NEITHER TIRED NOT RETIRED MEET INDIA'S HIGHEST PAID DADAJI (GRANDFATHER) FMCG's CEO IS A 94 YEAR-OLD SCHOOL DROP OUT

By Sagar Malviya, ET Bureau | Jan 17, 2017, 01.39 AM IST

MUMBAI: India's highest paid consumer product CEO is not a man known to grace magazine covers. But he is visually familiar to a vast swathe of the population. The 94-year-old Dharampal Gulati is the sprightly old man with a turban promoting masala brand MDH on television commercials and on every packs.  

The fifth grade school dropout took home more than Rs 21 crore as salary last fiscal, higher than Adi Godrej and Vivek Gambhir of Godrej Consumer, Sanjiv Mehta of Hindustan UnileverBSE -0.11 % and ITC's YC Deveshwar. His company Mahashian Di Hatti, popularly known as MDH, posted a 15% jump in revenues to Rs 924 crore with a 24% increase in net profit at Rs 213 crore 

Gulati, who is also called Dadaji or Mahashayji, is the man who diligently makes his daily round of factories, markets and dealers including on Sundays until he is satisfied everything is in order in the company where he holds 80% stake.  

What his father Chuni Lal started as a small shop in Sialkot, Pakistan, way back in 1919 is now a Rs 1500 crore empire which runs the masala company, about 20 schools and a hospital. After the partition of the country, Gulati moved to a shop in Karol Bagh in Delhi and has since opened 15 factories supplying 1000 dealers in India. 

MDH has offices in Dubai and London and exports to about 100 countries. His son manages the overall operations now and six daughters handle distribution region wise. 

The company attributes its success to its supply-chain -from contract farming and sourcing spices from Karnataka and Rajasthan to Afghanistan and Iran. But the segment has been attracting newer players. 

Within masala, herbs and spices, domestic players including DS Foods, Ramdev and Eastern retain the upper hand in India, unlike table sauces where international players, like Nestle and Hindustan Unilever are strong due to their focus on international cuisines. In addition, Kerala-based Keya, Baba Ramdev's Patanjali, and Mother's Recipe have also ramped up their portfolio with spices in convenient and ready-to-use packaging.

"Entering exports market is easier than launching within India as masala composition changes depending on local communities taste and region even as the basic ingredient remains the same. That's a huge challenge," Future Group's FMCG president Devendra Chawla said. "Also there aren't enough options Indian companies offer new age consumers and global cuisine such as Chinese, Thai or Italian." 

  

MDH, that has more than 60 products, gets a bulk of its sales from three variants - Deggi Mirch, Chat Masala and Chana Masala - each selling roughly a crore packets every month. But global cuisine is not a focus yet. 

"There is scope to widen the Indian spices market and converting consumers from unbranded products," said Rajinder Kumar,executive vice-president at MDH. 

"We dictate the prices in the market as rivals follow us to make their pricing strategy. Since we want to keep our business low margin, it helps the overall category grow due to affordability." 

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cppst

WHY COMMUNISM FAILS?

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class.

*That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equaliser*

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on this plan : All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade !

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.

The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D!

No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that communism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

*These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment :*

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation !

TOO MUCH EDUCATION CAN SPOIL OUR COMMON SENSE!

An uneducated father with his educated son went on a camping trip.

They set-up their tent and fell asleep.

Some hours later, the father woke up his son.

Father, "Look up to the sky and tell me what you see."

Son, "I see millions of stars."

Father, "And what does that tell you?"

Son, "Astronomically, it tells that there are millions of galaxies and planets."

Father slaps the son hard and says, "Idiot, someone has stolen our tent"

MORAL:

Too much education can spoil our common sense..!

Donald Trump acknowledges Russia role in US election hacking: Aide

By Reuters | Updated: Jan 09, 2017, 07.14 AM IST

WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump accepts the US intelligence community's conclusion that Russia engaged in cyber attacks during the US presidential election and may take action in response, his incoming chief of staff said on Sunday. 

