What is gift tax? Who is liable to pay gift tax?

Under the latest law, any gift received by a person in cash or kind which exceeds Rs 50,000 will be taxed as ‘income from other sources' u/s 56 (2) of the Income Tax Act.

This is also applicable to movable or immovable property which has been purchased for inadequate or less amount payment. It is taxed under "income from other sources".

The value of any property, other than cash, transferred by way of gift shall, be its value as on the date on which the gift was made.

Exemption in respect of certain gifts

v  Gifts received on occasion of the marriage

v  Under a will or by way of inheritance

v  In case of death of the payer

v  By way of bonus, gratuity or pension or to the dependents of a deceased employee 

v  Gifts from relatives on the occasion of marriage

v  NRI can gift their parents from NRE account

Gift received by a daughter-in-law from her parents-in-law is exempt from tax. While son-in-law receiving gift from his parent-in-law is taxable.

Few examples to understand

Example: If Hari receives any gift from his friends, relatives or colleagues on his wedding it will not be taxed under  Hari's hands. In case he inherits a movable/immovable property, it will also not be taxed.

Example 1: If Hari buys gift for his wife Deepa worth Rs 10 lakh, it is not taxable in the hands of Deepa.

Example 2: If Hari gifts a diamond necklace worth Rs 8 lakh to Deepa before wedding, then it will be taxed. (As relative clause will not be valid in this case)

Example 3: If Rahul cash gifts Hari an amount of Rs 30,000, it is also not taxable. In case, if Rahul gifts another Rs 21,000 in the same financial year than the entire amount will be taxable in the hands of Hari.

Who are relatives under the income tax act:

(a) spouse of the Individual;
(b) brother or sister of the individual;
(c) brother or sister of the spouse of the individual;
(d) brother or sister of the either of the parents of the individual;
(e) any lineal ascendant or descendant of the individual;
(f) any lineal ascendant or descendant of the spouse of the individual;

The stringent rules adopted by the IT Act is to curb money laundering and for fair transaction of money.

Reference : www.goodreturns.in

Name : -    Panchu Gopal Seet, B.Sc, MBA (Finance)

Mobile : -  +919439055442

E-Mail : -   panchugopal.seet@gmail.com

Precision Farming - A Ray of Hope to Kissan (Farmer)

PRECISION FARMING:

Precision Farming or Precision Agriculture is a concept of using the new technologies about doing the right thing, in the right place, in the right way, at the right time. The intent of precision farming is to match agricultural inputs and practices as per crop and agro-climatic conditions to improve the accuracy of their applications.

   It helps, avoiding unwanted practices to a crop, regardless of local soil/climate conditions, i.e., it reduces    labor, water, inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides etc. & assures quality produce to precisely evaluate optimum sowing density, estimate fertilizers and other inputs needs to more accurately predict crop yields.

HISTORY:

Precision Farming Project was started in Tamil Nadu state in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts during 2004-05. It was implemented initially in 250 acres in 2004-05, 500 acres in 2005-06 and 250 acres in 2006-07 with a total budget of 7.20 lakhs). Government of Tamil Nadu had assigned this turnkey project task to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. The first crop has be taken up under the total guidance of Scientists from the University.

500 ha were planted with 23 kinds of crops over three years and recorded 60 % increase in yield and 90 % marketable quality. The buyers and sellers meets have now became every day affair in as much as the cluster level associations and District level federations of the farmers assumed bargaining powers both for sale of the produce and for purchase of inputs as well. The site has now become the training ground for the farmers of rest of the state.

In the first year, farmers were not ready to accept this project initially because of their frustration in Agriculture due to continuous drought in that area for 4 years since 2002. But after seeing the success of the first 100 farmers and high market rate of the produce from this scheme, farmers started registering in large numbers for the second (90 per cent subsidy) and third year (80 per cent subsidy).

BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT:

• 60 to 80 % higher yield in all the crops (The highest possible yield records under Indian conditions)
• 90% plus first grade marketable produce
• Weight by volume is 25% higher
•  30% premium price in the market
•  5-6 days more shelf life
•  Less labor dependence
•  30-40 % Water economy
•  Extended harvest ensuring sales during the period of peak price
•  Empowerment of farmers technically, economically and socially
•  Establishment of Producer Company incorporated under  Company Act

KEY TECHNOLOGIES:

A. Satellite based Soil Maps:

Fertilizer application and soil management based on the Satellite based Soil Maps. This technology helped in identifying the exact nutrient status of the particular area soil.

