Godrej Rural Project

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Godrej Rural Project

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Guzarish- Movie Preview

The verdant green landscape, the magnetic blue waters and the warm bright sunshine of beautiful Goa is home to one of the greatest magicians of his time, Ethan Mascarenhas. Presently hosting a Radio Show that spreads magic and hope and laughter through his irrepressible wit and humour to every listener and caller, it is difficult to imagine that this is a man who has been immobilized with a spinal injury for the last fourteen years of his life.
Ethan is aided through every moment of his present life by the epicentre of his world - his Nurse, Sofia D'Souza. Theirs is a love beautiful in its implicit silence, unwavering in its quiet strength and spirited in their constant verbal sparring.
On the fourteenth anniversary of his accident, Ethan decides to seek control over his own life. He makes a petition to the Court that shocks the world and leaves Sofia in an impasse that challenges their relationship and their love. Alongside all the tumult that follows, a young man named Omar Siddiqui bursts into Ethan's world with a single-minded desire to learn magic from the very best.
While on one hand Ethan passes on his magical legacy, on the other, he fights tooth-and-nail to demand the most basic right that every human being is entitled to - the right to his own life. The ethics, the morality, the kindness and cruelty of this mission creates a storm in all the lives that it envelops and its resolution forms the startling conclusion of Ethan's remarkable journey.
Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the movie stars Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Monikangana Dutta, Rajit Kapoor, Shernaz Patel, Nafisa Ali and Suhel Seth.
'Guzaarish' will be released on November 19.

The youngest CEO in India – Ashwin Ramesh

Ashwin Ramesh’s Summary
Ashwin turned entrepreneur when he was 15, starting his own back-end online marketing and web services firm E-business Initiative.
Ashwin then went on to build and create OrganicApex, a specialized Digital Marketing firm with business units, which deal with web services, products, properties and more.
OrganicApex is an organization based out of Chennai, India with delivery centers in Sacramento and Orlando.

Ashwin Ramesh’s Specialties:
Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Search Marketing, Paid Search Marketing

Ashwin Ramesh’s Experience
CEO :- OrganicApex (Internet industry)
August 2007 — Present (3 years)
CEO :- E-business Initiative (Sole Proprietorship) (Sole Proprietorship; 1-10 employees; Internet industry)
January 2006 — Present (4 years 7 months)
EB is an organization specializing in backend SEO and Ashwin forms a part of the core team, which runs the organization.

Ashwin Ramesh’s Interests:
Internet marketing, seo, social media, social media marketing, social media optimization, new technology, management, entrepreneurship, quizzing, web development, programming
Meet Ashwin Ramesh, the “Youngest CEO in India. Probably the youngest in the world.”
Ashwin is CEO to OrganicApex a company that is into SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and SMM (Search Media Marketing) services. He started his first firm when he was 15 years old and evolved into Organic Apex. Today Organic Apex has branches worldwide and employs around 35 people.

The size of the company
- Almost 35 people

Services offered
- Organic SEO, PPC Related Marketing, Social Media Marketing, and Internet Marketing Solutions.

Opportunities
- An imminent boom in the Internet sector resulting in people everywhere trying to monetize on it.
But as always, only the early birds will really make loads of cash and also Internet Marketing is going to be huge.

Current Business Model
- Currently do direct sales marketing for our services and have a set of web ventures, which are doing pretty decent for the time being.
Starting of this Business
- Ashwin started this about a year back and before that he was here and there into Adsense (an advertising solution) and affiliate marketing.

Generation of the Idea
A friend of him told him that he got his first Adsense cheque. I didn’t know what the Adsense was and i though “When he can do it, I can too”.
I started out with my first blog trying to monetize on Adsense but miserably failed.
I was making 0.00$ a month from Adsense and I decided to resort to click fraud, I worked with click fraud till I made 99$ on my Adsense account and my account got banned just then. That small mistake of mine is costing me a lot now…
Once Adsense was done with, I met this guy who taught me affiliate marketing and clickbank, I did make a little money with it but wasn’t satisfied.
Then there came Mr. SEO Guy…
He was this guy who was 1 year elder to me who was bragging to me about his BIG SEO FIRM (which turned out to be bogus) and his large kitty of earnings.
I obviously got jealous and set out to create my own firm and made enough money freelancing from home to create a fully functioning unit.

Bottlenecks during running business
“Being a Young Entrepreneur in India Sucks! Especially if your from a very conservative family like mine. My dad wanted me to become a software engineer and it took a whole load of persuasion and a note or recommendation from my uncle to really make him have a look at the potential in this industry (I’m sure my dad would agree now that it was stupid to call this a waste of time now)
I still face these bottlenecks – Formal Education.
It gets very tough pursuing formal education and running a firm.
Worse cause people in school don’t understand what I’m doing (I’m nicknamed foreigner after I told them that I might be going to Adtech NY this year)
Actually, none of my teachers know what I’m doing and I wouldn’t want them to know.
Most of the people I meet think that everybody who makes cash must wear a costly sneaker or own a BMW car – That is dip shit.
Anybody else in my shoes would have dropped out of school, but I still stick to school because I think I should be DIFFERENT.
Keep this in mind "Always do what you want even if someone tells you not to do it – They’re telling you not to do it because they couldn’t do it or think it cant be done”.

Future plans
Short Term:
Make Organic Apex the Largest Organic SEO Firm in the Asia
Long Term:
To create something which would make everyone else would look up and take notice at (A competitor to one of Google’s products )

RJ - rj.rahul23@gmail.com

NARAYANA HRUDAYALAYA : A Model for Accessible, Affordable Health Care?

