good line

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Watch your words. They become deeds. Watch your deeds. They become habits. Watch your habits. They become character. Character is everything.”

It’s hardly a struggle selling Hitler’s story in India( a must read book)

The German Fuhrer’s ‘Mein Kampf’ is popular in India even though many European nations have banned it.      If increasing attempts at moral policing are a reminder of the fact that fundamentalism, disguised as nationalism may have much in common with fascism, what to make of India’s rising curiosity in Hitler’s writings, nearly 64 years after his death? The Fuhrer’s political manifesto, Mein Kampf (My Struggle) is a wellthumbed book in India even though it is banned in many European countries. But the controversial thesis, with its racist content and philosophy of war and world domination, is widely available in Indian bookstores and from pavements vendors.      “It’s a popular book even though it’s not an easy read,” says Sohin Lakhani, proprietor of Mumbai-based publisher Embassy Books. “We reprint it every quarter and it sells really well.”      There’s no shortage of buyers, agrees K C Maiti, manager of Delhi’s Jaico Publishing House. He says his firm reprints the book more than once a year and that “between April and December 2008, we sold 10,000 copies in Delhi alone.”      Mein Kampf’s apparent popularity clearly goes beyond the Hindu right. It’s well-documented that early Hindu nationalists such as Vinayak Savarkar and Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar were deeply impressed by Nazi ideology.      Their political descendants, including the BJP’s L K Advani and the Shiv Sena’s Bal Thackeray, have publicly referred to Hitler’s ideas and strategy.      Indian publishers say different readers find different insights in Mein Kampf. Lakhani notes that students are keen buyers because “Mein Kampf is seen as a strategy management text”. He says, “A number of management students buy it. I remember a college lecture when a professor talked about how a short, depressed man in prison made a goal of taking over the world and built a strategy to achieve it.”      But publishers are unwilling to comment on the interest shown by the Hindu right. Mithilesh Singh of Bahrisons bookstore in Delhi calls it a “good book to keep for sale, as it's always in demand.”      The book’s copyright is held by the German state of Bavaria, where its publication is banned till 2015, when the copyright runs out 70 years after the author’s death. Bavaria frequently challenges its publication in other countries but that does not prevent a number of Indian firms from printing a book that is often called the Nazi bible of hate. A representative of Random House India, a division of the German firm Bertelsmann AG, which holds the rights to Mein Kampf in the UK, says, “After a book has been in print for over 25 years in India, it becomes free of publisher’s copyright.”      In any case, book pirates wouldn’t be deterred. Indian editions are priced at roughly Rs 150-200 but pirate copies cost much less. Pavement vendors like Raju in Delhi’s Connaught Place say there is huge demand from Indians and foreigners alike. “Foreigners also ask for the book,” he says, perhaps because of restrictions on its sale in many countries.      Lakhani is clear about why a book with racist, warmongering content should still be available. “I feel people should have the freedom to read what they want.” RIGHT CONNECTIONS German race pride has now become the topic of the day. To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by purging the country of the semitic Races — the Jews. Germany has shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindustan to learn. Madhav Golwalkar, in We, or Our Nationhood Defined, 1939 | RSS LEADER If they grow stronger they can play the part of Sudeten Germans, alright. But if we Hindus in India grow stronger, in time these Muslim friends of the league type will have to play the part of German-Jews instead. We Hindus have taught the Shakas and the Huns already to play that part pretty well. So, it is no use bandying words till the test comes. The taste of the pudding is in its eating. V D Savarkar, in Hindu Rashtra Darshan, 1949 | HINDUTVA IDEOLOGUE If you take Mein Kampf and if you remove the word Jew and put in the word Muslim, that is what I believe in.  Bal Thackeray, quoted by Mumbai newspapers before the 1992 riots | SHIV SENA LEADER L K Advani's prison diary, based on his days of confinement during the Emergency, has frequent references to Hitler’s Mein Kampf. He compares fascism with the ‘draconian laws' that Indira Gandhi had imposed on the nation during the Emergency in 1975. Advani’s book has a specific section titled ‘Anatomy of Fascism’. The book also has references to other fascists like Mussolini of Italy and Franco of Spain. LIVING ON: Portrait of Hitler brandished by pro-Israeli demonstrators in Berlin

Detective films potential

The detective genre has great potential in India. Very few Hindi films have attempted it seriously. The most memorable so far was Satyajit Ray’s Feluda series in Bengali. Action sequences dominate mainstream Bollywood, but the detective genre is nothing if not a game of intelligence. Would the restless multiplex audience have the patience to wait till the end, when the detective explains what really happened? 

Newton's quote

Newton: "If I have seen further, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants." (Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler, Galileo)

law of nature

Everything is becoming something else (change). 

Everything is going somewhere (cycles).

THE COFFEE-HOUSE OF SURAT (A story by leo tolstoy(russian))

IN the town of Surat, in India, was a coffee-house where many travellers and foreigners from all parts of the world met and conversed.

One day a learned Persian theologian visited this coffee-house. He was a man who had spent his life studying the nature of the Deity, and reading and writing books upon the subject. He had thought,read, and written so much about God, that eventually he lost his wits became quite confused, and ceased even to believe in the existence of a God. The Shah, hearing of this, had banished him from Persia.

