History of Amazon:

The company was created as a result of what Jeff Bezos called his “regret minimization framework”, which described his efforts to fend off any regrets for not participating sooner in the Internet business boom during that time. In 1994, Bezos left his employment as vice-president of D. E. Shaw & Co., a Wall Street firm, and moved to Seattle, Washington, where he began to work on a business plan for what would become Amazon.com.

On July 5, 1994, Bezos initially incorporated the company in Washington state with the name Cadabra, Inc. After a few months he changed the name to Amazon.com, Inc, because a lawyer misheard its original name as “cadaver”. In its early days, the company was operated out of the garage of Bezos’s house on Northeast 28th Street in Bellevue, Washington. In September 1994, Bezos purchased the domain name relentless.com and briefly considered naming his online store Relentless, but friends told him the name sounded a bit weird. The domain is still owned by Bezos and still redirects to the retailer.

Introduction:

Amazon  is an  American  international  e-commerce  company.  It  was started by Jeffrey P. Bezos  in the  year 1994. And  it was  launched in

India in June 2013. Three years back, Amazon had no infrastructure in

India, and now it dominates the Indian markets. At the very start it was

perception of investors that in India It will not go long like China as   in

the    2004  when  Amazon  entered  in  China  it  hasn’t  seen  much

success there with Alibaba, its Chinese competitor, dominating the e-

commerce market. After its bad run in China, Bezos is going all in for

India. 

Fact  behind formation of  Amazon  in  India was  its huge  number  of headcounts i.e.  1.25 billion four  times as  big  as the  U.S.’s  and  more.

than  doubles  . Of these  500 million around  35  are

Internet users. As per researches the yearly growth rate of internet users is  highest  in  India  around  six  million  users  join  every  month. Researchers expect  the online shopping  market  in India  to reach $15 billion by 2016 up from only $35 million in 2014.

Objectives Of Business Model:

• To look into the strategy of Amazon to assess and be prepared for  the foreseen challenges of running Am
• To understand Amazons expansion strategy in detail.

  Amazon India Business model:

 Amazon targets the middle class & upper class people who  have hands on experience in technology but don’t have much  time  to  do  shopping  from  the  physical  outlets.  Taking  this  into  consideration  Amazon  has successfully positioned itself as a Glocal (Go global Act local) e-commerce giant where one can buy anything & get it delivered at any remote locations. Using the catchphrase Aur Dikhao its most recent campaign in India, it has further helped them carve a distinct space in the consumer’s mind.

 Company  acquired  many  IT  &   e-commerce  start-ups  like  pets.com,  audible.com,  Junglee.com,  IMBD.com,

Zappos.com,  Woot  etc. for    providing  high value  to their customers  using existing  technology of the  acquired

partners at low cost.

Company’s  CRM  records  data  on  customer’s  buying  behavior.  It enables them to  offer individual items,  relaconsumers or bundle them as an offer, based upon preferences demonstrated through purchases or items visited. Revenue model defines how a firm aims to generate higher return on investment and profits. Important e-commerce

revenue models include advertising, subscription, transaction fee, sales, and affiliate revenue models (Laudon and

Traver, 2009). Market opportunity gives description of possible revenue a company is likely to generate from its

proposed marketspace. 

 .

In the U.S., by contrast, Amazon holds and sells its own inventory of toys, books, and more in addition to selling

goods from third-party sellers. The Indian Government, however, plans to allow foreign companies that manufacture their products in the country to sell them directly to consumers over the Internet. But Amazon would have to start making its products in India to take advantage of the change in the  law. Amazon’s model in India differs slightly .

As we discussed earlier that major foreign ownership to operate retail locations having their own inventory . Because of which amazon serves with warehousing and shipping goods

Amazon is an American international e-commerce company. It was started by Jeffrey P.  Bezos in the year 1994.

And it was launched in India in June 2013. Three  years back, Amazon had no  infrastructure in India, and now it dominates the  Indian markets.  So main objective of the case is  to study the  challenges  faced  by Amazon India during initial years and what strategy it followed to overcome the challenges. This case will also study the business model of amazon in India

Amazon entered in China it hasn’t seen much success there with Alibaba its Chinese   the

commerce market. After its bad run in China, Bezos is going all in for India. 

