansion. The head count of the company has grown from 500 to 2031 and turnover from Rs. 190 crores to Rs. 1500 crores in a short period of 4 years. Various divisions had different challenges and the biggest was attracting and retaining talent. An Employee Satisfaction Survey was conducted in October 2008 to

understand the minds of their people. Mr. Khurshed Daruvala, the Managing Director, added that the primary reason for the low rate of attrition at Sterling & Wilson was empowerment of managers at the Regional Level. The session concluded with a presentation on Learning and Development Practices in AFCONS by Ms. Bhakti Prasad, Head - Human Resources. AFCONS' mission is Total Satisfaction for all Stakeholders which was communicated around the company. A key practice for Total Satisfaction was Learning and Development. The Learning process comprised Domain, Functional and Behavioural training. The introduction of 'Classroom on site' during 2009-10 almost doubled the average training man-days/employee in 2009-10. The next Forum is scheduled in July and the theme for it would be Finance and IT. -Vasant Sanzgiri, Group Center & Mukesh Rao, SP HO.

SPCL Awarded Valuable Business Associate by TATA BP Solar India Ltd.

Tata BP Solar India Ltd., the joint venture between BP Solar and Tata Power, awarded SPCL the Valuable Business Associate memento at the lavish inauguration ceremony of their 32 MW Solar Cell Plant at Tata BP Solar, Electronics City, Bangalore on 28th April, 2010. The memento was presented by Mr. Adi Engineer, Chairman, Tata BP Solar to Mr. T.R. Mallikarjuna, Vice President Bangalore region.

Bangalore. Subsequently, SPCL was entrusted with the construction works for 5 more phases of expansion projects within the same premises from January 2003 to September 2008. M/s C.R. Narayana Rao, Chennai were the Architects & Consultants for the project.

Mr. Adi Engineer presenting memento to Mr. T. R. Mallikarjuna. Tata BP Solar India Ltd. is a 51:49 JV between BP Solar and Tata Power. Formed in 1989 with commercial operations beginning in 1991, the Company manufactures low-crystalline silicon cells and solar modules used to generate electricity from sunlight. Having touched a total cell capacity of 84 MW and module capacity of 125 MW, Tata BP Solar's manufacturing facilities for Solar Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Products are the largest of their kind in the country. SPCL's association with Tata BP Solar started in October 2000 when it was awarded the construction works for their New Manufacturing Facility for Photovoltaic Cells in Electronics City,

The TATA BP Solar site. The highlight of the project was Tata BP Solar's HSSE System that required rigorous work permit systems, deployment of trained construction workmen, mechanised operations and exceptionally high site safety standards to be followed and implemented by SPCL. These projects with Tata BP Solar have given SPCL an opportunity to showcase its ability to match international safety standards in construction and in the process maintain it's position as Tata BP Solar's first choice for all their major construction requirements. - Rohit Santhosh, Bangalore.

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Supervisor Upgradation Course - Batch 4

Mr. Kalpanath Banerjee presenting cheque to Mr. Rambhu Kumar from Pune Region for standing 2nd in Finishes Stream. The fourth batch of upgraded supervisors completed their course at the Supervisor Training Center, Kolkata. The 10 week course commenced on 12th April, 2010 and was completed on 19th June, 2010. A total of 21 supervisors from all regions participated in the training in two streamsFormwork/ Steel Fixing and Finishes. In the passing out ceremony held at the school on 19th June, 2010, Mr. Kalpanath Banerjee (VP Kolkata Region) was the , chief guest and presented cheques of Rs. 3000/- each to the toppers and Rs. 1500/- each to the second rank holders. It is anticipated that these incentives will inculcate a spirit of competition amongst the Trainees.

Mr. Joerg Meyer (sitting, 4th from left) with the students of Batch 4 & school staff. The toppers were Mr. Nagarajan (Bangalore) in the Finishing stream and Mr. Shyamsundar Sahu (Hyderabad) in the Formwork / Steel Fixing stream. Mr. Rambhu Kumar (Pune) and Mr. Anup Kumar Chattopadyay (Kolkata) stood second respectively. With this batch, 84 supervisors have been upgraded in the institute. Since its inception 2 years ago, the Supervisor Training Centre has trained more than 150 supervisors for various regions of SPCL. - Col. Alok Mukherjee, STC, Kolkata.

