How to avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Save Yourself From Carpal Tunnel Syndrome  

We hear the words 'Carpal Tunnel Syndrome' more and more nowadays as people spend too much time on their computers, laptops and texting or mailing on their mobile phones. CTS is a common lifestyle ailment affecting millions of Indians every year, and taking proper precautions is mandatory for everyone who wants to avoid it.

What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome refers to a condition where there is pain, tingling or numbness in the hands or the fingers caused because of an inflammation of the carpal tunnel. The carpal tunnel is a narrow, rigid channel of bone and ligaments situated at the base of the hand. When this tunnel becomes inflamed, it compresses the median nerve, which comes from the spine and passes through this narrow tunnel. Since the median nerve controls the impulses in the palm, thumb and the first three fingers, compression of this nerve ends up causing pain, weakness, tingling, and numbness in the fingers, hand, wrist and even the arm.

What Causes Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
The most common cause of carpal tunnel syndrome nowadays is spending time at the computer or any other keyboard in a manner that puts repetitive stress on the wrists. However, this is not the only factor that leads to CTS. It can be caused by any kind of repetitive stress on the wrist like that caused by knitting, sewing, needlepoint, regular use of vibrating tools, constant driving, and golf or racquet sports. Trauma or injury to the wrist may also lead to CTS. In some cases, one may suffer from passive CTS because of fluid retention, obesity, hypothyroidism, diabetes, smoking, work stress, mechanical problems of the wrist joint, arthritis or pregnancy.

How Can One Prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can become a lifelong or chronic condition or it may become serious enough to require surgery if it is not treated well in time. Since it can be easily avoided, the best way of saving oneself from CTS and its related complications is to incorporate workplace and lifestyle changes that will prevent it. 

Exercise: Regular exercise that involves stretching is one of the best ways of preventing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. There are many yoga asanas that increase blood circulation to the carpal tunnel, thus preventing swelling. A number of exercises that are specially formulated for the wrists and the arms can be found online.

Get An Ergonomically Designed Workstation: Your workstation should promote a healthy posture where your spine is straight and your feet touch the ground comfortably. Your keyboard should be such that your arms remain at the same level or slightly higher than your wrists. The wrist and arm should always form a straight line. 

Be Good To Your Hands: Instead of putting too much stress on one hand, keep switching hands when working as much as possible so as to evenly distribute stress. Also, do not hold objects too tightly and use the strength of your whole hands, and not just your fingers, when holding things.

Always Maintain Correct Posture: Slouching can permanently damage your spine, neck and shoulders, leading to arm and wrist pain. Always sit or stand as if there is an imaginary thread pulling your head straight up from the ground.

Take Regular Breaks: If you are involved in an activity where you need to put constant stress on the wrist, then taking regular breaks is necessary to let your wrist rest and for normal circulation to take place.

Raise Your Hands: Raising your hands above your head at least two to three times a day for a few minutes will let accumulated fluids in your wrists move out of the area. Since these fluids may cause increased pressure in the carpal tunnel, this simple exercise can save you from wrist and arm pain. 

Keep Your Hands Warm: People who constantly have cold hands are more likely to suffer from CTS. If you normally have cold hands, then wear fingerless gloves to warm up your hands and improve the circulation in your wrist and hands.

Take Vitamin B6: Vitamin B6 is associated with nerve function, and most people with CTS are found to be deficient in this vitamin. Many people often get immense relief from CTS simply with the administration of B6. You can ask your doctor about the right amount of B6 to take in order to avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. 

Remember that Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, though extremely prevalent, is also easily preventable. Following the precautions given above will not only help you avoid CTS, but also keep your hands healthy and happy in the long run. 

http://www.apollomunichinsurance.com 

The Fiscal Deficit - Is it really that bad

We are hearing a lot about this term "Fiscal Deficit" and more likely it has been depicted as the Devil behind all this recent economic mayhem experienced in India.You talk to any International Investment banker / Analyst / Economist and he will refer to the fiscal deficit number as the major bottleneck with India...one of the biggest reason for rerating India downwards by the investors of the world.

 

To deliberate on this let us try to understand the definition of this term in simpler words.

 

What is Fiscal Deficit?

 

Fiscal deficit is an economic phenomenon, where the Government's total expenditure surpasses the revenue generated. It is the difference between the government's total receipts (excluding borrowing) and total expenditure. Fiscal deficit gives the signal to the government about the total borrowing requirements from all sources whether internally (from Domestic Tax payers) or externally (from other nations or Institutions). This Deficit is mostly measured as a percentage to the Gross Domestic Production (commonly known as GDP) of that nation.  With this definition – it becomes clear that Deficit is indeed a worry – how long can someone survive with Deficits running year to year. But wait! This can turn out to be half baked conclusion.

 

I shall try to avoid being hugely technical – however a little understanding of this phenomenon will yield an obvious analysis.  Let us take the case of our nation - the Indian Government has adopted the strategy of posting Fiscal Deficits year on year. Meaning they should have borrowed that much money every year (from internal or outside sources). This borrowing should have accumulated to a sizable figure. In Economic dictionary this is known as "Public Debt". All fiscal deficit issues culminate into the Public Debt going up for the nation.......so if the issue of Fiscal Deficit is a problem – its outcome (read Public Debt) should be more of a concern.....therefore deliberating on the question "Public Debt – whether a menace to the economy" rather than "Fiscal Deficit – whether a menace to the economy" might be more prudent.