Fact behind formation of Amazon in India was its huge number of headcounts i.e. 1.25 billions.

Researchers expected the online shopping market in India to have reached 15 million by 2016.

Amazon is known for knowledgeable products

Note: References taken from different websites as the data was number based.

-Medha Singh

The Rule of law and its origins:

The rule of law is a concept that describes the supreme authority of the law over

governmental action and individual behaviour. It corresponds to a situation where both

the government and individuals are bound by the law and comply with it. It is the

antithesis of tyrannical or arbitrary rule.

The rule of law is the product of historical developments over centuries and is linked to

the rise of the liberal democratic form of government in the West. The rule of law is the

subject of competing theories.

For some, the concept has a purely formal meaning.

Under this concept of the rule of law, the state must act in accordance with the laws it has

promulgated and these laws must meet a certain number of minimum characteristics. For

others, the concept has a wider, more substantive, meaning that incorporates ideals of

justice and fairness. Further meanings can also be ascribed to the concept according to

various political ideologies.

Although it is generally accepted that the extent to which a government adheres to the

rule of law is indicative of the degree of legitimacy of its actions, the divergent use of the

term illustrate that the concept is far from having achieved a universally accepted

meaning. Indeed, while some declare the concept to have attained the status of a new

universally-accepted political ideal following the end of the Cold War.

The rule of law has evolved over centuries and is inextricably linked to historical

developments that have led to the gradual emergence of liberal democracies and their

underlying modes of governance and legal systems.

The role that law plays in society was the subject of philosophical discussions in Greek

and Roman antiquity. In one of his last dialogues, The Laws (circa 360 B.C.), Plato is

credited with positing the idea that the government should be subservient to the law. The

idea was further refined by his student Aristotle in his work The Politics (circa 350 B.C.)

in which he contrasted the rule of law, reason, with the rule of man, passion, to explain

why the government should be bound by law as means to prevent arbitrary rule and the

abuse of power.Both philosophers agreed that laws must be promulgated for the

common good.  These Greek works had a notable influence on Roman legal thought,

most notably on Cicero, who emphasised in De Legibus (circa 54-51 B.C.) that the law

must be for the good of the community as a whole, thereby subjecting law to ideals of

justice. The fall of the Roman Republic at the hands of emperors gave way to autocratic

rule. During the reign of Emperor Justinian I, Roman law was codified.

Meaning Of the Rule of law:

For some, the concept has a purely formal meaning, in which the rule of law requires the

state to act in accordance with the laws it has promulgated and these laws must meet a

certain number of minimum characteristics. However, for others, the concept has a wider,

more substantive, meaning that incorporate ideals of justice and fairness and respect for

fundamental rights.

Under formalistic theories – termed by some as the “thin rule of law” or “rule by law” –

the government must operate within the confines of the law, whatever those laws might

be. Contemporary formalistic theories tend to share the liberal view of the rule of law as

being equivalent to formal legality. From this perspective, the rule of law is therefore not

concerned with the content of the laws, but rather the optimal functioning of the legal

system with a view to providing individuals with a certain degree of predictability as

regards the legal consequences of their actions. Formal theories of the rule of law tends to

be the most widely accepted and are embraced by international development agencies,

because they are capable of universal appeal regardless of whether certain countries

recognise fundamental rights or democratic values.

In The Morality That Makes Law Possible (1964), Lon Fuller explained that, in order to

act as a proper guide to behaviour, the law must be characterised by the existence of a

system of rules that meets a certain number of characteristics. Although Fuller

acknowledged that the occasional and partial absence of any of these criteria was

unavoidable because a balance has to be achieved between legal certainty and society’s

ability to change laws, he also stressed that the complete absence of one or more criteria

would result in complete failure of the law. Although these criteria were not directed at

providing a definition of the rule of law but rather a definition of law itself, Fuller’s list of

characteristics has been incorporated one way or another in contemporary definitions of the rule of law.