B. Chisel plough:

The chisel plough technology ensures better aeration to root zone and effective drainage during rainy days.  Further it helps the plants to develop root system with characteristical uniformity, pattern, and architecture and in adequate mass. The Chisel plough needs to be operated once in two years. Compared to single tine chisel plough five tine chisel is effective in hard soils.

C.  Hi-Tech Community Nursery:

The seedlings are to be raised in pro trays under net houses with insect proof netting making use of (EC and pH adjusted) coco peat media treated with pseudomonas. The seedlings produced will be strikingly uniform with similar physical and physiological age thus ensuring 100 per cent field stand and sustain 100 per cent productive plants.  The root mass is on the outer surface of root ball and hence there is no causality. The Cabbage and Cauliflower seedlings are extremely sensitive to pH and EC of the media while chilli and brinjal Hybrid seedlings are hardy. One net house nursery (300sm) is recommended for every cluster consisting of 20 ha.

D.  Drip and Fertigation System:

Drip and fertigation system ensures water economy, precise application of water-soluble fertilizers to root zone and keep an ideal soil moisture regime of 60 percent and aeration of 40 %.  In conventional system, immediately after irrigation, the air gradient of soil becomes zero and moisture gradient becomes 100 per cent.  Before irrigation the gradients are reversed thus exerting stress over the root zone.  In fertigated fields, the moisture regime was 60 per cent and air gradient was 40 per cent.  Thus the growth became unchecked from seedling to harvest. Surface of the soil is dry during most part of the cropping season hence less weeds which reduces labor expenses on weeding and less pathogen which reduces cost of plant protection. Further the row crop geometry renders effective spray of pesticides and residual toxicity is comparatively less than the conventional system. Fertigation ensures precise dosage at critical stages of the crop in the immediately available form and hence the crop growth is unchecked throughout the crop period. Extended harvest is possible with fertigation.

FARMER ASSOCIATION FOR MARKETING

For every 25 to 30 beneficial farmers could jointly form a registered Precision Farmers Association.  These societies involved in various activities like,

• Negotiation of the inputs purchase with the agro traders
• Discussing the possibilities of contract farming of vegetables
• Visiting various markets and getting the market information
• Sharing their precision farming experience with fellow members

Because of the quality, all the produce from Precision Farming areas are fetching premium price in all the markets, so farmer will not get problem while marketing their produce.

CONCLUSION

Power saving: 50%

Grade I quality crop produced: 90%"

Weight gained by fruit & vegetables: 25%"

This form of agriculture is quite challenging and satisfying." Given its benefits, precision farming should have spread like wildfire across the country. But it still has a long way to go. Rough estimates suggest that only 2.5 million of India's 120 million farmers practice it. The need is all the greater given the pressure the farming sector will face in coming years.

SOME TESTIMONIAL

1.  Vaibhav Patil, a 26-year-old business administration graduate from Nimbol, has taken to farming. "I earn more than my friends, who work in IT companies.

2.  When he did things the traditional way, Sriram Patil from Jalgoan district of Maharashtra harvested eight quintals of cotton per acre. Today, thanks to precision farming, his output has risen to 35 quintals an acre. Patil has built a 1,500 sq. ft. house, purchased a tractor, and leased 25 acres of farmland.

3.  Mahajan's banana yield has more than doubled, and so has his income. He has bought 30 acres of land, built a three storied house, and indulged in a four-wheel-drive jeep. The story is the same across many parts of Jalgaon district.

4.  Raju Ramdas Patil, a native of Neri village near Jalgaon, spends a lot of time assessing the threat to his crop from pests. "Earlier I would spray pesticide without taking the kind of pests into consideration. It was a waste," he says. "Now I look at the leaves and stem for symptoms and spray pesticide depending on the extent of the attack. I have saved money and my farming has become eco-friendly." The money saved, along with his added income has enabled him to build a large farmhouse and fulfil his long-cherished dream of owning a house in Pune.

