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Showing posts from 2011

the Indian economy - an analysis

Thanks to chandru, who always gives us good articles, I found the following article about our Indian economy being analzyed by Raghuram Rajan & TN Ninan.  A real food for thought.  With my inlaws coming from a village where the primary activity is Agriculture and having experienced first hand how year after year, we had to spend money with no returns but a lot of debts, I agree with this article fully.  I have also given the link to this article at the end. - Explaining India’s economic troubles Posted: 17 Dec 2011 08:28 AM PST The most lucid insight comes from Raghuram Rajan and TN Ninan This is perhaps the best way to understand what went wrong with Indian economy in the recent years under the UPA. The insight comes from noted economist Raghuram Rajan: Rajan said the problem in India was due to low growth in rural productivity, unlike China where rural entrepreneurship was the biggest growth driver for years. According to him, India has simply shifted resources to

ITSME Meeting - Opportunities for ITSME in UK

ITSME Association is glad to invite its members for a breakfast meeting with David Dunn, Chief Operating Officer and Tom Hurst, Chief Investment Officer Sunderland Software City, UK for exploring new business opportunities in UK. The meeting will take place in Savera, Radhakrishnan Salai on Tuesday 13th of December 2011 at 9:00 am with the following agenda: 9:00 am to 9:30 am- Breakfast and Networking 9:30 am to 9:45 am - Welcome by President 9:45 am to 10:15 am - Opportunities for ITSMEs to expand in UK -                                      Presentation by David Dunn 10:15 am to 10:30 am - Q&A Session 10:30 am to 10:40 am - Vote of Thanks Looking forward to seeing you at the event. ITSME Association

Coming together of 2 SMEs from US & India

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I am very very happy to write about my faviourte topic :   SME to SME  Synergy from different countries.  Our company, for the first time, signed an MOU with another SMB organization in Maryland to take things forward for both the companies.  This coming together by differnt parties will not only have a large positive impact on the topline, but would also extend the capabilities for the US organization while at the same extend the market reach for the Indian company.  MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING was signed between Computers International & Angarai International at Taj Krishna Hotel, Hyderabad, India on Monday, 28 Nov 2011in the Presence of Honorable Martin J O’Malley, Governor of Maryland, USA & Honorable Rushern L Baker III, County Executive, Prince George’s County, MD, USA during the Trade Mission 2011 by State of Maryland to India. The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is to establish a mutual framework governing the respective organizational relationsh

cloud computing

This is one of the best articles about cloud, which explains in simple terms the different between the cloud solutionns and non cloud solutions.  As soon as I read it, I wanted to share it as I found it to be written with a lot of experience in doing up the cloud applications. http://gigaom.com/cloud/what-cloud-boils-down-to-for-the-enterprise-2/?utm_source=%23frankguillen&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign= FrankGuillen +Buzz

Indian Software industry the way forward

Two weeks and two travels to Bangalore for 2 different reasons - an experience in itself.  of course, both on official purposes to attend conferences The first was to Mobile Developer Summit - what a different kind of energy there was in the crowd.  A young crowd of geeks - who took pride in their apps milling around with enthusiasm and very interactive too. The venue was IISC and while things were very professionally handled, it was with no frills. the second was to Nasscom product conclave -  A professional high end kind variety conference right from the venue to the conference rooms, the presentations, etc.  Here also the crowd was going around with enthusiasm and very interactive too. the difference lies in that while it was geek squad, this was the entrepreneiural bug bitten crowd.  It was amazing to hear that in this is the decade of the Indian Products show and there are 4 billion $ products out in the market All made in India. Though the travel itself was tiring, as 

getting back to writing

back to active work after a long time had kept me away from even visiting this site, as once I visit, I cannot resist writing. The next thing was what to write.  There were a lot of things happening around me both in personal, organization and social life around me so every time I would think, a nice subject to blog about, but the work overload would make me to push it to the next day. Ok, after having started back :  Let me term this as a confessions of about Daily5 goal setting.  Let me start with the context :  In our office, we are reading through the Robin Sharma's book :  The leader Who had No Title - a really wonderful book with every chapter, every page, every sentence and every word - a very very meaningful one.  If only we get to practice all those said in the book, then the whole world would be totally a different world.  Anyways, I hope some of us are absorbing at least 10-20% of what he has written - which would by itself create a vast change in the atmosphere. Co