 

Debt by nature is a burden for future years – so it has to be bad. But one cannot extend such a generalised statement. Debt incurred on account of capital expenditure/investment is hugely beneficial as its output will arrive in future years. Debt raised and spend by way of subsidies/grants to counter balance the ill-effects of Capitalism is also welcome – what I mean by ill-effects of Capitalism is cornering of wealth rich becoming richer and subsequent widening of gap between rich & poor.  So there comes a rider that Debt may not be that bad if spend for purposes as mentioned above.

 

Now let us understand the sources of Debt meaning nature of money raised.

 

Public Debt can be raised from internal sources (from the constituents of the economy) and also from the external sources (raised from foreign nations, institutions). Not that the later is bad – but former mode of raising money (internal sources) is far better and less worrisome. The internal (Domestic) Public Debt accumulated over the years is actually a burden on the Tax Payers/constituents of the economy meaning revenue of future years collected in Advance from the constituents of the economy. This future revenue so collected is spent by the Government back on the same very constituents from whom it is collected. So how can they be a burden! Fortunately in India – due to high saving rates – we have this benefit of continuous availability of domestic debt unlike the western nations which spend on tomorrow's earnings.

 

So finally we arrive at the conclusion that – Rise in Public Debt on account of spending for investments/infrastructure or countering the ill effects of capitalism by borrowing more from internal sources is a welcome step. We realise that Public Debt of such nature is actually not bad. It is rather the Good Cholesterol, which is required to keep the bad cholesterol (read depression / slowing down / stagnation) under check to keep the body (read Economy) healthy.

 

Another aspect to Public debt which we forget is whether this Debt should be seen in absolute numbers (the amount of money owed by the Government) or should it be measured as a percentage to GDP. Is it possible that Public Debt in absolute numbers may rise but as a percentage to GDP might fall over the years? And if yes –what does it signify? The answer to the first question is a big "Yes" (as shown in the chart below) and when this happens – it only signifies that the economy is moving in the right direction.

 

This can be well understood by way of an example. All enterprise/companies wish to grow. This growth requires capital/funds as one of the input. This capital can be borrowed if the company has exhausted its own equity. The company will not frustrate its growth for want of Equity as long as it is getting debt (leveraging). If it has equity it would still want to leverage more to capture the growth available. A stage will come when it stops leveraging. This situation signifies two things

 

1) the company is able to fund its expansion from its own equity and has become conservative, because it doesn't find any merit to expand more with borrowed money as pay-offs are not appropriate or

 

2) it has actually stopped growing and so doesn't require money anymore.

 

In both the situation the company is slowing or decelerating which is the opposite of growing. When leveraging is reducing or converging to "ZERO" – the growth curve starts flattening out.

 

The same holds true for an economy...Leveraging shows things are growing. But, there is a Caveat to this statement, excess of anything is bad as they say. One has to observe reasonableness in Leveraging and that is what we are trying to define. What is reasonable leveraging? Measuring debt to the repayment capacity is the best ratio and so measuring Public Debt to the Overall GDP should give an indication of its reasonableness.

 

We therefore try measuring Public Debt as a percentage of GDP. If this shows a declining trend then it fits into our criteria of Reasonableness. In India (table below) we find the Public Debt in absolute number increasing but simultaneously the GDP (read the denominator) is growing at a rate higher then Debt which throws a comfortable ratio of Debt over GDP indicating enough evidence to show the economy is not unwell. As the GDP grows (we happen to be the second best growing economy) – this percentage of Public Debt over GDP will fall further. So lets us not harp on the Fiscal Deficit or Say Public Debt playing spoil sport in India. If that be the reason – that what happens to Japan which has public Debt crossing 200% of its GDP....USA is almost 100% public debt to GDP much ahead to India in this ratio...and with more of QE's / bailouts by the Governments (including Euro-Zone countries) the figure for such countries is going to only worsen going forward.

 

The table below shows the Public Debt percentage to GDP over the last few years for Indian Economy...:-

 

Year	Gross debt	Percent Change	Year	Gross debt	Percent Change
1991	73.87		2001	76.249	6.17%
1992	74.291	0.57%	2002	80.581	5.68%
1993	74.424	0.18%	2003	81.695	1.38%
1994	71.374	-4.10%	2004	80.997	-0.85%
1995	67.767	-5.05%	2005	78.688	-2.85%
1996	64.424	-4.93%	2006	75.417	-4.16%
1997	65.649	1.90%	2007	72.691	-3.61%
1998	65.759	0.17%	2008	73.113	0.58%
1999	68.043	3.47%	2009	69.405	-5.07%
2000	71.817	5.55%	2010	64.117	-7.62%

 

Source – IMF – 2011 World Economic Outlook

 

We observe that the average Public Debt over GDP for India has been around 78% but what is important to note is the drop from these average levels post Yr 2005 onwards despite an increase in absolute number of Public Debt. Why then the economist world over are perturbed with this fiscal deficit number of India slipping? Why don't they talk about the Public Debt as a percentage to GDP reducing over the years? Why don't we infer that this is a positive sign of economy growing?All a matter of visibility.