Reince Priebus said Trump believed Russia was behind the intrusions into the Democratic Party organizations, although Priebus did not clarify whether the president-elect agreed that the hacks were directed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

"He accepts the fact that this particular case was entities in Russia, so that's not the issue," Priebus said on "Fox News Sunday." 

It was the first acknowledgment from a senior member of the Republican president-elect's team that Trump had accepted that Russia directed the hacking and subsequent disclosure of Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential election. 

Trump had rebuffed allegations that Russia was behind the hacks or was trying to help him win, saying the intrusions could have been carried out by China or a 400-pound hacker on his bed. 

With less than two weeks until his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has come under increasing pressure from fellow Republicans to accept intelligence community findings on Russian hacking and other attempts by Moscow to influence the Nov. 8 election. A crucial test of Republican support for Trump comes  this week with the first confirmation hearings for his Cabinet picks. 

 A US intelligence report last week said Putin directed a sophisticated influence campaign including cyber attacks to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and support Trump. 

The report, commissioned by Democratic President Barack Obama in December, concluded vote tallies were not affected by Russian interference, but did not assess whether it influenced the outcome of the vote in other ways. 

'ACTION MAY BE TAKEN' 

After receiving a briefing on Friday from leaders of the US intelligence agencies, Trump did not refer specifically to Russia's role in the presidential campaign. 

In a statement, he acknowledged that "Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat(ic) National Committee." 

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer told Reuters the president-elect's conclusions remained the same and that Priebus' comments were in line with Friday's statement. 

Priebus' wording did not appear to foreshadow the dramatic reversal of Trump's apparent Russia policy that experts say would be required to deter further cyber attacks. 

"It will take a lot more than what we heard on television today to make Putin cool it," the expert added. "In fact, there may not be anything that can deter Putin from pursuing a course he's bet his future and Russia's on," said a US intelligence expert on Russia, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss domestic political positions. 

The expert added that Putin's "multifaceted campaign of cyber attacks and espionage, propaganda, financial leverage, fake news and traditional espionage" had expanded in the United States since the election, "and it will be a shock if it does not escalate in France, Germany and elsewhere this year." 

Priebus, the former Republican National Committee chairman Trump tapped as White House chief of staff, said Trump planned to order the intelligence community to make recommendations as to what should be done. "Action may be taken," he said, adding there was nothing wrong with trying to have a good relationship with Russia and other countries. 

Two senior Republican senators urged Trump to punish Russia in response to US intelligence agencies' conclusion that Putin personally directed efforts aimed at influencing the election. 

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain said evidence was conclusive that Putin sought to influence the election - a point that Trump has refuted. 

"In a couple weeks, Donald Trump will be the defender of the free world and democracy," Graham said. "You should let everybody know in America, Republicans and Democrats, that you're going to make Russia pay a price for trying to interfere." 

On Saturday, Trump wrote on Twitter that having a better relationship with Russia was a "good thing." 

US Representative Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said three US presidents had tried and failed to be friends with Putin. 

"I'm just not sure it's possible," Nunes said on the "Fox News Sunday" program. "I've cautioned his administration to be careful with Putin, as he remains a bad actor." 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed it was not unusual for a new president to want to get along with the Russians. He added on CBS however, that the Russians remained a "big adversary, and they demonstrated it by trying to mess around in our election." 

Obama, who himself tried to "reset" relations with Russia after he took office in 2009, told NBC he did not think he had underestimated the Russian president. 

"But I think that I underestimated the degree to which, in this new information age, it is possible for misinformation for cyber hacking and so forth to have an impact on our open societies, our open systems, to insinuate themselves into our democratic practices in ways that I think are accelerating," he said in an interview with "Meet the Press" broadcast on Sunday. 

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MADE IN INDIA;WORLD'S FIRST FULL ATLAS FOR THE BLIND

PTI jan 8 2017

By Pallava Bagla 

TIRUPATI: Making maps available for the blind is not easy and the world's first fully mass-reproduced atlas for the blind has been made in India. 