After having argued all his life about the First Cause, this unfortunate theologian had ended by quite perplexing himself, and instead of understanding that he had lost his own reason, he began to think that there was no higher Reason controlling the universe.

This man had an African slave who followed him everywhere. When the theologian entered the coffeehouse, the slave remained outside, near the door sitting on a stone in the glare of the sun, and driving away the flies that buzzed around him. The Persian having settled down on a divan in the coffee-house, ordered himself a cup of opium. When he had drunk it and the opium had begun to quicken the workings of his brain, he addressed his slave through the open door'Tell me, wretched slave,' said he, 'do you think there is a God, or not?'

'Of course there is,' said the slave, and immediately drew from under his girdle a small idol of wood.

'There,' said he, 'that is the God who has guarded me from the day of my birth. Every one in our country worships the fetish tree, from the wood of which this God was made.'

This conversation between the theologian and his slave was listened to with surprise by the other guests in the coffee-house. They were astonished at the master's question, and yet more so at the slave's reply.

One of them, a Brahmin, on hearing the words spoken by the slave, turned to him and said:

'Miserable fool! Is it possible you believe that God can be carried under a man's girdle? There is one God -- Brahma, and he is greater than the whole world, for he created it. Brahma is the One, the mighty God, and in His honour are built the temples on the Ganges' banks, where his true priests, the Brahmins, worship him. They know the true God, and none but they. A thousand score of years have passed, and yet through revolution after revolution these priests have held their sway, because Brahma, the one true God, has protected them.'

So spoke the Brahmin, thinking to convince every one; but a Jewish broker who was present replied to him, and said:

'No! the temple of the true God is not in India. Neither does God protect the Brahmin caste. The true God is not the God of the Brahmins, but of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. None does He protect but His chosen people, the Israelites. From the commencement of the world, our nation has been beloved of Him, and ours alone. If we are now scattered over the whole earth it is but to try us; for God has promised that He will one day gather His people together in Jerusalem. Then, with the Temple of Jerusalem -- the wonder of the ancient world --restored to its splendour, shall Israel be established a ruler over all nations.'

So spoke the Jew, and burst into tears. He wished to say more, but an Italian missionary who was there interrupted him.

'What you are saying is untrue,' said he to the Jew. 'You attribute injustice to God. He cannot love your nation above the rest. Nay rather, even if it be true that of old He favoured the Israelites, it is now nineteen hundred years since they angered Him, and caused Him to destroy their nation and scatter them over the earth, so that their faith makes no converts and has died out except here and there. God shows preference to no nation, but calls all who wish to be saved to the bosom of the Catholic Church of Rome, the one outside whose borders no salvation can be found.'

So spoke the Italian. But a Protestant minister who happened to be present, growing pale, turned to the Catholic missionary and exclaimed:

'How can you say that salvation belongs to yourreligion? Those only will be saved, who serve God according to the Gospel, in spirit and in truth, as bidden by the word of Christ.'

Then a Turk, an office-holder in the custom-house at Surat, who was sitting in the coffee-house smoking a pipe, turned with an air of superiority to both the Christians.

'Your belief in your Roman religion is vain,' said he. 'It was superseded twelve hundred years ago by the true faith: that of Mohammed! You cannot but observe how the true Mohammedan faith continues to spread both in Europe and Asia, and even in the enlightened country of China. You say yourselves that God has rejected the Jews; and, as a proof, you quote the fact that the Jews are humiliated and their faith does not spread. Confess then the truth of Mohammedanism, for it is triumphant and spreads far and wide. None will be saved but the followers of Mohammed, God's latest prophet; and of them, only the followers of Omar, and not of Ali, for the latter are false to the faith.'To this the Persian theologian, who was of the sect of Ali, wished to reply; but by this time a great dispute had arisen among all the strangers of different faiths and creeds present. There were Abyssinian Christians, Llamas from Thibet, Ismailians and Fire-worshippers. They all argued about the nature of God, and how He should be worshipped. Each of them asserted that in his country alone was the true God known and rightly worshipped.

Every one argued and shouted, except a Chinaman, a student of Confucius, who sat quietly in one corner of the coffee-house, not joining in the dispute. He sat there drinking tea and listening to what the others said, but did not speak himself.

The Turk noticed him sitting there, and appealed to him, saying:

'You can confirm what I say, my good Chinaman. You hold your peace, but if you spoke I know you would uphold my opinion. Traders from your country, who come to me for assistance, tell me that though many religions have been introduced intoChina, you Chinese consider Mohammedanism the best of all, and adopt it willingly. Confirm, then, my words, and tell us your opinion of the true God and of His prophet.'

'Yes, yes,' said the rest, turning to the Chinaman, 'let us hear what you think on the subject.'

The Chinaman, the student of Confucius, closed his eyes, and thought a while. Then he opened them again, and drawing his hands out of the wide sleeves of his garment, and folding them on his breast, he spoke as follows, in a calm and quiet voice.

Sirs, it seems to me that it is chiefly pride that prevents men agreeing with one another on matters of faith. If you care to listen to me, I will tell you a story which will explain this by an example.

