Category: Information

Cycle to Kovalam – Half day Cycling trip on Jan 14 Thursday


SUMMARY:

Objective – Cycle from Tidel Park to Kovalam and back.

Difficulty – This is an easy activity. Participants need to be in reasonable physical condition.

Duration – Thursday early morning till afternoon

Distance – Around 50 km from Chennai to Kovalam and back

Transportation – Own cycles

Expense – around 300Rs (food, water expenses)

Advance – to be paid when joining – 300Rs (difference will be settled later on)

AGENDA

  • Assemble Saturday 6:45 am TIDEL PARK (Bus stop OPPOSITE to TIDEL Park main entrance}
  • Join other Cycles along the route (see Starting points below)
  • Leave Chennai before peak traffic and ride along the ECR till Kovalam
  • Picnic near at the beach and have fun
  • Return by late afternoon

Contact Person

Radha – +91.9962199963

STARTING POINTS:

(everyone should come 15 minutes in advance – we do NOT wait for latecomers)

TIDEL Park, Taramani, OMR road – 6:45 am

MUST CARRY LUGGAGE:

  • All participants must carry following items
  • Back-pack to carry food, water, snacks
  • Torch in the cycle for night time cycling
  • One extra set of clothes
  • Sun cap and sunscreen
  • Some energy bars
  • Food will be taken care of by organizers

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

  • Please make doubly sure that your cycle is in good condition for the trip.
  • Please ensure that you have a good seat in the cycle.
  • A carrier to keep your back pack will be convenient.
  • Please carry a Trash Bag to carry your trash back.

PS – Need a motor biker to accompany us for the ride. Volunteers pls register as motor bikers.

Online Competition for Animators!


This project aims to give exposure to artists and animators all over the globe.
 
Each day, animation teams face-off against each other with their most entertaining 15-90 second clips.  Our online voting community gets 24 hours to select the winner, and the results are announced Live at our League Studio.  Winners earn Cash Prizes!
 
There are no steroid scandals or predetermined outcomes here.  This competition is all about Talent!  
 
Got Animation?  Broadcast Your Creativity! Join the ADA Championship!
 
For Details: www.adasport.com

Highly Spoken Languages in the world


Highly Spoken Languages in the world

Today I had an argument with my friends telling English is not the largest spoken language in the world. My argument was based on assumption that China was the populous country in the world and I assumed Chinese to the largest spoken language. 

After coming home I Googled and startled to know these facts. 

  • Thought English to be second highly spoken language. But to my surprise English was 3rd highly spoken after Spanish.
  • Six Indian languages were placed in top 20 highly spoken languages list.
  • Tamil has 19th position.

So here is the list of languages and their rating.

Ranking

 
Languages

 
Estimates

 
1 Mandarin Chinese 845,000,000
2 Spanish 329,000,000
3 English 328,000,000
4 Hindi 242,000,000
5 Arabic 221,000,000
6 Bengali 181,000,000
7 Portuguese 178,000,000
8 Russian 144,000,000
9 Japanese 122,000,000
10 German 90,300,000
11 Javanese 84,600,000
12 Wu 77,200,000
13 Punjabi 78,300,000
14 French 67,800,000
15 Telugu 69,800,000
16 Vietnamese 68,600,000
17 Marathi 68,100,000
18 Korean 66,300,000
19 Tamil 65,700,000
20 Italian 61,700,000

Ente Keralam Experience


Last week I went to Ente Keralam restaurant at Poes Garden for Dinner along with my CFO Mr.Bala Murugan. We have passed that way a many times and we always think we have to visit that restaurant once. But every time when we were hungry this restaurant doesn’t strike us and we visit normal Saravana Bhavan or some other restaurants. 

Last week after a hectic day I & Bala thought we needed to get out for dinner to relax. Surprisingly Bala remembered about Ente Keralam & we immediately drove from office to the restaurant. 

Immediately entering the restaurant I was carried away by the ambience. It gave a feeling as if we have entered into Kerala. After getting settled we were so hungry that we ordered immediately. Bala said Kerala is known for Stew and we ordered for Appam, 1 Veg Stew & 1 Chicken Stew. 

I was so hungry that I was unable to wait till the food comes. By that time they kept two varieties of Kerala Chips as Complimentary for Starters. This helped me to half fill my stomach. 

Then arrived Appam & Veg Stew and it was so delicious. Bala was also happy with Chicken Stew. Then I ordered Fruit Punch as dessert & Bala ordered Payasam and both were a treat to our taste buds. 

Finally we got bill which was also nominal. So this place has got thumbs up from us and we will frequent this place to try other recipes too in future. 

