Why India needs to get its act together, quickly - Business Today - Business News

Why India needs to get its act together, quickly - Business Today - Business News: 


"What can be done quickly to turn around the deep pessimism hanging over us, move the needle on the fiscal situation, and give global investors the feeling that India is still a good place to do business?


The answers are loud and clear - clear the way for foreign direct investment in multibrand retail, roll out the Goods and Services Tax nationwide, slash the subsidy bill by raising diesel prices - and throw in insurance-sector reforms for good measure."


Source: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/bt-editor-chaitanya-kalbag-on-indias-economy-growth-and-more/1/185558.html




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National Savings Certificates (NSC) - Planning For It!

National Savings Certificates (NSC) - Planning For It!: 


National Savings Certificates (NSC)
InvestmentYogi: All you need to know about National Savings Certificates (NSC)

The reliable National Savings Certificate (NSC) looks like it may have lost popularity with countless competing investment options available such as equities, mutual funds, unit linked insurance and fixed maturity plans. However, there is no ignoring the instrument's respectable returns, which are not only assured, but also tax-exempt (under 80C) and government guaranteed.

Compared with the NSC, the Public Provident Fund (PPF) has traditionally been more popular on account of its 8% tax-free interest. However, the PPF has a maximum investment limit of Rs 70,000 per annum (this means the maximum amount one can invest in PPF every year is capped at Rs 70,000).

Source: http://investmentyogi.com/planning/national-savings-certificates-nsc.aspx

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Bosch Introduces New Autonomous Robotic Lawnmower - IEEE Spectrum

Bosch Introduces New Autonomous Robotic Lawnmower - IEEE Spectrum: 

"We got a tip over the weekend that Bosch is introducing (or, has just introduced) what a press release (machine translated from Swedish) calls the "world's first intelligent robot lawn mower," the Bosch Indego. Well, we're not entirely sure about the world's first bit, but from what we can tell, there are definitely some features here that will make the Indego more intelligent than some of its competitors.
We should preface all of this by saying that we're relying on Google-translated press releases and websites, so it's entirely possible that some of these details aren't 100 percent correct, but it's what we've got for now.
As I'm sure you know, or at least, as the Bosch press release says, "the Swedish summer is short and should be fully utilized." The best way to go about doing this is to not spend all your time mowing the lawn, which is where the Indego comes on. It's a completely autonomous robotic lawnmower that, after you set it up, will happily behead up to 1,000 square meters of grass without any supervision whatsoever."
Source:  http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/home-robots/bosch-introduces-new-autonomous-robotic-lawnmower

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Rome Itinerary – 2 Days

Rome Itinerary – 3 Calendar Days (2 complete useful days) (minimum recommended 2 full days– excluding train/flight dead-time etc)

Visited last week Feb-2012.

Day 1 (Arrival mid-day)

We had taken a morning Ryan Air flight from Paris Beauvais airport to arrive mid-day at Rome Ciampino airport. There are several shuttle services available at the airport to take you to the main city center – drop point Roma Termini main railway station. They are all the same - take the one which is departing earliest. I had booked a Hotel very close to Roma Termini. It was a simple budget category hotel – no frills, low cost, clean, and functional. There were a lot of shops and restaurants nearby. We enjoyed Italian veggie pizzas and pastas on all three days. Get information from tourist info centre at the main station. They are quite helpful. They speak English. I had made my own little sight-seeing wish-list before-hand. With this list as a starting point, and their generous help, we were able to chalk out a detailed plan for the rest of trip. The Metro (underground train) service is very good. Make sure you take city tourist maps, maps & info about Metro, Bus, etc. from the counter. Travelling within Rome is easy with the Metro. Someone with prior experience of visiting a European city will find it easy to use the public transport service in Rome – it is similar. I had found out that a Carnival is going on in the city. They suggested that some good Carnival event is scheduled that evening in Piazza del Popolo. We were pleasantly surprised to find a fantastic "Horse Show" going on. We spent the rest of the evening watching the mesmerizing dance/performance from a raised platform (free of cost ;-)). Since it was my birthday, we decided to end the day with a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant. Menu: Pizzas – authentic Italian Pizzas.