Elevation in life

Last month I got a promotion in life ..... and it was indeed a momentous occasion for all of us.  I have now become a proud grandmother of a baby girl Shayna, (the beautiful) who has turned one month old today.  What it meant...    It was last year, during the end of one of my trips that I learnt the good news about the upcoming arrival of the baby.  It felt very very wonderful and that meant that my priorities were about to change.   I started preparing a long stay with my daughter to help her during this wonderful time.  So began a long stay options in US.  While the first trip of this year - it was business and family and it became one week of business trip and one week of stay with my daughter.  it was pretty tough doing all these together, but it was worth it from both the ends.  Then I had to go back to Chennai to take care of year end work and other things.  So again, the next trip back here so that i can be with my daughter in the final trimester.  Now I am on my grandmatern

one size doesnt fit all

While my earlier post was about the farmers plight in India, here is another, this time taken from the letters to the editor from The Hindu.  This is about different kind of problems faced by the farmers in Tamil Nadu. http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/article2236334.ece I am totally in agreement with this write up and I have seen how in our village the NGERA work is being misutilized with just the sole objective of providing work for the people and no gain from the work for the village.  One day I saw few people cleaning up the road - clearing off the grass and other weeds from the side.  Of course, this would help, but these people were doing in when it was about the rain the next day and also when the farming season was in full swing - where more agricultural hands are needed.  Thats why what is good for one region cannot be applied to other region.  In fact, in Trichy and Tanjore district, there is work on the farm lands year around what with the sugarcane, banana being cu

My agricultural country

It was a poignant statement about a mother from a daughter, when asked the question - what is the enduring  memory of your mother  and the daughter replies" More than anything, I would like to remember her when she was not working at all.  When I slept, she was working and when I woke up she was working"    What a statement about a farmer who has committed suicide ( yes I havent written as a woman farmer - because I dont believe the gender has anything to differentiate between the work you do as a human being).  Of course, Sudha mani, the daughter didnt get any state compensation, because the Indian society doesn't recognize woman as a farmer, but only as a farmer's wife.  dont get me wrong, this article is not about the gender inequality.  This article is about the sorry plight of Indian farmers across India, who commit suicides day in and day out.   I was most touched by this documentary in NDTV and wanted to share it within my circle, as nowadays we talk about

Hereditery Profession

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While everybody in India is talking about the corruption in high places, the amount of money (how many zeros will be there to denote the huge amount that is being touted), I found it very refreshing to have met  this young boy last month. A tiny one room on the top of a old building - climbing up the stairs strained with pan spittings on both sides, somebody taking a nap on the landing - Not a definite winner of a Great Place to work.  But this guy  Tanvir was enjoying his work and was so proud of what he and his other coworkers were doing..   "Polishing Silver and Gold articles" Yes this was the profession he was undertaking as a family business and which has been traditionally done by his ancestors - What was refreshing was the pride he had and the happiness he found in this calling.  He was proud of the fact that they were dealing with almost all the major jewellers in TNagar.  So like Robin Sharma talks about  Being the Best in what you do in his Leading without a

common body language for women in workplace

A good and educative article, which I have taken from the connectitnews website and sharing 10 common body language traps for women in the workplace 31 May, 2011 By Mark Cox A female executive was having problems dealing with her male colleagues. "They like me, but they never take me seriously," she complained. "It's as if they think I'm flirting with them. Which I definitely am not!" After watching her interact with various men on the senior management team, I saw the problem. She was trying to discuss work-related issues while using a "social gaze." Here's what I mean . . .. It all depends on where you look If you create an imaginary triangle on someone's face, with their eyes as the base and mid-forehead as the apex, you will have mapped out the "look of business." When you keep your gaze in that area, you non-verbally signal a no-nonsense, business-like approach. But when you invert the triangle and move y

Men & Women - The perspectives

These two pieces are one again lifted from something which came into my mailbox.  The first one is from the Changegear's weekly newsletter (written by men at the editorial board) and the second one was forwarded by good friend viji from eWIT  and is based on the current political situation in India.  Enjoy my friends!!!! Life is Like That The Etiquette of Barbecue Season After the long months of cold and winter weather, we will soon be coming up to summer and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking as it's the only type of cooking a real man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion: Routine... 1) The woman buys the food. 2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert. 3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking uten

Is this the tipping point for India

Padma Bhusan Anna Hazare - My salutations to you Great Sir.  What most of Indians  wanted to do, but didnt have the will power or courage to do, YOU HAVE DONE IT Showing us all the way.   It takes a great soul to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  As people say, I am sure Gandhi would be happy that you are also being called Gandhi of 21st century. For the viewers : I am giving below a small write up about Shri Anna Hazare.  Anna Hazare is a 72 year  ex-Indian army man , who had Fought in the  1965 Indo-Pak War.  A Army veteran, he made sure that he is contributing to the society through his guidance and hardwork.  He was solely behind the building up of a Self Sustained Model  village  -   Ralegaon Siddhi in Ahamad Nagar district, Maharashtra.   Energy is produced in the village itself from solar power, biofuel and wind mills.  Prior to having Anna Hazare working along with the villagers, it used to be a poverty clad village. Now it is one of the richest villages in India. It has become a mod

