Showing posts with label Go India Go.... Show all posts
Showing posts with label Go India Go.... Show all posts
Monday, September 12, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Anna Hazare’s Hunger Strike!!!!!!!!
Let’s at least pass the Message on and enlighten ppl on what is the Importance of this Anna Hazare’s Hunger Strike….. !!!!!!!!!
1. Who is Anna Hazare?An ex-army man. Fought 1965 Indo-Pak War
2. What's so special about him?
He built a village Ralegaon Siddhi in Ahamad Nagar district, Maharashtra
3. So what?
This village is a self-sustained model village. Energy is produced in the village itself from solar power, biofuel and wind mills.
In 1975, it used to be a poverty clad village. Now it is one of the richest village in India. It has become a model for self-sustained, eco-friendly & harmonic village.
4. Ok,...?
This guy, Anna Hazare was awarded Padma Bhushan and is a known figure for his social activities.
5. Really, what is he fighting for?
He is supporting a cause, the amendment of a law to curb corruption in India.
6. How that can be possible?
He is advocating for a Bil, The Lok Pal Bill (The Citizen Ombudsman Bill), that will form an autonomous authority who will make politicians (ministers), beurocrats (IAS/IPS) accountable for their deeds.
8. It's an entirely new thing right..?
In 1972, the bill was proposed by then Law minister Mr. Shanti Bhushan. Since then it has been neglected by the politicians and some are trying to change the bill to suit thier theft (corruption).
7. Oh.. He is going on a hunger strike for that whole thing of passing a Bill ! How can that be possible in such a short span of time?
The first thing he is asking for is: the government should come forward and announce that the bill is going to be passed.
Next, they make a joint committee to DRAFT the LOK PAL BILL. 50% goverment participation and 50% public participation. Because you cant trust the government entirely for making such a bill which does not suit them.
8. Fine, What will happen when this bill is passed?
A LokPal will be appointed at the centre. He will have an autonomous charge, say like the Election Commission of India. In each and every state, Lokayukta will be appointed. The job is to bring all alleged party to trial in case of corruptions within 1 year. Within 2 years, the guilty will be punished. Not like, Bofors scam or Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, that has been going for last 25 years without any result.
9. Is he alone? Whoelse is there in the fight with Anna Hazare?
Baba Ramdev, Ex. IPS Kiran Bedi, Social Activist Swami Agnivesh, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and many more.
Prominent personalities like Aamir Khan is supporting his cause.
10. Ok, got it. What can I do?
At least we can spread the message. How?
Putting status message, links, video, changing profile pics.
At least we can support Anna Hazare and the cause for uprooting corruption from India.
At least we can hope that his Hunger Strike does not go in vain.
At least we can pray for his good health.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Top Three Reasons Why Businesses Should Outsource Tax Preparation
This is an interesting article on outsourcing which I found on the following Link
Many small and medium businesses are cropping-up every day all over the world. Only a few of them remain profitable, while over 70% are shutdown during the first three years of their operation. A primary reason is that they spend a great deal more of time and resources on their day-to-day operational activities and down the line lose focus on their core business. This brings down the profitability curve as the back-office tasks keep on gulping more and more resources. An easier way out is to outsource portions of your work to people who have expertise in those respective domains.
Your business can also utilize tax preparation services and tax processing services offered by professional service providers to file your taxes and returns accurately and on time. Here are the top three reasons why you should outsource your company’s tax preparation:
#1: Save up to 60% of your cost through offshore outsourcing
The math is simple. If you employ full-time resources who have ample experience to take care of your taxes efficiently, then you would end-up investing in their salaries, training, office space, workstations, benefits, software license, and a lot more. While if you outsource the work to an offshore company that handles tax processing services and already has a team of qualified and trained professionals then you would spend up to 60% less.
#2: Gain from the expertise of the tax preparation services provider
Companies that provide tax preparation services, tax processing services, VAT return services, income tax computation service, income tax return filing services, etc., have already invested in a solid infrastructure and their staff members have expertise in top-of-the-line tax computation tools like Intuit's Lacerte, Creative Solutions' Ultra-Tax, Intuit’s ProSeries, ATX, Drake, and many other popular financial software. Therefore, you won’t have to spend time in learning these tools. Moreover, the service provider’s staff would work at a faster turnaround and with greater accuracy.