Day 2 (Full useful day)

The Glories of Ancient Rome

We reached here by Bus around 12:00 – you should reach as early as possible.

Colosseum - Ancient Rome's huge amphitheater was built in between 70 and 82 AD in the heart of Rome whose sheer size and grandeur still impresses almost 2,000 years later. When it was inaugurated in 80 A.D., the Colosseum could hold up to 70,000 spectators, who came to the arena to watch gladiatorial contests and daring animal hunts. This ticket is valid for The Roman Forum also.

Roman Forum : a huge complex of ruined temples, basilicas, and arches, was the ceremonial, legal, social, and business center of ancient Rome. Give yourself at least two hours to wander around. Here's what to see at the Roman Forum. Take the tourist maps from the ticket counters. The Palatine Hill includes ruins from the House of Augustus and the Stadium of Domitian, among other excavations. Entry to the Palatine is included in the Colosseum/Roman Forum ticket. From the Palatine, you can also see the Circus Maximus, famed for its chariot races.

We took some wrong paths and ended in dead-end – try to avoid such things as you have to conserve energy and time. When in doubt anywhere - Ask ask and ask till you are sure. Make sure you keep strict eye on your watch. The sign-boards here are not always correct. So keep observing the tourist movement around – if you find a guided tour group, the guide may help you with directions. This place is so huge – you easily spend the full day wandering around. Look for the panoramic view point. From there try to locate and identify the structures and buildings in the map.

We then came out of the Forum and walked till the Piazza Venezia. It is a large traffic circle in front of the magnificent  Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II. After clicking several pics, we moved on to The Pantheon. We asked people how to reach there – everyone knows English here. The Pantheon, is the best preserved building of ancient Rome, has a spectacular dome and free admission, closes 7PM. You can find all these places within walking distance . Look for the sign-boards and directions on walls of corner buildings. Trevi Fountain, one of Rome's most recognizable landmarks. Must See. Spanish Steps: We reached here after dark. L For an incredible view of the Rome at sunset, climb the stairs and walk left to the Pincio Gardens where there is a panorama of the city with St. Peter's Basilica in the distance. Directly below the Pincio Gardens, the Piazza del Popolo (we visited this already on Day 1) is another traffic-free square that is a popular spot for an evening stroll. 

Day 3 (Depart Rome at 16:12)

Vatican City

Vatican Museums - At the Vatican Museums you choose from 4 different itineraries all ending with the Sistine Chapel. Because of the vastness of the museum it's wise to take a guided tour. Do some homework research and shortlist the main exhibits you don't want to miss there. These exhibits could become the basis of selecting the visit routes. Audio Guides and guided tours were not our thing – so we skipped them. Believe me – it is huge. I strongly suggest you do a booking online in advance. The queue for the entrance can be unimaginably long. We arrived around 11:00 and were shocked to see a long serpentine queue already waiting. In our estimate it would have taken at least 2 hours to reach the ticket counter. We definitely did not want to waste precious hours waiting in the queue. We had to think of an alternative – we swapped the Day 3 and Day 2 itineraries and went on to explore "The Glories of Ancient Rome".

St. Peter's Basilica 

Saint Peter's Basilica, built on the site of a church covering Peter's tomb, is one of the largest churches in the world. Entrance to the church is free but visitors must be properly dressed, with no bare knees or shoulders. Saint Peter's Basilica is open daily, 7AM - 7PM (until 6PM October - March). Masses, in Italian, are held all day on Sundays.

1.       Vatican Dome – It costs 7€ / person. You can go up the dome of Vatican and get an aerial view of the city. Half the way you can go by elevator, but will have to climb up the final 300 odd steps. Also there is ticket for 5€. This cuts out the elevator option. You will have to climb up all the way.

