A trip to Dehradun, mussorie and dhanaulti hill point: memories revisited..

Life needs a break and so does me.To my NTPC friends from 24 to 26January, a long drawn holiday but for me saturday is not a regular break so I had to take 1 day leave on 24th Jan to accompany my NTPC friends on a revisit trip to the hills ( I had been to mussorie with my NPTI friends earlier).

Day 1:

We ( prabhat,Sarang and me) got evrything packed in one go and in one big bag the previous night and got ready to start a new journey the day after. On 24th morning, we had to make our other friends make some morning blues so as to get them prepared for the trip. By the time we are ready , it is almost 10Am and then Puja of the cars began with our new found priest ( MILU ).

This was not just a trip but a testing of car driving of our two friends as we took their newly bought sleek Hyndui i10s for the trip.We started in 2 cars and prior to that i was given responsibity to take care of the cash.We pooled Rs 1000 each to make the trip a hassle free one.

By the way, we got distracted because none of us knew the exact road to dehradun. And for our woes, we found roads blocked at certain places , so by enquiring with local guys, we get on going towards dehradun.

The first journey break was there at Ganga Nahar, a 50 km stretch ( short cut to dehradun). Probably a election rally was goin on with villages side by the Nahar so a bit late as our rule of law does not apply to the ruling parties and politicians.

A sarson ka khet, that was quite beautiful and that reminded us the scene from DDLJ. We all got out of our cars and did a photoshoot there in between the farm , that was quite nice.

After that a terrible thing happened..As we started to move from there , Our car got slight head on collision wioth another speedy approached car from the other side resulting a huge sound , for some time I thought there was firing from outside. At less than a minute, we got realised that the front mirror got completely damaged.

Thank god!! we were unhurt , leaving behind the whole affar when we started , the side mirror cracked like anything , just like a bomb. After that we realised the impact of that collision, it was very strong as the window pane absorbed the full shock and it took it very less time to crack in pieces...

Terrible blow!!!!! it costs a lot of money and the poor fellow had to bear it.Our next stop was at Cheetal grand , beautiful restaurant for the visitors , a little bit costly too..we had our lunch there and again started towards dehradun.. By the time we reached to Bana bhai, it was almost 9.00PM but the two new drivers got it alright as they drove us to the destination in the hill areas too. prabhat had to shift cars as he was the only perfectionoist over there when it came to expat driving....

Banabhai's room was fabulous and I wonder that kind of room in Delhi might costs u above 20000 bucks as rent but he was paying a cool 6000bucks for that room. Great.. we got our dinners ordered from the nearby hotels and had our bellies full..

Day 2:

We started at around 10Am towards Dhanaulti ..but bana bhai took us to robbers scape , a place in dehradun where robbers used to flee taking the help of narrow gaps between the mountains.That was a stretch between the stones of a mountain with little pass of water .. A great place to hang around...that was quite dangerous too with sharp stones above and beneath, a slip from the stones and one is sure to break some of the parts of the body. A picturesque for taking photoes and we did exactly that. We were surprised to find some young couples there doing romancing..great place to have ur wild desire satisfied and perhaps that was the reason these couples were there.

We had a dance there and that moments were captured in the digicam too. We did not have a full proof plan and the time was too short to cover everything. We decided to go to Dhanaulti first and started our journey. The roads were too curvy and dangerous so the driving responsibilty were on Prabhat and Bana bhai. Prabhat was too cautious but Bana bhai was in his best , moving the car like anything, It was too dangerous to sit in his car while he was driving.

We got to the hill top at Dhanaulti and some of us wanted to visit Sarkanda Devi Maa temple. It was around 3. 30Pm and I advised not to visit the temple as I knew that it would take them at least 2 hours up and down, but they resisted and some of us started towards the Mandir. I was worried about Sarang as it could have difficult for him to climb up as he got a big belly like me..ha ha ha..

But they dared and in the mean time we went to a near by place for relaxing but something interesting happened there. One boy was after one girl, running to get her, I thought they might be siblings but i was wrong when I found that the boy got the girl from behind and kissed her face like anything lieing on the road, quite sexy ...Yah Indian culture keeps changing now and scenes like these are quite common now a days...

