The Me & My Gyan

10 Must Reads for Budding Entrepreneurs

2009-11-14T01:45:00.002+05:30

Courtsey ET, reproduced for personal records

1 Good to Great (Jim Collins) –
this book delves into some fundamental strengths that entrepreneurs need to seed into their business fairly early. Interestingly some of the companies listed in the book may no longer be called great, but I believe the principles stand the test of time.
2 The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)–
some small things do become big. Every entrepreneur and startup would love to know how and why; Gladwell’s book offers a different perspective – from epidemics to better governance.
3 Losing My Virginity & Screw It, Let’s Do It (Richard Branson) – As an entrepreneur who went from selling records to creating one of the most diverse brands, Branson will certainly have something for everyone.
4 The High Performance Entrepreneur: Golden Rules for Success in Today's World (Subroto Bagchi)–
if for nothing else, read it for the first chapter: “How Do I Know if I Am Ready”. Once you’ve gone through that, it is remarkably easy to go through the rest of the book, which offers guidance from Bagchi’s own deep experience as an entrepreneurial manager and as an entrepreneur.
5 Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid (CK Prahalad) –
I came very late to this book, and am yet to complete it, but it is an excellent reference source for case studies of innovative and very large businesses being grown in markets that are typically treated as poor or low value.
6 Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (Chip Heath, Dan Heath) –
Inspired by the Tipping Point, the Heath brothers describe what it takes to get your ideas across, and make a lasting impact. A must for entrepreneurs looking for funding and to hire great people.
7 It Happened in India: The Story of Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central and the Great Indian Consumer (Kishore Biyani) –
there are too few books about or by Indian entrepreneurs, so this is one growth story in desi style that many startups would be able to relate to.
8 The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs And Executives Should Do Before Writing A Business Plan (John Mullins) –
an someone who turned from corporate life to academics and further to being involved with entrepreneurs, Mullins provides a great framework to help the entrepreneur filter and refine his concept of the “next big thing” into a real business.
9 Venture Capital Funding: A Practical Guide to Raising Finance (Stephen Bloomfield) –
while written from a UK and European perspective, it is a valuable reference for anyone looking for external funding.
10 And last but not the least – pick your favourite philosopher or guide.
No matter whether we are overtly spiritual or completely agnostic, there are times, many times in an entrepreneur’s life, when we need to step beyond the intellectual construct of business, look beyond plans and strategies, and next year’s targets.
The author is chief executive of Third Eyesight, a consulting firm focused on consumer products and retail.

Booze Almighty

2009-11-14T01:29:00.015+05:30

There is this little curiousty about liquor in all of us. SOme stay away with this pernicious liquid forever, some use it at their will, and make the same their own alve and some actually make their as wellas their dependents life hell with the same.
I, myself have always been having Gandhiwadi opinion about the booze almighty. I saw a good peice in ET where the every wellknown variety of the liquor is disscussed to the core. It actually simplifies the why, what, where, how of booze and give us a fair idea about eloped knowledge.It will prepare you for sure for the much talked those unnecessary should we or shouldnt we debate if you are against the booze and will take u out from the ignorance. You will certainly not look like a fool during the discussion :) here it goes...

What is Champagne?
Technically speaking, champagne is sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France. But it is often mistakenly used as a generic description of sparkling white wines in the style of the wines of Champagne.
Champagne is produced as a blend between the Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay grapes. Champagne is designed to be drunk upon purchase, and in nearly all cases is not meant to be collectible. A non-vintage Champagne will begin losing quality within only three or four years, while prestige champagnes may last up to 15 years without degrading.
Champagne is normally drunk from either a flute or tulip glass, both of which are skinny and tall. This shape allows the scents of the champagne to reach their full potential, and helps the bubbles last for longer than in flatter, larger-bowled glasses.
The bigger brands include Moet & Chandon, Laurent Perrier and Krug.
What is Single Malt?
Single malt is so-called because the malt comes from a single distillery. It is a whisky refined by a single distillery, using malted barley as the only grain ingredient. Each distillery has its own distinct taste, flavour and style and single malts bear that. Some world-renowned single malts are Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, Glenlivet, Glenkinchie and if you move into the rare varieties, PortEllen, Dalmore, Glenfarclas, IsleofJura, Knocdhu, Lagavulin, Laphroig, Macallan, Oban,Taliskar, Cragganmore. Enjoying a single malt is a connoisseur’s job and you have to learn to be one. A single grain, as distinct from a single malt, is a grain whisky made at one distillery, while the single malt is made with barley.

What is Gin?
Gin is a hard alcohol flavoured with the seeds of the juniper bush. Gin is a rather dry alcohol and is rarely drunk on its own, but used instead as a base for many different types of drinks. Good gin is very smooth, with a strong juniper flavour exciting the senses. Gin made its way to England with the ascension of William of Orange to the British throne. And a new style of gin evolved. Dutch gin is distilled from barley and is somewhat nearer whiskey than the London Dry style, which evolved in the 19th century. One difference today is that the London style, since it uses column stills, rather than the pot stills preferred by the Dutch, tends to have a higher alcohol concentration. The famous brands include Beefeater London Dry gin, Bombay Sapphire, Plymouth and Tanqueray.
A Dutch physician is believed to have invented the gin, who created a type now called Genever. It was initially used as a medicine in 17th century.

W H AT I S A L C O H O L ?
Alcohol is obtained after breaking down natural sugar of grain into CO2, ethanol or ethyl alcohol and residual content. Yeast from grains and vegetables changes the sugar into alcohol. From the cheapest beer to the most expensive wine or after dinner liqueur, all alcohol is made with the same fermentation process.
The different colours, tastes, potencies and flavours come from the different fruits or veg etables used and the additives, by-products and diluting substances employed during the fermentation process.

What is Blended Whisky?
Blended whisky is a mixture of single malt whiskys and ethanol derived from grains. Developed for those who could not stomach the strong taste of whisky, it is a combination of malt and grain whiskys. First distilled and bottled by Andrew Usher in Edinburgh in the early 1860s, it turned out to be softer, lighter and more palatable. The character of the whisky is determined not only by the proportions of malt and grain whisky, but also by the ages of the individual whiskies and the manner in which they are combined to bring out the finest qualities in each other. Most whisky drunk across the world is blended whisky. Famous Grouse, Bells, Teacher’s, Whyte & Mackay and Johnnie Walker are a few that are well-known.

What is Vodka?
Vodka is distilled from one of the following: corn, wheat, rye or potatoes. It is usually clear, perhaps tinted (by fruit or herbal additives etc), but always clear, never cloudy. Vodka is very rarely aged in barrels. Usually it goes from distillery to bottle to store and bar shelves. The exact history of vodka is unknown, though it most likely originated somewhere in the region of Poland or Russia between the 14th and 16th centuries. The word is thought to derive from Russian, meaning roughly “little water”. Although vodka is traditionally drunk neat in the vodka belt — Eastern Europe and the Nordic countries — its popularity, elsewhere, derives from its neutral spirit usefulness in cocktails and mixed drinks, such as the Bloody Mary, the Screwdriver, the White Russian, the vodka tonic, and the vodka martini. Stolichnaya, Smirnoff, Grey goose and Absolut are the more wellknown brands.

What is Rum?
Rum is distilled from sugar cane juice and/or molasses. It is aged in barrels to impart additional flavours. The first true rums were made in the Caribbean during the early 17th century by fermenting the molasses left over from refining sugar into a heady liquor. Barbados is held by many to be the birthplace of rum.
Rum is one of the major liquors in the world, with a history steeped in the myths of piracy, the Caribbean, and slavery. Others include Bacardi and Captain Morgan.

What is Cognac?
The wines of Poitou, La Rochelle and Angoumois, produced from high quality vineyards, were shipped to Northern Europe where they were enjoyed by the English, Dutch and Scandinavians as early as the 13th century. In the 16th century, they were transformed into eau-de-vie, then matured in oak casks to become Cognac.. That was the start of the adventure for a town, which was to become the capital of a world famous trade.
Cognac is a living thing. During its time in the oak casks it is in permanent contact with the air. This allows it to extract the substances from the wood that give both its colour and its final bouquet.
Ageing is indispensable if an eau-de-vie is to become Cognac. It takes place in casks or barrels that hold between 270 and 450 litres. The natural humidity of the cellars, in which the casks are stored is one of the determining factors in the maturing process.

What’s the difference - between WHISKY & WHISKEY?
Alcohol, malted or not, made from grain which is produced in Scotland is called WHISKY, while it is called WHISKEY if it is produced in USA or Ireland. American whiskey is called Bourbon and is made from grain. Bourbon is at least 51% corn or maize.
Scotch whisky is generally double distilled, while Irish whiskey is generally distilled three times. It is is whisky that has been distilled and matured in Scotland for at least three hours in oak casks.
Wheat whisky is the rarest whisky. Rye whiskies are mostly popular within the US. What goes better with Whisky - Water or Soda?
Whisky is preferred with water more than soda as soda is carbonated water and it kills the taste of whisky. But real connoisseurs of whisky like to have it neat or with water on side or with two cubes of ice.

Why should you never drink on an empty stomach? Experts say eating food before drinking retains alcohol in the system where it is absorbed slowly into the blood stream. This gives the liver more time to break the alcohol down. Otherwise, it is directly absorbed without being broken down into simpler compounds. This can be harmful for the liver and general health. The kick comes when the alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream directly and slows down the central nervous system; hence the reflexes and reactions are slower.
Does drinking water before or between drinks help you hold your drink better?
Dehydration causes your blood volume to go down and alcohol even more. So make it a habit to drink enough water before a hard drink. Experts say in case of alcohol consumption, the bigger you are the better it is. Big people have a larger quantity of blood, so alcohol they take in is more diluted as it mixes with blood. Women are generally smaller than men. They also have proportionately more fat and less water in their bodies and so the entration of alcohol in their blood is higher for the same amount drunk.

FACT BOX - 11 | Subramanium Ramadorai

2009-09-26T00:22:00.002+05:30

Name | Subramanium Ramadorai

Designation | CEO & MD, TCS

Career | Spent 38 years at TCS During the past 38 years, S. Ramadorai, has played an integral role in the international development of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). His efforts have helped make TCS one of the world's largest global software and services companies with more than 143000 associates working in 42 countries, operating out of over 151 offices worldwide, and with revenues over US$ 6.0 billion (FY 2008-09).

Age | 65 years

Education | Bachelors degree in Physics from Delhi University, a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from the Indian Institute of Science.Ramadorai was born in Nagpur, Maharashtra and did his school education from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New Delhi. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Physics from Delhi University, India, a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, and a Masters degree in Computer Science from the University of California, USA. In 1993, Ramadorai attended the Senior Executive Development Program at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Interests | Music, photography and traveling

Questions by aspiring Management Consultants

2009-09-25T22:27:00.003+05:30

Courtsey: Pagalguy.com, reproduced here fro personal records

As India positions itself into a knowledge center for Information Technology, Finance, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Media and Energy, a new breed of professionals are in demand. Diligence, problem solving, strategic thinking and innovation capability in young professionals is being sought after for management consulting jobs.

Strategy or Management Consulting is profession that is attracting a steady demand as more and more global firms are setting up consultancy arms. Guest Writer Saibal Sen compiles a list of 25 most frequently asked questions about consulting from his training sessions.

What are the signs of a good consultant?

A good consultant is one who is requested by the client for repeat business. To make yourself “in demand” you need to be creative and diligent. In addition, consultants should develop a work style to that of a “Trusted Advisor” — a phrase coined by a Harvard Profession David H. Maister. In short if you are hard working, enthusiastic about solving challenges and complement your clients capabilities, you will automatically become a good consultant.

How important is it to possess work experience to secure a job in Strategy Consulting?

Any type of past experience in creativity and problem solving is essential. The quality of experience is far more than the quantity of experience. If you are a fresher out of B-School, then make sure your internships can demonstrate your ability to solve problems.

Should I be jack of all or try to become domain expert?

In the true sense a business or a strategy consultant need not be a domain expert. They need to be excellent problem solvers. Do recognize that to become a domain expert is not as difficult as becoming an expert problem solver.

What is the difference between strategy consulting and domain consulting?

Strategy consultants assist with operational issues in business such as re-structuring, mergers, diversification, performance improvement, and expansion, cost reduction, market or product development. These tend to be domain agnostic. Meaning the underlying issues are un-related to industry verticals such as Telecom or Finance. Domain consulting is about assisting clients with implementing projects, systems or processes related to industry verticals such as Telecom, Manufacturing or Energy.

How do I master the art of information gathering?

It is true that consultants have to spend a lot of time gathering information and facts. Plan your information gathering strategy before you start. If you don’t, you will end up getting misled. Seasoned consultants practice the art of developing an initial hypothesis for data gathering. See more on initial hypothesis in another article I wrote before. Other things to keep in mind are to be a good listener and develop the art of sensing the important issues. Too much information is a distraction. Focus is critical when gathering information.

What is the difference between secondary research and primary research?

Secondary research is also known as desk research. You can do this by collecting and analyzing pertinent information in published material such as news articles, databases, journals, books, and company filings. Primary research involves conducting surveys and talking to experts, consumers, clients, and other relevant stakeholders. Both forms of research have their merits and de-merits. A combination of both methods is the best solution.

What are some of the career growth options for a consultant?

Rarely anyone stays on as a consultant forever. Typical growth path is general management roles, venture capital and entrepreneurs. Lou Gerstner, the former CEO of IBM did a spectacular turnaround for IBM. He was a former Mckinsey Consultant. Management Consulting is a fast track into senior roles because you are able to experience so many business issues across industry in a very short time.

What is the difference between a Business Analyst and a Consultant?

A business analyst sometimes also known as Research Assistant is a junior consultant. They do data collection and analysis work. Consultants will take on the work done by research analyst and take it to the next level such as solution development and implementation. Business Analysts contribute significantly in large systems implementation projects. Research Assistant term is more commonly used in Consulting Industry.

How should I handle a situation when I am unprepared?

If you are faced with a situation where you are unprepared, a good consultant will request more time for investigation and seek immediate assistance from his peers, seniors or even the client. It’s absolutely a bad idea to improvise or bluff your way out because you should never mislead your client.

What are typical pitfalls in consulting?

Wrong attitude is the number one killer. If your doctor or lawyer is condescending and acts as a know-it-all, you will unlikely go back to him/her. In addition, if your style of working is that of taking short cuts and chasing short-term gains, you will witness failures in your career very quickly.

How different is it to handle an international client versus a domestic client?

Frankly there should not be any difference. A consultant should handle both situations with equal dedication and seriousness. However, the biggest pitfall is how seriously international clients take deadlines and clarity of deliverables. If you miss deadlines or claim to misunderstand your deliverables, you will get into serious trouble with your “trustworthiness” quotient. Once this happens, you have damaged your reputation.

How does one win clients’ confidence?

Here are seven important attributes of winning client confidence. Be ethical, be eager to solve challenges, offer options don’t dictate, bring new perspectives, be a good listener, be a team player, and finally treat all engagements as special.

How to deal with a difficult client or one who is an expert in their field?

It is true that most clients will possess a high degree of domain knowledge than a consultant who is a starting out professional. Your value is not in domain knowledge but in ability to solve problems and bringing new perspectives. Highlight your firms’ tools and methods, analytical capabilities, and access to experts (in your firm or the industry). Remember, you represent your firm and your capability as a problem solver.

How do I back out gracefully out of over commitment to a client?

It can happen sometime. You may suddenly realize that you have signed up for too much. In such situations, be up front. Sit down with the client and offer options. Request more time, re-prioritize the deliverables and cut down the work to only critical ones, ask for more resources or just make a polite refusal. The worst thing to do is to accept the over commitment and fail.

How do I avoid over commitment?

Common causes of over commitment are when you do not plan your work, you are a procrastinator, you cannot say no or you did not realize the size of the task. The first three should be dealt with by making an attitude shift. If you still cannot address them, you should not become a consultant. For last part on size of the task, always break down all jobs into sub tasks to size the effort. It’s a common practice by consultants to not immediately offer time and cost commitments. Consultants come up with proper proposals that specify exact deliverables, time, cost and conditions. This practice will help you plan your time.

Some client members may be very against the use of consultants. What should I do in these situations?

Immediately seek help from your client sponsors (who should be on your side) and or your senior consultants. Don’t battle this on your own. Consulting is a very people intensive industry and high-pressure politics is very common. Always keep in mind that it’s a job and there is nothing personal against you. You represent your company and you are there to solve their business issues.

What do I need to do to get new assignments?

Consultants are expected to generate new business. Large engagements come through formal Request for Proposals (RFPs), but typical consulting engagements, which range around $100k to $2M always come through informal channels. To secure new assignments, you need to build trust with your client and you will automatically hear about challenges clients are facing. You may have to give some free time up front in small focus workshops and research work to assist clients in formulating a case. This is purely pre-sales effort. Though consultants don’t get paid for this work, the chances of winning such deals are 80% as compared to RFPs that rarely achieves a win rate over 20%.

How do I switch context when I am working in multiple projects?

You will always find yourself in multiple projects as a consultant. Plan up front. Chart your milestones with clear deliverables and keep good documentation and notes. Set up a timetable to work on each case or project based on your deliverable schedule. Stick to commitments and reach out for help if you find yourself falling behind. I would recommend that you do not work on more than 2 large engagements or 4 short ones at given time.

How to maintain work life balance and reduce stress?

Consulting is not for everyone. You have to be prepared for long hours and intense pressure of deadlines. One has to understand that there will be relief during down times or bench time as its known in consulting industry. This is the time when you are not working on a project. During billable time you have to be prepared to practice to turn off your mind when you go home or back to your hotel room. Keep fit; eat well and practice yoga and meditation. Never deal with problems on your own. Ask for help from your teammates, your manager and also clients. Maintain high standards in ethics and you will have a clear conscience. Do not over commit yourself.

What do I do to build up my confidence?

Confidence will come to you over time. Work on simple projects first. Get a feel for the dynamics of consulting. Build up the challenge element in your projects at a pace that you feel comfortable and you will be fine. Constantly educate yourself by reading and networking on consulting methods, and case studies.

How do I become a critical resource in a project?

While you may want to become a critical resource in a project and is a good ego booster, I do not recommend you work actively to become one. There is a subtitle difference between being “wanted” versus being indispensible. If you practice the attributes of a good consultant you will become “wanted”.

How can I develop problem-solving skills?

Challenging the status quo always helps. Always think of how things can be done better and faster at home and work. Another good way to practice this is when you read your daily news. Read the news title and then close your eyes and think of the possible outcomes or causes of the news incident. In effect, here you are thinking of various hypotheses. Each hypothesis should be distinct from the other and try to think of as many as you can. Then open your eyes and read the article. (1) Did you think of that outcome/cause as reported in the news article? (2) Do you agree with the outcome or cause of that incident? The first question will develop your analytical capability and the second question will develop your problem solving capability.

What are the options of joining a course for learning management consulting?

Still a very emerging area in India and there are only very few options. ZENeSYS offers a six-week distance program with certification and the opportunity to work a live case. CMC is internationally recognized but requires some prior consulting experience. Some degree and diploma courses are starting up in India that is a part of specialization during an MBA curriculum.

How to find a good mentor?

Once you take up a consulting job. It is a good idea to find a mentor. Good mentors are those who are performing well and are interested in developing others. Attitude of the mentor is important. You should feel uplifted in their presence. Negative thinking mentors should be avoided. Lastly you should find a clever way to compensate your mentor for his/her time and effort. If you are good at PowerPoint, offer to work on their reports. You will be amazed at what you will learn with any odd hands-on collaborative work as opposed to just chatting.

How do I start my own consulting firm?

Going your own way is one of the attractions in consulting after life. There are several books on how to start your own consulting firm that will tell you about the nitty-gritty’s. I remember I found Alan Weiss’ books quite helpful. Here are some pearls of wisdom from my viewpoint. Prove your analytical and relationship building capabilities first and then go into business. Biggest challenge you will face initially is to focus on delivering and developing business at the same time so make sure you have a long haul client before you jump in. Always focus on areas that are still evolving for maximum benefit. For example if you can offer consultancy on Corporate Social Responsibility or Alternative Energy, you will find it easier going than say Telecom Market Development. And lastly, don’t waste your money in advertising. It rarely works. Build your business through personal relationships.

Saibal Sen is the founder of ZENESYS, a professional services training organization. ZENESYS has trained hundreds of engineers in consulting skills at leading consulting organizations in India and abroad. ZENESYS also runs distance workshops for consulting certification. Saibal was formerly a management consultant at Arthur D. Little and founder of KUBER consulting in Boston MA. He can be reached at ssen@zenesys.org

UPSC True Achievers!!!!