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Indo-African Conclave
India and Africa have always enjoyed the best of political relations; Indian businessmen and traders have settled in different parts of Africa and have been contributing to the growth of their adopted countries. In the recent past, Indian companies have been taking a keen interest in the scope for business offered by the African continent, especially the mineral rich sub Saharan Africa. CII has been hosting annual Indo-African Conclaves to promote business partnerships with Africa. The Shapoorji Pallonji Group of Companies made its presence felt at the 6th CII EXIM Indo-African Conclave, held in New Delhi, from 14th to 16th March, 2010. About 1000 participants from 34 countries avidly networked and sought potential business alliances from several industrial groups who had showcased their capabilities and expertise. We took two stalls representing the entire spectrum of our project expertise, products and services. H.E. Mr. John Dramani Mahama, Vice President of Ghana, inaugurated the SP Group stall. There was a tremendous response from the African countries. Delegates who visited our stall included, the Vice President of Ghana, Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms. Hannah Tetteh, Prime Minister of Togo, and Ministers from Senegal, Malawi, to name a few. All the Honorary Indian Consul Generals to African countries not only visited our stall but were also given a private presentation on the SP Group's potential. Key Government of India officials including the top brass of the Ministry of External Affairs attended the conference. Mr. S. Kuppuswamy, Advisor - Group Finance & Special Projects, Shapoorji Pallonji, chaired a session on Going Green Construction. Mr. S. Paramasivan of Afcons, made a presentation on A Robust Infrastructure for Africa's Future. Mr. Sanjay Sainani, President & CEO (Intl. Operations), Sterling & Wilson Middle East Electromechanical LLC, made a presentation on Sterling & Wilson's capabilities in the area of Rural Electrification. Mr. Ashok Barat, Mr. S. P Bagli, Mr. B. K. Arora, Mr. Rajveer . Dulgach, Mr. Prasanna Sarambale, Mr. Farhad Hormazdi, Mr. Vinod Sao, Mr. Sandeep Bhatia and Mr. Prashant Rahmane also attended the Conclave. Forbes Technosys and Eureka Forbes made quite an impact with their innovative products, like a solar powered ATM and a water purifier that works without electricity. All in all, the Conclave served as a major opportunity for the Indian Government and Industry to explore new avenues to scale up India-Africa trade up to US$ 70 billion in the course of the next five years. (World Reflections May '10 issue, covering the Indo-African Conclave). The whole show was coordinated by Mr. N. Balasubramanian of Forbes and Mr. Rohit Sinha of Shapoorji Pallonji. WHY AFRICA ? Take a look at the scope offered by Africa for Indian companies: Profit margins compare favourably against developing countries, making African countries an attractive destination. A fact made quite obvious by the huge interest evinced by China over the last few years. Although the level of competition at present is not that fierce, the scene is changing fast, as governments are increasingly offering attractive incentives for their business groups to make forays in to Africa. And, why not? There are 53 countries in the continent accounting for almost 15% of the world's population. Add to that, a growing middle class making Africa an ideal target market for SP Real Estate and Eureka Forbes Ltd. As for Mineral resources, Africa hosts 90% of world's Cobalt, 50% of all Gold reserves, 98% of Chromium, 70% of Tantalite, 64% of Manganese and 34% of Uranium, providing a huge opportunity for mining operations. Coal mining has big potential in the Continent. The agricultural potential too is tremendous, with scope for cultivation of cotton, tea, coffee, cocoa, sugarcane and floriculture. Our Group has already forayed into Agriculture and pongamia (for bio-diesel) having taken 50,000 ha of arable land in Ethiopia, recently, on long term lease. Of the US$ 5 billion soft lines of credit being offered by India over a period of five years, for sub Saharan Africa, more than US$ 1 billion has been disbursed. Shapoorji Pallonji has already constructed several landmark projects in the African continent the Seat of Government in Accra being the most recent (2008-09). Earlier projects include the Ebene Cybercity, in Mauritius adjudged the world's Most Intelligent Building in 2005 - and Les Pailles Convention Centre, also in Mauritius. Shapoorji Pallonji has recently secured the order for building the new National Assembly in the Republic of the Gambia. Afcons too, has done sterling projects in the Continent two berths in Mauritius and a port in Madagascar. Earlier, Afcons had also constructed a part of Port Assab, now in Eritrea. - Rohit Sinha, SP HO.

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Inauguration of Food Court in the SEZ Premises at SP Infocity, Pune

Mr. Yogesh Agarwal inaugurating the foodcourt. The food court in the SEZ premises of SP Infocity, Pune was officially inaugurated on 6th April, 2010. Mr Yogesh Agarwal, Managing Director Easioption BPO Services, one of the esteemed clients at SP Infocity's SEZ cut the ribbon and declared the food court open. The food court is situated on the terrace and enjoys natural ventilation. It is covered with an insulated roofing material and is open on two sides which give it access from the other blocks of the building as well. It is designated for exclusive use by the employees of clients based in the SEZ premises only. Spread

The new foodcourt at SP Infocity, Pune. over 18,000 sq ft, the seating area has a capacity of 850 seats. 350 seats have been commissioned in the initial phase along with a holding kitchen area, dish and pot wash area and washroom blocks. The balance areas will be commissioned based on the building occupancy. The food court currently operates from Monday to Friday and serves breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks. Dinner is served on request at present. - Shailesh Korgaokar, SP Infocity, Pune.