 

Japan/ USA and other Euro Zone countries have alarming Public Debt measure as a percentage to their GDP and with so less GDP growth – it becomes all the more alarming. Still – on account of the strong visibility created by such countries, the world investors develop a "Feel Safe factor" overriding their decisions and they are more willing to subscribe to loan papers of such nations. This makes the task easier for such nations to ride more of leveraging and try fuel their slow economic growth (knowing fully-well that they are entering the danger zone of unreasonableness). Whereas, India despite a comfortable figure is being portrayed as bad investments and we find the run on Indian Currency.

 

Visibility of the economic condition, proper representation on all World Economic platforms is a call of the day – and our Politicians have utterly failed in this exercise. We have a massive market (size of Indian Market) coupled with conservative economy, and growing GDP – which should be a huge attraction to the investors' world over......

 

Then why Foreign Investors are shying away from investing.... Plain and simple – OUR POLITICIANS who represent us have put such a clumsy show; have conveyed to the world how confused we are in our policies that despite good indicators – the investor money is afraid of betting money on India. And to top it, our industry representatives have also started voicing that they feel more comfortable running businesses – not at home but outside.We have been more visible as a corrupt state rather than our growing economy.

 

We need to correct this portrayal of India. It is the visibility factor rather than Fiscal Deficit which is playing spoil sport.

 

By: Inani BP

source:http://www.caclubindia.com/articles/the-fiscal-deficit-is-it-really-that-bad--14019.asp?utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=article&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_24_2012

Invitation to Talk on "INDIA IN CRISIS: HOW DO WE SAVE OUR NATION?"

Social Cause

(A Registered Society with No. 614 of 2003)

&

Pragna Bharati (A.P.)

 

Cordially invite you and your friends to a Talk on

 

INDIA IN CRISIS:

HOW DO WE SAVE OUR NATION? 

 

by

 Dr. Subramanian Swamy*

President, Janata Party, New Delhi

 

 

            Sri K. Padmanabhaiah**, IAS (Retd.)

Former Union Home Secretary; Padmabhushan Awardee

 

will preside.

 

 

Date & Time:

14^th June, 2012 (Thursday) at 6:00 p.m.

[Please join us for Tea at 5.30 p.m.]

 

Venue:

Sundaraiah Vignana Kendram, Baghlingampally, Narayanguda, Hyderabad

 

All are welcome.

 

Dr Somaraju Suseela        

President, Social Cause                                                                                                               

 

Dr T Hanuman Chowdary          

Chairman, Pragna Bharati      

---------------------------------------------

* About Dr. Subramanian Swamy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subramanian_Swamy 

 

**Sri K Padmanabhaiah was awarded Padma Bhushan by the President of India in 2008 for outstanding contributions to the Nation in the field of Civil service. As Union Home Secretary he played an extremely crucial role in reviving the political process in Jammu & Kashmir State during 1994-1997, and in holding the very first elections in the insurgency ridden State after a gap of nine years. His work received nation-wide recognition, and he was honored with the Shiromani Award for National Development and Integration (1996) and the Priyadarshini Award for outstanding Public Service (1996). After retirement in 1997 he was appointed the GOI Representative for Naga Peace talks. With his patience & perseverance, he successfully persuaded the Naga rebel leadership who had been based abroad for decades, to come back to India, move away from their rigid stand of sovereignty, and continue the ceasefire which ultimately led to peace in Nagaland and Naga-inhabited areas of the North East during the last ten years. His performance as Municipal Commissioner, Greater Bombay (1990-91) received wide acclaim from the press and the public, and he was feted with the prestigious Giants International's Award for excellence in Civic Administration (1991).

-----------------------------------------------------------.

 

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Holidays to be observed in Central Government Offices during the year 2013

F.No. 12/4/2012-JCA-2 

Government of India 

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions 

(Department of Personnel and Training)

North Block, New Delhi 

Dated the 5th June, 2012.

Subject:- Holidays to be observed in Central Government Offices during the year 2013.

   It has been decided that the holidays as specified in the Annexure —I to this O.M. will be observed in all the Administrative Offices of the Central Government located at Delhi/New Delhi during the year 2013. In addition, each employee will also be allowed to avail himself/herself of any two holidays to be chosen by him/her out of the list of Restricted Holidays in Annexure — II.