#3: Easy to ramp-up and ramp-down resources to manage load
Typically, the finance team in small businesses (if at all they have one) takes care of the taxation part too. Throughout the year, the workload is constant but at the end of the quarter or year when the tax has to be calculated or during the time when your company takes critical expansion steps; it puts additional pressure on the finance team. If you outsource your accounting and tax preparation work, you can take advantage of a flexible team, wherein you can increase or decrease the team size whenever you want and get any amount of work done without hassles.
Through tax preparation outsourcing, you can remove yourself from the trouble to managing tax files and free-up your in-house resources to do more lucrative business development tasks.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Getting into the world of 3G
Please do remember to vote for this post on Indiblogger
if you find it deserving enough.
if you find it deserving enough.
1st generation:
2nd generation
3rd generation: ( 5th November 2010 - Tata Docomo 3G Launch)
P.S : The above is a piece of article written in view for the '
3G Life Blogger Contest
under the category of What is 3G life to you? Please do vote
for this entry if you like it Thanks to Indiblogger and Tata DOCOMO for this opportunity.
Monday, November 1, 2010
The Difference 3G can make!!!!
Please do remember to vote for this post on Indiblogger if you find it deserving enough.
This is the story of people from 3Generations who have impacted the lives of us Indians in so many ways..
1) The beginnings of the Tata Group can be traced back to 1868, when Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata established a trading company dealing in cotton in Bombay (now Mumbai), British India. This was followed by the installation of Empress Mills in Nagpur in 1877. Taj Mahal Hotelin Bombay (now Mumbai) was opened for business in 1903.
2) Sir Dorab Tata, the eldest son of Jamsetji became the chairman of the group after his fathers death in 1904. Under him, the group ventured into steel production (1905) and hydroelectric power generation(1910). After the death of Dorab Tata in 1934, Nowroji Saklatwala headed the group till 1938. He was succeeded by Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata.
3) The group expanded significantly under him with the establishment of Tata Chemicals (1939), Tata Motors and Tata Industries (both 1945), Voltas (1954), Tata Tea (1962), Tata Consultancy Services (1968) and Titan Industries (1984). Ratan Tata, the incumbent chairman of the group succeeded JRD Tata in 1991.
The list can go on.. but then we all know.. how great the Tata Brand has being.. and again this brand is gearing up to affect millions of lives in India on the occassion of Diwali...!! the official 3G Life website
The superior technology and bandwidth of 3G will add an invaluable dimension to modern life. New services will include person to person video, video live streaming and video downloads of entertainment, news, current affairs, and sport content in ways never seen before. In addition, there will be video messaging and global positioning applications. People will be empowered not only talk to each other while on the move, but also see what each other means. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
under the category of What is 3G life to you? Please do vote for this entry if you like it Thanks to Indiblogger and Tata DOCOMO for this opportunity.
This is the story of people from 3Generations who have impacted the lives of us Indians in so many ways..
1) The beginnings of the Tata Group can be traced back to 1868, when Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata established a trading company dealing in cotton in Bombay (now Mumbai), British India. This was followed by the installation of Empress Mills in Nagpur in 1877. Taj Mahal Hotelin Bombay (now Mumbai) was opened for business in 1903.
2) Sir Dorab Tata, the eldest son of Jamsetji became the chairman of the group after his fathers death in 1904. Under him, the group ventured into steel production (1905) and hydroelectric power generation(1910). After the death of Dorab Tata in 1934, Nowroji Saklatwala headed the group till 1938. He was succeeded by Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata.
3) The group expanded significantly under him with the establishment of Tata Chemicals (1939), Tata Motors and Tata Industries (both 1945), Voltas (1954), Tata Tea (1962), Tata Consultancy Services (1968) and Titan Industries (1984). Ratan Tata, the incumbent chairman of the group succeeded JRD Tata in 1991.
