Go Ahead : Never Regret, learn from mistakes and...... Go Ahead
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Go Ahead : Never Regret, learn from mistakes and...... Go Ahead
Go Ahead : Never Regret, learn from mistakes and...... Go Ahead
The Spirit of J R D Tata :Never start with diffidence, Always start with confidence. .
Quotes :
Never start with diffidence,
Always start with confidence. .
The Life and Times of J R D Tata :
The Life and Times of J R D Tata :
A benign boss
According to Tata, the crux of any successful labour policy lay in making workers feel wanted. One of the inherent drawbacks of modern industry with its large and concentrated labour forces was that each man felt 'that instead of being a valued member of a friendly and human organisation, he was a mere cog in a soulless machine.'
'Because of this, a worker's attitude towards management becomes one of indifference, mistrust and coldness often tinged with hostility. He is easily led to feeling himself the victim of callous and unfair treatment and little is needed to make him look upon his employers as his enemies and break out into open conflict.'
Tata Steel became one of the earliest companies in India to have a dedicated human resources department. Expressing surprise that the company had functioned for so long without one, Tata commented: 'If our operations required the employment of, say, 30,000 machine tools, we would undoubtedly have a special staff or department to look after them, to keep them in repair, replace them when necessary, maintain their efficiency, protect them from damage, etc.'
'But when employing 30,000 human beings each with a mind and soul of his own, we seem to have assumed that they would look after themselves and that there was no need for a separate organisation to deal with the human problems involved.'
Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata died in Geneva on November 29, 1993, and made his money in India. Few addressed him with the full pomposity of the name with which he was born; he was simply 'JRD' to the world, and Jeh to his friends.
JRD was India's most well known industrialist, widely respected for his enormous contribution to the development of Indian industry and aviation in particular.
Tata headed India's largest industrial conglomerate with uncommon success. But this was only one aspect of his life. He was also a man of great sensitivity and was pained by the poverty he saw around him and sought vigorously to alleviate it.
He also was a philanthropist who wanted India to be a happy country and did all he could to make it so; a patron of the sciences and the arts; and a man with a passion for literature, fast cars, skiing, and flying..
J R D Tata in his own words :
- I don't want India to be an economic superpower. I want India to be a happy country.
- In the article “The business ethics of J.R.D. Tata” in The Hindu dated 29 July 2005
அடுத்த ஆண்டு நவம்பருக்கு பிறகு கையால் எழுதிய பாஸ்போர்ட்கள் செல்லாது
dinakaran daily newspaper 30 jan 2014:::::thanks Jts Bala Ram
புதுடெல்லி: சர்வதேச விமான போக்குவரத்து நிறுவன உத்தரவுப்படி, உலகம் முழுவதும் வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ள கையால் எழுதப்பட்ட பாஸ்போர்ட்டுகளை மாற்றிக்கொள்ள அடுத்த ஆண்டு நவம்பர் 24ம் தேதி வரை கெடு விதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. அதன்பிறகு அந்த பாஸ்போர்ட்கள் செல்லாததாகி விடும். பின்னர் இத்தகைய பாஸ்போர்ட் வைத்திருப்பவர்கள் குடியேற்ற நடைமுறை கள் தொடர்பான பிரச்னைகளை தவிர்ப்பதற்காக அவற்றை புதுப்பித்துக்கொள்ள வேண்டும். கையால் எழுதப்பட்ட பாஸ்போர்ட்கள் 2001ம் ஆண்டுக்கு முன்பு விநியோகம் செய்யப்பட்டவை.
பெரும்பாலான நாடுகள் இந்த பாஸ்போர்ட்டுகளை பயன்படுத்துவதை படிப்படியாக ஒழித்து விட்டன. பாஸ்போர்ட் அலுவலகங்கள் கணினி மயமாக்கப்பட்ட பிறகு, 2002ம் ஆண்டுக்கு பிறகு வழங்கப்பட்ட பாஸ்போர்ட் விவரங்களே பதிவு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளன. இந்த பாஸ்போர்ட் வைத்திருப்பவ ர்கள், இது தொடர்பான அரசு கொள்கையில் ஏற்பட்ட மாற்றங்கள் உள்ளிட்ட புதிய விஷயங்கள் அறிந்து கொள்ள முடியா மல் போய்விடும். மேலும், கையால் எழுதப்பட்ட பாஸ்போர்ட்களில் உள்ள விவரங்களை கணினிகளால் ஸ்கேன் செய்து அறிந்து கொள்ளும் வசதி இல்லை.
இதுகுறித்து பாஸ்போர்ட் மண்டல அதிகாரி ஒருவர் கூறுகையில், ‘கடந்த 2000ம் ஆண்டு வரை 20 ஆண்டு செல்லத்தக்க பாஸ்போர்ட்கள் வழங்கப்பட்டன. அவற்றை வைத்திருப்பவர்களுக்கு காலக்கெடு 24 நவம்பர் 2015க்கு மேல் இருந்தாலும், சர்வதேச விமான போக்குவரத்து நிறுவன உத்தரவுப்படி அவற்றை பயன்படுத்த முடியாது. எனவே கையால் எழுதப்பட்ட பாஸ்போர்ட், 20 ஆண்டு பாஸ்போர்ட் வைத்திருப்பவர்கள் அவர்கள் தங்கள் பாஸ்போர்ட்களை காலக்கெடுவுக்குள் புதுப்பித்துக் கொள்ள வேண்டும்’ என்றார்.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Go Ahead : We can do everything.....Just go ahead.....
