Do you prefer two-millennia old remedies from Charaka Samhitaover modern medicines for your allergies? Do you choose to wear fabrics treated with turmeric for rejuvenation? Insist that rasam be cooked in a lead vessel? Refurbish your house with terracotta tiles, red oxide flooring and wooden beams? Opt to wear flower jewellery a la Shakuntala at your wedding? Are you keen that your children learn about their tradition in a gurukul? Then you are part of the ancient tribe, men and women who believe that all that is old is vastly more preferable to current practices and lifestyle choices. A look at the return of the past in our lives.India is on the move, there's no doubt about that. Cast a glance at our urban centres - with their shiny malls and multiplexes, fancy restaurants, hip discos, owering ...........................................................................
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Thursday, June 23, 2011
All future, no past TOI Crest Aug 7, 2010, 01.08pm IST
India's archaeological heritage means different things to different people. Those of us who have made a career out of the study of history see such relics as a means of animating the dead past. As Nobel laureate Wislawa Szymborska so unforgettably put it in her poem, Archaeology, "Show me whatever and I'll tell you who you were... I'll read your views from the sockets of your eyes."
In large parts of India, on the other hand, people visualise and valourise material traces of past life-ways not as the dead past but as an integral element of their living present. In this process, they also actively transform the meanings that academics and archaeologists read into them.
And then there is the state, which sees itself as the legal guardian of this heritage — the central act, state provisions and local legislation which govern the preservation of monuments and archaeological sites make this reasonably clear...........................
In large parts of India, on the other hand, people visualise and valourise material traces of past life-ways not as the dead past but as an integral element of their living present. In this process, they also actively transform the meanings that academics and archaeologists read into them.
And then there is the state, which sees itself as the legal guardian of this heritage — the central act, state provisions and local legislation which govern the preservation of monuments and archaeological sites make this reasonably clear...........................
happy karva chauth Damodar Mall
RANJIT and Payal Saxena live in Noida near Delhi in a newly constructed apartment block.Ranjit is a software consultant with a multinational while Payal,an engineer herself,is a stay at home mom.Apart from everything else,Payal loves Karva Chauth for one thing,the fresh feeni,the threadlike concoction that is soaked in milk and eaten early in the morning.The sweet is available only for this festival and isnt to be seen for the rest of the year.Though it is Payal who,as the fasting wife,is supposed to eat feeni,the entire family loves it and joins her in the morning to enjoy this specialty.Feeni is an import from Rajasthan,certainly not native to Punjab and UP,the two largest states for karva chauth celebrations.No Holi in the Marwari neighbourhood of Andheri is complete without the traditional thandai,a cooling drink made with exotic ingredients like almonds,black pepper,poppy seeds and crystallized rose petals (gulkand).The Deshpandes in Amravati in Maharashtra always have one dish on the platter on the day of universal fasting,sankashti sabudana khichdi.Sabudana,or tapioca sago,was originally an import from distant Tamil Nadu.So how did it end up in far away Amravati For Satyanarayan puja,a key component is the prasad,the holy offering,which is almost always sheera,made from white rava or semolina.The tradition of Satyanarayan puja goes back to the days when the household staples were wheat flour and unrefined jaggery,certainly not semolina and white sugar.These,one would assume,were manufactured products from a distant location and offered to the gods as an exotic food,made especially for this festival.In fact,theres a distinct pattern in the way festivals are celebrated across India.Festivals are and always have been a cultural license to feast and indulge,for the individual and the family.Every celebration is accompanied by food that was once upon a time imported from a distant place.In the days of cooking at home from scratch with local raw ingredients,upwas items like sabudana,rajgira atta,bhagar,sweet potatoes and festival foods made with ..............
British girl in love with lord Ganesh Ullekh NP, ET Bureau May 26, 2011, 01.48am IST
Alice Albinia is kind-hearted, but anger seems to simmer inside her as a sort of passive resistance to the ills she sees around her. Her heart goes out to Pakistan's poor boys with no access to formal education which makes them easy targets for Salafi jihadists.
"If you are sent to a madrassa, you are already poor," she speaks with a writer's flourish. "Maulana Sami ul-Haq never sent his children to a madrassa," she argues. Sami ul-Haq, the "father of the Taliban", is the chancellor of Pakistan's famous madrassa, Darul-uloom -Haqqania, which was attended by several top Taliban leaders, including Mullah Omar.
Albinia had travelled extensively in Pakistan and Afghanistan, sometimes in a burkha, "writing about a river". The river is Indus, and the book is Empires of the Indus.