2009-05-08T23:44:00.004+05:30

Sanjay Akhade, A determined guy has cracked the most prestigious exam of india, UPSC -IAS Exam. he is from Nashilk and has secured 263 rank.

Rashmi Bansal reports about him in her blog...

Son of Dnyandeo, an unlettered porter, and Vimal, a beedi worker, growing up was about bringing home some money. He cleaned tables at hotels, worked at a medical store, distributed newspapers and manned an STD booth through his teens.

Although a topper in school, Sanjay dropped out and pursued a course at the Industrial Training Institute; getting a job was priority. He'd attend class from 10 am to 5 pm and work at the STD booth till midnight. "I was a voracious reader and would read whenever there weren't any customers. If I liked something, I would jot it down in a diary,'' recalls Sanjay.

This is what is so amazing. Despite a really hard life, Sanjay did not wallow in self pity and curse his fate. He found a way to learn and grow, within his limited resources. And not for any particular reason. But somewhere deep down I'm sure he knew this was the only way to escape from the prison of circumstance. And make something of himself.

Self-study was what the Marathi-educated Sanjay depended on as he learnt English through newspapers. His drive was recognised by a regular customer, Digambar Vaishyampai, a teacher who started bringing him books and encouraged him to return to studies. It was with his backing that Sanjay enrolled for the HSC exam and subsequently pursued his BA, ranking first in all exams, despite not being able to attend lectures. His family started backing him too. His mother says she can't even read the clock, but wanted her children "to make it big in life''.

A UPSC advertisement Sanjay chanced upon got him interested in the services. He trails off into another incident that further strengthened his resolve-a narration that brings back memories of Slumdog hero Jamaal being interrogated by policemen. "A college friend of mine once had trouble with a cop, who smashed the windshield of his autorickshaw. When I questioned the action, I was thrashed,'' says Sanjay, adding that he could perhaps join the IPS and reform the system.

But achieving his goal wasn't easy. He first gave the UPSC exams with history as his subject in 2006 and failed twice. Although from a minority community, Sanjay applied through the open category as he wanted to play fair. "People would tauntingly call me collector sahib and tell me how life would never change, but I believed otherwise,'' says Sanjay.

He married his cousin last year and has a four-month-old son named Yash. His interview in Delhi was his first trip to the capital. "I gave my interview in English, as I didn't want to lose the essence of what I said during translation.'' Employed with an insurance company, he dutifully returned to the rut, praying all along for his results. When his phone rang on May 4, also his birthday, he knew good news was on the way. "My friends called to say I had cracked the exam.'' His newly rented flat buzzed with visitors on Thursday.

"Entering the services will not change our lives at home, but help me change the lives of many others like us.'' He says his background has helped him better understand what the government needs to do. "I will be handling child labour, for instance. I know what it is to be a child labourer."

COurtesy: rashmi Bansal

FACT BOX - 10 | Om Prakash Bhatt

2009-05-01T18:48:00.003+05:30

Om Prakash Bhatt

Vital statistics

Born March 7, 1951, in Dehra Dun, India

Married, with 2 daughters

Education

Graduated with BS in physics and MA in English from Meerut University (now Chaudhary Charan Singh University)

Career highlights

State Bank of India (1972–present)

Chairman (2006–present)
Managing director (2006)
Managing director, State Bank of Travancore (2005–06)
Chief general manager, north east circle (2004–05)

Fast facts

Chairman of the banking and financial institutions committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)

Director on the board of EXIM Bank and General Insurance

Member of the boards of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), Institute for Development & Research in Banking (IDRBT), Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), and National Cooperative Development Corporation

Business Standard’s Banker of the Year for 2006–07

CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2007, business category

Asian Centre for Corporate Governance & Sustainability and Indian Merchants’ Chambers’ Transformational Leader Award 2007

Asiamoney’s best executive in India for 2008

Business and Information Technology

2009-04-23T18:25:00.004+05:30

Business and Information Technology

It is a weekday, and Priya Awasthi, 26, is at work at her high-security Electronic City office in Bangalore. She is in a large, cool, bright hall, surrounded by neatly arranged banks of computers, with biometric sensors and closed-circuit cameras recording every movement. Six clocks show the time in Sydney, Tokyo, Bangalore, London, New York and San Francisco. In front of her, projected on a giant screen, are a bunch of changing numbers, dials and graphs. The scene looks like NASA's space shuttle launch center. But it shows us how deep the technology has penetrated in the business and one cannot think about running a business without having a regular IT infrastructure or outsourced one. Whether you run a MNC or a SME , you have to allocate a part of your revenue for IT infrastructure and if you ask why? Answer is simple: if you want to compete and make profits you have to adopt and equip with global standards in this flattening, fiercely competitive world.

Nearly twenty years ago, personal computers began to revolutionize the way we work and play. In recent years, though, the Internet has been the primary source of technological innovation, offering us everything from online auctions to networked research libraries Today almost every business organization invariably requires a strong and efficient Information Technology (IT) system for its survival and sustenance. This change in organizational structure has not come about in a day, but rather is the result of efforts of various people who are constantly thinking of making human lives simpler and better. Technology has greatly helped businesses in terms of increasing their speed, efficiency. It has also made the working environment more safe, predictable and transparent. Overall, technology has helped the firms in their growth by maximizing their operational leverage.

Technology, to a large extent is demand driven. It is the need to create simple ways to do things that leads to innovation and invention. This when applied and accepted on a large scale brings about what we refer to as “Technological Revolution”. In recent times, the technology that has transformed our lives in a big way has been the Computers.

The development of computers can be classified in 3 phases. Under phase I from 1940s to mid 1960s, comes what we call as first generation computers (using vacuum tubes), second generation computers (using transistors) and third generation computers (which used integrated circuits-ICs). Advancement in ICs led to development of computer chips or silicon chips. Therefore, under phase II (from mid 1970s to early 1990s) emerged microcomputers which we called Personal Computers or PCs. With the coming of PCs the whole business-to-business and business-to-customer model changed drastically. With greater connectivity, linkages between firms and firms-customers increased and became more direct. Vendor development came into existence and with it the whole idea of value chain addition and quality enhancement. Phase III started somewhere in early 1990s when Marc Anderson introduced a software browser called Netscape (its generic name being Mosaic). It was followed by the Internet explosion. Internet has made it possible to share data throughout the world within a few seconds and now even in nano seconds.

Businesses, not to be left behind also joined the bandwagon and developed their own official websites or web portals to disseminate information directly to their customers, suppliers and investors. In contemporary times, where firms are trying to leave as large a global footprint as possible, firms need to have access to timely and accurate information in order to operate efficiently. Business has been driven by the rapid evolution in technology: virtualization, cloud computing, standardization of IT infrastructure, and the availability of sophisticated tool sets. Industries including telecom and banking, financial services and insurance became the early adopters.

Adoption of IT also has the advantage of reducing transaction and processing costs, greater access to inventory levels, improving accounting information and improving feedback capabilities. Thus, integration of IT in Business not only helps businesses to communicate better among themselves but it also helps in catering to a wider audience while incurring minimum costs. It has also been driven by changes in customer demands and a mature offshore supply environment. Nowadays, it provides the customer with a unique and individualized experience, right at home. Be it online banking or online buying, everything is just a click away, with consumers having the freedom to do these tasks according to their own convenience and their own suitable time.

Though technology is highly desirable, but it is not always easy to introduce new technology. For starters, many new technological inventions are wasted because of lack of clarity on its application. For example, it was Emile Berliner who gave the phonograph (later called gramophones) its purpose, namely playing music. For others, acceptance by masses may take too long a time as was the case with sewing machines i.e. masses are generally the late adopters. This could partly be due to the very high prices charged for the new products which might deter masses from buying them. Further, today technology has been often accused of being too complex and intrusive in nature. In fact, it has been observed that there has been a migration of technology from fore-front to behind the curtain which has sent the wrong impression to customers that everything is as simple as it seems while ignoring the ever growing complex networks in the background. Moreover, there is huge mismatch between consumer demands and vendor supplies that needs to be rectified and brought in alignment.

But going forward in future we must admit that technology alone is rarely the key to unlocking economic value, in fact companies create real wealth when they combine technology with new ways of doing business. Having said that Information Technology will continue to affect the business activity be it managing relationships, be it managing capital and assets or leveraging information in new ways.

BY : Neha Richa Amit

The unique game

2009-04-23T18:09:00.003+05:30

First my friend said about the news and asked me to read the snippet at any cast. Why? because it is related to me and someheer you'll like it, he said.

Then i searched on the net and got the interview as well as the article. I was extermely delighted to see the person who stands tall in IPR world yet so humble and down to earth has come up with wonderful idea of ipr law game. This is a matter of pride for me and in fact even i was thinking that IPR should be promoted at school level and people should be made aware of IPR and its applications. Many of us do not think IPR is a good career option and hence there is a deep derath of talent in this sector and People who need professionals in this area are compromising with quality. So i starongly recommend this game, not only for children above 12 but also for grown ups. This one game will sure infuse that much needed interest in IPR and who knows many of us would start taking IPR as serious option? here goes the news...

In the next three months, a rather unique board game will hit the stores and that will be a board game on IPR

For starters, it’s a locally developed game, a rarity in a business where international games such as Monopoly, Scrabble, Risk or Scotland Yard, largely owned by global companies such as Hasbro Inc. and Mattel Inc., rule the roost.

Then, it’s developed by a lawyer.

And finally, it’s a game on intellectual property rights, or IPR.

The game is the brainchild of Pravin Anand, one of India’s best-known IPR lawyers. It took him two years to develop the game—and in these two years, Anand has had a busy day job.

The result, Anaryst, is probably the world’s first board game on IPR, and Anand is in talks with Noida-based Frank Educational Aids Pvt. Ltd to market it. Anand has also given away around 200 sets of Anaryst to schools, law firms, and friends to gauge their reaction to the game that he first unveiled last year at a function presided over by science minister Kapil Sibal, himself a well-known lawyer.

Anand’s motive in developing Anaryst is to acquaint young people—the game is essentially meant for anyone over the age of 12, although even younger children can play it—with the concept of IP and IPR, something that he hopes will encourage some of them to opt for a career in IP.

That’s a possibility, although not everyone who loves Monopoly ends up being Donald Trump.

Anand expects the board game to sell for around Rs500. Monopoly costs around Rs999 here. Manish Govil, director, product development at Frank Educational Aids, says that while it is difficult to predict the demand for the game in numbers before its formal launch in the market, he is positive it will receive a “positive reception”.

“The game is a new concept dealing with a current issue (IP). I’m sure children and adults would be interested in it,” Govil says.

Uday Athavankar, a professor at the Industrial Design Centre in Indian Institute of Technology, Bangalore, which specializes in creating and conceptualizing board games, too, believes Anaryst is “a new concept”.

And Sanjay Subrahmanyan, an avid board game enthusiast who blogs on board games, also says Anaryst is the first of its kind to be created in India.

The game, which follows a “roll and move” format, can be played by two-four players.The rules are simple. Players start by choosing one industry, represented by a pictographic card, out of four options—automobile, pharmaceutical, food and beverages, and information technology—depicted by a car, a drug, a drink and a computer system.

Each product has a portfolio of 15 unique intellectual properties associated with it marked on the cards. For instance, in the auto industry there are 15 properties associated with a car such as a patent in the “improved axle”, copyright in the light controlling software and trademark in the brand name.

Each player is given 5,000 A,nas, the currency of the game and acronym for Anand and Anand. The goal is to complete acquiring all the 15 intellectual properties of the chosen industry.

Tresspassers on other players’ squares, that represent factories, have to pay a fine or go to court and pay damages or go to jail. Players can also acquire IP of other players’ industries, become “trolls” and trade them later. The goal is to complete the industry portfolio without going bankrupt.

Stirring interest early

Anand says he has taken the game to students of New Delhi’s Salwan Public School to allow students to try it, and received an encouraging response.

“The school is planning to have inter-school Anaryst competitions. Children learnt that IP is not as complicated as performing a brain surgery. They will learn through the game that in a monogram they create, a recipe or an essay they write, IP is in everything,” the lawyer says.

“Children need to understand these concepts with subtlety early enough to be interested in it. Those students may now want to look at IP as a career. ”

Aparna Keswani, 17, was one of the students at the school who played the game with her friends. The game is now available in her school library. She says it definitely “stirred an interest” in IP among her classmates. “I wasn’t aware of what IPR means. In websites I often saw ‘Copyright 2009’ written at the end of the pages. It (the game) explained what trademark, patents, copyrights and designs mean and how it can be used in different industries,” she says.

Marketing Anaryst won’t be easy, says Subrahmanyan. “The problem with the board game industry is that some makers like Funskool dominate the market as they have rights like Scrabble and Monopoly that have been popular for over 40 years,” he says.

“Unfortunately, there is no board gaming culture in India, like in countries like Germany,” he adds. “Here, there are only cards and gambling.”

Anand is not worried because he is not interested in the business aspect as much as in cultivating his hobby and “spreading the message of intellectual property”.

“Even at the inauguration I had mentioned that it is an open source game, anyone can pick up the idea and work on it,” he says.

The lawyer now plans to develop an online version and make it available on a website so it can become more accessible and reach out to a larger audience.

I wish him all the success and hope many more to come in future. Also despaerately waiting for online version to hit the market. Gr8 going sir!!!

Courtesy : Live Mint

Fact Box - 9 (Capt. Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath)

2009-04-16T01:37:00.002+05:30

It is the same time again when everyone of us talks about elections, Its imlications, repercussions, Goverment and Politics. When i heard the news that besides the regular contenders and champions of different communities (castes), there are few who are contesting for country. It remains to be seen, wheteher they are truly in battle for the country and for being the change they want to see, or just the rhetoric and gimmick to win and rule.

So i heard that Capt. Gopinath is contesting from Suth Bangalore as an independent candidiate. I realized that in my Fact Box series, i didnt post anything form quite sometime. So what better time than this wud be to post his fact box. More so when i got a piece in her own penned down article.

excerpts for you...

Vital Statistics

Spouse	Bhargavi Gopinath
Children	2 daughters: Pallavi and Krithika.
Residence	Bangalore

Education
I was born in a small village called Gorur in Hassan district of Karnataka. My father was a poor school teacher and a farmer as well. I went to a Kannada-medium school till Class V after which I was selected at the Sainik School in Bijapur which had just been set up to cater to students in Karnataka. Incidentally, I failed the first time I appeared for the entrance exam as the paper was in English of which I did not know a word. My headmaster, however, was a very determined man and he wrote to the defence ministry asking them how they hoped to recruit boys from villages in South India if the paper was held in English and not in their mother tongue. I was able to appear again for the exam, this time in Kannada and that's how I got selected.
Career Highlights
Captain Gorur Ramaswamy Gopinath is considered the father of low-cost airlines in India. He was born in a village in Hassan district of Karnataka. A graduate from the National Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy, he served in the Indian Army for 8 years. He started commercial helicopter service in 1996. Understanding the needs of this segment, Capt Gopinath decided to start Air Deccan, the first low-cost, no-frills airline of India in August 2003. The French government has bestowed the award of Chevalier de la legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) on Capt G.R Gopinath. He is also the recipient of several awards such as the ‘Rajyotsava Award’ by the Government of Karnataka, ‘Personality of the Decade Award’ instituted by KG Foundation , ‘Editors Choice Award’ by the Indian Express Trade and Tourism Awards and “Sir M Visvesvaraya Memorial Award” by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry. Captain Gopinath is contesting the Lok Sabha polls as an Independent from Bangalore South Constituency.

Fast Facts

After completing school, I got selected to the NDA (National Defence Academy) and went on to be commissioned in the Indian Army where I spent the next eight years and fought in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation war. I quit the Army to come back to my village and take up farming. I got into sericulture and eco-farming. Later, I set up Deccan Charter, India's first private helicopter charter company which was followed by India's first low-cost airline Air Deccan. My dream was to have an inclusive India with equitable growth for which connectivity was crucial.

I have been involved in different enterprises, in different fields and have managed to build meaningful businesses which contributed to nation-building. Over the past two decades, I have been a critic of several Government policies and systems and have worked with successive Governments on policy for reforms and progressive measures, particularly in the aviation sector.

Book Review “The world is flat”

2009-02-18T19:19:00.001+05:30

I read “The world is flat” expanded edition of 2006. Considering that the book is huge success across the globe and across the readers, i feel guilty that missed the same till now. The book is one of the gems penned down by the famous writer and journalist Mr. Thomas L. Friedman, who wrote it as a research book.

When you proceed with the book, it is clearly visible that the book is more about his observation based on his interaction with corporate bigwigs, their interview, his vist to many places and research based on his observation.I just finished almost some 220 pages of the book and that marks the end of all the 10 flatteners mentioned in the book.

I would like to divide the reviw in form of questions and would try to get the answers of those with the help of book.

Is the world really "flat?"
When Friedman said the world is fla, he didn’t mean world being physically flat-- sorry to disappoint you. Instead, Friedman is referring to the forces of globalization. More specifically, the "triple convergence" among the flattening forces, a new business model emphasizing horizontal collaboration, and the opening of India, Russia, China and other closed societies after the fall of the Berlin Wall. As we go with the book we gradually find that growing economies (read India and China), are playing vital role in making the world really flat besides the ten flatteners mentioned in book. This triple convergence created a more global and level economic playing field. Companies are no longer discrete entities residing in one or two countries, but span the globe. Supply chains reach across continents and cultures while Americans no longer compete only among themselves for the top jobs; but across the entire world.

What is the role of growing economy?

The growing economies are contributing their bit as India is becoming the back office of the world and China is the manufacturing hub of the world. Both tailor made for outsourcing and offshoring. Ofcourse there is some overlapping. As the world becoming a global village competition for the best jobs just got a lot stiffer. No longer can citizens of developed world expect to receive top of the line jobs on anything but merit. The increase in education and telecommunication technology across the world is creating a massive potential workforce that is itching to join top jobs at the top of the standard of living pyramid. What this means for developed world is that the need to be constantly upgrading skills and becoming more adaptable is absolutely vital for continued employment.

How is the developed world preparing for the flat world?
Thomas Friedman refers to an "Ambition Gap" in describing the advantage that Indian and other non-American students have over Americans. After World War II America was truly the only superpower and the clear leader in technological innovation and education. However, that is no longer the case. Now there are students in places like India where the opportunity for a good education is relatively new and the ambition between students in those areas and Americans is almost not comparable. The Indian CEO of 24/7 Call Center, P.V.Kannan describes it best, "Is America prepared [for the flat world]? It is not...You've gotten a little contented and slow, and the people who came into the field with [the triple convergence] are really hungry. Immigrants are always hungry-- they don't have a backup plan."

What is the lesson from this book?
First and foremost, the extent to which the world has been flattened became very evident in this book. I have a much better mental picture of the world economy and the dynamics of basic business practices in the 21st century after reading half of this book. Another key point that I took from this book is the need to always be improving oneself to remain competitive in the global job market. It is no longer sufficient to learn one skill or trade; the modern worker must be continually learning and growing as an employee. While some people view the flattening of the world as a grave threat (low-skilled manufacturing comes to mind), I prefer to take the more optimistic approach of viewing it as an opportunity to improve. In a free-market economy, increased competition is a keystone to a functioning economy. I see no reason why an increase in the competition for jobs caused by globalization should be looked at any differently. In fact, there is so much more to the flattening of the world that is exciting,particularly the potential of massive collaboration on some of the most troubling and advanced problems we now face that a view focused on the outsourcing of American jobs is shortsighted, narrow and far too American-centric to be a valid approach. Sure, the flattening of the world will raise many challenges for many people, but challenges are what bring the best out of both people and societies.

The flatteners of the world:

Friedman defines ten "flatteners" that he sees as leveling the global playing field:

1. The new age of creativity – Berlin Wall collapse and Windows went up (Microsoft)--11/9/89: The event not only symbolized the end of the Cold war, it allowed people from other side of the wall to join the economic mainstream. (11/09/1989)

2. The new age of connectivity- Advent and popularisation of www and Netscape 8/9/95: Netscape and the Web broadened the audience for the Internet from its roots as a communications medium used primarily by 'early adopters and geeks' to something that made the Internet accessible to everyone from five-year-olds to ninety-five-year olds. (8/9/1995). The digitization that took place meant that everyday occurrences such as words, files, films, music and pictures could be accessed and manipulated on a computer screen by all people across the world.