   2. Central Government Administrative Offices located outside Delhi / New Delhi shall observe the following holidays compulsorily in addition to three holidays as per para 3.1 below:

1. REPUBLIC DAY 
2. INDEPENDENCE DAY 
3. MAHATMA GANDHI'S BIRTHDAY 
4. BUDHA PURNIMA 
5. CHRISTMAS DAY 
6. DUSSEHRA (VIJAY DASHMI) 
7. DIWALI (DEEPAVALI) 
8. GOOD FRIDAY 
9. GURU NANAK'S BIRTHDAY 
10. IDU'L FITR 
11. IDU'L ZUHA 
12. MAHAVIR JAYANTI 
13. MUHARRAM 
14. PROPHET MOHAMMAD'S BIRTHDAY (ID-E-MILAD)

   3.1. In addition to the above 14 Compulsory holidays mentioned in para 2, three holidays shall be decided from the list indicated below by the Central Government Employees Welfare Coordination Committee in the State Capitals, if necessary, in consultation with Coordination Committees at other places in the State. The final list applicable uniformly to all Central Government offices within the concerned State shall be notified after seeking prior approval of this Ministry and no change can be carried out thereafter. It is also clarified that no change is permissible in regard to festivals and dates as indicated.

1. AN ADDITIONAL DAY FOR DUSSEHRA 
2. HOLI 
3. JANAMASHTAMI (VAISHNAVI) 
4. RAM NAVAMI 
5. MAHA SHIVRATRI 
6. GANESH CHATURTHI / VINAYAK CHATURTHI 
7. MAKAR SANKARANTI 
8. RATH YATRA 
9. ONAM 
10. PONGAL 
11. SRI PANCHAMI / BASANTA PANCHAMI 
12. VISHU/ VAISAKHI / VAISAKHADI / BHAG BIHU / MASHADI UGADI / 
CHAITRA SUKLADI / CHETI CHAND / GUDI PADAVA 1st NAVRATRA / 
NAURAJ/ CHHATH POOJA/ KARVA CHAUTH.

   3.2 No substitute holiday should be allowed if any of the festival holidays initially declared subsequently happens to fall on a weekly off or any other non- working day or in the event of more than one festivals falling on the same day.

   4. The list of Restricted Holidays appended to this O.M. is meant for Central Government Offices located in Delhi / New Delhi. The Coordination Committees at the State Capitals may draw up separate list of Restricted Holidays keeping in view the occasions of local importance but the 9 occasions left over, after choosing the 3 variable holidays in para 3.1 above, are to be included in the list of restricted holidays.

   5.1 For offices in Delhi / New Delhi, any change in the date of holidays in respect of Idu'l Fitr, Idu'l Zuha, Muharram and Id-e-Milad, if necessary, depending upon sighting of the Moon, would be declared by the Ministry of Personnel, Public
Grievances and Pensions after ascertaining the position from the Govt. of NCT of Delhi.

   5.2  For offices outside Delhi / New Delhi, the Central Government Employees Welfare Coordination Committees at the State Capitals are authorised to change the date of holiday, if necessary, based on the decision of the concerned State Governments / Union Territories, in respect of ldu'l Fitr, ldu'l Zuha, Muharram and Id-e-Milad.

   5.3  It may happen that the change of date of the above occasions has to be declared at a very short notice. In such a situation, announcement could be made through T.V. / A.I.R. / Newspapers and the Heads of Department / Offices of the Central Government may take action according to such an announcement without waiting for a formal order, about the change of date.

   6. During 2013, Diwali (Deepavali) falls on Sunday, November 03, 2013 (Kartika 12). In certain States, the practice is to celebrate the occasion a day in advance, i.e., on "Narakachaturdasi Day". In view of this, there is no objection if holiday on account of Deepavali is observed on "Naraka Chaturdasi Day (in place of Deepavali Day) for the Central Government Offices in a State if in that State that day alone is declared as a compulsory holiday for Diwali for the offices of the State Government.

   7. Central Government Organisations which include industrial, commercial and trading establishments would observe upto 16 holidays in a year including three national holidays viz. Republic Day, Independence Day and Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, as compulsory holidays. The remaining holidays / occasions may be determined by such establishments / organisations themselves for the year 2013, subject to para 3.2 above.

   8. Union Territory Administrations shall decide the list of holidays in terms of Ministry of Home Affairs letter No.14046/27/83- GP-I dated 15.2.1984 by which they would observe a total of 16 holidays including the three National Holidays Viz. Republic Day, Independence Day & Mahatina Gandhi's birthday.

   9. In respect of Indian Missions abroad, the number of holidays may be  notified in accordance with the instructions contained in this Department's O.M.  No.12/5/2002-JCA dated 17th December, 2002. In other words, they will have the
option to select 10(Ten) holidays of their own only after including in the list, three  National Holidays and Buddha Purnima, Dussehra, Diwali (Deepavali) and Guru  Nanak's Birthday included in the list of compulsory holidays and falling on days of weekly off.

   10. In respect of Banks, the holidays shall be regulated in terms of the extant  instructions issued by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance.