5.  Many more success story are from both Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts of Tamil Nadu which shows the new way to Indian Green Revolution.

Name: - Panchu Gopal Seet, B.Sc, MBA

E-Mail: -   panchugopal.seet@gmail.com

Mobile: -  +919439055442

Investment Mantra in Stock Market

Name :-   Panchu Gopal Seet, B.Sc, MBA (Finance)

Mobile :- +919439055442

E-Mail :-  panchugopal.seet@gmail.com



E-Choupal- An Initiative by ITC Limited

E-Choupal

 E-Choupal is an initiative of ITC Limited, a large multi business conglomerate in India, to link directly with rural farmers via the Internet for procurement of agricultural and aquaculture products like soybeans, wheat, coffee, and prawns.

E-Choupal was conceived to tackle the challenges posed by the unique features of Indian agriculture, characterized by fragmented farms, weak infrastructure and the involvement of numerous intermediaries. The programme involves the installation of computers with Internet access in rural areas of India to offer farmers up-to-date marketing and agricultural information.

Effects of e-Choupal

ITC Limited has now provided computers and Internet access in rural areas across several agricultural regions of the country, where the farmers can directly negotiate the sale of their produce with ITC Limited. This online access enables farmers to obtain information on mandi prices, and good farming practices, and to place orders for agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilizers. This helps farmers improve the quality of their products, and helps in obtaining a better price. Each ITC Limited kiosk having Internet access is run by a sanchalak — a trained farmer. The computer is housed in the sanchalak's house and is linked to the Internet via phone lines or by a VSAT connection. Each installation serves an average of 600 farmers in the surrounding ten villages within about a 5 km radius. The sanchalak bears some operating cost but in return earns a service fee for the e-transactions done through his e-Choupal. The warehouse hub is managed by the same traditional middle-men, now called samyojaks, but with no exploitative power due to the reorganisation. Indeed these middlemen make up for the lack of infrastructure and fulfill critical jobs like cash disbursement, quantity aggregation and transportation.

Since the introduction of e-Choupal services, farmers have seen a rise in their income levels because of a rise in yields, improvement in quality of output, and a fall in transaction costs. Even small farmers have gained from the initiative. Customized and relevant knowledge is offered to the farmers despite heterogeneous cultures, climates and scales of production. Farmers can get real-time information despite their physical distance from the mandis. The system saves procurement costs for ITC Limited. The farmers do not pay for the information and knowledge they get from e-Choupals; the principle is to inform, empower and compete. At the same time ITC Limited has obtained benefits from the programme:

1. elimination of non value added activities

2. differentiated product through identity preserved supply chains

3. value added products traceable to farm practices

4. e-market place for spot transactions and support services to futures exchange

There are presently 6,500 e-Choupals in operation. ITC Limited plans to scale up to 20,000 e-Choupals by 2012 covering 100,000 villages in 15 states, servicing 15 million farmers.

PROCESS AT GLANCE

When you run Corporate India's largest, most ambitious and most celebrated rural initiative, you better know the following:

1) That adversities could crop up unexpectedly.

2) That some adversities can be turned into opportunities.

3) And that every little opportunity has to be made most of.

It was so with ITC, the company behind the e-Choupal initiative that had reached four million farmers in six states in six years till 2006. At one point, the company was opening 5-6 e-Choupals a day and had a target of reaching 100 million farmers. That hit a roadblock of sorts in 2006-07. The very basis of the e-Choupal's core business-commodity sourcing from farmers directly-was endangered with the government clamping down on companies trading with farmers directly. The trigger for the government reaction was the spike in wholesale price inflation, which rose close to double-digit figures in case of some commodities in 2006-07.

Though the impact varied from state to state, the larger foreboding was loud and clear: The acts of government taken in the national interest could hobble e-Choupal's anchor business, even if temporarily. What does the company do then? Roll out plans for Version 3 of e-Choupal that will add at least two more anchor businesses to start with and deepen the engagement with individual farmers way beyond what was being done in Version 1 and 2. "The idea is to discover new anchor businesses and try and insulate the e-Choupal model from the risks of reversal in government's agri reforms," says S. Sivakumar, Chief Executive, Agri-Business, ITC, and the man who scripted the e-Choupal model of business.