We found very little time to go to the top of hill and enjoy sunset but we did ( prabhat ,sarang and me)..taken some snaps there, the sun set was very beautiful but we did not find any clouds and ice over there. A bunch of young lads over there told me to confirm when snow fall will be there and plan to visit accordingly.

We enjoyed the maggi there ( though 1 plate of maggi cost Rs 25/-) , It was dark at the hills when we returned and we had to drive carefully as it was too dangerous to drive in night.We entered Mussorie and just got it from the wrong side and could not visit the mall road unfortunately. for me it was not painful but for others they missed the chance to visit mussorie.

Bnma bhai then stayed at a point where he showed us Mussorie at one side and deharadun at the other side, I mean mussorie at the top and Dehradun at the bottom with a dazzling star in between.. I named that : Banabhai special"...

At last we got to our staying place in Dehradun, had our meal ( Sarang cooked all though he was too tired)..and slept like log.

Day 3:

Started earlier for Noida as we had to reach by evening , had our tiffin ( mix parantha at a dhaba) and lunch at chettal garden and in between We tasted the local fruit ( canes directly from firms) ..quite good..

Prabhat showed his driving skills while driving at the side of Ganganahar crossing 6 to 7 vehicles at a great speed.Crossing all hurdes we got to Noida at around 6 PM in the evening. The journey finished with a bang, overall enjoyable, a break from our regular life but with a huge cost to Prabhasa who got his car glass damaged in an accident but they ( Bhai and Bhoi) got full marks for their driving . Though it was a trip to mussorie, lot of time consumed in driving only..

Overall a good break with a basket full of photoes to upload in Orkut...Bye :)

Slumdog Millionaire..insult to India

Slumdog Millionaire..an insult to India .As the title suggests, conversion in Hindi would be " Basti ka kutta or Galli ka kutta Crorepati"..Its very true that foreigners do project poverty of India to outside worls to mint money and this is what exactly happened to the movie featuring Anil Kapoor , Irfan khan and others.

No doubt, the movie depicts a true picture of slums conditions in India but I would suggest the producer to give back some money to the poor and slum dwellers in India so that they would really benefit. Getting some awards, nominations can only benefit the actors who depict to be slum dwellers or slum dogs for few minutes in movies. But the real picture do not change.

Its a humble request to the movie producer to make some real changes on the life of slum dwellers.


Quote:

Slumdog…’ title not offensive, but metaphor: scriptwriter

January 21st, 2009 - 10:46 pm ICT by IANS -

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New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) Simon Beaufoy, the screenplay writer of Danny Boyle’s Golden Globe winning “Slumdog Millionaire” Wednesday said the title of the film was only a “metaphor”.”There was absolutely no sense I wanted to insult anybody. I just liked the idea of the metaphor (Slumdog),” Beaufoy told reporters here.

“As a part of my research, I was wandering in the slums. I was very intrigued by the cats and dogs wandering around there, who dared to be asleep in the sunshine. Though they do look carefree from the outside, they are watching everything from the rims of their eyes,” he said.

“It is like somebody who is apparently not worthy of an existence but is actually looking at everything and eyeing everything out - just like the boy in the game show who knows everything not through intelligence but through experience. So, I just made up the word,” he added.

Loveleen Tandon, the film’s co-director, echoed the same sentiment and said: “ ‘Slumdog’ is the way the protagonist of the film is referred to. It’s actually an English translation of the way we refer to a man from the street or a slum.”

“He’s looked upon as someone who wants nothing, and in order to say that, it’s expressed in this kind of harsh way to make him feel like nothing. It’s not that the film is trying to say that a man living in the slums is a dog,” she explained.

Patna-based social worker Tapeshwar Vishwakarma, general secretary of the Jhuggi Jhonpdi Samyukta Sangharsh Samiti, earlier dragged “Slumdog Millionaire” to court, contending that the sensibilities of the slum dwellers have been offended by the movie title.

