retired people and city life.......

retired people and city life.......

If you are thinking my intention is to get the retired out of the city and If I have to say the truth YES I may sound like that, but there is a purpose and its going to do a lot of good not only for the others but to the retired people themselfs. The moment I retire, I will not live in this city or any developd or developing city. It is not only that I want to go back to my hometown and am tired of the mechanical lifestyle, I feel I should not occupy the space in a city like this that can house another individual/family that is struggling to start their life. Take the case of Chennai, already house rents and real estate prices have sky rocketed and the city is expanding like crazy. If I have to be in this city after retirement  I should occupy a house, add traffic to the already chaotic roads and use all the resource that a life starter would require. Are we cosnidering the retired to be cost a and hinderance, absolutely no I believe one can contribute more post reitirement than his peak career days. I hardly get any time today to be spent for this society and neither I have the maturity to do so. Post retirement I can dedicate a lot of time for this society in many ways. why cant I do that living in this city. Well, there are two main advantages of leaving this city 1.the advantages discussed above 2. today people migrate to cities in greater numbers and there is hardly people in the villages and small towns if this scenario persists we would see our villages and towns lifeless after some years. In todays world there is a lot of work that one can take up and get engaged in a Village or town.  What is the reasons that we move out of a small town is lack of infrastructure and the same is the reason for the demise of professions like agriculture. Imagine if we achieve uplifitng villages/town in next 25 years, and we can see economy spreading evenly in all the places. By moving to the villages and small towns post retirement one can take up a lot of community development activities and use their experience and knowledge to bring life to the villages. It does not stop here, doing all these does not help the villages, cities and youngsters alone it will greatly help the elders to live with pride/dignity and to be seen as a contributor than a cost to this society.

Time + Money = Loss of relationship and tradition

Growing importance for time and money makes relationship weak and given least priority. This in a way has a serious impact on understanding and keeping up our tradition and loss of moral values.

 

There has been a lot of discussion done over this issue in the past and it is still debated in the society, cause for this is many many factors but the impact of it is mostly on the aged people and kids at home. I thought about this issue a lot coz I am personally going through this in my life. It is painful, it is really worrysome. I dont want this to happen but unfortunately it happens sometimes and I could realize there are some mistakes at my end but not able to rectify it. I have been thinking if my son or daughter would get to meet, interact with those relationship like uncles, neices, aunts or would they get to celebrate the festivals along with all the family members and extended family I am sure my kids will never get 10% of what I got in my childhood. I can still remember those manners and etiquette's that my grand father taught me. My grand mother taught me how to worship, epic stories and a lot many things that gave me an idea about my religion and tradition. Will I be able to create such an opportunity to my kids? or will they ever get to know all that I got to know or will they learn those stupid things from internet and thru SMS messages. Technology gives both the positive theory and the negative theory and understanding them would be a difficult task and for sure they will be confused.

 

I strongly believe that its not good for this society to continue like this and to change this we should all look first look at our families  and see if we can bring in some change. I would appreciate if readers can come up with some ideas/suggestions to correct this.

Shaheed Uddham Singh: Alias Ram Mohammad Singh Azad - The impact created by this unsung hero......

In the history of India "The Independance struggle" will occupy most part of it. Independence struggle gave birth to a lot of heroes. Some were real and a lot of hype's like Gandhi. I dont believe in giving credit to a single person or celebrating him alone for an achievement like attaining freedom to India.

There are some imcidents that was not spoken much but I believe these incidents should have shaken the British, created fear in their mind which finally got them out of this country. One such example is the act of Shaheed-i-Azam Sardar Udham Singh who killed General Michael O'Dwyer. Shaheed-i-Azam Sardar Udham Singh who witnessed the Jallian Wallah Bagh massacre took an oath to avenge the killings. He fought many odds before he could reach his final goal of killing Michael O'Dwyer 21years after the massacre happened.

What scared the British? Its not the killing as such but the place. It happened in Caxton Hall in London. British believed that we would always resist their occupation in India without guns and only sitting here in India. When Nethaji Subash Chandra Bose travelled out of the country and built an armed force against the British and when Udham Singh attacked them in their capital, it should have sent signals to them that Indian's are capable of anything and they are taking a different path which would cause disturbance in Britain. People like Gandhi made us look like poor guys who are capable of nothing but shouting slogans. If this Gandhi guy not been there we would have put a brave fight lost more lives but achieved a freedom out of bravery and not let the country split.

It is Udham Singh who travelled abroad to many nations before reaching Britain after 21 years of the massacre and killed O'Dwyer who should be celebrated.

India Won but MUSHARAFF LOST

 MUSH THE LOSER......this would be a major disappointment to Musharraf than his cricket board, people and team.........he would have played a good amount of politics had they won this cup and would have portrayed himself as a saviour of Paki Cricket......poor mush.....Paki team did their best......Well Done India!!!

Chappell Mr.Correct

I addressed Chappell as Mr.Correct the man who had the courage to speak against a team and board in a cricket crazy country filled with politics even in sports. He was traumatized, humiliated and embarrassed by people, his team, the board and from almost all the quarters. Even our politicians played their part to get him out of his job. But what he told that day is true and Twenty 20 has just proved that. Chappell said young blood should be given opportunity in the game and old guns should step aside............ whats wrong in that......How long do you expect Tendulkar to play this game.....until he uses cricket bat as his walking stick?????? I do agree he contributed for Indian cricket a lot so what? when time comes he has to give way to youngsters........look at this Gambhir guy he played good game in the finals of Twenty-20..........Uthappa..........Rohit Sharma.....though they have to be tried and tested its still is not a joke to play a good cricket in a fast and furious game.......I dont understand why we have Shewag in this team......

 

there is lots that you can talk about this game.........am not a cricket savvy guy but what we did to Chappell is injustice and by doing that we created shame for ourselfs and lost a good coach in that process.......we should get matured a lot in the process we look, play, think and watch this game......

Shame on our Left parties......