I came here from China on an English steamer which had been round the world. We stopped for fresh water, and landed on the east coast of the island of Sumatra. It was mid-day, and some of us, having landed, sat in the shade of some coconut palms by the seashore, not far from a native village.We were a party of men of different nationalities.

As we sat there, a blind man approached us. We learnt afterwards that he had gone blind from gazing too long and too persistently at the sun, trying to find out what it is, in order to seize its light.

He strove a long time to accomplish this, constantly looking at the sun; but the only result was that his eyes were injured by its brightness, and he became blind.

Then he said to himself:

'The light of the sun is not a liquid; for if it were a liquid it would be possible to pour it from one vessel into another, and it would be moved, like water, by the wind. Neither is it fire; for if it were fire, water would extinguish it. Neither is light a spirit, for it is seen by the eye, nor is it matter, for it cannot be moved. Therefore, as the light of the sun is neither liquid, nor fire, nor spirit, nor matter, it is -- nothing!'

So he argued, and, as a result of always looking at the sun and always thinking about it, he lost both his sight and his reason. And when he went quite blind, he became fully convinced that the sun did not exist.

With this blind man came a slave, who after placing his master in the shade of a coconut tree, picked up a coconut from the ground, and began making it into a night-light. He twisted a wick from the fibre of the coconut: squeezed oil from the nut into the shell, and soaked the wick in it.

As the slave sat doing this, the blind man sighed and said to him:

'Well, slave, was I not right when I told you there is no sun? Do you not see how dark it is? Yet people say there is a sun. . . . But if so, what is it?'

'I do not know what the sun is,' said the slave 'That is no business of mine. But I know what light is. Here, I have made a night-light, by the help of which I can serve you and find anything I want in the hut.'

And the slave picked up the coconut shell, saying:

'This is my sun.'A lame man with crutches, who was sitting near by heard these words, and laughed:

'You have evidently been blind all your life,' said he to the blind man, 'not to know what the sun is, I will tell you what it is. The sun is a ball of fire, which rises every morning out of the sea and goes down again among the mountains of our island each evening. We have all seen this, and if you had had your eyesight you too would have seen it.'

A fisherman, who had been listening to the conversation, said:

'It is plain enough that you have never been beyond your own island. If you were not lame, and if you had been out as I have in a fishing-boat, you would know that the sun does not set among the mountains of our island, but as it rises from the ocean every morning so it sets again in the sea every night. What I am telling you is true, for I see it every day with my own eyes.'

Then an Indian who was of our party, interrupted him by saying:'I am astonished that a reasonable man should talk such nonsense. How can a ball of fire possibly descend into the water and not be extinguished? The sun is not a ball of fire at all, it is the Deity named Deva who rides for ever in a chariot round the golden mountain, Meru. Sometimes the evil serpents Ragu and Ketu attack Deva and swallow him: and then the earth is dark. But our priests pray that the Deity may be released, and then he is set free. Only such ignorant men as you, who have never been beyond their own island, can imagine that the sun shines for their country alone.'

Then the master of an Egyptian vessel, who was present, spoke in his turn.

'No,' said he, 'you also are wrong. The sun is not a Deity, and does not move only round India and its golden mountain. I have sailed much on the Black Sea, and along the coasts of Arabia, and have been to Madagascar and to the Philippines. The sun lights the whole earth, and not India alone. It does not circle round one mountain, but rises far in the east,beyond the Isles of Japan, and sets far, far away in the west, beyond the islands of England. That is why the Japanese call their country "Nippon," that is "the birth of the sun." I know this well, for I have myself seen much, and heard more from my grandfather, who sailed to the very ends of the sea.'

He would have gone on, but an English sailor from our ship interrupted him.

'There is no country,' he said, 'where people know so much about the sun's movements as in England. The sun, as every one in England knows, rises nowhere and sets nowhere. It is always moving round the earth. We can be sure of this for we have just been round the world ourselves, and nowhere knocked up against the sun. Wherever we went, the sun showed itself in the morning and hid itself at night, just as it does here.'

And the Englishman took a stick and, drawing circles on the sand, tried to explain how the sun moves in the heavens and goes round the world. Buthe was unable to explain it clearly, and pointing to the ship's pilot said:

'This man knows more about it than I do. He can explain it properly.'

The pilot, who was an intelligent man, had listened in silence to the talk till he was asked to speak. Now every one turned to him, and he said:

'You are all misleading one another, and are yourselves deceived. The sun does not go round the earth, but the earth goes round the sun, revolving as it goes and turning towards the sun in the course of each twenty-four hours, not only Japan, and the Philippines and Sumatra where we now are, but Africa, and Europe and America, and many lands besides. The sun does not shine for some one mountain, or for some one island, or for some one sea, nor even for one earth alone, but for other planets as well as our earth. If you would only look up at the heavens, instead of at the ground beneath your own feet, you might all understand this, and would then no longersuppose that the sun shines for you, or for your country alone.'

Thus spoke the wise pilot, who had voyaged much about the world, and had gazed much upon the heavens above.

'So on matters of faith,' continued the Chinaman the student of Confucius, 'it is pride that causes error and discord among men. As with the sun, so it is with God. Each man wants to have a special God of his own, or at least a special God for his native land. Each nation wishes to confine in its own temples Him, whom the world cannot contain.