Go Ahead : We can do everything.....Just go ahead.....
Monday, January 27, 2014
மாறும் கண்ணோட்டம், மாறாத பணம்!
பி. பத்மநாபன் தி இந்து திங்கள், ஜனவரி 27, 2014
இன்றும் நம்முடைய மனதில் கணக்கிடும் முறை (MENTAL ACCOUNTING) மிகவும்
வியக்கத்தக்கது.
உதாரணமாக ஒருவர் உங்களுக்கு சினிமாவிற்கு 4 டிக்கெட் கொடுக்கிறார் என வைத்துக்கொள்வோம். அதன் விலை 500 ரூபாய். உங்களிடம் கார் இல்லை, வெளியில் நல்ல மழை, ரெகுலராக செல்வது போல பஸ்ஸில் போக முடியாது, போனால் போகிறது என்று போகாமல் விட்டுவிடுவோம். காட்சி மாறுகிறது, நீங்கள் 4 டிக்கெட் 500 ரூபாய் கொடுத்து வாங்கியுள்ளீர்கள், அதை இழப்பதற்கு மனமில்லை எனவே இன்னும் 300, 400 ரூபாய் கொடுத்து ஆட்டோவிலோ அல்லது கால் டாக்ஸியில் போய் விடுவோம்.
ஏனென்றால் நம்முடைய 500 ரூபாய் என்றால் இழப்பதற்கு மனமில்லை. டிக்கெட் நீங்கள் வாங்கினால் அதற்கு ஒரு விலை, மற்றவர் கொடுத்தால் இன்னொரு விலை, இது எந்த ஊர் நியாயம்?
மற்றொரு உதாரணம், நாம் ஒரு லேப் டாப் வாங்கச் செல்கிறோம், அதனுடைய விலை 40,000 ரூபாய். பில் போடும் முன்பு கடைக்கு வந்த ஒருவர் சொல்கிறார், 1 கி.மீ. தொலைவில் உள்ள மற்றொரு கடையில் இது 39,500, நாம் 2.5% டிஸ்கௌன்ட்டிற்காக அவ்வளவு தொலைவு செல்ல வேண்டுமா என்று பெரும்பாலும் அந்தக் கடையிலேயே வாங்கிவிடுவோம். அதே சமயம் ஒரு PEN DRIVE ன் விலை ரூ.1000, அது வேறு கடையில் 40% டிஸ்கௌன்ட் என்றவுடன் விழுந்தடித்து கொண்டு ஓடிவிடுவோம்.
500 ரூபாய் 40,000 ரூபாயோடு ஒப்பிடும்போது நமக்கு பெரிதாகத் தெரியவில்லை. ஆனால் அதைவிட குறைவான 400 ரூபாய் 1000 த்துடன் ஒப்பிடும்போது பெரிதாகத் தெரிகிறது. ஆனால் இந்த 2 தள்ளுபடியையும் நமதாக்கி கொள்ளவேண்டுமானால் நாம் செலவிடும் நேரம் ஒன்றே!
இரண்டு மாதம் முன்புதான் நம் வீட்டில் 40” புதிய கலர் TV வாங்கியுள்ளோம், நமக்கு குலுக்கலில் அதே மாதிரி ஒரு TV பரிசாகக் கிடைக்கிறது அதன் விலை 40,000 ரூபாய். நம்மிடம் யாராவது விலைக்கு கேட்டல் நாம் ரூபாய் 35,000 முதல் 38,000 வரை கொடுக்கவேண்டும் என்று எதிர்ப்பார்க்கிறோம். மாறாக நம்முடைய நண்பருக்கு இதே மாதிரி விழுந்தால் நமக்கு அதை 25,000 அல்லது 30,000 ரூபாய்க்கு தரவேண்டும், ஏனெனில் அது நண்பருக்கு தேவை இல்லை என்று எண்ணுவோம்.
எனக்கு ஒரு செய்தி முன்பு எப்போதோ படித்தது மனதிற்கு வருகிறது. ஒருவன் ஆற்றில் கால் தவறி விழுந்து விட்டான், அவனுக்கு நீச்சலும் தெரியாது, நீச்சல் நன்கு தெரிந்த ஒருவர் “உன் கையை கொடு”. நான் மேலே தூக்கி விடுகிறேன் என்று எவ்வளோவோ சொல்லியும் அவன் கையை கொடுக்கவில்லை. சிறிது யோசனைக்கு பின்பு, “இந்தா என் கையை பிடித்துக்கொள்” என்றவுடன் கையை லபக் என்று பிடித்து கொண்டான். வார்த்தையில் கூட எதையும் பிறரிடம் தருவதில்லை, ஆனால் யார் கொடுத்தாலும் வாங்கிக் கொள்ளவேண்டும்... நல்ல கொள்கை!
மேலும் சிலர் நகைச்சுவையாய் சொல்வார்கள். உங்கள் வீட்டிற்கு நான் வந்தால் எனக்கு என்ன தருவாய் என்றும் அதே சமயம் என் வீட்டிற்கு நீ வந்தால் எனக்கு என்ன கொண்டு வருவாய் என்பார்களாம்.