   11. Hindi version will follow.

sd/- 

(Ashok Kumar) 

Deputy Secretary (JCA)

Customs duty on gold and silver

Duty on Import of Standard Gold

(i) Gold bars, other than tola bars, bearing manufacturer's or refiner's engraved serial number and weight expressed in metric units, and gold coins having gold content not below 99.5%, imported:

Effective Date	Tariff Value in US $ for 10 grams	Exchange Rate	Value in Rs. for 10 grams	Basic Duty in Rs. for 10 grams	Education Cess in Rs. for 10 grams	Total Duty in Rs. for 10 grams
08-06-2012 -	531	55.55	29497	1180	35	1215
07-06-2012 - 07-06-2012	531	55.95	29709	1188	36	1224
31-05-2012 - 06-06-2012	501	55.95	28031	1121	34	1155

 

Duty on Import of Non-Standard Gold

(ii) Gold in any form other than (i), including tola bars and ornaments, but excluding ornaments studded with stones or pearls:

Effective Date	Tariff Value in US $ for 10 grams	Exchange Rate	Value in Rs. for 10 grams	Basic Duty in Rs. for 10 grams	Education Cess in Rs. for 10 grams	Total Duty in Rs. for 10 grams
08-06-2012 -	531	55.55	29497	2950	88	3038
07-06-2012 - 07-06-2012	531	55.95	29709	2971	89	3060
31-05-2012 - 06-06-2012	501	55.95	28031	2803	84	2887

 

Duty on Import of Silver

Silver, in any form including ornaments, but excluding ornaments studded with stones or pearls, imported by the eligible passenger:

Effective Date	Tariff Value in US $ for 1 kilogram	Exchange Rate	Value in Rs. for 1 kilogram	Basic Duty in Rs. for 1 kilogram	Education Cess in Rs. for 1 kilogram	Total Duty in Rs. for 1 kilogram
08-06-2012 -	899	55.55	49939	2996	90	3086
07-06-2012 - 07-06-2012	899	55.95	50299	3018	91	3108
31-05-2012 - 06-06-2012	899	55.95	50299	3018	91	3108

Customs duty on gold and silver on a day-to-day basis has been made available on the "Home" page of  http://www.referencer.in for the benefit of the Travelers & Officers posted at the airports.

Growth in Indirect & Direct Tax Collections

Direct Tax Collections During Financial Year 2011-12 Up by 13.02 Percent at Rs. 5,90,077 Crore as Against Rs 5,22,104 Crore During Financial Year 2010-11

 

Gross direct tax collections during April-March of the F.Y. 2011-12 was up by 13.02 percent and stood at Rs.5,90,077 crore as against Rs.5,22,104 crore in the same period in F.Y.2010-11. While gross collection of corporate taxes was up by 11.52 percent. The gross collections on this account stood at Rs.3,96,208 crore as against Rs.3,55,267 crore during the F.Y. 2010-11. The Gross Collection on account of personal income tax was up by 16.20 percent and stood at Rs.1,93,042 crore as against Rs.1,66,130 crore in F.Y. 2010-11. Net direct tax collections during the F.Y. 2011-12 stood at Rs.4,94,799 crore, up from Rs.4,46,935 crore in the same period in F.Y.2010-11, registering a growth of 10.71 percent.

 

Growth in wealth tax was 14.56 percent. The Gross Collections on this account stood at Rs.787 crore as against Rs.687 crore in the same period during the F.Y.2010-11. Growth in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) was -20.95 percent. The Gross Collections on this account stood at Rs.5,656 crore as against Rs.7,155 crore in the same period during the F.Y.2010-11.

Indirect Taxes :

Despite a slowdown in growth and the duty cuts effected on petroleum products in June 2011, the indirect tax collection of Rs. 3,92,781 crore (excluding cess) is only marginally short of the Revised Estimates of Rs. 3,94,000 crore in 2011-12.

The target for indirect tax collections in 2012-13 has been placed at Rs.4,99,694 crore. It is a growth of over 27 per cent. This target has been fixed keeping in view the increase in central excise and service rate from 10 to 12 per cent the observed buoyancy in service tax collections.

Service Tax collection in 2011-12 which, at Rs. 97,389 crore, far exceeded the Budget Estimate of Rs.82,000 crore. The rate of Service Tax has been enhanced to 12 per cent in the Union Budget, 2012 in order to gradually move towards a unified GST regime. A 'Negative List' approach for taxation of services is being introduced in the current fiscal. Under the new approach, all services except those in the 'Negative List' or otherwise exempted, would come into the tax net. The new system will come into effect from 1st July, 2012. The new comprehensive approach to taxation of services is a shining piece of tax reform, preparatory to the introduction of GST. In a nutshell, the comprehensive approach to taxation of services implies larger tax base with limited number of exemptions.On the Central Excise side the standard rate of excise duty has been increased from 10 to 12 per cent in the Finance Bill, 2012. These changes are likely to help the Department in garnering additional tax revenue.

@@@  The Indian economy registered a healthy growth of 8.4 per cent in 2009-10 and 2010-11. However, renewed global uncertainty, emanating mostly from the Euro zone area affected domestic business sentiments in 2011-12. A tight monetary policy directed at taming inflationary pressures in the economy also came in the way of consolidating this recovery. GDP growth in 2011-12 has slowed significantly to just 6.5 per cent.

@@@ There is a declining trend in tax- GDP ratio by augmenting tax collections. This ratio was nearly 12 per cent in 2007-08 but has dropped to around10.5 per cent in 2011-12.