3. Workflow software: The ability of machines to talk to other machines with no humans involved. Friedman believes these first three forces have become a "crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration."

4. Uploading- harnessing the power of communities: Communities uploading and collaborating on online projects. Examples include open source software, blogs, and Wikipedia. Friedman considers the phenomenon "the most disruptive force of all."

5. Outsourcing Y2K: Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing activities into components which can be subcontracted and performed in the most efficient, cost-effective way.

6. Offshoring- running with gazelles, eating with lions: The internal relocation of a company's manufacturing or other processes to a foreign land in order to take advantage of less costly operations there. China's entrance in the WTO allowed for greater competition in the playing field. Now countries such as Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil must compete against China and each other to have businesses offshore to them.

7. Supply chaining- eating sushi in arkansas: Friedman compares the modern retail supply chain to a river, and points to Wal-Mart as the best example of a company using technology to streamline item sales, distribution, and shipping.

8. Insourcing: Friedman uses UPS as a prime example for insourcing, in which the company's employees perform services--beyond shipping--for another company. For example, UPS repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees.

9.In-forming – Google, MSN, Yahoo: Google and other search engines are the prime example. "Never before in the history of the planet have so many people-on their own-had the ability to find so much information about so many things and about so many other people", writes Friedman. The growth of search engines is tremendous; for example take Google, in which Friedman states that it is "now processing roughly one billion searches per day, up from 150 million just three years ago".

10.The steroids, mobile, personal, digital: Personal digital devices like mobile phones, iPods, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Corporate Governance in Annual Report

2009-02-18T18:51:00.004+05:30

This was the part of one of my Power point presentation.

Corporate Governance

• Corporate governance is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws to control the organization.

• Include relationships among stakeholders involved and the goals of organization .

• to reduce or eliminate the principal-agent probles

• renewed interest in the corporate governance in 2001 after Enron and recently after Satyam scam.

• Definition: “an internal system encompassing policies, processes and people, which serves the needs of shareholders and other stakeholders, by directing and controlling management activities with good business savvy, objectivity and integrity. Sound corporate governance is reliant on external marketplace commitment and legislation, plus a healthy board culture which safeguards policies and processe”

CG In India Over the years

• CII Code on Corporate Governance (1998)

• Kumar Mangalam Birla Committee on Corporate Governance (1999)

• Recommendations of the Naresh Chandra Committee Report on Corporate Audit and Governance (2002)

• Narayana Murthy Committee Report: Report of the SEBI Committee on Corporate Governance (2003)

• Conference on Corporate Governance Trends in India 2004, NFCG formed

• Clause 49 (2004) (SEBI)

• Concept Paper on Companies Bill 2004

• Dr. J.J. Irani Report on New Company's Act

• Review of companies (Issue of Indian Depository receipts) Rules, 2004

• Proposed Changes in Clause 49 of Listing Agreement

• Limited Liability Partnership Bill, 2006

Contents of CG report

• Company’s philosophy on code of Governance

• Information on Mangement e.g.Board of Directors

• Audit Committee Information

• Subsidiary information and remuneration policy disclosure.

• Ethics and compliance disclosure

• General shareholder information and other information for transparency.

HI

2009-02-18T18:02:00.002+05:30

Let me first apologise on the outset of the post. Its been more than 2 and half long months since i have posted something (relevent or irrelevent) on my beloved blog. The resons are multiprong and can justify the abeyance of posts but at the heart i know this all would be a lame excuse. I said so because if you have net access round the clock and you say you didnt have time to post anything would not make sense. However somewhat twas true. I was bind by so many things one after another. Xams then Pune tour (pics will follow) then a string of arduaos and life turning high profile decisions to be made then Kolakata trip (pics will follow)then again the study, study and study, bombardment of assignment from all the corners and i end up doing nothing only the rambling thoughts and nothing concrete.

Now at this point of time after 2 and a half month when i still feel like procatinating, i made up my mind to atleast apologise and mind you the million dollar decision is still pending and i dont know if i take decision, what will happen to my blog. i am not sure about the future as i dont know if i get access to net like this or may be time to surf net as a leasure activity. But whats lie in future should not ruin our present. So lets talk about present and to some extent past.

A lot has happened in the past 3 months, from the big fat Satyam scam to Obama taking the charge of US. From the Economic slow down, Finacial crisis to Interim Budget 2009. From the earthshattering sucess of Ghajini to animadeversion acclaim of Slumdog millionaire.

So many things to talk about so many things to write on...

Between i have visited few places. PUNE, MUMBAI and Kolakata apart from old sweet Lucknow.

Theres been so much learning so many moments of excitement and some moments of deep depression (marks disclosed you see).

I always thought to learn from the mistakeand move on. Now when i have to decideand theres no escape, i really dont know what future holds for me.

I know whatever decision i'll take it'll turn good for me because choosing best from good is very hard. you never know which is better and thats precisely where we come to know that afterall we are human and to err is human (avarice).

Anyways, i know many of you are snatching out your hairs and must be thinking what the f^%$ is this man talking about :)

But some of you may understand the post. As i have to go to book tickets lets stop the conversation now and let me promise you guys that im back and will be after every lull back with more rigour, strength, enthusiasm and better experinces. Thanks for being my patient in reading this long post.

Business Etiquettes

2008-11-29T10:05:00.010+05:30

I saw anad sometimes back in ET, it was about the business ettiquette CD-ROM offered by ET. I actually wanted to have that but when i saw the cost of whole package, my plans took a backseat. Now i got to see a good presentation on business etiquitte. So thoghtto share it with all of you. Thanks to CITEMAN and HIWAY for such a good presentation. They have compiled almost all points necessary, however i was not agree with some points so removed them and have incorporated some new ones which i found suitable enough in Indian context.

Appreciation of other culture

• Religious beliefs and rituals

• Family and social structure

• Cultural Norms, Traditions

• Historical Background

• Politics and Government

• Economics and Industry

First Impression

· First impression is the best impression

· You represent the organization not yourself

· Introduce yourself well

· Memorize names of client representative. If you find it difficult to understand, ask the name again.

· Handshakes

o No moist / sweaty hands

o Firm handshake (gentle if the other person is a lady)

o Handshake to last only for a short while

Attire

•Appropriate protocol

•Shirt – Light pastel shades

•Trousers – Dark colors

•Shoes – Black / Brown (Polished)

•Socks – Color to match with shoes / trousers

•Slim wallet

•A respectable pen

•Party wear – Dark shirt, light colored trousers

•Different attire everyday during a week

Your personal appearance makes a lot of difference to your

level of confidence

Personal Hygiene

•Shave / shower regularly

• Neat hairdo

• Use deodorant / perfume regularly

• Avoid herbal hair oils at work

• Clean and Ironed Handkerchief

• Make use of mouth fresheners

Must knows & do's

•Always carry and use your Business Cards

• Vision, Mission, Values … a must know

• History & Culture: Your company and client organization

• Clear idea on expectations from your manager

Ask for help / clarifications

Communicating

•Speak slowly and clearly

• Watch your tone of voice … not to be too loud. Rememnber the primary aim of communicating is to make your point understand others.

• Ask for clarification if you don’t understand something

• Watch personal space … stand a foot away from other person

• Speak in the universal language (English) when at workplace

• Say “excuse me” if you accidentally bump into someone

Telephone Manners

• Begin the calls with “Good Morning/Evening..”

• Identify yourself

• Keep conversation to the minimum

• Don’t speak too loudly or disrupt people around you

• During meetings, turn your cell phone off / put on silent mode

• If you must take a call during a meeting, excuse yourself and walk out

• Please do not make any personal calls from the client site

Basic Table Manners

•Always sit up when seated on the table

•Avoid making strange noises on the table

•If you have to leave the table in between the meals then always excuse yourself

•While not eating, hands should be either on your lap or rest your wrist on the edge of the table

•Avoid reading at the table

•Always request the person closest to pass on the dish that you desire to have

•Using fork and knife (Work inwards)

• Elbows not to be rested on table while eating

• Season food according to your taste

• Eat with your mouth closed

•Social Drinking:

- Never drink on empty stomach

- At a cocktail party, hold the glass in your left hand and

leave the right hand free for handshaking

- Do not drive after drinking

Some More Hints ...

•Always come in neat and clean and follow dress code

•Do not discuss personal matters at the work place

•Be discreet when coughing and yawning

•Use positive language

•Be direct in communication

•If you have called a meeting, be there first

Winning Mantra from The MAHABHARATA

2008-11-24T10:08:00.003+05:30

•Turn your weaknesses into strengths.

•Turn enemies into allies.

•Share your responsibilities.

•Teamwork scores over Individual Effort.

•Right Team = Right set of Individuals. The right man for the right job.

•Commitment scores over Competence.

•Team interests over Individual interests..

•Know your enemy/challenges. Exploit its weaknesses. Take calculated risks.

•The Right Managers : To inspire, invigorate, counsel in crisis .

•Know Ground realities. Accept different ideologies. Cooperate.

•Empower Women. The Gender Balance is required for stability and administration.

sensex

2008-11-21T01:01:00.004+05:30

We all know about it and as they say half knowledge is dangerous, herecomes the sensex . Its a jargon which is not exactly a jargon we know it but dont know much :). when i saw this article, fell for it. Its very simple although i knew it but if someone ask to explain i couldnt do it before this. Just thought that many of you will go for interviews (hey boy hope you got it :))so reproducing it and would like to say biggggggg Thanx to CA CLUB. here goes the article Sensex , an abbreviation of the BSE sensitive index, is a market capitalisation-weighted index of 30 stocks representing a sample of large, well-established and financially sound companies. It is the oldest index in India and has acquired a unique place in the collective consciousness of investors. The index is widely used to measure the performance of the Indian stock markets. Sensex is considered to be the pulse of the Indian stock markets as it represents the underlying universe of listed stocks on The Stock Exchange, Mumbai. Further, as the oldest index of the Indian stock market, it provides time series data over a fairly long period of time (since 1978-79). Sensex is not only scientifically designed but also based on globally accepted construction and review methodology. Sensex Calculation Methodology As per the methodology, the level of index at any point of time reflects the free-float market value of 30 component stocks relative to a base period. The market capitalisation of a company is determined by multiplying the price of its stock by the number of shares issued by the company. This market capitalisation is further multiplied by the free-float factor to determine the free-float market capitalisation. The base period of Sensex is 1978-79, and the base value is 100 points. This is often indicated by the notation 1978-79=100. The calculation of Sensex involves dividing the free-float market capitalisation of 30 companies in the index by a number called the Index Divisor. The Divisor is the only link to the original base period value of the Sensex. It keeps the index comparable over time and is the adjustment point for all index adjustments arising out of corporate actions, replacement of scrips etc. During market hours, prices of the index scrips, at which latest trades are executed, are used by the trading system to calculate the Sensex every 15 seconds and disseminated in real time.

Banking Jargons

2008-11-09T10:46:00.002+05:30

When thought to gwt the difference between repo, reverse repo, CRR, SLR etc. nth time, i got some good pieces. Why nth time, because i really dont know why it always slips from my mind and whenever i am supposed to explain all these jargons. I start feeling like dumb. im thankful to RAMKYC who is one of the people whom i respect and admire a lot. WIll sure try to emulate him very soon. The way he works hard and that too regularly is sure an inspiration. I would be taking some notes from him and would also post some excerpts from ET. So further delay here we go...

What is Repo rate?

PUT simply, the repo rate is simply the annualised interest rate at which banks borrow money from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over a short term. This is generally seen as a way of tiding over a short-term liquidity crunch that is experienced by banks. However, to understand how this works, we need to understand the word repo. Repo technically stands for the word repurchase agreement. Most banks generally have a certain amount of government bonds or securities in their possession. When banks are in need for money they borrow money from the RBI using these government bonds or securities as a collateral. There is however the assurance that the bank will recover these later when the borrowed money is returned. The cost of the transaction takes the form of the repo rate. The repo rate is dependent on factors such as the credit worthiness of the borrower, how liquid the collateral is and the rates of other money market instruments.
What is reverse repo?
The word reverse repo generally accompanies most definitions of repo and is generally considered to be the opposite process. A reverse repo is when the RBI borrows money from the bank. The interest rate at which the bank borrows the money becomes the reverse repo rate. While the repo is generally used to infuse liquidity into the system, the reverse repo is used to reduce the supply of money in the market.
What’s the impact of a repo rate reduction?
While the RBI last initially slashed the repo rate by 100 basis points and brought it down to 8% on October 20, if further reduced it by 50 basis points and brought it down to 7.5%. This reduction, now makes it easier for banks to borrow money from the RBI at lower rates of interest. This is expected to increase the supply of money in the system. It is expected that with banks being able to arrange their own funds more easily, they will also extend this privilege to their customers and allow them to borrow at lower rates of interest.
The RBI had taken a similar decision to cut repo rates in August 2003. However, in the last few years, the rate has repeatedly been increased in order to tackle inflationary pressures.

"When Federal bank of USA reduces interest rates, what rate exactly is that with context to RBI's? Is it in relation to CRR?" The simple answer to the question is NO. The complicated answer is:

US Fed announces two different rates: the discount rate and the federal funds rate. The discount rate is the interestrate charged by the US Fed on the loans it gives to commercial banks. The federal funds rate is the interest rate at which banks lend to each other overnight. The US Fed only prescribes a target federal funds rate.

In contrast, the RBI announces only the bank rate. This is the same as the US Fed discount rate. There is no equivalent for the federal funds rate from the RBI. Instead, it announces its repo and reverse repo rates. Market rates (i.e., lendings and borrowings among the market participants) are determined based on these repo and reverse repo rates. Repo rate is the rate the RBI charges for the money lent by it to the banks. Reverse repo rate is the rate which it gives to the banks for lodging money with it. Both these types of transactions are backed by securities. In a repo transaction what happens is the banks lodge securities with the RBI in return for money. So, in effect what a repo transaction (a repo for the banks) does is infuse liquidity in the market. A reverse repo (for the banks) drains liquidity from the market. Comparing rates with CRR is not correct. CRR and SLR are reserve requirements. That is, banks are mandated by the RBI to hold certain amount of money in the form of cash or invest a certain amount in prescribed securities. The US Fed has similar reserve requirements for banks operating there. The US Fed has a single reserve requirement. It is at present 10% of the deposit liabilities of the banks. I am sure all of you know that RBI mandates two different reserve requirements: the CRR and the SLR. The former is the amount of funds that the banks have to keep with the RBI. The latter is the amount of money that the banks to keep invested in RBI approved securities to meet their liquidity requirements. We have covered about them in detail in this Disover-It post. However a repeat would be in order here: Statutory Liquidity Ratio -- SLR, is the percentage of net demand and time liabilities of a bank that has to be maintained by a bank with the RBI. This can be in the form of cash, gold or approved securities. This percentage currently is at 25%. The Banking Regulation Act, 1949 actually prescribes a floor and ceiling for this percentage. The floor is at 25% and the ceiling is at 40%. That is, the RBI can't impound more than 40% of the net demand and time liabilities of banks nor can it prescribe a percentage which is below 25% for this purpose. It has to operate within this band. But recently the BR Act, 1949 was amended doing away with the floor. This gives RBI flexibility to prescribe a percentage of SLR which is lower than 25%. On the SLR funds, the RBI has to pay interest to the banks. It is currently at 6.5%. Contrast this with CRR -- Cash Reserve Ratio, wherein the Bank has to maintain a certain percentage of its net time and demand liabilities in the form of cash with the RBI. CRR at present is 6. On the CRR funds, RBI will not pay any interest to the banks. You can take the ‘net demand and time liabilities’ broadly to mean the deposits of the bank. Why this term is used is that many a time there will be situations in which the deposits figure will not be reflecting the actual deposits. It is the ‘net’ figure that is to be taken and not the ‘gross’ figure. Demand liabilities are those that have to be paid by the bank on ‘demand.’ And ‘time liabilities’ are those that have a time within which the bank has to pay these liabilities. Time deposits like bank FDs (Fixed Deposits) come under this ‘time liabilities’ category.

‘Have long-term strategic view of your career’- Nandan Nilkani

2008-10-17T17:46:00.002+05:30

While i was having tough time in deciding my next move because of external pressures and insisting, i saw an inetrview in ET. It seems so real to me and so relevent when he answered a question in the tough time of Financial tsunami. I thought its the most apt and readymade solution of my problems. Whenever one get a new good offer, (better than the exisiting one), compare the future prospects, if its better again, compare what dividend will you get and forsee what everyone cannot. Once you are done with this, you'll get the answer of million dollar question. True implimenting that is again a herculian task but think think and think and then decide. :) if you couldn't figure out what i am talking about till now, forget it and see the reproduced interview here... his advise wud be helpful to all of us at one point of time or the other.
Infosys cochairman Nandan Nilekani’s word of advice to the young B-school graduates: ‘Have a long-term strategic view of careers.’ Tech bellwether Infosys, as part of its academic initiatives, held the finals of its B-school quiz under its ‘Incorporate’ programme. This year’s edition saw six teams competing for the winner position selected from 1,700 students across 15 business schools. Mr Nilekani, in an interview to ET,dwells on the various facets of his company’s engagement with the campus. Excerpts:
As a first-generation entrepreneur, what advice would you give to B-school graduates today?
I personally feel people should have a long-term strategic view of their careers. There is a bit of a tendency to say who is the highest salary payer and I feel that can be a bit tricky. When we started our career, we focused on how we can learn and become better in our jobs. That I feel—our early investments—is now paying dividends. Take a long view of life and do not merely take the best paying job coming out of campus.
In the current economic environment, what role can B-school graduates play?
One good sign is that there are a lot more entrepreneurs from B-schools. Today, the world is much more integrated, globalised and complex. The graduates who understand this, can provide their organisations the right kind of leadership with the ability to take bold decisions in challenging times.
What about Infosys’ academic initiatives?
We are constantly holding several events and all are part of enhancing engagements with B-schools. We have many alumni willing to participate in these relationship building efforts. It also gives these graduates the chance to acquaint themselves of the various opportunities we provide. Infosys is an attractive place for the young business graduates as they can play various roles in the areas of consulting, project management and client-facing activities. For all these, the Bschool graduates are very suited.
Besides, we have other programmes like ‘campus connect’ involved with faculty training. We are part of the Knowledge Commission and have worked with AICTE. In general, we have engagements at multiple levels to build good relationship with educational institutions and raise their standards.
What challenges do you see in the area of higher education?
Higher education—which is under-governed and over-regulated—is desperately in need of reforms. We are at a point, where India is going to reap its demographic dividend but a very small percentage of the students are getting access to higher education. We have to move urgently on this, otherwise, we are going to miss the boat.

Market Reserch a lucrative career option

2008-10-07T11:55:00.002+05:30

These days when some of my college friends were doing a live project in one of the good Mrket reserch firm i was wondering if these firms are worth enough for a longterm career option. Do they really fit into a good career path for long? or they are just to gain experience and to move on. While i still wonder what could be the answer of these question got a good piece of interview of ORG IMS research HR head, Max D’souza,in ET so reproducing the same here...

MAKING a career in market research for long was not considered as a preferred option by the best of brains. However, with the entry of MNCs in India, and thereby improved HR practices, firms like ORG IMS are now getting premium slot in leading institutes like the IIMs and IITs. ORG IMS research HR head, Max D’souza, spoke on the changing paradigm of market research field in India. Excerpts:

How would you compare HR practices in Indian market research firms with that in the UK and US?

The gap in HR practices between Indian market research companies and those in the West is significant. Since there is a scarcity of talent and people with analytical bent of mind (the ideal talent) in the West, the priority on HR practices is very high. In India, the scenario is completely reverse. There is immense talent that suits the requirement of the industry and historically, market research was not rated on a high scale in the market. However, MNC market research firms like ORG IMS have laid down adequate systems in place which help HR practices to be the driving force in managing people expectations, talent attraction and retention strategies. The MNCs have changed the historical perception of market research as a career option.

There is a perception that entry-level salaries are not too lucrative in Indian market research firms. Your comments.

The perception is, in fact, the reality! This has come into existence due to past practices and talent attraction being a challenge. This drastically dropped the quality of talent at the entry level and hence salaries too were low. Today, sectors like BPO and KPO have raised the entrylevel salary bar significantly which too has changed the compensation philosophy in market research companies. The leading firms now source their talent from leading B-schools. Many candidates aspire to pursue their career in good market research firms. The salary gap between market research companies and those in sectors like FMCG is no doubt bridging.