Upon going through the menu we came to know this restaurant is a part of Oriental Cuisines which runs China Town, Zara Tapas, Hot Breads, Benjarong in Chennai. 

If you want to visit this place here is the address;

Ente Keralam, Poes Garden

# 1, Kasturi Estate,
Kasturi Ranga Road,
1st Street, Poes Garden,
Chennai – 600018
Tel: (044)42328585

Is Terrorism – A Muslim Monopoly?


A few days back I got linked with a gentleman named Abrar Ahmed. It was a pure business meeting and we were talking hard core business. But I don’t know how we broke the jinx. I didn’t something which was not supposed or recommended to be done during a Business meeting. 

Yes it is believed not to speak Religion or Politics during business talks. But some how I pulled Abrar by raising queries about Islam. Abrar asked me to collect a DVD to get answers for most of the queries I raised him.

After two days I collected the DVD from him and then after a week I happened to watch the DVD only today. Yes the title of the DVD is “Is Terrorism – A Muslim Monopoly?” Speech was given by Dr.Zakir Naik who is the President of Islamic Research Foundation & also a qualified doctor.

Chief Guest honor was given to Justice Hosbet Suresh who spoke about the Human rights & the result of stringent laws which mislead the society.

Then it was followed by speech by Dr.Zakir Naik and I must say his speech has opened the lights of darkness on me and my perception about Terrorism. I was startled by the way he was showcasing historical data on Terrorism from 1879 onwards by giving the number of causalities, group behind the act, individual who did it etc.

As a centrist this speech has enlightened me, made me raise many questions, contradict some points and made me to do deep research about many topics. I’ve to study a lot of things on religion (Hinduism, Christianity & Islam) & history to understand the speech. Also I know I must watch the DVD more in coming days to kindly my world of anxiety.

One point which I agree to without any contradiction is;

Terrorism is born out of injustice.

We must stop pin-pointing people for misdeeds and march ahead looking ahead for a greener future.

I’ve one point to clarify to Dr.Zakir Naik & one clarification I need from him which I’m going to mail him after posting this blog. So let me post the clarification first.

One point he said LTTE a dreaded terrorist organization (Which I agree thought I’m a tamilian) that it is a Hindu organization. To clarify him more than 30% Sri Lankan Tamils are Christians. Former number two in command of Prabakaran was Anton Balasingham who was a Christian. Prabakaran in spite of being a Hindu has named his son after his friends name Charles. So, I can strongly say that LTTE is a Lingual group rather than a Hindu group.

Then the clarification I need from him is about the cast system which Islam doesn’t believe. In spite of being a true Muslim why he still carries a family / caste name (NAIK) which is opposed to Islam???

For now I must thank Abrar for passing the DVD to me and in coming years I might come with my point of view after researching on the facts given by the speaker.

But I’d recommend everyone to listen to “Is Terrorism – A Muslim Monopoly”? as it will help us to clarify our perception of Muslim Extremism, Fundamentalism & Terrorism. If any of you need the DVD kindly post a comment with your contact details so that I can drop it to you if you are from Chennai or I can courier it to you.

SaleSamachar.Com – Best place to strike better deals


Last month we thought or purchasing our own furniture’s and Air-Conditioners for CCS as we are paying heavily on rentals. We thought Diwali would be the right time to do this because of better discounts we might get.

We were looking for some site like deals2buy to compare different discounts offers available with different vendors / retailers. While Googling I came across SaleSamachar.Com. It looks like a brand new site with lots of information on discounts available for this Diwali.

I think it must be Chennai based because all information is pertained to Chennai. I’m happy that India has got such a site after a long time. I’ve got lot of ideas for the site and I’ve shot an email to the webmaster with all my thoughts.

If they respond I might meet them and would be glad to contribute my thoughts to make SaleSamachar.Com a success.

Registering Limited Liability Partnership in India


A Limited Liability Partnership may be incorporated as per the procedure explained below:

User Registration

• Register yourself on the website of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, developed for LLP services, i.e. www.llp.gov.in. This website may also be accessed through the website of the ministrywww.mca.gov.in. On the home page of the URL www.llp.gov.in click “Register” tab on top right hand corner of the page.

• Fill in the registration form. Fields marked * in the form are to be mandatorily filled. Select your user name and password.

• Upload digital signature certificate

• On successful registration, system will give a message that you have been registered successfully. 

Obtain Designated Partners Identification Number (DPIN).

• All designated partners of the proposed LLP shall obtain “Designated Partner Identification Number (DPIN)” by filing an application individually online in Form -7.

