The Super-Human Within!

23 MAR, 2012, 11.34AM IST, DEVDUTT PATTANAIK, Management Mythos: What Krishna tells us about not being wrong in breaking rules, if dharma is upheld Narada had the power to travel through space and time. One day, he decided to pay a visit to Ayodhya , the city of the rule-following Ram and to Vrindavan, the village of the rule-breaking Krishna. At Ayodhya, he told the story of Krishna; the residents did not appreciate the rakish, mischievous cowherd at all. He is not serious at all, they said. At Vrindavan, he told the story of Ram; the residents did not appreciate the upright and rather serious king at all. He is no fun, they said. Narada then went to Hanuman, the mighty monkey, and asked him who he preferred : Ram or Krishna? And Hanuman said, "What is the difference? Both are Vishnu to me; Lakshmi follows him, whether he is Ram or Krishna." So what is the difference between Ram and Krishna? Both belong to two different contexts: Ram lives in Treta yuga and Krishna in Dvapar...

- The rose within- So Very true ! A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully and before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom, but noticed thorns upon the stem and he thought, "How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns? Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and just before it was ready to bloom... it died. So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The God-like qualities planted in us at birth, grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential. Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns of another, and find the ...

To Those of Us Born during 1940 - 1979 TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1940's, 50's,  60's and 70's!! We were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cots covered with bright colored lead-base paints. We had no child proof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no caps or helmets on our heads. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and some times no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We ate cup cakes and other sweets made with Butter & white sugar but were not over weight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing....that's why! We would leave home in the morning, go to school mostly on foot and play all ...

Today’s ET editorial guest column featured Prof. Arvind Pangariya - Columbia Univ. taking on Indian policy making clubbing social goals. Like the current FDI policy change of allowing 100% in single brand retail but with 30% sourcing from Indian small and village industries. He had a point in asking to make separate policies for separate objectives but then I say where is the harm in uplifting the small and village industry in this manner. Ultimately businesses around the world talk about giving back to the society via philanthropy then why not do it this way. ‘Ikea’ deciding otherwise on investment plans into India could rather help the small scale local entrepreneurs to upgrade to the desired quality standards, I m sure there will be many takers and investors. But then there is no business sense to this, after all it’s not their core competency. Likewise even the Indian multinationals want the government to provide the basic infrastructure in place first and then they do the project ...

Could not resist sharing this....must read! 7 Reasons why you MUST know SALES! Posted on January 26, 2012 by Rodinhood When I was 17 years old, a real estate agent – M.M Goyal of Jaico Real Estates in Mumbai told me a Hindi dialog. He said ‘Vyaapari woh, Jo Bechta bhala’. Translated, it means “The businessman who knows how to ‘Sell’ is truly successful”. 25 years later, I couldn’t agree with him more. No matter which profession or job you are in, you have to know how to sell if you want an accelerated career. Here are seven compelling reasons I have learnt personally: 1. Sales make you believe in yourself. When I started an unheard concept of creating online contests (contests2win) in 1998, I couldn’t even explain the idea to people because the online world was alien to them. In a famous meeting I had with Gunender Kapur (GK) of Hindustan Lever (that lasted for one hour), in which I pounded the idea of online promotions for the Annapurna Brand that he headed. He finally exclaimed, ...

16 Feb, 2012, 04.28AM IST, Krishnamurthy Subramanian - "The Economic Times" Commercial MFIs can make markets work for the poor (Also check the attached photo) Commercial microfinance institutions (MFIs) are an exemplification of making markets work for the poor. Are they indeed? A recent piece of research, comparing the lending performance of for-profit MFIs with not-for-profit MFIs, shows that though for-profit MFIs serve close to three-quarters of the market, the evidence does not seem to indicate that these MFIs lend indiscriminately when compared to their peers. Supporters and critics of microfinance agree that the demand for reliable financial services is huge. However, the role of fully-commercial, profit-seeking institutions in providing such microfinance loans remains controversial. Critics argue that MFIs are nothing but brute moneylenders, the very beast that microfinance was built to root out. Supporters, however, argue that several hundreds of th...

Term of the Day Dividend Discount Model Mathematical formula used generally by stockbrokers to determine the selling price of a firm's stock (shares). Based on the discounted value of the expected future dividend amounts, it is used usually to spot firms that are undervalued by the stockmarket but have potential for high returns.   Rgds.

It is not as simple as you may think!! Creditor: A  party  to whom  money  is owed.  Common   classifications  of a creditor include:  (1)   Secured : who has a  legal   right  to take a specific  property  of the  borrower  and  sell  it in case of a  default .  (2) Unsecured : who does not have any such right.  (3) Preferential or  senior : who takes  precedence  over other creditors in laying  claim  to a bankrupt  borrower's  property.  (4) Junior : whose claim is addressed after satisfying the  claims  of preferential or senior creditors. The corporate world many a times is not as simple as it seems on the 'face value'.....  oops..."Whats' Face Value ? " Wait and watch !! Rgds.

Memorandum of understanding (MOU):  A   document   that expresses   mutual  agreement  on an   issue   between two or more   parties . Memorandum of understanding are generally recognized as binding, even if no   legal   claim   could be based on the   rights   and   obligations   laid down in them. To be legally   operative , a memorandum of understanding must: (1) Identify the   contracting parties ,  (2) Spell out the subject matter of the   agreement   and its  objectives , (3) Summarize the essential   terms   of the agreement, and  (4) Must be signed by the contracting parties.  Also called   letter of intent. Used often in the financial dailies....as MOUs keep happening everyday between companies for technology &  knowledge sharing, buying & selling products or may be on working together on a project etc.  So, next time yo...

  Term of the Day Return on Investment (ROI) The earning ability of assets measured as the ratio of the net income ( profit less depreciation) to the average capital employed (or equity capital) in a company or project. Expressed usually as a percentage, return on investment is a measure of profitability that indicates whether or not a company is using its resources in an efficient manner.  For example, if the long-term return on investment of a company is lower than its "cost-of-capital"(i.e. interest), then the company will be better off by liquidating (selling off) its assets and depositing the proceeds (money/ cash) in a bank . Also called rate of return or yield.  ........... Dear Friends, You might be thinking ET Univ. was not around for a week.....actually S.G.B Amravati Univ. MBA students were busy with their exams, so I thought of giving them a break. More aspirants joining this blog is a happy feeling, more encouraging will be their participation ...

On 1/7/12, Mukta Mantri <mantrimukta@yahoo.in> wrote: > Just wanted to know if PENSION FUNDS are allowed to invest in stock markets? > if so, what %? Bcoz, being the old age benefit scheme, it should not be > investing in fluctuating markets as this would lead to uncertain returns and > may lead to capital erosion. Dear Mrs. Mantri Madam, First and foremost I must congratulate you for you are asking the FIRST question in ET Univ. and a very good one at that. Pension funds hold a major chunk of Institutional money....which is very important for the capital mkts. Now simply put maximizing returns with adequate safety is always the priority  for the Govt. Hence the funds do enter the capital mkts in parts. According to the New Pension Scheme 2004 guidelines contributor can choose from the investment options....Equity or Govt. Bonds or other forms of scheduled investments but if he has not chosen any, then the "Auto Option" is activated and depending ...