My Personal Blog - Sarada Ramani

I am reproducing the mail from ITSME associaiton about their forthcoming session ITSME association invites you to an interactive session on “ Marketing Challenges for IT SMEs” on December 21, 2009 at 5.00 pm at The Accord Metropolitan, # 35, GN Chetty Road, T Nagar, Chennai – 600 017 . The agenda is given below: 5.30 - 6.00 Networking and High Tea 6.00 - 6.05 Welcome addresses – ITSME President 6.05 - 7.15 “Marketing Challenges for IT SMEs” by Raghavendra Prasad Venkataraman 7.15 - 7.25 Q & A 7.25 - 7.30 Vote of Thanks For further queries and registration please contact the ITSME association. See you on 21st. Sarada

Here is the write up about what was shared by each individual speaker on 13th November at Bangalore IT.BIZ - women in IT track ‘Empowering women in IT’, known as eWIT, a Chennai based IT forum that focuses on women empowerment programs was the brain behind the entire workshop on ‘Women in IT’ track of BangaloreIT.Biz2009. The track focussed on ‘ Sustainability and Success for Women in IT’ as the theme. Ms. Vijayalakshmi Rao, President, eWIT, and Director, Scope e-Knowledge set the stage for the track. She said that given their skill sets and inherent strengths, women have the capability and potential to build successful careers for themselves in the IT industry. To a large extent, there is no gender discrimination in the IT industry. While there is scope to enhance the basic share of women it is sustainability that is crucial and the most important determinant for success. In one of eWIT’s research initiatives, it was found that close to 90% of the companies interviewed had some wome...

It it with great pride and joy that we would like to share with our viewers that ‘Women in IT’ track of Bangalore IT.biz which was conducted by eWIT and was a great success in terms of the quality of topics and speakers, the participation and the support that we got from the industry. Mr Askok Kumar Manoli , Principal Secretary to Govt-Dept of IT, BT and S&T, Govt of Karnataka graced the occasion and pledged to offer his government’s support to the cause of eWIT . The launch of the Bangalore Chapter of eWIT with Ms. Sudha Selvarajan , GM Mindtree as the Vice President of this Chapter was also announced on the occasion. We are sure that under Sudha ’s leadership and with the help and unstinting support of Ms. Rajalakshmi , STPI Director-Bangalore, this chapter will be quite successful in the city of software! My next blog will have a brief write up about what was shared during the event by each speaker. Happy reading

Today the technology is taking us places - of course , there are positives and negatives of its use. While a century ago, even to send a message to somebody living in a far off place, we needed a bird to carry it over to them, today, we get instant connectivity through telephones, online chats, etc. You can see your near ones, even if they are continents apart through webcams and hold a daily conversations through Skye, VOIP , etc. I am typing this blog from the aircraft flying over the skies of East coast of America. I am currently on board the flight from Atlanta to Newark and there is this availability of wifi connectivity which enables me to do this. Yesterday , we were having a conference call with 5 participants - each participant from different locations - Chennai, Bangalore, Pune , Phoenix and Chicago through gotomeeting . What a amassing technology it is isn't . All our teams have regular conference calls and scrum meetings with people from different loca...

At one time, I was a very avid blogger, I probably got into a hole where I wanted to write, but wasnt in the mood to pen down and there has been a lot of gap. But one thing I have learnt is that it has got me great friends, it has got my friendships strengthened, it has opened up new avenues etc. Now these days, I am very much bogged with whats happening within my office. There has been small, medium, large issues with each teams. One of our friends used to say that - what your power is determined by how many number of issues you can face head on in your daily life and still continue to go ahead. Life hasnt been great these days with so much tension - all of course related to business - with competitor being very aggressive and trying to eat into our business ( this is the pain of being small - that you cannot counter the biggies aggressiveness every step of the way), taken by surprise by these attacks, recruitment pressure, operations pressure - Oh life is so sweeeet ..........

