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WEALTH’S INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

2015-01-25T10:32:00.000-08:00

The Industrial Revolution was a historic period when humans learned how to leverage the
speed and efficiency of machine-based manufacturing. Manual labor was replaced in favor of
systems, an organized union of distinct parts that coalesced into a specific production outcome.
Long and arduous tasks manually handled by humans transformed into mechanization,
expelling most human labor out of the production equation. For that era, it was their version of
“Get Rich Quick.” Products that formerly took months to manufacture now took days.

Likewise, financial freedom via the Fastlane Roadmap is like an industrial revolution for wealth.
The default road to wealth is manual labor, a fight against time and intrinsic value. The rapid
road to wealth is to industrialize the wealth process, to systematize it like our ancestors
systematized production. The differences between the default road (the Slowlane) and the
shortcut (the Fastlane) are best demonstrated in an Egyptian parable.

THE PARABLE OF FASTLANE WEALTH
A great Egyptian pharaoh summons his two young nephews, Chuma and Azur, and he
commissions them to a majestic task: Build two monumental pyramids as a tribute to Egypt.
Upon completion of each nephew’s pyramid, Pharaoh promises each an immediate reward of
kingship, retirement amidst riches, and lavish luxury for the rest of their natural lives.
Additionally, each nephew must construct his pyramid alone.

Chuma and Azur, both 18, know their daunting task will take years to complete. Nonetheless,
each is primed for the challenge and honored by the Pharaoh’s directive. They exit Pharaoh’s
chambers ready to begin the long pyramid-building process.

Azur begins work immediately. He slowly drags large heavy stones into a square formation.
After a few months, the base of Azur’s pyramid takes shape. Townsfolk gather around Azur’s
constructive efforts and praise his handiwork. The stones are heavy and difficult to move, and
after one year of heavy labor, Azur’s perfect square foundation to the pyramid is nearly
finished.

But Azur is perplexed. The plot of land that should bear Chuma’s pyramid is empty. Not one
stone has been laid. No foundation. No dirt engravings. Nothing. It’s as barren as it was a year
ago when Pharaoh commissioned the job. Confused, Azur visits Chuma’s home and finds him
in his barn diligently working on a twisted apparatus that resembles some kind of human
torture device.

Azur interrupts, “Chuma! What the hell are you doing!? You’re supposed to be building Pharaoh
a pyramid and you spend your days locked in this barn fiddling with that crazy machine?”
Chuma cracks a smile and says, “I am building a pyramid, leave me alone.”
Azur scoffs, “Yeah, sure you are. You haven’t laid one stone in over a year!”
Chuma, engrossed and unfazed by his brother’s accusation retorts, “Azur, you’re shortsightedness
and thirst for wealth have clouded your vision. You build your pyramid and I will
build mine.”

As Azur walks away, he chides, “You fool! Pharaoh will hang you in the gallows when he
discovers your treason.”

Another year passes and Azur solidifies the base of his pyramid and begins the second level.
Except a problem arises. Azur struggles in his progress. The stones are heavy and he cannot
raise them to the pyramid’s second level. Challenged by his physical limitations, Azur
recognizes his weakness: he needs more strength to move heavier stones, and to do so, seeks
the counsel of Bennu, Egypt’s strongest man. For a fee, Bennu trains Azur to build bigger and
stronger muscles. With great strength, Azur anticipates the heavier stones will be easier to lift
onto the higher levels.

THE MILLIONAIRE FASTLANE: Crack the Code To Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime.
Copyright 2011: Unlawful distribution or reproduction is strictly prohibited.

Meanwhile, Chuma’s pyramid plot of land is still barren. Azur assumes his brother has a death
wish since, by all appearances, Chuma is violating Pharaoh’s mandate. Azur forgets about his
brother and his nonexistent pyramid.

Another year passes and Azur’s pyramid construction slows to a disheartening crawl. It often
takes one month just to place one stone. Moving stones to the upper levels require great
strength and Azur spends much of his time working with Bennu to build greater strength.
Additionally, Azur is spending most of his money on counseling fees and the exotic diet
required for the training. Azur estimates at his current construction pace, his pyramid will be
completed in another 30 years. Unfazed, Azur lauds, “After three years, I’ve far surpassed my
brother. He hasn’t placed one stone yet! That fool!”

Then, suddenly, one day while hauling a heavy stone up his pyramid, Azur hears a loud
commotion erupting from the town square. The townsfolk, regular observers to his work,
abruptly abandon his plot to examine the celebratory fuss. Curious himself, Azur takes a break
and leaves to investigate.

Surrounded by a cheering crowd, Chuma trolls up the town square commandeering a 25-foot
contraption, a towering machine built from a twisted maze of gantries, wheels, levers, and
ropes. As Chuma slowly moves up the village street amidst the buoyant crowd, Azur fears the
explanation. After a short trawl to Chuma’s barren pyramid plot, Azur’s suspicions are
confirmed.

Within minutes, Chuma’s strange machine starts moving heavy stones and begins to lay the
foundation to his pyramid. One after another, the machine effortlessly lifts the stones and
softly places them side-by-side into place. Miraculously, the machine requires little effort for
Chuma’s operation. Crank a wheel attached to a rope and cantilever entwined by a gear system,
and bingo! Heavy stones are moved quickly and magically.

While Azur’s pyramid foundation took over a year to build, Chuma lines up the foundation to
his pyramid within one week. The second level that Azur so arduously struggled with is even
more shocking: Chuma’s machine does the work 30 times quicker. What took Azur two months
takes Chuma’s machine two days. After 40 days, Chuma and his machine accomplish as much
as Azur’s three years of toilsome work.

Azur was destroyed. He spent years doing the heavy lifting while Chuma built a machine to do it
for him.
Instead of honoring the machine, Azur vows, “I must get stronger! I must lift heavier stones!”
Azur continues the hard labor of pyramid building while Chuma continues to work the crank of
his machine.

After eight years, Chuma finishes his pyramid at age 26: three years to build the system and
five years to reap the benefits of the system. The great pharaoh is pleased and does as
promised. He rewards Chuma with kingship and endows him with great riches. Chuma never
has to work another day in his life.

Meanwhile, Azur continues to dredge away at the same old routine. Lift rocks, waste time and
money to get stronger, lift rocks, and get stronger. Sadly, Azur refuses to acknowledge his
flawed strategy and endures the same old process: Carry heavy stones until you can lift no more
. . . then get stronger so you can lift heavier stones.

This mindless prescription leads Azur to a lifetime of toil. He never finishes his pyramid
promised to Pharaoh simply because he decides to do the heavy lifting himself when he should
have focused on a system to do it for him. Azur has a heart attack and dies while on the 12th level
of his pyramid, just two levels from finishing. He never experiences the great riches promised
by Pharaoh.

Meanwhile, Chuma retires 40 years early in a crown of luxury. Sloshing in free time, Chuma
goes on to become Egypt’s greatest scholar and an accomplished inventor. He is entombed
alongside Pharaoh in the same pyramid he built.

THE FASTLANE IS A BUSINESS SYSTEM: THE SLOWLANE IS A JOB
The Slowlane is a job: your hard work traded for your employer’s cash. Azur’s struggles
resemble that of a Slowlaner; to get rich, you’re told to get stronger (spend money, return to
school, and earn more in the job market) so you can lift heavier stones. The Fastlane is about
building a better system, a better contraption, a better product, or a better “something” that
will leverage your work. In the Slowlane, you are the source of heavy lifting, while in the
Fastlane, you construct a system that does it for you.

On your wealth road trip, the Slowlane roadmap asks that you endure a long, tiresome walk to
wealth. The toil of wealth is the process itself. In the Fastlane, wealth is driven in a business
system you create—the toil is the creation and management of the system itself.

Charge your cellphones now with slop of water

2013-04-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

Swedish researchers have developed the world's first water-activated charger that can power your cellphone using just a puddle of ordinary water.

Based on micro fuel cell technology developed at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, the MyFC PowerTrekk uses ordinary water to extend battery life for devices of up to 3 watts.

Anders Lundblad, KTH researcher and founder of MyFC, says that the device can be powered by fresh or seawater. The water need not be completely clean.

Lundblad said that their invention has great potential to accelerate social development in emerging markets,there are large areas that lack electricity, while mobile phones fulfil more and more vital functions, such as access to weather information or electronic payment.

A USB connector attaches the compact PowerTrekk charger to the device. When plain water is poured onto a small recyclable metal disc inside the unit, hydrogen gas is released and combines with oxygen to convert chemical energy into electrical energy.

The resulting charge is enough to power an iPhone to between 25 and 100 per cent of its battery capacity.

Lundblad says the business vision behind MyFC is to commercialise fuel cell technology and contribute to the development of environmental technology.

He says the charger is the first step toward building fuel cells in laptops.

"The launch of our charger is a strategic move to gain wide acceptance of fuel cells throughout society. Our chargers may be considered expensive now; but in the longer term, as they reach a mass market, they would go down in price," he said.

Fuel cells can already be found in electric cars, trucks and buses, and backup electrical power supply systems for hospitals and co-generation plants.

The process by which fuel cells generate electricity is considered to be safe and environmentally-friendly, and the only by-product is water vapour. The fuel cell system is passive and has no fans or pumps.

Lundblad says that fuel cell chargers are faster and more reliable than solar chargers. The main target groups for MyFC PowerTrekk are those who travel or live in remote areas of the world, outdoor enthusiasts and aid workers, he says.

The charger is both a fuel cell and a portable battery, providing a direct power source as well as a storage buffer for the fuel.

MyFC plans to open an on-line shop for its MyFC PowerTrekk product. The company has already sold the technology to users in China, Japan, the US and much of Europe.

You Are an Eagle, You Can Fly!

2013-04-12T07:39:00.000-07:00

Intent of the Story:Like the Eagles, we are born for the sky. The Lord has called us to live with our eyes fixed on heaven, not on earth., yet too many of us are satisfied to live like chicken in barnyards, contentedly with the safety of our families, our finances, our careers and the comfortable crumbs of modern life.

The Story:
Once upon a time, walking through the forest, a farmer found an eaglet lying on the ground. It was wounded. It was dying. Out of pity, he picked it up and took it home. He kept it in the hencoop of his barn with the rest of his chickens. Very soon, the eaglet learned to eat chicken food and behave like a chicken.
Many days later, a bird-Naturalist happened to bump into that farmer’s hencoop. When he saw the eaglet eating worms and grain and living in the farm, full of surprise said to the farmer: "How come that there is an eaglet in your farm living with the chickens? The eagle is the king of birds. Eagles are meant to fly, not to live in farms and eat chicken food!"
The farmer replied: "What else could I do? I found it in the forest when it was very small, I felt bad for it. I picked it up and kept it in my barn. It grew here and it looks quite happy being like one of the chicks."
The Naturalist retorted: "My dear friend, you are mistaken; an eagle is an eagle. We have to teach this eaglet how to fly. He has to realize his potential, his qualities. Only by using them to the full, he will find true happiness and fulfillment."