“I don’t feel I’ve written a film about poverty. That never occurred to me. What I genuinely felt in my heart was the (slum) people’s massive spirit and massive determination to overcome terrible troubles. That’s how I approached it. ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is a fairytale,” said Beaufoy, who was here with Boyle, producer Christian Colson and the main cast of the movie.

Set in Mumbai, the film is about a slum boy who wins a TV quiz show and stars debutante Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto, Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan. The film has bagged four Golden Globe awards and 11 BAFTA nominations.

Having already raked in $43 million at the US box office and making a mark in the US Top 10, it is releasing in India Jan 23.

The real Gujarat is beyond MODI...

Just commenting to an article posted in livemint.com wherein the author charged Gujarat CM Modi for the riot after Godhra episode, I commented:

"Good Analysis by the author, but what is real in this story, Only one and that is Modi. Its sad that the massacre happened when he was in power but whose fault is this.So my suggestion to intellectual writer is that do not talk about the riot or else u have to go digging deep into this matter and mention the godhra episode too.

While talking business and investment, please confine yourself to the policy and the initiative and take the larger interest of the people.

While every one finds the cost and benefits of solar power and renewable , Gujarat comes out with a clear solar policy.While everyone is weighing the option for renewable, a clear policy on renewable is there in Gujarat.

The timely and thoughtful action only counts and not the rhetoric.

Its not that if some businessman praised Modi for his policies, that is enough but the overall changes a good leader can bring that counts despite the odds.

I am not praising Modi but the people of Gujarat who shows India how to prosper by taking one and all. Be it power, port, agriculture, administration the people behind the implementation are just brilliant and they need more that only praises.

I salute Gujarat as a state and the people of Gujarat at large."

ISO work in full swing in office: Boss takes the first initiative

ISO work is under full swing with BOSS leading from the front. But here, this is quite different. No files, No Almirahs numbering. Usually ISO is a continuous process to streamline all the process in office. Generally a office work involves lot of documentation works and to streamline them is a difficult matter but ISO makes look all the work very simple with proper coding and numbering in the system.

Here at Infraline, I like the procedure as everything is done online without any hard paperwork involved. The idea is simply great . Making an online system and downloading all necessary documents and all training needs in a proper format and continously involving one and all to achieve the target is awsome. Everyone has the responsibilty towards maintaining the files and if all involves, the complex system looks very easy and accessible.

Surprisingly, BOSS has created a unique system to reward and penalise one and all for proper implementation of the system. Making a pool account involoving all. If one does not cater to the guidelines, he is to be penalised and the best guy getting the reward for the overall achievement.

Hope, everything falls in line with the time. just wait and watch.

Significance of Makar Sankranti..The Uttarayan journey

Introduction of Makar Sankranti:

Makar Sankranti is one of the most auspicious day for the Hindus, and is celebrated in almost all parts of the country in myriad cultural forms, with great devotion, fervor & gaiety. Lakhs of people take a dip in places like Ganga Sagar & Prayag and pray to Lord Sun. It is celebrated with pomp in southern parts of the country as Pongal, and in Punjab is celebrated as Lohri & Maghi. Gujarati's not only look reverentially up to the sun, but also offer thousands of their colorful oblations in the form of beautiful kites all over the skyline. They may be trying to reach upto their glorious God or bring about greater proximity with the one who represents the best. It is a day for which Bhishma Pitamah kept waiting to leave his mortal coil.

Makar Sankranti is the day when the glorious Sun-God of Hindus begins its ascendancy and entry into the Northern Hemisphere. Sun for the Hindus stands for Pratyaksha-Brahman - the manifest God, who symbolizes, the one, non-dual, self-effulgent, glorious divinity blessing one & all tirelessly. Sun is the one who transcends time and also the one who rotates the proverbial Wheel of Time. The famous Gayatri Mantra, which is chanted everyday by every faithful Hindu, is directed to Sun God to bless them with intelligence & wisdom. Sun not only represents God but also stands for an embodiment of knowledge & wisdom. Lord Krishna reveals in Gita that this manifested divinity was his first disciple, and we all know it to be indeed a worthy one too. No Sundays for the Sun, may be because one who revels in its very 'being', the very essence of his own Self, is always in the Sunday mood.

