Microsoft names India-born Satya Nadella as CEO, Gates to continue as advisor

Image courtesy ibnlive.in.comNadella was previously the company’s Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise group.Image courtesy ibnlive.in.com

FP 15 mts ago

The search for Microsoft’s CEO is over. The company has confirmed in a press release that India-born Satya Nadella is the new CEO of the software giant. Microsoft Corp said in a press statement that the board of Directors has appointed Satya Nadella as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors effective immediately.

Nadella was previously the company’s Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise group.

“During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella,” said Bill Gates, Microsoft’s Founder and Member of the Board of Directors in the press statement.

“Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth,” Gates added.

Nadella joined the company in 1992, and was in charge of major strategy and technical shifts across the company’s portfolio of products. Of course the most notable service he’s known for is the company’s move to the cloud and the development of one of the largest cloud infrastructures in the world for supporting Bing, Xbox, Office and others.“Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth,” Gates added.

“Microsoft is one of those rare companies to have truly revolutionised the world through technology, and I couldn’t be more honored to have been chosen to lead the company,” Nadella said.

“The opportunity ahead for Microsoft is vast, but to seize it, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform. A big part of my job is to accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers more quickly,” he adds.

“Having worked with him for more than 20 years, I know that Satya is the right leader at the right time for Microsoft,” said former CEO Steve Ballmer, who announced on 23 August, 2013 that he would retire once a successor was named.

“I’ve had the distinct privilege of working with the most talented employees and senior leadership team in the industry, and I know their passion and hunger for greatness will only grow stronger under Satya’s leadership,” he said.

Born in 1967 in Hyderabad, Nadella got his Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communication from the Manipal University, in India. He soon moved to the US in order to continue his education and received his Master of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Nadella also went on to get an MBA degree from University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Prior to his stint at Microsoft, Nadella worked as a technology staff member with Sun Microsoystems.

Microsoft also announced that Bill Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, will assume a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor, and will devote more time to the company, supporting Nadella in shaping technology and product direction.

John Thompson, lead independent director for the Board of Directors, will assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors and remain an independent director on the Board.

Watch Bill Gates welcome Nadella as the new Microsoft CEO here

Powerful Quotes of Steve Jobs : My Favorite things in life do not cost any money.....

Powerful Quotes of Steve Jobs  : 
My Favorite things in life do not cost any money.....

The Spirit of Warren Buffett : I always knew I was going to be Rich.I dont think I ever doubted it for a minute .

The Spirit of  Warren Buffett : 
 I always knew I was going to be Rich.  
 I dont think I ever doubted it for a minute .

Warren Buffett  ...Quick Facts :

Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist.

 He is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century.

Born: August 30, 1930 (age 83), Omaha, Nebraska, United States

• OCCUPATION: Entrepreneur
• BIRTH DATE: August 30, 1930 (Age: 83)
• EDUCATION: Woodrow Wilson High School,University of Pennsylvania, University of Nebraska, Columbia University
• PLACE OF BIRTH: Omaha, Nebraska
• NICKNAME 1 : "Oracle of Omaha"
• NICKNAME 2: "Sage of Omaha"
• FULL NAME: Warren Edward Buffett
• AKA: Warren Buffett
• ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo

Height: 1.78 m

Spouse: Astrid Menks (m. 2006), Susan Buffett (m. 1952–2004)

Children: Howard Graham Buffett, Peter Buffett, Susan Alice Buffett

Parents: Howard Buffett, Leila Buffett

The Times of Warren Buffett  :

Early Life

Businessman and investor. Born Warren Edward Buffett on August 30,1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. Buffett's father Howard worked as stockbroker and served as U.S. Congressman. His mother, Leila Stahl Buffett, was a homemaker. Buffett was the second of three children and the only boy.

Buffett demonstrated a knack for financial and business matters early on in his childhood. Friends and acquaintances have said the young boy was a mathematical prodigy, and was able to add large columns of numbers in his head-a talent he still occasionally shows off to friends and business associates.

Warren often visited his father's stockbrokerage shop as a child, and chalked in the stock prices on the blackboard in the office. At 11 years old he made his first investment; he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred at $38 per share. The stock quickly dropped to only $27, but Buffett held on tenaciously until they reached $40. He sold his shares at a small profit, but regretted the decision when Cities Service shot up to nearly $200 a share. He later cited this experience as an early lesson in patience in investing.

India's Best Banks 2013

 BusinessToday  Anand Adhikari       Edition: Dec 8, 2013

Indian banks face multiple challenges as the economy slows and loan defaults mount. Business Today's annual listing of best banks raises a toast to those who braved the headwinds.