Is it possible to have a long-term career in market research in India?

Youngsters are getting attracted to market research since it gives a first-hand view of the whole industry. This learning curve gives a potential employee a defined edge to perceive career as ‘market experts’. It also enables them to be thought leaders in a specialised area since a market research background gives a very strong fundamental base.
There are hardly any academic curriculum in India which is specialised on market research. Any plans in this regard?
There is a dire need for a specialised curriculum in market research, which will help to build the future talent pool. Many B-schools have indeed started encouraging market research in their curriculum and I am sure we are not far from having a dedicated specialisation in market research. Currently, we do face a lot of difficulty to find the right talent, but this is compensated by our initiative in investing among students through internship programs. Though right now there are no plans for rolling out any market research course, we are quite active in partnering with B-schools to assist and develop curriculum in market research.

Phelps the phenomenon

2008-10-02T14:56:00.002+05:30

At 23, Michael Fred Phelps has become an international sporting sensation.
The young American swimmer has smashed seven world records and won eight gold medals at the Beijing [Images] Olympics [Images], the first athlete ever to secure first place so many times at a single Olympics Games.
Given his success, it's easy to slot Phelps into the 'born achievers' category -- at 23, he's established a glorious career doing what he loves best, he's a millionaire, a world record-holder and the pride of his nation.
But hold on a minute -- is Michael Phelps [Images] really a born achiever?
He may beg to differ.
At the age of seven Phelps, the youngest of three children, was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. For those not familiar with the condition, ADHD is a childhood condition characterised by constant activity, impulsive behaviour and the inability to focus one's attention on anything for a short span of time.
ADHD is treated with therapy and medication, but is not classified as curable -- as per information on the website WebMd.com, about 60 percent of afflicted kids carry the condition into adulthood.
To help release his pent-up energy and to emulate his older sisters who were also accomplished swimmers, Phelps took up swimming, starting to outshine his peers right from the start.
At the age of nine, Michael's parents divorced. His mother brought up all three children single-handedly, encouraging them to follow their dreams at all costs -- one middle-school teacher even told Michael's mother he would never be a success.
But successful Phelps is, and how.
Yes, there are the occasional set-backs. Like the time back in 2004 when Phelps, then 19, was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. He was under the legal drinking age limit of 21 in any case and to top it he was driving in an inebriated state. A repentant Phelps pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months probation, saying in court, "I recognise the seriousness of this mistake. I've learned from this mistake and will continue learning from this mistake for the rest of my life."
So who is Michael Phelps? He was a regular kid who struggled with an irregular condition and the divorce of his parents. He's young, he excels at what he does and like the rest of us, slips up once in a while.
And what life lessons do his struggles and successes hold for us?

Deal with your own issues effectively -- Michael certainly dealt with ADHD and his parents' divorce that way. His mother helped him cope up with his condition and channeled his energy into what he loved.
Cut out the drama -- Michael's story is inspirational but at the same time, neither the young man nor his family have exploited their experiences to sensationalise his life. They've told it like it is.

Zero in on your strengths and overcome your weaknesses -- He was less than an average student at school, but Michael was a passionate and dedicated student of his sport. The young swimmer is known to have studied tapes of his races over and over, zeroing in on mistakes and working towards bettering himself constantly. Excellent is still not good enough.

Remain focused on your goals -- At the Athens Olympics back in 2004, Phelps was beaten by teammate Ian Crocker beat in the 100m butterfly. He put up a poster of Crocker in his room to motivate him and keeps a list of his career goals beside his bed.

Pursue what you love with passion and put in a genuine effort -- Phelps' dedication to swimming was apparent back when he was nine and began to break national records in his age group. His commitment to what he does has grown with him. It's not just his career and his unbelievable performance at the Olympics that classify Phelps as a winner -- it's his story of inspiration that makes him a real champion, a youth icon, somebody to look up to.

Courtesy {Rediff}

Big Financial Crisis

2008-09-17T03:54:00.004+05:30

Click Image to enlarge

Let us keep some extract for our record from ET.
The oldest and the fourth-largest investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings filed for bankruptcy, while Merrill Lynch, famous for its iconic bull statue in the New York City financial district, sold out before it was too late. With stunning speed, two of the most storied investments banks faded into history, with Lehman headed for the biggest ever bankruptcy filing and Bank of America (BankAm) buying Merrill in a $50-billion stock deal. Another world titan, the largest US insurer, American International Group (AIG) has been given special permission to access $20 billion of capital in its subsidiaries to free up liquidity. AIG had asked the US Federal Reserve for a bridge loan.

Beauty With Brains

2008-09-17T03:38:00.002+05:30

AAH ! Common guys! stop staring, I know she is beutiful, in fact everyone would say she is beutiful. But if i ask what is her pic doing on a blog which is neither an entertainment blog nor a compilation of youtube videos or MMS clips or galleries :) :D

Well She is just one step away from being the world chess champion (Women category)and her name is Alexandra Kosteniuk. She is a super model from Russia and has many firsts in his kitty. One of them is being the first and only woman from russia who possess Grand Master (Men) title with her.She stormed into the finals of the Women’s world championship in Nalchik, Russia. It is very rare to see beauties in the game of chess. find out more abt her http://www.kosteniuk.com/

Phelps- The greatest of 'em all

2008-08-21T22:06:00.008+05:30

.
Michael Phelps, 23 year-old American swimmer won unprecedented eight gold medals in
Beijing Olympics 2008. He, thus bettered compatriot Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at Munich Olympics 1972 in Germany thirty six years ago - August '08.

2008-08-20T07:44:00.002+05:30

I searched about "aartis", specially the Gulshan kumar era sweetest sound in peanuts cassets songs :)and voila! i stumbled upon this link on google video (yup! true the ubiquitous you tube has the same video uploaded long back, in fact many more to choose from. But somewhere i like video google.Its quick requires less time to buffer and virtually spam free :)).
So what is special about this video. The very fact that its aarti of most worshipped God of India Sri Vishnu (commercialism and competition would not even left Gods :), make it special . But apart from this it has something more important. If you see the video, you would find it sarts with pic of AUMMMMM! and show us every bhagwan in between. So one in all darshan is available in this video.

Courtesy: Google Video

Happy Independence Day

2008-08-15T01:57:00.002+05:30

I was a typical example of one of those poor souls who had never realised the true meaning of freedom and what exactly we can do in free India which we could not have done before 1947. It was 1994 and i was mugging up a speech on independence day in english (that was a herculian task for me as i was from hindi mwedium school). I was reciting the speech like a parrot do and that too on 'n'th time and suddenly a thought came to my mind. Why do we celebrate our independence day? what's big deal if we are independent. We were eating and sleeping even before independence in any case so why so much celebration in school/college/org.? I asked to my dumb childhood friend "Abey Nanka tu dance perform kar raha hai na?" haan, pat came reply. Par kyun be? matlab aakhir aisa kya hai ki hum celebrate karein? Nanka said "abey paka mat. Apna speech rat le aur chalta ban". I gave him a how-dumb-my-friend-is look and moved on. Next morning i supposed to show my recitation to my english teacher (who have worked hard to prepare the speech) I asked to him the same absurd question. He was wellknown to me and i used to be a loving shisya of him. So he replied in detail. You know the way you eat , the way you sleep, the way you study the way you dream. It wud never have been the same without freedom. Ofcourse life runs even if you are slave but freedom is beyond what me and you can think of. Its just a feeling which can be realised when we are not independent. I didnt pay a heed and just recited my speech on 15th august, incidently i got a momento which which still peep into my drawing room from one of the cupboard.
Today when i can see a downpour in Delhi and can njoy the rain relishing "Slice Of Italy" Pizza and Garlic bread even at this point of time (2;00am). I realize it wudnt have been the case if we were independent.I really can say with proud and ecstasy in my heart that I am Indpendent and I Love India. I am citizen of independent India and the air im inhaling is of my India, Free India...
Happy Independence Day.
Jai Hind !!!!!!!!

FACT BOX - 8 ( Mr. William Bill Gates)

2008-07-26T18:37:00.003+05:30

Hi Junta,

Its been long since i updated my blog and longer since i posted any fact box. I was a bit tied down with so many exigent work at the same time. was busy with some of the most importatnt things in my life. besides the college, i had to please my boss big time as he was the one who had some of the secrets :). With due respect to him ( one of the most appealling personality i seen) let me start with what i want to.

Last month Mr. Gates got retired, firstly he just left the full time work and continued to be the Chairman of world's biggest software firm "MICROSOFT" (somewhat similar to waht im doing :D ). It was a case of rise and rise of gates he is still just 52 and the most famous drop out. He is the one inspiring soul for millions. Every man and woman on earth must have thought to be as rich as him one or another point of time. Its natural to dream to be like him but its more important to think like him. Being associated with Microsoft, i have strongest and deepest regard for him and want to salute him from the bottom of my heart. Here goes the Fact Box.....

Oct 28, 1955 |

Son born to William H Gates Sr and Mary Maxwell Gates in Seattle. Christianed William Henry Gates III, the fourth in family to have that name. Gets suffix ‘III’ because his father had dropped his

1968 |

Enrols in the elite Lakeside School. When in eighth grade, writes his first program on a primitive GE computer. He is one of four Lakeside boys banned from using a PDP-10 minicomputer for exploiting bugs in the operating system to obtain free computer time

1972 |

At age 17, forms a venture with schoolmate Paul Allen, called Traf-O-Data, to make traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 processor

1973 |

Graduates from school. Scores 1590 out of 1600 in his SATs and is enrolled at Harvard College. There, he meets future partner, Steve Ballmer

1975 |

Forms software firm, Micro-soft, with Allen after Intel had launched Intel 8080 CPU, the first computer chip to cost below $200. Takes leave of absence from Harvard to develop a BASIC programme for a new microcomputer built by MITS.

Feb 1976 |

After he learns that a pre-market copy of their BASIC software was being widely copied by enthusiasts, Gates writes an ‘Open Letter to Hobbyists’ saying that MITS couldn’t continue to produce quality software without payment. The letter riles many hobbyists but underlines Gates’ core beliefs on piracy

Nov 26, 1976 |

Trade name ‘Microsoft’ registered after dropping the hyphen. Around this time, the company becomes independent of MITS

1980 |

IBM approachs Microsoft to make a BASIC interpreter for its upcoming personal computer, IBM PC. Microsoft buys an OS, 86-DOS, from Seattle Computer Products, adapts it and delivers it to IBM as PC-DOS for $80,000. Microsoft insists on keeping the copyright. The sales of MS-DOS makes it a major player

June 25, 1981 |

Microsoft is re-incorporated and Gates becomes president and chairman of the board

Nov 20, 1985 |

First retail version of Microsoft Windows launched as an add-on to MS-DOS; achieves little popularity and competes poorly with Apple

Nov 1987 |

Windows 2.0 released; is slightly more popular. Windows 2.03, released in Jan 1988, results in Apple filing a suit for copyright infringement

1990 |

Microsoft releases Windows 3.0 with improved user interface. It’s a huge success, selling 2 million copies in the first six months. In March 1992, Windows 3.1 is launched. Microsoft and Gates are on their way to becoming household names

Jan 1, 1994 |

Gates marries Melinda French. They have three children: Jennifer Katharine Gates (1996), Rory John Gates (1999) and Phoebe Adele Gates (2002)

1995 |

Microsoft releases Internet Explorer as add-on package for Windows 95. It becomes the most widely used web browser in 1999

1995 |

Forbes declares Gates world’s richest man. He remains No.1 in the rich list till 2007. In 1999, Gates’s wealth briefly surpasses $101 billion, causing the media to call him a ‘centibillionaire’

May 18, 1998 |

Suit filed against Microsoft Corp by US department of justice and 20 US states for alleged abuse of monopoly power. Judge holds Microsoft’s practices as constituting a monopoly and rules that Microsoft be split. Ruling overturned after appeal

2000 |

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest transparently operated charitable organization in the world, formed

June 15, 2006 |

Gates announces he would transition out of his day-to-day role in Microsoft over the next two years

June 27, 2008 |

Steps down as chairman of Microsoft. Will remain parttime chairman

LEGACY |

Even after his exit, Gates remains the posterboy of I-T industry for his vision that redefined the rules of game. But he has also been criticized for his robust attitude to competition

EXIT |

Many feel Gates has quitted at the right time. Microsoft has struggled to grasp trends shaping internet in the new millennium. Its attempts to buy its way in, by picking up stake in Facebook and the failed bid to acquire Yahoo haven’t really worked.

{Courtesy TOI}

NEW Series : The lesser known Temples - 1

2008-06-12T14:12:00.023+05:30

Hi All,

Recently i got shifted from my older flat to a new one and when i was moving away, i noticed that i am gonna miss something. No, wrong guess! if you think i was missing the neighbours and the good old home sweet home. Actually its the temple in the mohalla of my old dwelling. I was one of the religiously vibrant inhabitant of the place and was regular visitor of the temple for one reason or the other.
Now coming to the topic...
I thought why not take the pics of my all beloved God and Goddesses. So here comes the new series "The lesser known Temples"...

i promise you to give new episodes of the series at regular interval...

The gate of Temple

Sri Hanuman ji

Sri Durga Maan

Sri Venkatesh (Vishnu) Bhagwan

Sri radha Krishan

Jai Sri Ram with Sita and Laxman

Sri Satyanarayan bhagwaan

Sri radha Krishna again

Sri ganesh Ji

Jai maan Saraswati

Sri Tulsi maan. A dark blur img, it was night by then

Sri Chitragupt Bhagwaan

Jai Maan Santoshi

Sri maan Gayatri

Jai Baal durga

Jai maan KAALI

Sri SHiv Shankar with Parvati Maan

Pavitra Shivling

Jai maan Sheetala, a dark img again

Jai NAV Graha

jai Shani Dev

Jai Kaal Bhairav.

Since i started taking the pic at evening and by the time i finished it was night so some dark imges bear them with me ;)

Two sides of INDIA

2008-04-23T12:37:00.002+05:30

This pic is taken recently at one of the best multiplex of Delhi.
I wanted to take a natural pic with these 2 ragpickers and the couple who came to watch the latest bollywood blockbuster. But alas! i couldnt take the snap as i wanted it to be. The natural( not like the horrendous news channel story cooked up for their by them).
Disclaimer: All universal stadd. disclaimer apply

PS: I found the ragpickers equally happy as the other people out there.

Think hat ke??

2008-03-17T19:19:00.002+05:30

I dont know why im writing something which does not suits the nature of my blog. Probably because i got to see some 3-4 blogs which were full their own lives' anecdotes, experiences or simply the mood. So i thought i do have a blog and i own that, i too can write whatever i want. True that the traffic on my blog is nt that high that i can boast of but its again not as low that i feel sad and in any case what the heck if noone gonna read let them not ... i am writing for my own peace of mind.
Having said that i really didnt intend to hurt any of my solemn reader. Thats true i am obliged that my reader do visit the blog and left with a word or twoo of appreciation.
now come to the point why i have written this crap is because i saw an ad on TV. Itwas of virgin mobiles. Althogh the ad is really very innovative and the idea created by whomsoever is appreciable but i want to question on the print version of ad. if you have seen the pumphlets on mobile stores by any chance you must have noticed what the guy with flashy mirroe mobile want to do where a girl in micromini stepping down from stairs...
So why this negative thing in such a wonderful campaigning of new launch. The brand would be one of the best brabds created i know it for sure. as the commercial is quite a hit in youngsters but do you think that negative publicity is a good publicity where has our moral gone?
MICA churn out the communication people they must have one r two courses related to ethics and moral and so that the other reputed ones ...
but whre is that... atleast not in this ad.., Think hatake but in positive way

FACT BOX -7 ( father of the NATION)

2008-03-11T19:12:00.003+05:30

I read a lot about him today and couldnt help searching about him more on net. Actually when i was adolescent i was hating ganhi ji Dont know the exact reason though but probably because of the personality presented by some of my teachers. And then my big bro who started telling me abt his contribution and told me abt the real situation between Gandhi and Bose. Finally i also started liking him and read his autobiography "My experiment with truth" . I liked the book so much and would write a big review of the book some time later. Actually the idea to post his life in Fact Bix just jumped in the mind and since the piece is wonderful i thought its good to post it here . Modern guys ho dont have time to go into deep would love concise Gandhi facts. So enlighten yourself and go through line by line. I must say thanks to the writer from CL.

Early Life- Mohandas Karamchand "Mahatma" Gandhi (October 2 1869 - January 30 1948), the youngest child of Karamchand Gandhi and Putlibai, was born at Porbandar in western India. Karamchand Gandhi (belonged to vaishya, or business, caste) was the diwan (Prime Minister) of Porbandar, and Putlibai was his fourth wife. Growing up with a devout mother and surrounded by the Jain influences of Gujarat, Gandhi learned from an early age the tenets of non-injury to living beings, vegetarianism, fasting for self-purification, and mutual tolerance between members of various creeds and sects.

In May 1883, at the age of 13, Gandhi was married through his parents' arrangement to Kasturba Makhanji (also spelled "Kasturbai" or known as "Ba"), who was his age. They had four sons.

At the age of 18 on September 4, 1888, Gandhi went to University College London to train as a barrister. He joined the Vegetarian Society, was elected to its executive committee, and founded a local chapter. He later credited this with giving him valuable experience in organizing institutions. Some of the vegetarians he met were members of the Theosophical Society, which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood and devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu Brahmanistic literature.

Turning Point- Gandhi was very shy but one incidence in South Africa changed him dramatically, as he faced the discrimination commonly directed at blacks and Indians. One day in court at Durban, the magistrate asked him to remove his turban. Gandhi refused and stormed out of the courtroom. He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg, after he refused to move from the first class to a third class coach while holding a valid first class ticket. The Indians who had been living in South Africa were without political rights, and were generally known by the derogatory name of 'coolies'. Gandhi suffered other hardships on the journey as well, including being barred from many hotels. These incidents have been acknowledged by several biographers as a turning point in his life, for his activism later.

Gandhiji’s contribution in South Africa- Racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa made Gandhi a true revolutionist. He founded the Natal Indian Congress in 1894, with himself as the Secretary. Through this organization, he moulded the Indian community of South Africa into a homogeneous political force, publishing documents detailing Indian grievances and evidence of British discrimination in South Africa. At the onset of the South African War, Gandhi argued that Indians must support the war effort in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship, organizing a volunteer ambulance corps of 300 free Indians and 800 indentured labourers called the Indian Ambulance Corps, one of the few medical units to serve wounded black South Africans. In 1913 he started a newspaper called the Indian Opinion.

Gandhiji’s contribution in India (1916–1945)- Gandhi returned to India in early 1915, and was never to leave the country again except for a short trip that took him to Europe in 1931. Though he was not completely unknown in India, Gandhi followed the advice of his political mentor, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and took it upon himself to acquire a familiarity with Indian conditions. In May 1915, Gandhi founded an ashram on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India and called it Satyagrah Ashram (also known as Sabarmati Ashram).
He traveled widely for one year. Over the next few years, he was to become involved in numerous local struggles, such as at Champaran in Bihar, where workers on indigo plantations complained of oppressive working conditions, and at Ahmedabad, where a dispute had broken out between management and workers at textile mills. His interventions earned Gandhi a considerable reputation, and his rapid ascendancy to the helm of nationalist politics is signified by his leadership of the opposition to repressive legislation (known as the "Rowlett Acts") in 1919. By this time he had earned marvelous reputation and people used to call him “Mahatma” (Great Soul)
Non-cooperation- When 'disturbances' broke out in the Punjab, leading to the massacre of a large crowd of unarmed Indians at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar and other atrocities. Over the next two years, Gandhi initiated the non-cooperation movement, which called upon Indians to withdraw from British institutions, to return honors conferred by the British, and to learn the art of self-reliance; though the British administration was at places paralyzed, the movement was suspended in February 1922 when a score of Indian policemen were brutally killed by a large crowd at Chauri Chaura, a small market town in the United Provinces. Gandhi himself was arrested shortly thereafter, tried on charges of sedition, and sentenced to imprisonment for six years.

Owing to his poor health, Gandhi was released from prison in 1925. Over the following years, he worked hard to preserve Hindu-Muslim relations, and in 1924 he observed, from his prison cell, a 21-day fast when Hindu-Muslim riots broke out at Kohat, a military barracks on the Northwest Frontier. This was to be of his many major public fasts. Gandhi had ideas -- mostly sound -- on every subject, from hygiene and nutrition to education and labor, he would still be remembered as one of the principal figures in the history of Indian journalism.