Narayana Hrudayalaya:
A Model for Accessible, Affordable Health Care?
Cardiac surgeon "Dr. Devi Shetty" is on a mission to build 5,000-bed "health cities" across India, encouraged by the success at his nine-year-old Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital in Bangalore. He has contained costs by tweaking processes, driving hard bargains and negotiating creative partnership deals, but faces challenges in replicating that model on a bigger scale. Shetty wants to make quality health care accessible and affordable using economies of scale, or the cost advantages businesses obtain due to expansion. His hospital in Bangalore focuses on cardiac medicine but he wants to extend the model to other specialties, in addition to other locations.
Shetty believes his success could lead to a new health care model not only for India but perhaps also for the world. "The first heart surgery was done over a hundred years ago but even today only 8% of the world's population can afford heart operations," Shetty notes. "In India, around 2.5 million people require heart surgeries every year but all of [the country's doctors] put together perform only 80,000 to 90,000 surgeries a year.... We clearly need to relook and change the way things are being done."

At his Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Bangalore, the 56-year-old Shetty is doing just that. Patients at his hospital get cardiac care at a cost lower than any other hospital in the country and at a fraction of what it would cost elsewhere in the world, a feat accomplished through what Shetty refers to as "process innovation." Shetty, who has been in the medical profession for close to 25 years and worked at Guy's Hospital in London, the Birla Heart Research Foundation in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and the Manipal Heart Foundation in Bangalore before branching out on his own, was formerly personal physician to Mother Teresa. His interactions with her, he notes, not only offered the opportunity to closely observe the famed humanitarian's charitable work but also caused the doctor to begin thinking about how quality health care could be made widely accessible and affordable.
That was how Shetty came to the conclusion that the health care industry needs more process innovation than product innovation. The industry "does not need a magic pill or the fastest scanner or a new procedure," he states, but instead requires improvements that lower the cost of medical attention and make it more widely available. Shetty's premise of economies of scale is not radical; in fact, the doctor describes his way as "the Walmart approach." "There is no doubt that he has created a very distinct model to take cardiac care to the masses," notes Vishal Bali, CEO of Fortis Hospitals.
Now Shetty is ready to aim higher. India currently has around 0.7 hospital beds per thousand people; the key to better aligning those numbers with the population, he states, is creating a chain of large "health cities" across the country. To set the ball rolling, Shetty spearheaded the creation of a 1,400-bed cancer and multispecialty hospital -- the largest cancer hospital in the country -- at the Bangalore campus. A women and children's hospital and another for nephrology are also in the works. In addition, the Bangalore facility -- which is set to expand to a total of 5,000 beds over the next three years. Over the next five years, Shetty wants to build similar 5,000-bed health cities across the country. Construction is starting on a 1,400-bed hospital in Ahmedabad. "We want to have around 30,000 beds over the next five years," Shetty says. "As our volumes increase, we will get further economies of scale". In the next five years we want to be able to do a heart operation for US$800 from point of admission to point of discharge. We believe it is possible."
Shetty has reason to be confident. Over the years, the Bangalore heart hospital he opened in 2001 grew to 1,000 beds; the facility has added advanced technology and doctors there perform some 30 surgeries a day -- the highest number of cardiac surgeries done by any hospital in India. Other hospitals in India, including Escorts, Apollo, Wockhardt and Fortis, perform about half that number. The hospital's mortality rate of around 2% and hospital-acquired infection rate of 2.8 per 1000 ICU days are comparable to the best hospitals across the world, Shetty asserts. In an article in Forbes India, the University of Michigan's C. K. Prahalad said the mortality rate in Narayana Hrudayalaya is "much lower than in New York State for similar kinds of heart disease."