Meditation Session at Hyderabad Region

A healthy mind and body leads to healthy structures and increase in productivity. It gives us peace of mind and relaxation. Our endeavor has been to constantly create health consciousness and the spirit of team building amongst the SPCL family. With this keen inspiration, a Meditation Session was organized with the support of Brahma Kumaris on 24th April, 2010 at Shanti Sarovar, Hyderabad. 135 members of staff, families and clients attended the two and a half hour session. Being held on a Saturday evening, participants were more relaxed, to begin with. They enjoyed the experience of tranquility, and took home a happy frame of mind at the culmination of the session.

Sister Sheela, Co-ordinator of Brahma Kumaris, conducted the session. It was a privilege to have her as she is usually known to conduct exclusive sessions for IAS officers and ministers. Sister Kuldeep, the Director, explained the process of meditation and positive thinking. Unanimously, the attendants were convinced that 'Meditation is better than Medication'. - Aziz Tayyaba, Hyderabad.

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EPL Trophy Won by SPCL Blue Aurangabad, Nashik Region

The winning team. Empire Premier League (EPL) Cricket Tournament was held at Empire Mall, Aurangabad as a part of the 39th National Safety Week Celebrations. The tournament consisted six teams: 1.SPCL Blue 2.SPCL Lemon 3.Empire Maratha 4.Blue Star 5.Voltas 6.Empire Warriors

The final was won by the SPCL Blue team from Aurangabad in Nashik Region. - Rajaram Hiray, Nashik.

Fun Tour for Underprivileged Children

The Shapoorji Pallonji Staff Recreation Club, Eastern Region, arranged a fun filled outing at Nicco Park in Kolkata, for the underprivileged children on 14th May, 2010. This was organized in line with the motto of the club to 'Serve Society'. The children who were taken out belonged to Schools of the World, located in Tollygunge. The principal of the school is Ms. Shimanti Das and the school is sponsored by Ana Velasco, President of AMAVIDA a social welfare organization. The children were picked up from their school by bus at 9.00 am and were welcomed by Mrs. Sushmita Banerjee and the office bearers of the club. All together there were around 40 children, accompanied by 10 teachers from the school and staff of SPCL. In order to promote learning amongst the children, they were provided with a school bags and pencil boxes. Breakfast was packed for them in a tiffin boxes specially bought for them. The gifts were distributed by Mrs. Usha Venkatesan and Mr. Surojit Basu at Nicco Park before the start of the tour. Inside the park they thoroughly enjoyed the different rides. The joy on their faces was something to behold. Lunch was provided at one of the outlets at Nicco Park. The children departed tired but very happy at about 4 pm in the evening. The entire event was managed and organized by Mr. Sandeep Kumar and Mrs. Lipika Sen. Post the event, Ms Shimanti Das said We are touched by your humane attitude towards our deprived and poor children. This was the 1st summer camp the students participated in and enjoyed to their heart's content. - Lipika Sen, Kolkata.

Delhi GETs Participate in ET Brand Equity Quiz

Two GETs from Delhi Region G. Chockalingam and Sidram Kaudaki represented Shapoorji Pallonji in The Economic Times Brand Equity Quiz held in Delhi on 8th May, 2010. Mr. Derek O'Brien (of Bournvita Quiz Contest and Times of Oman Quiz fame) was the quizmaster for this competition which ranks with Tata Crucible as India's most prestigious Business Quiz.They competed with quizzers from 47 other corporate teams including the likes of HSBC, ICICI, Airtel, NTPC, BPCL, Accenture and Citibank. They narrowly missed making it to the final six. However, they got a special mention from the quizmaster as Shapoorji Pallonji was the only team from the construction sector and they were amongst the youngest participants.We wish them all the success for next year's Brand Equity Quiz and hope that they make it to the Regional Finals! - Rukhsana Haque.

G. Chockalingam & Sidram Kaudaki.

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Towards Excellence
Climate Change

Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. It can be a change in the average weather or a change in the distribution of weather events around an average. Climate change may be limited to a specific region, or may occur across the whole of the earth. In recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy, climate change usually refers to changes in modern climate. It may be qualified as anthropogenic climate change, i.e. climate change due to activities of humankind, and is now generally known as global warming. Climate change has a severe impact on life on earth. It drastically affects food cycles, rise in ocean levels resulting in inundation of low lying islands and coastal areas, changed patterns of rainfall affecting availability of water for consumption and agriculture, etc. Recent times have seen either severe rainfall causing havoc to agriculture and livestock, or severe drought which is as disastrous. The consequences are a threat to our very existence, or at least to life as we have known it ever since. Pollution of the elements Ancient man regarded the elements of nature, air, fire, earth and water with great awe and, not understanding their various intensities and phenomena, worshipped them. The modern man has done all but revere them. By burning of fossil fuels, we have misused fire and polluted the very air