இதில் இருந்து தெரிவது என்னவென்றால் எந்த ஒரு பொருளும் நம் கையில் இருந்தால் அதற்கு மதிப்பு அதிகம், மற்றவர்கள் கையில் இருந்தால் அது குறைவு. ஆனால் நடைமுறை வாழ்வில் பணம் யாரிடம் இருந்தாலும் ஒன்றே.
நாம் ஒரு ஹோட்டலுக்கு டீ சாப்பிட செல்கிறோம், அப்போது அந்த டீ கீழே கொட்டிவிடுகிறது, நாம் வேறு டீ வாங்கிக்கொள்வோம். அதே சமயம் டீக்கு என வைத்துள்ள பணம் தவறி கீழே விழுந்து விட்டது. அப்போது நாம் டீ குடிப்பதைத் தவிர்த்துவிடுவோம். ஏனெனில் டீக்கு என வைத்துள்ள பணத்தை நாம் தொலைத்துவிட்டோம், அது அந்த டீ குடித்ததற்கு சமம் என நினைக்கிறோம்.
இன்று நிறைய பேருக்கு போனஸ் என்று ஒரு தொகை அவர்களுடைய சாலரியை தவிர வருட முடிவில் கிடைக்கிறது. அந்த போனஸ் தொகை என்பது அவர்கள் நமக்கு சும்மா தரவில்லை, நம்முடைய செயல்பாடு, மற்றும் நிறுவனத்தின் செயல்பாட்டை ஒட்டித்தான் பெரும்பாலும் போனஸ் தரப்படுகிறது. ஆனால் நாம் அந்த பணத்திற்கு சாலரிக்கு கொடுக்கும் மதிப்பை ஒரு போதும் தருவதில்லை மாறாக அது நமக்கு கிடைத்த பரிசு என்று நினைத்து அந்த பணத்தை பெரும்பாலும் விரயம் செய்கிறோம் என்றால் அது மிகையாகாது.
பொதுவாக ஹோம் லோனில் நாம் வாங்கும் பணத்தை போன்று 2.5 மடங்கு வட்டியுடன் சேர்த்து நாம் பணம் கட்டுவோம். அதாவது 20 லட்சம் என எடுத்துக்கொண்டால் 48 லட்சம் மொத்தமாக செலுத்துவோம். இதை பார்க்கும் பலர் என்னுடைய எல்லா பணமும் வட்டியிலே போய்விடுகிறது அதை சீக்கிரம் அடைக்கவேண்டும் என்று முன்பாகவே லோனை முடித்து விடுவார்கள்.
அதே சமயம் நான் மாதம் 10,000 ரூபாய் மியூச்சுவல் ஃபண்டில் போட்டால் இன்னும் 20 வருடங்களில் 15% கூட்டு வட்டியில் அந்த தொகை 1.51 கோடி, உடனே அதற்கு 20 வருடத்தில் என்ன வேல்யு இருக்கப்போகிறது. உங்கள் பணம் 6 மடங்கு பெருகுவது கண்ணிற்குத் தெரியவில்லை ஆனா நீங்கள் கட்டக்கூடிய 2.5 மடங்கு கண்ணை உறுத்துகிறது.
மேலே சொன்னவை ஒவ்வொரு சூழ்நிலையில் எப்படி ஒருவர் மனநிலை வேறுபடுகிறது என்பதற்கு உதாரணங்கள். இதோடு நம்முடைய முதலீட்டு முறையை ஒப்பிட்டு பார்த்தால் நாம் எவ்வளவு தவறுகள் தெரியாமால் செய்கிறோம் என்பது புலப்படும். ரியல் எஸ்டேட், பங்கு சந்தை மற்றும் மியூச்சுவல் ஃபண்ட் முதலீடுகள் நீண்ட கால அடிப்படையில் உள்ளவை, ஆனால் நாம் ஒவ்வொரு வருடமும் மற்ற குறுகிய கால முதலீடுகளுடன் ஒப்பிட்டு, நாம் அதில் போட்டிருக்கலாம் அல்லது இதில் போட்டிருக்கலாம் என்று நினைப்பது தவறு.
மேலும் இன்சூரன்சில் போட்ட பணம் 5% வட்டிக்கு மேலே கிடைக்கவிட்டாலும் அதை பெரிதாக எடுத்துகொள்வதில்லை மாறாக எனக்கு அது கம்மியாக இருந்தாலும் அது பாதுகாப்பானது என்று நமக்கு நாமே சொல்லிக்கொள்கிறோம்.
உதாரணமாக நாம் 1 லட்ச ரூபாய் க்கு, 5 பங்குகள் வாங்கினால் அதில் 2 லாபகரமாக இருக்கும் அதே சமயம் 3 நஷ்டத்தில் இருக்கும். ஆனால் மொத்தத்தில் 10% லாபம். நம் மனது 3 பங்கு ஏன் நஷ்டத்தில் உள்ளது என்று தான் என்னுமே தவிர மொத்தத்தில் நம்முடைய முதலீடு லாபத்தில் உள்ளதை நினைப்பதில்லை. மாறாக மியூச்சுவல் ஃபண்டில் 30 அல்லது 40 பங்குகள் வாங்கி அதனுடைய மதிப்பை NAV மூலம் தெரியப்படுத்துகிறார்கள். அதிலும் சில பங்கு லாபத்திலும் சில பங்கு நஷ்டத்தில் இருந்தாலும் NAV மூலம் பார்ப்பதால் நம்மை அது பாதிப்பதில்லை.