Criticisms of the Rule of law:

It is undeniable that the rule of law forms an integral part of the liberal form of

democratic government worldwide. It goes without saying that “freedom under the rule

of law” is an oft-repeated mantra of Western liberal democracies. In this sense, adherence

for the rule of law therefore appears to carry with it a number of connotations of a social

and political nature. Seen in this light, the rule of law is not necessarily a politically

neutral concept.

For instance, some argue that a model of government based on the welfare state is

incompatible with the rule of law. In a later edition of Introduction to Study of the Laws

of the Constitution, Dicey had deplored what he saw as the decline in the rule of law

owing in part to the emergence of the welfare state and the adoption of legislation that

gave regulatory and adjudicatory powers to administrative entities without recourse to

judicial review by the courts. This concern has been shared by liberal commentators over

time. Like Dicey, Hayek argued that the welfare state was incompatible with the rule of

law. Nonetheless, it could be argued that these concerns have been tempered by the rise

of administrative law as a distinct area of law in common law countries, where the

ordinary courts have developed an elaborate body of case law that has placed limits on

administrative discretion, some of which has been codified into legislation. Dicey

criticised as being incompatible with the rule of law the existence in France of separate

administrative laws that deal with relations between government and the governed and

which did not fall within the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts. However, it is now

recognised that the establishment of administrative courts that are distinct from the civil

and criminal courts in countries following the civil code tradition has ensured to a large

extent that discretionary actions taken by the government do not go unchecked.

Moreover, it is undeniable that certain countries that follow the civil law tradition – for

example Belgium and Sweden – which pride themselves on having a political system that

embraces social welfare, are also widely accepted as adhering to the rule of law.

Natural Law and it’s Definition:

It is undeniable that the rule of law forms an integral part of the liberal form of

democratic government worldwide. It goes without saying that “freedom under the rule

of law” is an oft-repeated mantra of Western liberal democracies. In this sense, adherence

for the rule of law therefore appears to carry with it a number of connotations of a social

and political nature. Seen in this light, the rule of law is not necessarily a politically

neutral concept.

For instance, some argue that a model of government based on the welfare state is

incompatible with the rule of law. In a later edition of Introduction to Study of the Laws

of the Constitution, Dicey had deplored what he saw as the decline in the rule of law

owing in part to the emergence of the welfare state and the adoption of legislation that

gave regulatory and adjudicatory powers to administrative entities without recourse to

judicial review by the courts. This concern has been shared by liberal commentators over

time. Like Dicey, Hayek argued that the welfare state was incompatible with the rule of

law. Nonetheless, it could be argued that these concerns have been tempered by the rise

of administrative law as a distinct area of law in common law countries, where the

ordinary courts have developed an elaborate body of case law that has placed limits on

administrative discretion, some of which has been codified into legislation. Dicey

criticised as being incompatible with the rule of law the existence in France of separate

administrative laws that deal with relations between government and the governed and

which did not fall within the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts. However, it is now

recognised that the establishment of administrative courts that are distinct from the civil

and criminal courts in countries following the civil code tradition has ensured to a large

extent that discretionary actions taken by the government do not go unchecked.

Moreover, it is undeniable that certain countries that follow the civil law tradition – for

example Belgium and Sweden – which pride themselves on having a political system that

embraces social welfare, are also widely accepted as adhering to the rule of law.

Natural law’s Origin:

It is undeniable that the rule of law forms an integral part of the liberal form of

democratic government worldwide. It goes without saying that “freedom under the rule

of law” is an oft-repeated mantra of Western liberal democracies. In this sense, adherence

for the rule of law therefore appears to carry with it a number of connotations of a social

and political nature. Seen in this light, the rule of law is not necessarily a politically

neutral concept.