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"If you are sent to a madrassa, you are already poor," she speaks with a writer's flourish. "Maulana Sami ul-Haq never sent his children to a madrassa," she argues. Sami ul-Haq, the "father of the Taliban", is the chancellor of Pakistan's famous madrassa, Darul-uloom -Haqqania, which was attended by several top Taliban leaders, including Mullah Omar.
Albinia had travelled extensively in Pakistan and Afghanistan, sometimes in a burkha, "writing about a river". The river is Indus, and the book is Empires of the Indus.
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Green fuel, empty stomachs By Bjorn Lomborg Economic Times
Spectators at February's Daytona 500 in Florida, US, were handed green flags to wave in celebration of the news that the race's stock cars now use gasoline with 15% corn-based ethanol. It was the start of a season-long television marketing campaign to sell the merits of biofuel to Americans. On the surface, the self-proclaimed 'greening of Nascar' ( National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing )) is merely a transparent - and, one suspects, ill-fated - exercise in an environmental form of whitewashing for the sport: call it 'greenwashing'. But the partnership between a beloved American pastime and the biofuel lobby also marks the latest attempt to sway public opinion in favour of a truly irresponsible policy. The US spends about $6 billion a year on federal support for ethanol production through tax credits, tariffs and other programmes. Thanks to this financial assistance, a sixth of the world's corn supply is burned in American cars. That is enough corn to feed 350 million people for an entire year. Government support of rapid growth in biofuel production has contributed to disarray in food production. Indeed, as a result of official policy in the US and Europe, including aggressive production targets, biofuel consumed more than 6.5% of global grain output and 8% of the world's vegetable oil in 2010, up from 2% of grain supplies and virtually no vegetable oil in 2004. This year, after a particularly bad growing season, we see the results. Global food prices are the highest they have been since the United Nations started tracking them in 1990, pushed up largely by increases in the cost of corn. Despite the strides made recently against malnutrition, millions more people will be undernourished than would have been the case in the absence of official support for biofuel
Tirupur takes to cloud to cut costs, Pankaj Mishra, ET Bureau Jan 4, 2011, 02.53am IST
BANGALORE: Exporters in Tirupur's over $2-billion knitwear industry are set to share a common software platform on pay-as-you-go basis from February, as they seek to bring down operational costs and compete effectively with rivals from Bangladesh and China. Among India's industrial hubs, this is the first time that small exporters have joined hands to create a common technology platform.
After months of evaluating different ERP solutions from top global vendors including SAP and Microsoft, and forming a special purpose vehicle called G-Tech Solutions, the exporters have decided to go with home-grown business software from Ramco Systems. HCL will customise the solution and manage the data centre, which will host the application.
To avoid high software licensing and maintenance costs, the application is going to be delivered using the 'cloud computing' model, which allows users to access services related to HR, procurement and inventory by paying a monthly fee............................................................................
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After months of evaluating different ERP solutions from top global vendors including SAP and Microsoft, and forming a special purpose vehicle called G-Tech Solutions, the exporters have decided to go with home-grown business software from Ramco Systems. HCL will customise the solution and manage the data centre, which will host the application.
To avoid high software licensing and maintenance costs, the application is going to be delivered using the 'cloud computing' model, which allows users to access services related to HR, procurement and inventory by paying a monthly fee............................................................................