சாராம்சம்
பணம் எந்த உருவில் நமக்கு கிடைத்தாலும் அதன் மதிப்பு ஒன்றே. அதனால் எல்லா பணத்தையும் நாம் ஒரே கண்ணோட்டத்தில்தான் பார்க்கவேண்டும். முதலீடு செய்வதற்கு முன்பு நாம் பணத்தை எதற்காக முதலீடு செய்கிறோம் அதனுடைய குறிக்கோள் என்ன, அது குறுகிய கால முதலீடா அல்லது நீண்ட காலமா? அது உத்திரவாத வட்டியை அல்லது சந்தையின் போக்கிற்கேற்ப மாறுபட்டு, கொஞ்ச காலம் காத்திருந்தால் அதிக ரிடர்ன் கிடைப்பதற்கு எவ்வளவு சதவிகித வாய்ப்பு உள்ளது முதலியவற்றை அறிந்த பின்பே முதலீட்டை தேர்வு செய்யவேண்டும்.
இன்று எல்லாமே, தலை கீழ், நம்மில் நிறைய பேர் இதைப்பற்றி ஒன்றும் தெரிந்து கொள்ளாமலும், தெரிந்து கொள்ள விரும்பாமலும் முதலீடு செய்து (அவர் சொன்னார், இவர் சொன்னார் என்று சொல்லாமல்) தம்முடைய செயலுக்கு அடுத்தவரை பலிகடாவாக்குவது மிகவும் தவறு. இதைப் புரிந்து கொண்டால் எல்லோராலும் எளிதாக பணம் செய்ய முடியும் என்பது யாராலும் மறுக்க முடியாத உண்மை.
I-T dept to use information from banks to nail tax evaders
B S Vrishti Beniwal | New Delhi
January 27, 2014
The dept is considering seeking information on individuals exchanging high-denomination notes in huge numbers
From April 1, as people rush to bank branches to exchange their pre-2005 notes, the income-tax (I-T) department will also be on its toes. The department is gearing itself to use information from banks to nab tax evaders.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had on Wednesday decided to withdraw all currency notes issued before 2005 and said bank would exchange all such notes brought to their branches by customers, as well as non-customers. In the case of non-customers, the central bank had said, those exchanging more than 10 pieces of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes after June would have to furnish proof of identity and residence.
The I-T department is considering seeking information on individuals exchanging high-denomination notes in huge numbers. It will then match banks' information with its own. If there is a mismatch in the income reported by a person and cash exchanged by him, the taxman will go deeper.
The department had not made any request for withdrawal of these notes from circulation, but it stands to eventually gain from the RBI move, say officials. The move could help officials probe any money trail established by the information from banks.
But RBI has provided an easy three-month window for exchange of notes. Details of identity and residence will not be required for exchange of notes between April 1 and June 30. The I-T department is concerned that many individuals with black money might take advantage of this.
"It could help us collect some data. If somebody is sitting on a huge amount, he can be traced. But since it is not demonetisation, all the black money cannot be unearthed. People have time till June (to exchange notes in bulk without giving any information)," said a tax official, asking not to be named.
The I-T department is already using a lot of banking transaction details for profiling taxpayers and nabbing evaders. It receives in the form of Annual Information Returns information like cash deposits of at least Rs 10 lakh in savings bank accounts in a year and payments of at least Rs 2 lakh in a year through credit cards. But the department doesn't have enough tools to track cash transactions between individuals outside the banking system.
The government has drawn a lot of flak from various quarters for failing to check the menace of black money.
Though the central bank had clarified it regularly withdrew soiled and old notes from circulation and this was a routine exercise, the move was seen as significant because of its timing - ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, likely in the middle of April. Also, the conditions set this time led many to believe it might be an effort to unearth black money.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had, however, later said the assumptions were not correct as the motive was to replace old notes with new ones with greater security features. The demand to replace less secure notes had come from the finance ministry, he had added.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had on Wednesday decided to withdraw all currency notes issued before 2005 and said bank would exchange all such notes brought to their branches by customers, as well as non-customers. In the case of non-customers, the central bank had said, those exchanging more than 10 pieces of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes after June would have to furnish proof of identity and residence.
The I-T department is considering seeking information on individuals exchanging high-denomination notes in huge numbers. It will then match banks' information with its own. If there is a mismatch in the income reported by a person and cash exchanged by him, the taxman will go deeper.
The department had not made any request for withdrawal of these notes from circulation, but it stands to eventually gain from the RBI move, say officials. The move could help officials probe any money trail established by the information from banks.
But RBI has provided an easy three-month window for exchange of notes. Details of identity and residence will not be required for exchange of notes between April 1 and June 30. The I-T department is concerned that many individuals with black money might take advantage of this.