Immediately, the Naturalist picked the eaglet in his hands and tried to teach him to fly. But, all in vain! The eaglet would not even open his wings. He was afraid of flying. He did not even know that he could fly!
Again, the Naturalist lifted the eaglet from the ground. This time he kept him high above his head. Patiently, he kept saying: "You belong to the sky, look at the heavens, look up there, open your wings, and begin to fly."
The eaglet was confused and scared. When the eaglet saw- the chickens eating their food on the ground, he dropped heavily to the ground and joined them. The naturalist did not give up. He knew that in spite of all the evidence, inside that bird there was an eagle’s heart throbbing for greatness, longing for excellence.
The next day, at sunrise, the Naturalist took the eaglet and went to the top of a small mountain nearby and patiently, began encouraging the frightened bird to fly. He kept telling the bird: "Fly, fly, dear eaglet. Open your wings. Climb the heights, forget the chicken barn below. Fly! Fly!” And without more ado, he flung the bird upwards towards the sky.
The eaglet, unaware of his unknown self and afraid of the height, shivering with fear allowed himself to drop down. There, he was now on the cliff of the mountain still gazing at the faun house down below in the valley!
Then the Naturalist made the eaglet lace the rays of the rising sun; lovingly, he kept telling him: “Realize your greatness, you are not a chick, you are an eagle! You can fly. The sky is your fatherland. The heights are calling you. You are not meant for the earth. Open, open your wings and dare fly!"
Finally, the eaglet stared at the brightness of the rising sun. Its ardors caressed his wings. Its piercing brightness stabbed his heart. Something awoke in his soul. All of a sudden the eaglet trembled, he shook all over, slowly his wings expanded; then, they fluttered.
Finally, with his eyes glued to the radiant sun, the eaglet majestically, rose from the ground and started flying. He hastened and hastened his speed, soared and soared, higher and higher, till regally, he reached the inaccessible heights of the heavens!
(Adaptation of the Story, "The Eaglet” of Nancy Missler)
Points for Reflection and Discussion:
1. Why so many of us do not try to climb the heights, but prefer to behave like chicks enjoying the security the farmhouses?
2. Do you really believe that there is an eagle deep down in your heart longing to be set free? What have you done about it?
3. At home, at school, and in college, have you been brought up and treated like a chick or like an eagle? What effect had that on you?
4. At your place of work, in life as a whole, have you been behaving like a chicken or like an eagle? Explain.
5. Have you ever found in your life a "naturalist" who helped you to discover your true self? What did he do to you? What difference did it make in your life?
6. In the way you behaved towards people at home, and with others in general have you been like the "fanner" or like the “naturalist"? Give instances.
7. How can we be "naturalists" and help others to discover their hidden greatness? Explain give instances.
8. Mention the names of some persons who have been real eagles in the history of the world. In what way were they eagles?
Explain or Discuss the Following Statements:
a. A person's "potential self” is richer than his "actual self".
b. Believe you are an eagle, act like an eagle and you will be one.
c. Don’t look at what you are, look at what you can be.
d. Each one is a mixture of great unknown strengths and of tiny known weaknesses.
e. Even in the smallest seed, there is a tree that wants to bloom.
f. Every eagle needs a "naturalist” to discover what he is.
g. Every person in his own unique way is born an "eagle"
h. Great oaks have been tinny acorns.
i. The glory of God is a man fully alive.
j. There is a "naturalist" in your heart, don’t silence him
k. To overcome your weakness, believe in your strengths’
l. Treat people according to what they "can" be, not according to what they think they are.
m. We are born for the heavens, not to crawl on earth.
n. We carry treasures in earthen vessels.
o. All of us are priceless gifts of God to the world, enveloped in simple wrappers.

Tata Sons considers 2-tier board for continuity during transition

2013-04-02T02:40:00.002-07:00

With a virtual revamp at the top deck at Tata Sons, the holding company of India's largest industrial group, a fundamental change in the management structure of the board is expected soon.

A two-tier board structure is an option being considered. The option, unlike the UK or US model is popular in European countries including Germany and Austria where an executive board will include all the executive directors while an overarching supervisory board comprising non-executive directors will be at the apex. According to sources close to the development, a dual structure has become necessary on account of the fact that the entire set of executive directors on the Tata Sons board are set to retire over the next couple of years moving into a non-executive capacity.

Having a two-tier structure in this transition period could ensure continuity while also bolstering leadership across the group by drawing upon the combined experience of the senior team. Yet it will allow the space for the new crop of executive directors to steer the ship of the 145-year-old Tata Group.

Responding to a query from The Indian Express, Mukund Govind Rajan, Brand Custodian, Tata Sons Ltd said: "We will communicate leadership changes as and when they happen, and will not comment on speculation regarding future leadership structures. Suffice it to say that the Tata group has sophisticated processes to identify and nurture talent, and is blessed with a strong leadership pipeline."

Few corporate analysts, because of the sensitivity of the issues involved were willing to come on record. Lalit Kumar, partner at J Sagar Associates, one of India's largest corporate law firm said the Tata Group has a rich experience of demonstrated leadership, "so it could be possible for them to use this structure, deciding to include the necessary number of independent directors at both levels". Tata Sons is an unlisted entity. The Companies Act does not however specify any minimum number of independent directors for such companies.

Corporate governance norms vary between countries, especially when it comes to board structures. Countries such as the US and India favour a one-tier board system while in Germany, the two-tier board system is the norm for public companies. In a single-tier board, all the directors (both executive directors as well as non-executive directors) form one board, called the board of directors. In a two-tier board there is an executive board comprising all executive directors and a supervisory board having all the non-executive directors. German corporation law, the 'Aktiengesetz', requires all public companies to have two boards: a management board called a 'Vorstand' and a supervisory board called an 'Aufsichtsrat', with the supervisory board, in theory, intended to provide a monitoring role.

Research papers on dual board structures by OECD and others show no sharp differences in company performance compared with one tier boards, the only difference coming from the presence or absence of independent directors.

At present, apart from the 44-year-old Cyrus Mistry, the Tata Sons board consists of RK Krishna Kumar (74), Arunkumar R Gandhi (69), Farrokh K Kavarana (68), R Gopalakrishnan (66) and Ishaat Hussain (65). Two years back, in 2011, the Group had fixed the retirement age for executive directors at 65 and also brought down the retirement age for non-executive directors to 70 years from 75. However, those directors who crossed the age of 70 were mandated to continue till they are 75 years. This would mean that most of the venerable old men, including Kumar, Gandhi, and Kavarana are all set to move out of an executive role.

Over the last three years, the Tata Sons board saw one resignation and three retirements, with Alan Rosling leaving in 2009, Noshir A Soonawala, vice-chairman of Tata Sons and chairman of Tata Investment Corporation, retiring a year later and JJ Irani retiring in 2011. Kishor Chaukar stepped down as managing director of Tata Industries in August 2012.

Dual structure

* As per the dual structure an executive board will include all executive directors while a supervisory board comprising non-executive directors will be at the apex

* The structure has become necessary as the entire set of executive directors on the Tata Sons board are set to retire over the next couple of years moving into a non-executive capacity

How to Do an SEO Audit of Your Website

2013-03-31T03:56:00.003-07:00

Because search engine optimization (SEO) best practices and procedures change all the time, business owners should conduct periodic assessments to determine whether or not adjustments need to be made. If a business website isn't properly optimized for search, it's most likely missing out on a significant amount of traffic from the search engines, including from potential customers.

To properly audit your site for SEO, carry out the following steps at least once or twice a year:

1. Check on-page tag optimization.
One of the easiest ways to quickly improve your website's SEO is through on-site changes. While it can take time to build high-quality backlinks, another hallmark of good SEO performance, on-site tweaks require just a few hours of effort.

Begin your SEO audit by asking the following questions. Identifying weaknesses in this area could provide an easy place to begin future website improvements:

Are my title tags (headlines) written to appeal to both website visitors and search engine visitors, or are they "keyword stuffed"?
Do my title tags contain relevant SEO keywords and brand mentions?
Are my title tags no longer than 65 characters?
Do my meta description tags (which display a preview explanation for a page in search results) provide interesting content that will appeal to viewers of search engine results?
Does each page on my website contain a naturally written, keyword-rich <h2> tag (headings within posts)?
Does each page on my website include high-quality, original content?
Do my pages contain internal links to facilitate visitor and search engine robot movement throughout my site? Are my images optimized according to current SEO best practices?

2. Check for broken links or dead pages.
Avoid broken outbound links or links to internal "dead" pages that have since been deleted from your site. They can be detrimental to your site's SEO performance, so be sure to identify such problems.

If your website runs on a content management system (CMS) or an e-commerce platform, you may be able to install a tool that can check this automatically. For example, if your site runs on WordPress, installing the Broken Link Checker plugin can notify you whenever broken links are detected.

Alternatively, simply navigate to a site like BrokenLinkCheck.com and run the service's free link check to identify any issues on your site that need to be resolved.

3. Make sure your site can be indexed by the search engines.
Beyond making sure that broken links don't trip up the search engine robots while they're on your site, it's also important that these automated programs can access your site in the first place.

Any number of issues -- from improperly installed code files to hacked site content -- can prevent the search engines from reading your content correctly. To determine whether or not this is occurring on your site, head over to WebConf's free Search Engine Simulator and enter your site's URL. If you can see your content displaying correctly as text, the search engines can as well.

4. Examine your link profile and compare it to competitors.
Once you've finished with on-site elements, check the state of your site's backlink profile. The number and quality of links pointing at your site play a major role in your content's performance in search engine results.

To do this, use a link explorer tool like Majestic SEO (free version available, with paid plans starting at $49.99 per month) or the SEOMoz Open Site Explorer (free version available, with paid plans starting at $99 per month) to view a list of all the links pointing at your site. Pay particular attention to:

The types of links that your site has received, such as directory links, press release links, social media links and more.
Whether or not the sites sending you links are reputable.
Whether or not the sites sending you links are related to your site's content.

Then, run this same assessment on your competitors' websites. This process could turn up backlink building opportunities for your future off-site SEO efforts, as well as uncover link-building patterns in your industry that you should be paying attention to.

5. Test your site's speed.
Examine your site's average speed and page load times, as Google has unequivocally stated that it intends to prioritize site speed as a ranking factor in its natural search algorithms.

To find out whether your site is fast, slow or somewhere in between, head over to Google's Page Insights tool and enter your URL. This tool will then analyze your site's load times and provide suggestions on making improvements. You can either make changes on your own or enlist the help of a developer if they require technical expertise.

These steps should give you a general overview on how well your website is performing from an SEO standpoint. If you go through the steps, make changes but still don't get the search results you'd like, consider working with an SEO expert to improve your site's natural search performance.