For instance, some argue that a model of government based on the welfare state is

incompatible with the rule of law. In a later edition of Introduction to Study of the Laws

of the Constitution, Dicey had deplored what he saw as the decline in the rule of law

owing in part to the emergence of the welfare state and the adoption of legislation that

gave regulatory and adjudicatory powers to administrative entities without recourse to

judicial review by the courts. This concern has been shared by liberal commentators over

time. Like Dicey, Hayek argued that the welfare state was incompatible with the rule of

law. Nonetheless, it could be argued that these concerns have been tempered by the rise

of administrative law as a distinct area of law in common law countries, where the

ordinary courts have developed an elaborate body of case law that has placed limits on

administrative discretion, some of which has been codified into legislation. Dicey

criticised as being incompatible with the rule of law the existence in France of separate

administrative laws that deal with relations between government and the governed and

which did not fall within the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts. However, it is now

recognised that the establishment of administrative courts that are distinct from the civil

and criminal courts in countries following the civil code tradition has ensured to a large

extent that discretionary actions taken by the government do not go unchecked.

Moreover, it is undeniable that certain countries that follow the civil law tradition – for

example Belgium and Sweden – which pride themselves on having a political system that

embraces social welfare, are also widely accepted as adhering to the rule of law.

August 1st, 2019, I knew my world had changed, for one thing, I loved biology with all my heart, and the other was I was standing at the admission center of Sahyadri Engineering college. I was put into a whole different world from what I had previously planned up for myself. Till that day of my life, the only thing I knew was that I wanted to be a Doctor.

Maybe because all my life, I was around my cousins who were doctors too. But when I genuinely asked for their opinion, they asked me one thing, Studying MBBS and being a doctor is no joke, there will be times where you will be frustrated because there will be too much to study, you won’t be able to get proper sleep or even time for yourself, Do you still want to be a doctor? Well it was at that time something clicked in me, so even before I knew it, I had suddenly backed out. I wanted to do something different, at the same time I also wanted a bit of freedom, where I had time to concentrate on myself too. So now one thing was sure that, there was no turning back, no matter how hard it gets I will have to stick up with my choice of stream.

In A New Place And New Environment

In the beginning, It was hard to open up with strangers, but the Induction program gave me a chance to speak with people, where I came to know some were in similar condition as mine. Then I met one of a senior, and she turned out to be my biggest blessing there. She introduced me to her friends. One of the many things we had in common was dancing, so she introduced me to a dance group from our college. I met some amazing dancers there. All the rehearsals kept me busy and didn’t give me a chance to think twice as to why I chose engineering. Without even knowing I had already blended in and made some friends. And formed our small group of friends of five people. Those who still are close to my heart.

An Unforgettable Experience

In the following month of October, we saw a notice was put up on the notice board of each class. It was a chance for us to go, participate, and attend events that were being held at different colleges in a different place, while with full attendance in each subject. Our class people were soon divided into two teams. One to go to BITS Pilani, Hyderabad, and the other one to Thapur University, Punjab. I was in the first team, of Hyderabad. We were a total of twenty-two people along with two mentors to guide us. Our team was named ‘The Hawx’. We had around two weeks to prepare all our bots. We stayed at college late nights, for work. It was a new experience too. Along with work we bonded and enjoyed while having dinner together in college.

I also caught a glimpse of what a team and teamwork actually were. Because in this field you can do things alone, but when in a team, be it the idea or the end product it comes a lot better than what you usually do alone. You learn to be understanding of each other and respect their opinions too. And also learn that some misunderstandings or problems can be solved by simply sitting and discussing, what and where things went wrong, then brainstorming ideas, and come up with an even better solution. And even then if things seemed very unsatisfying, we knew there was always someone to guide us, like our mentors who have already gone through with all the process and also know how to make the best of the worst situation that we may face during the competition.

Taking The Initiative

As all these events were going on, simultaneously every first-year student had an additional more practical subject called SIP – Social Innovative Program. Where we were divided into teams of five, every class was given a topic to work on, as for our class we were given the topic of ‘Horticulture’. We were asked to form a problem statement by asking them, what all problems they faced, as well as come up with a project as its solution. We interviewed farmers, shopkeepers, chemists, lecturers, This program taught me to be alert and also increased my level of curiosity. As it was teamwork, it also improved my team-building skills and initiation-taking skills. As the interview was to be done in a formal manner, it also helped me improve my soft skills, and my teammates also helped me boost my confidence.