that we breathe, and have defiled the earth and water that sustain all forms of life. The four cylinder internal combustion engine was perfected in the 1860s, and it was as early as 1896 that Svante Arrhenius predicted that fossil fuel combustion may eventually result in enhanced global warming. He found that the average surface temperature of the earth was about 15C because of the infrared absorption capacity of water vapour and carbon dioxide (CO2). This is called the natural greenhouse effect. Doubling of the CO2 concentration would lead to a 5C temperature rise. Such sustained global warming brings about significant climate change. His warnings went unheeded. Carbon dioxide CO2 or for that matter, any greenhouse gas, causes warming by absorbing some of the heat radiation coming off the earth's surface, and re-radiating it back downwards, instead of allowing the heat to escape into space. No doubt, all living animals including humans breathe out carbon in the form of CO2. Apart from that, we are pouring more and more CO2 into the atmosphere through several activities of the contemporary age, including vehicle engines, jet engines, industries including steel plants, thermal power plants, etc.. Vegetation, oceans and rocks all drain out the carbon from the atmosphere. These drains are slow and Nature's systems can no longer cope with the faster rate of carbon

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Due to global warming, birds and animals have started migrating further north in search of cooler climes. But where they go is not hospitable habitat for them, and natural foods may not be found here. Another instance is that of the polar bear. The polar bear is known to hibernate during the extreme cold winter of the Arctic, during which time all its fat reserves are used up. When they come out of hibernation, they go out hunting for fish on the frozen surface of the ocean. Using its body weight, it breaks the ice to reach out for its food. However, owing to global warming, the ice sheets have started melting rapidly, making it impossible for the bear to hunt for fish. The polar bear is already a threatened species; will this lead to its extinction? Picture Courtesy: National Geographic. belched into the atmosphere. As long as we pour in CO2 faster than Nature can drain it out, planet Earth gets warmer. That extra carbon takes a long time to be absorbed by Nature's system. It is estimated that it would take vegetation, oceans and rocks hundreds of years to remove most of the CO2 that we pour in and thousands of years to remove it all. During the pre-industrial days, the CO2 level in the atmosphere remained at around 271 parts per million (ppm). In 2008, the CO2 level was 385ppm. If the current emission rates continue unabated, the CO2 level will surpass 450ppm by 2050. CO2 levels from old ice bubbles of 800,000 years age in Antarctica ice cores have been studied. The highest CO2 level of 229ppm was noted from ice bubbles 333,000 years old. Effect of deforestation Four-fifths of additional CO2 emission is from burning fossil fuels. All the balance is due to deforestation and changes in land use. Trees and plants remove carbon (in the form of CO2) from the atmosphere during the process of photosynthesis and release oxygen back into the atmosphere during normal respiration. Forests absorb vast quantities of CO2 which is converted into starch and other organic matter. Thus, forests are considered as carbon sinks. If, by chance, there is a forest fire a very common feature not only in tropical countries such as Indonesia, but also in North America, Europe and Australia. During such major devastating fires, a lot of this carbon is released into the air as the green house gas CO2. Deforestation therefore increases the CO2 level. Large tracts of coastal areas in India are covered with leafy mangroves, which help reduce CO2 levels. The value of mangroves is realised and denudation of mangrove swamps is an offence. Effect of climate change on flora and fauna Due to the erratic extremes of temperature, the rhythmic cycle followed by nature has, in recent times, been rather disturbed. Plants pollinate and form fruit at a time which does not coincide with the breeding season of birds. Insects tend to proliferate at a time when there is not enough vegetation to support them. The world's oceans gobble up carbon dioxide. Tiny algae called phytoplankton, nutrition for fish, take up carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. When phytoplankton die, their remains drift to the depths and decompose, a natural cycle that keeps carbon trapped on the seafloor for centuries. Warmer ocean waters absorb lesser CO2. Between 2000 and 2007, as emissions of the potent greenhouse gas carbon dioxide sky-rocketed, the amount of carbon absorbed by the oceans fell from 27 to 24 percent. This has resulted in loss of food for fish, resulting in diminishing fish harvests. Other Greenhouse Gases CO2 is not the only greenhouse gas. In fact methane (CH4) is the most powerful greenhouse gas, given off from waste dumps, marshy grounds and anaerobic decomposition of organic matter. Methane is also given off by cattle, and India being an agricultural country, the ratio of people to cattle is 4:1. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been used rampantly in the past in aerosols, but when it was found out that the CFCs broke down the ozone layer (which protects the Earth's surface from harmful radiations from the sun) leading to an ozone hole, its usage was banned. Water vapour also acts as a greenhouse gas, but being naturally produced, it cannot be controlled. Conclusion To ensure a lesser impact on the climate system, it is essential to balance inflow and absorption of CO2. This is possible only through huge cuts in emissions from cars, power plants and factories. It is also necessary to bring about curbs on harmful activities such as uncontrolled denudation of forest lands, rampant removal of foliage such as mangroves in the guise of development, and release of harmful gases into the atmosphere such as methane and chlorofluorocarbons. It is high time that renewable sources of energy be increasingly used for power generation, such as nuclear, wind, solar, tidal and geo-thermal. - S.P Bagli, SP HO. .