One Person Company- A New Business Concept

2013-02-13T08:57:00.002-08:00

The Companies Bill 2012, passed by the Lok-Sabha introduces a new form of Company by the name of “One Person Company” (OPC). Its concept is parallel to the existing concept of Sole-proprietorship whereas it shall be recognized as separate legal entity distinct from its promoter and proprietors. This form is already prevalent in some of the developed countries in the world namely, China, USA, Singapore, and many countries in Europe and shall pave its way in India after bill is passed by Rajya- Sabha.

What is One Person Company?

Section 2(62) of the bill defines One Person company as the name suggests, it means a company which has only one person as a member and where legal and financial liability is limited to the company only and not to that person. (i.e. liability is limited). This paradigm shift from the existing concept of Companies Act, 1956 where minimum two members are requires floating private as well as public company.

Status: Section 2(68) of The Bill provides for the definition of privation company to include OPC. This implies that all the provision of the Act applicable to private company shall also beapplicable to OPC unless otherwise excludes from the compliance. Also sec. 3 of The Bill, further clarifies the fact that OPC shall be treated as private company for all legal purpose with only one member.

Name clause: The Name of Company shall include word OPC ‘One person Company’ within bracket below the name of the Company, wherever its name printed, affixed or engraved.

Eligibility for the formation of OPC: Although the exact rules are not clear, the following rules have been proposed –
a. Firstly, the person is to give a separate name and legal identity to the Company, under which all the activities of the business are to be carried on. This ensures that a separate legal entity is formed.

b. Secondly, Section 3 of The Act, provides that at the time of incorporation of OPC, the memorandum of OPC shall include the person has to nominate a name with that person’s written consent as a nominee to the OPC. This person will be the default and ad hoc member in case of the existing sole member’s death or disability. The consent of nominee shall be in prescribed written format and shall also be filled with Registrar along with MOA & AOA.

c. Provided also that the member of One Person Company may at any time change the name of such nominate person by giving notice in such manner as may be prescribed to intimate company the change, if any, in the memorandum and the company shall intimate the Registrar any such change within such time and in such manner as may be prescribed.

d. On the death of member, nominee have title to all the shares and entitle to same rights and divided to which sole member of company was entitle or liable, on becoming member such nominee will nominate other person as nominee with his consent.

Relaxation given to OPC

Number of Directors: Although bill restricts number of director one in case of OPC, there is no constraint to recruit more than one with subject to maximum 15.

Appointment of Director: There is no separate provision for appointment of first director in article of company, an individual being member shall be deemed to be its first director.

Board Meeting/ AGM: If there is only one director, there is no such compulsion to conduct Board Meeting. In case of more than one director, at least one board meeting twice in the year and gap between two meetings would not be less than 90 days. Notice, Quorum, passing of resolution made applicable to OPC also.
Section 122(1) provides that the provision of section 98 and section 100 & 111(inclusive) are Not APPLICABLE to OPC, i.e. Provision related to General meeting, Extra-Ordinary General meeting, Notice convening to general meeting is not hold good for the company.

Alternative if business which is required to be transacted at GM & AGM by means of ordinary or special resolution it shall be sufficient if the resolution is communicated by sole member to company and note it down in minute’s book and signed and dated by the member, it shall be consider as effective date.

Due date of filling Return: U/s 92(1) OPC shall required filing with Registrar of companies, a copy of financial statements, along with form 23AC, 23ACA, and 20B within 180 days from closure of financial year except form 60.

Signing of Financial Statement and Annual Return: The Financial Statement Signed by only one director and also, annual return should be signed by Company secretary, else by the director of company.

Contract by One Person Company: Where One Person Company limited by shares or by guarantee enters into a contract with the sole member of the company who is also the director of the company, the company shall,unless the contract is in writing, ensure that the terms of the contract or offer are contained
in a memorandum or are recorded in the minutes of the first meeting of the Board of Directors of the company held next after entering into contract:

The company shall inform the Registrar about every contract entered into by the company and recorded in the minutes of the meeting of its Board of Directors under sub-section (1) within a period of fifteen days of the date of approval by the Board of Directors.

Conclusion:
According to company experts, the step will help in bringing the unorganized sector of proprietorship in to the organized version of a private limited company. This will open the avenues for more favorable banking facilities, especially loans to such proprietors.

With this number of small and medium enterprises will enter into the corporate domain. This will help in boosting foreign funds to Indian market also.

Under the option, an OPC could be formed by subscribing the name of person to the memorandum and complying with the requirements of the Act in respect of registration.

Google Inc Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is selling roughly 42 percent of his stake in the Internet search company over the coming year, Google announced on Friday.

2013-02-09T01:18:00.002-08:00

Schmidt will sell 3.2 million shares of Class A common stock through a stock trading plan, Google said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The plan, which Google said would give Schmidt "individual asset diversification and liquidity," allows Schmidt to spread trades out over a period of one year to reduce the market impact.

Schmidt, who served as Google's Chief Executive until 2011, currently owns roughly 7.6 million shares of Class A and Class B common stock. The shares represent 2.3 percent of Google's outstanding stock and roughly 8.2 percent of the voting power of Google's stock.

Shares of Google, which finished Friday's session at a new closing high of $785.37, were down $2.21 in after hours trading.

ICAI tense over move to set up new watchdog

2013-01-15T09:01:00.001-08:00

A turf war is brewing in the accounting regulation space, currently governed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). A government plan to usurp the two big powers of ICAI — to set accounting standards and take disciplinary action against its 200,000 members — has raised hackles in the institute and triggered fears among auditors of over-regulation.

The contours of this shift lie in a clause of the new Companies Bill, which is presently awaiting clearance from one of the two houses of Parliament. This clause proposes the formation of a National Financial Reporting Authority “to provide for matters relating to accounting and auditing standards”, and details the NFRA’s jurisdiction, functions, powers, penalties and staffing, among other things. Although the Companies Bill doesn’t state so explicitly, the reading of accounting professionals is that the NFRA will supersede ICAI. “Clearly, a land grab is going on. The institute (ICAI) is not happy about the government encroaching on its territory,” says a senior ICAI member who has worked closely with the institute and government. He spoke on the condition of anonymity.

ICAI president Jaydeep Narendra Shah did not respond to several phone calls and text messages. ICAI vice-president Subodh Kumar Agrawal declined comment, saying only the institute’s president was authorised to speak on this matter. According to Sachin Pilot, minister of corporate affairs (MCA), ICAI and NFRA will “co-exist”. “It (NFRA) will be an overarching authority, with a larger canvas to operate,” he told ET over telephone. “NFRA will be a nodal agency for financial reporting with quasi-judicial powers and the powers to suspend auditors.” He added the division of work between ICAI and NFRA would be spelt out after the Companies Bill is passed in Parliament.

Notably, the NFRA will have the power to act against audit firms. This is a step up over the ICAI, which can suspend individuals, but not a firm. This separation is perceived to be a failing of the ICAI, as was exposed in recent cases of accounting frauds.

The most prominent accounting fraud was the 2008 Satyam Computer case, where the company’s promoter over-stated cash balances by about $1 billion and revenues by about $1.1 billion. The audit firms that prepared the company’s accounts — Price Waterhouse, Bangalore, and Lovelock & Lewes, Kolkata— were never booked. Only the partner who signed off the accounts and two employees were. In the US, however, the audit firms and their parents coughed up $7.5 million to two regulators and $25 million to shareholders.

The bill says the NFRA will be headed by a person “of eminence and having expertise in accountancy, auditing, finance or law” and will be appointed by the Central government; there will be up to 15 full-time and part-time members.

Further, the chairperson and fulltime members cannot be associated with any audit firm (including related consultancy firms) during their tenure and till two years after demitting office. “We can have a mix of people from both government and private sectors in running these bodies,” says Pilot.

N Venkatram, managing partner with Deloitte Haskins and Sons, another audit firm, has concerns over a super-regulator sitting on top of a regulator. “My fear is that we are over-regulating the profession,” he says. “The question is whether a third-party regulator will be fair and fearless.” There is some consternation among accounting professionals over the government having a greater say in directing and regulating their profession. “The new provisions would raise a number of practical issues apart from questioning the validity of the concept that a professional should be judged by his peers,” says a document prepared by KPMG, an audit firm, on the Companies Bill in January 2013.

“More and more, the MCA is getting involved in setting standards,” adds the ICAI member quoted earlier. “The ministry is notifying changes that are contrary to accounting standards — like not requiring companies to provide for mark-to-market losses in their profit and loss account on derivative contracts.” In the policymaking and regulatory domains, the ICAI currently does three big things. One, ICAI drafts accounting standards. It sends these to the National Advisory Committee on Accounting and Auditing Standards (NACAAS), a body that resides in the MCA and notifies these standards. NFRA would now supersede NACAAS. Two, ICAI sets internal auditing standards. Three, ICAI regulates its members. In all these three domains, NFRA could supersede ICAI or NACAAS, as the case might be.

A similar appropriation of powers happened in the US in 2002, in the wake of the accounting failings at WorldCom and Enron. The US drafted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which set new or enhanced standards for all US public company boards, management and public accounting firms.

The following year, the US also formed the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to oversee auditors of public companies. Prior to the PCAOB, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants was setting accounting standards, but now it only conducts examination and gives certificates, says Jamil Khatri, global head of KPMG’s accounting advisory services.

A former ICAI president, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, says the comparison with AICPA is not correct. “AICPA is an association or a society, whereas ICAI is a statutory body created by an act of Parliament except that there is an autonomy to operate the institute,” he says. He adds the government should have tweaked ICAI’s existing disciplinary mechanism to increase its independence, rather than have another body supersede it.

How and when TDS Deductions can be avoided

2013-01-11T08:07:00.002-08:00

Even though many of us are familiar with tax filing, the process of TDS deduction is still confusing for many. When and where TDS is applicable, what are the procedures to reduce it and how to claim the deducted amount at the time of filing tax returns are few of the queries we have. So, here we discuss TDS deductions with a focus on how and when it can be reduced to help you in everyday life.

Understanding TDS:

The Indian tax structure is broadly a two dimensional approach towards payment of tax liabilities. In the first method- self assessment, taxes can be paid voluntarily after evaluation of income during a financial year. In the second method, Tax Deductions at

Source or TDS, as the name suggests, is the spot deduction of tax from the income source itself, at the time of earning. This is to simplify the taxation procedure for the government and to ensure that the payment making and receiving individual / company is accounting the same without fail.

TDS is applicable for earnings from several financial instruments and business transactions like sale of property, interest income from banks, commissions and incentives, payment received for contracts and services, vendors, dividends and awards or prices earned as money.

There is no uniform rate for TDS deduction. Depending on the source of earnings, it can range from 1% for sale proceeds to 30% .

From Salary and Commissions

It is mandatory as per Indian Income Tax rules that companies as well as working professionals who earn above the aforementioned figure should deduct tax at source from the payments they make.