Serving the Poor
Cardiac surgeries in the US can cost up to US$50,000. In India, they typically cost around US$5,000-US$7,000. Depending on the complexities of the procedure and the length of the patient's stay at the hospital, the price tag increases. At Narayana Hrudayalaya, however, surgeries cost less than US$3,000, irrespective of the complexity of the procedure or the length of hospitalization. About 45% of Shetty's patients pay even less. Of these, about 30% are covered under a micro-insurance plan for health care called Yeshasvini that reimburses Narayana Hrudayalaya at about US$1,200 a surgery.
For those who are not part of the insurance plan and can't afford the hospital's regular charges, Shetty offers concessional rates. The discounts depend on patients' financial capacity and are funded either by the hospital's charitable trust, individual donors or by the hospital itself. In addition, Shetty and his team reach out to patients through a network of rural clinics and via telemedicine facilities. Patients come to the Bangalore facility from more than 50 countries. Shetty's instructions to his team are clear: No one who comes to Narayana Hrudayalaya will be denied treatment due to a lack of funds.
To ensure the viability of the project, Shetty has devised a hybrid pricing model. Apart from the regular package, he also offers semiprivate and private rooms for those who want and can afford better personal amenities. The medical facilities are the same for every patient, however. The upgraded rooms, which comprise around 20% of the total available at the hospital, offset the losses incurred from treating the poor," Shetty notes.
The managing team at Narayana Hrudayalaya follows the unique accounting practice of studying the profit and loss account on a daily basis. "By monitoring the average realization per surgery and our profitability on a daily basis, we are able to assess how much concession we can afford to give the following day without adversely impacting our profitability," states Sreenath Reddy, the hospital's CFO. Reddy expects revenues of US$80 million for the year ending March 2010 and to generate US$200 million annually over the next two years. The hospital has been profitable from the first year. JP Morgan and PineBridge Investments (formerly known as AIG Investments) each hold a 12.5% stake in the company. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and MD of biotechnology firm Biocon owns a 2.5% stake, and Shetty and his family own the remainder of the company. Shishir Jain, executive director at JP Morgan believes Shetty has shown that "it is possible to fulfill a great social need without compromising on the profitability." Santosh Senapathy, MD of PineBridge Investments adds that "Narayana Hrudayalaya will change the way healthcare is delivered across the world."
Innovations in Operations
One of his first innovations when he set up Narayana Hrudayalaya in 2001 was in the way doctors are compensated. Typically, cardiac surgeons are paid per surgery and their costs constitute a significant proportion of a hospital's total expenses. Shetty invited his staff physicians to work for fixed salaries; he did not pay them less than what they would have normally taken home at the end of the month, but he required doctors to perform more surgeries, bringing down the cost per procedure. This approach continues to be one of the core savings areas at Narayana Hrudayalaya.
In addition, Shetty's father-in-law -- who was in the construction business -- built the first hospital for him, keeping costs to the minimum. Shetty claims he passed on those savings to patients, and maintains that, even today, construction costs at his hospitals are less than half of that for others. "The way we design the hospitals and our close monitoring of our projects help us to keep a very tight control of our construction costs," notes Shetty's son Viren, an engineer and director at the hospital. Shetty's two other sons are studying medicine.
In the initial days of Narayana Hrudayalaya, patients came because of Shetty's skill and his reputation. The cost savings he offered started attracting customers in greater numbers. Apart from the surgeries, the Bangalore campus treats about 2,500 people daily in its out-patient department. The increasing volumes in turn have helped lower costs in many ways, staff says. Instead of buying surgical gloves in India, for example, Narayana Hrudayalaya saves about 40% by importing them in container loads from Malaysia. The hospital has moved to digital X-ray technology, saving on the recurring cost of film. Most hospitals use their CT scanners, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and other machines for only eight hours a day, but Narayana Hrudayalaya uses them for 14 hours and offers these tests to the patients at lower rates in the late evenings. As volumes increase, per unit costs naturally come down.
For procedures like blood gas analysis, Shetty's team convinced the equipment vendor that, instead of selling the machine to the hospital, he could simply park it there and make his money by selling the chemical reagents required for the test. The hospital saves on the cost of the machines while the vendor also profits.
The high patient volumes help Shetty drive a hard bargain with vendors when negotiating prices for everything from basic supplies to sophisticated medical equipment. "Given [the hospital's] volumes and Shetty's own credibility, every negotiation is as tough as it can be. He certainly gets his pound of flesh," notes V. Raja, president and CEO of GE Healthcare South Asia, who has been associated with Narayana Hrudayalaya from the beginning.
Testing an Untested Model
Shetty's model of 5,000-bed health cities has its share of risks and challenges. It remains to be seen if the doctor can replicate his success in volume-based cardiac care across specialties and cities. He is also considering setting up health care facilities in the Cayman Islands and Malaysia. Observers say to succeed, Shetty needs to build organizational and management bandwidth; create teams of medical professionals that share his vision and are willing to work hard; put in place robust processes, and raise the required funding. "The scalability of any model is based on the creation of an organizational structure," says Bali, of Fortis. "One does not see this at Narayana Hrudayalaya. It has been around for many years and by now the structure should have emerged. One will have to wait and watch if Shetty can indeed scale [his model] beyond one or two institutions."
Amit Varma, president, healthcare, at Religare Enterprises, was part of Shetty's team at Manipal Hospital and at Narayana Hrudayalaya. "The intention is absolutely right but there is a base cost to any procedure and you can bring that down only to a certain level," he notes. "There is a tipping point beyond which the volume that you do will have an adverse impact on the quality. What that tipping point is remains to be seen."
But Girdhar Gyani, CEO of the National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare Providers believes a commitment to delivering quality service is part of the culture of strong teams. "Shetty's team in Bangalore is top-of-the-line in terms of quality and I am confident that the rest of the facilities that he builds will be the same too. Shetty is a transformational leader who can bring about a sea change in this industry." Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon, who owns a stake in Shetty's company, says the doctor brings a missionary work ethic to his efforts and has attracted a talented and committed team of doctors, nurses, paramedics and professionals. She credits Narayana Hrudayalaya with consistently focusing on training and developing specialized skills. "I have no doubt that Narayana Hrudayalaya is scalable in India and Shetty's concept of 5,000-bed health cities is the way to go. India's medical talent pool is vast and can certainly sustain this growth." Raja of GE Healthcare also adds his vote of confidence: "This is a pretty much untested model across the world but Dr. Shetty is fully committed to it and, if anyone can, he can."

RJ

rj.rahul23@gmail.com

Google SMS Update Service For Free...

"Take the power of Google search with you, through Google SMS search on your phone."

Google Launches a new SMS service on Phone. Now Get cricket scores, Indian Railways train schedules & ticket status, horoscopes, movie showtimes, restaurant information and more ...all through SMS on your phone.
Best of all, you don't pay a premium charge for any of this, just the price of a standard SMS.

Now you dont have depend upon your operator of Cricket updates, or any other information by paying for premium charged sms and montly balance deduction. Google available this service for free. You will only charged for an National sms rate as per your operater tarif. And the best part is, if you have a national SMS Voucher then you can enjoy this service for free of cost...:-)

Try it out!