"It could help us collect some data. If somebody is sitting on a huge amount, he can be traced. But since it is not demonetisation, all the black money cannot be unearthed. People have time till June (to exchange notes in bulk without giving any information)," said a tax official, asking not to be named.
The I-T department is already using a lot of banking transaction details for profiling taxpayers and nabbing evaders. It receives in the form of Annual Information Returns information like cash deposits of at least Rs 10 lakh in savings bank accounts in a year and payments of at least Rs 2 lakh in a year through credit cards. But the department doesn't have enough tools to track cash transactions between individuals outside the banking system.
The government has drawn a lot of flak from various quarters for failing to check the menace of black money.
Though the central bank had clarified it regularly withdrew soiled and old notes from circulation and this was a routine exercise, the move was seen as significant because of its timing - ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, likely in the middle of April. Also, the conditions set this time led many to believe it might be an effort to unearth black money.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had, however, later said the assumptions were not correct as the motive was to replace old notes with new ones with greater security features. The demand to replace less secure notes had come from the finance ministry, he had added.
MAKING IT COUNT
January 22: RBI decides to fully withdraw from circulation all currency notes issued before 2005; asks the public to visit bank branches after March 31 for exchange of notes
April 1 to June 30: Banks will exchange all pre-2005 currency notes brought by their customers as well as non-customers
July 1 onwards: To exchange more than 10 pieces of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, non-customers will have to furnish proof of identity and residence; I-T officials intend to use this information to probe any black money trail
Karl Slym's death: police suspect suicide
Reuters | Bangkok/Mumba i
January 27, 2014 Last Updated at 10:09 IST
Say they didn't find any sign of a struggle; Slym left behind a 3-page note
Karl Slym, managing director of Tata Motors Ltd, died after falling from a hotel room in Bangkok in what police said on Monday could be a possible suicide.
Slym, 51, had attended a board meeting of Tata's Thailand unit in the Thai capital and was staying with his wife in a room on the 22nd floor of the Shangri-La hotel. Hotel staff found his body on Sunday on the fourth floor, which juts out above lower floors.
"We didn't find any sign of a struggle," Police Lieutenant Somyot Boonyakaew, who is heading the investigation, told Reuters.
"We found a window open. The window was very small so it was not possible that he would have slipped. He would have had to climb through the window to fall out because he was a big man. From my initial investigation we believe he jumped."
The police found a three-page note, written in English, which they were translating into Thai. An autopsy on Slym's body should begin on Monday.
A spokeswoman for Tata Motors, India's biggest automaker, declined to comment on the possible cause of Slym's death. A company statement on Sunday said Slym had provided leadership in a challenging market environment.
TURNING THE CORNER
Slym, a British national, was hired in 2012 to revive Tata's flagging sales and market share in India. Tata Motors is part of the Tata conglomerate.
"His death comes at a time when the company seems to be close to turning the corner," said Anil Sharma, an analyst with researchers IHS Automotive. "It comes before his efforts bear fruit. We should be able to see the results in a year or two."
Tata Motors recently introduced a new petrol engine for its passenger vehicles and was planning to launch a hatchback and compact sedan this year, the first all-new Tata-branded passenger vehicle since 2010.
Slym led the automaker's operations in India and international markets including South Korea, Thailand and South Africa, but he did not look after the Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) luxury unit that Tata Motors acquired in 2008.
The Thai police said they were called to the Shangri-La hotel around 7:45 am on Sunday after staff found Slym's body. They woke up Slym's wife, who looked shocked when she was told what had happened to her husband.
Tata Motors had lost traction in the Indian passenger vehicle market as domestic and foreign rivals rolled out new models while it mostly tweaked existing models and offered heavy price discounts.
The firm has not had a hit car at home since 1998. Sales of the Nano, the world's cheapest car which it unveiled in 2008, have been lacklustre.
Before joining Tatar Motors, Slym was executive vice president of SGMW Motors, China, a General Motors joint venture. Before that he had headed General Motors in India.
Slym, 51, had attended a board meeting of Tata's Thailand unit in the Thai capital and was staying with his wife in a room on the 22nd floor of the Shangri-La hotel. Hotel staff found his body on Sunday on the fourth floor, which juts out above lower floors.
"We found a window open. The window was very small so it was not possible that he would have slipped. He would have had to climb through the window to fall out because he was a big man. From my initial investigation we believe he jumped."
The police found a three-page note, written in English, which they were translating into Thai. An autopsy on Slym's body should begin on Monday.
A spokeswoman for Tata Motors, India's biggest automaker, declined to comment on the possible cause of Slym's death. A company statement on Sunday said Slym had provided leadership in a challenging market environment.
TURNING THE CORNER
Slym, a British national, was hired in 2012 to revive Tata's flagging sales and market share in India. Tata Motors is part of the Tata conglomerate.
"His death comes at a time when the company seems to be close to turning the corner," said Anil Sharma, an analyst with researchers IHS Automotive. "It comes before his efforts bear fruit. We should be able to see the results in a year or two."
Tata Motors recently introduced a new petrol engine for its passenger vehicles and was planning to launch a hatchback and compact sedan this year, the first all-new Tata-branded passenger vehicle since 2010.
Slym led the automaker's operations in India and international markets including South Korea, Thailand and South Africa, but he did not look after the Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) luxury unit that Tata Motors acquired in 2008.