Employers normally will ask employees to fill an investment declaration form. If you have done an early homework to save your TDS deduction by investing in several tax saving instruments under Sections 80C, 80D, or planning to do within that financial year, do declare the details in the form with required proofs to save TDS. If despite all your investments, your salary is still above the exemption limit, TDS will be deducted monthly.

The employer will issue a TDS certificate (also referred as Form No.16 (a)) at the end of the financial year which can be produced while filing income tax return to get the credit of the TDS ( if applicable) during the personal income tax assessment.

TDS is applicable for payments including commissions, service fees, professional fees and payment via contracts. Here the TDS certificate issued will be Form 16 B which like Form 16 A, can be produced while filing income tax return to get reversed if applicable.

TDS from Property, Awards and Incentives:

TDS is applicable in case of earnings sale of property, rental / lease income, cash prizes, lottery winnings etc. The amount of deduction may vary from 1% in case of sale proceeds to nearly 30% in case of cash awards.

Individuals seeking TDS refund in the above mentioned situations can submit form 15G/H which is a self deceleration that your income is below taxable limit. This is applicable only for Indian residents including senior citizens and Hindu Undivided Families (HUF’s). Form 15G can be filed by all Indian residents whose total financial income for the designated financial year is below the threshold limit while senior citizens need to avail Form 15H for the same purpose. It is imperative to note that Non resident Indians are not allowed the use of forms 15G and 15H and need to apply separately.

In case of rental income, TDS will be deducted only if the rent you receive is not less than Rs1.8 lakh a year. In case of joint ownership of rented / leased property, where the specific share of the property is decided, the limit of Rs 1.8 lakh can be claimed separately by each owner.

Income generated through bank deposits-

TDS is deductable on interest income paid by banks and financial institutions in respect of FDs (exceeding Rs.10000 in a FY) and term deposits (exceeding Rs.5000 in a FY).

If your income is below the taxable limit, but the interest earned from your deposits is above Rs 10,000, you can request your bank not to deduct tax by submitting form 15 G and 15 H to the bank at the beginning of the financial year.

Another effective way is to opt for multiple smaller fixed deposits across various banks.

Splitting the interest earned across two financial years in such a way that the overall annual interest earned from any of the FD not exceeding Rs 10,000 is another workable option.

In certain cases, dividing fixed deposits under two different heads can also be useful in avoiding. Individuals can divide deposits in their names and have some under a HUF account to avoid interest generation cross the taxable limit.

And never forget to carry your PAN card for all fixed deposits over Rs.50000, because on not receipt of PAN number banks may deduct 20% TDS which is non reversible.

Reversing TS collected

As you file your tax returns, you will know the tax bracket you are which determines the balance tax to be paid or that can be reversed. So do keep a track of the TDS that you have paid with Form 26AS or annual tax statement. All the taxes deducted on your behalf will be listed in it and it can be availed from the concerned sources along with Form 16. Otherwise missing taxes will be considered unpaid by the income tax authorities.

Samsung shows off 'unbreakable' phone which rolls up like paper

2013-01-11T07:51:00.002-08:00

Samsung wowed an audience in Las Vegas this week with a working mobile phone screen which can be rolled and unrolled like a sheet of paper.

The screen kept working as it was rolled and unrolled - showing off that it is far more flexible than previous 'bendable' screens.

The screen uses the same OLED - organic LED - technology as many current smartphones, but encased in plastic instead of glass.

The prototype device is built to be "virtually unbreakable", Samsung claims.

The device was shown off by Brian Berkeley, senior vice-president of Samsung Display, at a presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“Our team was able to make a high resolution display on extremely thin plastic instead of glass, so it won’t break even if it’s dropped,” said Berkeley.

“This new form factor will really begin to change how people interact with their devices, opening up new lifestyle possibilities.”

The new display is called “Youm."

Berkeley also showed off a smartphone prototype equipped with a curved edge, which works almost like a 'second screen' around the edge of the device.

The Korean technology company remained quiet on when flexible phones might go on sale

Home News Accounting firms Accountants beat banks as most trusted source of advice

2013-01-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

ACCOUNTANTS are the most trusted business advisor, following a breakdown in honesty between companies and their bank managers.

A fifth (21%) of businesses say they are more open and honest with their accountants than their bank managers, according to a Sage Omnibus survey of more than 1,000 of its customers.

Exactly half, 50%, of those surveyed believe their accountant provides the most valuable business advice, with 4% believing this to be the case with friends, 2% family, and bank managers sloping in at 2%, alongside solicitors 2%.

The latest statistic is indicative of the detachment of business owners with their banks.

Honesty is also the best policy, with 15% of small business owners also claiming they are more honest with their accountant than even friends, family or spouse.

About 44% turn to their accountants first for business advice, 21% to the internet and 18% to business groups or Chamber of Commerce associations.

Jim Scott (pictured), managing director of Sage Accountants Division, said: "Accountants have played a key role in the success of many businesses, but it is in challenging times that the value they bring really comes to the fore. More business owners than ever are turning to accountants for guidance as the regulatory landscape evolves, and the fact that over one in seven are more honest with their accountant than they are with their nearest and dearest underlines just how valued their counsel and advice really is.

"Businesses that view accountants more as trusted partners and less as mere service providers when accounts need to be filed are also better placed to make the most of new technologies, including cloud-based software and mobile apps that provide access to up-to-the-minute information anytime, anywhere."

Ratan Tata's legacy, Cyrus Mistry's challenge

2012-12-28T03:14:00.001-08:00

As Ratan Tata steps down as chairman of India's largest industrial house Friday, he leaves behind for his successor at Bombay House, Cyrus Mistry, not just a $100-billion empire he helped grow 13-fold in the 21 years at its helm but also a legacy that earned him wide praise as an able corporate leader with values.

Tata joined Tata Group as an apprentice on the shop floor of Tata Steel's Jamshedpur plant in 1962. He took over the top job in 1991, succeeding uncle JRD Tata, at a crucial time when India began its market liberalisation programme and his peers at the "Bombay Group" argued against it and sought a level-playing field for their businesses.

In the more than two decades at the helm, the Cornell-educated Tata not only consolidated the group's business in domestic markets but also expanded it globally, acquiring assets, diversifying businesses and forging new linkages.

In recent years, he conceived and presented to the world the smallest car "Nano". Much before that, in 2008, the Government of India honoured him with its second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan.

"Ratan has built very adroitly on the grand foundations built by his predecessors, especially JRD. He has not only nurtured the Tata DNA but reshaped it for the new age," Says Bajaj Group chairman Rahul Bajaj.

"The very fact that he is retiring at 75 speaks volumes of his commitment to managing the Tata companies through values," Bajaj added.

Tata Group's market capitalisation, which has some 30-odd listed companies, is now nearly Rs.4.54 trillion ($825 billion), 33 times more than in 1991 when Tata took over the top job. During this period, the group's aggregate sales have increased 43 times, while net profit has grown 51 times.

Tata Group's global expansion started in 2000 with the acquisition of Britain's largest tea firm, Tetley, by Tata Tea, now called Tata Global Beverages.

Since then Tata Group has made several big-ticket global acquisitions, including the purchase of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus Group. Tata Steel also acquired Europe's second largest steel maker Corus in 2007 for $12 billion. The company is now called Tata Steel Europe.

Another big acquisition was of iconic British auto makers Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata Motors.

The Group under Tata's leadership also made serveral other acquisitions in the global and domestic markets.

These include acquisition of controlling stake in government-run Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) by Tata Sons, purchase of heavy vehicles unit of Daewoo Motors in South Korea by Tata Motors, acquisition of Singapore's NatSteel by Tata Steel and purchase of New York-based The Pierre hotel by Indian Hotels Company.

According to those following the Tata Sons story, it was to Ratan Tata's credit that the group entered new businesses like telecommunications, finance and retail and increased focus on information technology and renewable energy.

At the same time the Group, they add, he led the exit from sectors like cement, textiles and cosmetics, while embarking on new areas. Today, as a result of that, the Tata empire has in its fold the most profitable company in the information technology busines -- Tata Consultancy Services.

Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej said Ratan Tata leveraged the strength of TCS and Tata Motors while getting out of businesses such as Tata Oil mills and Lakme which were not a strategic fit.

"His clarity of thought and vision for the group has shone through remarkably," said Godrej, who is also the head of industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry.

Ratan Tata is retiring from the Tata Group's top job as he turns 75, a rule he himself framed. He, however, will remain as chairman emeritus of Tata Sons. Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, 44, who was selected by a panel of eminent people, succeeds him.

Mistry will be the sixth chairman of Tata Group in its 144-year history and only second who does not carry the "Tata" surname. Other people who held the position of chairman of the Tata Group, apart from Ratan Tata, are: Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, Sir Dorab Tata, Sir Nowroji Saklatwala and J.R.D. Tata.

Ratan Tata's departure from the iconic Bombay House in downtown Mumbai marks the end of an era in which India looked outward and its business went global.

Is Facebook turning into Match.com?

2012-12-27T02:29:00.002-08:00

The social site is testing a messaging feature associated with dating sites

Facebook has long been out in front of the social technology game, virtually inventing features like the friend feed, the timeline and memorial pages. But experts say its latest proposed strategy appears to be following the playbook of an unlikely innovator: dating websites.

Shutterstock.com

For $1, users can now send a message to a nonfriend — that is, to another user not on their friend list. Unveiling the service for U.S. users this week, Facebook said the new fee was intended less as a way of generating revenue — and more as a means of protecting user privacy. However, analysts say the company appears to be cherry-picking premium features that have been successful on dating sites and note that other companies are already using Facebook for dating. Match.com helps Facebook users mine their social networks for potential partners, while Datable.com links Facebookers who have similar interests. “I think a Facebook dating service is definitely a possibility,” says personal branding consultant Nick Gilham.

Premium services offered for a price on dating sites — such as access to photos and messages — make sense for Facebook, Gilham say. The $1 billion a year online dating business has successfully mined millions of users for revenue by nickel-and-diming them for features, he says, while Facebook has so far had a hard time doing the same. One way Facebook might clear this hurdle, Gilham says, would be to let like-minded singletons opt into a dating service for a fee and — by harnessing the vast amount of information people share —recommend potential pairings based on interests. (A spokeswoman for Facebook declined to comment.)

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Will you pay to send a message on Facebook?

Facebook has begun testing a system for users to send messages to people outside their immediate circle of social contacts for a payment of $1, as the company continues to find new ways to capitalize on its popularity. The WSJ's Yun-Hee Kim has the story.

What’s more, Facebook members are so accustomed to being able to browse the pages of people they may not know terribly well, experts say, that they might balk at being charged for the privilege. And while some professional networking sites like LinkedIn already charge to send messages and access profiles out of a person’s social network, they’ve sewn up the market for professional networking. Hunting for jobs is less acceptable on Facebook, says social media analyst Jennifer P. Brown. “If a candidate somehow found me on Facebook and sent me a note, it would be an immediate turn-off,” she says.