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The Meaning Of True Wealth The Times Of India Mumbai; Date: Nov 6, 2010; Section: Editorial; Page: 16
Let us understand the difference between Lakshmi and money for money’s sake
Chetan Bhagat Happy Diwali to all readers. Since Diwali is a time we worship Lakshmi, or the goddess of wealth, i thought i would focus in this piece on the place of wealth in our society today. I also want to highlight the difference between Lakshmi and money, which may seem similar but are not the same. Before that, i start with an incident. Last week, i was in a session conducted by leading Hollywood filmmaker Oliver Stone, as part of a film festival organised in Mumbai. One of Oliver’s famous films is Wall Street (1984), which had its sequel come out recently. In the original film, Michael Douglas played Gordon Gekko, a crafty, unscrupulous, yet dashing financier. Gekko, with his signature line, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good”, became one of the most memorable characters in US cinema history. I asked Oliver why he thought Gekko became so popular. He said it was because Gekko is successful, especially in terms of money. It doesn’t matter that he is unethical, selfish, greedy, or a terrible human being. Americans became obsessed with material wealth in the 1980s. ‘Greed is good’ was just the validation they needed at the time. People didn’t care about a person’s values, people cared about a person’s money. At a time of year when we pray to Lakshmi, or the goddess of material wealth, it is fitting to introspect if we too are slowly becoming the same. Why else do our political leaders loot the very people who elected them? Why do they stuff their own pockets with hundreds of crores they couldn’t possibly spend in their lifetimes? Why would an army general want to pocket a flat meant for a soldier’s widow? Why do so many intelligent, educated, respected bureaucrats succumb to corruption? The answer is simple: money, or rather the importance our society has begun to attach to money. Don’t get me wrong. Money is extremely important. Poverty is a disease, and surviving well in the modern world does require a certain amount of material wealth. However, above this level, people don’t seek money to satisfy material needs. Beyond that, money has other uses. There are many reasons why our politicians and government officials steal it. I list some of them. One, money gives stature – the bigger your house, the more lavish your parties and the more high-end the places you shop – and gives you a certain place in society today that is above others. We have newspapers filled with ads of luxury goods, as if acquiring them is life’s ultimate aim. We celebrate rich lists and people who live in expensive houses. We make TV shows about expensive weddings and judge people by their residential address. Today, a woman decked in jewellery and with a designer bag and shoes may be seen as of a higher stature than, say, a schoolteacher in a cotton sari who teaches hundreds of kids. People who earn high salaries make more news than, say, brave journalists who expose scams or selfless doctors who help the poor. In such a societal set-up, the temptation to seek wealth irrespective of the means is especially high. Two, money gives a sense of security. This is a genuine benefit of money, as retirement planning is about building assets in your working life to be used later. However, politicians have a particular sense of insecurity owing to the innately uncertain nature of their jobs. They can be elected in and out of office. Money stolen by politicians is often kept for their party campaigns, to fight the next election. Being in power, and keeping that position is more important (and gets you more attention) than being a real leader and role model. So, you have elected MPs robbing citizens. Since the majority of Indian citizens don’t care about corruption issues and will vote on caste, religion or even factors such as dynasty over performance, the looting never stops. Stature and security are constructs of the mind. The irony is, no matter how much money you have, if you don’t fundamentally value yourself from within, you will never feel that status despite the crores stashed away. That is why corrupt people keep on accumulating money until they get caught. They hope the money will give them a better place in life. However, since they have stolen and not earned the wealth, the crime gnaws at them from within and they can never be at peace. They have accumulated money for sure, but they haven’t accumulated Lakshmi. Lakshmi is wealth accumulated through honest and fair means. Money can be stolen as well. Lakshmi brings peace and happiness to the person who earns it. Stolen money only brings emptiness to the soul. If you notice Lakshmi’s idol, she has gold coins around her, signifying wealth. However, she is also seated on a lotus flower, and holds lotuses in her hands. The lotus is a sign of purity and peace, signifiying spiritual well-being; of purity and beauty even in the muddy waters of the world. Without this peace, wealth has no meaning. This festive season, when you pray, ask not for money, but for Lakshmi – wealth attained through pure means that keeps the mind as peaceful and beautiful as the lotus. The corrupt who steal from us don’t know this difference, and are merely collecting money. No matter how big their Diwali parties or lavish their puja ceremonies are, true Lakshmi will never come to them. She only comes to those who are pure at heart. The writer is a best-selling novelist.
Chetan Bhagat Happy Diwali to all readers. Since Diwali is a time we worship Lakshmi, or the goddess of wealth, i thought i would focus in this piece on the place of wealth in our society today. I also want to highlight the difference between Lakshmi and money, which may seem similar but are not the same. Before that, i start with an incident. Last week, i was in a session conducted by leading Hollywood filmmaker Oliver Stone, as part of a film festival organised in Mumbai. One of Oliver’s famous films is Wall Street (1984), which had its sequel come out recently. In the original film, Michael Douglas played Gordon Gekko, a crafty, unscrupulous, yet dashing financier. Gekko, with his signature line, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good”, became one of the most memorable characters in US cinema history. I asked Oliver why he thought Gekko became so popular. He said it was because Gekko is successful, especially in terms of money. It doesn’t matter that he is unethical, selfish, greedy, or a