The list can go on.. but then we all know.. how great the Tata Brand has being.. and again this brand is gearing up to affect millions of lives in India on the occassion of Diwali...!! the official 3G Life website
TATA DOCOMO is a Tata Teleservices Limited's (TTSL) cellular service provider on the GSM platform-arising out of the Tata Group's strategic joint venture with Japanese telecom giant NTT Docomo in November 2008. Tata Teleservices has received a pan-India license to operate GSM telecom services, under the brand "TATA DOCOMO" and has also been operates in 18 telecom Circles.
It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone in 18 circles including Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra & Goa,Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, and West Bengal. It has become very popular with its one second pulse especially in semi-urban and rural areas. They are launching their service from the south of India to central, east and north.
On 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction in India ended. Tata Docomo paid 
5864.29 crores for spectrum in 9 circles. The circles it will provide 3G in are Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka,Kerala, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai), Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (West).
5864.29 crores for spectrum in 9 circles. The circles it will provide 3G in are Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka,Kerala, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai), Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (West). Tata Teleservices (TTSL) will become first private sector telcom company to launch 3G services in India. TTSL is going to start the services in all the nine circles for which it won the spectrum this Diwali. That makes it before November 5.
What can 3G do for us?
The superior technology and bandwidth of 3G will add an invaluable dimension to modern life. New services will include person to person video, video live streaming and video downloads of entertainment, news, current affairs, and sport content in ways never seen before. In addition, there will be video messaging and global positioning applications. People will be empowered not only talk to each other while on the move, but also see what each other means. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.In a digital era characterised by a profusion of information, 3G offers an unprecedented level of personalisation to suit customers' individual interests and needs.
- Person to Person Video Calls
People love video and mobile video is at the heart of vision. We can use our 3G devices to make a video call to our family - see them as we talk - and let them see us as well.
- Entertainment
With 3G devices we will soon be able to access video clips of news and sporting events anytime, anywhere. We will be able to exchange "postcards", listen to music, play interactive games or book tickets to see live events. The device could alert us when our favourite sports team or entertainer is performing and it could even tell us where to find the best shopping or restaurants, based on where we are at the time. - News and Information
News, entertainment and a wealth of information tailor-made to meet each individual's specific interests will be available at the touch of a button. - Business
3G mobile linkups will routinely be used in daily business situations. We will hold video conferences with clients, send pictures, documents or data, and be able to receive instant feedback without meeting up or even being in the office. The technology will enhance business logistics and marketing, with applications meeting specific requirements of individual enterprises. Efficiency in time-critical situations, such as medical emergencies, will also improve through the use of 3G technology.
- Global Positioning
The "always on" Global Positioning System (GPS) will offer centralised location-based intelligence that will greatly improve deployment of available resources in the field. In turn, operators in the field will enjoy superb navigation assistance, with instant access to street maps, traffic reports and weather information. Furthermore, customers calling via a 3G device could be directly linked to, and located by, service providers. The same application could make all the difference in cases of emergency. - M-commerce
Using our 3G "electronic wallets", we will soon be able to conduct financial transactions while on the move. Simply by keying in our own secure payment pin number, we will be able to place a bet, bid on an on-line auction, trade stocks or simply pay for our groceries or taxi fare.
For the already booming Indian Industry, having a 3G network will act as a catalyst in speeding the way things work in an accelerated way... !!!!!
P.S : The above is a piece of article written in view for the '
3G Life Blogger Contest
under the category of What is 3G life to you? Please do vote for this entry if you like it Thanks to Indiblogger and Tata DOCOMO for this opportunity.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Bharti Wal-Mart Ups Farmer Sourcing
India - Bharti Wal-Mart, a joint venture company between Wal-Mart Stores and India's Bharti Group will be sourcing from 35,000 small and medium farmers by 2015, Wal-Mart's president said.
"We are already making a contribution to India's agricultural sector by working with a large number of farmers in Punjab," Mike Duke, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores reported.
The JV company currently works with 550 farmers in the country. Duke said Bharti Wal-Mart is intending to offer skills and technology for crop management to the farmers, who will see at least a 20% increase in their incomes. It will also train the farmers on how to utilise water and fertilisers optimally, Economic Times reported.
Bharti Wal-Mart is intending to add a third skills training centre in Bangalore within the next few months, while it was revealed that another skill centre will be set up in Mohali. It currently owns two training centres located in Amritsar and Delhi.