• For obtaining DPIN kindly log in by clicking on the “Login” tab on top right corner of the home page, enter your user name and password. After login, click on the E-forms link. List of e-forms will open. Click and open  Form 7.

• Fill up “Form 7” for allotment of DPIN

• Pay filing fee of Rs.100 online through credit card (master/visa)

• Submit the application form online. The system will generate a provisional DPIN. Kindly note it carefully

• Take the print out of the application form, affix a latest passport size photograph and get it attested/certified for submission physically along with documentary evidences for proof of identify and proof of residence with the Registrar LLP.

• Deliver the printed and signed application form, along with the prescribed documents by hand/courier/registered post to the Office of Registrar, Ministry of Corporate Affairs,  3rd Floor, “Paryavaran Bhawan”, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003.

• For more details see Instruction Kit provided on the home page under “Users Guide” tab.

Digital Signature Certificate

• Partner/Designated partner of LLP/proposed LLP, whose signatures are to be affixed on the e-forms has to obtain class 2 or class 3 Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from any authorized certifying agency, details of which are available on the home page of the llp portal under the tab “Certifying Authorities”.

Reservation of name

• Log on to the LLP portal by clicking the “log in” tab on the top right corner of the homepage and enter your username and password. After login, click “E-Forms” link.

• Open Form-1 for reservation of name and fill in the details. Select name of the proposed LLP (upto 6 choices can be indicated).

• Any partner or designated partner in the proposed LLP may submit Form-1.

• Append digital signatures and submit the e-form

• Pay the necessary fee by credit card (master/visa).

• Free name search facility (of existing companies / LLPs) is available on MCA portal (hyper link available on LLP portal).The system will provide the list of similar/closely resembling names of existing companies/LLPs based on the search criteria filled up.

• Details of minimum two designated partners of the proposed LLP, one of them must be a resident of India, is required to be filled in the application for reservation of name. Only individuals or nominees on behalf of the bodies corporate as partners can act as designated partners.

• Check status of your application by logging on the portal.

• For more details see Instruction Kit provided on the home page under “Users Guide” tab.

Incorporation of LLP

• Once the name is reserved  by the Registrar, log on to the portal and fill up Form-2 “Incorporation Document and Statement”.

• Pay the prescribed registration fee as per the slab given in Annexure A of the LLP Rules, 2009, based on the total monetary value of contribution of partners in the proposed LLP.

• Statement in the e-form is to be digitally signed by a person named in the incorporation document as a designated partner having permanent DPIN and also to be digitally signed by an advocate/company secretary/chartered accountant/cost accountant in practice and  engaged in the formation of LLP.

• On submission of complete documents the Registrar after satisfying himself about compliance with relevant provisions of the LLP Act will register the LLP, maximum within 14 days of filing of Form-2 and will issue a certificate of incorporation in Form-16.

• You can check status of your application by logging on to the portal

• For more details see Instruction Kit provided on the home page under “Instruction Kit” tab.

Filing of LLP agreement (Form-3) and Partners’ details (Form-4)

• Form 3 (Information with regard to LLP agreement and changes, if any made therein) and Form-4 (Notice of Appointment of Partner/Designate Partner, his consent etc.) may be filed with the prescribed fee simultaneously at the time of filing Form-2 or within 30 days of the date of incorporation or within 30 days of such subsequent changes.

• For more details see Instruction Kit provided on the home page under “Instruction Kit” tab.

Details of Fee

1. For registration of Limited Liability Partnership including conversion of a firm or a private company or an unlisted public company into Limited Liability Partnership:

(a) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution does not exceed Rs. 1 lakh

Rs. 500/-

(b) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 1 lakh but does not exceed Rs. 5 lakhs

Rs. 2000/-

(c) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 5 lakhs but does not exceed Rs. 10 lakhs

Rs. 4000/-

(d) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 10 lakh

Rs. 5000/-

2. The difference between the fees payable on the increased slab of contribution and the fees paid on the preceding slab of contribution shall be paid through Form 3.