'Can any temple compare with that which God Himself has built to unite all men in one faith and one religion?

'All human temples are built on the model of this temple, which is God's own world. Every temple has its fonts, its vaulted roof, its lamps, its pictures or sculptures, its inscriptions, its books of the law, its offerings, its altars and its priests. But in what temple is there such a font as the ocean; such a vault asthat of the heavens; such lamps as the sun, moon, and stars; or any figures to be compared with living, loving, mutually-helpful men? Where are there any records of God's goodness so easy to understand as the blessings which God has strewn abroad for man's happiness? Where is there any book of the law so clear to each man as that written in his heart? What sacrifices equal the self-denials which loving men and women make for one another? And what altar can be compared with the heart of a good man, on which God Himself accepts the sacrifice?

'The higher a man's conception of God, the better will he know Him. And the better he knows God, the nearer will he draw to Him, imitating His goodness, His mercy, and His love of man.

'Therefore, let him who sees the sun's whole light filling the world, refrain from blaming or despising the superstitious man, who in his own idol sees one ray of that same light. Let him not despise even the unbeliever who is blind and cannot see the sun at all.'So spoke the Chinaman, the student of Confucius; and all who were present in the coffee-house were silent, and disputed no more as to whose faith was the best.

1893.

Engineers way of approch

Pessimists, we're told, look at a glass containing 50% air and 50% water and see it as half empty. Optimists, in contrast, see it as half full. Engineers, of course, understand the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

Sanskrit : a divine or allien or advance computer language

To many, Sanskrit is a dead language. Some think it's a 'useless' language. Quite a few Hindus preen themselves that it is exclusively theirs. But did you know serious scholars are beginning to marvel at the rigour, reach and secularism of Sanskrit? Many of these --all over the world-- are mining it for values the modern world can benefit by. But nearly no one does this exposition with greater commitment, catholicity and religious neutrality than Prof M A Lakshmi Thathachar at the Academy of Sanskrit Research, Melkote, Karnataka. On the 15 acres of the Academy, the assertions in Sanskrit texts regarding ecology, farming, health and right living are on view. The Professor is a farmer, livestock breeder, conservationist, researcher, teacher, computer adept and most of all, a man who embodies all that is best in the Indian tradition. He is a Renaissance man unique to India. 

....

Approaches to the source: 

Lakshmi Thathachar's view of Sanskrit's nature may be paraphrased as follows: All modern languages have etymological roots in classical languages. And some say all Indo-European languages are rooted in Sanskrit, but let us not get lost in that debate. Words in Sanskrit are instances of pre-defined classes, a concept that drives object oriented programming [OOP] today. For example, in English 'cow' is a just a sound assigned to mean a particular animal. But if you drill down the word 'gau' --Sanskrit for 'cow'-- you will arrive at a broad class 'gam' which means 'to move. From these derive 'gamanam', 'gatih' etc which are variations of 'movement'. All words have this OOP approach, except that defined classes in Sanskrit are so exhaustive that they cover the material and abstract --indeed cosmic-- experiences known to man. So in Sanskrit the connection is more than etymological. 

It was Panini who formalised Sanskrit's grammer and usage about 2500 years ago. No new 'classes' have needed to be added to it since then. "Panini should be thought of as the forerunner of the modern formal language theory used to specify computer languages," say J J O'Connor and E F Robertson. Their article also quotes: "Sanskrit's potential for scientific use was greatly enhanced as a result of the thorough systemisation of its grammar by Panini. ... On the basis of just under 4000 sutras [rules expressed as aphorisms ], he built virtually the whole structure of the Sanskrit language, whose general 'shape' hardly changed for the next two thousand years." 

Every 'philosophy' in Sanskrit is in fact a 'theory of everything'. [The many strands are synthesised in Vedanta --Veda + anta--, which means the 'last word in Vedas'.] Mimamsa, which is a part of the Vedas, even ignores the God idea. The reality as we know was not created by anyone --it always was--, but may be shaped by everyone out of free will. Which is a way of saying --in OOP terms-- that you may not touch the mother or core classes but may create any variety of instances of them. It is significant that no new 'classes' have had to be created. Thathachar believes it is not a 'language' as we know the term but the only front-end to a huge, interlinked, analogue knowledge base. The current time in human history is ripe, he feels for India's young techno wizards to turn to researching Mimamsa and developing the ultimate programminglanguage around it; nay, an operating system itself. 

Thathachar believes that not enough is being done to explore the rich veins in Sanskrit's knowledge mines. Yoga, ayurveda, architecture, music, dance, statecraft and the like are but a few products that have been brought out. Agriculture, metallurgy, computer sciences etc can gain if new forays are made into the depths of Sanskrit. He is gratified recognition for the Academy's work with Sanskrit is coming slowly. It is an approved 'Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation' [SIRO]. It is recognised by the University of Mysore as a centre that can guide doctoral candidates. Visveswaraiah Technological University, Belgaum has permitted it to award PhD and MSc degrees by research in Information Technology, Materials Science, Aeronautics and Social engineering. Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO] has commissioned it to prepare an Indian view of the cosmos. 