Technologically, it would mean adding mobile phones to the existing channels of Net-based computers and Choupal Saagars, the one-stop shops catering to all the needs of the rural community. As the company scoped around for new opportunities, it found many-some emerging from the adversities that have got it rethinking. These opportunities not only make transition to Version 3 possible, but also help modify the existing strengths of Version 1 & 2 (see box above). It's spotting of these opportunities and turning them into current and future businesses that have become a case study in persevering with rural India.

OPPORTUNITY: FARMERS WILLING TO INVEST MORE
RESPONSE: OFFER THEM SERVICES THEY REALLY NEED, AND ARE WILLING TO PAY FOR

Though the average farm productivity is still low in India, the last 10 years have seen an unprecedented rise in farmers' income. This has been driven by a record increase in the price of agricultural produce (government's minimum support prices for food grains alone have risen by 30-90 per cent in two years) and a good run with monsoons-this year's deficiency notwithstanding.

Higher income means farmers are ready and willing to invest more-and one of their critical investment needs is in getting agriculture services. So far, agri services like helping farmers improve crop techniques and advice on ways to improve farm productivity has mostly been provided by the government and for free. But the quality of service has been poor, rendering them useless. In e-Choupal's Version 2, services like weather, agri inputs and pricing were provided through Sanchalaks (e-Choupal coordinators) through multimedia presentations made on village computers, but these services were customised only for crops and regions. Besides, no money was charged for these services. Under Version 3, the plan is to deliver personalised agri services to individual farmers via mobile phones.

ITC has recently signed a memorandum with Nokia for this. The company already powers some of Nokia's "Life Tools" meant for farmers. Right now the information dissemination is limited and one-way-from company to the farmer. ITC plans to make the information flow two-way. A farmer will be able to provide information on, say, the type of soil, the date of sowing and the kind of crop to the company. The company can then process these inputs and give him very specific advice.

Imagine getting such inputs from millions of farmers across the country. Apart from creating economic value by offering personalised services to farmers, the data thus generated could be of immense value to companies selling farm inputs (e.g. seeds, fertilisers, pesticides), financial firms and government planners. In sum, personalised agri services will add a second anchor business to e-Choupal- keeping its core philosophy of complementing the farmer's good with the company's good intact.

OPPORTUNITY: VILLAGES CLOSER TO TOWN MOVING AWAY FROM AGRICULTURE

RESPONSE: PROVIDE JOB INFORMATION & SKILL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES IN VILLAGES

 With rural youth, especially in villages closer to towns, shunning agriculture and farm labour, ITC sees vast opportunities in using e-Choupals as centres for information on job vacancies and-eventually-providing skills that help increase the employability of rural youth.

So, e-Choupals are also being geared as rural employment exchanges, which will connect the rural youth with jobs. This will be a new anchor business with a clear revenue model. Already, on August 11, 2009, e-Choupal in alliance with Monster India, the leading online career and recruitment resource, has launched Rozgarduniya.com, a website to enable job seekers in rural India to access and apply for jobs through e-Choupals. In less than a month of the service, over 1,200 job openings from 52 companies were made available through this channel.

ITC is also working on the skills training business, which will be rolled out over the next few months. "Rural India has a huge untapped talent pool and Rozgarduniya.com will provide a platform to bridge the demand and supply gap. Job opportunities available to the rural population through this initiative will help improve employment in addition to facilitating corporate expansion plans in the rural market," says Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com (India, Middle East and Southeast Asia).

OPPORTUNITY: FASTER DIVERSIFICATION BY FARMERS INTO HORTICULTURE

RESPONSE: INCREASED PUSH TO RETAIL OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Sourcing farm produce is e-Choupal's key and original anchor business. But instead of purely trading in commodities, the sourced produce was used as inputs for ITC's food business. So, for instance, wheat procured through farmers finds its way into Aashirwad atta. With farmers around e-Choupals diversifying their produce, ITC got the opportunity to plan forward integration in more ways than one. "We moved into Choupal Fresh through forward integration with the horticulture farmers," says Sivakumar. Choupal Fresh (it is still in a pilot phase with six outlets in Hyderabad) is more "fresh" than other chains since vegetables and fruits make up 80 per cent of products sold through its outlets, compared to 20 per cent in most other "fresh" chains. The forward integration is also evident in the export of processed foods and fruits (mango and other fruit pulps).