The co-relation of cosmic events with individual life and values is one of the most astounding traits of Hindu Masters. Once this co-relation is brought about thereafter these cosmic events become instrumental to remind us the best which we cherish & value. Of all the cosmic bodies Sun is the most glorious & important, thus every sun-centric cosmic event became very important spiritual, religious & cultural events. On Makar Sankranti day the Sun begins its ascendancy and journey into the Northern Hemisphere, and thus it signifies an event wherein the Gods seem to remind their children that 'Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya'. May you go higher & higher - to more & more Light and never to darkness.

Astrological Significance:

Makar means Capricorn and Sankranti is transition. There is a sankranti every month when the sun passes from one sign of the zodiac to the next. There are twelve signs of the zodiac, and thus there are twelve sankranti's as well. Each of these sankranti's has its own relative importance but two of these are more important - the Mesh (Aries) Sankranti and the most important, the Makar (Capricorn) Sankranti. Transition of the Sun from Sagittarius to Capricorn, during the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere is known as Makar Sankranti. From this day begins the six-month long Uttarayana, considered very auspicious for attaining higher worlds hereafter. While the traditional Indian Calendar is basically based on lunar positions, but sankranti is a solar event, so while dates of all festivals keep changing, the english calendar date of Makar Sankranti is always same, 14th January. Makar Sankranti is celebrated in the Hindu Calendar month of Magha. There is another significance of this day, after this day the days start becoming longer & warmer, and thus the chill of winter in on decline.

Religious Significance:

1. The Puranas say that on this day Sun visits the house of his son Shani, who is the swami of Makar Rashi. These father & son do not ordinarily get along nicely, but inspite of any difference between each other Lord Sun makes it a point to meet each other on this day. Father in fact himself comes to his son's house, for a month. This day symbolized the importance of special relationship of father & son. It is the son who has the responsibility to carry forward his fathers dream and the continuity of the family.

2. From Uttarayana starts the 'day' of Devatas, while dakshinayana is said to be the 'night' of devatas, so most of the auspicious things are done during this time. Uttarayana is also called as Devayana, and the next half is called Pitrayana.

3. It was on this day when Lord Vishnu ended the ever increasing terrorism of the Asuras by finishing them off and burying their heads under the Mandar Parvat. So this occasion also represents the end of negativities and beginning of an era of righteous living.

4. The great savior of his ancestors, Maharaj Bhagirath, did great Tapasya to bring Gangaji down on the earth for the redemption of 60,000 sons of Maharaj Sagar, who were burnt to ashes at the Kapil Muni Ashram, near the present day Ganga Sagar. It was on this day that Bhagirath finally did tarpan with the Ganges water for his unfortunate ancestors and thereby liberated them from the curse. After visiting the Patala for the redemption of the curse of Bhagirath's ancestors Gangaji finally merged in the Sagar. Even today a very big Ganga Sagar Mela is organized every year on this day at the confluence of River Ganges and the Bay of Bengal. Lakhs take dip in the water and do tarpan for their ancestors.

We salute such a great devotee & benefactor of his ancestors. One who can express such gratitude to his ancestors, work with tireless resolve to redeem the pride, pledges & resolves of his forefathers, alone possess a personality, which the history reveals to be a true benefactor of the world too. A person who has severed his own roots gets soon rooted out in the flow of time. Moral of the story is to see to it that the roots of the tree of 'our' life are not only intact but nourished well, thereafter alone the tree blooms & flourishes.

There is another spiritually symbolic aspect of this story. The 60,000 cursed son of Maharaj Sagar represent our thoughts, who become dull & dead-like because of uncultured & blind ambition. Redemption of such people is only by the waters of Gangaji, brought down 'to' & later 'from' the Himalayas with great tapasya. This represents dedicated hard work to get the redeeming Brahma-Vidya, which alone enlightens, enthuses & enlivens the life of anyone.

5. Another well-known reference of this day came when the great grandsire of Mahabharata fame, Bhishma, declared his intent to leave his mortal coil on this day. He had the boon of Ichha-Mrityu from his father, so he kept lying on the bed of arrows till this day and then left his mortal coil on Makar Sankranti day. It is believed that the person, who dies during the period of Uttarayana, becomes free from transmigration. So this day was seen as a sure-shot Good Luck day to start your journey or endeavors to the higher realms beyond.