That said, mixing the worlds of social networking and dating could also present ethical challenges. Facebook is more synonymous with divorce than love and marriage, according to several recent studies. More than a third of divorce filings last year contained the word Facebook, according to one U.K. survey by Divorce Online, a U.K-based legal services firm. And over 80% of U.S. divorce attorneys report a rise in the number of cases using social networking, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. The reason? Some married Facebook members are already using the site for dating.

Salient Features of Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2012

2012-12-22T23:25:00.002-08:00

The Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2011 was introduced in order to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the Banking Companies (Acquisition andTransfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970/1980. The said Bill has been passed by both the Houses of Parliament during its just concluded Winter Session.

This Bill would strengthen the regulatory powers of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and to further develop the banking sector in India. It will also enable the nationalized banks to raise capital by issue of preference shares or rights issue or issue of bonus shares. It would also enable them to increase or decrease the authorized capital with approval from the Government and RBI without being limited by the ceiling of a maximum of Rs. 3000 crore.

Beside above, the Bill would pave the way for new bank licenses by RBI resulting in opening of new banks and branches. This would not only help in achieving the goal of financial inclusion by providing more banking facilities but would also provide extra employment opportunities to the people at large in the banking sector.

The salient features of the Bill are as follows:

• To enable banking companies to issue preference shares subject to regulatory guidelines by the RBI;

• To increase the cap on restrictions on voting rights;

• To create a Depositor Education and Awareness Fund by utilizing the inoperative deposit accounts;

• To provide prior approval of RBI for acquisition of 5% or more of shares or voting rights in a banking company by any person and empowering RBI to impose such conditions as it deems fit in this regard;

• To empower RBI to collect information and inspect associate enterprises of banking companies;

• To empower RBI to supersede the Board of Directors of banking company and appointment of administrator till alternate arrangements are made;

• To provide for primary cooperative societies to carry on the business of banking only after obtaining a license from RBI;

• To provide for special audit of cooperative banks at instance of RBI by extending applicability of Section 30 to them; and

• To enable the nationalized banks to raise capital through “bonus” and “rights” issue and also enable them to increase or decrease the authorized capital with approval from the Government and RBI without being limited by the ceiling of a maximum of Rs. 3000 crore under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970/1980.

Certain additional official amendments have been proposed on the basis of recommendations of the Standing Committee of Finance which gave its report on the Bill on the 13th December, 2011 and has recommended enactment of the Bill, subject to the following modifications:

i) Voting rights in banks may be restricted up to 26%.

ii) The Depositors’ Education and Awareness Fund may be used for the purpose of promoting depositors’ interests.

Further, pursuant to the discussion with Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), RBI and Industry Associations, the following additional amendments are proposed:

a) to exempt guarantee agreements of banks from the purview of the section 28 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 to bring finality to redemption of such guarantees;

b) to allow select Directors on the Board of RBI a fixed maximum tenure of eight years with terms of not more than two terms of four years each either continuously or intermittently in consonance with the directions of the ACC;

c) to exempt conversion of branches of foreign banks to wholly owned subsidiary entities of foreign banks and transfer of shareholding of banks to the Holding Company structure pursuant to guidelines of RBI from payment of stamp duty; and

d) to ensure that unnecessary inspections are avoided and to encourage regulatory coordination, a condition has been added such that the inspection of the associate enterprise of a banking company would be conducted by RBI jointly with the sector regulator.

The tool that promises to launch the next era of websites, smartphone apps and online video is finally finished.

2012-12-21T03:19:00.004-08:00

HTML5, the long-in-the-works update to the language that powers the Web, is "feature complete," according to an announcement made Monday by the standards-setting Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C). There's still some testing to be done, and it hasn't yet become an official Web standard -- that will come in 2014. But there won't be any new features added to HTML5, which means Web designers and app makers now have a "stable target" for implementing it, W3C said.

The HTML5 language lets developers deliver in-the-browser experiences that previously required standalone apps or additional software like Java,Adobe's (ADBE) Flash or Microsoft's (MSFT,Fortune 500) Silverlight. It supports lightning-fast video and geolocation services, offline tools and touch, among other bells and whistles.

The W3C has been developing the spec for the better part of a decade.

"As of today, businesses know what they can rely on for HTML5 in the coming years," W3C CEO Jeff Jaffe said in a prepared statement. "Likewise, developers will know what skills to cultivate to reach smart phones, cars, televisions, e-books, digital signs, and devices not yet known."

Most of the top browser makers didn't wait for the language to be 100% finished before building support for some elements into their software. The latest versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari are already compatible with most HTML5 elements.

App developers followed suit.

Netflix (NFLX) and Google's YouTube are two of the most prominent HTML5 adopters, but many others have also taken the leap. The Financial Times abandoned its smartphone app last year in favor of an HTML5 mobile website. The site looked and functioned like a native app -- with the advantage that FT didn't have to make changes to multiple versions of its code on multiple smartphone platforms. (Using a mobile website instead of a native app also let FT avoid paying Apple for in-app purchases.)

Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), a strong supporter of HTML5, produced a viral interactive video in 2010 with the help of rock band Arcade Fire that showed off the potential of the new Web features. Firefox browser maker Mozilla made a splash in February when it created a smartphone operating system called "Boot to Gecko," which is almost entirely based in HTML 5.

HTML5 grew prevalent enough by 2010 that then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs was able to unleash an epic rant against Flash and get away with it. A year later, Adobe more or less conceded that Jobs was right, abandoning its mobile Flash software in favor of HTML5 support. In November 2011 blog post, Adobe called HTML5 "the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms."

There's still more work to be done. W3C said that about 63% of Web and app developers are actively using HTML5 to make their sites and software, but "browser fragmentation"remains a big reason why many still aren't using it. Though most up-to-date browserssupport at least some aspects of HTML5, older versions of some Web browsers likeMicrosoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) Internet Explorer don't.

That's why W3C is working on cementing HTML5 as a new Web standard, making it interoperable and fully supported by any modern browser. It will take two years to complete the testing and standardization of HTML5, the consortium said.

What's next? W3C is already working on HTML 5.1, the first parts of which were just submitted in draft form.

Companies Still Lack Content Marketing Skills

2012-12-21T03:10:00.002-08:00

There is still opportunity for companies to improve their content marketing strategies to drive deeper engagement with customers, according to a multi-industry survey undertaken by IMN.

The survey revealed that while content marketing is important to businesses across industries (including automotive, direct selling, franchise, financial services and insurance), companies still have inroads to make.

Regardless of industry, finding and sourcing relevant content and internal resource constraints were the top two roadblocks to successful content marketing programs.

The credit union (33%) and direct selling (31%) sectors had the highest number of respondents replying that their organizations have a formal content marketing strategy in place.

The financial services (75%), insurance (50%) and software (50%) industries are the most advanced when it comes to having separate content marketing strategies for each channel. The automotive (14%) and banking sectors (14%) were the least likely to have separate strategies in place.

Financial services (50%), insurance (50%), software (50%) and banking (43%) industries had the highest percentages responding that they do have content marketing editorial calendars in place.

The insurance (50%), credit union (33%), financial services (33%), banking (29%) and automotive (19%) sectors are concerned about the regulatory compliance of the content they distribute.

According to the results, 78% of respondents indicated that content marketing was either a medium or a high priority, while 52% did not have a separate content marketing strategy in place for each channel it distributes content through. A full 32% of respondents had a content marketing calendar in place to track the topics that would be covered, when and by whom.

Across industries, Web sites, newsletters and social media consistently ranked as the most effective content marketing vehicles, except for the financial services and software sectors, which did not list social media at all (email campaigns completed each of their top three). Also, respondents from the insurance industry ranked video higher than social media.

Open-rate metrics for email blasts is the most popular form of content marketing program measurement for the automotive, banking, financial services and insurance industries. For franchises, software firms and direct selling organizations, the number of incoming leads was most popular. Revenue increases were the most frequent type of measurement used by credit unions.

Employee Engagement Shows Positive Benefits

2012-12-17T03:43:00.001-08:00

Engagement of employees is becoming more critical than ever as companies seek to maximize their investments in human resources, according to Todd Hanson, president and founder of the ROI Engagement Alliance and Brad Callahan, vice president of business solutions for Marketing Innovators.

They discussed the importance and measurement of employee engagement during a recent webinar.

To show the positive impact of employee engagement, they pointed to the following figures from Employee Engagement: Market Review, Buyer's Guide and Provider Profiles, Bersin & Associates:

Seven hundred twenty million dollars spent annually on improving engagement, an amount expected to double because integrating engagement into on-going HR programs is critical to sustained high engagement levels
Seventy-one percent of HR execs that use scorecards incorporate engagement

They pointed out that high engagement organizations realize five times higher shareholder return and three times higher operating income than companies without strong employee engagement. The stock prices of companies with engaged employees outperform peers by 2.5-1 and outperform companies with low engagement by a factor of five.

In addition to the positive effects of employee engagement, companies also need to consider the negative effect of employee disengagement, which they estimate costs the U.S. economy as much as $350 billion.

About 60 percent of companies have an engagement program in place to recognize length of service or anniversaries. A similar percentage has a wellness engagement program.

While more than 70 percent of companies measure employee engagement a little more than a third of that percentage measure actual ROI, the presenters said.

Most of the companies who don’t conduct more in-depth of employee engagement cite lack of resources to do so, result measurement is the key to improvement, they said.

The ROI Institute has developed a methodology for these measurements, including evaluation planning, data collection, data analysis and then reporting.

The ROI methodology has been adopted by over 3,000 organizations in manufacturing, service, non-profit, and government settings and in more than 50 countries

In addition to measurement, communication is an essential element of any engagement program, Callahan said. Combined, communications and measurement provide the basis for evaluating initial success of the program.

Measurement and results of any engagement program needs to look at what participants know how to do as a result of the program, including familiarity with terms, concepts and processes, general understanding of concepts, processes, etc., and ability to demonstrate specific skills.

Callahan added that program goals should evolve over time. While some benefits may be garnered in the first 30 days, others will need to be realized over 60 or 90 days.

Brothers buy house as teens, now real estate superstars

2012-12-14T08:12:00.002-08:00

As high school students, Jonathan and Drew Scott bought a $200,000 home with just a $250 down payment—and flipped it for a cool $250,000 after renovating it. Today, they run a million dollar business.

That first house was purchased 16 years ago and it set the twins — womb mates by chance, best friends and business partners by choice — on a path to become television's most-watched handy hunks.

The duo dishes home buying and selling advice on HGTV's hit show "Property Brothers" and a spin-off series, "Buying and Selling."

"We grew up in a house that really incubated creativity. Our parents encouraged us to follow our passions no matter what it was," says Jonathan, who, along with Drew, dabbled in a crafts business starting at age 7.