The Thai police said they were called to the Shangri-La hotel around 7:45 am on Sunday after staff found Slym's body. They woke up Slym's wife, who looked shocked when she was told what had happened to her husband.
Tata Motors had lost traction in the Indian passenger vehicle market as domestic and foreign rivals rolled out new models while it mostly tweaked existing models and offered heavy price discounts.
The firm has not had a hit car at home since 1998. Sales of the Nano, the world's cheapest car which it unveiled in 2008, have been lacklustre.
Before joining Tatar Motors, Slym was executive vice president of SGMW Motors, China, a General Motors joint venture. Before that he had headed General Motors in India.
Cash-rich Piramal keen on buying stake in Axis Bank
FP Staff Jan 27, 2014
Ajay Piramal-promoted Piramal Enterprise, which last month raked in Rs 8,900 crore by selling a 10 percent stake in Vodafone, is now looking at a proposal from investment bankers to pick up around 5 percent equity stake in private sector lender Axis Bank from Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), the Business Standardreported today quoting unknown sources.
The Piramal Group is sitting on a massive cash pile. it had sold its domestic formulation business to Abbott Laboratories for around Rs 18,000 in 2010.
As per Axis' market capitalisation of Rs 56,640 crore, the value of a five percent stake is around Rs 2,800 crore. This stake buy in Axis Bank would give Piramal exposure to banking sector without getting tied to its regulatory norms.
Last week, Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) chose JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc and JM Financial to help sell its 23.58 per cent stake in Axis Bank valued over Rs 13,000 crore.
The sale is part of a search for funds to narrow the government's fiscal deficit to 4.8 percent of gross domestic product in the financial year ending March 2014 from 4.9 per cent a year earlier.
Tata Motors’ Karl Slym: A corporate rarity who also loved bollywood
Slym was that corporate rarity: easily accessible, witty and almost self deprecating.Reuters
FP Sindhu Bhattacharya Jan 27, 2014
If there is one thing reporters covering the auto beat in Delhi will remember most about Karl Slym, it is his easy smile. He was leading General Motors in India till 2011 and was one of the few people who had moved to the corner office without letting it affect their affability. Slym was that corporate rarity: easily accessible, witty and almost self deprecating. He used to take mutiple barbs of scribes about GM's tepid performance in India with equanimity, admitting that the Chevy brand had miles to go before it could aspire to greater volumes. His witty one liners often had us in splits.
Slym left GM to become Executive VP at the three way joint venture he helped forge in 2011 but returned to India in August 2012 to take up the very challenging but prestigious role of leading Tata Motors. On Sunday afternoon, Tata Motors announced his untimely demise while on work in Thailand.
"Tata Motors deeply regrets to announce the untimely and tragic demise of its Managing Director, Karl Slym, in Bangkok earlier today. Karl Slym was in Bangkok to attend a meeting of the Board of Directors of Tata Motors Thailand Ltd," the company said in a statement this afternoon. It appears as if Slym fell from a hotel floor in Bangkok but whether this lead to his death is still unknown.
A former colleague remembers Slym as someone who made even juniors feel at ease. Slym would make the insurmountable odds of turning around Tata Motors sound almost easy but in the last few weeks, he had turned down some interview requests saying unless results are visible, there was no point in saying the same thing in the media. He wanted to let his work do the talking. One look at his Twitter handle will tell you that he tried to interact with anyone and everyone who had a word about Tata Motors, its products or its future.
He was deeply interested in India, its car market and its movies. A profile Forbes magazine did of him in May last year lists his interests as travelling, bollywood and cricket.
With Slym gone, Tata Motors now has the unenviable task of finding a replacement. Its domestic passenger vehicle business is in tatters and Slym had begun to mend it with a multi pronged straregy and help from some of his former GM colleagues who were brought in at key positions within Tata Motors. He had set a turnaround target for the domestic vehicle business by 2016-17 by when brand new vehicle platforms would have been in the market. A story by DNA newspaper earlier this month shows how Tata Motors' share of passenger vehicle business shrunk from 14% in FY11 to 8.7% (April-November) this fiscal. From being a leader in the SUV market, it easily ceded its position to Mahindra & Mahindra as new product pipeline dried up, diesel vehicles lost their appeal and competition continued to innovate.
Now, not only should Tata Motors continue with the blueprint Slym had already readied, it is even more imperative for the company to get an MD with a long term vision and abundant patience to achieve the painful turnaround of its domestic vehicle business.
Tata Motors said on Sunday that Managing Director Karl Slym had died in Bangkok after a fall. Slym, 51, was in the Thai capital for a Tata Motors Thailand board meeting, a company spokeswoman told Reuters. A post-mortem report was due on Monday, she said, but gave no further details. Karl Slym. Reuters "The company shares in the grief of Karl Slym's wife and family at their irreparable loss," the company said in a statement. Slym had worked for Tata since October 2012.
All you need to know about Tata Motors chief Karl Slym
FP Staff Jan 27, 2014
Karl Slym, managing director of Tata Motors Ltd, died on Sunday after falling from a high floor of a hotel in Bangkok. Slym, 51, had attended a board meeting of Tata's Thailand unit in the Thai capital, a company spokeswoman said, giving no further details. A post-mortem report is due on Monday, she said.