terrible human being. Americans became obsessed with material wealth in the 1980s. ‘Greed is good’ was just the validation they needed at the time. People didn’t care about a person’s values, people cared about a person’s money. At a time of year when we pray to Lakshmi, or the goddess of material wealth, it is fitting to introspect if we too are slowly becoming the same. Why else do our political leaders loot the very people who elected them? Why do they stuff their own pockets with hundreds of crores they couldn’t possibly spend in their lifetimes? Why would an army general want to pocket a flat meant for a soldier’s widow? Why do so many intelligent, educated, respected bureaucrats succumb to corruption? The answer is simple: money, or rather the importance our society has begun to attach to money. Don’t get me wrong. Money is extremely important. Poverty is a disease, and surviving well in the modern world does require a certain amount of material wealth. However, above this level, people don’t seek money to satisfy material needs. Beyond that, money has other uses. There are many reasons why our politicians and government officials steal it. I list some of them. One, money gives stature – the bigger your house, the more lavish your parties and the more high-end the places you shop – and gives you a certain place in society today that is above others. We have newspapers filled with ads of luxury goods, as if acquiring them is life’s ultimate aim. We celebrate rich lists and people who live in expensive houses. We make TV shows about expensive weddings and judge people by their residential address. Today, a woman decked in jewellery and with a designer bag and shoes may be seen as of a higher stature than, say, a schoolteacher in a cotton sari who teaches hundreds of kids. People who earn high salaries make more news than, say, brave journalists who expose scams or selfless doctors who help the poor. In such a societal set-up, the temptation to seek wealth irrespective of the means is especially high. Two, money gives a sense of security. This is a genuine benefit of money, as retirement planning is about building assets in your working life to be used later. However, politicians have a particular sense of insecurity owing to the innately uncertain nature of their jobs. They can be elected in and out of office. Money stolen by politicians is often kept for their party campaigns, to fight the next election. Being in power, and keeping that position is more important (and gets you more attention) than being a real leader and role model. So, you have elected MPs robbing citizens. Since the majority of Indian citizens don’t care about corruption issues and will vote on caste, religion or even factors such as dynasty over performance, the looting never stops. Stature and security are constructs of the mind. The irony is, no matter how much money you have, if you don’t fundamentally value yourself from within, you will never feel that status despite the crores stashed away. That is why corrupt people keep on accumulating money until they get caught. They hope the money will give them a better place in life. However, since they have stolen and not earned the wealth, the crime gnaws at them from within and they can never be at peace. They have accumulated money for sure, but they haven’t accumulated Lakshmi. Lakshmi is wealth accumulated through honest and fair means. Money can be stolen as well. Lakshmi brings peace and happiness to the person who earns it. Stolen money only brings emptiness to the soul. If you notice Lakshmi’s idol, she has gold coins around her, signifying wealth. However, she is also seated on a lotus flower, and holds lotuses in her hands. The lotus is a sign of purity and peace, signifiying spiritual well-being; of purity and beauty even in the muddy waters of the world. Without this peace, wealth has no meaning. This festive season, when you pray, ask not for money, but for Lakshmi – wealth attained through pure means that keeps the mind as peaceful and beautiful as the lotus. The corrupt who steal from us don’t know this difference, and are merely collecting money. No matter how big their Diwali parties or lavish their puja ceremonies are, true Lakshmi will never come to them. She only comes to those who are pure at heart. The writer is a best-selling novelist.
Flair with a care JOEANNA REBELLO FERNANDES TIMES NEWS NETWORK, Jan 30, 2010
From fig leaves to polyester coats and now, organic underwear , man has come a full circle and landed back on the branch. And this time, he's plucking recycled shirts, salvaged boots and reversible skirts from the tree of life.
For those newly arrived from the synthetic polyester aisles, eco fashion is not Pamela Anderson in cabbage leaves. It is Anderson's line of organic fashion. Clothing conglomerates and indie designers have caught on to fashion factory facts like 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw material to textile, that the growth of non-organic cotton consumes 25 per cent of the world's pesticides, and that a simple cotton T-shirt leaves considerable ecological wreckage as it travels down the assembly line. They know now that two-thirds of a garment's carbon footprint occurs when it exits the factory....................
For those newly arrived from the synthetic polyester aisles, eco fashion is not Pamela Anderson in cabbage leaves. It is Anderson's line of organic fashion. Clothing conglomerates and indie designers have caught on to fashion factory facts like 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw material to textile, that the growth of non-organic cotton consumes 25 per cent of the world's pesticides, and that a simple cotton T-shirt leaves considerable ecological wreckage as it travels down the assembly line. They know now that two-thirds of a garment's carbon footprint occurs when it exits the factory....................
Now, Salwa Judum in Buddha’s land? Tamal Sengupta, ET Bureau Jan 11, 2011, 06.40am IST
KOLKATA: Salwa Judum, or 'peace march' , appears to have made a silent entry into West Bengal, albeit on the sly. The system was introduced by the Chhattisgarh government in June, 2005, in the Dantewada district where the state administration armed villagers to combat the Maoists.
The anti-Naxalite people's resistance movement eventually received bipartisan support from both the opposition and the rural parties. State police even trained Dantewada villagers to handle firearms to take on the Maoists. However, the Chhattisgarh government had to face criticism from various quarters for taking such counter-terrorism steps.