We are out in the fields again. "If there is one thing I denounce the West for, it is the concept of banks and interest. Yes, you can quote me -- I am closer to Islam in this respect. Money as an end measure of attainments is ruining everything. Our governance, commerce, farming and relationships are all drifting away from the reality that can work without conflicts. We are fooling ourselves with what is progress. We will face the wall soon," he says. He sounds far from being despondent or extremist, though. In fact there is a glint in his eyes, almost as if he can sense that the trend may be reversing.

 

The Sanskrit alphabet is called "devanagari" and literally means "cities of the gods". Rishis discovered Sanskrit and used it to create the mantras. These mantras were made up of a combination of sound vibrations, which when recited had a specific effect on the mind and the psyche. In the times of the Rishis,the main aim was to attain the truth, andSanskrit - the perfect tool was found to be the best medium. Due to its specificity and purity, this seemed the best language with which to understand God's creation and as such is called "the great spiritual anguage of the world" (Joseph Campbell). 

Sanskrit is the common language of the Hindu Scriptures. It is the oldest language in the world. It is the language of the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata , Ramayana and the Puranas. Sanskrit literature is easily the richest literature in the history of mankind. The word Sanskrit literally means "Perfected Language" or "Language brought to formal perfection". This is quite an appropriate name since NASA declared it to be "the only unambiguous language on the planet". 

Sanskrit is a scientific and systematic language. Its grammar is perfect and has attracted scholars worldwide. 

Recently well-known linguists and computer-scientists have expressed the opinion thatSanskrit is the best language for use with computers. Sanskrit has a perfect grammar which has been explained to us by the world's greatest grammarian Panini. Sanskrit is also the mother of all Indo-European languages and the big sister of Greek and Latin. It is the origin of all the Indian languages.

subhiksha crisis

After months of denial, discount retailer Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd has admitted it is in trouble.

“It is sudden collapse,” R. Subramanian, Subhiksha’s founder and managing director, said in a nine-page note sent to the media on the company’s health, amid allegations of it not paying vendors and staff salaries, and shuttering several stores.

Cash crunch: A file photo of managing director R. Subramanian. He says Rs300 crore would bring Subhiksha back into financial health. Harikrishna Katragadda / Mint

Subramanian attributed the “collapse” to a strategy of debt-led rapid expansion on a small equity base. He said the growth to 1,600 stores and nearly a Rs4,000 crore annual revenue rate was achieved through a high level of debt. “...we had expanded rapidly... Most of the growth was debt-led... We had built on a tiny equity base of just Rs32 crore, and even including share premiums, etc., the company had raised only a total of Rs180 crore as shareholder funds...”

He said the firm’s inability to raise cash in a difficult economic environment led to the current crisis. The company said it planned to raise cash through placement of equity on a preferential allotment basis and was close to doing so in September but was unable to proceed due to tough economic conditions.

Also Read Subhiksha not paying some bills

Subhiksha says it’s not facing financial crisis

Lack of funds led the company’s trading cycle to “collapse” as the company ran out of cash in October, bringing its operations to a “standstill”, Subramanian said in the note.

Subhiksha has been in the news since September when vendors in New Delhi’s Azadpur wholesale fruits and vegetables market accused the company of not paying their dues that ran into crores of rupees. It was followed by staff allegations that they hadn’t been paid salaries for months. “Honestly yes, there are arrears on these,” Subramanian said.

So far, Subhiksha has denied that it had problems even as it grappled with several lawsuits from landlords for not paying rent for months.

According to a senior executive from Tata Teleservices Ltd, the company recently cut all fixed line and mobile phone corporate connections to Subhiksha offices and employees due to unpaid bills.

Since August, the retailer said, it tried to juggle between repaying debts to banks and keep its stores operational, that prompted it to delay rentals and staff salaries. “In a business like ours, where stock and cash are like blood, we seized up pretty fast when the blood supply got choked,” Subramanian said.

In spite of this, Subramanian is confident that the company could be nursed back to financial health but would need fresh capital of Rs300 crore that could either come through debt or equity.

Analysts, however, feel Subhiksha will find it challenging to raise funds. “It’s fairly tough raising capital for a business that is clearly not stabilized, is going to be a tough challenge, especially...(since) FDI (foreign direct investment) constraints are there,” said Nikhil Vora, managing director of Mumbai-based IDFC SSKI Securities Ltd.

The restart plans include closing about 10%, or 160 stores, and relocating many others, negotiating lower rentals and shelving plans to roll out a consumer electronics chain. “We are now engaging in getting the restart plan approved by the financial stakeholders and then get the liquidity so that we can continue from where we left,” Subramanian said.

The Chennai-based company, which runs India’s largest chain of discount supermarkets, had been one of the most aggressive organized retail players in recent years. Around 59% of the company is owned by promoters, 23% owned by ICICI Securities Ltd and 10% by software billionaire Azim Premji of Wipro Ltd, which he had bought last year from ICICI Securities for Rs230 crore.

Prakash Parthasarathy, chief investment officer of PremjiInvest, the personal investment arm of Premji, declined to comment. Renuka Ramnath, chief executive and managing director of ICICI Venture, did not return a phone call seeking comments.