Today left parties have rejected the 123 agreement - Indo-US Nuclear Deal.  Indian left parties have zero allegiance to this nation and the people of India. They still like Russia and China and have more love towards them than India and Indian's. They act like Russian-Chinese representatives and vigorously fight for something that has to do with Russia or China and when it come to US they oppose it blindfolded, even if it is good for our country. shame on them. They have said the deal "appeared to aid furthering of interests of the US in the region." Look what their concern is.

 

There are some concerns like we cannot conduct nuclear test if we sign this civilian nuclear deal. These concerns can be raised-debated but the agreement should not be rejected as a whole. Also, India is growing and to fuel its growth we need nuclear power and fuel. If we are not making arrangements for this we would loose the opportunities to our competitor China. Though they have the same challenge they are doing all that is required to meet it. Now we are almost very close to a deal, though we tried in the past we did not succeed. The political climate in US is favorable for India and this would be the right time for us to get a deal like this done.

 

Congress Party should not let this deal go even if they have to loose this government. There is no point in having alliance with parties that has zero national interest and contunuing in this government. Today's left in India are not communist in the original form they have vested interests and they act like puppets in the hands of other communist nation. If there is a question asked to a person belonging to any political party in India "Is your party important or the nation?" the answer should be Nation if you ask Communists they would say its their party and they love Russia and China more than India.

 

SHAME ON LEFT PARTIES IN INDIA..............

How to Increase Sales and Conversion - Small and Medium Internet Retailers

I have been working in eCommerce industry for quite sometime now and has worked with some major internet retailers and quite a few small and medium internet retailing companies.

 

Before we get into to topic lets look at what internet retailing has done. This channel (Internet Retail) has made the retailing world flat. The scenario was different few years back. Huge stores who can offer great discounts got more sales and to invest on such a store was merely impossible for small and medium retailers. But the game is different online. A small or medium player can compete with Wal-Mart and there is no monopoly in here. It all depends on how search engine friendly your website is and how effectively you do online marketing. It does not stop there, you can still increase your conversion using tools like LiveChat.

 

Search Engine Marketing - SEM can improve your site's visibility on Search Engine's. This means that you are inviting a lot of eyeballs into your site. These are potential leads. To get your visibility increased you can use Search Engine ptimization (Natural or Organic Search), Pay Per Click Marketing (Paid or Sponsered Search), Affiliate Maketing, Link Building and Comparison Engine Campaigns. These are few ways in which you can invite eyeballs or in other words you can bring traffic into your website. Every component mentioned has its own advantage for ex: SEO is time consuming but long standing wherein PPC is quick and instantaneous.

 

You can carry out any of these based on your BUDGET.........BUDGET?????? this is the biggest headache for small etailers. For businesses that do not have a huge budget on marketing can still do all these in a structured manner. For Instance: Initially they can spend on paid and affiliate marketing increase sales and revenue and then step into doing Search Engine Optimization. Pay Per Click or Paid Marketing can bring you instant sales so is Affiliate which is one step ahead you get the sale and pay a commission for it use this for other activities. While you these also try to get maximum conversion. Today there is huge competition in online retailing, the maximum you convert is good for you. So you can use LiveChat as a sales tool to convert maximum leads. There is a lot ways to do get success out of LiveChat (I would post a thread on LiveChat advantages separetly).

To do all this small and medium internet retailers can look at Offshore Companies that can reduce operational cost.

name, fame and money VS law....the Sanjay Dutt saga

Sanjay Dutt - now a good samaritan and a good actor who has given some films recently with good messages to the society.......good and that has to be appreciated.........but today he is awarded a six year sentence for his involvement is an arms deal and his allegiance with the underworld is also being proved.

Media has given extreme importance to his story and some channels went one step ahead and started portraying him as a gandhian who is a changed man and deserves to be relieved of his cases. I have a different view on this and my view is the courts view. A person at the age of 34 knows what he does and whom he is having contacts with. While he attended the party with the under world don in 93 didnt he know that he is meeting a person wanted by the police . If supporting a don is a criminal activity then knowing his whereabouts and not informing the police is equally criminal. It did not end there, he has further maintained the relationship which helped him to buy an AK 56 rifle.

He is being sentenced for what he committed as a crime. If he has realised his mistake and has changed himself then he should serve the sentence. Law always is leanient to people who have a good behaviour while they serve their sentence. But caliming to be released before serving the sentence is based on good behaviour during the trial is not something that should be considered.

I also heard people talking if politicians can commit crime and go scot free then why not Snjay (Kiron Kher mentioned this while talking to IBNLIVE) if that is the case no one can be sentenced for any crime and this country will be like Sudan (Darfur). I agree there is lot of loop holes and mistakes happening but that cannot be quoted as an example to free a convict. Why didnt Kiron Kher raise her voice when a person was jailed for decades without a charge? (this story was in news sometime ago)

I appreciate the honourable judge Mr.Kode for this verdict.

If Begging is an act of SHAME....then offering is an equal shame

This question has been running in my mind for a long time. Why do people beg??????? I have had discussion with number of friends on this in the pat. Every one have their own point of view some said its right and the others argued its wrong. I always believe its wrong. The ones who argued its right to beg always said that the others fail to look at the reality. Now lets talk about the reality before that lets see who actually begs.........economically deprived (very broad classification though), physically challenged, MOTHER's WITH NEW BORN (u see them often in signals) aged people and there is this category which always looses money and get stranded and would seek for their transport expense. We generally offer money to aged and physically challenged but why do we do the same to people who are healthy and young. We should never encourage anyone mentioned above to beg coz these days people have a lot of opportunities to make out a living. Especially the the highlighted category, few days back I read an article in a weekly magazine which said that there are people who rent out new born and infants to beggers. They do this to create sympathy and this article went on to say that they DRUG these babies to make them look dull out of hunger and not to pesture them while they beg. If a baby is drugged it generally lies there idle on the shoulders of the begger. I started to take closer look at those babies after reading this and was shocked to see the description was true.