Group buying websites offering discounted deals

Group buying websites offering discounted deals are the latest fad that is slowly catching up with Indian consumers and many people are benefiting by subscribing to these group buying websites. On a daily basis these group buying websites offer a variety of products and services in various segments at discounted prices which could be in the range of 25% to 90%.

What is Group Buying?
The underlying principle of group buying is "consumers can get better deals if they purchase a certain product / service in large numbers". Group buying is also known as collective bargaining, where 'consumers' form a member base / group through a group buying website and then this bulk group buying power is used to get good bargain / discounted deals from merchants for bulk customers and the benefit of these discounted deals is passed back to the group members.

Some leading group buying websites in India
In India, there are several group buying websites that offers discounted deals to customers in different product and services categories. Below are some of the leading ones:

Category – Products and services deals
Snapdeal.com is the largest and most popular group buying site in India which offers discounted deals in lifestyle products, apparels, dining, health and beauty, salons and spas, luxury products, cameras, recreation, entertainment, mobiles, apparel, electronics, books, movies, computers, sports, travel, cosmetics, kitchen and other home appliances etc. where the discounts offered range from around 25% to 90%. The subscription process is very simple and you just need to enter your email, mobile and select your city and you are done. You can register by clicking here. Based on the city you live in they send you a daily email with new deals in that city. The registration for all group buying websites is free. Infact some websites also give you incentives like Rs 100 off on first deal or 1^st deal free to join them.

Dealsandyou.com is headquartered in Gurgaon and is a part of Group Buying Global AG. They operate in India as well as in the international market. Like Snapdeal, Dealsandyou.com also brings you discounted deals on various products and services on a daily basis through email based on the city that you live in. The registration process for this website is also very simple and its free. You can subscribe by clicking here.

Timesdeal.com is a group buying portal of the Times of India Group. Timesdeal also brings you discounted deals on various products and services.

Crazeal.com is a part of GROUPON Inc and was formerly known as SoSasta.com. Groupon is the world leader in group buying websites category. It offers products, services and travel deals at discounted rates to its customers.

Mydala.com is one of the very early entrants in the group buying space and started in 2009. The company is based in Delhi. Among other prominent investors in the company one of them is Infoedge India (owners of naukri.com). Mydala brings you daily discounted deals on products and services through email based on the city that you live in. Registration requires email, mobile, password, city etc.

Dealhojaye.rediff.com is a group buying portal of Rediff.com that offers daily deals to its customers. It offers daily deals on dinning, beauty care and other lifestyle products and services.

Category – Travel deals

Lushtrip.com also offers discounted deals to its customers like the above mentioned group buying websites. But Lushtrip.com is an online travel deal specialist portal that offers regular discounted travel deals to its customers. Travel categories include – luxury hotels, resorts, weekend getaways and short vacations for locations all across India.

 Category – Home Buying

Homebuyerscombine.com or HBS helps people who are interested in purchasing a home in Pune city.  The interested buyers have to provide their requirements on the website such as – location, number of rooms, area in sq feet and price range etc. These requirements are compiled and collated for creating buyers clusters. HBC then approaches the respective developer with these clusters and negotiates on behalf of the buyers for substantial price discount which could be in the range of 10-20% of the market price of the flat. The benefit to developers is that they get a onetime booking of large number of units.

 How does a group buying website works?

A group buying website promotes certain products or services on behalf of merchants at a discounted price. The customers in order to avail these discounted deals need to first register themselves on these websites. In case of most of the websites the registration requires very minimal information like name, city, email address and mobile number and the registration process can be completed within a minute.

You can then choose to 'buy' these deals and make payments via a debit card / credit card / net banking / cash on delivery based on the options available. The group buying website then sends the vouchers to you through e-mail and SMS. The deal needs to be availed within a specific period which is generally 1 to 3 months.

Conclusion

Group buying is a win-win for all the three parties involved – customers, merchants and group buying website. These group buying sites are user friendly and once the user registers himself, he gets daily updates on new deals being offered through email. These sites are extremely useful for the individuals who want to avail best of services but at lower than market prices.

http://www.bachatkhata.com

Efficient and Polite Customs

Corruption, policy paralysis may be common but government employees working efficiently is always a pleasant surprise

Good news is rare when it comes to the functioning of our government departments. Corruption, sloth, misuse of power, muscle-flexing , delays, unresponsiveness and red tape are the typical things that we encounter every time we deal with our bureaucratic machinery.

This is unfortunate. But more unfortunate is that even when we occasionally witness a polite, functioning and efficient segment of the machinery, it goes unnoticed and unapplauded. A few years ago, one could have said (and one did in these columns), for instance, that our post and telegraph department was one of the better functioning ones, with their ubiquitous postmen doing more honest work than most other government servants.

Letters rarely went missing irrespective of where you lived, money orders were invariably delivered and the postman helped the odd illiterate villager write a few lines on a postcard. In recent years, with the onset of cell phones, emails and courier services, the sun set upon the era of the post and telegraph for the common man, or at least the common urban man.