Subhiksha was banking on debt and equity sale to fund the expansion to 2,300 stores and Rs4,300 crore revenue for the current fiscal ending.

“Our overconfidence that because we ran a good business, equity would always be there, proved our undoing,” Subramanian said. “We did not budget for a time when there would be no money

nations never ruled by foreigners

Only three nations have never let themselves be ruled by foreigners: China, Afghanistan, and Abyssinia. These are the only three nations I admire.

good line

Neither you nor I speak English, but there are some things that can be said only in English.

No need to walk your pup---Doggy diapers

 It’s a rite of passage that every dog-owner dreads. Toilet training the pooch — no matter how cuddly — inevitably involves a soiled Kashmir carpet or, horrors of horror, a wet patch on the car cushion. But now, help is at hand in the form of pet diapers, expensive, but leak-proof. 
    Imported from the US and China and commonly referred to as Poochie Pants, the diapers are usually meant for dogs and cost Rs 1,200 for a pack of 11. They are available in sizes XXXS and XXS for small dogs like the Maltese, Chihuahua, Pomeranian and Dachshund and XXL and XXXL for big dogs like the Rotweiller, German Shepherd, Saint Bernard and the Great Dane. While females have traditional baby diapers, male dogs (who mark their territory) use belly bands.

Japanese proverb

When someone's character seems impossible to fathom, observe his friends.

Gas war: it is advantage Russia

Five months after Georgia, America’s main ally in the Caucasus, was crushed by Russia in a five-day armed conflict over South Ossetia, the proxy war between Moscow and Washington flared up again, this time in Ukraine.

On January 1, Russia halted natural gas supplies to Ukraine after talks over unpaid bills for 2008 and gas prices for 2009 fell through. The row quickly escalated as Ukraine started siphoning off transit gas for its needs, Russia progressively scaled down shipments to Europe by the amount Ukraine diverted, and Kiev eventually turned off the tabs on export pipelines forcing Russia to do the same on its side of the border. The cut-off, first in four decades of Russian gas supplies to Europe, affected about 20 countries and left millions of people freezing in an unusually cold winter.

Russia and Ukraine lock horns over gas supplies every year as the December 31 deadline approaches, to sign a new annual contract. After the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russia sold gas to former Soviet republics at heavily subsidised prices. According to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, subsidies to Ukraine alone have totalled $47 billion. In recent years, Russia has been gradually, and largely peacefully, raising the prices for its neighbours to market levels. However, Kiev has fiercely resisted the hikes, leveraging Moscow’s dependence on Ukrainian transit pipelines, which carry 80 per cent of Russian gas supplies to Europe.

In January 2006, Russia halted gas shipments to Ukraine for several days until it agreed to pay a higher price. At that time, Europeans also felt the pinch as Ukraine stole gas from the transit pipe but the face-off did not lead to a full blockade of gas shipments to Europe. This year, Ukraine went for a head-on confrontation with Russia.

Bitter political infighting against the background of a deepening economic crisis was a major factor behind President Viktor Yushchenko’s decision to pick up a fight with Russia. He badly needed to improve his plummeting popularity in order to win the presidential re-election early next year. Surveys show that Mr. Yushchenko would badly lose to both rivals — the “orange revolution” ally-turned-foe Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich. Mr. Yushchenko’s game plan was to bolster his image by standing up to “imperialist” Russia and push down the price of gas for Ukraine by holding Russia hostage to the transit pipeline.

Mr. Yushchenko would have hardly gambled so recklessly without active prodding from the United States. Condemning the Russian move to cut off supplies to its neighbour, the then President George W. Bush’s National Security Adviser, Stephen Hadley, issued a stern warning: “A Russia that continues to threaten its neighbours and manipulate their access to energy will compromise any aspirations for greater global influence,” he said adding Russia’s “aggressiveness” posed a challenge to the Barack Obama administration.

A top official at Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom publicly suggested that Ukrainian leaders were taking orders from Washington. “It looks like they are dancing to music orchestrated in another country,” said Gazprom deputy chief Alexander Medvedev. The U.S. sought to widen the rift between Russia and Ukraine, and Russia and Europe, and drive home the importance of Europe reducing its dependence on Russia for energy supplies. “Europe cannot continue to be dependent on Russian oil and gas or they’re going to get into these problems from time to time,” the former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, commenting on the gas row.

Experts say the U.S. opposition to energy cooperation between Russia and Europe has a long history. “The U.S. is trying to disrupt energy cooperation between Russia and Europe today in much the same way it tried to scuttle first gas deals between the Soviet Union and Germany 40 years ago,” said Valentin Falin, Soviet Ambassador to Germany in the early 1970s.

Mr. Yushchenko’s gas war was a continuation of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s war against Russia in August 2008. Both leaders drew inspiration from Washington.

Less than two weeks before the gas crisis began, the U.S. signed a Charter on Strategic Partnership with Ukraine. Washington vowed “to strengthen Ukraine’s candidacy for NATO membership,” and provide “enhanced training and equipment for Ukrainian armed forces.” Earlier this month, the U.S. signed a similar charter with Georgia. The pacts came as a reward for the two former Soviet states’ anti-Russian policies and incentive to stay the course in future.