 

Now lets see some realities:

 

Today I met two people who inspired me to write this article

1.Murugan - Carbage Collector

2. Sekar - Street Hawker.

 

Murugan - collects plastics, papers and bottle's from garbage and sells it. This is collected by some wholesaler. I asked him why he does this and why didnt he find another better job. He said he could not find a job and I thought this guy is lazy. I was surprised to know he walks not less than 50 to 60kms a day starting from 5am in the morning. So he is not lazy. His earnings were wuite interesting he makes 200 to 250Rs a day but there is challenges like rain and other things. He was happy with this earning and says he could make a living out of this. A decent living upto him which he earns out of his hard work not begging. He told me that he would die rather begging. I wanted to appreciate him some way, I had no idea to offer him money and make him think otherwise so I gave him food packets and some snax I bought for my lunch though the offering is worth for 100+Rs I felt good doing that also, i told him that this for sharing his business confidentials.

 

Sekar - sells bags in T Nagar. He carries his inventory on his shoulders and does a pitch to every passer by. I wanted to talk to him as I did with Murugan this time I had to invest 130Rs to get information from him anyways the investing is worth both ways. He, his father and his mother all earn at home. He sells seasonal products and he started by selling peanuts and felt his return are the same. So with help of his cousin who has a road side shop, he started selling products like this which is on a commission basis. His cousin gives it for 100Rs and it is talent to sell it to any price anything more goes to his pockets. He said at the end of the day if he has reached not his base target of 150Rs a day earning he would give away for a very less margin but most of the days he is able to achieve it. He give his mother 100Rs and the rest for him. His recent achievement is buying a DVD player since he likes watching movies and hearing songs. Though he was better than the first one, still he works hard to make a living.

 

These are realities and I do not understnad why people still beg? especially people who beg with children in their hand. I also think government and non profits can give out micro finance to help these small time sellers and give them little money at a very low interest and support them.

 

Conclusion:

 

DO NOT APPRECIATE BEGGING!!! rather Help people like Sekar by buying products from them and little magnanimity you can even buy it without bargaining or less bargaining and Help peopl like Murugan to come and collect those waste papers, bottles this way your trash can become someone's bread. Last but not least: you can see aged, retired people working as securities and watchman's you can help them coz they work hard to earn their bread.

Abdul Kalam Speech

Today, President of India, Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam gave his last speech as President to the combined house of parliament. It ws so deep and still a very simple speech. He said only three things How and What should India be in 2020? What will be our challenges? What is the key areas that should be addressed to achieve it? and What is our parliaments role and how should parliamentarians take it further? I am trying to get the trenscript of his speech and will post it once I get it.

It was a vision document, a guide for every Indian to carry.........I would suggest it to be displyed in parks, schools, colleges and in work place.

I wish Abdul Kalam all the very best in whatever he is going to do rest of his life and thanks a million to him for transforming the post of Presidentship from a mere formality to reality............

Professional Discipline and Dedication

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – John Rohn

We hail China and Japan for their accomplishment in building their nation and excelling in whatever they do. They literally are ruling every field that they have entered so far be it Business, Science and Technology or Agriculture anything for that matter…….they may be trailing in services and IT sector due to their linguistic limitations but researchers say they will very soon catch up with this short coming and if that happens India’s dominance in IT and services sector will be at threat.

We envy their growth and we try to compete with them…..good……but are we trying to understand why and how they could achieve all this…….I strongly believe that their discipline especially their professional discipline that’s taking them to height…….when you have discipline mixed with dedication you can accomplish your goals with ease…….This is not only with China and Japan alone you can take example of any developed nation…….they may differ in the way they structure their discipline but they take it very seriously…….couple of other examples are USA and UK……..I have closely worked with North American business men and have always admired their discipline and dedication in doing their duties….NO EXCUSES…….

Today India is growing in IT and ITES sectors at a fast pace……..I am very much concerned about the discipline and dedication within the group of people working in this sector for the very reason that it employs young and fresh minds. They are in the right stage to be groomed/taught professionalism, discipline and dedication. This not only helps to create a good business but also helps to create good people, nation and future generation……..my worry is that there is many businesses who fail to take this seriously and just not bothered about these things…..they are keen in building their business and earn good money……..they exploit our young minds and leave the with nothing but little money in their hands…….it may look like we are growing and getting better but in long term we would fail to achieve our goals coz we have not learnt the basics of professional life’s…..

Discussing this topic will bring in some light to this topic and you can go ahead and suggest ways to tackle this issue……….

InterLinking of Indian Rivers:

A topic that has gained momentum in last 5 years in this country and we are in the very early stages of even exploring the possibilities of carrying out this project. There is various factors on why this is issue is highgly debated like change in the monsoon, high demand and growing intolerance between states. If you look at other countries grown up and gorwing have already started  implementing inter linking of their rivers now and the ones who have done it are enjoying its benefits. Our competitor China is linking its rivers in a fast pace. 

India faces certain challenges because the dunamics of geo-politicality of this country is very different. It is always quite difficult to gain support to such an issue in a democratic and diverse country/society like ours. I strongly believe this is not a political and politicians issue alone and a consensus cannot be reached by politicising this issue. Infact, politicising this issue will undermine the merits of linking of rivers. But the bitter fact is that it is one of the most politized issue in our country now.

In the recent past water sharing issue is one of the most heated thing going on between the states. The threat is so high that the relationship between any southern state is not in good side. In days to come this will contribute further spoling of good relationship between states and will fuel to fragmentation. While every state is affected by water sharing issue TamilNadu is on of the ost affected coz we are in the corner and our climatical conditions are not as favorable as our neighbour Kerala which is another corner state. I do not want to blame any government or state for their actions coz afterall they are trying to protect the interests of their state and everone does it. It should be handled with an open mind and should be considered as a national issue of concern. It should be debated, discussed and a consensus should be arrived at a national level.