Overall the whole year, I discovered my new sides that I didn’t even know existed. I had a great year filled with both sweet and some bitter memories. Even though I don’t know what the future holds for me, this time I will be looking forward to it!

About the book

Inferno is a 2013 mystery thriller novel by American author Dan Brown and the fourth book in his Robert Langdon series, following Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol. The book was published on May 14, 2013, ten years after publication of The Da Vinci Code (2003), by Doubleday. It was number one on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction and Combined Print & E-book fiction for the first eleven weeks of its release, and also remained on the list of E-book fiction for the first seventeen weeks of its release. A film adaptation was released in the United States on October 28, 2016.

Important character

Robert Langdon: An American professor of symbology at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts and protogonist of the novel.

Sienna Brooks: A doctor and Zobrist’s former lover who works for The Consortium and secondary antogonist. She helps Langdon find the virus Zobrist created, but her past relationship with Zobrist makes her loyalty to Langdon suspicious until the end of the novel. She was a loyal disciple of Zobrist until she reads his last letter and decides to get his new technology before it can fall into the wrong hands. She believes the World Health Organization will cooperate with other government agencies to use Zobrist’s new virus for weapons. She uses The Consortium and Langdon to follow the Map of Hell and get to ground zero before everyone else, but realizes that Zobrist had set off a futile search as he released his virus well beforehand.

Bertrand Zobrist: A transhumanist genius scientist who is obsessed with Dante’s Inferno and a primary antagonist of the novel. He is intent on solving the world’s overpopulation problem by releasing a virus.

Elizabeth Sinskey: The head of the World Health Organization who hires Langdon to find Zobrist’s virus. She became infertile after taking steroids to help with her childhood asthma attacks and as such is emotionally invested in Zobrist’s method of controlling world population.

Cristoph Brüder: Head of the SRS team (part of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) who is ordered by Sinskey to find Langdon after she loses contact with him.

The Provost: The head of The Consortium. He tries to bring to fruition Zobrist’s wishes by securing the location of the virus from Langdon and Sinskey and scheduling to release to the media a video Zobrist made before his death. When he learns that he was helping Zobrist in a bio-terrorist attack, he helps the World Health Organization to search for the weapon. He is eventually arrested for his part in the events.

Vayentha: The Consortium’s agent in Florence who has orders to follow Langdon but is later disavowed after failing her mission. She falls to her death after a confrontation with Langdon and Brooks in the Palazzo Vecchio.

Jonathan Ferris: An agent of The Consortium who pretends to be in league with the World Health Organization. He used fake eyebrows and a mustache to act as Dr. Marconi in the beginning of the novel.

Marta Alvarez: An employee at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence who assists Langdon with Dante’s death mask. She is pregnant with her first child.

Ignazio Busoni: The obese director of Il Duomo in Florence, nicknamed “il Duomino”, who assists Langdon with Dante’s death mask. He succumbs to a heart attack prior to the events of the novel.

Ettore Vio: The curator of St. Mark’s basilica in Venice.

Mirsat: A tour guide of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

Story plot

Harvard symbolism professor Robert Langdon wakes up in a hospital in Florence, Italy with a head wound and no memory of the last few days. Dr. Sienna Brooks, one of the doctors tending to him, reveals that he is suffering from amnesia. When Vayentha, an assassin, shows up in the hospital and kills one of the doctors, while attempting to kill Langdon, Brooks helps Langdon escape, and they flee to her apartment.

Langdon finds a cylinder with a biohazard sign in his jacket and decides to call the U.S. consulate. He learns that they are searching for him, but, prompted by Brooks, claims to be across the street from her apartment, to avoid getting her more involved. Soon, Langdon sees Vayentha pull up to the location he gave the consulate, deducing that the U.S. government wants to kill him. Langdon opens the container and finds a small medieval bone cylinder fitted with a hi-tech projector that displays a modified version of Botticelli’s Map of Hell, which is based on Dante’s Inferno. A trail of clues leads them toward the Old City.