Simply send your search query by SMS to 9-77-33-00000 and we'll send you results back by SMS immediately.
Of course, don't forget to save 9-77-33-00000 to your phonebook for quick and easy access to Google SMS in the future!

Personalisation

Change personalisation setting save on / save off / clear
Set / view / clear your location set location delhi / view location / clear location
Search Queries Personalised* pizza / weather / films

Just Check it Out....

"GREEN BANKING"

State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest commercial bank, has taken an initiative to adopt “Green Banking”.

It has installed 10 windmills with an aggregate capacity of 15 MW in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The project has been supplied by Suzlon Energy, India’s leading wind turbine manufacturer. The electricity generated by the wind turbines would be utilized to power various SBI facilities and operations across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu.
Though SBI has been the first player in the financial services sector to take such an initiative but it can be expected that more such Companies would soon follow suit. This apart from reducing the effect the carbon footprint would also help the wind energy market to grow further.

(The Suzlon Energy Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Tulsi R. Tanti is an Indian Entrepreneur.)

Clean foot forward- A Success Story of Sandeep Gajakas

I’m sure nearly everyone has heard about the The Shoe Laundry a unique business started by young entrepreneur by the name of Sandeep Gajakas. It is shockingly simple yet successful business which I’m sure is a result of thinking out of the box.

The Shoe Laundry is a service which collects the sport shoes of the customers which are repaired and washed and the new looking shoes are delivered to customer at his doorstep. The reason why The Shoe Laundry is popular is because it is one of those businesses that were started with very little investment (personal savings of the business owner). The Shoe Laundry did not have an office for the first few years. The reason is simple – they did not need one! An incident where Sandeep was challenged by his engineering classmate to clean the sports shoes after Sandeep had complained about the fact that dirty shoes or rich students was something which irritated him, ignited the idea though it was put into practice after working for a couple of years after his graduation.

The business was started from his bedroom and Sandeep himself did the deliveries, pickups and management of the business. So much so that the first advertisement campaign was executed by Sandeep himself with some help from his friends. One big advantage was setting up the business in Mumbai which is a metropolitan with lot of dust and grime. The expressions on his customers faces when he delivered the shoes after cleaning was something he enjoyed the most. The charges of Rs.120 ($3) was reasonable for most people.

Sandeep moved offices of My Shoe Laundry to his ancestral place which was a little far from the city. The Shoe Laundry’s customer base grew and soon Shoppers Mart (a retail clothing and shoe store in India) started using the services of The Shoe Laundry for after sales services for their customers and soon Sandeep saw that hospitals and star hotels lining up as The Shoe Laundry customers and also the showrooms of top sport shoe brands like Adidas, Reebok and Nike were using the services as well.

The Shoe Laundry soon faced competition from about 8-10 other competitors but could not sustain because of the tight margins and the fact that the service industry is all about satisfying the customer with quality while sticking to the timelines. The shoe cleaning process is a 10 step process. Started in 2004 today the business claims the turn over to be over 24 lakh rupees a year (about $65,000 US)!

The Shoe Laundry is a classic example of how a small business can be grown despite the competition if one is dedicated and true to his work. More examples like these will prove an inspiration for others (young and old) and I hope we see a lot of businesses like these in the future which provide goods and services based on the demand that is there in a particular geographical region.

If you know of any similar business please let me know and we would be privileged to feature the business on our blog.

A Success Story: Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, Music Directors

Brothers in arms

The renowned and self made musical trio Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy share their musical journey and what it takes to pursue ones’ passion with YourStory