Moscow was in no mood to appease Mr. Yushchenko, not after he backed Georgia to the hilt in its war against Russia. The Kremlin accused Ukraine of supplying heavy weapons to the Georgian army and sending military personnel to Georgia to operate anti-aircraft missiles that shot down several Russian warplanes. A commission of the Ukrainian Parliament established that Mr. Yushchenko personally authorised massive arms shipments to Georgia to the detriment of Ukraine’s own defence capability. Russia “will never forget” Ukraine’s military involvement in the conflict and will “factor it in” in its policy towards Ukraine, President Dmitry Medvedev said. Mr. Yushchenko badly overestimated his ability to set Europe against Russia. In contrast to what happened in 2006, when Europe strongly backed Ukraine in its gas row with Russia, this time the European Commission took a demonstratively neutral stand on what it described was a “commercial dispute” that should be resolved between the two sides. In the face of growing disappointment in Europe with the feuding “orange” leaders in Kiev, Ukraine had to settle for a deal on significantly worse terms than what Moscow offered before the row. Instead of a three-year grace period in transition to market prices, Ukraine will pay the full European price in 2010 itself. Russia did agree to a 20 per cent discount for Ukraine in 2009, but at least in the first quarter of the current year — before the gas prices declined following the recent slump in oil prices — Ukraine will pay twice as much as it did last year, about $360 per 1,000 cubic metres, and way up from the offer of $250 Kiev rejected in December. The steep hike will deepen the crisis in the energy-intensive Ukrainian economy, which is projected to contract by up to 10 per cent this year.

Ukraine came out the net loser in the standoff. The row might have cast a shadow on Moscow’s decades-long record of uninterrupted gas supplies to Europe, but it also destroyed Ukraine’s chances of joining the EU and NATO any time soon. “People are no fools in the West and they are aware that it was after all Ukraine that was the main player in the gas war which seriously affected Europe,” German expert Alexander Rahr said. “I think this will tell very negatively on the prospect of Ukraine’s membership of the European Union.”

The gas dispute boosted Gazprom’s proposed project of undersea pipelines that would bypass Ukraine. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her support for Nord Stream, which would carry gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, while Italy and the Balkan states stressed the urgency of laying the South Steam pipeline across the Black Sea. With a combined capacity of 85 billion cubic metres (bcm), the two pipelines will greatly reduce Russia’s dependence on Ukraine, which today transits over 100 bcm a year to Europe.

The U.S. has been lobbying for the Nabucco pipeline, which would carry natural gas from the Caspian Sea and Central Asia to Europe bypassing Russia. However, Russia has little reason to worry about the project. Even if the pipeline gets enough Central Asian gas, which today is booked by Russia, to run at the full capacity of 31 bcm by 2019, it will meet only a fraction of Europe’s growing energy needs. The real challenge for Russia is to boost gas production to meet Europe’s energy imports that are projected to increase to over 500 bcm by 2020, according to A.T. Kearney strategic management consultancy. Today, Russia supplies 140 bcm to European customers or 40 per cent of Europe’s imports.

Moscow has also made progress in pushing for international control over the transit of Russian gas to Europe. It succeeded in deploying European monitors at Ukrainian gas metering stations in the heat of the crisis despite Kiev’s opposition. This could be a first step towards realising Russia’s long-standing proposal to have an international consortium lease out Ukraine’s gas pipelines.

At the end of the day, the U.S.-inspired gas war may strengthen rather than weaken Russia’s position on the energy markets of Europe and the former Soviet Union. “Until it can develop other sources, the EU’s best option to avoid future shut-offs may be to deepen its partnership with the [Russian] Bear,” Britain’s Financial Times said, summing up the main lesson for Europe.

Gallon and Barrel

Gallon, unit of liquid measure, equal to 3.785 liters, and subdivided into four quarts or eight pints. The imperial gallon used in the United Kingdom and Canada is equivalent to 4.546 liters.

Barrel (measurement), unit of capacity or volume in the United States and the United Kingdom, the definition of which depends on the material being measured. In the United States the dry standard barrel is equivalent to 105 dry qt, or 7056 cu in (116 liters), and a barrel of petroleum is defined as 42 U.S. gallons (159 liters). Various liquid measures containing from 31 to 42 U.S. gallons (119 to 159 liters) are commonly called barrels, however. A barrel of beer in the United Kingdom is defined as 36 imperial gallons (164 liters). See also Weights and Measures.

how to make profit in gold by using metallurgy

A large number of goldsmiths across India has taken to adulterating the precious metal with iridium and ruthenium (members of the lustrous platinum family)—up to 6%—and are getting away with it unless the gold is subjected to extensive purity tests. 
    These metals do not replace silver and copper that are added to all gold jewellery to make the soft yellow metal hard. “Iridium and ruthenium can be camouflaged as gold,’’

THE RESOURCE FOR NEW & FUTURE ENTREPRENEURS

IDEAS are never born in void. They are thoughts that bounce off the boundary walls of inquiry, cradled in the dialectical process involving one and all. For K Ganesh, the founder of TutorVista, an online tutoring firm that has made headlines across the globe for its innovative business model, “It all starts with an idea.” Indeed, the power of ideas continues to fuel India’s growth story. And organizations like National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), MentorSquare, Mobile Mondays and Proto.in have harnessed this power by bringing together entrepreneurs from diverse fields to share, cultivate and develop ideas. 

