My EMBA Journey

I am a member of Boston chapter of Association of India Development(AID). We have a mailing list and today I received an interesting email which is of special interest to me. As per Hindustan Times, a famous Indian daily newspaper Dow Chemical has agreed to setup an fund to clean up thousands of tonnes of contaminated soil along with measures to resolve the long running lawsuits. I am pasting the email I recieved from AID India. Personally I am really happy for the people of Bhopal. Its high time that Dow Chemical has decided to step up and take ownership of liabilities they acquired from Union Carbide.
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You can visit the website of AID India
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India, Dow Chemical may settle Bhopal gas disaster claims: report
Mon Oct 22, 2:52 AM ET

NEW DELHI (AFP) - India could reach an out-of-court settlement with US giant Dow Chemical to clean up the Bhopal gas disaster site and end liability claims after more than two decades, a report said Monday.

India's law ministry said the move would clear "legal hurdles" to future Dow Chemical investments in India by setting up a fund to clean up thousands of tonnes of contaminated soil along with other measures to resolve long-running lawsuits linked to the disaster, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.

The government was prompted by Indian industrial conglomerate the Tata Group to pursue a settlement, and Dow Chemical's chief executive wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier this year on the issue, the newspaper said.

The law ministry was not immediately available to comment on the report.

Thousands of people were killed on December 3, 1984 when a then Union Carbide plant at Bhopal in central India disgorged 40 tonnes of lethal methyl isocyanate gas in one of the world's worst environmental disasters.

Dow Chemical, which took over Union Carbide in 2001, has long insisted that all liabilities regarding the disaster were settled when Union Carbide concluded a 470-million-dollar compensation settlement with New Delhi in 1989.

But local and federal court cases in India have challenged that view with lawsuits calling for more compensation for survivors and liability claims for ongoing health problems linked to the disaster.

Social activist Sandeep Pandey, who is associated with the gas tragedy victims, told the newspaper that his supporters would oppose any move to settle with Dow Chemical.

"Allowing Dow Chemical in India without paying the liabilities is a crime," Pandey told the newspaper.

Compensation payments to survivors as well as medical attention have been delayed because of bureaucracy and lawsuits since the settlement.

According to the Indian government, at least 15,000 people have died from illness resulting from the disaster while Amnesty International said resulting illnesses had claimed 22,000 to 25,000 lives.

Local victims' rights activists put the figure as high as 30,000.

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NFL Football season started with lots of fan fare. My favorites Pats routed jets. Allegation of video spying did leave sour taste of the win. Bill Belichick you are better than that, You don't have to spy to win. Please remember you are working for Kraft organization which is known for its integrity.

This issue made me thinking about spying in general, Corporates spend huge resource on corporate spying; in recent memory I could think of SAP/Oracle spying issue, also an ongoing issue between Mclaren and Ferrari. On what basis does the management of SAP, Mclaren either encourage such unethical practice. I am really surprised to see companies could do such a thing in the name of competition. It all boils down to certain individuals in the management who "want to win at all cost". This behaviour can eventually prove catastrophe.

I hope we managers do not encourage/participate in any such behaviors and not jeopardise the companies brand.

I stumped upon a great link on Bhopal Tragedy.

Please find the video link to the resources on Bhopal Catastrophe.

There is a movie made on Bhopal named Bhopal Express.
Link to the free DVD.

You can click here to make donations for the Bhopal Victims

Watch this space for series of articles on Bhopal Tragedy, its aftermath and how you can make a difference. This is part of my Ethics course.

Patrick Kuhse professional speaker


Patrick’s dynamic presentations have entertained, enlightened and inspired countless audiences throughout the country. From Harvard to Stanford, he is a favorite on college campuses and is a frequent keynote presenter and guest speaker at various forums including in-house seminars, industry and trade conferences. Patrick utilizes his 20+ years of experience as a financial planner, stockbroker, entrepreneur, international fugitive and federal inmate to uniquely translate common critical thinking errors into our everyday personal and professional ethical challenges and dilemmas.

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Patrick Kuhse first started to feel dissatisfied at Arizona University. The Iowa country boy joined a fraternity where he confronted the painful contrast between his plain ordinary roots and his friends' wealthy families. Despite growing up in a "very tight family unit" Kuhse began to believe, "I didn't grow up so good."As he began to comprehend the power of wealth, envy and desire captured Kuhse's consciousness until he began to feel entitled.Wasn't he just as deserving, after all, of all that wealth as his friends? As he lived and traveled with his fraternity brothers, the desire to become wealthy eclipsed everything that had ever been important to Kuhse, including family. Finally, too impatient to wait until graduation, Kuhse dropped out of college and went to work as a salesperson at a securities firm.During his first few weeks in his new office in New York City's Chrysler Building Kuhse remembers thinking, "These people are obsessed with money - they never sleep!" His new peer group was filled with 50 to 60 "hard chargers" and "type As.""I thought I had finally died and gone to Heaven," he said