Following the news of Slym's death, Tata Motors fell more than 3 percent in the opening trade.
Here's what you need to know about Karl Slym:
• Karl J Slym was born in Derby, central England, and graduated in 1984 from his post-secondary education in production engineering at the city’s University. He started his career as a general manager at Toyota, before moving to GM in 1995. He held various roles with the US carmaker in locations including in Poland, Germany and Canada, notes a Bloomberg profile of him.
• A native of Britain, Slym was hired in 2012 to revive flagging sales and market share in the domestic business of India's biggest automaker, which is part of the Tata conglomerate.
• Expressing condolence at the sudden demise of Slym, Tata Motors Chairman Cyrus P Mistry said: "I am deeply saddened to inform you about the untimely and tragic demise of our company's Managing Director, Karl Slym." Slym was visiting Bangkok for a meeting of the Board of Directors of Tata Motors Thailand Ltd, he said. "Karl joined us in October 2012, and was a valued colleague who was providing strong leadership at a challenging time for the Indian auto industry. In this hour of grief, our thoughts are with Karl's wife and family," he said.
• A Firstpost profile of Slym notes that he was that corporate rarity: easily accessible, witty and almost self deprecating. He used to take mutiple barbs of scribes about GM's tepid performance in India with equanimity, admitting that the Chevy brand had miles to go before it could aspire to greater volumes.
• Slym led the automaker's operations in India and international markets including South Korea, Thailand and South Africa, excluding the Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) luxury unit that it acquired in 2008. Slym "was providing leadership to the company through a challenging market environment", the company said in a statement on Sunday.
• Slym sought to reposition the failing Nano as a “second car” after buyers shunned the $2,300 compact pitched as an inexpensive alternative to motor scooters. “Karl was beginning to make long-term changes at Tata Motors,” Vikas Sehgal, managing director for the automotive sector at Rothschild & Sons in London, told Bloomberg.“His loss will be felt deeply by Tata Motors.”
• He was deeply interested in India, its car market and its movies. A profile Forbes magazine did of him in May last year lists his interests as travelling, bollywood and cricket.
The Spirit of J R D Tata : Nothing worthwhile is ever achieved with out deep thought and hard work .
Quotes :
Nothing worthwhile is ever achieved
with out deep thought and hard work .
The Life and Times of J R D Tata :
The Life and Times of J R D Tata :
Professionalism
Tata's personal interest in technology, combined with India's isolation in the 1950s and 1960s, spurred several group companies, particularly Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals, to innovate in their fields. At Tata Steel, a Research and Control Laboratory had been opened in 1937, and its researchers developed an extensive variety of special steels for applications as varied as parachute harnesses and razor blades.
The lab also developed a high-tensile alloy steel -- Tiscrom -- which made it possible for the Howrah Bridge in Calcutta to be built entirely from Indian materials. Another corrosion resistant, low-alloy high-yield strength steel -- Tiscor -- was used for the manufacture of all-metal steel coaches on the Indian railways.
J R D Tata in his own words :
Go Ahead : you have all you need and you need to Go Ahead
Go Ahead : You have all you need and you need to Go Ahead
Sunday, January 26, 2014
PAN Allotment only after verifying documents with Original
DIRECTORATE OF INCOME TAX (SYSTEMS)
ARA Centre, Ground Floor, E-2, Jhandewalan Extension, New Delhi-110055
F.No: oPAN/1/3/2003/Part Dated: 24.1.2014
Sub: Change in procedure for PAN allotment.
1. The fee for processing a PAN application shall be Rs 105/- (inclusive of all taxes).
2. Subsequent to notification S.O.No 3794(E) dt 23.12.2013, the procedure for PAN allotment process will undergo a change w.e.f. 03.02.2014.
2.1 From 03.02.2014 onwards, every PAN applicant has to submit self-attested copies of Proof of Indentify (POI), Proof of Address (POA) and Date of Birth (DOB) documents and also produce original documents of such POI/POA/DOB documents for verification at the counter of PAN facilitation centers. List of documents of POI/POA/DOB is given in the Instructions part of Form 49A/49AA.
2.2 The copies of Proof of Identity (POI), Proof of Address (POA) and Date of Birth (DOB) documents attached with PAN application form, will be verified vis a vis their original documents at the time of submission of PAN application at PAN facilitation Centres.
2.3 Original documents shall not be retained by the PAN Facilitation Centres and will be returned back to the applicant after verification.
Sd/-
(N.J. Singh)
Joint Director of Income Tax (Systems)-I, New Delhi
5 Things to know about your currency
B S Akshat Kaushal
January 25, 2014 Last Updated at 20:36 IST
Interesting facts about India's coins and banknotes
As the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) orders withdrawal of all banknotes issued before 2005, Business Standard lists five things you might want to know about the Indian currency:
When was the first note issued in India?
The process of issuing paper currency was started in the 18th century. Private banks such as – the Bank of Bengal, the Bank of Bombay, and the Bank of Madras – first printed paper money. It was only after the Paper Currency Act of 1861 that the government of India was given the monopoly to print currency.
The government of India printed currency until the RBI was established in 1935, which then took up this responsibility.
In 1938, India was printing banknotes of Rs 10,000 denominations!