Officially, the CPM-led government in West Bengal never hinted that it would introduce Salwa Judum. But, it appears, the party has silently introduced a home-grown version in the Maoist-infested Jangalmahal. "It appears the CPM-led government has given passive support to the party's bid to indulge in counter-terrorism ," said a political source closely tracking the developments
The anti-Naxalite people's resistance movement eventually received bipartisan support from both the opposition and the rural parties. State police even trained Dantewada villagers to handle firearms to take on the Maoists. However, the Chhattisgarh government had to face criticism from various quarters for taking such counter-terrorism steps.
Officially, the CPM-led government in West Bengal never hinted that it would introduce Salwa Judum. But, it appears, the party has silently introduced a home-grown version in the Maoist-infested Jangalmahal. "It appears the CPM-led government has given passive support to the party's bid to indulge in counter-terrorism ," said a political source closely tracking the developments
How many cows does it take to run a data centre Kavita Kukday-Deb Sunday Times of India
The answer to the question About 10,000 dairy cows should do it,claims Chandrakant Patel,director of Hewlett Packards Sustainable IT Ecosystem Lab and an HP Fellow.The idea might sound bizarre,but researchers at the companys labs have actually come up with a symbiotic relationship that could help Indian dairy farmers get into the technology business.HPs project showcases how cow manure can be used to power large data centres for companies such as Google,IBM and Microsoft.There is an industry need to explore new concepts in data centre design, says Tom Christian,senior research scientist at HPs Sustainable IT Ecosystem Lab,and project lead.And,while the idea of cow-powered data centres may sound esoteric,theres a lot of value to be found in challenging conventional wisdom to solve issues faced today and ten years from now. Data centres facing energy shortage As companies store huge amounts of information online,there is a constant demand for bigger and better data centres and these need a lot of energy to run.As these facilities grow in size,they require even more power to operate,and therefore,are increasingly being located near existing
Nehru Stubbornness Caused 62 War By Shastri Ramachandaran Times of India Mumbai
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru shut the door to negotiations on the (India-China ) boundary on July 1,1954,according to a just-released book by A G Noorani based on archival research and hitherto unpublished material.And this Nehrus refusal to negotiate,and the 1960 rebuff to Zhou Enlai when he was visiting and appeared ready to settle the issue may well have sowed the seeds of the 1962 India-China war.The important and explicit directive,from Nehru,in a 17-para memorandum,cited by Noorani in his book,says: Both as flowing from our policy and as a consequence of our Agreement with China,this frontier should be considered a firm and definite one which is not open to discussion with anybody.There may be very minor points of discussion.Even these should not be raised by us. Noorani,an expert on legal and constitutional issues,writes in the book,India-China Boundary Problem.1846-1947 : History and Diplomacy,that India unilaterally revised its official map.The legend boundary undefined in the western (Kashmir) and middle sectors (Uttar Pradesh) in the official maps of 1948 and 1950 were dropped in the new map of 1954.A firm clear line was shown instead. Noorani says that Nehrus July 1,1954 directive was apparently in pursuance of a decision taken on March 24,1953 to formulate a new line for the boundary.It was a fateful decision.Old maps were burnt.One former foreign secretary told this writer how,as a junior official,he himself was obliged to participate in this fatuous exercise. It is speculated that the official was Ram Sathe,Indias last consul-general in Xinjiang and later Ambassador to China.The book,dedicated to Sathes memory,was released on December 16 at Vice President Hamid Ansaris houseduring Chinese Premier Wen Jiabaos visit.It mentions that new maps were printed showing Northern and North Eastern frontiers without any reference to any line.Nehru wanted these maps to be sent to embassies and introduced to the public and be used in schools.Describing as historically untrue every one of Nehrus statements in his letter to Chinese Premier Zhou En-lai on March 22,1959,Noorani states that as late as 1950,Indian maps showed the boundary as undefined.The unpublished archival material in Chapter 12,Aftermath,quotes extensively from the 17-page memo and says a divided Cabinet,an irresponsible opposition,an uninformed press and a restive Parliament,fed on bad history held Nehru hostage.
Yash Birla, The awakening within, TNN Jan 23, 2011, 02.07pm IST
Some of the best business decisions I've ever made probably sound completely crazy to most people, but the secret to my success isn't all about business know-how and strategic systems; it's a whole lot deeper than that.