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Two Simple Rules for A Successful Presentation

Most presentations don't turn out successful because the presenter hasn't prepared well on two basic grounds. In fact, these two classic errors are so crucial that I'm going to elevate them to The Two Rules for Preparing a Successful Presentation. Rule One: Know The Audience Presentations are about their audiences, not their speakers. Before you write anything down, or commit anything to a Power Point slide, you must give some thought to your listeners. So ask yourself obvious - but easy to forget questions like: What time of day am I presenting at? How many people will be in the audience? Will they just have eaten, or will they be looking forward to a meal? Will they have heard a number of other speeches, or is mine the only one? The answer to each of these questions should affect the length, style and content of your presentation. People have more energy and more ability to hear complex ideas early in the day; later in the day their energy wears out and they don't want to entertain as many new ideas. Larger audiences demand more energy from the speaker and want to laugh more than they want to cry. The worst audience (from the speaker's point of view) is a tired, fed, slightly inebriated audience. That audience needs President Reagan's rule for after-dinner speeches: 12 minutes, a few jokes, and sit down before the audience stands up. But the really interesting things to know about audience members are: What do they fear? What are their dreams? Where do they want to be led? What have they had recent cause to like or dislike? Only once you understand the emotional state of the audience you are ready to begin to design a presentation for them. Far too many speakers make the mistake of believing that one size fits all. I have seen executives give the same speech about the financial performance of the company to investors, to the general public, and to employees - with very different results. Rule Two: Tell Them One Thing, and One Thing Only This is a difficult rule for most presenters to follow. But it's essential. The oral genre is highly inefficient. We audience members simply don't remember most of what we hear. We're easily sidetracked, confused, and tricked. We get distracted by everything from the color of the presenter's tie to the person sitting in the next row to our own internal monologues. So you've got to keep it simple. Many studies show that we only remember a small percentage of what we hear somewhere between 10 30 percent. But when a speaker gets in front of an audience, the urge to tell them everything you know is very hard to resist. Far too many speakers perform a data dump on their audiences at the first opportunity. Unfortunately, we can only hold 4 or 5 ideas in our heads at one time, so as soon as you give audience a list of more than 5 items, they are going to start forgetting things as they hear them. Against this dismal human truth there is only one defense: focus your presentation on a single idea. Be ruthless. Write that one idea down in one declarative sentence and paste it up on your computer. Then eliminate everything, no matter how beautiful a slide it's on, that doesn't support that idea. Follow these two rules and you'll find that audience will remember - and maybe even act on - your speeches. After all, the only reason to give a speech is to make a difference and change the world. - Prabal Kansal, SP HO.

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Wide Angle
Down Memory Lane With Mr. V.P. Puranik

Mr. V.P Puranik, Sr. Vice President (Nashik Region). . It is a matter of great pleasure and pride to know that Mr. V. P Puranik, Sr. Vice President (Nasik Region) recently . completed 46 years in the company. We spent more than an hour with him in his office at Nasik and asked him to share his experience with us. He speaks about the early days, his growth in the company, working abroad, setting up a region and running it successfully. Mr. Puranik also had several words of advice for the young engineers. Here is Mr. Puranik in his own words: The Beginning (1964-69): I joined Shapoorji Pallonji on the 4th of January, 1964. Shapoorji Seth beckoned me to sit beside him and told me you start tomorrow. Do a good job and I will give you good training in this company. I started under Mr. R. K. Shah at the TATA Colony, Andheri where I worked for a month on final measurements and bills. In the next 4 months I went through two running projects BARC and Special Steels in Borivali to learn our systems. I was then sent to the location of Juhu Galli where we were building 33 residential blocks (G+3) for New India Insurance Company. I was told to clear the 7 feet high grass and do the layout. A week later; my Project Chief Mr. R. K. Shah said you have done a good job. Now start executing also. I am behind you and am there to help you but you are doing this yourself. Thus, commenced my voyage in construction. Working In The Sixties: We had 5-6 Ghutedars (Gang Leaders). Each one of them had 200-300 people mostly from Andhra Pradesh. They used to work on Rate basis. Departmental work was done by another Gang leader with 15-30 people. Departmental work was very less and never done by the Rate basis contractors. These were very loyal regular contractors working continuously with us. In the sixties, we had great stalwarts like Mr. Feroz Madan, Mr. Feroze Mistry, Mr. Bomanji Patuck and Mr. Savaksha Daruwala. They were a great influence on me. I also had to learn basic accounting on site. We went into the smallest detail. If a fitter wasn't doing it right, you had to show him how to bend steel into a ring properly. The Transition Period (1969-1976): In 1969, I was put on Taj Intercontinental. We had a race on with another SP site Oberoi Sheraton to finish first. No overhead crane or concrete pump was available. We devised a pulley and managed a slab cycle time of 18 days. In 1972, the Taj opened first sometime in August.