"Many of our products and businesses have backward integration with the e-Choupals. Bingo, for instance, is made from potato sourced entirely through the e-Choupals. Similarly, the export of processed foods and fruits is dependent on the e-Choupals now," says Sivakumar. Also, starting mid-2008 ITC has entered personal care products in a big way. The e-Choupal network is a platform to take these products to consumers in the countryside.

These branded products will also be introduced at the Choupal Haats (these are temporary rural gatherings meant for interaction and product and service experience as against a Choupal Saagar, which is a permanent and multiple rural services facility that includes an agri produce warehouse, retail hypermarket and a fuel station), which are going to be launched over the next couple of months. Among the things planned to be introduced through the Haats are branded personal care products like shampoos.

OPPORTUNITY: IMPROVED RURAL ROADS, COURTESY BHARAT NIRMAN PROJECT
RESPONSE: INCREASE THE COVERAGE AREA OF EACH E-CHOUPAL

The e-Choupals, right from Version 1, worked in a hub and spoke model. Each e-Choupal and its Sanchalak catered to several villages nearby. The average number of villages catered by an e-Choupal so far were six. With massive government investments in rural roads, connectivity between villages has improved. This allows ITC to potentially add more spokes to each of its hubs. Network reach can be easily expanded without making much fresh investments into it.

Many other Indian companies that had once entered rural markets, and had subsequently quit, are re-entering. Tata Chemicals, Mahindra & Mahindra are two such examples. How does ITC plan to respond to this competition? By making better use of its unique social capital-the Sanchalak and the Samyojak framework. In the Sanchalak, ITC has its own man in the 40,000 villages it operates in. These men can steer e-Choupal into areas and activities the competitors cannot. For instance, the Sanchalaks will be the key men in organising Choupal Haats.

OPPORTUNITY: MANDIS HAVE IMPROVED SINCE E-CHOUPAL INITIATIVE STARTED
RESPONSE: LEVERAGE THE UNIQUE DIRECT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FARMERS

When the e-Choupal initiative was started, the operations at mandis were non-transparent. From weighing of farmers' produce to its gradation- that impacted it pricing-most operations were arbitrary and based on archaic methods. Over the past couple of years, the mandis have modernised and become more transparent. Where does this leave e-Choupal, which reached out to the farmers on the plank of transparency and fair valuations for their crops?

A unique advantage ITC still has over mandis is its direct and continual relationship with the farmers in its network. With rising awareness and concerns about food safety, this direct relationship is extremely valuable for partners who either source products directly from the e-Choupals or use ITC's farm products generated through the e-Choupals. For instance, an importer of processed foods in Europe can trace ITC food products all the way to the farm it came from to satisfy itself of the food safety standards.

By making these and a few other mid-course corrections, ITC is hoping to morph e-Choupal into an allweather venture-relatively de-risked from regulatory flip-flops and even market swings. But the success of this restructuring will critically depend on how much further it can deepen its existing relationship with four million farmers so that it can extract more value out of this network than it has been able to do till now-value for itself, for the farmer and all the current and future network partners.

Sivakumar has interesting calculations to share. By personalising its relationship under e-Choupal's Version 3, ITC can increase its reach from the existing 4 million farmers to 16 million-without even adding any village to its network. How? Once personalised, each farmer's family (assuming a wife and two kids) will come into the e-Choupal network as either a consumer or a contributor of some sort.

That will give an additional reach of 12 million! Of course, all these will not happen in one go and overnight. Some of the modifications mentioned-like setting up of rural employment exchanges- has already been implemented. Some are going to be added soon. The first Choupal Haat will be organised in November. The two-way mobile application and its full operationalisation will take some more time. But given the blueprint and flexibility demonstrated so far, ITC should be able to achieve much of what it plans to. And in doing so, the company will continue to be a leading and unique example of Corporate India's engagement with rural India.