I've tapped into my higher self and use that for guidance when making decisions about life and business. I try not to focus on what I should be "doing" but how I am "being" in my business. This allows me to fully integrate my spiritual tools into the way I run my b u s i n e s s . The key is integrating your business self with your spiritual soul. Once you accomplish that, you can heal your business on all levels. When your business and spirituality are not aligned, breakdowns happen, resulting in stress and unhappiness. When you are a spiritual being, you always know the truth of any given situation and how to handle it in a way that feels good and teaches you something along the way..............................................................................................................................................Towards one religion
The philosophy of one common religion, which maharishis have been forecasting, has come true in the last decade. Besides Hollywood actors Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, a huge number of Westerners showed interest in wanting to imbibe Indian philosophy and spirituality. Similarly, we've looked West to learn their ways of higher attainment. When we read about similarities between Sanskrit and German languages or Egyptian and Indian rituals, we are taking steps towards becoming a global religious family. Yes, the decade has also seen the rise of a myopic section which uses religion as propaganda to terrorise the world, but there has also been more acceptance and tolerance of all religious and spiritual values.
I've tapped into my higher self and use that for guidance when making decisions about life and business. I try not to focus on what I should be "doing" but how I am "being" in my business. This allows me to fully integrate my spiritual tools into the way I run my b u s i n e s s . The key is integrating your business self with your spiritual soul. Once you accomplish that, you can heal your business on all levels. When your business and spirituality are not aligned, breakdowns happen, resulting in stress and unhappiness. When you are a spiritual being, you always know the truth of any given situation and how to handle it in a way that feels good and teaches you something along the way..............................................................................................................................................Towards one religion
The philosophy of one common religion, which maharishis have been forecasting, has come true in the last decade. Besides Hollywood actors Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, a huge number of Westerners showed interest in wanting to imbibe Indian philosophy and spirituality. Similarly, we've looked West to learn their ways of higher attainment. When we read about similarities between Sanskrit and German languages or Egyptian and Indian rituals, we are taking steps towards becoming a global religious family. Yes, the decade has also seen the rise of a myopic section which uses religion as propaganda to terrorise the world, but there has also been more acceptance and tolerance of all religious and spiritual values.
The Times Of India Ahmedabad; Date: Dec 24, 2010; Section: Times Nation; Page: 12 Sabarimala earns 74cr in 33 days
Thiruvananthapuram: One month into the pilgrimage at Sabarimala, the shrine has collected Rs 74.7 crore in revenue, about Rs 10 crore more than what it generated in the same period last season. Rs 31.09 crore was from the sale of “aravana,” “appam” sales fetched Rs 6.64 crore. The shrine also received Rs 27.97 crore in donation from devotees, a statement said.
DNA, Why can't Maharashtra emulate Gujarat on develepment issues, asks Sharad Pawar
Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had a word of appreciation for the development model in Gujarat where he said the ruling party, the opposition as well as the media come together to take the state forward.
"On the issues of development the ruling party, the opposition and the media in Gujarat join hands to ensure that various projects come to the state. Why this does not happen in Maharashtra?," he asked in an informal interaction with media persons here last night.
Pawar was responding to the queries about Opposition in some quarters to the Jaitapur nuclear power project in Ratnagiri in Maharashtra on environmental grounds.
"Similar objections were raised when Enron power plant was set up saying that it would damage horticulture in Konkan. Nothing of the sort happened," Pawar said adding that Maharashtra suffered from deficit in power supply and needed additional power plants to progress on the industrial front and generation of employment.
"If every project in the state is opposed, how would it develop?," he asked.
"On the issues of development the ruling party, the opposition and the media in Gujarat join hands to ensure that various projects come to the state. Why this does not happen in Maharashtra?," he asked in an informal interaction with media persons here last night.
Pawar was responding to the queries about Opposition in some quarters to the Jaitapur nuclear power project in Ratnagiri in Maharashtra on environmental grounds.
"Similar objections were raised when Enron power plant was set up saying that it would damage horticulture in Konkan. Nothing of the sort happened," Pawar said adding that Maharashtra suffered from deficit in power supply and needed additional power plants to progress on the industrial front and generation of employment.
"If every project in the state is opposed, how would it develop?," he asked.
Economic Times; Extended lunch breaks can be a boon
In most companies, coffee-table conversations and long lunch breaks are considered a waste of productive employee time. But good leaders understand that if properly utilised and channelised, these so-called 'time-wasters' can actually be used to enhance organisational productivity.
