St. Valentine's day or GOPIKA DIWAS?

I GOT THE ABOVE IMAGE FROM HERE.

One of the most interesting debates of our age is the somewhat hysterical outbursts against St. Valentine’s Day. The anti St. Valentine Day celebration stir is seen as a suppression of freedom of expression. The supporters of this celebration see it as a cultural battle.

Here is a suggestion: celebrate Feb 14th as a GOPIKA DIWAS. On this day let the males be encouraged to give roses or gifts to the females as a MARK OF RESPECT.

And, let the guys while giving the roses:

a) promise to respect women always
b) promise never to take dowry
c) promise never to eve tease.

This sort of a celebration will truly help the young women of India. There can also be a signature campaign on this day never to take dowry and eve tease; and to respect women always. So let Feb 14th be a Gopika Diwas celebration with respect to women, anti dowry and anti eve teasing promises.

This post is by Sunil S Chiplunkar; my other blog is http://www.pharmaceuticalshealthcare.blogspot.com/

POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE

Mr. S G Biligiri is a good senior friend of mine, and a colleague at Juggat Pharma (Pharma division of Jagdale Ind. Ltd., (JIL) Bangalore). He works at JIL as General Manager - Technical. He recently forwarded a superb e-mail to me, and the same is worth reading again and again. The message is placed below here. (BY THE WAY, I GOT THE ABOVE NICE IMAGE FROM HERE).

Staying Positive In A Negative World

by Tracy Brinkmann

Harvard and Stanford Universities have reported that 85% the reason a person gets a job and gets ahead in that job is due to attitude; and only 15% is because of technical or specific skills.

Interesting, isn't it? You spent how much money on your education? And you spent how much money on building your positive attitude? Ouch. That hurts.

Now here's an interesting thought. With the "right" attitude, you can and will develop the necessary skills. So where is your emphasis? Skill building? Attitude building? Unfortunately, "Neither" is the real answer for many people.

Perhaps if more people knew how simple it is to develop and maintain a positive attitude they would invest more time doing so. So here we go. Five steps to staying positive in a negative world:

1. Understand that failure is an event, it is not a person. Yesterday ended last night; today is a brand new day, and it's yours. You were born to win, but to be a winner you must plan to win, prepare to win, and then you can expect to win.

2. Become a lifetime student. Learn just one new word every day and in five years you will be able to talk with just about anybody about anything. When your vocabulary improves, your I.Q. goes up 100% of the time, according to Georgetown Medical School .

3. Read something informational or inspirational every day. Reading for 20 minutes at just 240 words per minute will enable you to read 20 200-page books each year. That's 18 more than the average person reads! What an enormous competitive advantage... if you'll just read for 20 minutes a day.

4. Enroll in the " Transit University ". The University of Southern California reveals that you can acquire the equivalent of two years of a college education in three years just by listening to motivational and educational cassettes on the way to your job and again on the way home. What could be easier?

5. Start the day and end the day with positive input into your mind. Inspirational messages cause the brain to flood with dopamine and norepinephrine, the energizing neurotransmitters; with endorphins, the endurance neurotransmitters; and with serotonin, the feel-good-about-yourself neurotransmitter. Begin and end the day by reading or doing something positive!

Remember: Success is a process, not an event. Invest the time in your attitude and it will pay off in your skills as well as your career.

Above info provided by Mr. Savio Edwards.

Thanks for reading this blogpost, you may also be interested in my other blog - please click here.

CHAK DE, PHARMA INDIA; CHAK DE, DR. KISHORE

Chak de, India (means Go India Go!) has caught the imagination of moviegoers in India and the Indian Diaspora. Moreover, corporate India and B schools have taken up to Chak de, India with great gusto. There are lessons in leadership. There is a rare joie-de-vivre. Chak de, India is not just about women’s hockey – it is about a leader-coach making ordinary people do extraordinary things. It is about inspiring the team and inducing passion for the game and winning. It is this spirit of Chak de, India that is the hot button of the movie.

India is on a winning spree on the Pharma wicket too. Indian Pharma field was an importer of medicines, during the time of independence (1947) and today self-reliant India is a net exporter of pharmaceuticals. Today, traditional Indian healthcare science is gaining momentum. Ayurvedic Liv 52 is the numero uno pharmaceutical product of Indian Pharma market. (The Economic Times, front page on 12.9.2007 announced rather cheekily, AHEM! LIV 52 CLIMBS ATOP DRUG CHARTS.)