"We want to open more and more stores here and contribute in the training and we do stand ready to contribute much more than what we are doing right now if direct foreign investment is opened in retail," Duke added.
Monday, October 25, 2010
i paid a bribe.com
Friends,
Pls look at this interesting new idea online! Raghu who seems to be the main anchor person says it is necessary for affected people also to team up and act as a group, just like the corrupt make groups to protect themselves!
<http://www.ipaidabribe.com/>
http://edition. cnn.com/video/ #/video/internat ional/2010/ 10/11/wv. paid.india. bribe.bk. c.cnn
Added On October 11, 2010
CNN-IBN's Abhirr VP looks at a new web site in India where internet users can catalog corruption.
............ .
here is also a news article about it.
http://www.indianex press.com/ news/here- comes-the- bribe/695554/ 0
Here comes the bribe
Saritha Rai Posted online: Mon Oct 11 2010, 11:06 hrs
A Goan is compelled to pay a Rs 70,000 bribe for permission to rebuild his family home in Margao after he is told, "Can't be done, sir, not until..." For refusing to pay off a municipal employee, a 45-year old man in Ahmedabad is kept waiting a year to get his birth certificate. A New Delhi resident buckles and palms a 100-rupee note to a policeman accusing him of illegally operating his car as a cab while driving a foreigner friend to Agra.
IPaidABribe. com registers an astonishing assortment of first person anecdotes detailing bribe-giving across India. From Agartala to Vijayawada, it is a first-of-its- kind chronicle of you-and-me Indians' brush with an array of corrupt government officials. By graphically detailing and recording the universality of this Indian problem, IPaidABribe wants to analyse patterns, change processes and tackle corruption.
Launched six weeks ago, IPaidABribe (IPAB) is already making waves on the internet. It was set up by the Bangalore-based Janaagraha, a non-profit that works to change the quality of life in urban India by working with both citizens and governments. In the short time since its launch, thousands of Indians have gone online to record their experiences under a laundry-list of headers: I paid a bribe, I didn't pay a bribe, I didn't have to pay a bribe, I don't want to pay a bribe.
On its website, IPAB asserts that it wants citizens to "uncover the market price of corruption" and illustrates it with a graphic of a corporate employee bribing a policeman with his official entitlement of Sodexho food coupons. The numbers, types, locations, frequencies and value of bribes paid provide a snapshot of the extent of corruption in different cities. Janaagraha then uses them to argue for improved governance systems, tighter law enforcement and stricter regulation, thus reducing the scope of corruption.
According to Janaagraha co-founder Swati Ramanathan, recording a bribing incident is like owning up a sin in a confessional. She says IPAB is a "mandi", a marketplace where prices for various services are openly shared. In order to encourage more 'confessions' , IPAB does maintain the anonymity of the bribe-giver. It does not unmask the bribe-taking government official's identity either - it aims to change processes and not target individuals.
As an early endorsement for its crusade, Janaagraha has just received a $3 million grant from the social philanthropy investment firm, Omidyar Foundation, backed by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of auction website eBay. This is the foundation's first grant towards government transparency outside the United States. Enthused by the responses to IPAB, Sunlight Foundation, an American firm that works in digitising government documents in various US States, is talking about launching a similar initiative in the United States. The Foundation said the website would help heighten awareness about the subtle forms of corruption rampant in the United States.
The results are already beginning to show. Karnataka's transport department has gleaned details of the bribes collected by transport officials based on the locations mentioned by the bribe givers. It has sent show-cause notices to 20 senior officials.
The initiative is headed by T.R. Raghunandan, an upright IAS officer who quit the civil service to join Janaagraha. In the "Ask Raghu" section of the website, the former official provides advice on how to deal with a policeman demanding a bribe or how to get a driving license or a passport without giving a bribe. Often, average people pay bribes because they do not have access to information on either the process or the fee to be paid for a particular service.
The website is supported by a dozen volunteers from Bangalore's IT industry. To get more Indians involved, the website will launch in several regional languages. By speaking up, Indians will perhaps shame the system into reforming. The Goan who paid the bribe to restore the family home speaks up on IPAB: "I am Indian, but I'm ashamed of this bribery culture in all walks of life."