The Rs 5-note was the first paper currency issued by RBI in January 1938. It had the portrait of George VI. Within the same year, currency notes of Rs 10; Rs 100; Rs 1,000; and Rs 10,000 were issued.
In 1946, Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000 notes were demonetised to curb unaccounted money. These were then reintroduced in 1954 (this time Rs 5,000 note was also printed), only to be withdrawn in 1978 again.
Can the RBI publish notes of any denomination it wants?
At present, notes of Rs 10; Rs 100; Rs 500; and Rs 1,000 are only printed. The printing of Re 1, Rs 2 and Rs 5 has been stopped as these have been coinised.
However, the RBI has the powers to print currency notes of up to Rs 10,000 denomination. But, an amendment to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 will be needed if any note of higher denomination has to be printed.
Who decides how many notes are to be printed?
How many notes are to be published is decided by the RBI. The RBI factors in inflation, GDP growth, replacement of soiled banknotes and reserve stock requirements, before deciding on how many notes are required.
What about the coins?
Minting of coins is the responsibility of the government of India, and not of the RBI. For this reason, the Re 1 note has the signature of the Finance Secretary to the government of India. This has been so because when the one rupee note was reintroduced as a war time measure in 1940, it was issued by the government of India with the status of a coin. Government of India continued to issue Rupee one notes till 1994.
A Rupee coin (Re 1 and above) can be used to pay/settle any amount sum, However, 50 paise coin cannot be used to pay/settle any amount above Rs 10.
Coins of up to Rs 1,000 denominations can be minted.
Source: RBI
Banks gear up for pre-2005 note exchange rush :Good initiative .... it will help remove fake currency which are in circulation,
Banks are gearing up to meet the expected customer rush for exchanging currencies after the Reserve Bank's decision to phase out notes issued prior to 2005.
"There will be some pressure, but we are confident that we will handle it. We have cash depositing machines in large numbers which will help ease pressure. By end of February, we will around have 1,000 cash depositing machines," State Bank of India Deputy Managing Director P K Malhotra told PTI.
This is a good initiative as it will help remove fake currency which are in circulation, he said, adding that notes which are printed after 2005 have more security features.
According to Oriental Bank of Commerce CMD S L Bansal, the bank will adhere to all the directions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regarding withdrawal of notes.
"I don't feel there would be a great rush for exchange of notes because most of such currency would be out of system," he said, adding that generally notes have shelf life of 10 years only.
A senior official of Punjab National Bank said their branches are fully geared up to meet the rush forcurrency exchange.
The Reserve Bank on January 22 decided to withdraw all currency notes issued prior to 2005, including Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations, after March 31 in a move apparently aimed at curbing black money and fake currencies.
The public are required to approach banks for exchanging these notes.
The RBI had also said the volume of such notes that were being withdrawn from circulation was not significant.
The removal of older currency notes from circulation is a standard international practice, RBI had said.
From July 1, 2014, persons seeking exchange of more than 10 pieces of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes will have to furnish proof of identity and residence to the bank.
The notes printed prior to 2005 will continue to be legal tender even after July 1. Any number of these old series notes can be exchanged by people at bank branches where they have accounts, RBI had said.
As per RBI data, 7,351 crore pieces of currency notes were in circulation on March 31, 2013. Of this, 14.6 per cent were Rs 500 notes and 5.9 per cent were Rs 1,000 notes.
B S Press Trust of India |
January 26, 2014 Last Updated at 09:05 IST
Go Ahead :Go Ahead...you will be able to breeze through and find solution for your problems that stare you at your face
Go Ahead...you will be able to breeze through and
find solution for your problems that stare you at your face
The Spirit of J R D Tata : 'Not excellence. Perfection. You aim for perfection, you will attain excellence. If you aim for excellence, you will go lower.
Quotes :
'Not excellence. Perfection.
You aim for perfection, you will attain excellence.
If you aim for excellence, you will go lower.
The Life and Times of J R D Tata :
Professionalism
JRD's respect for his managers bound the group. 'I am a firm believer that the disintegration of the Tata Group is impossible,' he once declared.
Most business groups have disintegrated or drifted apart because of family ownership and management, with rival family members wanting to go their own way. In contrast, the Tata Group companies are run by professionals who firmly believe in the trusteeship concept laid down by J N Tata as also by Mahatma Gandhi.
A university dropout, JRD was something of a self-taught technocrat, and died long before the phrase 'war for talent' was coined. Yet, almost every senior Tata director from the 1930s onwards held a degree from a foreign university. Tata willingly financed bright young boys who wanted to go abroad for further education.
He was also a vital bridge between the scientific establishment and the government through his founding of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and as the longest serving member of the Atomic Energy Commission.
J R D Tata in his own words :
- I wish, I were big enough, like Einstein, to do what he did on one occasion. A hundred-dollar-a-plate dinner was organised for him to speak, and leaders of America in all fields, particularly in the field of science, were invited to hear the great man. When his turn came, he rose and said:'I've nothing to say,' and sat down. You can imagine the consternation, quite apart from the wasted cost of the dinner! Realising the frightful effect his remarks had on the audience, Einstein got up again and said: 'When I've something to say, I'll let you know.'
- Address to the Lions Club of Jamshedpur, August 22, 1963.
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