Using maps comes so very naturally to the sighted but for the millions of blind people of the world, maps were like a forbidden fruit. 

To the sighted, looking up the location of the nearest coffee shop or the metro station is easy with maps now being an integral part of smartphones. 

For the blind, maps were mostly inaccessible but now that is changing for the 28 million visually-handicapped people in India with the Department of Science and Technology having released an atlas tailor-made for the blind. 

For the first time, blind people can get a feel of what India looks like. To the sighted, the map of India is no surprise but to a person who can't see, a map was totally inaccessible. 

The solution was to make a map that could be felt rather than be seen. In most blind people the tactile sensation is accentuated to compensate for the loss of sight. 

The National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) of Kolkata after years of effort made this unique atlas. Here the map outlines are raised and embossed on paper using silk screen printing so that the blind can feel them and it is called a braille atlas. 

According to Prithvish Nag, former Surveyor General of India and currently Vice Chancellor of the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi, "This is the first full atlas for the blind in the world." 

Speaking of other global initiatives, he says most other efforts in the world have been to make individual-tactile maps but to make a full atlas which can be mass produced, this Indian effort that started under his leadership, is really one-of-its-kind in the world. 

On January 3, at the Indian Science Congress held here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the director of NATMO, Tapti Banerjee with the 'National Award for Science and Technology Intervention in Empowering the Physically Challenged' in recognition of this achievement. 

Speaking to some 11,000 scientists here, Modi said, "On the lines of Corporate Social Responsibility, the concept of Scientific Social Responsibility needs to be inculcated to connect our leading institutions to all stakeholders, including schools and colleges. We must create an environment for sharing of ideas and resources." 

This braille atlas is one such activity which will help the Devyang, as the Prime Minister renamed the handicapped people some time back. 

According to estimates by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in 2015 there were over 16 million blind and 28 million visually-impaired people in India and now for the first time they can also 'visualise' maps. For people who have partial vision NATMO makes maps with accentuated colours so they can see the maps despite their low vision. 

According to the World Health Organisation, 285 million people are estimated to be visually impaired worldwide, of which 39 million are blind and 246 have low vision and sadly about 90 per cent of the world's visually impaired live in low-income settings. 

India is home to the largest number of blind people in the world and it is an unfortunate situation since according to experts about three quarters of these are cases of avoidable blindness. 

Making an atlas for the blind was very challenging, says Banerjee since the map itself has to be uncluttered as the blind feel the maps with their fingers. In addition all the names and meta data of the maps had to be accommodated in braille. 

The 84-page black-and-white atlas is made on oversized A-3 size paper so that all the information could be easily accommodated. 

According to Banerjee the work on this project started way back in 1997 and her team members had to first master braille to make the atlas. She laments the work took so long simply because the government cut the staff strength of NATMO from a high of 500 to just 150. With an annual budget of Rs 6 crore NATMO has made as many as 2000 different normal mapsavailable on paper. 

The atlas has been prepared not only in English but also in Bengali, Gujarati and Telugu, there are 20 different basic maps that range from the political map of India, to the physical map of India to various soil types found in India. 

NATMO has printed some 500 copies of the braille atlas which cost them about Rs 1000 each and these are being distributed free to all the blind schools of India. 

The atlas made by NATMO is rather bulky since high quality glazed paper has been used and then using a special printing technique the raised embossing has been achieved, explains Banerjee. In the upcoming edition light weight imported paper will be used where embossing is easier to do, says Banerjee. This may make the atlas for the blind light weight and more portable. 

As NATMO embraces the digital environment the next stage could be embed audio files in the braille atlas and possibly make an app that speaks to the blind using the omnipresent global positioning system or GPS signals, the hard part would be to make smart phones get that raised tactile feel on their screens which makes the blind feel and visualise the maps. 

Recently, the Ministry of Social Justice had remarked that the 'visually impaired people in India are often marginalised in terms of education opportunities, career opportunities or social standing as compared to their sighted counterparts. Due to a lack of access to information, they are often unable to lead fulfilling, independent, economic and socially productive lives.' 