Here is an invite for the next program for ewit (empowering women in IT). What a wonderful topic it is. eWIT invites you to a networking event! Date: 30 th September 2009 Time: 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm Venue: Benz Park Hotel No. 62, Thirumalaipillai Road, T. Nagar Chennai, Chennai - 600017 Get Directions 044 28159999 Topic : ‘Making Relationships Work' More About The Topic Have you cried at work because your boss was unhappy with your work? Do you feel that your co-workers are hostile towards you? Do you feel respected at work? Are your ideas heard at work place? Do you find that your relationship at home is weakening because you spend a lot of time at work? Do you find it difficult to distinguish and identify when a 'professional relationship' at work starts and when it gets 'personal'? Making Relationships work. Women are extremely good at people skills, especially understanding/empathising with others and even counselling . Yet, they run into various problems and ar...

The other day when reading the news paper about the Chidambaram Temple and its administrative takeover by HR & CE department - I thought about what secularism means. On searching the google - I found this explanation in wiki Secularism is the concept that government or other entities should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs. In one sense, secularism may assert the right to be free from religious rule and teachings, and freedom from the government imposition of religion upon the people, within a state that is neutral on matters of belief, and gives no state privileges or subsidies to religions. In another sense, it refers to the view that human activities and decisions, especially political ones, should be based on evidence and fact unbiased by religious influence. In its most prominent form, secularism is critical of religious orthodoxy and asserts that religion impedes human progress because of its focus on superstition and dogma rather than on reason ...

so much has been talked about the economy class travel by flight, train etc by our politicians. - But my question is what is there to talk about at all. When there are other issues that are more critical for the country, you and me - why should this take all the limelight. If these people are going by Economy class, it is good and need of the hour and that's that. Why create a publicity out of it. Is the intention for these people to travel by economy class to reduce cost or to invoke publicity. If it is the first one, then why should they let it be known to the press/public and get portrayed as martyrs " sacrificing personal comfort" for the sake of the country. It is the media that needs to be blamed. If they leave all such small things from getting so much media attention and take up critical issues - they can focus on say a particular locality in the country and talk about what is good that is happening and what is not happening, etc, and ask people to ...

My rotary club, Rotary Club of Chennai thiruvanmiyur is organizing a one day workshop on " Profitability through Innovation & Creativity " on 25 th September Friday at The Accord Metropolitan TNagar Chennai. This workshop is being done by Dr Rekha Shetty , the Corporate Director, who is the MD of Farstar Distribution Network, a unique consultancy company devoted exclusively to innovation and creativity under the brand name Mindpower . She has an Ph .D from Madras University on the subject of Innovation. This seminar is for the Line Managers and HR managers who are holding responsible positions with deliverable in strategic initiatives to create an innovative culture conducive to talent growth. the workshop aims Demystify innovation & creativity at breaking through the barrier to innovation and creativity convert ideas into profit find new business opportunities & stimulating ideas from employees Make it happen - Maximise the chances of success Susta...

I promised myself that I would write about America and my impressions while on travel, but probably, I am getting old and travel schedules are catching up with me that I couldn't honour my promise. Here I am in India, got bogged down with routines and trying to cope up with the day to day work... Anyway breaking free of the shackles, I am back to this blog write up. I wanted to share the funny coaching schools that have sprung up in US, atleast one in particular, about which I read about in Newspaper. There is this school which is for the first timers - guess what... The first timers to the jail and lock up. Nowadays with the white collar crimes increasing this school teaches or takes the enrolled students through - what is jail, what to expect out of it, how to be prepared for the hard life, the dos and donts, etc. As soon as I saw this newspaper article, I burst out laughing forgetting for a moment that I was in the airlines lounge with other passengers nearby. Look where the wor...

Yes, this is going to be USA through my eyes - Currently I am on travel within this great country. Undoubtedly a land of opportunities for anyone and everyone. But of course, there are also people who suffer very much in this land too. so this series is going to be talking about mixed kind of reactions. Today, this post is all about the innovative spirit of this country. What a kind of things these people have invented(may be the invention happened in other places), but adopting these inventions is pretty fast here. In an airport, you need to see the kind of mechanization these people have done for making the job easy. Just see a plane loading and unloading its cargo. From the small covered tented baggage vans they drive in with, to the raised mechanized platform, even a simple knee cap which helps them to swing the heavy luggage using their knee as a inflection point, it is a pretty amazing sight. I was in Atlanta on 2 weeks back waiting in the hotel lobby for my airport shuttle....