Swaraj and the Salt Satyagraha- In early 1930, as the nationalist movement was revived, the Indian National Congress, the pre-eminent body of nationalist opinion, declared that it would now be satisfied with nothing short of complete independence (Purna Swaraj). Once the clarion call had been issued, it was perforce necessary to launch a movement of resistance against British rule. On March 2, Gandhi addressed a letter to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, informing him that unless Indian demands were met, he would be compelled to break the "salt laws". Predictably, his letter was received with bewildered amusement, and accordingly Gandhi set off, on the early morning of March 12, with a small group of followers towards Dandi on the sea. They arrived there on April 5th: Gandhi picked up a small lump of natural salt, and so gave the signal to hundreds of thousands of people to similarly defy the law, since the British exercised a monopoly on the production and sale of salt. This was the beginning of the civil disobedience movement: Gandhi himself was arrested, and thousands of others were also hauled into jail. It is to break this deadlock that Irwin agreed to hold talks with Gandhi, and subsequently the British agreed to hold another Round Table Conference in London to negotiate the possible terms of Indian independence. Gandhi went to London in 1931 and met some of his admirers in Europe, but the negotiations proved inconclusive. On his return to India, he was once again arrested.

For the next few years, Gandhi would be engaged mainly in the constructive reform of Indian society. He had vowed upon undertaking the salt march that he would not return to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, where he had made his home, if India did not attain its independence, and in the mid-1930s he established himself near a remote village, in the dead center of India, by the name of Segaon. He named his new home Sevagram - village of service. It is to this obscure village, which was without electricity or running water, that India's political leaders made their way to engage in discussions with Gandhi about the future of the independence movement, and it is here that he received visitors such as Margaret Sanger, the well-known American proponent of birth control. Gandhi also continued to travel throughout the country, taking him wherever his services were required. One such visit was to the Northwest Frontier, where he had in the imposing Pathan, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (known by the endearing term of "Frontier Gandhi"), a fervent disciple.

At the outset of World War II, Gandhi and the Congress leadership assumed a position of neutrality, while clearly critical of fascism, they could not find it in themselves to support British imperialism. Subhash Chandra Bose who had served as President of the Congress also opposed Gandhi, and took a view that Britain's moment of weakness was India's moment of opportunity. When Bose ran for President of the Congress against Gandhi's wishes and triumphed against Gandhi's own candidate, he found that Gandhi still exercised influence over the Congress Working Committee, and that it was near impossible to run the Congress if the cooperation of Gandhi and his followers could not be procured. Bose tendered his resignation, and shortly thereafter was to make a dramatic escape from India to find support among the Japanese and the Nazis for his plans to liberate India.

In 1942, Gandhi issued the last call for independence from British rule. On the grounds of what is now known as August Kranti “Maidan” at Mumbai, he delivered a stirring speech, asking every Indian to lay down their life, if necessary, in the cause of freedom. He gave them this mantra: "Do or Die"; at the same time, he asked the British to 'Quit India'. The response of the British government was to place Gandhi under arrest, and virtually the entire Congress leadership was to find itself behind bars, not to be released until after the conclusion of the war.

A few months after Gandhi and Kasturba had been placed in confinement in the Aga Khan's Palace in Pune, Kasturba passed away: this was a terrible blow to Gandhi, following closely on the heels of the death of his private secretary of many years, the gifted Mahadev Desai. In the period from 1942 to 1945, the Muslim League, which represented the interest of certain Muslims and by now advocated the creation of a separate homeland for Muslims, increasingly gained the attention of the British, and supported them in their war effort. The new government that came to power in Britain under Clement Atlee was committed to the independence of India, and negotiations for India's future began in earnest. Sensing that the political leaders were now craving for power, Gandhi largely distanced himself from the negotiations. He declared his opposition to the vivisection of India. It is generally conceded, even by his detractors, that the last years of his life were in some respects his finest. He walked from village to village in riot-torn Noakhali, where Hindus were being killed in retaliation for the killing of Muslims in Bihar, and nursed the wounded and consoled the widowed; and in Calcutta he came to constitute, in the famous words of the last viceroy, Mountbatten, a "one-man boundary force" between Hindus and Muslims. The ferocious fighting in Calcutta came to a halt, almost entirely on account of Gandhi's efforts, and even his critics were wont to speak of the Gandhi's 'miracle of Calcutta'. When the moment of freedom came, on 15 August 1947, Gandhi was nowhere to be seen in the capital, though Nehru and the entire Constituent Assembly were to salute him as the architect of Indian independence, as the 'father of the nation'.

Assassination- On January 30, 1948, on his way to a prayer meeting, Gandhi was shot dead in Birla House, New Delhi, by Nathuram Godse. Godse was a Hindu radical with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment to Pakistan. Godse and his co-conspirator Narayan Apte were later tried and convicted, and on 15 November 1949, were executed. Gandhi's memorial (or Samadhi) at Raj Ghat, New Delhi, bears the epigraph, Hey Ram, which may be translated as "Oh God". These are widely believed to be Gandhi's last words after he was shot.

Patents: what, how and why?

2008-02-29T16:00:00.002+05:30

We all are known to the term patent and have some vague idea. But what exactly is Patent and how is it filed and granted? these are some of the questions which constatntly run in our mind everytime we see or hear the the word patents. I have got a good piece in ET and thought to reproduce the gist of the article here...

Today, staying competitive in business is not enough. What sets you apart from the competition are the intellectual assets you possess that enable you to offer what few or no others can. The Tatas demonstrated this with the world-beating Nano, whose revolutionary design the company is trying to patent.

Patenting is one of the many ways to protect a new process, product or technology by gaining exclusive access and rights to it for a period of 20 years. Though experts estimate that the top 20 per cent of organisations file 80 per cent of all patents, patent protection is just as important for small or medium-sized firms engaged in high-investment, high-risk sectors like life sciences or IT-enabled services, where any theft or loss of proprietary information could have disastrous consequences. Moreover, a patent also gives a small firm something it desperately needs—reputational capital, which goes a long way in creating commercial and market value.

Smaller companies often don’t have the resources to develop and defend their intellectual property. Based on his own experiences, Suresh Narasimha, CEO, TeliBrahma Convergent Communication feels that one of the critical challenges faced by SMEs is that there is a lack of awareness and seriousness about patent laws. Some of these companies often don’t even realise that they own intellectual property that can easily be siphoned off by a competitor, often through an insider.

Take the life sciences sector for example. Pharma companies are often victims of ‘copycat drugs’ and therefore, cannot afford to let their guard down in a market filled with manufacturers spoilt by weak pre—1995 patent laws which enabled them to copy foreign drug-making processes without fear of legal consequences.

Ajit Kamath, chairman and managing director of Arch Pharmalabs Ltd., a mid-sized manufacturer of active pharmaceutical intermediaries (drugs in their core form, before being converted into tablet, capsule or other form) agrees, “Attempts to poach people have been made since 1999 on a continuing basis, primarily by American or European firms that are looking to set up shop in India and do not hesitate to double the employee’s current salary.

There is also a perennial threat from some dubious ‘technology consultants’ floating around in the pharma sector who are known to steal and sell sensitive data for money.” Kamath is now taking no chances. Arch Pharmalabs already has patented eight of their processes and has filed within India two of their biggest patents yet, a novel polymorph of Perindopril, an anti-hypertensive drug and a non-infringing process for theanti-cancer drug, Gemcitabine.

The Gemcitabine patent is expected to augment Arch’s revenues by anywhere between Rs 50 crore and Rs100 crore post 2009, while Kamath believes that Perindopril will bring in between Rs 10 and Rs 15 crore annually.

The Process Filing a patent is somewhat complicated and one needs to be sure that the patent being filed is a robust one. The patent application, including the required documents and specifications, has to be filed provisionally or completely at the country’s respective patent office. If the patent is provisional (i.e. the product requires some modification), a complete patent has to be filed within a years’ time.

The applicant may also, after notifying the controlling authority, simultaneously file the same patent in another country. Eighteen months after the date on which patent application is filed in India, it is published by the patent office, which is when the application comes under intense scrutiny and debate.

The application is then forwarded to an examiner who will make a favourable or unfavourable report according to the merits of the invention. As such, the process of granting the patent could take anywhere between 3 and 5 years in India or abroad. There is also a structured annual renewal fee the company or individual must pay to keep the patent in force for 20 years.

Where SMEs feel the pinch is in understanding the minute procedures of a patent and having enough experts on board to manage the process, which automatically increases costs as well. A 30-page application with 10 claims costs only Rs 4,000 as per current laws, but additional costs pile up if you wish to modify the patent, change the names of the patentees, review the controller’s decision, etc., on top of which you have the patent lawyers’ fees as well.

Harpreet Oberoi, a partner with Jotwani Associates, a law firm specialising in IP law says, “Filing a patent is always an expensive proposition. And unlike large corporations, smaller companies are always wary of the fact that if the patent isn’t accepted, they stand to lose a lot of money. Even if the patent is passed, a patent infringement suit in India can be long and costly. That is why SMEs only consist a miniscule percentage of our clientele.”

A patent also has geographical limitations, i.e. it is valid only within the country it is filed in. But an Indian entrepreneur does not necessarily have to file a patent in India if he/she feels that the product first needs protection in a foreign territory.

Patent laws are thought to be much stricter abroad. However, IIM-Ahmedabad Professor and patent expert Anil Gupta says that since the costs aren’t exactly prohibitive, in most cases, taking out a patent in India is a good way to be one step ahead in the fast-growing marketplace. “It is not the stringency of the law which will determine where should one file the application but the availability of potential market,” he observes.

But it really depends on the entrepreneur and the offering. In late 2006, Srikanth Vittal, along with three other fresh-out-of-college graduates began Netcore Softec, a high-tech data security firm that specialises in multi-level user authentication, using a system they developed that involved ‘colour codes and puzzles’ to weed out unauthorised users trying to log into an e-banking or e-commerce website.

The four felt that the product would be better suited for the US market since a federal law in that country requires all banks to have multi-level authentication systems in place by the end of 2008, creating a great demand for these products. Accordingly, Netcore has filed a patent in that country, with a view to take their product to Europe next.

It’s cost the fledgling company around $3,500 so far, but they feel that they could afford to wait a while before patenting their offering in the Indian market, where bank regulatory laws are still not as stringent as developed markets.

Other SMEs rue the fact that patent protection while stringent abroad, also comes at a stiff price. Enterprise data management solutions company Solix’s founder and CEO Sai Gundavelli says, “We need to make Indian patent laws much more stringent. If the protection seems real, we will see many companies and individuals applying for patents.”
However, for the sake of convenience, it is possible to file an international patent application under the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) to save oneself the trouble of making filings in multiple countries.

“The PCT is not the granting authority, clarifies Akash Taneja, executive director, FICCI-IPD, continuing, “It just facilitates the filing of one single application in place of filing multiple applications in multiple countries.” The patent then has to be individually run past each country’s designated controller.

An intermediary or vendor can often ease the hassles associated with filing a patent. Inrea is a two-year old patent outsourcing company based in Mumbai that is handling the backend patent filing work for about fifteen Indian SMEs at the moment from segments such IT and IT-enabled products, electrical and mechanical engineering and chemical sciences.

“Inrea searches databases to find out whether a similar product or process has already been patented, makes recommendations to tweak the product, works with the entrepreneur and handles all the documentation,” says Saurabh Shekhar, director, Inrea Research. Inrea also researches the patent portfolio of a potential acquisition target or a competitor to understand their patent focus areas. The clients base important strategic decisions such as takeovers, sale or R&D investments on the basis of this information.

Inrea signs a strict non-disclosure agreement with the client company to ensure total confidentiality. Shekhar says that patent intermediaries in India charge anywhere around Rs 50,000-Rs 60,000 for their services. “Managed security is anticipated to be one the fastest growing security investment areas among Indian SMBs.

Vendors who can provide secure, reliable and scalable services will find the Indian SMB segment to be a highly receptive market,” says Dipendra Mitra, an analyst at AMI-Partners, research firm doing research into information. AMI is a consulting firm specialising in market intelligence trends and strategy.

Gupta also feels that the patent regime needs to be more SME-friendly in India. At the moment, he says, an applicant has to download the gazette and then go through these applications one by one. “This is very cumbersome and there is no justification for this,” Gupta adds. Another fact is that SMEs have very few knowledge-sharing networks between themselves to discuss and explore the potential that lies in the large number of abandoned and expired patents in the country.

Ananya...

2008-02-26T11:23:00.001+05:30

Ananya: the unique

New life on planet earth...

Budget : Back Office Activity

2008-02-26T11:16:00.004+05:30

While all of us are waiting for 29th feb, the Dday for budget presentation by FM, we must have in our mind at one time or the other,why and how about the whole budget process and its significance .
I got to see a good piece of writing in ET. I am attaching the image of the same. Its very small in the size so better you click it to enlarge or right click, save it and then enlarge the image to have some budget gyan !

Youngster’s Guide to Success

2008-02-11T17:50:00.001+05:30

Habits—they make or break us. It has been said that
habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters.
It must be carefully chosen and cultivated. “Habit is habit
and no to be flung out of the window by any man, but
coaxed downstairs a step at a time”, Mark Twain.
Commit to excellence in every endeavour. Settle for
nothing short of best.
Believe in the best outcome possible.
Sleep early. The body needs to rest if the mind needs
to work.
Eliminate junk food. Work the brains instead of the
taste buds.
Cut down gadget time (unless it takes you closer to
your goal) and other time wasting activities.
Put off procrastination. Take action. Create a to-do list
and strike off each one regularly.
Visualize and thinking about your task at hand for just
15 seconds. According to the 15-second principle, it
takes just 15 seconds—even thinking or dreaming
about our goal to lead us closer to action.
Work on your emotional health. Eliminate negative
emotions of anger, doubt, fear, worry. Deliberately
incorporate gratitude, laughter, joy, peace, blessings.
Give your 100 per cent in the present to the task at
hand. Finish the task before moving on the next.
Studies have shown this is the most efficient.
Your documents at this stage may not be the most
important, but learn the process of documentation,
organising and filing away with these.
Keep your room, your immediate environment clutterfree.
My-mess-and-I-love-it may only lead to a cluttered
mind and a messy life and work attitude, which you
may not like later in life.
Regularly take stock of your life directions, and refresh
the direction of your sail. It can well be the same
direction. But at least you have cared to look at it.
Regularly communicate your feelings in important
relationships—don't bottle them in.
Live and let live.
Exercise regularly.
Schedule time for introspection and be by yourself.
Help others.
Keep your spontaneity. It has a wonderful effect on
thinking and your interactions as well.
Keep asking your questions…till you find an answer.

Cortesy: CM monthly

FACT BOX - 6 ( Mr. Ravi Kant)

2008-01-11T12:27:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, TATA motors had launched the eagarly awaited among indian masses, new lakhtakia car NANO, so i just thought to post Mr. RAVI KANT's facts in the fact box this time. read it here...

Vital Statistics
Born june1, 1944, in Balia, India
Married with 2 children

Education
Attended Mayo College, Ajmer, Graduated in 1966 with BS in Tech from IIT Kgp.
Earned MS in Engg. mgt.in 1970 from Aston University in Birmingham, UK

Career Highlights
TATA MOTORS - Managig Director (2005- Present)
- Executive director, commercial vehicle business unit (2000-04)
PHILIPS - Director, consumer electronocs India (1998-99)
LML -Senior executive director (1991-98)
TITAN -Senior executive director (1986-91)

Fast Facts
Serves on governing board of NID and vice president of SIAM
Served as chairman of audit Bureau of circulations, India
Advertising Standards Council of India, National readership Studies Council

Adieu!! 2007 HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008

2007-12-31T12:49:00.000+05:30

Another year gone by. Aah! yeah almost gone by just 10 hrs remain... i dont think it woild be justifiable if i say that the year 2007 was just an another year. Ofcourse for majority of the people who read the post it was just an another year but for some it might have been a year to remember, a year whose memories are cherishable ever after. a year which would have given the joy like no other year had...
For me, there was not enough excitement only thing is that i got more matured. Matured enough to avoid unrealistic thoughts (I am gr8 day dreamer)... so the needle is slightly inclined to the another year part of decription of 2007 :)
I read a page from TOI, sort of compendium of events without chronology which has nicely compiled the events of 2007. I am posting the same here, hope you would like and thank me for this. Wishing you a sparkling new year 2008 ahead...Stop complaining about what 2007 havent given you, start thinking the positives of 2007 and go ahead to embrace 2008 with zest...

A

Ajmer Sharif, the mecca of secularism, bombed, two killed. Abhi-Ash are married, media kept out. Alistair Pereira gets three years from HC for mowing down seven labourers while driving drunk. Adam Air Flight disappears over Indonesia, 102 die. Atlantic crossed by youngest sailor, Michael Perham, 14. Australia beat England 5-0 in Ashes, lift World Cup third time running. Anand Jon, designer, indicted for rape. AIIMS’ P Venugopal, and health minister Ramadoss fight on

B

Beyonce seduces Mumbai. Brian Lara, 37, announces retirement from ODIs after West Indies defeat in World Cup. Bachchans are highest tax-paying family with returns of Rs 25 crore. Black Friday releases, finally, to acclaim. Bombs on Samjauta Express kill 68. Britney Spears in rehab shaves head, tries to hang herself. Tony Blair steps down as Britain's PM. Bangladesh cyclone kills 3000. Bob Woolmer, Pak cricket coach, found dead in Kingston. Benazir Bhutto assassinated in Rawalpindi. Burma burns for democracy.

C

Cristina Kirchner becomes first wife in history to succeed husband as Argentinean president. China oil field in Ethiopia attacked, 74 killed. Chiranjeevi’s daughter Srija elopes with Sirish Bharadwaj, asks for police protection from father. Columbia Univ President Lee Bollinger calls guest speaker Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad “a petty and cruel dictator”. India wins ODI series against West Indies and Sri Lanka. Chennai court rejects Novartis patent plea in a landmark cancer drug case, boosts India’s generic drug industry

D

Dhoni becomes captain at 26, leads team to T20 win against Pakistan. Team gets unprecendeted reception in Mumbai. Dumbledore, the beloved Hogwarts Headmaster, is outed from closet by J K Rowling. The Departed, Martin Scorsese’s gritty film on the mafia wins four Oscars. Dow Jones plummets wildly after Chinese market drop. Donot-call service activated, but pesky telemarketers continue. Delhi’s former CM dies on Rajasthan’s killer roads. Delhi model Gitanjali Nagpal found living on the street, rescued.

E

Emergency declared in Pakistan. Emergency declared in Bangladesh, Iajuddin Ahmed steps down. European Commission announces proposals for the European Union to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 and 60 per cent by 2050. Elizabeth Hurley and Arun Nayyar marry, after years of courtship, in a 15th-century palace in Cotswold, England with lavish receptions in Mumbai and Jodhpur. ET, please call, says Arthur Clarke on his ninetieth birthday.

F

Fake encounter of businessmen leads to arrest of 10 Delhi cops. Forest Whitaker gets Oscar for his turn as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. French government bans smoking in public places. Flamingos killed for meat in Mumbai. French President Jacques Chirac makes a gaffe, says that Iran’s nuclear ability is so dodgy that a weapon would explode over Tehran before Tel Aviv; retracts after furore. Force India is Vijay Mallya’s name for racing team, after he buys Spyker F1 for $109 million. Fidel Castro keeps on going.

G

Gordon Brown is new Brit PM. Gaekwads of Baroda’s pearl necklace sold for $1.7 million. Golfer Gaurav Ghei wins Bejing Open. Greg Chappell resigns as India’s cricket coach. Glasgow airport bombed by Bangalore doctor Kafeel Ahmed; cousin Mohammed Haneef cleared. Arun Gawli pays guests to dress for his daughter’s wedding. G8, India approve Washington Declaration on carbon trading. Gujjars burn Rajasthan to demand ST tag. Ganga is one of the world's 10 dying rivers. GDP in India rises to 9.3%.

H

Hardwar court issues nonbailable warrant to M F Husain for ‘obscene’ Bharat Mata painting. Husain’s works vandalised in Delhi. Hyderabad blasts claims 42, Huji and LeT blamed. Half of Britain’s millionaires are women. Hindalco, headed by Kumarmangalam Birla, buys Novelis for 6 billion dollars. Hitachi crosses the 1 terabyte hard disk capacity. Harry Potter final instalment published. He survives. Hugh Grant arrested for hitting lens man with a can of beans.