1,2,3 OF E-CHOUPAL

VERSION 1.0

THE START

IDEA: TO GIVE POWER OF SCALE TO SMALL FARMERS BY AGGREGATING THEM AS SELLERS (OF PRODUCE) AND AS BUYERS (OF FARM INPUTS)

FARMERS' GAIN: THEY GET BARGAIN AND CHOICE - THE TWO KEY VIRTUES OF COMPETITION

ITC'S GAIN: ACCESS TO INPUTS FOR ITS AGRI BUSINESS; OFFER THE USE OF NETWORK TO OTHER COMPANIES

VERSION 2.0

THE SCALE-UP

REACH: BY 2006, 40,000 VILLAGES COVERING 4 MILLION FARMERS

OFFERING: NETWORK NOW OFFERED FIVE SERVICES:

 INFORMATION: WEATHER, PRICE, ETC.

 KNOWLEDGE: FARMING METHODS, SOIL TESTING, ETC.

 PURCHASE: SEED, FERTILISER...TO INSURANCE

 SALES: FARMERS SELL CROPS TO ITC CENTRES

 OTHER: CATTLE CARE, WATER HARVESTING, WOMEN EMPLOYMENT ETC

VERSION 3.0

THE DEEPENING

NEW BUSINESSES: ADD TWO NEW ANCHOR BUSINESSES: 1) RURAL JOBS AND EMPLOYABILITY AND 2) PERSONALISED AGRI SERVICES. PLUS STRENGTHEN EXISTING COMMODITY SOURCING

MORE INTERACTION: THROUGH CHOUPAL SAAGARS AND HAATS AND VIA MOBILE PHONES

NEW TECHNOLOGY: USE OF ESPECIALLY ENABLED MOBILE PHONES, IN ADDITION TO PCS, FOR TWO-WAY INTERACTION WITH

FARMERS; USE OF ANALYTICS; NEW PARTNERS

Reference:- www.echoupal.com

Name:-  Panchu Gopal Seet, B.sc, MBA

E-mail:-  panchugopal.seet@gmail.com

Cell:-     +919439055442

150th Birthday Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda

50 thoughts from Swami Vivekananda on his150^th Birthday Anniversary 

1. Man comes from God in the beginning, in the middle he becomes man, and in the end he goes back to God.

2. He is an Acharya through whom the Divine Power acts.

3. According to Karma Yoga, the action one has done cannot be destroyed, until it has borne its fruit; no power in nature can stop it from yielding its results.

4. Know it for certain that there is no greater Tirtha (holy spot) than the body of man. Nowhere else is the Atman so manifesting as here.

5. This world is just a gymnasium in which we play; our life is an eternal holiday.

6. Strength is the one thing needful. Strength is the medicine for the world’s disease. And nothing gives such strength as the idea of Monism.

7. Despondency is not religion, whatever else it may be. By being pleasant always and smiling, it takes you nearer to God, nearer than any prayer.

8. Any new discovery of truth does not contradict the past truth but fits into it.

9. Our King Janaka tilled the soil with his own hands, and he was also the greatest of the knowers of Truth, of his time.

10. Not believing in the glory of our own soul is what the Vedanta calls atheism.

11. You are the makers of your own fortunes. You make yourselves suffer, you make good and evil, and it is you who put your hands before your eyes and say it is dark. Take your hands away and see the light.

12. The senses cheat you day and night. Vedanta found that out ages ago, modern science is just discovering the same fact.

13. It will not do merely to listen to great principles. You must apply them in the practical field, turn them into constant practice.

14. Of Gyan and Bhakti, he who advocates one and denounces the other cannot be either a Jnanin or a Bhakta, but he is a thief and a cheat.

15. While real perfection is only one, relative perfections must be many.

16. The wind of grace of the Lord is blowing on, for ever and ever. Do you spread your sail.

17. Practice is absolutely necessary. You may sit down and listen to me by the hour every day, but if you do not practice, you will not get one step further.

18. So long as the ‘skin sky’ surrounds man, that is, so long as he identifies himself with his body, he cannot see God.

19. Men worship Incarnations such as Christ or Buddha. They are the most perfect manifestations of the eternal Self. They are much higher than all the conceptions of God that you or I can make.