At a recent event to open a branch of Kotak Mahindra Bank in Mumbai, the lender's founder Uday Kotak summed up the challenges facing the Indian banking sector in the shortest possible way: "In a bank's balance sheet, liabilities are actually assets and assets are liabilities." He then explained his statement. A bank lists the current and savings account deposits as liabilities on its balance sheet. These low-cost deposits are helping banks maintain a healthy margin in the current worsening economic scenario. On the assets side of the balance sheet are corporate and retail loans that earn interest for banks. But, with many borrowers unable to repay, these assets are turning into liabilities.

Indian banks have a lot of things going against them currently, from a slowing economy and rising loan defaults to allegations of money laundering. A few banks have, however, faced the headwinds strongly.

The Business Today-KPMG Best Bank 2013 study lists 13 toppers this year.

After a gap of five years, HDFC Bank has emerged as the best large bank because of good asset quality, high loan growth, a healthy capital adequacy ratio and an improvement in returns on capital employed. YES Bank remains the best mid-sized bank for the second year running.

For other banks, challenges are only multiplying. The asset quality of banks has been deteriorating for the past two years as economic growth slipped to its lowest level in a decade while inflation and interest rates remained high. Gross bad loans have spiked to nearly four per cent of total lending from 2.36 per cent three years ago. The Reserve Bank of India estimates gross bad loans to touch 4.4 per cent by the end of the current fiscal year.

FULL COVERAGE: India's Top Lenders 

More debt would have turned sour had banks not restructured stressed corporate loans. The banking system's restructured assets are at an alarmingly high level of more than six per cent. Punjab National Bank (PNB), Central Bank of India and Allahabad Bank all have outstanding restructured assets at more than 10 per cent. 

In a recent interview with Business Today, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan emphasised on speeding up the loan recovery process through debt recovery tribunals and asset reconstruction companies. "Our institutions dealing with distress are under-developed. That will make it hard for banks to take risks if they have no hope for recovery. We have to improve them," he said.

The deteriorating asset quality is putting tremendous pressure on banks' capital base. The Basel-III regulations require banks to set aside more capital for absorbing future liquidity shocks or any risk arising in the financial system. According to the RBI, Indian banks are likely to raise Rs 2.7 trillion of tier-I equity capital in the next five years. (One trillion equals 100,000 crore). 

WATCH: Leaders share the strategy for their banks

The capital adequacy ratio at many state-run banks such as PNB, Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Union Bank of India is closer to the RBI's minimum norm of nine per cent. This leaves them with little room to breathe easy. 

M.S. Raghavan, Chairman and Managing Director of IDBI Bank,says banks will see formidable challenges to expansion when the Basel-III norms are fully implemented by 2018. "We will have to keep generating incremental capital," he says.

The banking sector is also waking up to the challenges of funding infrastructure projects. These projects were earlier the domain of development financial institutions like the Industrial Development Bank of India and Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India, the former avatars of IDBI Bank and ICICI Bank respectively. 

With the government and private sector looking to invest billions of dollars to build roads, power plants and ports, many banks ramped up their exposure to the sector. Loans to these projects are typically for the long term, say 20 years. But most funds that banks raise are shorter in maturity. This results in a mismatch. 

"Banks do not have the ability or the expertise to assess risk in an infrastructure project," says a former chairman of a development finance institution, who does not want to be named. Shikha Sharma, CEO of Axis Bank, says banks should be allowed to raise long-duration funds by issuing tax-free bonds.

Banks are tightening their regulatory and governance structures, after a news portal exposed their liberal attitude toward know-your-customer norms and anti-money laundering rules. They must also improve efficiency, especially considering that competition in the sector is about to intensify. The RBI will soon issue new banking licences. 

Foreign banks, which curbed retail lending after the 2008 financial crisis, have cleaned their balance sheets and are again looking to expand in India. The RBI has said that if foreign banks shift to a model where they set up wholly owned subsidiaries instead of the current branch structure, it will treat them on nearly equal terms with local lenders. 

Rajan had earlier told Business Today that the RBI will put enough safeguards into the policy so that there is no chance of having a foreign-dominated banking system. "At the same time, let us not be afraid of foreign banks bringing in more innovation capabilities. The system will benefit," he said.

The challenges aside, there have been several welcome developments in the banking sector over the past few years. Private lenders are leveraging social media to engage customers and boost brand visibility. In state-run banks, many women have entered the corner office. Many banks are also looking to offer customised products to those who do not have access to the banking system currently.

Still, the road ahead for banks is a bumpy one. As competition intensifies, the existing banks will have to think of innovative strategies to retain customers. Axis Bank's Sharma says it takes time to build a bank from scratch. "Our job in the meantime is to make sure that our bank is strong, profitable, well capitalised and has a right offering," she adds.

In figures: How India's top banks performed (Click to enlarge) 

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  :

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.