This unique effort by NATMO at least tries to fulfil one gap of a major social need with Indian science in the service of the society. 

I have learned?????

This quote is so profound, yet simple & enlightening us of what we already know.

If you take time to read these , I promise you'll walk away with an enlightened perspective.

They're written by a man who had the gift of saying so much with so few words. Make sure you read till the last

sentence. 

👀😊

I've learned .... That just one person saying to me, 'You've made my day!' makes my day.

I've learned .... That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.

I've learned .... That being kind is more important than being right.

I've learned .... That you should never say no to a gift from a child.

I've learned .... That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.

I've learned .... That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.

I've learned .... That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.

I've learned .... That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.

I've learned .... That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.

I've learned .... That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.

I've learned .... That under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.

I've learned .... That to ignore the facts does not change the facts.

I've learned .... That love, not time, heals all wounds.

I've learned .... That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.

I've learned .... That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.

I've learned .... That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.

I've learned .... That I wish I could have told my Dad that I love him one more time before he passed away.

I've learned .... That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.

I've learned ..... That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.

I've learned ..... That when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life.

I've learned .... That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing.

It's NICE to show your friends how much you care.

Top of Form

A customer dissatisfied with his dining experience can have service tax on his food bill waived

The government on Monday Jan 2, 2017 ruled that service charge on hotel/restaurant bills is no more compulsory, and a customer dissatisfied with his dining experience can have it

waived.

Stating that service charge is voluntary, the government has now asked states to ensure that hotels and restaurants clearly display information on service charges.

2017 IS FULL OF LONG WEEKENDS. FOR INDIANS-- YAY!

Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Nov 20, 2016, 03.00 AM IST

By Ranadeep Chakraborty 

The only thing as good as an action-packed New Year is the promise of long, lazy weekends. And in that, 2017 won’t disappoint. With plenty of public holidays falling on and around weekends, the foresighted Bengalurean is likely to have plenty of time away from office.

The first holiday of 2017 falls on a Saturday, January 14, for Sankranti. Then, in the fourth week of January, comes Republic Day, falling tantalisingly on a Thursday. We know what you’re thinking. ‘Oh, just need to take that Friday off and…’

Exactly.

Moving on to February, Maha Shivaratri falls on Friday the 24th.

Holi (March 13) sits colourfully on a Monday.

Ugadi heralds the Kannada New Year on a Tuesday (so if that elderly aunt can please just fall sick on the Monday before…); great things are in store.

“Usually, we get long weekends only during Dasara or Deepawali. But the next year promises to be a great one because of the number of long weekends. We have extended weekends in March too, which is unusual. The Ugadi situation is good news for those of us who like to travel home and be with family during festivals,” said Nischith Gowda, a techie.

In April there’s Good Friday, which is also Ambedkar Jayanti, and May Day (Labour Day) is a Monday.

August is a treat with two long weekends; taking a leave on August 14 (Monday) would result in straight holidays from August 12-15. Similarly, Ganesh Chaturthi falls on August 25, a Friday.

Put your slyest foot forward for Dasara, which promises this wonderful offer: take three days’ leave, get 10 days off. The holiday falls on September 29 (Ayudha Puja) followed by Vijaya Dasami (September 30). Again, October 2 is a public holiday (Gandhi Jayanti).

If you can somehow wriggle out of work on October 3, 4 and 6, October 5 (Thursday) is Valmiki Jayanti – skip a Friday – and the weekend is here! So a little bit of planning (and evading) can land you a straight holiday from September 29 to October 8.

But if you somehow missed that window, despair not. October’s Deepawali will put that cracker of a smile back on your face. From Wednesday to Friday (official offs), followed by the weekend — you’ll have 5 days to chill.

Spoilt rotten already, Rajyotsava Day disappointingly falls on a Wednesday. But Christmas brings cheer again, falling festively on a Monday. “After this year’s Sunday Christmas, to have a Christmas next year on a Monday means a guaranteed long weekend from 23rd to 25th,” cheered Suresh Joseph, a student.