It is important economically, politically and for the better future of this country to carry out this project as soon as possible. There should be a lot of work done and lets discuss, debate and do as much as we can to get this started viewing this issue in a broader perspective.

Belief and Positive Energy

I was talking to someone on belief and positive energy. These three components are something that everyman should have in surplus and every one should know how much of these they have in themselves. You may aim, dream or be ambitious in life…….aiming, dreaming and being ambitious alone cannot make you achieve in life. You should have faith in you, you should believe in you and most importantly you should have positive energy within yourself to keep you rightly motivated.

Belief and positive energy will portray you better in life..…..you will look confident and sound good and you can get along with people easily. One should be able to identify and learn through the good and bad things happening in his/her life. Unless you have positive approach towards things you will not be able to identify or learn from life.

It took 27 years for me to understand this very simple concept of living and making life easier and enjoyable. These days I literally enjoy everything and I get to learn a lot and am considerably successful after I started this approach.

You may fail in Business, Relationships, Work, and most importantly Love……there is nothing like failure in all the above said. It is a failure if you deject or shy away from facing it but if you have positive approach and learn from the happening you will win over the situation and regain your position in anything. I can quote hundreds of examples here………

Belief and Positive approach is not the only key to success but all successful people have believe and have positive approach…………so it is for you to choose……..I have always said why god made both good and bad, right and wrong, positive and negative. right and evil spirit, he differentiates to the ones who choose good what is bad and who choose bad what is good……..

Foreign Direct Investment - Ferociously Debated Issue

"It has been said that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity." Kofi Annan 

We welcome globalization, we want IBM's, Microsoft's, Hyundai's and Ford's to open up their shops here. We are delighted American jobs coming into our country but we don't want them to come and partner with us or invest into any of our businesses. Doesn't this sound crazy, I would say its idiotic. We put caps on Foreign investors coming into our market. Today's most politicalized issue is FDI in retail. Why shouldn't we allow full FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) into our retail sector what's wrong in it?

I was watching a TV show in which a guest who opposes FDI in retail and Reliance Fresh stores stated they will kill local small businesses. I was amazed when this guy said "Small players cannot compete with big players since biggies would out do them in price" WOW what a brilliant thought. This guy never thought such competition will favor the consumer and ultimately consumer the KING would get benefited. Indian retail is biggest when compared with some of the other Asian countries but ours is most fragmented and unauthorized RESULT: Local shop owners and mom-pop owners enjoy the maximum benefit.

We are talking about improving the life of our farmers; we give free electricity, whopping subsidies and what not. Just look at it the other way round. Reliance procures products directly from the farmers. So no middlemen so more profit to farmers and reduced price to our consumers. Why should we oppose it then?

WTO is pressurizing India to lift the ban on FDI if India doesnt then they will cross retaliate by withdrawing tariff and trade privileges that we enjoy today under the new General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Such was the cry couple of decades back when computers and computer operated machines came into play. Some looked at it as threats to job. What happened was totally different. It helped in productivity, it created more opportunities and it made us to compete with other global players. Had we not done that then today we would not be rated as the fastest growing economy. I strongly believe that this is an issue merely created and blown out of proportion by our self-centered politicians.  I do not understand why communists and PMK oppose FDI in retail. Look at these communists, the so-called saviors of farmers and working class. They want globalized West Bengal for which they are ready to RED paint Nandhigram with human (farmer) blood but they would oppose globalization elsewhere. The biggest communist country China has opened up their market, even their leader has advised our communists not to oppose FDI (reported in media) when he visited India, but god only knows why they play politics in this issue.

Chennai moves into the big leagues

I recently came across this article, a very interesting and factful one.