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Then, I was sent to Nasik for the prestigious MICO Bosch job. It was tough and we had to deliver a Rs. 4 crore job (this was in 1972) project in 11 months. The concrete roads we built then stand even today without a scratch. This was followed by another challenging industrial project at Shahbad (Karnataka) for AVB (ACC Vickers Bobcock) Boiler Tube factory. Gulf Foray (1976 to 1982): 1976 was a lean year in India and given a choice between Pune and Dubai I opted for the latter. The foreign operations were part of the consolidation and expansion initiated by Mr. Pallonji after he took over. Mr. Pallonji visited Dubai and Doha regularly along with Mr. Feroz Mistry and took keen interest in all activities. We did top quality jobs like the Corniche Hospital in Abu Dhabi and the MEFEX Bank building in Qatar. Back To Nasik (1982 onwards) Back in India, Mr. Feroz Mistry gave me a choice of either Bombay or Nasik which was being revived. I chose the latter. We cashed in on the industrial boom and built the plants for MICO (2nd & 3rd phase), Mahindra & Mahindra, Crompton Greaves, Greaves Cotton and Siemens. There is also one prestigious job most SP-ites are not aware of the Currency Note Press. We got this job because of the tight time schedule and eventually constructed the entire complex. Nasik became the third region after Mumbai & Pune. The Nineties: In the nineties, Mr. Shapoor Mistry and Mr. Cyrus Mistry pursued diversification and took the company to higher levels as we aggressively ventured into new areas. Mr. H. J. Amin injected professionalism into the operations and introduced new systems regular review meetings and reports which are in place today. He was also responsible for bringing our HR practices to date. In the nineties we expanded to Aurangabad. My team: I have been fortunate in having a good team working for me. In my region the engineers work as Surveyors, Site engineers also do Billing and Planning. I learnt that way and I believe that they should be complete engineers. I give them opportunities to learn in all fields. I personally interact with them and know their

families. There is a very personal touch in my region. I have a good team here. The boys have helped in building the region with their hard work and efforts. Some of them like Asif Memon, Kulkarni and Palwankar have got good positions. On Managing Costs: I have done around 90-100 projects in this region and not a single one of them has lost money. Very close monitoring is done for every project. We make sure no measurements are missed out and all claims are up to date. And if you keep a proper watch all malpractices will be non existent. I also maintain a compact Regional office. My total office strength here is 10-15 people. On Customer Relationships: Nasik Region has excellent relations with its clients and we thrive on repeat orders. After we came to Nasik, MICO, Mahindra & Mahindra, Jindals and Skoda, to name a few, have not given any work to other contractors. We are always there for them and would not do anything where the clients would complain. Your client can complain only when progress is not there, only when some willful negligence of their instructions are taking place or something wrong is going on at the site. All these things don't happen. My boys all understand that you have to keep up relations with the clients. And A Final Note : It's been a long and very fruitful journey in SP I was fortunate to . have the support and guidance of my mentors all along the way. It started in 1964 when Shapoorji Seth asked me to sit beside him and initiated me on the path to becoming a good engineer. Pallonji Seth visited my sites, encouraged me and gave all the good breaks. Mr. Firoz Mistry was the mentor who really taught me everything in civil engineering. Mr. Shapoor Mistry and Mr. Cyrus Mistry supported me and allowed me to grow along with the company. I'm grateful to all of them. Many people wonder about me having spent 40-45 years in a single company. But, if you feel that you are a part of the company, you will always spend your lifetime there. You will become a pillar in the company. - Editorial Team

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Focus On Our Group Companies

New Projects For Afcons

One of the bridges in the Nad Al Sheba race course development project at Dubai. AFCONS has recently executed a number of challenging projects in India and overseas. We bring you highlights of two of these. The Highway Complex at Nad Al Sheba Race Course in Dubai The Nad Al Sheba race course development project is part of a new road network planned by Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) for Meydan Development. The Project was completed on schedule in April 2010 by AFCONS Construction Mideast LLC. The value of the Project was 530 million Dirhams. The Project included construction of 3 bridges with a length of around 2,500m, including 969m length pre-stressed concrete deck with the maximum span of 60m across a canal, over 683 piles, 547m length of reinforced soil wall approaches and 420m of terrace wall approaches and bridge connecting road works. The Project also included construction of the new Meydan Road (D69) connecting existing interchange at Al-Ain road and existing Muscat road over a length of 4.6km with 5 to 9 lanes and ramps and stable access for Meydan and the D69 Road for a length of 4.2km with two lanes. This required raising of the 400kv overhead power lines in order to ensure the sufficient vertical clearances to road D69, and diversion and installation of utilities along the service corridor and across the road works. New Phosphate Port at Aqaba Jordon The Jordan Phosphate Mine Company (JPMC) signed an agreement with AFCONS Infrastructure Ltd. to construct a new phosphate port. Under the Agreement, AFCONS will design and construct the Port in 25 months, by the third quarter of 2012. Under an agreement with the Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC), JPMC and will develop and operate the Port for 30 years. The US$ 240 million project is financed through a US$ 110 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), while the JPMC will provide the remaining cost. Once the port is completed, ADC will be able to close the present phosphate port and work on its development. The new phosphate port will have an average annual handling capacity of about four million tonnes and will include a 280 metre long berth, equipped with handling equipment.