Culture & Festivities:

This festival is celebrated differently in different parts of the country.

Uttar Pradesh:

In Uttar Pradesh, Sankrant is called 'Khichiri'. Taking a dip in the holy rivers on this day is regarded as most auspicious. A big one-month long 'Magha-Mela' fair begins at Prayag (Allahabad) on this occasion. Apart from Triveni, ritual bathing also takes place at many places like Haridvar and Garh Mukteshwar in Uttar Pradesh, and Patna in Bihar.

Bengal:

In Bengal every year a very big Mela is held at Ganga Sagar where the river Ganga is believed to have dived into the nether region and vivified the ashes of the sixty thousand ancestors of King Bhagirath. This mela is attended by a large number of pilgrims from all over the country.

Tamil Nadu:

In Tamil Nadu Sankrant is known by the name of 'Pongal', which takes its name from the surging of rice boiled in a pot of milk, and this festival has more significance than even Diwali. It is very popular particularly amongst farmers. Rice and pulses cooked together in ghee and milk is offered to the family deity after the ritual worship. In essence in the South this Sankrant is a 'Puja' (worship) for the Sun God.

Andhra Pradesh:

In Andhra Pradesh, it is celebrated as a three-day harvest festival Pongal. It is a big event for the people of Andhra Pradesh. The Telugus like to call it 'Pedda Panduga' meaning big festival. The whole event lasts for four days, the first day Bhogi, the second day Sankranti, the third day Kanuma and the fourth day, Mukkanuma.

Maharashtra:

In Maharashtra on the Sankranti day people exchange multi-colored tilguds made from til (sesame seeds) and sugar and til-laddus made from til and jaggery. Til-polis are offered for lunch. While exchanging tilguls as tokens of goodwill people greet each other saying – 'til-gul ghya, god god bola' meaning 'accept these tilguls and speak sweet words'. The under-lying thought in the exchange of tilguls is to forget the past ill-feelings and hostilities and resolve to speak sweetly and remain friends.

This is a special day for the women in Maharashtra when married women are invited for a get-together called 'Haldi-Kumkum' and given gifts of any utensil, which the woman of the house purchases on that day.

Gujarat:

In Gujarat Sankrant is observed more or less in the same manner as in Maharashtra but with a difference that in Gujarat there is a custom of giving gifts to relatives. The elders in the family give gifts to the younger members of the family. The Gujarati Pundits on this auspicious day grant scholarships to students for higher studies in astrology and philosophy. This festival thus helps the maintenance of social relationships within the family, caste and community.

Kite flying has been associated with this festival in a big way. It has become an internationally well-known event.

Punjab:

In Punjab where December and January are the coldest months of the year, huge bonfires are lit on the eve of Sankrant and which is celebrated as "LOHARI". Sweets, sugarcane and rice are thrown in the bonfires, around which friends and relatives gather together. The following day, which is Sankrant, is celebrated as MAGHI. The Punjabi's dance their famous Bhangra dance till they get exhausted. Then they sit down and eat the sumptuous food that is specially prepared for the occasion.

Kerala:

The 40 days anushthana by the devotees of Ayyappa ends on this day in Sabarimala with a big festival.

Bundelkhand:

In Bundelkhand and Madhya Pradesh this festival of Sankrant is known by the name 'Sakarat' and is celebrated with great pomp & merriment accompanied by lot of sweets.

Tribals of Orissa:

Many tribals in our country start their New Year from the day of Sankrant by lighting bonfires, dancing and eating their particular dishes sitting together. The Bhuya tribals of Orissa have their Maghyatra in which small home-made articles are put for sale.

Assam:

In Assam, the festival is celebrated as Bhogali Bihu.

Coastal Region:

In the coastal regions, it is a harvest festival dedicated to Indra.

How to Celebrate:

1. Get up early in the morning, before sunrise, have bath and be ready with water & flowers for the sunrise. Worship the rising Sun, by offering water, flowers with both the hands & then pray with folded hands by chanting the Gayatri Mantra and pray for knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment to rise in the similar way to greater & greater heights. Pray for blessings to live a dynamic, inspired & righteous life.