What will you do, if your company is heading for a huge loss and each and every one in the company is aware of it. Will you go on with your Performance based Incentive (what does your performance stand for, if your company isnt doing good), salaries, perks, etc. etc. Everybody is talking about the Air India's mounting losses of 4000 Crores and when strong measures are being talked about - the employees are talking about an indefinite strike. does it really make any sense at all. I dont understand why is this kind of behaviour exhibited by their employees. Of course, I agree that it is not just Air India that is into this unique situation, but the whole aviation industry is facing the same tough situation only as the following write up int eh newspapers demonstrate: According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global aviation industry is expected to lose about $9 billion this year. The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) says the Indian aviation in...

So after a long long time, I am back. My daughter was saying that I was suffering writers inertia problem - whatever it means. Everyday, I used to think that I should write about this topic or that topic, and would even compose mentally what to write, but to actually type out became a effort and so nothing came up. In these few months, there were a lot of things I touched my heart, one such recent thing was the address by Rotarian Dr.C.S.Ramachandran. I have joined the Rotary club - the new kid on the block - our club is 106th club of the district 3230 of Rotary International. The club promotes 2 things - fellowship and service to Humanity. Dr Ramachandran was sharing with us about his experiences and what touched me was the way he was telling the story of Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary club, as a 6 year old boy being orphaned and how he had to travel to meet his grandfather (whom he was'st aware was there),etc, etc. More than this story, the difference the Rotary club creates ...

28 th of April 2009 was a very momentous day indeed for many of us - but for one person, it was a dream which had turned out to be a reality due to sheer his hard wok and dedication and having contributed to the society till date with not expecting anything in return, despite the physical age and health condition. I am talking about the Dream of Dr Bala Balachandran to have a world class facility for his child - The Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai. it is OK for a man to show his emotions was what we all felt when he became emotional when he started talking about his inspiration coming from his mother and her love for him and how though she is just 4 th grade, has enabled and instilled him a great value and thirst for great things. I am really proud to be part of Uncle Bala , our affectionate, energetic, young old man's great vision. Just to quote from some of the Newspapers - Chennai’s five year old leading business school, Great Lakes institute of ma...

Yesterday evening I saw the news item of the ex chairman Mr Gopalakrishnan of Indian bank being awarded a sentence of 14 years for his misuse of official position to sanction a loan to a party and causing a loss of 8.41 crores losses to the bank. At one hand I was pained to see this as I have seen him in a personal capacity as a simple person -who has been forced to sell his ancestral property and go to live in a small rented house after all the hell broke loose for him - it was a riches to rags kind of story. while on the other hand, here is a instance of the justice system (I dont know the case details and I am not commenting on the right or wrong of it please) where somebody has been punished for causing loss to his employer. My question is - the accountability on the part of a employee is really great - but what about the politicians - how many crores of the Indian rupees is lost everyday by these peoples' mismanagement. When will these people be made accountable for it. ...

Mr Chidambaram as a finance Minister always finds ways and means of filling up the coffer of the government with new and innovative methods for the tax collections. some of these I am totally in agreement with as Government needs to collect money only from its people as its revenue earners. These are the following that I strongly feel about The taxes are skewed towards only monthly wage earners. In this case the amount earned is totally transparent and hence visible to all What about those who earn in cash and which will be more than the monthly earnings of these salaried people Also for those with a seasonal income, there is no relief at all. Take for example Actor/small time builders etc. In one year they may earn huge amounts, but next year it may be nil. so having paid 30% of their income as taxes in a year, what will they do in the next year. This same kind of situation is now applicable for those who have been laid off. This financial year, their income is very substantial - what...

Everyday the papers carry at least 2-3 items about the Satyam episode and a lot has been discussed about the corporate governance , the role of independent directors and the accountability . No, I am not going to talk about all these things - But I am going to talk about something else which also revolves around these same core issues - So when will the nation be talking of the accountability of the government, government offices, etc. Like the corporate sector,where we hold the CEO responsible for the acts of commission, omission , etc, why aren't we holding the Heads of the States and Country accountable. Let these people run their departments like a corporate entity - let there be a quarterly results published for each state like what the public limited companies do. The public limited company have the obligation to the general public to publish their accounts because the general public has invested money in their company. Aren't we all investing our money in ter...