A stretch of New Meydan Road in the Nad Al Sheba race course development project at Dubai.

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Your Space
This is a new section which will feature articles of a general nature contributed by the readers.

Going Digital?
Digital photography has become commonplace today due to the ease it provides in clicking, editing and sharing images. I am sure many of you would be using digital cameras and many would be planning to buy one. This article provides some pointers to help you make the right decision and get better output from your digital imaging equipment. This article primarily refers to the compact digital camera category and not to the SLR camera segment. Do Not Fall For The Mega Pixel Hype: Today all major camera manufacturers are releasing a higher mega pixel camera practically every month and they would like you to upgrade. But do you really need to? Higher mega pixel does not necessarily mean better image quality. Image quality depends a lot on the quality of the camera optics and the camera processor. So always opt for a good camera from a reputed brand. The investment will be worth it. Mega pixel count comes into play only when you are printing. The higher the mega pixels, the larger you can print. But how many of us actually print our digital images, and how many of us print them big? Here's a rough guide to mega pixels and print sizes. Max Print Size (inches) 4x6 5x7 8 x 10 11 x 14 16 x 20 Minimum Mega Pixels Needed 2 3 5 6 8+ Image Resolution (pixels) 1600 x 1200 2048 x 1536 2560 x 1920 2816 x 2112 3264 x 2468 timer options, optical zoom range, flash power, video resolution, stereo audio, focusing modes etc. Although most branded cameras offer these today, you should check and base your purchase decision on these factors as they make a big difference. Remember, a wider angle will be of more use to you in day to day photography than a longer zoom as it will cover landscapes and groups better. It will also work better in lower light. Long zoom is useful if you go for wildlife shoots. Similarly, the latest HD video will look good if you have a HD video output source like a HD TV. HD video will also consume huge space on the memory card. Instead look for a VGA resolution with higher frame rates and stereo audio. Check the brightness of the LCD screen in sunlight. Check if your camera supports high capacity memory cards. The bottom-line is: buy a camera based on features catering to your requirement rather than the total number of features or the latest fad. Get A Big Memory Card: Today memory cards are much cheaper than what they were a couple of years back. So go for a bigger memory card as it will be very helpful in the long run. It will not just store more photos, it will allow you to shoot more and longer videos. Videos consume much more space than still shots. Ideally, you should go for a 4 GB card. In case you want to shoot a lot of video, go for a higher capacity card. Learn A Bit Of Editing: Traditionally, for film printing through professional labs, we generally got good prints. That was because they used to adjust the exposure for the optimum print quality. However, today a lot of printing is done by people at home as the volume is less. Most images are shared via the net or on CDs. Though digital cameras of today are quite advanced and it is difficult to get a bad picture, the images can always be improved a bit by editing. I am not saying you need to own and learn a professional software like Photoshop and indulge in high level editing. No, just get an idea of basic editing like brightness, contrast, exposure, colour saturation etc. These small things will also make a huge difference in your pictures. You can select from a plethora of free photo editing software available on the internet. Irfanview, PhotoScape, Serif PhotoPlus and Vicaman's Photo Editor are just some of the options. Alternatively, if you have an internet connection handy, you can even edit your photos online on websites like www.fotoflexer.com, www.pixenate.com, www.pixlr.com, www.blibs.com and many more.

So as you can see, you can print even with a 2 mega pixel camera. For mailing and online sharing you can work with even lower resolutions. Also remember, the higher the resolution, the bigger the file size and hence, more storage space needed. Look For Features That Matter: Today a number of features are on offer by manufacturers in their cameras. Many of these are features you will hardly use or their absence will barely matter. Single colour accent, colour swap, click on smile and many other such features have a short-lived novelty value. Do not decide your purchase on the basis of these. Instead look for features that you will need and use. Check for things like self