TiE supports emerging businesses and startups. The organization provides access to the entire stakeholder community (entrepreneurs, corporations, investors, academia and support services) and can be visualized as a one-stop-shop.

 TiE is the world’s largest entrepreneurship organization of its kind, with over 12,000 members and 1,800 charter members in 53 chapters spread across 12 countries. There are 14 chapters in India, which serve a member base of over 6,000. 

    Interestingly, mentoring is much more in demand, in the overall ecosystem of offerings to startups. Take MentorSquare, an online mentoring portal, which only tackles mentoring. Here you publish your query and pick your mentor. Your idea remains fully confidential. Every mentor comes by invitation and consequently becomes shareholders in the company. MentorSquare is targeting SMEs all over the world in different sectors such as manufacturing, trading, hospitality, retail services etc. The company with 50 mentors is now guiding 600 members in their quest to scale up and sustain innovation.In next four years it is expecting to have 4000 mentors covering half a million SMEs.

http://www.tie.org/

http://www.mentorsquare.com/

http://www.nenonline.org/

http://www.proto.in/

Satyam fallout: Investors demand rotation of auditors

We are hopeful that rotation of auditors will help in preventing audit scams. The Satyam fiasco has been a big learning experience for all of us and we feel it’s time that companies change auditors periodically,

Brand Obama

Like any great brand, Obama has built up a strong bond of trust with the American people

A Japanese company invented a process that could incorporate visuals and designs in barcodes

Scientists report first case of immortality!

In what is the first case of immortality in a living organism, scientists have recognised the Turritopsis nutriculaas as the only known animal that is capable of rejuvenating itself. 
    According to a report in The Times, jellyfish usually die after propagating, but Turritopsis reverts to a sexually immature stage after reaching adulthood, and is capable of rejuvenating itself. 
The 4-5mm diameter creature, technically known as a hydrozoan, is the only known animal that is capable of reverting to its juvenile polyp state. Theoretically, this cycle can repeat indefinitely, rendering it immortal. 
Found in tropical waters, Turritopsis is believed to be spreading across the world. Though solitary, they are predatory creatures and evolve asexually. 
The switching of cell roles is usually seen only when parts of an organ regenerate. However, it appears to occur normally in the Turritopsis’ life cycle, scientists said.

Jugaad

Bharatbhai Patel of Rajkot in Gujarat does this everyday. Serving up to 30 kg of dhoklas to customers, Patel uses a trick that works wonders in making his dhoklas fluffy and tasty. The secret is the digestive Eno which is used to make dhoklas lighter. 

The story of how the Shanti was ‘invented’ is as unusual as the idea itself. Faced with a drought, Jagani, who was then a farmer in Gujarat’s Amreli district, found he couldn’t afford to continue using cattle for tilling. As he toyed with alternatives an idea struck him—why not create a motorcycle powered tiller of his own? Jagani borrowed his friend’s Bullet motorcycle and attached it to the tiller. It worked, and thus was born a new improvised tiller that comes with a multi-purpose plough attachment.The Shanti can sow, weed and plough an acre of land at Rs 9 per acre.

Suraj Bhan is one of the 15-odd fabricators of this vehicle in Todabhim in Dausa district of Rajasthan. Here it’s called the Jugaad, a name inspired, perhaps, by the concept that led to its creation. The Jugaad is made up of a wooden chassis, a locally made engine or a water pump-set attached to the wheels and the steering wheel of a discarded jeep or a truck. Bhan, a former electrician, sources engine parts from Agra and assembles them at his Todabhim workshop. “We sometimes even use a Mahindra engine if it’s going to be used for extra load,” he says. Bhan has been making and selling Jugaads for over 10 years now, and business has been good so far. The Jugaad needs very little maintenance and comes for Rs 65,000 a piece though Bhan says rising input costs have pushed prices up to nearly a lakh per unit now. The Jugaad vehicle, for example, takes advantage of a regulatory loophole where below a certain horsepower a motorised vehicle doesn’t need registration /licence.

The Triple Filter Test

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in 
high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher 
and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me 
anything, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the 
Triple Filter Test."

"Triple filter?"

"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about 
my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what 
you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test. 
The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what 
you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "Actually I just heard about it and..." 

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's 
true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of 
goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend 
something good?" 

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "You want to tell me something bad 
about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass 
the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of 
usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to 
be useful to me?" 

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "If what you want to tell me is 
neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

Education

Govt. is taking education cess.Spending millions on spreading education.
But on other end Income tax dept. is exempting tax “ONLY ON FEE RECEIPTS” that belongs to your own Child.Recently My cousin sister wanted to do medical education . But my salary amount gets consumed in tax payments.If IT Dept. extends the limit of accepting Fee receipts of not only OWN CHILDREN but also everyone in national interest or at least extends this limit to more relatives then this will be a healthy step not only for me but also all Indians + YOU AND YOUR FAMILY + IT WOULD be in Country’s interest.

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