3. For filing, registering or recording any document, form, statement, notice, Statement of Accounts and Solvency, annual return and an application along with the Statement for  conversion of a firm or a private company or an unlisted public company into LLP by this Act or by these rules required or authorized to be filed, registered or recorded:

(a) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution does not exceed Rs. 1 lakh

Rs. 50/-

(b) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 1 lakh but does not exceed Rs. 5 lakhs

Rs. 100/-

(c) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 5 lakhs but does not exceed Rs. 10 lakhs

Rs. 150/-

(d) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 10 lakh

Rs. 200/-

4. Fee for any application other than application for conversion of a firm or a private company or an unlisted public company into LLP shall be as under:-

(a) An application for reservation of name u/s 16

Rs. 200/-

(b) An application for direction to change the name u/s 18

Rs. 10000/-

(c) Application for reservation of name under Rule 18(3)

Rs. 10,000/-

(d) Application for renewal of name under rule 18(3)

Rs. 5000/-

(e) Application for obtaining DPIN under rule 10(5)

Rs.100/-

5. Fee for inspection of documents or for obtaining certified copy thereof shall be as under:-

(a) For inspection of documents of an LLP under section 36 Rs. 50/-

(b) For Copy or extract of any document under section 36 to be certified by Registrar

Rs. 5/- per page or fractional part thereof

6. Fee for filing any form or a Statement of Account and Solvency or a notice or a document by foreign limited liability partnership

(a) For filing a document under rule 34(1)

Rs.5000/-

(b) Any other form or Statement of Account and Solvency or notice or document

Rs.1000/-

If you need any assistance in Incorporating a LLP company you can get in touch with Mr.Bala Murugan. Here are his contact details;

Email: bala@cogzidel.com
Mobile: +91.9884039129
Phone (O): +91.44.64990102 

Source: Cogzidel Consultancy Services

Difference between Dual listing & ADR


Off late we are hearing a lot about “Dual Listing” because of Bharti – MTN acquisition. Before telling the difference let me explain what both terms mean?

What is Dual Listing?

Dual Listing means listing of shared of merged entity in Stock market of two countries. In Bharti – MTN case if the deal would have gone through they would be listed in Indian Stock Market & South African Stock market as separate legal identities with a common management.

What is ADR?

ADR stands for American Depositary Receipt where in a US bank buys Shares of a company in lots and trades them in US Stock Exchange. A buyer can convert ADR’s into shares and trade it within US bourses.

Pass this information


If you have come across any bright students coming from poor financial background who have finished their 10th standard this year (April 2009) and scored more than 80%, please ask them to contact the NGO-Prerana (supported by Infosys foundation). The NGO is conducting a written test and those who clear the test will be eligible for financial help for their further studies.

Please ask the students to contact the people mentioned below to get the form;

#580, Shubhakar, 44th cross,
1st ‘A’ Main Road,
Jayanagar 7th block Bangalore
Mob no- 9900906338(Saraswati)

Mr.Shivkumar( 9986630301) – Hanumanth nagar office
Ms.Bindu(9964534667 )-Yeshwantpur office

Even if you don’t know anyone, please pass on this info, some one might be in need of this help desperately.

Hinduism – Well Explained!!!


Four years ago, I was flying from JFK NY Airport to SFO to attend a meeting at Monterey, CA.

An American girl was sitting on the right side, near window seat.

It indeed was a long journey – it would take nearly seven hours!

I was surprised to see the young girl reading a Bible – unusual of young Americans! (Later I came to know that September 11 has changed mind-set of lot of US citizens. They suddenly turned religious, it seemed.) After some time she smiled and we had few acquaintances talk. I told her that I am from India .

Then suddenly the girl asked: ‘What’s your faith?’

‘What?’ I didn’t understand the question.

‘I mean, what’s your religion? Are you a Christian? Or a Muslim?’

‘No!’ I replied, ‘I am neither Christian nor Muslim’.

Apparently she appeared shocked to listen to that.

‘Then who are you…?’

‘I am a Hindu’, I said.

She looked at me as if she is seeing a caged animal.

She could not understand what I was talking about.

A common man in Europe or US knows about Christianity and Islam, as they are the leading religions of the world today.

But a Hindu, what? I explained to her – I am born to a Hindu father and Hindu mother. Therefore, I am a Hindu by birth.

‘Who is your prophet?’ she asked.

‘We don’t have a prophet,’ I replied.

‘What’s your Holy Book?’

‘We don’t have a single Holy Book, but we have hundreds and thousands of philosophical and sacred scriptures,’ I replied.

‘Oh, come on…at least tell me who is your God?’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘Like we have Yahweh and Muslims have Allah – don’t you have a God?’

I thought for a moment. Muslims and Christians believe one God (Male God) who created the world and takes an interest in the humans who inhabit it. Her mind is conditioned with that kind of belief.

According to her (or anybody who doesn’t know about Hinduism), a religion need to have one Prophet, one Holy book and one God. The mind is so conditioned and rigidly narrowed down to such a notion that anything else is not acceptable. I understood her perception and concept about faith. You can’t compare Hinduism with any of the present leading religions where you have to believe in one concept of god.