I

Indonesia landslides kill 81. iPhone, Apple’s hippest new gizmo, storms market. India’s first school shootout in Gurgaon, boy shot for being a bully. Indian rupee reaches eight-year high against US dollar. India loses Rs 2500 crore in betting on World Cup. India loses to Bangladesh. India has largest number of billionaires in Asia, 36. India, Pakistan exchange nuclear installations lists under 1998 agreement. India marks 150 years of the 1857 Uprising. Iranian President says herbal treatment will be the answer to AIDS. Iraq war death toll touches 11 lakh.

J

Jet and Sahara tie up to form Jetlite. James Laine’s book Shivaji-Hindu King in Islamic India un-banned by court; Shiv Sainiks attack Oxford bookstore thinking it to be the same as Oxford University Press. John Abraham has a year of flops, called Box Office Turkey. J K Rowling announces eighth Harry Potter book, giving details on Hogwarts. Japan records a trade surplus of 4.4 billion in January due to lower oil prices and strong exports. Jayalalithaa becomes the first leader from the South to address a rally in Hindi, at Bareilly in UP.

K

Kausarbi and husband Sohrabuddin were killed and burnt by police, admits Gujarat government. Keith Richards of Rolling Stones says he snorts his dad’s ashes, later says it was a joke. Kingfisher buys Air Deccan. Kerala boat with children capsizes, 22 drown. Santosh George Kulangara is first Indian to book Rs 90 lakh seat on Virgin Galactic for 2008 space trip. K P Singh of DLF, at $35 billion, is world’s richest realtor. Richest Indian crown retained by Lakshmi Mittal ($51 billion). Karnataka put under President’s rule.

L

Lal Masjid storming by Pak military, 160 killed. Doris Lessing wins Nobel for literature. Lina Sinha, a Manhattanite, gets 14 years' for sexual relations with a 13-year-old student. Loganathan, a prof at Virginia Tech, is shot by a gunman; Minal Panchal, a Mumbai girl, also dies. Lakshmana Kailash K spends 50 days in jail for being wrongly accused of posting obscene Shivaji pictures on the net. London mayor Ken Livingstone tells Mumbai planners to put their money in mass transport. Jay Leno badly hit by writers’ strike.

M

Maoists kill 55 cops in Chhatisgarh. Monu Mittal gets death for whistleblower Manjunath’s murder. Madrid 2004 train bombing trial opens. Mattel recalls millions of ‘toxic lead’ toys. Muttiah Muralidharan becomes highest wicket taker in Test matches with 709 wickets. Mayawati bans Aaja Nachle for caste slur against mochis. Malaysian Indians complain of ethnic violence, petition India. Narendra Modi is Gujarat chief minister for the third time.

N

New 7 wonders declared, India votes in the Taj. Nandigram shakes Kolkata’s conscience after CPM cadres kill 14 villagers resisting land sale. Narayana Murthy courts controversy by not playing national anthem before foreign guests. Nariman Point flat sells for record Rs 97,842 per sq ft. Number mobility across mobile service providers gives consumers greater choice. Nilofer Bakhtiar, Pak minister, gets fatwa for hugging French paraglider. Nawaz Sharif returns. NCERT to ban ‘fail’ word.

O

Osama Bin Laden turns 50 on March 11; a 51-year-old UK granny weds Osama’s son. Oldest living person in the world is Japan’s Yone Minagawa at 114 years. Orissa churches attacked at Christmas on conversion charge. Obama and Hillary Clinton continue to slug it out for President; former New York mayor Rudy Giulhany is strong Republican contender. Om Shanti Om released, becomes biggest grosser in Hindi cinema history, raking in Rs 94 crore and counting. Rival film Saawariya’s director christened Sanjay Neela Bhansali for shooting through blue filter. Film is a damp squib.

P

Pooja Chauhan, 22, walks through Rajkot in her underwear to protest in-law abuse for delivering girl.Padma Lakshmi and Rushdie split, he hooks up with Star Wars’ Carrie Fisher. Parkash Singh Badal is Punjab CM. Pratibha Patil is first woman President of India. Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar fails dope test, out of World Cup. Pavarotti dies. Priyanka Todi marries Rizwan, Rizwan found dead. Prakash Karat hogs news with anti-US nuclear deal stand. Pravin Mahajan gets life for killing brother Pramod. PlayStation comes to India.

Q

Ottavio Quattrocchi, the Italian Bofors accused, walks free from Argentinean jail. Queen Elizabeth II, 81, reaches new milestone as the longest-living British monarch; overtakes record set by great-great grandmother Queen Victoria. Sky's royal correspondent Sarah Hughes says, “For her, retirement is not an option.” She celebrates Christmas on YouTube. The Queen wins Helen Mirren an Oscar for Best Actress. More importantly, the realtime Queen is pleased and invites her to tea.

R

Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer for third time in French Open. Renault’s Logan comes to India. Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s wife gets $9 billion, the largest-ever alimony settlement. Ram Sethu is not man-made, no proof that Ramayana events took place, says government affidavit. M Karunanidhi calls Ram a drunkard. Richard Gere issued warrant for kissing Shilpa Shetty in public. Rahul Dravid quits as captain. Ribbed-vibrating condoms banned by BJP in MP. Rahul Gandhi named AICC general secretary.

S

Sidney Sheldon dies. Shakira raises temperature in Mumbai. Sunita Williams spends a record 195 days in space. Sanjay Dutt gets six years' for owning AK-56. SBI is highest corporate tax payer. Shilpa Shetty cries racism in UK reality show, but carries away Rs 3 crore prize. SEZ becomes most hated word in village India. Nicholas Sarkozy is French prez. Sandip Soparrkar becomes first single male to adopt in Mumbai. Sachin is out in the 90s, for the seventh time in 5 months. Six-pack in demand.

T

Teri chief R K Pachauri’s panel on climate change and Al Gore win Nobel Peace Prize. Tax’s highest payer is Akshay Kumar, Rs 26 crore. Taslima attacked in Hyderabad. Thirtythree pairs of twins found in Bamrauli, a UP village. Telgi convicted in stamp scam. Tata Steel buys Corus for $ 6.7 billion. Trial for Mumbai 7/11 blasts begins, deferred when accused say they don’t trust judiciary.

U

UP stormed by Mayawati and her winning Dalit-Brahmin electoral axis. US House of Representatives gets first woman speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Uma Khurana, Delhi school teacher, framed by spurious sting operation. Uttarakhand, new name of Uttaranchal, won by BJP. Uphaar cinema’s owners, the Ansals, found guilty. Ulcra land ceiling act repealed in Maharashtra, builders cheer, Uddhav Thackeray protests.

V

Vodafone buys 67 % stake in Hutch Essar for $11.1 billion. Vengsarkar spats with the BCCI after latter bans him from writing columns which earn him Rs 40 lakh a year. Vishy Anand wins in Mexico, is world champion for first time in his career. Victoria Beckham and the Spice Girls reuinte to empty stadium in Canada. Vick’s husband David Beckham leaves Real Madrid for LA Galaxy on a $250 million contract. Vladimir Putin named Time’s Person of the Year.

W

World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz resigns on charges of favouring his girlfriend—he helped her get a whopping $60,000 raise. Wadias announce setting up of 40 malls in India. West Bengal police admits its men raped two women in Nandigram. World Bank permits construction of Baghliar dam in Kashmir. WMD still not found in Iraq. West Bengal government asks Taslima to leave Kolkata. Narendra Modi offers her asylum in Gujarat.

X

XP’s successor Windows Vista launch marred by security glitches. To counter this, X Leopard, a new operating system, is launched by Apple for its Macs. X Men—The Last Stand, began the season of trilogies from Hollywood and was followed by Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End, The Bourne Ultimatum and Spiderman 3. X-rated Santa bot (or icon) from Microsoft’s Live Messenger leaves firm red-faced with its risque conversation.

Y

Y K Sabharwal, former chief justice, accused of aiding his son’s moneylaundering business. Yuvraj-Deepika-Dhoni love affair gives television enough grist for days on end. Former Russian President Boris Yelstin dead. Yakub Memon gets death for 1993 Mumbai blasts, passionately protests his innocence. Three other Memons get life. Total of 100 convicted in country’s longestrunning trial. Yasuo Fukuda, a moderate, replaces Shinzo Abe as Japan’s prime minister.

Z

Zee’s Subhash Chandra launches parallel cricket team ICL on Rs 100 crore fund. Kapil Dev is named executive chairman of the board, Lara, Chris Cairns play in inaugural Twenty-20 Championship; BCCI strikes back in court and with cash incentives. Zune launched by Microsoft as its answer to Apple’s iPod fails to take off. Zaheera of the Best Bakery case, released; disappears, plays no role in Gujarat polls.

Fact Box - 5 (VIKRAM PANDIT)

2007-12-13T11:23:00.000+05:30

Few days back, when i was doing my routine newspaper scanning, i came across a news which caught my attention. The news was about Citibank top job. Let me make it clear, Actually the news was about the next CEO of CITI BANK and the 2 people who were vying for the post were from two different countries. The countries are India and its archrival Pakistan. But its not a cricket game, neither hockey or football for that matter. But still i had a sense of patriotism and wanted to see Pandit as a winner. Not only he is an India but also he has wide and relevant experience for this job. His competitor, Mr. Shaukat Aziz (former Paki PM) surely has versatile experience but i feel he is more suitable for diplomatic and country specific jobs instead of cut throat competitive corporate sector jobs.
And Todat i saw that my favourite Mr. Pandit is the new CEO of CITI BANK global. Welcome Mr. Pandit to the new job. Its true that you are promoted at the tough time but i hope you would serve me better ( I have a bank Account in CITI BANK :D ). So the Fact Box series no. 5 is welcome gesture for Mr. Pandit from me...

Vital Stattistics|
Married Swathi Sathaye on August 2, ’86 | Two children, Rahul (15) and Maya (13) | Lives in a plush 10-room apartment in New York overlooking Central Park. Bought it earlier this year for $17.5 million | Loves photography, cooks occasionally with his wife, is a devotee of Gajanan Maharaj
BORN | January 14, 1957, at Dhantoli, Nagpur
SCHOOLS ATTENDED | Parsi Youth Assembly, Dadar, Mumbai | Baroda High School, Baroda | Mombassa, Kenya | Bishop Cotton, Nagpur | Johan Bowne, US
UNIVERSITY | MS, Electrical Engineering; PhD, Finance, both from Columbia University
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS | Joined Morgan Stanley in 1983 as an associate and worked there for two decades in various capacities: President and COO, institutional securities & investment banking group (2000-2005); MD and head of worldwide institutional equities (1994-2000); MD and head of US equity syndicate (1990-1994) | Left Morgan Stanley in March 2005 to start Old Lane, a hedge fund, which was bought by Citigroup in 2007 for $800 million
AT THE TOP | CEO, Citigroup, which has over 3 lakh employees, operates in more than 100 countries and has assets worth $2 trillion. It ranks 8 on Fortune’s list of the biggest companies in the world. PepsiCo, headed by another Indian, Indra Nooyi, ranks 63rd; Vodafone with Arun Sarin at the helm is No 95

Fact Box - 4 (SHIELA DIKSHIT)

2007-12-07T12:24:00.000+05:30

Vital statistics
Born March 31, 1938, in Kapurthala, Punjab

Wife of the late Mr. Vinod Dikshit, a widely respected member of Indian Administrative Service, she has two children

Education
Received her MA in history from Miranda House, University of Delhi, after schooling at Convent of Jesus and Mary

Career highlights
Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi

Chief minister (1998–present)
Government of India

Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs (1986–89)
Minister of state in prime minister’s office (1986–89)
Member of Lower House of Parliament, representing Kannauj (1984–89)
Fast facts
Serves as secretary of Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, which awards Indira Gandhi Prize for efforts in international peace

Launched Stree Shakti in Delhi, a program which aims to empower women by providing employment training, financial aid, and access to health care and medicine

Represented India on UN Commission on Status of Women (1984–89)

Fact Box - 3 (RAJIV SINGH)

2007-12-05T11:03:00.000+05:30

Vital statistics
Born May 8, 1959, in New Delhi

Married with two children

Education
Graduated in 1980 with degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Career highlights
DLF

Vice chairman (1993–present)
Director (1984–92)

the way to gooooo

2007-12-03T11:46:00.000+05:30

When there is a will, there is a way...
The old adage stands true to the Ankur's story. This guy graduated from DCE and had worked with E-valueserve with an aim to get into the one of the elite or ivyleague college of repute for higher studies. Now when he has made it to one of the greatest school of world LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science), its the money crunch which is occluding the path of his dream. But here comes the indomitable spirit of Ankur, as he decided to use pretty rare path to gather the tuition fees he need to submit before joining the school in july 2008. He chooses to write a short story a day and consequent post of that on his blog. He hopes that netizens like me and you would open his blog would read his story and would click on the advertisements, these ads in turn would fetch some money to him. Quite innovative way to fund his study.
I request all my readers to please go to his blog and read the short story and if you like the same dont forget to click on the ads. You can sure contribute for his education by virtually not paying a single penny.

Chak De India.......

2007-11-29T13:47:00.000+05:30

Sorry for posting something abt CDI, at the time when people started forgetting the movie. I dont like SRK and this was the reason enough to not to watch the movie. No.... its not that SRK is bad actor but to me, he is pretty monotonous (CDI is shockingly a pleasant exception), always doing the same lover boy -romancing-and-weeping-act. So i avoided the CDI till now. But yesterday when i was trying to save myself from horrendous India TV news and was surfing the channel desperately, i just got glued to a local movie channel and i just couldnt move myself from the chair. The channel was playing CDI and the movie is so enchanting that you just cant keep your eyes off the screen. The second half pumps your adrenaline like never before as the SRK gals hockey team start off their journey towards the hockey world cup. there are moments of disappointments and winning, moments of heartbreak and smiling faces, momenats of losing and satisfaction of winning.
I liked the movie very much and after a long time i liked any movie so much that i am going to buy a DVD to update my home collection.
Its truly a masterpiece, as far as SRK is concerned, it was just a miracle that i liked him. So SRK please give us more such movies and increase your fan following...
To sum it up i would like to say it was an wholesome entertainer. here goes the lyrics of title track...

kuch kariye kuch kariye nuss nuss meri khaule… hoye kuch kariye
kuch kariye kuch kariye buss buss bada bole… ab kuch kariye
ho… koi to chal zidd fariye
doobe, kariye ya mariye
haye.. koi to chal zadd fariye doobe, kariye ya mariye
chak de… ho chak de india chak de… ho chak de india
nowhere to run nowhere to hide
this is the time to do it now
goonjon mein galiyon mein
ration ki phalliyon mein
mahalon mein beejon mein
id-on mein teej-on mein
raeton ke daano mein
filmon ke gaano mein
sadkon ke gaddon mein
baaton ke addon mein
hunkara aaj bhar lein dus baarah baar kar lein
rehna na yaar peeche kitna bhi koi kheenche
tass hai na mass hai ji zidd hai to ho zidd hai ji
pisna yuhin pisna yuhin pisna yuhin bas kariye….
koi to chal zidd fariye
doobe, kariye ya mariye haye..
koi to chal zadd fariye doobe, kariye ya mariye
chak de… ho chak de india chak de… ho chak de india
nowhere to run nowhere to hide
this is the time to do it now
ladtee patangon mein
bhidti umangno mein
khelon ke melon mein
balkhati railon mein
ganno ke meethe mein
phakkar mein cheente mein
dhundo to mil jaaye
patta wohi jo mein
rang aisa aaj nikhre aur khul ke aaj bikhre
mann gaaye aisi boli rugg rugg mein jal ke boli
tass hai na mass hai ji zidd hai to zidd hai ji
pisna yuhin pisna yuhin pisna yuhin bas kariye….
koi to chal zidd fariye
doobe, kariye ya mariye
haye.. koi to chal zadd fariye doobe, kariye ya mariye
chak de… ho chak de india chak de… ho chak de india

Fact Box - 2 ( G. M. Rao )

2007-11-12T12:10:00.000+05:30

Vital statistics
Born July 14, 1950, in Rajam, Andhra Pradesh, India
Married with 3 children

Education
Graduated in 1974 with degree in mechanical engineering from Andhra University College of Engineering, Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
Received honorary doctorate in philosophy in 2005 from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

Career highlights
GMR
Founder and chairman (1978–present)
ING Vysya Bank (formerly Vysya Bank)
Chairman emeritus (2006–present)
Director and chairman (1994–2006)

Fast facts
Serves as chairman of board of Hyderabad International Airport
Established GMR Varalakshmi Foundation in 1991, which focuses on education, health and hygiene, community development, and empowerment of rural youth. In 1997 the foundation launched GMR Institute of Technology (GMRIT), an engineering college in Rajam, Andhra Pradesh

NEW Series...FACT BOX ( Montek Singh Ahluwalia)

2007-11-02T18:07:00.000+05:30

Apologies for missing the track since very long...

But i am back and going to start a new series. the new series will give you the brief profile of great corporate honchos or policy makers or any person who is the leader in its own way and is inspiring personality for all and sundry in one way or another.

In the inaugaral post here goes the profile of Montek sigh Ahluwalia...

Vital statistics
Married with two childrenEducation
Graduated with BA in economics in 1963 from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi
Received MA and MPhil in economics in 1968 from University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes scholar
Career highlights
Government of India
Deputy chairman of planning commission (2004–present)
Member of planning commission (1998–2001)
International Monetary Fund
Director, Independent Evaluation Office (2001–04)
Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, India
Finance secretary (1993–98)
Secretary, economic affairs (1991–93)
Commerce secretary (1990–91)
World Bank
Various roles, including chief of Income Distribution Division, Development Research Centre; deputy division chief, Public Finance Division (1968–79)
Fast facts
Author of a number of publications on economics, including Reforming the Global Financial Architecture, published by Commonwealth Secretariat in 2000; coauthor of Redistribution with Growth: An Approach to Policy, published by Oxford University Press in 1974

2007-07-04T17:20:00.001+05:30

Sometimes when you read an article and you like the same, in fact you like it so much that you read it it time and again and also you want the same to be read by many others. This is exactly what i felt, when i read the article specially the comparison part of Indian management and western management practices in the last para of article. More admirable is the article when it figures the name of an IAS officer as an writer. So without further delay here it goes...

Self-management is at the base of any external management effort. It is an internal process of managing one's body, thoughts, intellect, emotions and spirit. It is a process of trying to overcome emotions like anger, jealousy, greed, ego, and undue attachment. It is a process of developing concentration, equipoise, tolerance, the ability to take calculated risks and plan long term. Yoga aids self-management as it is a philosophy of life, not restricted to just asana and pranayama. It is a path of all-round development of an individual: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Patanjali defined yoga as a technique of mind control. Vashishta said yoga is a skilful strategy to calm down the mind. Both managers and yogis are expected to remain steadfast in situations both favourable and unfavourable. In the most-quoted verse 48 of chapter two of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna advises: “Being steadfast in yoga, O Arjuna, perform actions, abandoning attachment, remaining unconcerned as regards success and failure. This evenness of mind is known as yoga. A manager is required to use autho-rity. But unless authority is combined with dispassion, the result can be contrary to expectation. Today's manager is required to have qualities of a good leader — ability to construct a creative vision and capacity to have trusting relationship with large number of people with whose help this vision is to be fulfilled. External milieu, with all its network and artifacts, is in truth a projection of man's internal milieu. A manager with clarity of personal goals and calmness of mind can only be an able manager. This is where yoga helps. Man is in the first part of the word manager, thereby indicating the need for man-management as the most crucial part of management. As Swami Anubha-vanandji puts it, management is an intuitive art of relating yourself with various stakeholders in a company such as staff, customers and suppliers. Yoga teaches us the art of treating every human being as a form of the divine. Use of higher consciousness in dealing with people is sure to result in better motivation and loyalty among stakeholders. There are certain key differences between western management concepts and yoga-based management. The former starts with the premise that a person remains inactive unless propelled by action through motivation — money, position or recognition. Yoga-based management starts with the belief that every individual is divine by nature and the purpose of yoga is to bring out this divinity. Any individual, by nature, wants to do good work but unsuitable conditioning may prevent him from doing so. Commitment in the true sense can only be inspired for a cause bigger and better than self. Western management philo-sophy puts primary emphasis on competition, while in yoga way, the emphasis is on collaboration and individual creativity. In the West there is greater emphasis on goal achievement for the firm, while in yogic management, success of the firm is an inevitable by-product of the holistic goal of making this world a better place to live in with the spirit of yajna. In the former, karma is an input which can be hired, while Indic philosophy focuses on duty as one's dharma.