The more recent experiences of retired folks with the post offices, one hears , is probably not as pleasant as one often has to grease the postmaster's palms to get one's pension. But imagine the following scenario. You arrive at one of our international airports and having nothing to declare at the customs, are passing through the green channel, when detecting a chalk mark on your bag, you are asked by a customs official from the red channel to place your bag for X-ray screening.

He peers carefully at the console, sees nothing objectionable and, rather than make you open the suitcase and flinging your unwashed clothes all around, he walks up to you with a smile, tells you that his call was a mistake, apologises for the inconvenience caused, shakes your hand and wishes you a nice evening, and then proceeds to hail one of the officials to find out on what basis your bag could have been chalk-marked in the first place.

Well, this was precisely the experience one actually had very recently at the Hyderabad international airport arrival lounge.

Now if you think back, barring exceptions, you may reasonably testify that over several decades of international travel, including the 1980s when one was allowed no more than $8 for every day of international travel, and when virtually any purchase overseas was contraband, you may not have encountered many unreasonable customs officials at the airports, especially if you were reasonably innocent and forthright and not hoping to seriously avoid payment of legitimate duties prescribed in those days.

For example, when you bought that odd electronic gadget and disclosed it at the red channel on international arrivals, it is unlikely that the customs man was unreasonably demanding or visibly corrupt.

It may even be that more often, he was polite and occasionally even indulgent. The episode, a purely random one, highlights several issues, even if the original chalk-mark on my bag was a mistake.

Someone was vigilant enough to spot that I was walking through the green channel, though my bag had an identification mark. Upon detecting the mistake, the official showed the grace of an apology, though he wasmerely doing his duty and no apology was perhaps due. And finally, he immediately initiated an enquiry into the systemic error enquiring why an innocent bag like mine should have been marked in the first place.

As we said, happy and pleasant experiences in the government system are few and far between. One can imagine a few smirks among those readers who may have had a different experience. Of course, one is not naive enough to believe that our customs department is squeaky clean.

One recalls, for example, a surrealistic sight many years ago in the era of severe import restrictions , at the Colombo airport in Sri Lanka. A large number of passengers , some dozen strong, were travelling as a group, on their way to Chennai.

After passing through security, each of them opened their handbags, extracted two large empty handbags, which they then proceeded to fill with whisky bottles and cigarette cartons bought from the duty-free shops, with each large bag filled with some two dozen whisky bottles and dozens of cartons of cigarettes.

One of them was then overheard telling his colleagues exactly which exit to take at the Chennai arrival, where they had a friendly official on duty. What one did about the episode is another story.

Nevertheless, all in all, it would appear from the anecdotal evidence of nearly three decades of travels, that even if there is corruption in the customs, it is probably not widespread, at least at the level of the common traveller.

It may be that one is mistaken in one's assessment of the customs as being less corrupt than, say, the road transport offices, passport or land registration offices. But the trigger for this applause is the specific incident mentioned above. How else do we celebrate islands of happy experiences?

Perhaps in the same spirit, if we want to reinforce more happy experiences, as responsible citizens, rather than take the line, "I am rich and powerful , so I can smoke anywhere, do whatever I want, and no security guard may stop me or frisk me...," as the heavyweights of our country seem to do everywhere. We should all show greater respect and patience to the officials doing their jobs diligently.

By V Raghunathan, CEO, GMR Varalakshmi Foundation

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-05-26/news/31864306_1_customs-man-bag-corruption