I tried to explain to her: ‘You can believe in one god and he can be a Hindu. You may believe in multiple deities and still you can be a Hindu. What’s more – you may not believe in god at all, still you can be a Hindu. An atheist can also be a Hindu.’

This sounded very crazy to her.

She couldn’t imagine a religion so unorganized, still surviving for thousands of years, even after onslaught from foreign forces.

‘I don’t understand…but it seems very interesting. Are you religious?’ What can I tell to this American girl?

I said: ‘I do not go to temple regularly. I do not make any regular rituals. I have learned some of the rituals in my younger days. I still enjoy doing it sometimes.’ ‘Enjoy? Are you not afraid of God?’

‘God is a friend. No- I am not afraid of God. Nobody has made any compulsions on me to perform these rituals regularly.’

She thought for a while and then asked: ‘Have you ever thought of converting to any other religion?’

‘Why should I? Even if I challenge some of the rituals and faith in Hinduism, nobody can convert me from Hinduism. Because, being a Hindu allows me to think independently and objectively, without conditioning… I remain as a Hindu never by force, but choice.’ I told her that Hinduism is not a religion, but a set of beliefs and practices. It is not a religion like Christianity or Islam because it is not founded by any one person or does not have an organized controlling body like the Church or the Order, I added. There is no institution or authority.

‘So, you don’t believe in God?’ she wanted everything in black and white.

‘I didn’t say that. I do not discard the divine reality. Our scripture, or Sruthis or Smrithis – Vedas and Upanishads or the Gita – say God might be there or he might not be there. But we pray to that supreme abstract authority (Para Brahma) that is the creator of this universe.’

‘Why can’t you believe in one personal God?’

‘We have a concept – abstract – not a personal god. The concept or notion of a personal God, hiding behind the clouds of secrecy, telling us irrational stories through few men whom he sends as messengers, demanding us to worship him or punish us, does not make sense. I don’t think that God is as silly as an autocratic emperor who wants others to respect him or fear him.’ I told her that such notions are just fancies of less educated human imagination and fallacies, adding that generally ethnic religious practitioners in Hinduism believe in personal gods. The entry level Hinduism has over-whelming superstitions too. The philosophical side of Hinduism negates all superstitions.

‘Good that you agree God might exist. You told that you pray. What is your prayer then?’

‘Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavantu. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti,’

‘Funny,’ she laughed, ‘What does it mean?’

‘May all the beings in all the worlds be happy. Om Peace, Peace, Peace.’

‘Hmm… Very interesting. I want to learn more about this religion. It is so democratic, broad-minded and free…’ she exclaimed.

‘The fact is Hinduism is a religion of the individual, for the individual and by the individual with its roots in the Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita. It is all about an individual approaching a personal God in an individual way according to his temperament and inner evolution – it is as simple as that.’

‘How does anybody convert to Hinduism?’

‘Nobody can convert you to Hinduism, because it is not a religion, but a set of beliefs and practices. Everything is acceptable in Hinduism because there is no single authority or organization either to accept it or to reject it or to oppose it on behalf of Hinduism.’

I told her – if you look for meaning in life, don’t look for it in religions; don’t go from one cult to another or from one guru to the next.

For a real seeker, I told her, Bible itself gives guidelines when it says ‘ Kingdom of God is within you.’ I reminded her of Christ’s teaching about the love that we have for each other. That is where you can find the meaning of life.

Loving each and every creation of the God is absolute and real.

‘Isavasyam idam sarvam’ Isam (the God) is present (inhabits) here everywhere – nothing exists separate from the God, because God is present everywhere. Respect every living being and non-living things as God. That’s what Hinduism teaches you.

Hinduism is referred to as Sanathana Dharma, the eternal faith. It is based on the practice of Dharma, the code of life. The most important aspect of Hinduism is being truthful to oneself. Hinduism has no monopoly on ideas. It is open to all. Hindus believe in one God (not a personal one) expressed in different forms. For them, God is timeless and formless entity.

Ancestors of today’s Hindus believe in eternal truths and cosmic laws and these truths are opened to anyone who seeks them. But there is a section of Hindus who are either superstitious or turned fanatic to make this an organized religion like others. The British coin the word ‘Hindu’ and considered it as a religion.

I said: ‘Religions have become an MLM (multi-level-marketing) industry that has been trying to expand the market share by conversion. The biggest business in today’s world is Spirituality. Hinduism is no exception…’

I am a Hindu because it doesn’t condition my mind with any faith system………….

RAM.K.MENON