Chennai moves into the big leagues By Raja M MUMBAI - Red-coated specters haunting old Fort St George by the Bay of Bengal in Chennai, formerly Madras, would be happy. The 350-year-old stronghold, now the seat of local government, was the first British Empire fortress in India.
The imperialists have been long kicked out, but Chennai is regaining its stronghold status with a slew of major deals. Last month the government of Tamil Nadu state, of which Chennai is capital, announced a memorandum of understanding with South Asia's largest vehicle-manufacturing consortium.
The consortium of Mahindra and Mahindra (India), Renault (France) and Nissan (Japan), the first of its kind in South Asia, will set up an integrated automobile-making unit with an initial investment of about US$897.2 million to roll out utility vehicles and cars. To be located at Oragadam near Chennai, the unit will be the biggest vehicle-manufacturing center at a single location in the country.
Such deals could be more commonplace in Chennai, a southern Indian metropolis that seems a halfway living station between the hyper-energy and relentless ambition driving Mumbai and the deep cultural anchor of Kolkata. According to India's official pre-budget Economic Survey, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry (a former French colony) together accounted for $1.63 billion (6.5%) of foreign investments, a figure that could double shortly. If India is the world's sleeping giant awakening, Chennai could be India's sleeping foot stirring, increasingly getting attention from local and global investors.
"Chennai's growth has been phenomenal in recent years," local businessman Vivish George told Asia Times Online. "The city has expanded by about 85 kilometers. The challenge is a shortage of workforce as the city's economy is booming and there are more jobs at hand. A restriction on business growth is getting vacancies filled."
Sure enough, other big projects are taking life. Vehicle maker Mahindra is also planning a Mahindra Research Valley in the Mahindra World City near Chennai. The project is expected to add a whopping $4 billion a year to Tamil Nadu's gross domestic product (GDP). Additional investment from vendors and supporting service providers is expected to amass about $2.2 billion.
The Tamil Nadu government is also building an "IT corridor" on the outskirts of Chennai, another Indian Silicon Valley in the making. This forest of information-technology companies is expected to create 300,000 additional jobs. The local Highways Department is speeding up work on an IT highway to connect the IT corridor with the rest of the city. The IT corridor and related infrastructure are expected to be ready this August.
Such developments have changed and raised the city's profile, besides sending real-estate prices through the roof. Still, rentals are very low compared with other leading Asian cities. A two-story bungalow with a garden can be rented in suburban Tiruvanmayur for $270 a month.
A visitor to Chennai after 10 years, as was the case of this correspondent, can be astonished at how much the city has changed: flyovers, glitzy shopping malls, cleaner roads and greater expectations. From being a region whose inhabitants have often been the butt of jokes elsewhere in the country (southern Indians are usually lumped together as "Madrasis", particularly because of the accent in which they speak Hindi, as well as eating and dress habits) the city now wears a quiet confidence, wielding not just serious economic muscle but political power.
The state's ruling Dravida Munnetra Kalagam (DMK) is a key partner in the ruling coalition in the central government. India's successful young information and communications minister, Dayanidhi Maran, is the grandson of the state chief minister, Muthuvel Karunanidhi. Karunanidhi, 82, a poet and former movie scriptwriter, is now in his fifth term as chief minister, for the past two decades gleefully throwing out the incumbent government and alternating with his arch-rival Jayalalitha Jayaram, a former top movie heroine in the 1970s and leader of the All India Anna DMK.
Jayalalitha, South Asia's version of Imelda Marcos, took over the party mantle after a brief power struggle following the death of her co-star, the party founder, former chief minister and movie idol M G Ramachandran or MGR. The dashing MGR, who initiated a state-sponsored nutritious-noon-meal scheme for schoolchildren, a program now widely adopted across India, was one of the first actor-politicians in the world to assume a major office and never lost an election until his death in 1987. Following in his footsteps, leading Tamil movie stars invariably join a political party or start their own, giving the state's politics a peculiar circus-like atmosphere unmatched anywhere else in the world.
Karunanidhi, besides indulging in many populist schemes including giving free color TVs to poverty-stricken families, has in his current spell as chief minister been energetically making the state investor-friendly to IT majors, so much so that questions now fly whether Bangalore, India's original Silicon Valley and the dictionary word for outsourcing (Bangalored), is losing ground to Chennai. Leading IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Technologies and other global IT giants such as Ford Information Technology, Verizon, iSoft etc are upgrading their Chennai presence or starting major new ventures.
TCS, India's leading company, will open its largest development center in Chennai and will hire 8,000 software workers over the next 18 months. Mumbai, with about 6,000 TCS workers, gets relegated to second place.
"Foreign direct investment in Chennai is very satisfactory," R Subramanium, secretary general of the Madras Chamber of Commerce, told ATol. "Per capita income in Tamil Nadu has tripled in recent years and savings comprise one-third of income. So the potential for much more growth is there."
Vivek Harinarain, the state IT secretary, told the media that he is "very bullish" on Tamil Nadu's IT prospects, with the state opening up another 4 million square feet (371,600 square meters) of space for IT and software companies.
An IT industry analyst pointed out that these IT companies do not have a mere presence in Chennai, but their operations there are the largest or the second-largest in India or in the world.

Source: www.atimes.com

I sincerely thank Asia Times (www.atimes.com) for letting me republish this article on my blog. This article is republished with the due consent of Asia Times.

Television! Teacher, mother, secret lover or a menace

Television!  Teacher, mother, secret lover.  ~Homer Simpson

 

It's the menace that everyone loves to hate but can't seem to live without.  ~Paddy Chayevsky
 

When I read these quotes I strongly agreed with both of them. But we are not going to discuss whether it is boon or a bane since televisions has crossed all those stages. Now you just need one (atleast). So lets tal about the latest technology in television and which is the better one.

I did a little research on Plasma VS LCD television sets. My research comprises of two parts 1.Web Research 2.InStore Research. I thought of doing a user research which I felt this blog (readers) can do, so I preserved it for you. Also I do not want to get too much technical so I leave you the features here.

LCD Television - A senior to plasma television which had some drawbacks and lately getting better and posing stiff competition to its predecessor Plasma televisions. LCD Television or Liquid Crystal Display televisions started with computer screens in the beginning and the technology creeped in televisions. Initial LCD televisions had a problem of blurring effect while there is a fast motion in picture, but later LCD televisions are made to address this issue. If size does matter for you then LCD television would not be a good choice for you since Plasma television is available in larger sizes than LCD. Tip to buyers: There is something called Refresh Rate and it shouldbe lower then the clarity will be better. They are less in weight and this would be significant in these types of television sets since it is hung mostly. Lastly installation is much easier, simpler and not too delicate in LCD's than in Plasma Televisions.

Plasma Television - A little technical information here would help me say how superior is Plasma televisions. All the pixels in plasma television illuminates almost instantaneously this makes the picture appear fast, sharp and there wouldnt be any blurring effect. I read that Plasma is better in contrast because it can actually show black colour better than a LCD television the advantage of this is finer details like shadows does not merge with original image and are better when viewed. They are available in larger sizes than LCD Television sets but anytime LCD's can surpass this.

 

I would say the advantage in plasma television is very marginal compared with LCD television but there is one important comparison needs to be done that PRICE. May need to wait a couple for days for me to finish my instore price research.
 

Bargain - Offer - Discount

I have seen some of my friends not bargaining or claiming for a discount after a purchase. When asked most common reply was they believe that bargaining is a cheap activity. I differ from this view. Bargaining or claiming for a discount is your right as a consumer since any product is not priced uniformly. Let us take an example: I bought an IFB - Washing Machine coiuple of years back. I did a thorough internet search and then went to several shops to know the price. I was shocked to realize that no two shop had the same price tag. Atlast I decided to buy it from a shop and bargained with them. Those guys knowing that am aware of prices in different shops gave me the best price. RESULT: I saved 900Rs. The was the case with my Air Conditioner and all the other artices that I purchased.