The main objective of any organisation is to coordinate the actions of a group of individuals to attain a certain goal. This coordination does not happen automatically, but requires some effort since individuals do not collaborate on their own on goals that are outside their immediate purview. Initially, before the arrival of Classical Taylorism, this coordination was achieved through an abundant stock of social capital — a concept, typically used in economics that refers to connections within, and between, social networks. The core idea is that social networks inside organisations — be it a religious group or a cricket club — add a certain amount of value to organisations through the attributes they help build, like trust and goodwill between individuals. These values ensure coordination between individuals, though they may come from different backgrounds. Once management became a formal science, thinkers assumed that modern companies progressively would replace social capital-based, informal coordination mechanisms, with formal ones like management policies, hierarchies and bureaucratic rules. And as businesses started becoming more complex by the day, thinkers were quick to predict the death of social capital.............................
The main objective of any organisation is to coordinate the actions of a group of individuals to attain a certain goal. This coordination does not happen automatically, but requires some effort since individuals do not collaborate on their own on goals that are outside their immediate purview. Initially, before the arrival of Classical Taylorism, this coordination was achieved through an abundant stock of social capital — a concept, typically used in economics that refers to connections within, and between, social networks. The core idea is that social networks inside organisations — be it a religious group or a cricket club — add a certain amount of value to organisations through the attributes they help build, like trust and goodwill between individuals. These values ensure coordination between individuals, though they may come from different backgrounds. Once management became a formal science, thinkers assumed that modern companies progressively would replace social capital-based, informal coordination mechanisms, with formal ones like management policies, hierarchies and bureaucratic rules. And as businesses started becoming more complex by the day, thinkers were quick to predict the death of social capital.............................
23 Jun, 2011, 03.59AM IST, NEERAJ KAUSHAL, Economic Times
Does money buy happiness? Are people living in rich countries happier than people in poorer countries? Does economic growth lead to happiness? Is it possible to measure happiness or well-being? There was once a time when such questions were left to philosophers to understand. Quantifying happiness was out of question; attaching a money value to it was blasphemy. And then entered in this field the scientist. Economics of happiness is now a growingly large field of research. Social scientists have begun to question the age-old assumption that all economic activity is in the pursuit of happiness to maximise what in economics jargon is called 'utility'. Economists have started measuring happiness, conducting statistical analysis to investigate the factors that 'determine' happiness and if money happens to be one of them. The Great Recession in Europe and the US and its painfully slow demise has led politicians to join the search for more appropriate measures of national well-being and happiness. The age-old metric of economic activity - the gross domestic product - is felling out of favour with many western governments. In September 2009, on the first anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked other nations to drop their obsessions on GDP and a adopt measure of 'well-being' as the metric of progress. A year later, the British Prime Minister David Cameron asked the Office of National Statistics in the UK to produce an index to gauge the general wellbeing of the people by assessing their psychological and environmental well-being. A number of other countries, including Canada and Australia, are also considering developing such a measure. Cameron, however, wants to go a step further. He wants to use the new measure to steer public policy. The concept of measuring progress with happiness and not economic activity is not entirely western. The former king of Bhutan coined the term gross national happiness about four decades ago and the Bhutanese government has developed detailed surveys to measure it. American politicians, of course, have a greater faith in the market than fellow politicians across the Atlantic or up north in Canada. But they too are finding it hard convince the American public that GDP growth reflects prosperity of all. The US economy is in what seems to be a long phase of jobless (read: joyless) recovery with stagnating wages. The growth in GDP for the past few quarters, therefore, does not reflect the plight of the families most hit by the recession. Economists and psychologists are devising ways of measuring happiness and well-being. Alan Krueger, former assistant secretary for economic policy and chief economist of the US department of treasury, and psychologist Daniel Kahneman and colleagues have developed what they call the 'national time accounting' (NTA) - as opposed to national income accounting, which is used to measure income or GDP. NTA is based on surveys that involve asking respondents to keep a diary of their daily activity and record their feeling about each of the activity on an 'enjoyment scale'.........................................................................
Congratulations
Dear Sandeep
Congratulations for a well thought and written book, it was a pleasure to read the same.
The book clearly shows holistic approach of the countries Management philosophy (past) which translated in the countries global leadership.
Also it sharply focuses on the current western techniques and its divergence from our heritage.
An engrossing read for a person trying to forge individual stamp in management
Gulshen Patel
Managing Director
Sai Advertising
Congratulations for a well thought and written book, it was a pleasure to read the same.
The book clearly shows holistic approach of the countries Management philosophy (past) which translated in the countries global leadership.
Also it sharply focuses on the current western techniques and its divergence from our heritage.
An engrossing read for a person trying to forge individual stamp in management
Gulshen Patel
Managing Director
Sai Advertising
HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS!!
HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS!!
for authoring the two wonderful and brilliant books
Business of Freedom
Indian Ocean Strategy
The Indian Ocean Strategy intelligently brings out The Theme of The Times whose idea has finally arrived on the world that seeks deliverance from the two most destabilizing and buffeting aspects – avarice & fear of annihilating terror. These two can be vanquished only by Unleashing the Power of Bharat.
USA President Barack Obama during his maiden visit to India during Divali 2010 days had said: “India is no more emerging, India has emerged”. Your book therefore, is also among the initial signs of the manifestation of arrival of Bharat – not India – on the world stage.
What is striking is your well-thought selection of the word India for Bharat in the title of the book (*Indian Ocean Strategy*) and then unfolding inside the book the vast enriching arena of Bharat and its philosophy in which the political and geographical entity India is just a miniscule aspect, which does not seem to have been used at all!!
The book is a whiff of fresh air in the arena of books on management and India, one that offers an excellent blend of the progressive ideas of both - the maturing West and the ageless , enriching, enlivening and benevolent Bharat. Your bringing together on this single platform of the diverse thoughts of say Rg Veda (right in the first chapter Setting the Stage), arious Puranas and Shastras, Chanakya and Swami Vivekananda and many more … with that of Hu Shib, Steven Rudolf, Leibnez, Mark Twain and other bright
minds of the West is a intelligent blend of progressive thoughts from the two seemingly diverse worlds aimed at showing The Path Forward.
The profound wordy sketch of the Temple of Bharatyeea Management (pg 173 and back-page) brings out the essence of all-round richness of Bharat.
May this and other books of yours – published and also those that are in your enriched mind’s pipeline –initiate the required change in the deep recesses of the minds and hearts of the thinking minds of the readers – politicians, bureaucrats, members of the India Inc and also the young, maturing and matured - to whom this book is targeted ‘…for school of Indian management’ … who individually and collectively would contribute to pave the way for the glorious Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The World as a Family.
One point: The lay readers like me would be enriched more with some basic description of the names and quotes of those respected persons who are known only to the enlightened and intelligent persons.
With Best Wishes for your continued efforts
Sharad Mistry
for authoring the two wonderful and brilliant books
Business of Freedom
Indian Ocean Strategy
The Indian Ocean Strategy intelligently brings out The Theme of The Times whose idea has finally arrived on the world that seeks deliverance from the two most destabilizing and buffeting aspects – avarice & fear of annihilating terror. These two can be vanquished only by Unleashing the Power of Bharat.
USA President Barack Obama during his maiden visit to India during Divali 2010 days had said: “India is no more emerging, India has emerged”. Your book therefore, is also among the initial signs of the manifestation of arrival of Bharat – not India – on the world stage.
What is striking is your well-thought selection of the word India for Bharat in the title of the book (*Indian Ocean Strategy*) and then unfolding inside the book the vast enriching arena of Bharat and its philosophy in which the political and geographical entity India is just a miniscule aspect, which does not seem to have been used at all!!
The book is a whiff of fresh air in the arena of books on management and India, one that offers an excellent blend of the progressive ideas of both - the maturing West and the ageless , enriching, enlivening and benevolent Bharat. Your bringing together on this single platform of the diverse thoughts of say Rg Veda (right in the first chapter Setting the Stage), arious Puranas and Shastras, Chanakya and Swami Vivekananda and many more … with that of Hu Shib, Steven Rudolf, Leibnez, Mark Twain and other bright
minds of the West is a intelligent blend of progressive thoughts from the two seemingly diverse worlds aimed at showing The Path Forward.
The profound wordy sketch of the Temple of Bharatyeea Management (pg 173 and back-page) brings out the essence of all-round richness of Bharat.
May this and other books of yours – published and also those that are in your enriched mind’s pipeline –initiate the required change in the deep recesses of the minds and hearts of the thinking minds of the readers – politicians, bureaucrats, members of the India Inc and also the young, maturing and matured - to whom this book is targeted ‘…for school of Indian management’ … who individually and collectively would contribute to pave the way for the glorious Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The World as a Family.
One point: The lay readers like me would be enriched more with some basic description of the names and quotes of those respected persons who are known only to the enlightened and intelligent persons.
With Best Wishes for your continued efforts
Sharad Mistry
Honuored
Vishwa Adhyan Kendra organised a felicitation program on 5th march for my book.
Will remain obliged to them.
Will remain obliged to them.
Lecture on Indian Ocean Strategy
Thanks to Vivek Agarwall, had a chance to speak on Indian Ocean Strategy at Bangur Nagar. Few genetleman promised to help me in publish hindi edition of the book.
lecture of Indian Ocean Strategy
Had an opprtunity to speak at Starcom on my book. Thanks to Rajesh Iyer.
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