The moving killer demon

2007-07-04T16:39:00.000+05:30

So the infamous BlueLine bus of Delhi has again rammed into several vehicles on a busy intersection of road, killing an innocent boy and injuring seven. No big deal.... it happens every now and then on the roads of Delhi. What is new this time is the media coverage, attention and really commendable courage of a housewife, who stands up against the whole Blueline bus gang and demanding a strict time limit to rule out and stop all the killer buses from Delhi. Yesterday when i was surfing news channels, I got hooked to the STAR NEWS, normally i never see india Tv, star news and the likes as they only come up with some irrelevent, superfluous, spicy and filthy news which is of no use to anybody except giving some seconds of smile on the idiotic attempt of increasing their TRP. SO i was hooked to STAR news and was watching the interesting and important conversation between the brave lady and minister of transport Delhi Govt. Mr. Harun, facilitated and mediated by Gaurav ( Star news presenter). I was bound to astonished on the way that lady was presenting her point and demand. She was so focused and controlled while talking to the minister . She was continuously demanding the answer and tinme limit for phasing out the Blue Line buses, it was more commendable as the lady was still struggling to come out of shock she faced after his son's death. The minister was also handling the situation very competently but he cudnt answer the simple question raised by the lady. My point in posting this post is to draw public attention on the inability of news ANCHOR, since he was the person who could have grilled the minister but he was like visitor and was just listening the conversation and doing nothing. He should have done his homework and should have given some figures to foster the points raised by the lady. After all its quite ostensible for Delhi people that how rude the drivers, conductors and helpers of BL buses are. They always ask more money than prescribed, behave very rudely, fight advertently on any issue, whether big or small and the always be in hurry trying to overtake the vehicles ramming into them and killing people. The drunk and drive, hit and run cases are very common for these buses.

After the continuous protest and demand by some residents and that lady. Sheila Dixit succumbed to pressure and she has given statement that BL buses will be phased out probly by 2010. Upto now it seems a mere hollow promise but with strong pollitical will it can be done.

Hope these mobile demons of delhi will be no more on delhi roads.

Shocking Truth

2007-06-27T17:37:00.000+05:30

Click on Image to enlarge

Courtesy: The Hindu

Kaun Banega President?

2007-06-22T11:31:00.001+05:30

So who is going to be our next President? If one start delving into the newspapers of previous one month, one can easily come up with names of some eminent personalities whose names were either proposed or were in the race for the coveted seat of India’s first citizen. The names include from the God of Bollywood to the IT Mogul, from a world renowned noble laureate to the head of India’s premiere research institution. But as the time passed, Indian politics has started showing its color and we are now left to guess and to debate on the candidature of Mr. Bhairo singh Shekhawat and Mrs. Pratibha Patil. Yesterday I was watching a news channel and suddenly I came to know that President Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam is game for contesting the presidential election if he has fair chance of winning. I was appalled with a hint of glith but no sooner I started writing this post, again I saw some sort of breaking news that Mrs. Patil has resigned the Post of Rajasthan governor and now its almost certain that she is all set for being the first women president of India. But as I have started penning my thought, let me finish this post.
This could have been interesting…
If we go by the popularity in the masses, Present President is overwhelmingly ahead with whopping margin from other two but he has introduced some clauses with his announcement and so its now in the hands of politicians and the fate of him is in hand of BJP.
Now come to the second Candidate, She is quite unknown before she was announced as the UPA candidate. Actually she is an accidental candidate and came into the frame when others were not figured out. But she is quite able candidate for the post ( her recent remarks over veil can be termed as exception ) as she is coming from sub national level and she represent the women class. Apart from this she has already proved herself at several places. She is governor of Rajasthan and had sent back the controversial conversion bill. She is the politician by heart as she started off her journey in politics as early as when she was just 27. She has never tasted a defeat in any direct election (and probably this time too, she will emerge as a winner) and very few people know that she has been a TT champion. Up to now, she is leading over other contestants
The third Candidate is Mr. Bhairo Singh Shekhawat, our present vice president and backed by NDA. He is the most experienced politician in the race and a good candidate for the post (after all Indian Presidents are more often than not the previous vice-presidents).
Some people argue that President is just a rubber stamp and has no or little significance in Indian Government system and so it doesn’t matter who is going to be the President. Actually its somewhat true as we have noticed in the office of Profit bill case, but an able, intellectually strong President can find many ways to show his power and some of it is the time of hung parliament, to send back bills, the President ruling etc. So we should keep our fingers crossed and probably the best candidate will hit the block. My vote is for Kalam J but now its herculean task to overshadow Mrs. Patil by anyone.
All the best Mrs. Patil, we hope you will win our hearts.

Image courtesy: The Hindu

Should G8 be extended?

2007-06-15T18:04:00.000+05:30

G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany(June 6 – 8) is concluded with some positive notes and Germany chancelor hailed it as a success ( Its matter of debate that what success she is pointing to). The group comprises the most powerful and developed nations of the world and the newest entrant of the group is Russia ( still trying to cope up with step behavior of the rest ). In the summit, growing economies China, India, Brazil , SA and Mexico were also invited to discuss the various issues faced by world political economy. The outcome was...

G8 and O5: Permanent co-operation

A good climate for the climate

Africa - a continent of the future

Global trade: Creating opportunities for all

Working on things together: The spirit of Heiligendam

Now the as one of the outcome of the summit is the realisation of the need of the permanent cooperation between G8 and O5 (Heiligendamm process), The question arises, why this Group cannot be extended? Why the Other most developing countries cannot be added into the elite club. Its now evident that these growing nations has enough impact over the world and no decision global influence can be made without taking these into confidence .
It’s the high time that the G8 member extend their hands to befriend the growing nations like India China and invite them to actively participate in G8 activities as these countries has the one third population of the world and are market driven economy. Without the inclusive participation of these, the G8 can not come up with any solution of the global problems. Consent of these is equally if not more important on any policy change and decision which may influence the world.
On the other hand one may argue whats the need of joining the G8 , if at all the group itself didn’t achieve its goal and objective. The world is not just about these developed nations. The other developing countries can form their own group, as opined by the president of the one of the groing nation, Brazil. Delhi quickly discarded this opinion of new G5 citing a new group cannot be a solution to the restricted G8, rather developing nations have to show their will and integrity on policy and decisions so that the elite group may bound to include them. And the recent invitation is the fruition of this belief. It may be a matter of few years when the G8 will be no longer G8 and will extend their hands to include the nations who deserve to be one of them. India and China are the firsts in the queue
If the terrorism was not enough, world is facing a new threat in the name of Global warming and Environment degradation. (Although its not new but the danger is of the mark and it require imminent and immediate action). Today the leading industrialised nations can no longer meet many of the challenges they face on their own. The big emerging economies - China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa (the so-called O5) - have an increasingly important role to play. Merkel hit the nail on the head: "We can't get along without each other."

Amit

Should sting operations be banned?

2007-06-07T18:00:00.000+05:30

Sting operation is again making news. This time its NDTV, which has conducted a well researched and deliberate sting operation to expose some unscrupulous interests of R K Anand (who is defending Sanjeev Nanda, the main Accused of BMW hit and run case) and special public prosecutor I U Khan. Both were trying to influence the primary witness of the infamous BMW hit and run case, Sunil Kulkarni and caught red handed by the NDTV journalists.
Govt. has proposed a draft code for television in which, suggestions to ban the sting operation is given and after this the debate over the sting operation is again on.
The sting operation has come of age from the Defense deal scandal (TAHELKA) to casting couch episode (India TV) to MP bribery expose (AAJ TAK). It have always been said that the sting operation is unethical whatever may be the motive and outcome of the same. It’s mere an entrapment and cant be justified. There’s no gainsaying that justice should not be denied but why the media using this mode to wake people up ? And it’s not the media’s job at the first place. More often than not, the victim of sting operation is entrapped the media presents half baked stories as a gospel truth to increase the their TRP. Media’s laziness is at best with sting operations, the 24 hr channels has nothing to serve spectators and so they sensationalize every thing and when they don’t get enough stories, sting operation spring up as their savior. The argument of Sting Operation supporters that they expose the wrong doing seems specious too as the fine line between investigative journalism and Voyeurism is increasingly blurred.
The other side of the debate is, who are these politicians to decide what is ethical and what is unethical. Probably they have something to hide. And when we talk about freedom of expression why don’t we allow to use journalists their own mode of journalism after all they want to expose the flaws of the system and society that is surely facilitating in waking people up and more informed, which in turn facilitate limiting corruption is one way or other (fear of public rage or the social blot associated with expose).
To sum it up, it will be a good idea to introduce some law and clauses so that the sting operations do not come up just for sensationalisation and sure the voyeurism should be avoided by media, but it shouldn’t be banned as it is some how exposing the wrongs of the system and society.

Inspiration: TOI

Spiderman 3- The Greatest Battle Lies Within

2007-05-30T14:36:00.000+05:30

What Spiderman is doing in this blog? Well the very fact that it’s the one of the highest grosser sequels at the box office across the world and the earth shattering opening record made by not only the foreign flick but by any Indian movie in india too, earns more than enough points to make an appearance on Amit’s Blog.

“3” was about Love, about Friendship, about the battle within and much to the chagrin of Indian spectators was too less about the heart beat stopping stunts and miraculous special effects (The emotions of Hollywood are not much impacting for Indians).
First time Spidey started using his powers for himself. He used his power for his own vengeance, for making money for himself, for making Marry Jane Watson jealous, for his own promotions. First he was dancing on the streets, taking advantage of his powers over his landlords daughter and daughter of NYPD officer. He was proud of himself and yup! He kissed a girl other than his girlfriend.

This all was quite nice to watch and the special effects used for Sandman and for fight sequnces between spidey and his friend (or better say foe) was awesome. There was a funny dialogue when he take on to sandmam and after sandman’s dissappearnce when

"he takes off his mask, has sand all over his face after just fighting the Sandman] ... Where do these guys COME from? [takes off a shoe, tips it upside down, sand continously pours out]” .
The news Reader speaks abt spider with tears in her eyes was a scene full of emotions “This could be a tragic day for the people of New York... Could be the end of Spider-Man... “
Ultimately Harry died and has given a lesson or two to Spidey.
It was heartning to see that ultimately the red Spidey appeared and won against all odd situations ( the black spidey was looking so ugly doesn’t he?).
At last a lifetime dialogue comes up from Spidey’s mouth

“Whatever comes our way, whatever battle we have raging inside us, we always have a choice. My friend Harry taught me that. He chose to be the best of himself. It's the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what's right”.

2007-05-21T17:37:00.000+05:30

Dyversified Gyan for Erudite Persons

UP underwent electiom process previous month. The election commission carried out the whole process with a great panche and the overall six phases of elections carried out for over more than a month of time, was fair and peaceful. Pollsters, Election Pundits and all psephologists announced the hung assembly once again and people thought, the 14 year long coalition govt history will would not change this time too .
But MAYAjaal did the trick, the results of election paved the way for the sworn in ceremony of Mayawati who few days back sworn in as the chief minister of UP fourth time and the first time with majority .
It’s a cliché now that the UP politics is the door to enter into the center, and rightly so as it’s the most populated state of the country and have highest no. of Loksabha seats. Now , as the mayawati is chief minister of UP, the political arena of india is abuzz with speculation and analysis of the aftereffects of BSP win. The imminent effect will be seen in the presidential elction as the Mayawati will play a decisive role.
What faciliatated mayawati won this much seat? The social engineering and political fabric she weaved , uniting the two most neglected and pole apart castes due to rise of OBCs ,has given her party the edge over the others and now as she has advocated the reservation for economically weaker people of high caste clearly depict her stand ( which is obviously a U turn for Maya) and its really a welcoming stand. What will be the reaction of other parties on this is remain to be seen but the Mayawati’s victory and her new stand is going to have deep impact on UP and hence on Indian politics. Keep watching her move...

SEZ policy

2007-03-23T11:03:00.000+05:30

To boost up the FDI in India and with a view to provide internationally competitive and hassle free environment for export, Indian government had introduced SEZs in India on lines of SEZs in China, where it had been a good success (Shenzhen).SEZs are the geographical area which is treated as the privileged area provided with incentives in taxes and other favorable conditions to bolster the exports and industrialization. The SEZ units may be set up for trading, export, manufacturing, reconditioning and repair and for services activities. There are around 14 SEZs established in India which are either multipurpose or specific SEZ. These are established either in partnership with public or private sectors or state govt. With announcement of SEZ policy in 2005 around 150 more units have been given go ahead. According to a survey these SEZs may create around 5 lacs more jobs and may attract the FDI in tune of 6 billion USD.Besides there benefits SEZs have been a matter of contention due to vague acquisition policy and inadequate compensation payed to the land owners. After the Nandi gram incidence, in which 12 protestors have been killed and several injured, the Govt. is under pressure to relook the policy. We should not forget that unlike China we are world's largest Democracy and what is successful in China may not be the same story here. If a SEZ boosts FDI why don't we convert whole India into a SEZ. Nandi gram incidence is a caveat for Govt. There had been statements in both favour and against of SEZs, after the unfortunate Nandi gram incidence as Mr. Narayan Murthy, chief mentor said "we should not acquire the lands of farmers without their will " and Mr Kamal Nath said "Govt. is committed for SEZs" , but the UPA govt and their left allies are in constant pressure of relook on the policy. Hitherto flourishing SEZs announcements are now feeling a halt for time being and the SEZ cannot be set up without taking landowners into confidence which seems to be hard nut to crack as voices against SEZ are raising now from other parts of the country like Kerala too after WB.

8.2/10 AMIT

NAXAL ATTACKS

2007-03-20T11:13:00.000+05:30

welcome aboard amit's official Blog

Previous week, there were two different incidence (in fact accident) occurred within time span of 12 hrs, The Nandi gram Police firing incidence and the Naxalite attack on police quarter in Chhattisgarh. The former gathered heavy response across the length and breadth of India, and the later sounded a routine activity of Naxalites. Both incidents were very severe former claimed 16 lives however later claimed more than triple lives than the former.
The premeditated and cold blooded massacre of policemen and villagers by left extremists was a deplorable and heinous crime. This is just reverse of what naxal ideology say. Moving towards violent direction, naxalites are uprooting their own base and the sympathy they have gathered. This kind of violent protest against system and state will end up terming them terrorists at par with Kashmir separatists.
Naxalites or left-wing extremists, especially in the 165 districts characterized as ‘Naxal-affected’ are most severe presence in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, however they had make their presence felt in parts of MH, AP and Orissa also. The constituents of Naxal mercenaries are tribal, Dalits and other oppressed caste people who feel that violence is the only way to get their right as they believe that the state is in hands of rich people who are enjoying the success, growth and resources of India depriving them with their share. But they are ending up with robbing and killing their own people as the rich may bye security. Recent trend shows that they have started killing common villagers after the formation of SALWA JUDAM, an SPO.
The severity of attacks shows that they are getting assistance from somewhere else probably from their counterparts in Nepal, if not monetary then atleast morally after their success in Nepal. The ease with which they killed JMM leader mahto , and the well researched new petrol bomb they used, shows the severity of the problem.As Prime minister said in his speech, Naxal violence is the biggest threat to India now. He is rightly said as it’s the internal threat and can be overcome only once we will develop a system in which every Indian have their share of participation in every area. And then only we will be real democratic

" China Offers express Visa to Indians"

2007-03-19T10:58:00.000+05:30

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As the Indian economy roaring, seems the another Asian economic power house, China, has realized that there's no permanent friend, no permanent foes, only permanent interests. The Launch of Indo-China business Alliance can be termed as the extension of yeteryear's visit of Hu Jintao and reopening of Nathu- la pass at the border of the two countries. Under the aegis of india's economic chamber ASSOCHAM, the ICBA will work to facilitate the business men from both sides. In the launching Mr. Yuxi announced that in a bid to closely knit business synergies of China and India, the Chinese Embassy would be issuing `Express Visas' that are recommended by the ICBA to Indian businessmen. The express visa will help both side as both are the fastest growing economies and to sustain the growth of same its better to cooperate against to vie. The cooperation will facilitate bilateral retail trade to grow upto$50 billion from the current level of around $20 billion in the next few years,This move can be seen as good Confidence building measure and of high importance in the way of PM manmohan Singh's forthcoming visit to China, which may give us some more exciting and good business announcements.

7.1/10 AMIT

TATA wins CORUS

2007-03-16T13:10:00.000+05:30

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When Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata house, announced the bid to acquire Anglo-Dutch steel maker CORUS during 2006 Diwali, Indian media was gung-ho about the deal and it was hailed as the biggest blitzkrieg of all time in the Indian corporate world. Tata has estimated the deal to be of 8billion USD, but as the time changed a new rival came into the picture in the name of Steinbruch’s Companhia siderugica nacional, or CSN and it challenged TATA and questioned his estimated deal. The battle was set up and TATA Steel was also ready to clinch the deal. So one fine day Tata beat his Brazilian rival steinbruch in a closely contested auction. In 8 round bidding Tata finally clinched the deal with 12 billion USD at 608 pence per share against CSN’s offer of 603 pence per share.
In one go Tata steel leapfrogged from 30 to 5th rank in the biggest steel makers’ list.
Several analysts are suggesting that TATA has gone overboard in trying to best CSN. But given TATA’s previous record it would be a matter of argument. Tata is known for his splendid comeback after each slide down due to acquisition of some big company or some landmark announcement. Also Tata has did rightly so as the acquiring a established firm was easier than establishing and expanding the new business in India specially in steel industry as acquiring land in steel rich states is hard nut to crack. However Tata steel’s share has fallen considerably just after the announcement of deal.
Acquiring CORUS will give Tata the new market in the name of Europe and it will be the leading steel making company and why not as the latest trend in the steel making industry is consolidation (Mittal- Arcelor).
The market reaction was a short term reflection as Ratan Tata said in a call with journalist "Hopefully, in the future somebody will look back and say we did the right thing."
Being an Indian i hope so…Do you?

Budget 2007 - A NOTE

2007-03-15T16:06:00.000+05:30

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As P Chidambram was unfolding the Budget 2007 on 28th feb. , industries, corporate and academicians were keen to analyze the SWOT for their interest. It’s really a tough job to comment on annual budget of second largest growing economy of the world, that too in very brief and succinct manner. For corporate crunchers, here’s the news - E&Y has come up with 87 pages analysis report whereas their counterparts from KPMG, ICRA and CRISIL have tried to concise the report but couldn’t help and end up with 50, 17 and 8 pages report. But I am going to give you the hint and mood of the budget in extremely brief and terse way.
The Annual budget looks to have struck balance between fiscal consolidation and the need to spend, especially in key areas such as agriculture, the rural economy and social services.
Fiscal and revenue deficit, both come down from the previous FY and are 3.3 and 1.5 % of GDP respectively. Total spending in 2007/08 seen at 6.81 trillion rupees ($154.6 billion); non-plan expenditure next year seen at 4.35 trillion rupees.
Its matter of irony that just before the budget day the results of Punjab, UT and Mizoram legislative elections were declared and INC tasted defeat in the same. INC supremo blamed it to inflation rise and so the effect of this is clearly visible in the budget as she asked the Govt. to rein in the spiraling inflation. Leading the way is a reduction in customs and excise duties for a number of commodities. Notably the Agriculture sector is a key focus reflecting the sector’s central role and socio-economic-politco importance . Reforms have also got slow down because of Sonia influence. Tax exemption for some sectors have cut down too especially for IT and ITES sector.
On the other hand Govt. has increased the budget allocation for farm credit and education to name a few among other rural and social issues.
Bottom-line is policy making and budget allocation is good to priorities for key sector to maximize sustain growth, but effective implementation of policy and efficient use of allocated budget for the growth is the area to stress upon. Eleventh five year plan is to be start from this year and achieving the target is a challenge for the country.

"India has maximum number of Billonaries in Asia"

2007-03-14T14:59:00.000+05:30

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Forbes magazine's 2007 rankings of the world's richest people is out and India dethroned Japan from second spot which has 24 billionaires against that of 36 from India. India is second in terms of total no. billionaires in top 20 with 3 second only to US which has 4 candidates in top 20. Indias bandwagon of billionaires is headed by LN mittal who is on 5th spot followed by ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil on 14 and 18 spot respectively. Wipro head Azim Premji is on 21 spot , who once had been the only Indian to make in the list.Though India snatched second spot from Japan in terms of Billiaonaires but its still way behind in per capita income. This fact unfolds the ground reality behind the curtains. This shows that the chasm between rich and poor is insreasing in India. Rising no. of billionaires will stimulate big companies to launch their niche products in India, which are meant for supoer richs only in this way Bentley have already announced to launch his premium multicrore cost car, Some real estate companies are planning to offer homes with all the luxuries of world.If we see positive side of the story, its the result of growing Indian economy or may be former is the result of later.Although the list make Indians proud but not happy. It will be happy and proud both if the no. will rise further and the effect of this will be visible in growth of common Indian .