20. The happiest moments we ever know are when we entirely forget ourselves.

21. Books cannot teach God, but they can destroy ignorance; their action is negative.

22. The monk is the religious expert, having made religion his one métier of life. He is the soldier of God.

23. I do not believe in a God who cannot give me bread here, giving me eternal bliss in heaven!

24. The first thing to be got rid of by him who would be a Gyanani, is fear.

25. Brahman, this Reality, is unknown and unknowable, not in the sense of the agnostic, but because to know Him would be a blasphemy, because you are He already.

26. Where do you find the Indian Society standing still? It is always on the move. Sometimes, as in the times of foreign invasions, the movement has been slow, at other times quicker. This is what I say to my countrymen, I do not condemn them. I look into their past. I find that under the circumstances no nation could do more glorious work. I tell them that they have done well. I only ask them to do better.

27. Our ideal is the Brahmin of spiritual culture and renunciation. By the Brahmin ideal Brahminness in which worldliness is altogether absent and true wisdom is abundantly present. That is the ideal of the Hindu race.

28. Buddha was a working Gynani, Christ was a Bhakta, but the same goal was reached by them.

29. Maya is eternal both-ways, taken universally, as genus; but it is not-eternal individually.

30. Renunciation is the real beginning of religion. Nowadays it is very hard even to talk of renunciation. It was said of me in America that I was a man who came out of a land that had been dead and buried for five thousand years, and talked of renunciation. So says perhaps the English philosopher. Yet it is true that is the only path to religion. Renounce and give up.

31. It is impossible to find God outside of ourselves. We are the greatest temple.

32.Worship of God, worship of the holy ones, concentration and meditation, and unselfish work, these are the ways of breaking away from Maya’s net; but we must first have the strong desire to get free.

33. Wisdom can be practiced even on a battlefield. The Gita was preached so.

34. To think there is any imperfection creates it. Thoughts of strength and perfection alone can cure it.

35. Where is fate, and who is fate? We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise. We make our own destiny.

36. Those that want to help mankind must take their own pleasure and pain, name and fame, and all sorts of interests, and make a bundle of them and throw them into the sea, and then come to the Lord. That is what all the masters said and did.

37. The finer the organism, the higher the culture – greater is the power to enjoy pleasure, and the sharper are the pangs of pain.

38. With us, the prominent idea is Mukti; with the Westerners it is Dharma. What we desire is – Mukti; what they want is – Dharma. Dharma is that which makes man seek for happiness in this world or the next.

39. They had hundreds of Rishis in ancient India. We will have millions – we are going to have, and the sooner every one of you believes in this, the better for India and the better for the world. Whatever you believe, that you will be.

40. The greatest men in the world have passed away unknown. Silently they live and silently they pass away; and in time their thoughts find expression in Buddhas or Christs, and it is these latter that become known to us.

41. Better be ready to live in rags with Christ than to live in palaces without him.

42. Vedanta says, ‘We are free and not free at the same time.’ That means that we are never free on the earthly plane, but ever free on the spiritual side.

43. In our country, the imparting of knowledge has always been through men of renunciation. India had all good prospects so long as tyagis (men of renunciation) used to impart knowledge.

44. Creation is infinite, without beginning and without end, the ever moving ripple in an infinite lake.

45. Monism and Dualism are essentially the same. The difference consists in the expression. Dualism is in nature, in manifestation and Monism is pure spirituality in the essence.

46. The reconciliation of the different paths of Dharma and work without desire or attachment – these are the two special characteristics of the Gita.

47. The personal God is the highest reading that can be attained to, of the impersonal, by the human intellect.

48. The teachings of Krishna as taught by the Gita are the grandest the world has ever known. He who wrote that wonderful poem was one of those rare souls whose lives send a wave of regeneration through the world.

49. The living secrets must be handed down from Guru to disciple, in every science, much more so in religion.

50. Jesus Christ was a Jew, and Shakya Muni was a Hindu. The Jews rejected Jesus Christ, nay crucified him, and the Hindus have accepted Shakya Muni as God and worship him.

Source: http://www.swami-vivekanand.com/thoughts/

 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP MYTHS & FACTS

The recent spate of good news from American business only underscores the extent to which the US is experiencing a jobless economic recovery. At a time when the major US political parties agree on little to nothing, there is bipartisan consensus that the American unemployment crisis can – and should – be solved by the so-called “job creators”. Given the central role assigned to them in spurring our national economic recovery, it is worth examining certain myths and facts about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in the early 21st century.