Music they say, can unite, cross boundaries and woo people. Wondering what inspiration can drive a software engineer ( Shankar Mahadevan) to quit his profession, an Indian ( Ehsaan Noorani) studying in California to return back to Swades, and an off beat musician (Loy Mendonsa) to get into composing. Passion for the five letter word: MUSIC. Shankar Ehsaan and Loy have created legendary music, with their movie soundtracks for Dil Chahta Hai, Taare Zameen par, Rock On, Karthik Calling Karthik, Wake Up Sid, latest musical hit Housefull and many more. Simply put, the three musketeers of Indian Music are rightly the pioneers of a musical revolution that has changed the face of Bollywood music. In an exclusive conversation with YourStory, they talk about their highs and lows in life and what it takes to excel. An interesting read for all the startup entrepreneurs trying to build value and pursue their passion.
First step forth:
Shankar: “I started learning Hindustani Classical music at an age of five. Though I pursued my engineering, I continued singing. Ehsaan, after composing some advertisements’ jingles pushed me to quit my profession as a software engineer and take up singing. There hasn’t been any looking back ever since then, rather, it has turned out to be a great step!”
Ehsaan: “ I was in Los Angeles studying music. Being the music capital of world, I learnt a lot there. After my return to India, I was involved with jingles. I did that for few years, before we three got together to compose music for our first movie—Dus.”
Loy: “ There was a lot of music in my family and hence I struck my first six strings at an age of thirteen. I went to Delhi after I grew up where I gave music for a lot of television serials like Fauji, Quiz time etc.. On returning back to Mumbai I met Ehsaan through a common friend and instantly we got together to compose music!”
Binding Force
Shankar: “ If I have to be honest, music holds us together! We compose music everywhere and anywhere. While we are traveling, hanging out, or just sitting idle. Breathless was composed during a traffic jam and similarly various others at random situations. Music is what keeps us going.”
Ehsaan: “ The pleasure we derive in creating and playing music is similar. That has been the force that has kept us together during all the lows and highs.”
Loy: “Our diversity has held us together.According to me this factor does the charm in our music. We three come from very different environments and varied school of thought. We learnt different kinds of music and we specialize in different genres. We are the Amar Akbar Anthony of music industry, with each one of us from a different faith.”
Stairway to Success:
Shankar : “ Its been a long journey for the three of us to achieve the name and fame that we share today. Coming from a middle class family, I was educated to have a risk free life post my graduation. To quit all of that and start afresh was a tough task. But one has to take a few tough steps. I had faith in myself and SEL (Shankar Ehsaan Loy) as a whole. The journey has been full of falls and struggles but we have finally got what we deserve. And that’s definitely satisfying.
Ehsaan: “ As Shankar said, it’s been a grueling path. I too, had to come back from California and start my life all over again. The transition was tough but today when I look back, I am glad that I took that decision.
Loy: “There were years when we have waited for that right movie or that right assignment. It has taken a lot of patience from all of us, but we have always stood by each other, shared our happiness , sorrows and struggles. That has been the key.”
Beyond Music:
Shankar: “Our lives revolve around music. Hence there’s music everywhere, in everything that I do. There is a song in my mind for every moment.”
Ehsaan: “I love guitars! I now have a collection of 24 guitars all together and I am glad that I know which one to play when!”
Loy: “ I am a gadget freak. I do make sure to catch up on the scientific developments in any field. I love to read about the same, be it on the web or read books on such topics.”
Message to the youth:
Shankar: “ It is very essential to do what you like! I have incorporated that in my life and here I am, a happy man. Always follow your passion and never let yourself down.”
Ehsaan: “ I am glad that I am doing something in which I derive fun. This has been my dream and I am living it. One thing that’s lacking in today’s generation is the tenacity to work towards their dreams. I think that’s something very essential. Always cherish your dreams.”
Loy: “ In today’s global village, increasingly young people are losing their identity and roots. There is a small Indian sitting inside every one of us, never forget that. It is very essential to be proud of that and reflect it in our identity, in whatever we do!”

India has more Mobile Telephone than Toilets- UN Reports

According to a recent report published by the United Nations (UN)– India has more mobile phones than toilets. This means that Indians can attend calls on their mobile phone more easily than attending nature’s call. Funny but true. The growth of the India Mobile Phone market and Telecom market is a big success story as far as numbers go. India is the 2nd largest mobile market in the world next to China. The cost of owning a mobile phone and connection is incredibly low these days. It’s quite interesting how they compared mobile phone populating to number of toilets.

Check Out this Story...

UNITED NATIONS: More people in India, the world's second most crowded country, have access to a mobile telephone than to a toilet, according to a new UN study on how to cut the number of people with inadequate sanitation. "It is a tragic irony to think that in India, a country now wealthy enough that roughly half of the people own phones, about half cannot afford the basic necessity and dignity of a toilet," said Zafar Adeel, Director of United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health (IWEH). India has some 545 million cell phones, enough to serve about 45 per cent of the population, but only about 366 million people or 31 per cent of the population had access to improved sanitation in 2008. The recommendations of United Nations University (UNU) released Wednesday are meant to accelerate the pace towards reaching the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on halving the proportion of people without access to safe water and basic sanitation. If current global trends continue, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) predict there will be a shortfall of 1 billion persons from that sanitation goal by the target date of 2015. "Anyone who shirks the topic as repugnant, minimises it as undignified, or considers unworthy those in need should let others take over for the sake of 1.5 million children and countless others killed each year by contaminated water and unhealthy sanitation," said. Adeel. Among the nine recommendations are the suggestions to adjust the MDG target from a 50 per cent improvement by 2015 to 100 per cent coverage by 2025; and to reassign official development assistance equal to 0.002 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to sanitation. The UNU report cites a rough cost of $300 to build a toilet, including labour, materials and advice. "The world can expect, however, a return of between $3 and $34 for every dollar spent on sanitation, realized through reduced poverty and health costs and higher productivity - an economic and humanitarian opportunity of historic proportions," added Adeel.

The curtain comes down on people's car Maruti

It has been 26 years since the original people's car rolled out on the streets of Delhi. On December 14, 1983, then prime minister Indira Gandhi handed over the keys of the first Maruti 800 to Harpal Singh, a flight operations officer in the Indian Airlines. Bigger and faster cars have since zoomed past the Maruti 800, but its charms have remained undiminished. Be it mileage, reliability, an extensive service network or its high resale value, the Maruti 800 has been the popular choice for years. And just as Singh is remembered as the first owner, so would be 36-year-old Abbas Ahmed. On Wednesday, he became the last owner of the car in the Capital. A dealer in steel cupboards, Ahmed desperately wanted a Maruti 800 - not to be a part of history, he mentioned. He had moved the bank seeking a loan to buy the car but when he realised that it will take time and that the car would not be available from Thursday, he borrowed money from friends and relatives and bought the car on Wednesday evening. Ahmed bought the standard model of the car which comes without air-conditioning. "In the morning I had no idea that the car won't be available in the market from tomorrow. But when I came to know that the loan would take a few days to be sanctioned by which time I would lose the opportunity to buy the car, I decided to buy the car today itself," said Ahmed. His reason for buying the car was no different from the thousands of owners who found the car - priced at Rs 2.06 lakh (ex- showroom on Wednesday) - to be within their budget. Thursday onwards, 13 cities, including the NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore, will switch over to Bharat Stage-IV emission norms. The company chose not to upgrade Maruti 800 to the new norms and has instead decided to phase out the car in the metropolitan cities. In the rest of the country, the car will be available for a while longer before they adopt BS-III norms from October. As the curtains come down on the earliest exponent of the small car segment, it also brings to end an era where a Maruti 800 meant more than just a car. It was a friend, as middle-class India found out over two decades. Talking about the Maruti 800, car designer Dilip Chhabria said, "The Maruti 800 revolutionised the car market in the country. However, the sales had come down in the recent years and a phase-out was imminent. The introduction of BS-IV in metropolitan cities only sped up the process of phasing out. There's a lot of sentiment attached to the car which succeeded and gave the car market a new direction in the country." Shaheed, who works as an adviser at a car showroom, has been associated with Maruti since 1984. Having joined the company a year after the car was launched, Shaheed has witnessed its journey through the years. "Maruti has stopped making cars like the Zen but there's still a huge demand for these cars in the market. The same would be the case for the Maruti 800. Any Maruti 800 car would fetch a high resale value," Shaheed said. Now 82, Singh, the car's first owner doesn't remember much about the historic occasion. But his wife Gursharanbir Kaur said, "Our car never failed us. We still own the car and it has never shut down on the road. We bought this car for Rs 54,000 and it was the best investment we made."