Indian soft power in marketing themes

It is said business is marketing and marketing is business. The major component of Indian Pharma market is allopathic. The success of Indian Pharma industry is based on reverse engineering under the umbrella of Indian Patents Act, 1970. However, enduring marketing success is possible by banking on the soft power of India.

What is soft power?

The soft power of a country rests primarily on three resources: its culture (in places where it is attractive to others), its political values (when it lives up to them at home and abroad), and its foreign policies (when they are seen as legitimate and having moral authority.)

Soft power is a great product and service differentiator. Even the giants of global Pharma industry cannot match the way Kerala serves the world through Ayurveda (soft power component here is Ayurveda). In fact, the solidity and depth of success of companies like The Himalaya Drug Company comes from the fact that they have banked on the soft power of India. The successes of companies like Himalaya are not easily replicated. The milestones achieved by such companies and the depth of business is matchless as their business journey is based on an indelible cultural theme of Indian society. In contrast, the successes of Indian global Pharma companies like Ranbaxy, Nicholas Piramal, Cadila, Mankind… are notable but on shifting sands. The business journey of these companies is lacking in the soft power component that gives a certain differentiation and solidity.

Is it impossible for Indian Pharma companies to use SOFT POWER?

It is possible to use soft power by Indian Pharma what is apparently lacking is an appreciation of playing on the soft power theme and the corporate will to use soft power in business processes of Indian Pharma companies. This is vital since this soft power differentiator is not available with competing companies from advanced companies.

Is use of soft power a rocket science?

Obviously not! All it requires is back up by scientific trials in modern metaphors and language; presenting traditional themes in modern terms. Brand building is the second most important aspect for using soft power in business processes. Brand building will involve a unified signage, logo, color, font …

Dr. Kishore Patwardhan’s efforts to contemporize the soft power of India

Dr. Kishore Patwardhan is a young dapper MD in Ayurveda – a part of the faculty at Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi. While he is gaining popularity as a good teacher he is also pursuing Ph D and has made a great effort in contributing to Ayurveda by way of a book with an original and interesting perspective. Dr. Kishore Patwardhan’s effort is laudable, as he has created a compact easily readable book demystifying the concepts of Ayurveda and has presented the same with reference to modern medicine. It is a grand effort to present the soft power of India in a relevant way.

I sincerely recommend this book to all healthcare professionals in the world – particularly for those in marketing of natural pharmaceuticals.

Let us remind ourselves that there is a great appreciation for natural medicine in modern medicinal practice. Saw palmetto and silymarin are international best seller medicines. Moreover, modern day anti cancer vincristine and vinblastin have their origins in Ayurvedic Vinca rosea alkaloids. That is an example soft power of India.

Please click here for contacting Dr. Kishore: http://www.bhu.ac.in/ayurveda/kishorpatvadhan.htm

The book penned by Dr. Kishore Patwardhan:

Human Physiology in Ayurveda

Here is how you can buy the book online:

http://www.bagchee.com/books.php?id=501

The publishers of this book:

CHAUKAMBHA ORIENTALIA, POST BOX NO. 1032, GOKUL BHAVAN , GOPAL MANDIR LANE, VARANASI 221001

I am also happy and proud of Dr. Kishore

Dr. Kishore happens to be my wife’s cousin (to be specific: Dr. Kishore is the eldest son of my wife’s father’s elder brother. Dr. Kishore’s father is retired Prof. Of Kannada, Shri Dharmasthala College, Ujire, and he too is an author of repute in Kannada. So Dr. Kishore is a chip of the old block!). Dr. Kishore is happily married to Dr. Medha (a dermatologist) and they live at Varanasi with their bubbly baby boy Satvik. Their photos are there in this blogpost.

Kudos to Dr. Kishore on his contribution to the soft power of India.

Thanks for reading this blogpost. Please read all other posts, including by clicking on OLDER POSTS as they are all worth it. Thanks once again.

HAPPY GANESH CHATURTHI TO ALL - 15.9.2007

Tomorrow is a grand festival day for all of us in India. It is Ganesh Chaturthi. On this day we offer special prayers to Lord Ganesha who helps remove all obstacles to happiness.

Ganesha is the lord of intelligence. Ganesha is associated with the moola chakra.

I wish one and all every happiness - Lord Ganesha bless us all.

Here is a good link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha

Passport in India

Have you tried getting a passport in India? Yikes the system is so archaic and self defeating in present hi tech times!