Looking through a colored glass

There is this Tamil movie  in which Vadivel the comedian plays a local dhada  role and Madhavan is a youth residing in that locality.  The scene goes on like this, after a few encounters between them :  Madhavan comes out of Vadivel's house and tells a lie that Vadivel is being corrupt or something to that effect.  The whole crowd believes whatever he say despite Vadivel protesting his innocence, where one of the person in the crowd saying aloud that " a white skinned person will not lie".  I was reminded of that scene, when one of our friends was recounting a true happening in US. Of course, this happened a few years earlier in one of the suburbs of Washington where my friend and his friend were working for a US company providing late night support to the organization to run through the various batch jobs.  These two people were living close by the office as their work hours were out of ordinary.  When my friend left for home late in the night around 103.0 pm, he saw hi

euthanasia - Part II

In  my last post on the same subject, I had written about how court would decide the case and here is the newspaper report on it.   Aruna get to live because the hospital staff who have been caring for her for so long wish her to live and hence the Supreme court has rejected the case filed by her friend Pinky, Here is the full news items from Hindu New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed passive mercy killing of a patient in a permanent vegetative state (PVS) by withdrawing the life support system with the approval of a medical board and on the directions of the High Court concerned. A Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra, however, did not accept the plea of Pinky Viranai seeking permission to withdraw life support to her friend, Aruna Ramachandra Shanbaug, who has been lying in a PVS in the KEM hospital Mumbai for 37 years. Though it dismissed the petition filed by Ms. Pinky Virani of Bombay on the ground that she did not have the locus standi and that only

Here is a True Indian or should I say a true Human being

When I saw this news item, I was really overwhelmed by the great Heart of  Kochousheph, who is the Managing director of the well known consumer product group V Guard.  Like his company's ads, he has done something, which will make a fellow human who  has been very near the Eternal gates of Death has been given a new life. My Salutations to you Noble Sir, You are a true great Human being, who has shown the world the joy of gifting life, even when living.   You are truly a Godly person and may all the happiness, health, wealth and peace be with you all the time. For my readers, the below news item will only make them wish with me Mr Kochousheph the above along with me KOCHI: VGuard Industries managing director Kochouseph Chittilappilly's deed of donating his kidney has given a new lease of life to Joy Ulahannan, who had been suffering from endlife renal failure . The surgery was done by a team of doctors led by urologist Dr George Abraham and nephrologist Dr Aby Abraham on W

Beauty pagents

Anybody reading this would be going over to the Beauty Queen contest, where in young girls walk on the ramp displaying - beauty, pomp, elegance, figures etc.  Yesterday, I  saw one such program.  Oh No go on visualizing beautiful girls in exotic locations,  what I was seeing was really distressing me  - No dont take me wrong - It wasnt the bodies were exposed, it was very vulgar, etc. It was all for wrong reasons, the beauties were extremely adorable, everyone whether a woman or a man would love to cuddle these beauties and give a good kiss full of love - Hold your breath - these were all aged 2 1/2 to 4 years old. and the next group was above 5.    These children were made to undergo the following as per the explanation given by the TV show program  The toddlers & tiaras .   On any given weekend, on stages across the country, little girls and boys parade around wearing makeup, false eyelashes, spray tans and fake hair to be judged on their beauty, personality and costumes. Toddl

euthanasia

This post was sitting in my drafts section for more than a year and I wanted to post it at least now when there is case which has gone to the Supreme Court as a Mercy petition on behalf of a patient Aruna Ramachandra Shanbaug , who has been lying in a vegetative state in a hospital bed for 37 years .  After a heinous crime of molestation which turned violet left for dead, she had been living in her hospital bed with no improvement currently she lives on mashed food being fed through a throat tube till all these years. But the panel of doctors report states as follows:   But the 60-year-old likes fish and chicken soup, calms down after listening to devotional music and dislikes crowding in her hospital room, said an expert panel report submitted recently to the court. Being the first-ever euthanasia plea before the judiciary, a bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra was extremely careful and set up a panel of eminent doctors to examine and report her medical cond

Guess What and where is the World's largest Skating rink

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Recently I had been to Ottawa - Oh Just less than 24 hours.  I flew  into the city in the night and left the next day evening, but still whateve I saw of it and heard about it, I wanted to pen it donw.  These few lines I had taken from internet to get the correct facts. Some facts about Ottawa: Ottawa    is the capital of Canada , and is the fourth largest city in the country. Ottawa is situated on the south bank of the Ottawa River, and contains the mouths of the Rideau River and Rideau Canal. The oldest part of the city  is known as Lower Town, and occupies an area between the canal and the rivers. Across the canal to the west lies Centretown  or the downtown, which is the city's financial and commercial hub. Situated between Centretown and the Ottawa River, the slight elevation of Parliament Hill is home to many of the capital's landmark government buildings, including the Peace Tower, and the legislative seat of Canada. As of June 29, 2007, the Rideau Canal , which stretc