The young brothers, who are as competitive as they are good-looking, were initially intrigued with entertaining, acting and magic. But a TV infomercial sparked an interest in real estate. "We didn't want to be starving artists," says Jonathan.

They opted to pursue formal education and licensing in real estate and construction so they could convert the hobby into a full-time gig.

"Between 2004 and 2007, our company had the majority of its success. We were doing massive commercial office projects and condo buildings," says Jonathan.

Then came the casting call. Today "Property Brothers" attracts more than two million viewers every week—and their social media reach is double. (Connect with them on Twitter:www.twitter.com/MrSilverScott and www.twitter.com/MrDrewScott.)

With their team of about 30 people, the brothers buy and renovate upwards of 50 homes a year, all of which take advantage of the latest technology and materials.

"A lot of my inspiration comes from commercial properties. Seeing what they're using in resorts, and bringing that to a residential application, " says Jonathan. "When I walk into a space, I see walls moving and floors changing. We use 3D technology that shows them what we can do with a space before we bang any nails. Short of actually tearing a wall down putting up a new feature wall and saying, 'Look this is what it could look like,' now we can do that on a digital basis."

While the Scotts are on a mission to educate their audience on how to buy and sell effectively on their own, they trace their own success to their roots.

"You can't trust anybody more than your own blood and we have a chemistry that you only get when someone has sat on your head for nine months in the womb," laughs Jonathan. "Sometimes you butt heads, but at the end of the day, we're not holding any grudges."

The "Property Brothers" condensed guide to buying and selling a home:

BUYING:

Educate yourself. Know the basics: the area, comparable selling prices and the cost of special features.
Prep money matters. Before heading to an open house, get your finances in order. Write down your income, assets, debt and any other pertinent information. Figure out what you can realistically afford.
Get pre-approved. Pre-approve for your financing by speaking to your lender or mortgage broker to figure out the best product for you. Bi-weekly payments, lump sum or regular increases to your payments can help you pay off that mortgage sooner and save you a lot in interest.
Dream big. Write down absolutely everything you could want in a home, from location to size; features to amenities close by. Mark the must haves and what you can realistically live without.
Don't settle. Many buyer's ignore that a house is next to a train just because they like a feature in the home. Don't overlook anything that could affect resale value. Even if you plan to be in a home for many years, always look at the place from the eyes of the average buyer.

SELLING:

Select a Realtor who knows your neighborhood. Yes, it means you'll pay a commission, but a skilled professional should be able to get you the most exposure and the very best price.
Don't skimp on the staging. Declutter, depersonalize, fix minor repairs and add light. Even on a tight budget, inexpensive touches pay off.
Disclose. Sellers who don't reveal problems set themselves up for lawsuits down the road. Be honest and forthcoming.
Price right. Don't go to the top of the comparables in today's economy if you expect to sell quickly. Proper staging and appropriate pricing can generate buzz.
Mask emotions. If you're desperate to sell, you'll likely lose money. If you're emotionally attached to a home, you'll overpay. Real estate is an investment, so decisions should be made in a business frame of mind

TWENTY THINGS A MOM SHOULD TELL HER SON

2012-12-09T01:03:00.003-08:00

1. Play a sport.
It will teach you how to win honorably,
lose gracefully, respect authority,
work with others, manage your time
and stay out of trouble.
And maybe even throw or catch.

2. You will set the tone
for the sexual relationship,
so don't take something away from her
that you can't give back.

3. Use careful aim when you pee.
Somebody's got to clean that up, you know.

4. Save money when you're young
because you're going to need it someday.

5. Allow me to introduce you
to the dishwasher, oven,
washing machine, iron,
vacuum, mop and broom.
Now please go use them.

6. Pray and be a spiritual leader.

7. Don't ever be a bully
and don't ever start a fight,
but if some idiot clocks you,
please defend yourself.

8. Your knowledge and education is something
that nobody can take away from you.

9. Treat women kindly.
Forever is a long time to live alone
and it's even longer to live with somebody
who hates your guts.

10. Take pride in your appearance.

11. Be strong and tender at the same time.

12. A woman can do everything that you can do.
This includes her having a successful career
and you changing diapers at 3 A.M.
Mutual respect is the key to a good relationship.

13. "Yes ma'am" and "yes sir"
still go a long way.

14. The reason that they're called "private parts"
is because they're "private".
Please do not scratch them in public.

15. Peer pressure is a scary thing.
Be a good leader and others will follow.

16. Bringing her flowers for no reason
is always a good idea.

17. It is better to be kind
than to be right.

18. A sense of humor
goes a long way
in the healing process.

19. Please choose your spouse wisely.
My daughter-in-law will be the gatekeeper for me
spending time with you and my grandchildren.

20. Remember to call your mother
because I might be missing you.

Don't forget to share

Carbon Trading – A Brief…

2012-12-07T09:27:00.004-08:00

"Carbon Trading" is still in its nascent phase, but the kind of growth this market is experiencing is tremendous and that is what makes it so exciting to talk about. Carbon Trading! It comprises two words ‘Carbon’ and ‘Trading’. So, how do we do trading of carbon? In order to understand these, firstly we have to understand Carbon and finally Trading of the same.
As we all know that we are having a big problem in front of us i.e. Global Warming and the main reason for it is Green House Gases (GHGs)and we have to do something for it. Therefore to mitigate the global warming,International Treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol set quotas on amount of Green House Gases (GHGs) countries can produce. Countries, in turn, set quotas on the emissions of businesses. NGOs or non-profit organizations for long have been screaming for everybody's attention towards this huge problem, but no one seems to care enough, not until there is a financial incentive attached to it. That's what the governments of various countries have been trying to come up with, a trading mechanism where companies gain a monetary benefit out of polluting the air less.

Only burning fossil fuel (coal, gas, oil and peat) is not the source of GHG, major industries such as, Cement, Steel, Textiles and Fertilizer manufacturers are also emitting huge amount of GHGs. Common green house gases include CO2, Nitrous Oxide (NO2) Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and methane (CH4). Global warming impacts of each of these gases differ significantly. CO2, the most common GHF, is assigned an index value = 1. Index values for CH4 = 21; NO2 = 310; HFCs = 150; PFCs = 6500.

The concept of carbon credits came into existence as a result of increasing awareness of the need for pollution control. It was formalized in the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement between 169 countries. Carbon credits are certificates awarded to countries that are successful in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

Carbon credits are a tradable permit scheme. They provide a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by giving them a monetary value. For trading purposes, one credit is considered equivalent to one tonne of CO2 emissions. Credits can be exchanged between businesses or bought and sold in international markets at the prevailing market price. These Credits
can also be used to finance carbon reduction schemes between trading partners and around the world. There are currently two exchanges for carbon credits: the Chicago Climate Exchangeand the European Climate Exchange.

How does Carbon Credits work in real life? And how buying carbon credits attempts to reduce emissions?
Carbon credits create a market for reducing greenhouse emissions by giving a monetary value to the cost of polluting the air. This means that carbon becomes a cost of business and is seen like other inputs such as raw materials or labor.

Assume that British Petroleum is running a plant in the United Kingdom. Say, that it is emitting more gases than the accepted norms of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It can tie up with its own subsidiary in, say, India under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It can buy the ‘carbon credit’ by making Indian plant more eco-savvy with the help of technology transfer. It can tie up with any other company like Indian Oil, or anybody else, in the open market.

By way of another example, assume a factory produces 80,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions in a year. The government then enacts a law that limits the maximum emissions a business can have. So the factory is given a quota of say 60,000 tonnes. The factory either reduces its emissions to 60,000 tonnes or is required to purchase carbon credits to offset the excess.

A business would buy the carbon credits on an open market from organisations that have been approved as being able to sell legitimate carbon credits. One seller might be a company that will plant so many trees for every carbon credit you buy from them. So, for this factory it might pollute a tonne, but is essentially now paying another group to go out and plant trees, which will, say, draw a tonne of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

As emission levels are predicted to keep rising over time, it is envisioned that the number of companies wanting to buy more credits will increase, which will push the market price up and encourage more groups to undertake environmentally friendly activities that create for them carbon credits to sell. Another model is that companies that use below their quota can sell their excess as ‘carbon credits.’ The possibilities are endless; hence making it an open market.

The Kyoto Protocol provides for three mechanisms that enable developed countries with quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments to acquire greenhouse gas reduction credits. These mechanisms are Joint Implementation (JI), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and International Emission Trading (IET).

Under JI, a developed country with relatively high costs of domestic greenhouse reduction would set up a project in another developed country that has a relatively low cost.

Under CDM, a developed country can take up a greenhouse gas reduction project activity in a developing country where the cost of greenhouse gas reduction project activities is usually much lower. The developed country would be given credits for meeting its emission reduction targets, while the developing country would receive the capital and clean technology to implement the project.

Under IET, countries can trade in the international carbon credit market.

The European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is the largest multi-national, greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme in the world and was created in conjunction with the Kyoto Protocol. It commenced operation in January 2005 with all 27-member states of the European Union participating in it. It contains the world’s only mandatory carbon trading program. The program caps the amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted from large installations, such as power plants and carbon intensive factories and covers almost half of the EU’s Carbon Dioxide emissions.

Critics of carbon trading, such as Carbon Trade Watch argue that “it places disproportionate emphasis on individual lifestyles and carbon footprints, distracting attention from the wider, systemic changes and collective political action that needs to be taken to tackle climate change”.

Critics also argue that emissions trading does little to solve pollution problems overall, as groups that do not pollute sell their conservation to the highest bidder. Overall reductions would need to come from a sufficient and challenging reduction of allowances available in the system. They doubt whether these trading schemes can work as there may be too many credits given by the government, such as in the first phase of the European Union’s scheme. Once a large surplus was discovered the price for credits bottomed out and effectively collapsed, with no noticeable reduction of emissions.

Perhaps the most successful emission trading system to date is the SO2 trading system under the framework of theAcid Rain Program of the 1990 Clean Air Act in the United States. Under the program, which are essentially cap-andtrade emissions trading system, SO2 emissions are expected to be reduced by 50% from 1980 to 2010.

Isn’t it bit dubious to allow polluters in Europe to buy carbon credit and get away with it?

It is incorrect to say that because under UNFCCC the polluters cannot buy 100 per cent of the carbon credits they are required to reduce. Say, out of 100 per cent they have to induce 75 per cent locally by various means in their own country.

They can buy only 25 per cent of carbon credits from developing countries.