There is one thing that one should keep in mind before bargaining, we should thoroughly research on models and prices available in the market. If a seller can provide a good after sales service and if he is not ready to reduce the price you may need to compromise/consider on money.You may need to put some efforts in doing such a research but it is worth the effort. Atleast you can gain some knowledge on different products and its availability and maybe you can share this with your friends or write a blog like I do :-)

CAUTION: Please exercise caution while you buy products on discounts. Check for quality twice. Discounts may sound interesting but there may be a catch somewhere. See if there is something suspicious. If it is a Factory Outlet SALE/DISCOUNT you may get good quality of product/worth for money. Offers are generally made for promotional purposes but still you should double check before you make nay purchase.
I am of a opinion that any consumer looking to purchase something should look for offers-discounts-bargain and get the best out of their purchase.


ENJOY YOUR PURCHASE WITH GOOD OFFERS / BARGAIN / DISCOUNT ! ! !

Conviction

 " Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense " - Winston Churchill

 

I have always seen good things happening to people who have higher degree of conviction. Afterall they dont give up in their task no matter what hardships they face. Though there is thousands of example in this world I would like to take only two of them. Saurav Ganguly and Martin Scorsese. I just think of these guys when I feel let down. What a conviction these ones should have had to achieve the places that they have occupied now. Also I wanted to take two different examples from two different and challenging professions. So I picked one from sports and another from Cinema.

Sourav Ganguly - He was rated the best captain India has ever had apart from many best and first ever ratings. This guy was dropped from international cricket team by BCCI and he went to play for state teams. I was agaisnt the ones who supported and asked ganguly to be brought back into the team.  strongly believed and believe non performers has no room in a sport since the very spirit of any game is performance. It became a big political game and many things happened after he was thrown out. This Sourav ganguly seemed to be content and he always said he would be back in the team today he achieved what he said and proved himself. What he did to come to this place was something I liked. This time he didnt play politics but the game itself. He concentrated on his game improved it and came back with a stunning performance (at 33, generally people would plan retiring at this age in Cricket) in every match that he played. I would rate his conviction level is 99.99%. If not he wouldnt have achieved it. He can sure be taken as a role model and an example for postive attitude and conviction.

Martn Scorsese - This 65 year old man after 5 attempts decorated his shelf with a Oscar Award for Best Director. I dont consider Oscar Award to be as big as this guy because of his conviction in winning and never say die attitude. A Vietnam War Chef, A short film Director, An Editor and finally a Director who won umerous nominations in different categories for his films. Almost 5 times he missed an Oscar award. He was sure one day he would achieve it and his conviction at atlast paid thru his movie " The Departed". I do not know if he worked hard to get this award but I am sure he worked hard and made sure whatever he did, he did it in a best way. After directing 18+ movies and almost all major hollywood stars he could happily retired and enjoyed his old age. His conviction to work hard and to bring good movies made him achieve the top honour in cinema world

In both the cases these guys had only two things 1. Desire to Hard Work and 2.Conviction. I strongly believe a person with desire to work hard and conviction will never fail.

Please send in your thoughts about this.

 

Biggest event of 2007

Biggest sports festival is around the corner. You can spot people crowding in front of TV shops, restaurants that has a TV on display, giant screens in public places, your email inbox flooded with forwarded mails, SMS's coming in ever moment, discounts all around on products and services and even credit cards offering discounts on purchases...........its gonna be cricket everywhere.........in schools, colleges, and offices.........anyone you meet will have some thing to speak about cricket.........I am not a big cricket enthusiast but still this fever catches me once in four years atleast. Brits took our Kohinoor and left this precious game to us. Its worth billions in money value and has done India proud lot many times.

You can call it anything you want an industry which employs thousands and thousands all over the country, a god coz it is worshipped by many. There are people who have memorized the statistics of this game of Cricket over decades and there are guys who can talk hours about Cricket strategy. Cricket is no more a mere sport in this country, sometimes it has played the part of an ambassador of peace to our neighbours. Technology has revolutionised Cricket over the years. Those days you can only get to hear the commenteries today its Live everywhere. Cricket commentry and live feeds are available everywhere on your mobile, in your office (thru internet), on your mobile and I have seen TV's placed in rest rooms. 

 

Lets get ready to be bitten by the Cricket bug and enjoy the fever of this season.

 

First Round
13 Mar	Jamaica	West Indies			Pakistan
14 Mar	St.Kitts & Nevis	Australia			Scotland
14 Mar	St. Lucia	Kenya			Canada
15 Mar	Trinidad & Tobago	Sri Lanka			Bermuda
15 Mar	Jamaica	Zimbabwe			Ireland
16 Mar	St.Kitts & Nevis	South Africa			The Netherlands
16 Mar	St. Lucia	England			New Zealand
17 Mar	Trinidad & Tobago	India			Bangladesh
17 Mar	Jamaica	Pakistan			Ireland
18 Mar	St.Kitts & Nevis	Australia			The Netherlands
18 Mar	St. Lucia	England			Canada
19 Mar	Trinidad & Tobago	India			Bermuda
19 Mar	Jamaica	West Indies			Zimbabwe
20 Mar	St.Kitts & Nevis	South Africa			Scotland
20 Mar	St. Lucia	New Zealand			Kenya
21 Mar	Trinidad & Tobago	Sri Lanka			Bangladesh
21 Mar	Jamaica	Zimbabwe			Pakistan
22 Mar	St.Kitts & Nevis	Scotland			The Netherlands
22 Mar	St. Lucia	New Zealand			Canada
23 Mar	Trinidad & Tobago	India			Sri Lanka
23 Mar	Jamaica	West Indies			Ireland
24 Mar	St.Kitts & Nevis	Australia			South Africa
24 Mar	St. Lucia	England			Kenya
25 Mar	Trinidad & Tobago	Bermuda			Bangladesh

Global Warming - Simple IDEAs

In my previous post about Global Warming my friend Karthick (karthickkk.blogspot.com) came up with a simple but noble suggestion on stopping/copntrolling Global Warming. He suggested to gift plants/samplings on ccassions instead of other artices, which will help build greenery and bring an awareness among people.

