The wine industry has many industry-specific terms that can be a bit daunting, especially for newcomers to wine. In this article, I will provide brief explanations of key wine terms.
Source: Benny’s Wine Musings
In the late 30’s the Smirnoff Vodka makers was looking to increase sales. In general they were ‘ok’, they were surviving but not really thriving. The company decided to hire an outside consultant for creating new marketing message. This consultant studied the Smirnoff Vodka in and out. He tried to understand every aspect of the vodka and what makes it unique. By doing this – he would be able to launch an effective marketing campaign for Smirnoff Vodka focused on Smirnoff’s unique selling points.
In his research he discovered one thing that was very unique: When you drink the vodka – you don’t have the smell of vodka in your mouth afterwards.
Based on this discovery, Smirnoff launched a campaign promoting this message and the company became one of the top selling Vodka companies in the world.
Message : Its all about finding that one little thing in your business thats a little bit better then your competitors.
For those who can’t understand Tamil please excuse… I don’t have time to post transcript of this speech in English… I missed this program because I felt festivals are time to rest and enjoy it like we use to do it in our childhood days… I can understand this speech makes sense… But like any other normal man I’m putting it behind and preparing myself to run the rat race for tomorrow…
But there are two things I’ve realized from this guys speech;
For those who understand tamil and missed this program during Diwali… Understand the real position of todays youth…
Last couple of months we wake up reading about violence in the Valley. Not sure how many of you would be aware of why this problem is burning. For those Ignorant people let me give you some reality of the history.
During the time of Independance India was divided into 3 set of territories;
Post Independence Sardar Vallabhai Patil wanted to make all those princely states, french & portugese colonies as a part of India to avoid future conflicts. Most of the princely states were integrated peacefully except;
The first three states were annexed by war & hostile take over by people. But the choice of Integrating Kashmit was given to Nehru which he handled miserably.
That is what is making the difference till date. All other states have accepted India as their country and call themselves as Indians unlike Kashmiries. So what is
Kashmir problem?
At the time of the transfer of power, Kashmir was ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu, although the state itself had a Muslim majority. Hari Singh was equally hesitant about acceding to either India or Pakistan, as either would have provoked adverse reactions in parts of his kingdom. He signed a Standstill Agreement with Pakistan and proposed one with India as well, but announced that Kashmir intended to remain independent. However, his rule was opposed by Sheikh Abdullah, the popular leader of Kashmir’s largest political party, the National Conference, who demanded his abdication.
Pakistan, attempting to force the issue of Kashmir’s accession, cut off supplies and transport links. The chaos in Punjab resulting from Partition had also severed transport links with India, meaning that Kashmir’s only links with the two dominions was by air. Rumours about atrocities against the Muslim population of Poonch by the Maharajah’s forces caused the outbreak of civil unrest. Shortly thereafter, Pathan tribesmen from the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan crossed the border and entered Kashmir. The invaders made rapid progress towards Srinagar. The Maharaja of Kashmir wrote to India, asking for military assistance, offering an Instrument of Accession, and setting up an interim government headed by Sheikh Abdullah.The accession was accepted, but Nehru declared that it would have to be confirmed by a plebiscite, although there was no legal requirement to seek such confirmation.
Indian troops secured Jammu, Srinagar and the valley itself during the First Kashmir War, but the intense fighting flagged with the onset of winter, which made much of the state impassable. Prime Minister Nehru, in a move that baffled political and military strategists, declared a ceasefire and sought U.N. arbitration, arguing that India would otherwise have to invade Pakistan itself, in view of its failure to stop the tribal incursions. The plebiscite was never held, and on 26 January 1950, the Constitution of India came into force in Kashmir, but with special provisions made for it in the Constitution’s Article 370. India did not, however, secure administrative control over all of Kashmir. The Ladakh northern and western portions of Kashmir came under Pakistan’s control in 1947, and are today referred to as ‘Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir’ by the Indian government. In the 1962 Sino-Indian War, China occupied Aksai Chin, the north-eastern region bordering , which it continues to control and administer.
So what do they Kashmiris want?
There are three set of demands.
Because of great blunder of done by Nehru we are paying the price till date. Would would have been different if Iron Man Patel was Iron fist with Nehru and annexed J & K.
But what every happens as an Indian I can’t accept an India without Kashmir. I support any action by the Government of India that helps in full Integration of J & K into India.
It was a perfect experience I thrive to have and I really enjoyed the time. Yesterday I had to book tickets to Madurai in an infamous Omni (Private) bus because all reputed travels like KPN, Parveen, ABT etc were all running full houses because of long weekend holidays. I’ve had lot os bad experience with such operators and I was expecting some problem. So this is how it all started;
Finally after boarding the bus everyone came and thanked me for making this happen. Finally I was contented because;
Again there is not going to be any change. But I did my bit to change things by taking some initiative and by writing this blog which will be of help to others.
Note: Finally we came to know Sri Saravana Travels is just a ticket booking agent and he doesn’t own a bus. They are ticket agents with a Name to cheat people.
Rudolf and Adi Dassler learned at an early age the enormous impact that gold medals had on their shoe business.
When U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens got to Germany for Berlin’s 1936 Olympics, Adi Dassler drove from Bavaria on one of the world’s first motorways to the Olympic village. There he found Owens, unpacked a suitcase filled with spikes and persuaded him to try them. Owens won four gold medals in Dassler shoes.
“Owens’s success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the world’s most famous sportsmen,” Smit writes. “Letters from around the world landed on the brothers’ desks, and the trainers of other national teams were all interested in their shoes.”
Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War Two.
The war exacerbated tensions between the two brothers and their wives. Although both Dasslers joined the Nazi party and signed their letters with a “Heil Hitler” salutation, Rudolf was a more devoted Nazi.
The origins of the split between Rudolf and Adi are hard to pinpoint but an Allied bomb attack on Herzogenaurach in 1943 illustrated the growing tension. Adi and his wife climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in.
“The dirty bastards are back again,” Adi said, apparently referring to the Allied war planes. Rudolf was convinced his brother meant him and his family. The damage was never repaired.
In 1948, the brothers split their business. Adolf called his firm ‘Adidas’; Rudolf called his ‘Ruda’ before changing to ‘Puma’.
I remember M.K.Tamizharasu having one son  Arulnidhi & Kanimozhi having a son.
Normally I don’t copy other articles in my blog. But I thought this one could be of value to my readers. Here is a new avenue to hunt for an opportunity;
Old is gold. More so, if it is an old rupee note. Ask Mehraj Quraishi. Two years back, Quraishi, a trader in old coins and notes, purchased 30 one-rupee notes — the first ones printed by the government after Independence — bearing the signature of the then finance secretary of India, K R K Menon. He paid Rs 1,350 for each note.
But when Quraishi wanted a few more of these notes a few days earlier, he had to dole out Rs 10,000 for each — a 640 per cent increase in value in just over two years, something not many investment avenues can boast of.
There’s more to it. Some of the Re 1 notes printed in 1964, bearing the signature of the then finance secretary, S Bhoothalingam, are at present available on ebay.com for Rs 25,500 each.
However, all old currency notes do not appreciate as rapidly in value. The availability of the note in the market is the main factor. For example: the Re 1 notes printed in December 1964 and signed by Bhoothalingam are very rare, but other notes signed by him in the subsequent months might be available in the market and may not fetch the same value.
Jayesh Gala, a collector and dealer of notes and coins, has some tips to help customers identify rare notes. “Check the period for which a particular RBI governor has been in office. If it is a short period, chances are that notes bearing his signature will be few and hence would command a high price.”
The physical state of the note will also determine what price it can fetch. An uncirculated note, or UNC as it is known in numismatic parlance, will command a higher price compared to the used ones.
Collectors are interested not only in currency notes which are out of circulation but also those which are currently in use. Of course, they must have some special feature to be of interest to a collector.
Like the Rs 10 ‘star’ note, or replacement note with former finance secretary and present RBI Governor D Subbarao’s signature and a series number 000001. This note was bought for Rs 50,000 by Kishore Jhunjhunwala, a numismatist.
Each note bears a unique series number. For example: your note may have the following number printed on it: 01A 124578. Here, ‘A’ is the prefix letter and 124578 is the series number. You will also find a letter in the background of the series number, known as the inset letter, that identifies the mint it has been printed in.
The combination of the prefix and the series number or just the series number creates the fancy number. For example: a plain series number like 123456 or one that comprises the same digits like 111111 or an interesting combination of the prefix and the series number – 11B 111111, may be of interest to collectors.
The possibilities of a fancy number are endless. The value of a fancy number note cannot really be ascertained, says Gala. It depends on what value the likes of Jhunjhunwala peg it at.
So next time you come across a note with a ‘fancy number’, don’t be in a rush to spend it. It may be worth much more than its face value.
Error Notes
Usually, people are eager to palm off a misprinted note to an unsuspecting person. But if you find yourself in a similar position, don’t rush to rid yourself of the error note.Error notes are notes that are misprinted by the RBI and are supposed to be destroyed. But somehow they find their way into the market and in the hands of money changers and collectors.Â
Again, the value of an error note cannot be determined but it is certain that it will fetch you a decent amount.
‘Star’ Notes
These notes are also known as replacement notes. During the printing of a certain series of notes, one of the notes in the bundle could be misprinted. The note which replaces the misprinted one in the bundle will not be serially numbered like the rest. To identify such a note, a star sign is inserted in the number panel between the prefix letter and the series number.
“Such notes are rarely seen in circulation as they are in great demand from collectors,” says Arun Sanghvi, a money changer. Not surprising that even an ordinary Rs 10 star note with no fancy number or a particular governor’s signature can be sold to a money changer for Rs 30. If you ever come across a star note, know that you are richer by a few rupees. Moral of the lesson: do keep a close watch on all your notes henceforth. The value of the Rs 10 note in your wallet may actually be worth a few extra zero’s.
Courtesy: Masoom Gupte
Source: Business Standard
Now Indian Rupee has a new symbol and this is how it looks. This new symbol which has been shortlisted through a contest run by Finance Ministry of India. You can read about that Rupee design contest here. The basic aim of the new symbol is to provide the Indian rupee international recognition as the country’s economy exerts more influence in the global space, the unique sign will also help isolate the currency from the current abbreviation ‘Rs’ which is used by neighbouring Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
The winning designers concept was based on the Tricolour and “arithmetic equivalenceâ€. While the white space between the two horizontal lines gives the impression of the national flag with the Ashok Chakra, the two bold parallel lines stand for ‘equals to’, representing balance in the economy, both within and with other economies of the world. The winning designer is an IIT post-graduate D Udaya Kumar.
Along with the announcement of the result, there have been a number of controversies as well. One of the RTI activist had revealed that the panel took less than 20 seconds to go through each of the design and analyze. This is what the activist revealed according to RTI Documents :
Keeping aside all the controversies, I am happy that there is a new symbol for Indian Rupee!
AnandNataraj 