Lessions from Azim Premji-WIPRO

LESSONS FROM SUCCESS AND SET BACKS   Dear Friends                       Azim premji,chairman WIPRO Ltd.           My own successes and setbacks along the way have taught me some lessons.           I wish to share them with you and hope you will find them useful. Lesson No. 1: Be careful to ask what you want. You may get it            What this means is that do not ask too little either of yourself or the others around you. What you ask is what you get. When I look back at the time when I joined Wipro, I was 21. If you ask me whether I thought that Wipro would grow so by someday, the honest answer is that I did not. But neither did I think it would not. We constantly stretched ourselves to higher and higher targets. Sometimes, it seemed possible, sometimes fanciful and sometimes plain insane. But we never stopped raising limits.           And we got a lot more than what we bargained for. Lesson No. 2: Respond, don't react           Always be aware of your emotions and learn to manage them. There is a huge difference between people who react impulsively and those who can disengage themselves and then respond at will. By choosing to respond differently, we can prevent another person from controlling our behaviour.           I remember a small story that illustrates this well. There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude Customer. Every morning, the Customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick up the money, smile politely and say, "Thank you, Sir." One day, the vendor's assistant asked him, "Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rude to you? Why don't you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow?" The vendor smiled and replied, "He can't help being rude and I can't help being polite. Why should I let his rude behaviour dictate mine? Lesson No. 3: Intuitions are important for making decisions           It is important to realize that our intuition is a very important part of decision making. Many things are recorded by our subconscious. Use both sides of the brain. Even that is not enough. Some decisions need the use of the heart as well. When you use your mind and heart together, you may get a completely new and creative answer. Lesson No. 4: Learn to work in teams           The challenges ahead are so complex that no individual will be able to face them alone. While most of our education is focused in individual strength, teaming with others is equally important. You cannot fire a missile from a canoe. Unless you build a strong network of people with complimentary skills, you will be restricted by your own limitations. Globalisation has brought people of different origins, different upbringing and different cultures together. Ability to become an integral part of a cross-cultural team will be a must for your success. Lesson No. 5: Never lose your zest and curiosity           All the available knowledge in the world is accelerating at a phenomenal rate. The whole world's codified knowledge base (all documented information in library books and electronic files) doubled every 30 years in the early 20th century. By the 1970s, the world's knowledge base doubled every seven years. Information researchers predict that by the year 2010, the world's codified knowledge will double every 11 hours. Remaining on top of what you need to know will become one of the greatest challenges for you. The natural zest and curiosity for learning is one of the greatest drivers for keeping updated on knowledge. A child's curiosity is insatiable because every new object is a thing of wonder and mystery. The same zest is needed to keep learning new things. I personally spend at least 10 hours every week on reading. If I do not do that, I will find myself quickly outdated. Lesson No. 6: Put yourself first           This does not mean being selfish. Nor does it mean that you must become so full of yourself that that you become vain or arrogant. It means developing your self confidence. It means, developing an inner faith in yourself that is not shaken by external events. It requires perseverance.           It shows up in the ability to rebound from a setback with double enthusiasm and energy. I came across a recent Harvard Business review which describes this very effectively :           "No one can truly define success and failure for us – only we can define that for ourselves. No one can take away our dignity unless we surrender it. No one can take away our hope and pride unless we relinquish them. No one can steal our creativity, imagination and skills unless we stop thinking. No one can stop us from rebounding unless we give up."           And there is no way we can take care of others, unless we take care of ourselves. Lesson No. 7: Have a broader social vision           While there is every reason to be excited about the future, we must not forget that we will face many challenges as well. By 2015, we will have 829 million strong workforce. That will make India home to 18% of global working-age population. The key challenge is to transform that into a globally competitive work-force.           This will not be an easy task. Despite all the rapid economic expansion seen in recent years, job growth in India still trails the rise in working-age population. It is important that gains are spread across this spectrum, so that the divide between the employed and the under-employed, is minimised. Education is a crucial enabler that can make this growth as equitable as possible. Lesson No. 8: Play to win           Playing to win is not the same as playing dirty. It is not about winning all the time or winning at any cost. Playing to win is having the intensity to stretch to the maximum and bringing our best foot forward.           Winning means focusing on the game. The score board tells you where you are going, but don't concentrate too much on it. If you can focus on the ball, the scores will move by themselves. I recently came across this story that I thought I would share with you           A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen. He returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal – some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – and asked them to help themselves to coffee.           When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:           "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, you were more concerned about comparing your cups but what you really wanted was coffee. Yet you spent all your time eyeing each other's cups.           Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to contain Life, but cannot really change the quality of Life. Sometimes, by over concentrating on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee."           I wish you all every success in your career and your life. [Source :  http://webbroadcast.blogspot.com/2007/04/letter-from-ceo.html ]

 

Young IPS made his mark..All the best Vijaya Rao

 

Two young men who made it to the UPSC list from Andhra Pradesh

(Success Story from May 2010 news)

There's no law that says a farm worker's son or an autorickshaw driver can't make it to the civil services. But when they do, it's a charming story. This is the tale of two young men who made it to the UPSC list from Andhra Pradesh against all odds. One is the son of a National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme worker. And the other drove an auto for three years to feed a large family.

Ch Vijaya Rao, farm worker's son from Neeladripuram village in West Godavari district, got the 102nd rank. N Balaram, the auto driver from a hamlet in Mahbubnagar district, got the 834rd rank in the UPSC honours list released yesterday. Vijaya Rao beams with pride as he says ''my father still works in the fields.'' A student of MA (Anthropology) from the University of Hyderabad, he owes it all to his father Ch Abbulu and his brother Ananda Rao. ''My mother died in 1999 and my father and brother did everything to keep me in school.

My brother dropped out of Intermediate to earn for the family and they did all the household work.'' Vijaya Rao was fourth time lucky in the civils. His rank is good enough for an IAS posting, but he wants the IPS. ''I've always been inspired by police officers. It is they who safeguard society and I want to do my bit,'' he says. The story of N Balaram is equally inspiring. Hailing from a poor farming family in Kesyanaik thanda in Mahbubnagar district, Balaram is the eldest of six brothers and a sister.

Throughout his life, Balaram did odd jobs to earn for his family and continue to study through distance education. All his family members are nonliterate. While still at school, Balaram worked at construction sites. Family compulsions meant that he was married (to Sarada and they have three children) in 1998 in his Intermediate years. Then he drove an auto for three years. He did his graduation and postgraduation by distance education from Osmania University as he could not afford to go to a regular college. Balaram got the 834rd rank in his fifth attempt. ''I did not even know what IAS stands for when I first attempted the civils,'' he says.

Courtesy: Expressbuzz.com(may 2010) source : http://upscportal.com/civilservices/success-story/two-young-men-who-made-it-to-the-upsc-list-from-andhra-pradesh