May be it’s not too early to say 2017 is going to be a great year. Aye?

Corruption Currents around the world

By 

SAMUEL RUBENFELD

Dec 30, 2016 12:31 pm ETA daily roundup of corruption news from across the Web. We also provide a daily roundup of important risk & compliance stories via our daily newsletter, The Morning Risk Report, which readers can sign up for here. Follow us on Twitter at @WSJRisk.

Bribery:

President-elect Donald Trump‘s disdain for the FCPA is unlikely to dampen enforcement. (FT)

Demonetization has changed the way Indian officials take bribes. (Economic Times)

A Chinese general is being investigated for suspected bribery, the defense ministry said. The deputy head of Taiwan affairs was charged with bribery. Beijing, which is set to launch a new anti-graft system, says its anti-corruption drive has gained momentum. (Reuters, Nikkei, Reuters, Forbes, Reuters)

The former chief rabbi of Israel reached a plea agreement in a bribery and fraud case. (Times of Israel)

A former Jakarta city councilor was sentenced to seven years in prison for bribery and money laundering. (Jakarta Post)

Cybercrime:

How did Russia recruit elite hackers for its cyberwar? (NY Times)

An NSA document leaked by Edward Snowden relating to a murdered journalist reveals how Washington knows the pattern of Russian hacking. (Intercept, Huffington Post)

Germany sees the hand of Russia in an escalating cyberwar. (FT)

Though there was no evidence of hacking of U.S. voting machines, they remain vulnerable to breaches, a review found. (Guardian)

Insurance firms expect a surge in cyber policies. (FT)

Law firms are rushing to improve their defenses.; they’re a top cybercrime target. (FT, FT)

Ransomware now affects SmartTVs. (Slate)

Money Laundering:

Money launderers are doing well in Germany. (Handlesbatt)

Switzerland is moving further from bank secrecy as it completes a U.S. program. (FT, press release)

Demonetization is targeting cashiers and oncologists, as well as bank branch managers and lawyers. Authorities seized jewelry in one case. A bank cashier committed suicide after being accused of money laundering. (Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Hindustan Times, India Today, Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle)

London continues to be a place for kleptocrats to buy property. (NY Times)

Three people charged in a Malaysian money laundering case received hefty bail requests. (NST, FMT)

The Philippine senate is set to tackle money laundering in casinos. (GGRAsia)

Four Missouri men pleaded guilty to laundering money linked to sales of synthetic marijuana. (ABC17)

Sanctions:

The fallout of the U.S. response to Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election continues, but Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to expel U.S. diplomats. He will respond to the U.S. moves after Mr. Trump’s inauguration. The sanctions put Mr. Trump on a collision course with the Republican-led Congress, though one of his allies called the sanctions stupid. Notably, Russia’s top spy was left off the U.S. blacklist. (Newsweek, Daily Beast, Reuters, AP, BuzzFeed, Bloomberg, Roll Call, Daily Beast, Yahoo)

Terrorism Finance:

Trinidad’s government said it didn’t have the names of those it accused of financing terrorism. (Trinidad Express)

Transparency:

The background of offshore companies is explained here. (Washington Post)

General Anti-Corruption:

The U.S. continues to be the global cop on the financial-crime beat. (AFP)

Venezuela’s military is trafficking food as the country’s people go hungry. (AP)

The head of South Korea’s pension fund was detained as the country’s corruption scandal continues. He’s denied the allegations. (AFP, BBC)

Sports: Italy’s sports minister is under investigation in a procurement corruption case; he denies the allegations. Indonesia cleared its soccer chief of corruption allegations. (Reuters, CNA)

The town of Cudahy, Calif. was riven by corruption. (LA Times)

Corrupt officials in Nigeria drive fancy cars but can’t afford the gas. (LA Times)

The ugly side of Silicon Valley is laid out here. (Fortune)

Two journalists were charged in Angola for reporting on corruption. (CPJ)

Wealthy people, according to Mr. Trump’s soon-to-be chief economist, cannot be corrupt because of their wealth. (NY Mag)

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