The Padma awards are instituted by Government of India and I am reproducing below the recitation of these awards as found in the government website Padma Awards, namely, Padma Vibhushan , Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri are given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field including service rendered by Government servants. The recommendations for Padma Awards are received from the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations, Central Ministries/Departments, Institutions of Excellence, etc. which are considered by an Awards Committee. On the basis of the recommendations of the Awards Committee, and after approval of the Home Minister, Prime Minister and President, the Padma Awards are announced on the eve of the Republic Day. When I went through the list released yesterday I became curious to know about the nature of these awards as I found that all the awardees were more from Arts, Literature & science & Medicine. What I found was very interesting. There ar...

Oh my blog posts now looks like an announcement board talking about one meeting after another. so let me talk about something else different now Today in the afternoon when I was having lunch, I happened to see a Reality show - so what is different in this show was : There was a competition going on and the competition to choose the pair which scored the highest points . Guess what ! The real difference was the competition place and also the activity - It was the plucking of " Drum sticks" by farm labourers . Yes it is true The whole thing was set in a real work environment and the participants were competing on the actual work they perform everyday. These poor ordinary labourers without any surrounding sets were performing so well in their natural environment. The pair which had plucked the highest number was given a Silk Saree and all the participants also got gifts. within a time of 2 minutes this pair managed to pluck 237 drum sticks. I am sure this zeal will ...

The Association of Small and Medium Knowledge Industries ( ASMKI ) Invites you For a half day seminar on “Financing of Knowledge Industries " On 31st of January 2009 At Hotel GRT Grand, T. Nagar , Chennai (9.30 AM – 1.15 PM) Agenda Registration: 9.30 AM Inaugural Session Welcome Address: Mr. Nalin Kohli President , ASMKI Inaugural Address: Mr. S. Ramasundaram , I.A.S., Managing Director, Tamil Industrial Development Corporation Ltd, Chennai Session on Credit Needs Mr. Jiten Nanda , Vice President and Head Business Banking ABN AMRO ,India Mr.S.K Misra , DGM (Credit), Indian Overseas Bank, Central Office, Chennai Mr. Jaishankar , Managing Director, Quest Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd Session on Venture Capital Needs Mr . Ramakrishnan , Executive Director and Head Investment Banking, Spark Capital Mr . Vijay Anand , Head of Incubation at TeNeT ...

so here is the meeting announcement for the month of January from the ITSME Association to be held on 29, 2009 at 5.00 pm at Hotel Savera . The agenda is given below: 5.00 - 5.30 Networking and High Tea 5.30 - 5.35 Welcome address – ITSME President 5.35 - 7.45 ISO 27001 FOR SMEs by Mr. Govind Srinivasan 7.45 – 7.55 Q & A 7.55 - 8.00 Vote of Thanks Background to this session: About 450 companies in India, mostly IT Services and BPO organizations, have implemented the ISO 27001 (Information Security Management System) Standard. Information Security has become the part of business process today, in the light of growing uncertainties that come out of vulnerabilities and threats, human behaviour and technology being the prime factors. The implementation of ISO 27001 Standard can prove to be a good exercise for integrating different functions and domains in an organization by design. Besides, other possible business requirements like implementing Data Protection Act c...

eWIT (Empowering Women in IT) have announced the “ eWIT Excellence Award - 2009”, a Paper Presentation Contest, as an opportunity for the women IT/ ITES professionals engaged in HR, Quality, and Technology to showcase their talent and expertise in their respective areas. There is also a separate contest for the students studying to be in the IT/ ITES industries. The award is presented at eWIT ’s anniversary, to the winner of the competition selected by an eminent panel of judges. The competition includes written and oral presentations on the topics in the various categories. There are two stages in the selection process: 1. The panelists from top executives who are experts on the subject would be evaluating the papers and short listing the participants. 2. The short listed participants will make Oral Presentation to the panelists subsequently. The categories, topics for each category and abstract for each topic is given below: Technology Green IT Quality Role of Quality processes ...