Carbon Credits – Indian Scenario
India comes under the third category of signatories to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). India signed and ratified the Protocol in August, 2002 and has emerged as a world leader in reduction of greenhouse gases by adopting Clean Development Mechanisms (CDMs) in the past few years. According to Report on National Action Plan for operationalising Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) by Planning Commission, Govt. of India, the total CO2-equivalent emissions in 1990 were 10,01,352 Gg (Giga grams), which was approximately 3% of global emissions. If India can capture a 10% share of the global CDM market, annual certified emission reduction (CERs) revenues to the country could range from US$ 10 million to 300 million (assuming that CDM is used to meet 10- 50% of the global demand for GHG emission reduction of roughly 1 billion tonnes CO2, and prices range from US$ 3.5-5.5 per tonne of CO2). As the deadline for meeting the Kyoto Protocol targets draws nearer, prices can be axpected to rise, as countries/companies save carbon credits to meet strict targets in the future. India is well ahead in establishing a full-fledged system in operationalising CDM, through the Designated National Authority (DNA).

There is a great opportunity awaiting India in carbon trading which is estimated to go up to $100 billion by end of this year. In the new regime, the country could emerge as one of the largest beneficiaries accounting for 25 per cent of the total world carbon trade, says a recent World Bank report. The countries like US, Germany, Japan and China are likely to be the biggest buyers of carbon credits which are beneficial for India to a great extent.

The Indian market is extremely receptive to Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Having cornered more than half of the global total in tradable certified emission reduction (CERs), India’s dominance in carbon trading under the clean development mechanism (CDM) of the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is beginning to influence business dynamics in the country. India Inc pocketed Rs 1,500 crores in the year 2005 just by selling carbon credits to developed-country clients. Various projects would create up to 306 million tradable CERs. Analysts claim if more companies absorb clean technologies, total CERs with India could touch 500 million. Of the 391 projects sanctioned, the UNFCCC has registered 114 from India, the highest for any country. India’s average annual CERs stand at 12.6% or
11.5 million.

Carbon Trading: Accounting and Reporting Issues
Carbon markets have the effect of putting a price on what was until very recently free and this change is likely to have financial consequences for firms in the longer term. As regards accounting issues, the problems that is associated with the valuation of pollution allowances and their identification as assets (and the liabilities that arise if companies pollute beyond allowed levels). A closer inspection of the risks and uncertainties that arise from Global Climate Change (GCC) initiates a discussion of non-financial accounting and reporting about carbon. Non-financial reporting is necessary to allow conditions for democratic accountability in an uncertain setting. In particular, this is a process of translating ecological concerns into economic phenomena, which will then impact upon accounting practice.

The way in which governments respond to GCC will affect all parts of society, including organisations which accountants have traditionally prepared accounts for. In fact, accounting is already involved in GCC in different ways, something that deserves the attention of researchers, given the intensity of social changes that GCC is likely to imply. Second, that the public policy domain is a fast moving one with legal and fiscal regimes developing that will require actions that will affect both those who buy goods and services as well as those who supply them. One element in the policy environment is the creation of markets where emission rights are traded and these create particular challenges for accountants. The different ways in which accounting and reporting is involved in GCC are explored using three layers of analysis: the financial accounting of carbon emission allowances, accounting and reporting for the risk associated with GCC and accounting and reporting for the uncertainty associated with GCC.

ØFinancial Accounting of Carbon Emission Allowance Units
In the first instance, carbon trading creates short-term financial implications for companies (and potentially long-term implications as these schemes develop). Short-term implications arise from the cost of allocated or purchased allowances. For example, in the EU ETS companies receive free allowances annually to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalents during a specified period (these are called European Union Allowances, hereafter EUAs). Theseallowances are allocated on a calendar year basis. In addition to EUAs issued by cap and trade schemes (such as the EU ETS), emission CERs are also available from the CDM and JI mechanisms provided for by the Kyoto protocol. At the end of each year, organisations must match their actual emissions with a sufficient amount of EUAs and CERs and then surrender these to the national registry (this matching has to be complete by 30 April of the year following the end of the calendar year). Organisations can trade their excess allowances and must acquire extra allowances if their emissions are higher than their allowances, including EUAs in the secondary market and CERs issued by entities carrying out CDM and JI projects. Carbon emission trading schemes raise the question of whether and how to recognise EUAs as assets and the obligation to deliver allowances as liabilities (with timing issues arising from the EU ETS process and year end dates for companies). Two aspects have centered the debate on the accounting for EUAs. First, considering that the majority of EUAs, in the initial allocation, are free for the companies affected and that only a small amount of the total emission rights contained within the EUETS are purchased, the valuation of granted allowances is debatable and, given the volume of EUAs for some companies, has a potential significant impact in their accounts. Second, the recognition of assets and liabilities with different valuation bases could produce a volatility of results in some companies. These two aspects, together, lead to lobbying for the recognition and reporting of the net position with respect to emission allowances. According to this view, only purchased allowances would have an impact on the balance sheet. In the absence of regulation on this matter, IETA found that 60% of a sample of companies affected by EU ETS followed this net approach, recognising granted allowances at nil value, with the whole of the obligation recognised at the carrying value for the allowances already granted/purchased and the balance valued at market price.

Ø Accounting and Reporting for the Risk Associated with GCC
The importance of GCC suggests that accounting and reporting should move beyond the conventional accounting toolbox to reflect risks associated with GCC to assist decision makers to understand the possible effects of GCC on corporate performance and prospects. In other words, in addition to financial information, non-financial information will be needed to provide relevant information about the risks associated with GCC. Indeed, in order to reflect a 'true and fair view' of corporate performance and the context of their operations, non-financial reporting will be needed to provide information about the impact of GCC and adaptation to GCC (via changing regulations or via changing corporate activities) on organisations.

In a carbon constrained future, competitive risks arise from the likelihood that carbon-intensive products and services become obsolete compared with low emission products and technologies. A company's carbon risk profile is mainly determined by:
(a) the company's asset mix,
(b) the dependency on and intensity of carbon-based input factors and energy production,
(c) the possibility for substitution and technological alternatives,
(d) the technological trajectory and industry specific innovation patterns,
(e) the company's position in the value chain, and
(f) the location of its operational activities and sales.

Ø Accounting and Reporting for the Uncertainty Associated with GCC
The methods of standard economics, focusing on marginal analysis and abstract from dynamics and uncertainty, are not suited for the problems raised by GCC. As explained above, GCC is unique in several respects:
(a) it affects the whole planet regardless of where GHGs are emitted;
(b) the effects of GHGs are persistent (CO2, for example, lasts in the atmosphere for 100 years) and develop over time; and
(c) the chain of causality between emissions, GCC and the effects on humankind is characterised by uncertainty.

A precautionary approach has been defined by UNESCO thus:
When human activities may lead to morally unacceptable harm [e.g. serious and effectively irreversible, or inequitable to present or future generations] that is scientifically plausible but uncertain [i.e. should apply to very low probabilities], actions shall be taken to avoid or diminish that harm.

Two consequences of such a precautionary/integrated assessment approach are important for accountants and accounting/reporting approaches. First, any account of the uncertainty associated with GCC should adopt a participatory approach by way of, for example, engaging stakeholders and mapping their different preferences according to their different 'risk windows'. One inspiration for such accounts of uncertainty could be Lehman's communitarian approach towards environmental accounting, which would 'be constructed as a vehicle that facilitates communication within the community and the development of possibilities for change, thereby creating democratic conditions'. Second, technical facts and social issues are incommensurable and this leads to call for attention to the potential problems involved in the standardisation of carbon accounting and carbon reporting without a sound understanding of the social and scientificcauses and consequences involved in GCC. The accounting literature has often argued that some forms of environmental accounting in the contexts of environmental auditing and carbon markets could result in environmental issues being transformed into an economic and risk-based language and could result in the capture, limitation and distortion of the social and political issues involved in the environmentalist discourse.

In conclusion, the above outlined a number of areas where research on accounting and reporting for GCC is required. In the first instance, accounting for EAUs requires a relatively straightforward development and application of traditional accounting principles to ensure that accounts show a true and fair view of the financial implications of pollution allowances. In addition, there is likely to be a need for organisations to communicate with their stakeholders about the risks that arise from GCC and also to reflect the uncertainties of how GCC will unfold. This moves the debate into the area of non-financial reporting which, while not as well developed as financial accounting and reporting, has already started to exercise the accounting profession. This also suggests the need for more research on the ways in which accounting is implicated in the unveiling of, and the negotiation of the interplay between, GCC risks and GCC uncertainties.

Microsoft parts ways with Windows head

2012-11-14T06:55:00.003-08:00

Microsoft on Monday abruptly parted ways with Windows head Steven Sinofsky, barely two weeks after the long-time software executive oversaw the launch of the company’s most important new software product in nearly two decades.

Mr Sinofsky was behind the radical overhaul of Windows that has seen Microsoft combine a personal computer and a touchscreen tablet operating system in a single product as it attempts to catch up with market leader Apple. The controversial decision to pursue a hybrid approach has drawn criticism from some reviewers, as well as scorn from Apple boss Tim Cook.

Microsoft said last month that the Windows 8 launch was more successful than its predecessor’s, with 4m customers buying software to upgrade their computers in the first four days. However, analysts say that it will be months before it becomes clear whether the business customers who determine the success of each new Windows release will take to the software.

Mr Sinofsky’s star had risen rapidly at Microsoft after he was brought in to head its core operating system division following the debacle surrounding Windows Vista. He went on to oversee the well-received Windows 7, positioning him for a while as the most likely heirapparent to Steve Ballmer, chief executive.

A Microsoft veteran of 23 years, Mr Sinofsky won a reputation for his rigorous management of large and complex software projects, delivering important products on schedule and avoiding the sort of delays that plagued Vista. However, he was known as an ambitious and abrasive manager inside the company, causing tensions with some of his peers.

While delivering Windows 8 on schedule, he failed to draw enough outside developers to create apps for the new software, a lapse that is widely seen as one of the greatest immediate drawbacks in Microsoft’s effort to break into the tablet market.

Microsoft gave no reason for Mr Sinofsky’s immediate departure and Mr Ballmer gave only cursory recognition of his work, saying: “I am grateful for the many years of work that Steven has contributed to the company.”

However, announcing that Julie Larson-Green, another Windows executive, would take over Mr Sinofsky’s engineering responsibilities, he paid tribute to her “proven ability to effectively collaborate and drive a cross-company agenda”.

Mr Sinofsky also took much of the blame publicly for Microsoft’s failure for a number of months this year to stick to the terms of a settlement reached with European regulators, a lapse that is expected to lead to a significant fine from Brussels.