Pune Blast: Should India talk to Pakistan?

Valentine's Day is celebrated by lover around the world but a blast on it even in Pune has made sure that India and Pakistan will have to go a long way to fall in love with each other. Just when both the countries has seemed to have buried the skeleton on the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, the blasts in Pune has threatened to jeopardise the entire process of resumption of talks between the two nuclear armed sub-continental giants.It is too early to conclude a Pakistani hand behind the blasts in Pune but going by the terror activities that have taken place in India in the last couple of years the Pakistani angle cannot be overlooked. Behind every major terror strike in India there has been a fundamentalist group sponsored by the notorious Pakistani spy agency the ISI. The latest attack is being linked to Pakistani Lashkar-e-Toiba and it's offspring Indian Mujahideen.Pakistan on it's part has condemned the bomb blast in Pune with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani hoping for a meaningful dialogue with India. But isn't this the Pakistani stand after every attack that takes place in India? Pakistan claims itself to be a victim of terror, but who was behind the creation of all these terrorists groups? Pakistan is paying price for it's own actions, why should India have to face burden of it's transgress?New Delhi will be hurt as well as sceptical over the issue, hurt as it has proposed resumptions of talks and sceptical as talks cannot happen in the backdrop of blasts taking place. The Central Government for now is playing safe on the issue as it doesn't want the opposition get a chance to nail it ahead of the budget session of the Parliament. An incident like the Pune blast leaves India with no choice but to dis-engage any dialogue process with Pakistan.Pakistan on it's part might blame stateless actors to have carried the blasts but post 26/11 it has done little to improve relationship with India. Although people like Hafeez Sayeed were taken into custody after the Mumbai attack, they were let free once the matter cooled down. This has left India with very little scope to start the peace process with Pakistan again. The questions which looms in everybody's mind is should India sit for talks with Pakistan?

MASTER BLASTER

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or NREGA is an Indian job guarantee scheme, enacted by legislation on August 25, 2005. The scheme provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage of Rs.100 per day. The Central government outlay for scheme is Rs. 39,100 crores ($8 billion) in FY 2009-10.
This act was introduced with an aim of improving the purchasing power of the rural people, primarily semi or un-skilled work to people living in rural India, whether or not they are below the poverty line. Around one-third of the stipulated work force is women.
Process
Adult members of rural households submit their name, age and address with a photo to the Gram Panchayat. The Panchayat registers households after verification and issues a job card. The job card contains the details of the adult member enrolled and his/her photo. A registered person can submit an application for work in writing (for at least fourteen days of continuous work) either to the panchayat or to Programme Officer.
The panchayat/programme officer accepts the valid application and issue a dated receipt of application. A letter providing employment will be sent to the applicant and also displayed at the panchayat office. Employment will be provided if possible within a radius of 5 km; if it is above 5 km, transport allowance and 10% extra living allowance will be paid. New public works can be started when at least 50 workers become available who cannot be absorbed under existing schemes. If employment under the scheme is not provided within fifteen days of receipt of the application daily unemployment allowance will be paid to the applicant.
No discrimination between men and women is allowed under the act. Therefore, men and women must be paid the same wage. All adults can apply for employment, not just those below the poverty line.
History and Funding :
The scheme started from February 2, 2006 in 200 districts, was expanded to cover another 130 districts in 2007-2008 and eventually covered all 593 districts in India in april 01, 2008. The outlay was Rs. 11,000 crores in 2006-2007, and has been rising steeply, to Rs. 39,100 crores (140% incresed amount respect of previous 2008-2009 budget) in 2009-2010.

Most Expensive 2010 Cars

Last month, sales of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class (MSRP: $90,000 to $202,000) were up almost 12% from November 2008. That's unusual: Overall, the luxury segment was down 8% year-over-year, and is down 27% for the year to date.

It turns out that while it's tough to sell top-end luxury cars in a time of high unemployment and an uncertain economy, there are exceptions to the rule. Buyers will still flock to special cars with a lot of cachet and the price tags to match.

Audi, in particular, is faring better than most brands in the segment. With top-sellers like the Q5 SUV and A4 sedan, the company is down a relatively benign 7.9% for the year to date. (Competitors BMW and Mercedes were down 24% and 17%, respectively.)