He goes there with Brooks, but they find that a secretive team of soldiers, and the Florentine Carabinieri searching for them. They flee, and Langdon examines the “Map of Hell” again, noticing several changes to the layers. Langdon discovers a phrase from the painting The Battle of Marciano by Vasari, located in the Palazzo Vecchio. They manage to evade the soldiers and get into the Old City using the Vasari Corridor.

At the Palazzo, Langdon meets the director of the museum, Marta Alvarez, who recognizes him, having met him and Ignazio Busoni, the director of Il Duomo, the previous night, when she showed them Dante’s death mask. Langdon asks to see the mask again, to retrace his steps, but they find the mask gone, and security footage shows Langdon and Busoni stealing the mask. Fleeing, Langdon and Sienna listen to a message left by Busoni, referring to “Paradise 25”.Vayentha murderes Ferris with the squib breaking his ribs.

Langdon and Brooks escape the guards, but the soldiers arrive, and chase them across the attic. Vayentha also arrives, and in a confrontation with Langdon, Brooks pushes her to her death. Langdon connects the phrase “Paradise 25” to the Florence Baptistry, where they find the Dante mask along with a riddle from its current owner, a billionaire geneticist named Bertrand Zobrist. Brooks explains that Zobrist was a geneticist who advocated the halting of humanity’s growth, and that he was rumored to be working on an engineered disease to do so. Ferris, claiming to be from the World Health Organization (WHO), helps them escape the soldiers. Ferris had been ordered to detain Brooks. They follow the riddle to Venice. Ferris collapse was due to Brooks punching him in his damaged ribs, with Brooks claiming he is suffering from massive internal bleeding, causing Langdon to suspect Ferris has been infected with Zobrist’s plague. Langdon is captured by a group of soldiers while Brooks escapes.

Langdon is taken to Dr. Elizabeth Sinskey, the director-general of the WHO. She explains that Zobrist, who committed suicide the week before, had supposedly developed a new biological plague that will cause infertility in a third of the worlds’ population, in order to solve the problem of the world’s impending overpopulation, citing the Doomsday Argument. Sinskey raided Zobrist’s safe deposit box, found the cylinder and flew Langdon to Florence to follow the clues. However, he stopped communicating with Sinskey after meeting with Alvarez and Ignazio and the WHO feared he betrayed them and was working with Zobrist. The soldiers were the WHO’s emergency response team, and not meant to kill him.

Zobrist had paid a shadowy consulting group “The Consortium” to protect the cylinder until a certain date. He also left a video filled with disturbing Dante imagery, and then showed a picture of the plague itself, kept in a hidden underwater location, within a slowly dissolving bag. The video claims that the world will be changed the following morning. When Sinskey retrieved it, the Consortium abducted Langdon and staged every event up to this point, to motivate him to solve it.

Brooks goes rogue and The Consortium realizes she was a secret supporter and lover of Zobrist. She learned where the plague was being kept after Langdon solved the riddle and acquires a private jet to get to it. Langdon, the WHO and The Consortium team up to stop her. After watching Zobrist’s video, they conclude that the bag containing the plague will be fully dissolved by the date the video specifies and that Zobrist’s clues point to its location: the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. They find the plague is in the Cistern but discover Brooks already there. The bag that held the plague had already been broken, presumably spreading to the outer world via visiting tourists. Brooks runs out of the Cistern, causing panicked tourists to stampede, while Langdon gives chase.

Despite almost escaping, Brooks returns, and reveals that the bag had already dissolved one week earlier. The date specified in Zobrist’s video was the mathematical calculation of when the entire world would be infected, which has already happened. The plague that Zobrist created is revealed to be a vector virus that randomly activates to employ DNA modification to cause sterility in one third of humans. Brooks reveals that she was trying to stop the virus herself, distrusting the WHO, fearing the virus would be weaponized if they found it. The leader of The Consortium tries to escape WHO custody, but is caught later. Brooks receives amnesty in exchange for working with the WHO to address the crisis, since she has extensive knowledge of Zobrist’s research and work