Amit 7.7/10

Merger of IA and AI

2007-03-09T11:45:00.000+05:30

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Much awaited and touted megamerger of two state owned carriers Air India And Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) has received cabinet nod on 2nd of march. This maha merger will bringforth a globaly and domestically competitive edge to the airlines. Civil aviation minister said this will take another 4 month to practically exist the merger and he promised not to cut jobs.This merger will allow state to reap up benefit of 6 billion INR in next 4 years and It will be one of the biggest airlines of Asia with 122 carriers in his kitty. On the other hand workers and employees of AI and IA are apprehensive and worried about their future inspite of MR. Patel's promise.The Govt should try to allay this feeling in the days to come and the time should be utilised by reducing the lazyness of employees and boboodome.Given that seven new carriers have sprung up in the past four years in India's liberalised skies, once dominated by the state-run airlines, and another five have applied to take off, it will be interesting to see how this merger will reap up profits in the highly competitive indian aviation sector.

A 7.9/10

" Indian Team for World Cup "

2007-03-05T11:53:00.000+05:30

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Sixteen teams, forty seven days, fifty-one matches and one CUP, welcome to the 2007 world cup cricket in Caribbean. Sixteen members squad of India, riding high on the hopes and prayers of millions Indian cricket fans is confident enough to win the World Cup, thanks to the recent series win of Indian team over Sri Lanka..Selectors have tried to chose the best from what the good they had. In fact they have nothing much to chose from. Selectors lead by Dileep vegsharkar has shown their confidence in experience over the young blood this is pretty averred with the inclusion of Kumble, Zaheer and sehwag. There has been some question raised over noninclusion of kaif , who could have been an asset at the fierce newlymade pitches of west Indies.India has indeed a best batting lineup in the world and the very experienced one. Undoubtedly the maestros like Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid can turn the outcome of any match. In addition to this If Dhoni and yuvrajhas cracked, it's the doomed situation for opponents. In fact Dhoni and Yuvraj are turning out to be a good finishers.Bowling, the recent form of Zaheer is looking promising with the add of aggressiveness of Srisanth can be good combination of pacers. Whereas the spinners like Kumble and harbhajan has proven their wirth at many occasions. However the bowling attack of India has some loopholes and fifth bowler will be problem. It will be interesting to see how Skipper overcome this problem and how judiciously he use the options available.Come to fielding, this is the area where Indian team seems to be vulnerable. There is dearth of young blood in Team and only few are world class fielders. Kaif is not in the team and Yuvraj is coming out of injury. So it will be loophole again.Bottomline is India can win the cup provided the batsmen have to click and score high. And prayer of millions of cricket fans can work what a eleven players' team cannot, so destiny and toss can play a vital role too. If the ace three members of the team to be believed, India is going to win the cup second time. Wait and watch .

Amit 8/10

ICICI Bank raises retail lending rates

2007-03-01T15:22:00.000+05:30

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ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank and second-largest lender overall, has hiked its retail lending rates, including home loan rates by 50 basis point (100 basis points = 1%). This move is obviously come up after announcement of RBI's hike of CRR by 50 basis point which in turn has done so to curb the northward movement of inflation. Although the new rates will be applicable to the new customers but the impact on burgeoning middle class will be twofold. First, the rising inflation and skyrocketing prices of essential commodities are cause to worry and now the hike in retail lending rates both fixed and floating will ccause double trouble for consumers. The recent unrealistic spurt in the real state and stock market led the RBI to take monetary measures like hiking standard asset provisioning on retail loans. But it has abstained in hiking rates however the private players has gone a step ahead and they increased the PLR.Analyst have their own arguments in for and against the move , as the hike may slow down the growth in the housing market but the real impact is remain to be seen as the India's economy is growing like never before and this obviously prompts the more spurt in real state and housing market.

"Mobile Giants Plan Rival to Google"

2007-02-28T12:55:00.000+05:30

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When an ant get a grain of sugar, the whole lot of other ants come
to break into the pie of the former's gain. Same is the case can be
perceived with
the rumour of Telcos plan to come up with a mobile search engine to
rival googal, yahoo.
The bigwigs of the telecommunication, Vodafone, France Telecom,
Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Hutchison Whampoa, Telecom Italia and
Cingular and the likes are going to meet in 3GSM to discuss the
possibility to come up with their own search engine on mobiles.
Reason is very obvious, call revenues are declining and every
telecommunication company is looking to generate extra revenues with
one means or other. According to research and marketing firm
Informa Telecoms & Media, is growing dramatically. Informa predicts
that by 2011, nearly 50 percent of all mobile phone subscribers
across the world will be browsing the Web from a mobile handset,
making the associated ad deals valuable indeed. and the
announcement of google's revenue has prompted them to think on this
aspect.

If, it is not a threat, definitely it make sense to google which
announced good ad revenues on the mobile search and who is clearly a
winner in the search engine market. And it seems they have already
sniffed the threat as Google and Yahoo have already started
developing a similar service for mobile phones with individual
telecommunication companies as the mobile internet market looks set
for take off over the next five years.
Whether it will be a blast in mobile search engine market or just a
wet cracker, is remain to be seen but if telcos come up with their
own search engine . it will sure end up with facilitating consumers.

Hrithik is the next superstar

2006-11-30T14:24:00.000+05:30

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The industry, the media and the masses are always waiting for a superstar. They have always created one and carried him on their shoulders as long as they want or believed the superstar should be carried. They give some of them a long life. They give others time till they don’t get on their nerves because of their standing as superstars. They have dumped some of the best of them whenever they have behaved in ways other than the ways they want them to and left them to fight their own battles to survive and then look for other superstars.

There have been times when there have been more than one superstar like there was the time when the trio of Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor ruled. There was a time when there was just one Rajesh Khanna. Then there was a superstar like Amitabh Bachchan who is a superstar among superstars even after 30 years. There is Shah Rukh Khan, the King or Baadshah Khan as they call him now but the King has suddenly found competition. For a time it looked like there would be a tough competition between Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan and there were bets laid on who would emerge the winner at the end of the year but with 'Dhoom-2' Hrithik has clearly emerged as the superstar today and for a long time to come.

Hrithik has been a very careful and cautious player. He proved that he was a star with his very first film 'Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai', which was a golden jubilee hit. He proved that he was a bigger star who was also a very good actor in 'Koi Mil Gaya'. He showed the first major signs of being a superstar when he grew into a cult figure with Krrish. And now with 'Dhoom-2' he has just sailed through and staked his place and even claimed it as the next superstar. There are experts who claim that he has taken the place of the King. This talk started when Hrithik was the first ever star to sign a 36 crore contract for three films with a leading corporate company, a fact that took the industry by storm.

His performances, his personality and the élan and ease with which he has carried himself in a daringly different role for the Hindi film hero and despite the competition from Abhishek, the other contender for the throne, he has made his intentions clear without making any overtly and conscious efforts.

Hrithik has all the other qualities that go to make a superstar. He has the patience. He has hardly had ten releases during his less than ten-year-old career. He has steered clear of all controversies and gossip. He is unanimously accepted as the most well-behaved, disciplined and knowledgeable star. He is in no hurry to grab films. Surprisingly he has just one film on the floor, Jodhaa Akbar when other stars of his generation have them by the dozens.I always knew Hrithik would make it big and I am happy that he has proved me right. He is the biggest young star today, you can call him the next superstar who can take on challenges even from Hollywood and give some of the best actors a run for their money. So, isn’t it time to welcome the new superstar and give him the place he has earned for himself?

Clarification

2006-10-31T17:37:00.000+05:30

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sowwie, was having some prob at home so cudnt post in. in fact will be dormant in days to come as loads of exigent wrk ahead. bear with me.
Yup the poll stands cancel, as when i have posted the poll, that was an inchoate poll and with the passage of time the things changed . Release date of Dhoom2 and UmraoJaan postponed (perhaps because of tough competition or may be post production delay or as consequence of good understanding berween distributers and directors of the movies). and Jaan-E-Mann vied with the DON, the release date of which was nt in the picture at the time, poll started off..
However here is the result Dhoom2 is clearly emerged as the winner and UmraoJaan is on astonishingly on second spot, The picture might have been diffrent if the Jaan e mann wud have been in the poll.
Selection Votes
DHOOM-2 Back in action 56% 5
DON - The chase begins again 11% 1
Umrao JAAN 33% 3

9 votes total

thanx to everyone who actively on inactively participated in the poll.
will be back in action very soon.

Anil Ambani gets go ahead for DTH

2006-09-16T10:24:00.000+05:30

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Nothing can beat the relaxed hours one spends before a television
after an office/school rigour. Be it a bloody battle between Brazil
and Argentina (people call it football!!) or be it the Devil's
Advocate with Karan Thappar at his articulate best, everybody enjoys
watching TV. However here and there, a middle class wife will fight
with her husband around 28th or 29th of every month to cancel the
cable TV subscription pointing to the ever-burgeoning cable cost and
the dip in the quality due to illegal usage. Well here is an answer
to all the problems abovementioned- DTH expanded to Direct To Home.

When DTH was first introduced in the late nineties by private
players, the Government was not in all favours citing security
problems. However the idea was revamped in 2001 and Rupert Murdoch
owned iSkyb launched he first DTH service and the government too
forayed with the DD direct plus. Now the market has become
competitive with the entry of R-ADA into the broadcasting setup.

If one has followed the recent activities of Anil Ambani he/she
wouldn't be surprised with this move. Anil has began to expand his
grip over the Indian market by including diversity in his ambit and
it is evident from his investment in joint ventures with PVR and
Adlabs in building multiplexes, in FM radio channels and in
producing films in synergy with high network bollywood people.

A smart businessman that Anil is, has been fast in realizing the
growth potentials one has in the broadcasting market.
PricewaterhouseCoop er has predicted a manifold increase in the
number of DTH subscribers. From a mealy 3.25 millions to 15 millions
in two years is a real growth if PricewatrhouseCoope r is to be
trusted. Further more Anil could also make his viewers subscribe to
his multiplex shows or listen to his FM if he can gain a strong hand
in the DTH market.

This R-ADA foray into DTH market may make profound implications on
1) The market cap of Reliance
2) The competitors' interest and
3) The public

Despite the split of the Reliance Empire, Reliance stocks still soar
high and Anil's strategic moves have been instrumental in
maintaining the momentum. The latest arrow from the Ambani quiver is
Reliance Blue Magic the subsidiary, which will deal with the DTH
market. With only four major private players viz IskyB of News Corp,
Dish TV of Zee groups, Sky TV- an 80:20 venture of Tatas and Star TV
and the South Indian major SUN Network, much is at the offering and
Anil has displayed immaculate entrepreneurial skills in setting up
this DTH service providing venture. With the Midas touch that he
has, no doubt Reliance Blue Magic will hit the target and bring in
more revenue to Reliance Energy, the parent organization of Anil
Dhirubai Ambani enterprise.

The Cable TV operators' honeymoon is going to end soon with CAS and
DTH's taking over. Zee is offering its DTH services at Rs 200/- and
the package includes eventy five channels. Star offers similar
number of channels for Rs 180/-. These charges do not include the
setting-up charges and with the entry of RBM will only make the
setting more interesting and it will be a good spectacle to watch
how these competitors battle it out.

With all these private parties engaging in a gripping combat, the
viewers will be promised the best of the quality, making TV watching
a pleasant experience. The viewers now have a wide choice of service
providers to choose from, with the package from each being more
attractive than the competitor's in one way or the other. Gone are
the days of illegal usage and cable operators' escapade from higher
entertainment taxes.

Having done all the formalities and with the LoI of the government
in its kitty, RBM is all set to make its presence felt in the DTH
services. Anil's strategy to win the battle will also be a thing to
watch out and having seen him all these days I am sure it will be
unique and successful as usual.

H k

HDFC to raise Rs 3240 cr from FDI

2006-09-11T11:42:00.000+05:30

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They say, "When it pours, it pours heavy". It is indeed pouring
heavily in India. Apart from the torrential rains the FDI is also
pouring into the country, which is expected to quadruple in the next
seven years. Gone are the days when the government was reluctant in
allowing foreign companies to enter the Indian market. These days
India and China are branded as the best places to invest for at
least another 25 years and no surprises foreign organizations are
competing big time to be a part of this FDI spree. The latest
participator is the housing finance leader HDFC. The proposal of
HDFC o invest a staggering Rs 3240 crore ($720 mn) into the Indian
real estate business has been a given an affirmative nod by the
Cabinet Committee on External Affairs.

India is currently holding the position, which was
formerly held by the US (in the post war years) as the best place to
invest thanks to the burgeoning economy and scrupulous economic
planning. The Real Estate Market of the country deserves a special
mention, which is expected to grow from the current $12 bn market
position to an Himalayan $90 bn in the next decade, courtesy Merrill
Lynch. May be that will be an eye opener for those who wonder at the
reason behind giants Farallon Capital Management, Morgan Stanley,
Merrill Lynch and GE Commercial Finance Real Estate craving to
dominate the Indian real estate space, needless to mention the local
players. Now HDFC has forayed into the market by registering India
Offshore Real Estate Investments, a fund raising company in
Maurtius, which will invest in the Indian real estate. Its inviting
International Banks, Financial Institutions and high network
Individuals to invest in the fund for a minimum period of three
years.

This investment plan of HDFC has direct implications on
1) Its own revenue
2) The "home country" economy and
3) The market capitalization of local players

HDFC has made many smart moves in the past, joining hands with SBI,
being one such and this investment plan is another strategic move,
every economic pundit would say. The Indian government has signed a
treaty not to tax the Mauritius investors, which will directly
benefit HDFC. The stock value has already increased by 3.07% in BSE
and the future looks really rosy for the organization.

The liberalization and the globalization binge have benefited
the country largely with its economy growing at a breakneck speed.
This approval by CCEA will attract other international players to
pour in investments and thereby adding to the FDI revenue. It's a
win-win situation and surely India would cash in by making use of
these opportunities.

The real problem is for the Indian players who with their
already fragile investment now should meet this external pressure
from the foreign investors as well. If only they stand tall in this
competition, it would make the market positions more exciting and
the investors more interested. Companies like UB group of Vijay
Mallaya have the financial cushion and they can offer stiff
challenge to HDFC and only time will decide the winner.

Harish Krishnan

Google Offers Classics for Free

2006-09-07T10:43:00.000+05:30

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Books are no doubts " treasures of knowledge and wisdom" , and making
them accesible in this way via internet has really helped the
information on net to be gathered in organised form,all credits to
Google.Getting a printed copy is now going to be less expensive than
to pay the cost of toner and paper.The Google mechanism,would also
beuseful for a book that's hard to find.

By taking this huge step forward Google has helped realising words of
'Charles W. Eliot ' who said "Books are the quietest and most
constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of
counsellors, and the most patient of teachers", google has helped in
realising these word into physical world with this step. The step
taken by google in this direction is really a big step which is not
only going to help the current generation but is also going to add
feathers in knowledge of future generations who'll have very easy and
free of cost access to all hidden knowledge of their past and
future.This step also has added to the reputation of expanding google
as a big-wig under the leadership of 'Larry Page',Sergey Brin' and
'Eric Schmidt' who have allready prooved Google's brilliance in
fileds like Search Engine,Google Earth,Mail,Chat,Video's ,Image's etc
etc. the step taken by google can now help an avid reader to scan
through his list of books on internet and see what is available
easily.

Though the other side of google step may sound little bit shaky as
formainstream publishers It's certainly going to hurt a little bit, but
one should be surprise to see if it hurts very much.Google has also
tried it' best to make it's critics silent by not allowing access to
books still under copyright, for them only bibliographies are
available along with limited extracts Also for books made available
toGoogle via publisher, including editions from Oxford University
Press,Penguin, and Dover the viewer would only gets only a "limited
preview"of a few pages. In other cases, where Google believes that a volume
might be in copyright, but has no relationship with the publisher,
Google provides an even more restricted "snippet view."

I guess the step taken by google should be really appreciated as it
has tried its best to save the interest of both the publisher's and
ofcourse the readers.
Gurpreet

Volvo in talks for stake in Ashok Leyland

2006-09-04T12:13:00.000+05:30

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Today's market is full of competition, with one firm trying to
usurp another.Competition brings out the best in anybody and it has
direct implications in all kind of markets. The partnership talks
between two automobile majors, Volvo and Ashok Leyland is only a
testimony for the aforesaid.

Volvo has been India for the past eight years, doing decent
business by selling buses and trucks to both government and private
parties. In Volvo's perspective, entering into the medium commercial
vehicle market is very crucial for its expansion. The medium
commercial vehicle business has not been in its ambit as far as the
Indian market is concerned and this partnership would suffice its
needs to gain a stronghold. Volvo was forced to payback a sum of
$2.2 bn due to recent pressure from its shareholders and this has
made it inquisitive in making acquisitions and adding to its
repertoire. So this alliance would and could prove to be beneficial
to the Swedish giant.

On the other hand, Ashok Leyland would consider this partnership
as a filling of gap caused due to the quitting of IVECO Fiat, the
Italian player. With IVECO Fiat- the heavy truck arm of Italian
automobile giant, having joined hands with rivals, Tata Motors after
selling its 15% stake in LRLH, the Hindujas are all set to enter
into a partnership with Volvo. LRLH, the holdings firm of the
Hindujas family who now hold 51% of Ashok Leyland, requires
technology for its own betterment and it would expect the much
needed technology exchange would happen in this partnership. With
global conglomerates like Daimler Chrysler, International Truck &
Engine Corporation and MAN Nutzfarhzeuge vying the Indian Market and
Tata Motors planning to introduce world truck range in 2008 Ashok
Leyland has to try every trick to be competitive enough in the
market.

Though the fiscal dealings haven't been disclosed yet, this
partnership would certainly be fruitful to both the parties. The
salubrious competition would also bring the best out of the people,
as said before and when two firms, best in their business, tie up,
it is needless to say it would benefit the people and the nation at
large.

KRISHNAN

Samsung to open second plant in India

2006-08-29T12:20:00.000+05:30

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Looking at the present industrial trend the first thing which comes
to mind is the Darwin's theory " Survival of the fittest". Only the
Companies having the zeal for quality, price competance and custumer
satisfaction can survive in present market scenario in almost any
sector of bussiness.The south korean major Samsung electronics
declaration that it is going to start a new venture in south india
in near future does supports the survival theory. From an annonymous
brand in India in 1995 to the market leader position in 2006 does
takes a lot of efforts and grit.

Positive impacts:

The company has so far invested 150 million dollars at the noida
facility, in uttar pradesh. Not to mention that employement
oppertunities and vendor development are a few tangible benefits
that are generated due to the presence of a market leader in state,
also the intangible benefits like Best quality product at most
competance price with exempler custumer support services are also
noteworthy. As Samsung India is the hub for Samsung's south west
asia region, the local talent also gets the oppertunity to work with
the best in industry and to get the acclaim at international arena.
Also, as the world is heading towards free trade, Indians should
look to it as an oppertunity to raise its level to compete for the
rest of world by lowering the manufacturing cost so that more
bussiness houses are attracted to shift towards indian market to
invest for other manufacturing facilities. Mr. Ravinder Zutsi's
remark that exports from the Indian subsidiary were to tune the
Rs.100 crore in 2005 and were expected to touch Rs 150 crore this
year clearly make a note that indian manufacturing sector is at its
flourish and this positive trend has to be maintained further in
near future.

Negative Impacts:

With the rise of foreign companies snaching the market share, Indian
companies in respective sectors seem to lose their identity. But the
only solution to this is that Indian companies will also have to
sharpen their technological skills and should invest more in R&D so
that they are also able to stand in front of these International
players rather than to follow anachronicle methods of production.

Bottom line:

With the announcent of 2nd production facility in India, Samsung is
ushering in a new era for Indian base as a Manufacturing hub, which
will speeden up the countries pace to compete up with the other
countries like China ,Malaysia & Hong Kong which are supposed to be
the front runners in cheap production with cutting edge
technological facilities.

AMIT G