You know you have to get a dozen passport size photos tediously fill in a form and submit it at Bangalore one citizen centre or the passport office with supporting documents.

Well I will suggest an easier format that is even more beneficial to the Govt. and foolproof.

Get a biometric machine that will record fingerprints and take photos as they do at the sub registrar offices in Bangalore for registration of land and property. This way the passport size photos system can be done away with and every thing is in control with the Govt, the fingerprinting system will disallow any kind of fake passports.

Fill in the details online and just print out the passport. It is as simple as that. Have plenty of such kiosks to issue the passports. Moreover this system will allow to issue e-passports at a later date.

That is easy e-governance for you!
- Sunil S Chiplunkar www.pharmaceuticalshealthcare.blogspot.com

Exubera

The times are achanging

There was a time in the pharma industry (1960s - 1970s) where one had to meet a nucleus of doctors give them a great looking MR, good presenter - charmer visiting them regularly, give some freebies, gifts, seminars, luncheons; good ego massage and the prescriptions would start rolling. Patients too would not be too assertive or questioning with the doctors.

Well times are achanging. Now its the internet era - the web 2.0 revolution is on. Business is at the speed of thought. Business plans get disrupted a lot faster. There is a remarkably high level of patient empowerment and societal consciousness on various issues. There are more assertive and informed stakeholders in the healthcare delivery process. Hence, diffusion of pharma innovations are a lot tougher. Perhaps if the Vioxx launch had happened in the 1960s it would not have had such an exit. They would have repositioned Vioxx as a short term use NSAID.

Exubera

Pfizer with high hopes, launched it like a bong
Thought - it would be click like a gong
But missing is the exuberance
All it got is malevolence
So will Exubera bomb?
www.pharmaceuticalshealthcare.blogspot.com
This is posted as a comment at www.diabetesmine.com

Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is the raison-de-etre of life. Enthusiasm is the reason for all successful human achievements. As Charles Schwab has said ’A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm’.

Enthusiasm in the modern sense means intense interest and enjoyment. However, it is the etymology (or root of the word) of enthusiasm that makes the word a fire of inspiration. The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek for “the God within you.” When you’re enthusiastic, it’s almost as though you have access to a divine source of inspiration. With enthusiasm on your side you are guaranteed success. Enthusiasm is infectious. Enthusiasm attracts blessings, prescriptions, success, positive energy, confidence and the feel good factor.

Enthusiasm makes one work with a positive attitude. Enthusiasm is the tonic for the soul and helps avoid the stressed feeling. Enthusiasm is the feeling that makes a man work like a man and not like a victim. Enthusiasm justifies living!

- Sunil S Chiplunkar www.pharmaceuticalshealthcare.blogspot.com
Some useful links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enthusiasm

http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/2006/11/24/5-reasons-why-enthusiasm-is-better-than-confidence/

MARKETING FIRST!

First of all I am happy with the current trends of intensified marketing communication activity through newer and newer means including 'paid blogging' and social network marketing. This makes people put marketing first in the pharma space. And this trend is the way it should be.

Today in India and Bangladesh micro credit is a big thing in the financial domain. How did this happen? This happened because Mohd Yunus of Grameen Bank put the market first, he identified a target market for micro finance and thus realised profits for his firm and made social contributions. ICICI in India is on the same pathway, which is a wise marketing effort.

In fact the bane of the pharma field is the hyperfocus on intellectual property, patents, patent life and evergreening of products. Marketing is not taking the front seat. In fact, the obsession on drug patent(s) and TRIPS is causing much hardship in making drugs and health care products available at an economical price. Morever, having patent rights is itself a great source of income for pharma companies, thus many other good molecules and drugs that are beyond the ken of patents are not picked up for commercialization and/or intensive marketing by big pharma companies. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that pharma companies are more in the business of intellectual property, patent holdings & evergreening products rather than marketing products. In fact this innovation led business activity is said to be the highest of profitable business models, where in the focus is on innovation and creating intellectual property and gaining value, rather than marketing products based on target audiences. So who cares about health and societal or market needs when the focus of pharma companies is on intellectual property, patents, monopoly markets for products, profits and big bucks(?)

In fact, google is creating a revolutionary 'flat world' and seamlessly allowing exchange of ideas, information and comments across geographies. Google is doing a great marketing job, they are putting marketing first. And putting marketing first should be the priority for pharma companies too; it should not be patents first for pharma companies. - SUNIL S CHIPLUNKAR