In accordance with that I read am article in Hindu dated Feb 24 2007 BRIGHT IDEA - Switching the ligt bulbs. Though it was a small last page article it sounded very important/interesting to me. The concept is very simple - switch to flourescetbulbs (CFL) from conventional light bulbs. What significant difference this is going to bring in to control Global Warming? Very Simple the articlesays 450 pounds of greenhouse gases (if you convert from 60 watt incandescent bulb to 13 watt CFL Bulb) can be stopped by this conversion.

It sounded WOW to me. After I finished reading this article I immediately planned on HOw can I help stop Global Warming? First I wrote this artice to voice y view and create awareness. Second: I went to the nearest electrical shop and bought 6 CFL bulbs and replaced all incadescent bulbs to CFL in my house.Now I am proud that I could stop 6X450 pounds of green house gases.

Very smal, very Simple but very noble two ideasI did my part what should you do? Two things First: Voice your views here Two: Go replace all your incndescent bulb to CFL ones.

Reference: The Hindu, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp

Beware of contaminated food!!!

One year back I was having dinner in a north Indian restaurant based in Anna Nagar, Chennai. I ordered chicken and some roti's. It was served and I started having it. I discovered some stink in the food I was having and found that its coming from the Chicken. I stopped eating took the chicken and was shocked to see it decayed. I became furious and shouted and spoke to the manager who was cool enuf to say we will replace it. I took proper medication after that.

 

Recently I went to fish market and bought one kilo of fish. I had it cleaned and cut near the shop I purchased. I had little doubt on the quality but that guy managed to convince me. I took it home and had a closer look. It was stinking and could feel its rotten. I took it back and he replaced it with some fresh fish.

 

Last week, I bought chicken from a shop near Kilpauk Garden. I asked for chicken legs and was told by my sister that it is decaed chicken. Again fought with the guy and replaced it.

 

Once opposite to Railway Station there is a hotel which is a look alike of a famous hotel chain (actually it is not). My wife saw a buch of hair in her food.

 

Today I saw some newspaper flashing news about contaminated non veg stuff in Chennai. I sat and thought for a while and remembered all these incidents. I am a regular non veg eater at hotels. I dunno how many time I had contaminated stuff without noticing.

 

My advice to you all is. Please avoid non veg food from hotels coz you cannot trust anyone these days and if you buy fresh meat please examine the meat in the shop and if you have any doubts better do not buy from there. Also, Please make sure that you comment on the stuff to the Manager/Owner of that hotel/shop. Enjoy Healthy Food!!!

Wise Investment

I was always against getting committed on a long term loan. So I never thought of buying a flat. Couple of years ago my wife was forcing me to buy a house and I was reluctant. Just to keep her happy I pretended to be searching for a flat. I went all around the city looking for good apartments/flats. After 6 months of search I learnt that an apartment is being built near the place I stayed. Though I was not very keen my wife forced me to pay an advance for this flat after which all the bank process were done and I became owner of a house. Slowly I started realising what I have done?

 

I was staying in a rented house and my house rent went up by 10% per year. My rent would have easily reached my current EMI within few years moreover I am happily staying in my own house. The value of my flat is growing at a rapid pace owing to the recent real estate boom and now it has grown manifolds from the rate I purchased my flat. Then I went on to buy a car and other luxury items which I thought of buying before buying this flat. Now I realize that house is something that one should buy before buying anything and it is wise, wiser and wisest investment one can do both monetarily and sentimentally.

 

If you have not made this wise investment. Do not wait for anything, goahead and do it first.

 

 

mobile phones irresistible irritation?

Mobile Phones - The wonder instrument that keeps you connected always. Late 90's saw the growth of mobile phone sales in our country today we are one of the most "mobile"ised countries in the world. It was once a luxury to have a mobile phone slowly and steadily it got cheaper and cheaper and today anyone can have a mobile phone in hand. Lot of factors contribute to this growth. Economy as whole is growing, buying capacity has shot up, mobile phone costs have come down, tariffs have become cheaper and too many players with variety of offers.

It really has made communication much much easire. It is very useful during emergencies. There is huge benefits that one can derive from a mobile phone. On the contrary mobile phones sometimes becomes irritation. There are some places where one should take atmost care while using and it should be totally avoided while driving. There are cases when people walking and talking over mobile phones meet with accidents. Sometimes its embarrassing too. I was attending a funeral few months back as you can imagine the kind of mood that will prevail there. Suddenly a famous tamil song with a loud noise came from a gentlemans pocket and he took out his cell phone and switched it off. In temples, in hospitals people should actually keep them in vibrator or no tone mode. One should also not shout while talking over mobile phones as it disturbs others. There is many such things people should follow while handling a mobile phone.

It is always good to adapt to a new technology and use it, at the same time proper use of it should also be ensured. If all the precaustions and rules of using a mobile phone is followed there is no doubt that it is a wonder instrument.

Credit Card Boon or Bane?

CNBC: “What is the one thing that young people should be doing about money?”
Buffett: “I tell them two things, generally. One is stay away from credit cards… The second thing I tell them is to invest in themselves.”

Credit Card is one of the finest inventions that man kind has ever made. Sounds crazy!!! This is what every new credit card owner thinks. The very moment he/she acquires their new Credit Card say with a balance of 50k they think someone has gifted 50k to them. Few others who are little calculative think thru credit card they borrow money. The second category of credit card owners would least suffer the credit card impact. But in my opinions most of them (atleast 80 to 85%) will sometime in their life will feel the negative impact of owning a credit card.

Credit Cards are good to people whose balance is paid by an external source (offices, businesses etc). If you have to pay it from your pockets you are prone to feel the pain one day. It is never the same soothing words when you were called to sell a credit card, when you fail to make payments. Why will I miss a payment? I will see to that I make all my credit card dues in time. This is what everone thinks while they get/apply a credit card.