2. Do tarpan for your ancestors. Offer water to the ancestors while praying for their blessings. Resolve to redeem the pledges & pride of your forefathers. Live life in such a way that wherever your forefathers may be their head is held high by the life & deeds of their children.

3. Have a special session of Meditation, wherein you bring about the awareness of the self-effulgent subjective divinity. Affirm the greatest importance of your spiritual goal very clearly, and pray to God to bless you with the capacity to constantly revel in your true self. May the graph of your rise like the Uttarayana Sun. May there be greater 'Love & Light' in your life & the world.

4. Prepare laddus or other sweets of Til & Gur and offer them to your friends & relatives. See to it that your 'Well-being Prayer for all' gets manifested in action & deeds.

5. Have the lunch of Khichiri. This stands for inculcating simplicity in your life & habits.

6. Give some Daan on this day to someone who truly deserves.

7. Visit your son at his place and give presents to the son and the daughter-in- law. If it is not possible to visit, then organize to send presents to them to express your love & affection to them. Work to properly cultivate the generation, which has to carry forward all the best you cherish & value.

Be a fraudstar: Govt will bail u out??

Bailing option for Satyam always open, a statement made by our commerce minister is ridiculous.

Mr Minister , can you please tell the nation what are you doing for the hundreds and thousands of workers who lost their job recently due to recession hit of the west. It do not bother you because there is no hue and cry for the people who lost their job.

You are much concerned with the employee of Satyam who are earning in lakhs and wants to bail out with taxpayers money.

If you really want to do something , first freeze the bank balance of Mr Raju and associates and recover money by selling all the assets of Mr Raju and try to bail the satyam employees by that money. Try to seize every bank balance of independent directors, auditors, consultants and all the big guns involved and recover money ...Do you have guts to do so??

In India corporate fraud are a common thing and I am completely surprised when I find that the conviction rate in corporate frauds is only 5%. Shame on you..and your machinery.

It clearly implies the nexus between political parties and the corporates who fund heavily for their election. Dont shed crocodile tears for the employees.

Mr prime minister , I request you to please consider this matter seriously and before bail out a tainted corporation, do think of us, we taxpayers.

In my point of view, Raju mwas made a scapegoat and the story he was narrating completely false. There might be a dangerous nexus and it should be probed barethread and the culprits must be brought to book in quick time if the govt wants to showcase its good governance.

ALL about CCS..Carbon Capture and Storage

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/What_is_carbon_capture_and_storage_2247?pagenum=1

Should Govt. bail out Satyam??

Government has appointed 3 powerful persons to board of independent director of Satyam. Kiran Karnik, Deepak Parekh and C Achutan , all are renowned persons and are from different fields.

After they assume charge, the two top most target in their minds are:

1. retaining the customers and take them into confidence
2. Arranging funds for its operations

To retain customers, the board will make sure that it communicate with customers and make them believe that the company is committed and will definitely give their hundred percent to complete the project in right perspective.

But the big question is that how they will arrange funds for the operations. The board has indicated that they are thinking of a possible merger with another company or ready to be taken over by another company.

The government has already given a hint that it will bail out Satyam if necessary. Now the big question is that is bailout necessary or is it the right way to bailout a tainted company with tax payers money.

While looking into the bailout package, govt should look into other industry which have been struggling with global recession. The textile industry, gems and jewellery and most of the export oriented business are going into severe losses as funding from overseas stops due to financial meltdown in the west.

This seems to make no news as there is no one to hear their story but the software company and its employees who are earning lakhs of rupees could not bear the burnt and govt shows its eagerness to bail out the company and its employees.

Government should find other alternatives but should not think of wasting public money for this kind of situation.

My letter to Mr Advaniji: the PM on waiting

Dear Mr Advaniji,

I am a great supporter of you but the recent downgrade of our great ideological politics hunts me most. Politicians rake in small issues and make it seems a grand political issue.May it be religion, strike, any company affairs, sports, culture and what not. It seems that in each sphere of life there is an issue related to politics and people tend to take mileage out of it.