2.       Tomb of Previous Popes – Here you can find tombs of previous popes not all though.

3.       Basilica – This is the cathedral. Here you can find St. Peters tomb. It is surrounded by 99 candles, always illuminated.

Sistine Chapel: The Sistine Chapel was built from 1473-1481 as both the pope's private chapel and the venue for the election of the new pope by the cardinals.

Castel Sant Angelo: ( we did not visit this) Castel Sant Angelo, on the Tiber River, was built as a tomb for Emperor Hadrian in the second century. In the Middle Ages it was used as a fortress until it became a papal residence in the 14th century. It was built over the Roman walls and has an underground passageway to the Vatican. You can visit Castel Sant Angelo and in the summer, concerts and special programs are held there. It's a pedestrian area so it's a good place for strolling and enjoying the river.Castel Sant Angelo Visitor Guide

Spice of India - New Indian Shop in Feuerbach, Stuttgart

A new Indian shop has opened near Feuerbach bahnhof.

It’s a short walk from the bahnhof – just take the narrow footpath along the U-Bahn railway track after crossing the tracks (on the side opposite to S-Bahn station) – take a right turn at the dead-end – you’ll see the store right ahead.

Spice of India

Tunnel Straße 12

Feuerbach 70469

Stuttgart

0711-21740605

0152-34008803

It also has a seating area – A small snacks menu and Indian Thali will be available this week onwards.

Most of the basic items like rice, dal, spices, ready-to-eat stuff are available now.

The opening hours on Saturday are actually till 16:00.

On weekdays it will be open till 20:00

East meets West - Infographic

A very good comparison of Eastern and Western mind-set

This series of info-graphic posters were designed by a China-born German-educated designer Liu Yang (http://www.yangliudesign.com/)

Although the stereotypes portrayed here are (I think) German (Blue) and Chinese (Red), but you (as Indians) can find resonance in some slides. I found myself smiling at some slides thinking – “oh, I do the same!” J

http://www.slideshare.net/thanhhuynh/east-vs-west-presentation

http://www.scribd.com/dawpa2000/d/14276662-Liu-Yang-East-vs-West-Ost-Trifft-West

Look for the zoom control icons towards the bottom of the screen for a larger view.

Hope you like it.

EasyBlood: This is how you fight blood trafficking..
from B Shantanu's Blog by B Shantanu

A few weeks ago, I got an email in my inbox about a very intriguing initiative called “Easyblood”. I had a look at the website and decided to find out more…Here is what I learnt after a brief chat with Souvik. EasyBlood(www.easyblood.info) is an online network cum directory of voluntary blood donors across India. It is an initiative of an NGO set up by Souvik and Bhaskar in Jamshedpur. Souvik and Bhaskar are not your typicaljholawallahs – They both gave up lucrative jobs in Banking and Consulting to set up “People for Change” in Jamshedpur! In their own words,


The website provides a platform to locate voluntary blood donors for any given blood group in more than 2500 cities of India. The website aims to ease the process of searching for a blood donor in times of an emergency by providing a direct link to matching and interested donors across the country.





India faces an acute shortage of blood donors. As per an estimate the blood deficit is close to 62 lakh units in the country. This acute shortage can be overcome only if new people pledge and turn to actively donating blood. While 8% of population in U.S.A donates at least once a year, a meager 3% of Indian population donate blood. As per a WHO report, shortage of blood has resulted in India becoming the world leader in blood trafficking and transfusion of diluted or adulterated blood to patients. India has round 14 crore internet users. Out of this, 12 crore users are above 18 years of age, which is the age eligibility to donate blood. If this user base is motivated to donate even once a year, it can address the blood shortfall of India.

www.easyblood.info aims to target this user group to bridge the blood deficit.

Have a look at the website…and help them spread the word. It is an interesting idea – to say the least!