Gifting

Recently my mother in law passed away. She was 84 and had a good life.  At the time of her death, I was the only one in the family who was talking about Eye Donation - who didnt happen, because, the others overruled me in larger numbers and I had no say.  But please, the readers of this blog dont let this happen to your near and dear.  Make sure that eyes are donated.  You will be more than convinced after reading this through India’s Total People- 118 Crore, Each Day Death - 62389, Each Day Born - 86853, Total Blinds - 682497. If each Death People Donate their Eyes, Within 11 Days, All those will be able to See. Then in India there will be NO BLINDS. If nothing else convinces you, then the above should. Reusable is not just for plastics and paper but also for our Body Parts.  Help others See, even if you blinded by love of the your beloved person who is dead

Patriotism

This one word makes everyone have goose pimples, who ever they are, what ever they are, isnt.  And for every countryman, their Country is Best. One great appreciable thing with US citizens is their amazing patriotism which I would rate it very very high.  Everyone of them is made to think of serving their country by joining the Services.  Recently, I was having a conversation with a young boy who was going back to his Military Academy school.  all of us were taking the shuttle to the airport from Lawrenceville to Atlanta Airport.  I was so happy and proud to be talking to this young boy.  He belongs to a real military family - his grandmother had 20 years of service.  Both his parents are in Service.  His mother has 20 year of Service and she is now currently in Afghanistan.  The pride in his voice was so heavenly when he talked about what he wants to achieve in life - he wants to get into Navy as his first goal.  We were talking about drugs, the way the other countries prepare their

Getting the best of the weather

On travel in US during a bad weather is a very very terrible experience whether they are residents of US or people from far off countries like me.  It throws the entire travel schedule and especially if you have a back to back appointment in couple of cities, GOD be with you.  It is a terrible nightmare.  Thank God,  in all my earlier travels, especially in Jan/Feb, though I criss cross the US, I didnt face any such problem.  This time around, I am lucky to base myself out of Jersey city and then do the travel plan.  The best thing, I like about the weather prediction, is it is 95% reliable, unlike Ramanan, of weather Station fame, in Chennai, who has to make a ambiguous statement that it is likely to rain, drizzle, pour etc either throughout the states or the coastal region and you can safely leave your umbrellas in home and it is 90% opposite of what he says. The almost near forecasting  of the weather helps me to plan my trip nicely avoiding travel during that region or those date

This is true religion true Indianess

The below mentioned article as reported in Hindu Newspaper stands testimony to the whole world that : This is our Indian Spirituality at work. This is the real worship to GOD. Thank you Gayartri Parivar I am reproducing this article from Hindu :  RAMANATHAPURAM: It was indeed a model of selfless clean project, involving many octogenarians, septuagenarians, women and professionals who travelled several hundred kilometres from different parts of India to Rameswaram. A group of north Indian volunteers have spruced up the Southern shrine with sheer hardwork Staying in two hotels, which offered rent free accommodation for a noble cause, the 500-plus volunteers from All World Gayatri Parivar, Haridwar, enjoy each and every moment from dawn to dusk in beautifying Rameswaram, which attracts thousands of tourists and devotees daily from different corners of the country. Though the five-day programme has reached the half way mark on Friday, the town, agnitheertham shore and the premises

Do we THANK ENOUGH, let alone Thank at all

I liked this article  sent out by Mr  KN Rajan, Pondicherry and wanted to share how we miss out to Thank people, whether it is God, our friends or family or Clients or any one who helps us to go through the challenges in life and succeed in whatever we do - whether it is profesional or personal things.  So let me walk the talk.  First and foremost my thanks to Rajan for sending this article.  Acknowledge your blessings I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 'This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.' I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world. Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section. The angel then said to m

eWIT Excellence Award - Call for nominations

eWIT is conducting its Excellence Award for the fourth consecutive year. Every year, we see the number of registrants increasing and the quality of participation has been outstanding. We look forward to an enthusiastic response this year as well!! .   Dates to save :   Last Date of Registration Friday 28 January 2011   Submission of Written Presentation Monday 21 February 2011   Oral Presentation Saturday 12 March 2011   About eWIT   eWIT was formed with the vision: "To be the preferred forum for exchange of ideas and for pioneering initiatives so as to unleash the potential of women and drive their growth in the IT/ITES industry" with specific objectives of: Expanding the women workforce at all management levels and sustain and flourish Enabling women to tread the career path by equipping them with necessary skills Facilitating women's quest for a better ‘work – life' balance in IT/ITES Sector  Since inception, eWIT has organised various activities