But the Ingolstadt, Germany-based brand is not all everyday-driver cars and soccer-mom SUVs. Its $146,000 Audi R8 5.2 coupe sports a 525-horsepower V10 engine that gets to 60 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds. Its non-fixed costs (fuel, maintenance, depreciation) are apt for the high sticker price.

There are plenty of other 2010 cars--such as BMW's $137,000 7-Series turbocharged V12 sedan and Jaguar's $115,000 XJ Super V8 sedan--that offer a lot of extras with an MSRP and long-term costs to match. They're at home on our list of the most expensive cars of 2010.

Behind the Numbers To determine our list, we used data from Vincentric, an auto-industry analysis firm in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., to evaluate the following costs over a five-year term: manufacturer suggested retail price, projected depreciation, fuel costs, repairs, interest, opportunity costs, fees and taxes, insurance and maintenance. The data assume an annual rate of 15,000 miles driven per vehicle and a price of $2.60 for regular fuel, $2.86 for premium and $2.75 for diesel. It also applies an inflation rate for fuel prices, since the calculations predict costs over five years. The 10 cars with the highest totals made our list.

We did not evaluate models from exotic brands like Lamborghini and Ferrari, automakers with extremely low production levels, like Spyker and Koenigsegg, or models from ultra-luxe automakers like Bentley, Maybach and Rolls-Royce.

It's not the sticker price but the depreciation that's the key factor in making these vehicles expensive. Dave Freed, a managing partner at Vincentric, says car buyers wanting an affordable vehicle should remember to take into account the value of their asset at the end of five years, not just its initial MSRP.

The supercharged Land Rover Range Rover, for instance, costs $94,275 at the dealer but loses $54,600 in value over five years. That's proportionately more than other SUVs in its class, like the $85,400 BMW X5M (it loses $42,149) and the $82,850 Mercedes-Benz GL550 (it loses $43,142).

New vehicles depreciate at an average rate of $3,461 per year ($4,551 per year for large sedans), according to AAA's 2009 Driving Costs Report. On average, the cars on our list are projected to lose more than $15,000 in value per year.

But it's also true that, in general, cars with low MSRPs cost less over time than their expensive counterparts--they have less value to insure, tax or depreciate in the first place.

Not about Affordability Bill Gacioch isn't thinking about the estimated $92,700 he's losing to deprecation when he drives his red 2009 Audi R8. The Florida real estate investor values the car for its extraordinary performance, not for whether or not it's affordable.

He should know--he also drives a 2005 Spyker C8 Laviolette. Interestingly enough, the Spyker has the same soundness he's come to appreciate in other Audi-built vehicles like the R8, meaning he isn't constantly writing checks to keep the car in working order.

"One of the nicest things about the Laviolette is that its drivetrain is all Audi, which has great reliability," Gacioch says. "Sometimes 'sports car' and 'reliability' don't go together. This does."

At a base price around $210,000, the least it should be is reliable. And anyone who can splash out for such a sticker price needn't worry about affording the depreciation.


Content Courtesy: Forbes

National Youth Day

National Youth Day is celebrated in India on 12 January on the birthday of Swami Vivekananda. In 1984, the Government of India declared and decided to observe the birthday of Swami Vivekananda (12 January, according to the English calendar) as a National Youth Day every year from 1985 onwards. To quote from the Government of India’s communication, ‘it was felt that the philosophy of Swamiji and the ideals for which he lived and worked could be a great source of inspiration for the Indian Youth.’

“Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.” Swami Vivekananda

Here is the Welcome Address by Swami Vivekananda at Chicago on Sept 11, 1893, it just an example of his broad minded and thinking:-

Sisters and Brothers of America,

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions, and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: “As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.”

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: “Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me.” Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.

The World’s Parliament of Religions has become an accomplished fact, and the merciful Father has helped those who labored to bring it into existence, and crowned with success their most unselfish labor.

My thanks to those noble souls whose large hearts and love of truth first dreamed this wonderful dream and then realized it. My thanks to the shower of liberal sentiments that has overflowed this platform. My thanks to this enlightened audience for their uniform kindness to me and for their appreciation of every thought that tends to smooth the friction of religions. A few jarring notes were heard from time to time in this harmony. My special thanks to them, for they have, by their striking contrast, made general harmony the sweeter.

Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity. I am not going just now to venture my own theory. But if any one here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, “Brother, yours is an impossible hope.” Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.

The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant. It develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.

Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.

If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world, it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written in spite of resistance: “Help and not fight,” “Assimilation and not Destruction,” “Harmony and Peace and not Dissension.”

By Swami Vivekananda

Sisters and Brothers of America,
It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions, and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.
My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: “As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.”
The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: “Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me.” Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.The World’s Parliament of Religions has become an accomplished fact, and the merciful Father has helped those who labored to bring it into existence, and crowned with success their most unselfish labor.
My thanks to those noble souls whose large hearts and love of truth first dreamed this wonderful dream and then realized it. My thanks to the shower of liberal sentiments that has overflowed this platform. My thanks to this enlightened audience for their uniform kindness to me and for their appreciation of every thought that tends to smooth the friction of religions. A few jarring notes were heard from time to time in this harmony. My special thanks to them, for they have, by their striking contrast, made general harmony the sweeter.
Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity. I am not going just now to venture my own theory. But if any one here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, “Brother, yours is an impossible hope.” Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.
The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant. It develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.
Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.
If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world, it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written in spite of resistance: “Help and not fight,” “Assimilation and not Destruction,” “Harmony and Peace and not Dissension.”
-By Swami Vivekananda