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Care For Your Camera: It is important to take care of your camera to consistently keep getting good results from it. If it suddenly rains, snows or drizzles while carrying your camera, slip it under a jacket, sweater or, if small enough, put it in a pocket. You may be tempted to use it, but don't unless you have protection overhead. In very cold weather, keep the camera warm by holding it close to your body. Spare batteries should be kept warm too. In hot weather, keep your camera out of direct sunlight. On a beach or in a desert surrounding, fine spray of sea water or sand could severely damage your camera and the lens. Make sure high exposure to these elements is avoided. Never leave a digital camera or other sensitive camera equipment in a car or in the dashboard compartment as the temperature here can be extremely hot or cold and can damage the camera. Refer to the camera manual for the operating temperature and humidity range of your camera. Invest in a good quality camera bag. Power Up: Always carry a spare set of batteries, especially if you are traveling. You may not get the time to charge the batteries and will miss out on some great photo opportunities. If your camera uses AA batteries, use high capacity NiMh rechargeable cells. Go for the low self discharge cells such as Sanyo Eneloop, Uniross Hybrio, GP ReCyko+, Camelion AlwaysReady and other similar batteries. These do not self discharge like the regular NiMh cells and can be stored ready to be used for a long time after charging. Generic or dedicated lithium batteries which come with many cameras are more expensive but also last longer usually. If you are traveling to places where charging could be a problem, carry a spare battery. In case you run out of rechargeable AAs, use alkalines such as Duracell. Never buy the ordinary non alkaline AA pencil batteries. These will drain out after maybe just 10 clicks. Mobile Vs. Digital Camera: Today almost everyone carries a mobile phone with a built-in camera. The quality of mobile cameras has gone up considerably with manufacturers offering high resolutions of 8 mega pixels and above with high end optics such as Schneider & Carl Zeiss. However, if you are looking for good quality photographs, go for a proper digital camera as its output is still way ahead of mobiles. For the time being, stick to mobiles for making calls and the occasional candid shot. The Form Factor: In the digital compact category, there are mainly two types of cameras. The general slim and sleek types

that slip into your shirt pocket and the prosumer or advanced types which are larger and bulkier. These bigger cameras generally have a more advanced feature set such as very high zoom range, more manual controls, external flash options, filter rings etc. Today there are a number of cameras in the slim category as well which offer quite high end features. You can opt for whichever suits your requirement best. Which Camera: Well, this is a very difficult question to answer. Today there are so many reputed brands churning out good cameras. You need to check what feature you need and which model offers it. Price wise, most compact digital cameras start at around the Rs. 6,000 mark. The upper limit would be around Rs. 30,000. The digital SLR cameras start around this mark. If you are looking for budget buys in the compact segment, try Kodak cameras. These are good cameras available at an extremely pocket friendly price with good quality lenses and processors. Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus etc. are all well established brands which have a proven track record. Panasonic is also an extremely good digital camera brand which we generally miss out on because they are not as visible as others in terms of their advertising. Fuji is another good brand which can be considered. Once again, go for the features which you want rather than what the camera gives you. On The Web: Some useful websites. www.jjmehta.com, w w w. p h o t o . n e t , w w w. d p r e v i e w. c o m , www.imaging-resource.com, www.dcresource.com, w w w. c a m e r a l a b s . c o m , w w w. b e t t e r p h o t o . c o m , www.pixeladdiction.com, www.chromebug.com. JJ Mehta is a well established camera store in Mumbai. Their website has a forum also which you can be a part of. It allows you to interact with other photo enthusiasts from across the country and you can also buy/sell photographic equipment. Off The Web: In case you like reading, offline, which is fast becoming a rarity, then there are many good magazines on photography which may be of interest to you. Smart Photography, Better Photography, Asian Photography are some of the Indian magazines available at most bookstalls and stores. Additionally, a number of international magazines are also available at the bigger bookstores. - Saurabh Chaturvedi, SPRE HO.

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Unwind
Who Says Movies Aren't Informative?
A few important things that movies have taught us At least one of the identical twins is born evil! Should you decide to defuse a bomb, don't worry about which wire to cut. You will always choose the right one! When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in your room will still be clearly visible, just slightly bluish! A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating, but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds! A detective can solve a case only if he has been suspended from duty! If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you meet will know all the steps! - Rohit Sinha, SP HO.

Supply Chain Management

Here's the story of a family a three year old boy and his parents. One fine day it so happened that the mother had to go out, so the dad was in charge of the kid. Someone had gifted the boy a little 'tea set' as a birthday present and it was one of his favorite toys. The boy was busy playing with it. Dad was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when kid brought him a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. In good spirits the father had several cups of tea and showered the son with lots of praise for the yummy tea. Soon, the mother returned home. Dad made her wait in the living room to watch the kid bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing'!! Mom waited, and sure enough, the kid came in with a cup of tea for Daddy. The mother watched him drink it up, then she said to him, 'Did it ever occur to you that the only place that the baby can reach to get water is the toilet?' ....Mother knows!! MORAL OF THE STORY: Domain knowledge is very important!!! Else your supplier will trick you...... - Prabal Kansal, SP HO.

Customer Care

Exit Interview

- brainstuck.com

Editorial Team
41/44, Minoo Desai Marg, Colaba, Mumbai 400 005. Tel:+91 22 6749 0000 Fax:+91 22 6633 8176 Email: we@shapoorji.com
S. P Bagli . Mukesh Rao Prabal Kansal Saurabh Chaturvedi Prashanti Kutty
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Disclaimer: We@SP is for private circulation only. The views and opinions expressed or implied herein are of the contributors and may not necessarily reflect those of SPCL. Material in this publication should not be reproduced, in part or in whole, without the consent of the editorial team.