I have some points for you to know why you will end up in a mess with a credit card. It all starts with your calculativeness. You would purchase grocery for a sum of 2000 every month. Once your credit acrd comes you will start purchasing thru it. Now you will buy thru your credit card and you will slowly realise your monthly grocery spend is increasing. How? you will have a discount on shampoo if you buy two. So instead of buying one you will buy two and pay for two. Though you get one extra, your budget for that month jumps. It actually adds up like this starting in small numbers and one day you will realise its gone beyond your hands. SALE!!! SALE!!! SALE!!! this is where you got to be really careful the place that eats up your credit card balance. Logic is very simple impulsive buying leads you to over spending.

It will look like your lifestyle has gotten better after the arrival of your credit card. But in reality the credit card you up slowly and pushes you to a miserable starts. What happens if you dont pay? Beyond the negative financial impact the mental agony and trauma is something that will be more painful in credit card deals. You will be forced, cornernered and sometimes even threatened to pay the dues. Banks have professionals (stands for other kind of professionlism) who knows the way and means of collecting money from you. The recent trend convert it to EMI and pay or make it a personal loan is the most dengerous to do in credit card deals. Personal Loan is something you should be getting while you need it. It should not be forced on you.

There is only onething you can do to avoid all these pain and trauma. Its better to live with what you have and a well budgetted life than a life with dues and loans.

Global Warming Whats Alarming?

Global Warming - A word thats getting popularized very fast these days. Why is it becoming popular now and why are countries showing interest/concern on this topic now? thats the interesting part of the whole Global Warming debate. Because the devastating effects of Global Warming is very much experienced all over the world and its causing fear and panic. What do we do to stop this? I do not think we can restore the lost and stop the current effects but we can certainly stop further global warming and stop further devastation.

New Jersey recieved record low snow.......Beijing recieved record high snow...........Snow Storm in California........Drought in South India........North India is flooding...........uncontrollable forest fire in Australia...........arent these headings contradicting and alarming?

We the humans have magnanimously contributed 90% to this level of Global Warming. So there is no need to say who should stop this. Are we going to leave a safe and sound world with all the same natural pleasures that we enjoyed during our stay in this earth to our future generations? The answer would be no if we continue like this. One should take this issue very personal and should not be careless thinking the governments will/should take steps. We can contribute in so many ways to stop this happening. We should actively participate with groups that work for preserving nature in whatever way we can. Participation can be in any way. It can be as simple as sending a link of a Global Warming awareness website to a friend. ex: www.stopglobalwarming.org, www.greenhousenet.org

One of the worlds most eminent ecologist and climatologist is an Indian - Dr.Rajendra K Pachauri. Dr R K Pachauri is Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Please visit www.ipcc.ch

Please stop polluting this wonderful earth and let us leave a safe and sound place for our future generations.

Stop Global Warming!!!

Bush on Terrorism

George W Bush - A man who is going to be remembered forever in worlds history for his stand on terrorism. There is only two ways to look at it 1.Is this (Bush) kind of an approach needed or not? 2.If no What else can we do against terrorism?

Before I get deeper into this topic I have to clear my view on Muslims. I believe they are the finest and nicest people who strongly believe in peace. I personally have come across many muslim brothers who i really admire till date and I vehemently oppose the ones who say "MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS" They are not and they never will be. Terrorists do not belong to any caste or creed coz they are not humans and their minds are corrupted.

I have mixed feelings on Bush's stand on fighting terror. I feel what bush has done and is doing is good not only for USA its good for the human race. Americans are not fighting against terrorists but agaisnt people who are causing creulty and injustice to human race. We call America as Super Power the worlds richest and powerful and if they do not fight terrorism who else can do? Its like the eldest brother taking the responsibility of a family. Big Brother America is the one who should do this and we all should support him in this. Terrorists are not bravo's they are cowards who hide their face and have no guts to come out and fight.

Countries like Afghanistan and Iraq became safe haven's to them due to their political instability. So invading Afghanistan which was in ruins to drive away and contain terrorist activities cannot be termed as a mistake. Though Iraq invasion is a controversial one because after the invasion Bush's reasons to invade (bio/nuclear weapons) are not proved yet. Also, there can be a selfish reason - "OIL". Look at terrorist activities all over the world they are everywhere and before they where are not connected globally they operated as small units. Now they are are bringing everything under one umbrella their network is getting stronger. If they succeed in the process of consolidation then their powers would grwo many folds and repurctions will be devastating. America is fighting them in their land where they germinate. They are trying to create a base and then concquer more bases. They started with Afganisthan and then their nest target was Iraq and it will go on. Fighting them there is very important if you dont they will become stronger and stronger.

I also greatly appreciate UK (Tony Blair) and all the allied forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanisthan. My prayers is with the family of the soldiers who lost their life in this mighty mission.

Though I have tons to write I leave it here to you my friends fill in your comments and let me reply with more views............

Racism issue beyond Shilpa Shetty.........

Shilpa Shetty's racism claim has created a furore around the globe. We saw world leaders condemning the actions of the participants in that reality show. Celebrities came fowrward in support of Shilpa and against racism........Tony Blair, Keith Vaz, Grodon Brown, P.Chidambaram and scores of people from film fraternity also condemned this incident.

The issue from a small reality show incident moved to the next levels and became a media debate all over the world. Today a noted writer (Man Booker price winner) Kiran Desai publicly spoke about racism and said is a matter of serious concern in the western world and she herself has been a victim of racism.

Shilpa now has taken a U-Turn and claims she was not racially abused. This is really foolish on Shilpa's part. Lakhs of people are watching and have seen her abused on the show and if she says what they saw is not racial abuse? then she is making fool of herself and all the others who came in support for her.

The whole issue of racism has gone beyond Shilpa's incident and have become a global debate. Atleast to keep the merit of this debate alive she shouldnt have taken this foolish U-Turn. She should let the discussions continue coz there is millions of Indians and other non-white people all over the world who go thru racial abuse would benefit thru such a debate.

Friends please voice your views here and keep this debate alive which will help or heel the wounds of millions of Indians and non-white ppl who have gone thru or going thru racial abuse.