Myth 1: In order to be a successful entrepreneur it is essential to have a new idea or a novel way of doing things.

Fact: Certainly the most famous entrepreneurs of our time have created entirely new product categories or “disrupted” existing markets. But for every successful Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, there are thousands of successful business owners who buy fast-food franchises, start real estate brokerages, sell insurance, open restaurants, perform roof-repair, clean houses, stamp metal or open a dry-cleaner.

And for every Apple and Facebook which reaches the financial stratosphere, there are thousands of technology businesses which fail. “New” and “novel,” romanticised as the entrepreneurial ideal, can also mean untested, unproven, improbable, and lacking in utility. Most successful, new, entrepreneurial ventures take place in the “old economy” and in mature industries where demand is well-established and certain rather than supposed or assumed.

Myth 2: To launch a successful entrepreneurial business requires major capital investment.

Fact: While starting a business generally requires some capital, keep the capital required to a minimum. In general, live off the land. Don't buy what you can rent. Don't rent what you can borrow. Don't borrow what you can get for free. Don't take for free what someone will pay you to take.

Myth 3: Entrepreneurship is only for risk-takers.

Fact: Starting a new venture is not about thrill-seeking. On the contrary, it is about actively identifying risk and mitigating it. In fact, being risk-aversive even provides a competitive edge, in that you'll be especially attuned to the dangers, pitfalls, challenges and pressures that face any young business.

On the other hand, it is hard to imagine an effective entrepreneur who cannot cope with uncertainty. The successful entrepreneur exploits ambiguity, finds opportunity in disorder, is comfortable with chaos, sees profit in dislocation and welcomes change as the harbinger of success.

Myth 4: Those with elite formal education have an advantage.

Fact: Not as entrepreneurs. No sector of the economy is more purely meritocratic. The only measure of success – is success. Not where you went to college, who you know, how much money your parents had or what caste you a member of. The market rewards invention and creation that improves the lives of businesses or consumers. It doesn't care whether the desirable new product or service came from a third generation university graduate or a first generation grade school drop-out.

Odd as it may seem, those with elite formal education (or other badges of privilege) may actually be somewhat disadvantaged over their less well-schooled rivals. Entrepreneurship can be hard, gritty, unglamorous, discouraging, impoverishing and, at times, hopeless and embarrassing. Those with other decent alternative options in the main-stream economy may lack the fortitude to persevere when times get tough, as they invariably do.

Having good career alternatives can deprive the entrepreneur of the fighting spirit, that “win-or-die-trying” mettle that is often required to overcome steep odds, constant rejection and the loneliness of toiling in obscurity. In any event, more critical to the successful entrepreneur than academic awards, or even analytical acuity, are self-confidence, perseverance, non-negotiable commitment, passion, work-ethic, charisma, vision, persuasiveness, leadership and effectiveness – personal attributes that are difficult to either learn or teach.

Myth 5: Prior experience is critical to entrepreneurial success.

Fact: While ignorance is not bliss, too many people postpone their entrepreneurial aspirations in the belief that they are just “not ready” or “don't know enough”. You will never be fully ready for what awaits you. And trying to have all the answers before you start is a recipe for never starting. And if you fail, the hard-won experience of being an entrepreneur will make you wiser and more valuable to your next employer.

Myth 6: The chances of entrepreneurial success are slim.

Fact: Their rational fear of failure often trumps the rational logic of success. The would-be entrepreneur needs to appreciate the difference between real versus imagined impediments. Emotions aside, failure may not, in fact, be the statistically more likely outcome. And, again, let's suppose you do fail.

Beware not to overrate – or underrate – the consequences of failure. What you learned from your first failure may be the crucial ingredient for your next success (Steve Jobs believed that it was his ouster from Apple which set the stage for his later, much-heralded return). Believe it or not, prior failure may be the essential component of future success.

Panchu Gopal Seet, B.Sc, MBA (Finance)

Adhunik Group of Industries

E-Mail :- panchugopal.seet@gmail.com