I would suggest,rather blowing the issues in air, why dont parties make a straight forward policy on issues and try to market that among the masses.They only chip in when suddenly something happens and take the ruling party responsible for one and all.

I think people are smart enough to take decisions by their own and they wont buy the empty rhetoric of politicians.

Please make sure that before going to the polls BJP must have some definite policies for the party and the country on several issues like energy, water,education, development, conversion, industries etc etc so that while in public they must not falter and only try to highlight the policies at large and asks for vote.

Make sure that terrorism and conversion, article 370, common civil code along with sustainable development (Bijli,Pani and Sadak) be a part of your exhaustive policy to transform India.

Crux of Satyam Scam..

Q: What was the purpose of the scam?

A: Rather like item numbers in Indian films, Satyam’s fancy numbers were aimed at sexing up the company and making it more attractive for investors. Raju pointed out that given the low promoter holding in the company (8.6% as of September 2008), poor performance could result in a take-over . It was important, therefore, to make it seem as if both the top and bottom lines were growing at a healthy rate, even if that was not actually true.

Q: How did it build up to such proportions?

A: The problem with overstating performance is that if you want to keep growth rate looking good, the absolute extent of the exaggeration has to keep getting bigger. To take this particular example, in 2003-04 Satyam reported net sales of Rs 2,542 crore. In the four years since then, that figure was reported to have grown by 36%, 34%, 40% and 31% respectively to reach Rs 8,473 crore in 2007-08.

Now, if a Rs 2,500-crore company wants to show 35% growth when it has actually grown by only say 25%, the extent of overstatement would be only Rs 250 crore (10% of Rs 2,500 crore). But if a Rs 8,500-crore company wants to do the same thing, it will have to fudge the figures by Rs 850 crore.

It is also important to realise that overstating revenues by 10% can overstate profit by a lot more. For instance, if actual revenues are Rs 2,000 crore and actual net profits Rs 200 crore, an addition of Rs 500 crore to revenues without changing anything else would also add Rs 500 crore to net profit. While this would mean exaggerating revenues by only 25%, the profit figure would get overstated by 250% (500 cr is two-and-a-half times 200 crore).

Q: How was Satyam’s proposed acquisition of Maytas linked to this scam?

A: Maytas, a real estate firm owned by Raju’s family, was proposed to be bought by Satyam for about Rs 6,400 cr and turned into a whollyowned subsidiary of Satyam. Raju has pointed out that this would have helped clean up the Satyam mess. Since Satyam would have to pay Maytas owners (the Raju family) for its shares, on paper Rs 6,400 crore would have moved out of Satyams books into the Raju family’s hands, while Satyam would have gained Maytas shares. This could have been an excellent way of regularizing the pumping up of numbers.

Here is how. One, the payment would have actually become just a formality with the Raju family technically receiving Rs 6,400 crore.

But, with Satyam’s reserves and surplus having already been depleted (or, conversely, inflated) the Raju family would have got much less. But, obviously, they would not have complained. Two, this would have then given the company a legitimate opportunity through an acquisition — to bring down the reserves to its actual level without admitting that the books had been cooked. And, nobody would have been any the wiser since only the Raju family and their close confidantes would know about this.

Thus, while Satyam’s reserves would apparently have been used up to pay for the acquisition, in reality the non-existent reserves would be passed on to the Raju family. And Maytas would have found a new home. The furore over what most people perceived as a blatant overvaluation of Maytas prevented the proposed merger going through, thus closing out an opportunity for Raju to paper over the bungling in Satyam.

Strike by trucker association and oil executives add salt to injury for Indian economy

The strike by agitated trucker association compounded with the executives of oil PSUs add salt to injury for the Indian Economy. Pumps all over the country went short of fuel and the long line in the oil pumps are visible everywhere.

The dialogue failed between the minister and the executives and states imposed ESMA to counter the agitation.

But kudos to the step taken by the central government to ease the matter as it threatened the executives to resume work or face strong actions. The govt even sought help from the military to resume the supply.