Maruti Eeco at Auto Expo 2010

Maruti Eeco at Auto Expo 2010

banking news

Banking Sector – RBI policy
As part of its second quarterly review of the monetary policy for 2009-10, the RBI, on October 27, 2009, hiked the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) for scheduled commercial banks to 25 per cent from 24 per cent of their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL), with effect from November 7, 2009, even as other key rates were left untouched.
RBI Governor D. Subbarao noted that the Indian economy was awash with liquidity and there was possibility of considerable strain in the future from inflationary pressures. However, to keep growth on track, the apex bank left the Bank Rate untouched at 6 per cent while the repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) stay at 4.75 per cent. The reverse repo rate under the LAF, too, remains the same at 3.25 per cent. The cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks also has been retained at 5 per cent of their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).
Mr Subbarao pointed out that the global economy has shown signs of major improvement since the last review in July 2009. However, concerns remained of the recovery being fragile. “Even as output is reviving, unemployment is expected to increase to over 10 per cent. Investment is also expected to remain weak due to ruptured balance sheets, excess capacity and financing constraints. Bank collapses are continuing. World trade still remains below its level a year ago. On balance, while global economic prospects have improved, uncertainties remain about the pace and sustainability of economic recovery,” Subbarao said.
The RBI chief also noted that there were concerns of large government market borrowings. “During 2009-10 so far, the Central Government has already completed over 80 per cent (Rs 3,19,911 crore) of its net market borrowing and State governments have mobilised Rs 58,683 crore (net) through the market borrowing programme,” he stated.
Highlights :
Repo rate retained at 4.75 pc
Reverse repo rate at 3.25 pc
Cash Reserve Ratio kept at 5 pc
Bank rates same at 6 pc
Provisioning requirement for realty up at 1 pc from 0.40 pc
Retains GDP growth projection for FY’10 at 6 pc
Industrial production may revive further in coming months
Ups inflation projection to 6.5 pc by March-end, from 5 pc
Third quarterly review in January

GST -GOODS and SERVICES

GST

GST stands for Goods and Services Tax

GST will be a boon for India's economy
It is estimated that introduction of goods and service tax (GST) reform will add 500 billion dollars to the state's coffers, adding 1.4 per cent to the GDP. If this happens, it will bring about a silent revolution in the economic history of India

How will the GST help in spurring the growth and increase the volume of collection?


There is a saying in Kautilaya’s Arthshastra, the first book on Economics in the world, that the best taxation regime is that which is based on principle of “Liberal in assessment and ruthless in collection”. The proposed GST seems to be based on this very principle.

Firstly, The introduction of GST is likely to rationalise irrational, complicated, cumbersome and multiple indirect tax and thereby plug the loop holes in this system. It will help stop pilferage and at the same time will offload the overloaded tax burden from some organisations.

Secondly, the multiple taxations have led to birth of a somewhat repressive and lethargic system of tax collection and are doing more harm than good to the growth of the economy. The red-tapism in this area is loathing and no progressive country can afford it. The GST would hopefully do away with many, if not all, such anomalies in the system and metamorphose it into an efficient agency based on scientific and rational system of assessment. It would in a long run help increase the overall amount of tax collection
Thirdly, the present system of refunding of taxes is a horrible experience. The un-refunded tax on capital goods is a bane for capital accumulation. This in a way hinders the savings also, which is a pre-requisite to the growth. If this over-taxation is done away with, it will come as a boon for the honest taxpayers.

At present, indirect taxes are collected at various points, right from manufacturing to retailer’s outlet. It involves cumbersome process of assessment and primitive ways of collection. Such systems ultimately encourage tax evasion and also increase cost of commodities. GST proposes that the indirect taxes would be levied at the destination point which would be less distorting and non-complicated.
if we take into account the GDPs of countries like the USA, China, Japan, they are significantly much more than that of ours. For instance, GDP of G-20 Nations (chart below) suggest that India has miles to go to achieve the level of the developed nations. The ongoing economic downturn and slowdown of economy across the world has given India a golden opportunity to stake claim and get a cushioned berth in the world order, but for this we are required to increase our volume of GDP at least twice the present level.

The direct taxation regime has been by and large undergoing annual fine-tuning and as a result of it the revenue receipt in this account has considerably increased but reform on such scale in indirect taxes has not been done. Indirect taxes are, therefore, urgently required to be made rationale and unified. If the GST is introduced it would certainly increase the volume of the tax collection, thereby provide a great stimulus to our gently moving economy which has arrived at a level playing field vis-a-vis many major economies of the world
Country

GDP IN TRILLION USD

USA

13.84 TRILLION USD

JAPAN

4.30

GERMANY

2.81

BRITAIN

2.14

FRANCE

2.05

ITALY

1.79

CANADA

1.27

CHINA

6.99

India


1 trillion dollars

Finally, the world is moving towards economic unification. The very concept of European Union (EU) is based on a common European market based on unified and simplified taxation system. They have adopted ‘euro’ and even the concept of a European Parliament is being visualised. If two or more nations come close and form economic unified entity (SAFTA,NAFTA,ASEAN etc are examples), why the federating units of India i.e. States do not eschew trivial economic and political interests to help establish a modern, unified and efficient tax regime. After all the very concept of distribution of taxes amongst the states were enshrined in the constitution to do away with such contradictions