Nurturing Creativity: An ideal Ideology

2012-11-10T07:05:00.003-08:00

An idea is for LIFE.
Making those ideas work is Creativity.
To find a few ideas that work, you need to try a lot that don’t.” – Robert Sutton
With the competition reaching the skies, it is almost inevitable that by the time we realize that our minds are designed to work in
“DIFFERENTLY special ways”, we are already leading the RAT Race.
Salesforce.com, Amazon.com, Apple, Google, Proctor & Gamble, Ogilvy & Mather, Nintendo, Toyota & Toshiba are some of the companies topping the
Forbes charts for Innovation & Creativity.
Any organization in this competitive era has to have continuous Innovation and should encourage & reward brilliant ideas.
Nurturing of an Idea does not happen in isolation. Infact, “Organization, Community & Leadership” are three factors which have direct correlation with its
nurturing.
Organization is a place where creative people work collectively.
Community is the environment necessary to foster and grow any idea.
Leadership is to implement the idea such that its benefits can be reaped for years and years to come, by not only the bearer but also by the society as a
whole.
Having entered the era of budding Entrepreneurs (and Intrapreneurs) we should understand that no economy can be successful without them. Ironically,
instead of nurturing it we tend to discourage those who are different in their own unique ways.
What is Entrepreneurship? – “Today’s BUZZ word” or “The most popular mode of employment” - one may say!
But, Entrepreneurship actually is the ability to foster a new idea and the courage to make it rise higher than the highest tide!
With these words I’d like to propose that “Creativity be stressed upon and encouraged in all schools across the globe”. Creativity does not come in a day.
Infact, most times it takes like ‘forever’ for a world changing idea to pop-up, but I guess – Archimedes would have been ecstatic while shouting ‘Eureka’
because he knew that the idea was worth the wait!
In the words of Sir Ken Robinson (A Creativity expert) – “ creativity is as important as literacy in education and that we should treat it with the same status.
The fostering of creativity demands an environment that permits mistakes, he said, but our schools don’t provide it.”
“We are educating people out of their creative capacities”
Schools should encourage children to make mistakes because “If you are not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original” !!

Fundamental restructuring, of our education system, is required!

Creativity can be emphasized by the generation and expression of ideas in a non-evaluative framework and by concentrating on both divergent and convergent thinking. Adults can also try to ensure that children have the opportunity and confidence to take risks, challenge assumptions, and see things in a new way.

At this juncture, I’d like to give a couple of examples of Creative thinking as written under -

# A young boy was asked why are brakes provided in a car?
He replied – “To be able to drive Faster”!!
She replied – “From my dreams”!!

# A 5 year old girl making “a piece of art” from a heap of clay, was asked where did your ideas come from?

I propose not only emphasizing to young children to give “Out of Box” answers but to also reward them for it. Not to discourage, detain or punish them if they make a mistake, as mistakes are just another way of looking at the same thing differently.

We should at a very fundamental level breed this creative thinking because it is always these world changing ideas that make the difference!

The Onus lies on the child, his/her family, and the teacher “To get out of the line every time they find themselves in ONE!” because no matter how brilliant the shop owner’s child is, he still chose to become the next “kirana-wala”!

Let us get together to promote Creativity & nurture talent as they want to grow and not as we want them to!

Four reasons to refinance by the end of the year

2012-11-03T07:58:00.005-07:00

Are you hoping to cut costs in 2013? Then you might want to refinance your mortgage with one of the record low interest rates that have been a feature of 2012.

"With rates at historic lows, it's the perfect time to refinance if it makes sense for you," says Jim Duffy, a mortgage banker with Cole Taylor Mortgage. He adds that rates will probably not go significantly lower.

Duffy says that The Federal Reserve Board, the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System, which oversees national monetary policy and the banks, has been keeping interest rates low through some financial controls they wield that influence rates.

But they can't keep it up for much longer, he says. "And once they stop, rates will surely go up."

Read on to learn more about why you should refinance before the year ends…

Reason #1: Rates are at Historic Lows

You've seen all the hyped-up headlines, right? "Mortgage Interest Rates at Ridiculously Low Lows!"

Well, here's the thing: it's not all hype. Just consider the October 2012 press release from Freddie Mac, an institution established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability, and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Its headline read "Mortgage Rates Hit All-Time Record Lows For Second Consecutive Week."

It went on to list the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage as 3.36 percent for the week ending October 4, 2012, significantly lower than the 3.94 percent interest rate from the same week in 2011.

In addition, the release reported that the average amount in points a borrower could expect to pay was a low 0.6 percent of the amount of the mortgage. Points are a one-time charge by the lender, and can reach up to 3 percent of the loan amount, according to a mortgage settlement guide published by the Federal Reserve Board.

It's important to understand, however, that certain closing costs, such as appraisal, application, home inspection, and private mortgage insurance (PMI) fees, may also apply, adds the Federal Reserve Board. So, you'll want to make sure that the savings outweigh the costs before you decide to refinance.

Still it doesn't get much clearer than "all-time low."

Reason #2: 2012 is an Election Year

You might ask, "What does a presidential election have to do with the interest rate you score when you refinance?" Possibly a lot, says Chris L. Boulter, president of Val-Chris Investments, Inc., a California company specializing in residential and commercial loans.

"If someone has the ability to refinance and it will save them money, they should take advantage of it now, because I would anticipate that after the election, and next year, we're going to see those rates start to climb," he says.

Boulter says this is due to the fact that markets and other financial forces that drive rates - like big business, the Federal Reserve Board, and consumer behavior - do not like uncertainty. And what is an election except the uncertainty of who will guide the country for the next four years? So, with the election ahead of us and a continued - if weak - economic recovery predicted in 2013, interest rates could creep higher, he says.

Reason #3: Lock in a Low Fixed-Rate Mortgage

Do you have an adjustable-rate mortgage that has a low interest rate…for now? Are you starting to worry about what would happen if interest rates increased?

Now might be the perfect time to lock-in a low interest rate that can't change for the life of your loan.

First, let's back up and make sure the difference between an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) and a fixed-rate mortgage is clear. In a fixed-rate mortgage, the interest rate, and the monthly payment, remains the same for the life of the loan.

An ARM's interest rate, on the other hand, changes periodically depending on an agreed-upon market index, so it could go up or down, according to an ARM handbook published by the Federal Reserve Board. It adds that the initial rate of an ARM is usually lower than a fixed-rate loan, but that the low rate may only last from one month to five years or more.

Now, wouldn't you rather have a low rate that will last throughout your entire loan term, opposed to just one month or five years?

If so, make sure to lock in a fixed-rate mortgage now - before rates increase.

Reason #4: To Pay Less for Your House

How much did your house cost you? If you just repeated the listing price you agreed to pay before you took out your mortgage, you are way short. The fact is, you're house will cost you substantially more than its listing price, assuming you did take out a mortgage to pay for your home.

That, of course, is because the lender charges you interest on the loan. The higher the interest, the more you'll pay over time. But many people don't see how interest can increase the cost of their home over time, or more importantly, how refinancing to a lower interest rate can save them money.

The best way to illustrate this is to crunch the numbers in an example. Below, we'll assume you agreed to pay the seller $400,000, made a 20 percent down payment ($80,000), and got a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 5 percent interest rate. Check out the savings if you refinanced that loan to a 3.36 percent rate (the average rate as of October 4, 2012 according to the aforementioned Freddie Mac).*

	Your Current Loan	Your New Loan
Interest Rate	5 percent	3.36 percent
Loan Amount	$320,000	$320,000
Monthly Payment	$1,717.83	$1,412.05
Total of 360 Payments	$618,418.51	$508.338.80

As the example shows, that $400,000 house really costs much more. However, it costs $110,079.71 less if you refinanced using the above numbers.*

Now, an 'invisible' Toyota Prius

2012-11-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

Using optical camouflage technology, researchers at Keio University showed off a ‘see-through Toyota Prius’ that renders the back seat invisible. This would allow the driver to see exactly what is behind the vehicle, rather than relying on the rear view camera that doesn’t really offer a full field-of-view. The technology basically captures footage from behind the object and projects the background onto the seat. It’s quite similar to the technology Mercedes-Benz used on its invisible F-Cell. Earlier this year, Mercedez Benz had figured out how to make an entire car disappear using the same technology.

Using the same optical camouflage, technology experts at Mercedez Benz had figured out how to make an entire car disappear earlier this year.
The researchers created the illusion that their new zero emissions F-Cell Mercedes Benz is not even there at all, the Daily Mail reported.
Taking the principal that to see through something you need to see what's behind it, they covered the driver's side of the car in mats of LEDs, and mounted a digital SLR camera on the opposite side of the vehicle.
The camera shoots video on the passenger side of the car and the video is displayed in real time on the driver side of the automobile.

This ingenious approach, originally pioneered by scientists at the University of Tokyo, works on the same principles of the blue screen used by TV weather forecasters and Hollywood filmmakers.
The idea also mimics the iPad 2 Halloween costume that seems to display a gaping hole in the human body.
In Mercedes' promotional video, stupefied Muggles stare and fall about in shock as the team put the car through its paces along the highways of Hamburg and the bridges of Bavaria.

Meanwhile online, while some pessimistic YouTube users were wary, anticipating that invisible cars would no doubt lead to brutal crashes, others fantasised about bring able to park anywhere at all, without getting a ticket.

Mahindra Satyam profit rises 17 percent, meets estimates

2012-10-30T08:41:00.001-07:00

Satyam Computer Services Ltd(SATY.NS), in the process of a merger with parent Tech Mahindra Ltd (TEML.NS), met expectations with a 17 percent rise in second-quarter profit, as customers, aiming to cut IT costs, gave it more orders.

Profits for the September quarter rose to 2.78 billion rupees from 2.38 billion rupees in the year-earlier period, Satyam said in a statement on Tuesday. That compares with analysts' estimate of 2.73 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

India's $100 billion-a-year software services industry earns about three quarters of its revenue from the United States and Europe. Australia is also an increasingly important market for the sector.

Billionaire Anand Mahindra purchased Satyam in a government-sponsored sale in 2009 after the founder of the Hyderabad-based company admitted to one of India's largest accounting frauds.

Mahindra is seeking to create a consolidated IT services powerhouse by merging Satyam and Tech Mahindra, which provides software services to clients such as BT Group Plc (BT.L) and SAAB AB.

Tech Mahindra owns close to 43 percent of Satyam, now called Mahindra Satyam. It is offering one share in itself for every 8.5 shares of Satyam to absorb the company.

Satyam shares have gained about 39 percent in value since March 21, when the company announced its plans to merge with Tech Mahindra. The stock closed up 0.65 percent on Tuesday ahead of the earnings report.

The NSE's sectoral index lagged the broader market this year, but has rallied about 9 percent since a July low as investors became more optimistic about some stability in the global economic environment.

Satyam's quarterly sales rose 22.8 percent to 19.38 billion rupees. Analysts were expecting sales of 19.24 billion rupees.

Earlier this month, top-ranked Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.NS) and fourth-ranked HCL Technologies (HCLT.NS) beat expectations for second-quarter earnings. TCS reiterated it would beat the 11-14 percent estimate for exports growth made by the National Association of Software and Services Companies, an industry lobby.

Second-ranked Infosys (INFY.NS) retained its July outlook for the current fiscal year ending March 2013. Infosys was yet to include revenue from the acquisition of a Swiss consultancy Lodestone Holding. Wipro (WIPR.NS), the No. 3 provider, will report second quarter earnings on Friday.