Delhi is under severe pressure as gas supply to 2 of its gas based units curtailed. If situation does not improve, it is feared that there will be no more fuel to run the public transport system as well. the prices of vegetable shoot up due to truckers strike and the situation aggravated because of adamant nature of oil executives.

They are demanding for a pay hike as compared to their senior counterparts in 6th pay commission.

The question arises :" is it the only way to press the government to listen to their demand by jeopardising the common public at large??

Obviously NO. We pay to the government in form of taxes and to face situation like this is quite illogical.

Though I strongly believe that government should create a bench mark for salary distribution and even the private companies must be brought under some kind of regulation regarding the pay structure.

Why dont India take the other way around like what the Japan system is. They produce more in order to show their anger against the government or any company.

But in India strike by Unions in any of the form not only a major setback to the economy but indirectly the cost of people suffering out of these strike is huge. No one calculates this invisible cost of sufferings.

There must be some other way around to show the reservation against any judgement but obviously not the strike.

Satyam Saga: No Satya only Mithya..

Can you imagine, Rs 7000 crore scam for a company, for a brand valued and positioned high among investors.

Its clear now that Raju was not a gentleman. New name coined for this whole saga " Enron of India"

The role and credibilty of the auditor , advisor all at stake.

Chor machaye Shor:

Ramalinga Raju, chairman of Satyam Computers resigned from his post and confessed to indulging in fraudulent activities like inflating the books for several years. Raju has written a letter to the board giving details of the balance sheet. Balance Sheet has inflated cash balances of Rs 5040 crore and accrued interest of Rs 376 crore is non-existent. Rs 1230 crore was arranged to Satyam and is not reflected in the books. As per the revelations, second Quarter numbers were inflated to Rs 2700 crore vs Rs 2112 crore actual numbers. According to letter of Mr. Raju to the Board of Directors, with copies to Public Authorities, No board member had any knowledge of the real situation of the books. From this it is amply clear that the management of the Big Corporate Compnies are governed at the dictate of the so-called Owners of the Compnaies, and Shareholders are just silent spectators to see the effcet of the same.

How do frauds like that of Satyam happen / remain hidden for so long?

For such a unprecedented scam of Rs.7,000 Crores as flashed by TV Channels, can we believe that only Ramalinga Raju is responsible individually or the entire system should be made responsible. We learn nothing from our past. Harshad Mehta scam was also unprecedented till then. This shows that our Corporate System is working with any accountability, because they are allowed to hide anything on the alleged pretext of the commercial confidence, trade secret etc., without defining that what should be covered within the meaning of the commercial confidence, trade secret etc.

whom to believe now?? Now may be all IT companies will be coming under scanner and the credibility of IT industry as a whole will be a question mark.

RTI - A missile on common man's arms

What a beautiful act this is. right to information covers one and all in government establishment. U can sought any information from any government offices about anything. There are systematic procedures to get all the information.

But people need to be aware about the act and use it judiciously to work against the system and corruption.

We need to be a self styled RTI activist and make people aware about the act and help them getting the information from the government coffers.

Democracy is for the people, of the people and by the people. Every one has a right to ask question and the public servant is bound to answer. We should pin point and target the corrupted officials and try to bring the truth.

Make RTI a revolution and be a RTI activist to serve the people and serve the nation.

English Calender 2009 begins..

I dont know the frenzy about the new year's eve. people seem to be very very happy welcoming the new year but to why. Is there any logic behind it or this is just one of the madness created by the western society. We Indians really are living in a dangerous society. the society is changing very quickly and the effect u can feel in metros. People line up the list of itinerary in the eve of 2009 celebration.

The beer manufacturer has their fingers crossed for this day as they very well know that this is the night they are going to make hay ward selling courtesy the youths of the city. People spend like anything but they forget this is Just Another Day but the irony is that no one remembers the India New year.

I am not a hard core right activist but this definitely hurts me. People tend to forget the Vedas, Ramayan, The Mahabharat but they now remembers the pop singers,dancers, the film stars.

Wishing late at night and the wish saga continues for some days. Ok let people enjoy the day, not a problem but please dont forget your ancestors or calender year. If not celebrate it but just bear in mind that this is the Bharatiya new year.