Pls look at this interesting new idea online! Raghu who seems to be the main anchor person says it is necessary for affected people also to team up and act as a group, just like the corrupt make groups to protect themselves!
<http://www.ipaidabribe.com/>
http://edition. cnn.com/video/ #/video/internat ional/2010/ 10/11/wv. paid.india. bribe.bk. c.cnn
Added On October 11, 2010
CNN-IBN's Abhirr VP looks at a new web site in India where internet users can catalog corruption.
............ .
here is also a news article about it.
http://www.indianex press.com/ news/here- comes-the- bribe/695554/ 0
Here comes the bribe
Saritha Rai Posted online: Mon Oct 11 2010, 11:06 hrs
A Goan is compelled to pay a Rs 70,000 bribe for permission to rebuild his family home in Margao after he is told, "Can't be done, sir, not until..." For refusing to pay off a municipal employee, a 45-year old man in Ahmedabad is kept waiting a year to get his birth certificate. A New Delhi resident buckles and palms a 100-rupee note to a policeman accusing him of illegally operating his car as a cab while driving a foreigner friend to Agra.
IPaidABribe. com registers an astonishing assortment of first person anecdotes detailing bribe-giving across India. From Agartala to Vijayawada, it is a first-of-its- kind chronicle of you-and-me Indians' brush with an array of corrupt government officials. By graphically detailing and recording the universality of this Indian problem, IPaidABribe wants to analyse patterns, change processes and tackle corruption.
Launched six weeks ago, IPaidABribe (IPAB) is already making waves on the internet. It was set up by the Bangalore-based Janaagraha, a non-profit that works to change the quality of life in urban India by working with both citizens and governments. In the short time since its launch, thousands of Indians have gone online to record their experiences under a laundry-list of headers: I paid a bribe, I didn't pay a bribe, I didn't have to pay a bribe, I don't want to pay a bribe.
On its website, IPAB asserts that it wants citizens to "uncover the market price of corruption" and illustrates it with a graphic of a corporate employee bribing a policeman with his official entitlement of Sodexho food coupons. The numbers, types, locations, frequencies and value of bribes paid provide a snapshot of the extent of corruption in different cities. Janaagraha then uses them to argue for improved governance systems, tighter law enforcement and stricter regulation, thus reducing the scope of corruption.
According to Janaagraha co-founder Swati Ramanathan, recording a bribing incident is like owning up a sin in a confessional. She says IPAB is a "mandi", a marketplace where prices for various services are openly shared. In order to encourage more 'confessions' , IPAB does maintain the anonymity of the bribe-giver. It does not unmask the bribe-taking government official's identity either - it aims to change processes and not target individuals.
As an early endorsement for its crusade, Janaagraha has just received a $3 million grant from the social philanthropy investment firm, Omidyar Foundation, backed by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of auction website eBay. This is the foundation's first grant towards government transparency outside the United States. Enthused by the responses to IPAB, Sunlight Foundation, an American firm that works in digitising government documents in various US States, is talking about launching a similar initiative in the United States. The Foundation said the website would help heighten awareness about the subtle forms of corruption rampant in the United States.
The results are already beginning to show. Karnataka's transport department has gleaned details of the bribes collected by transport officials based on the locations mentioned by the bribe givers. It has sent show-cause notices to 20 senior officials.
The initiative is headed by T.R. Raghunandan, an upright IAS officer who quit the civil service to join Janaagraha. In the "Ask Raghu" section of the website, the former official provides advice on how to deal with a policeman demanding a bribe or how to get a driving license or a passport without giving a bribe. Often, average people pay bribes because they do not have access to information on either the process or the fee to be paid for a particular service.
The website is supported by a dozen volunteers from Bangalore's IT industry. To get more Indians involved, the website will launch in several regional languages. By speaking up, Indians will perhaps shame the system into reforming. The Goan who paid the bribe to restore the family home speaks up on IPAB: "I am Indian, but I'm ashamed of this bribery culture in all walks of life."
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
From studying under the streetlights to CEO of a US firm!
Here is the rags-to-riches story of an extremely talented boy from a small village in Tamil Nadu who has risen to be the chief executive officer of a company in Seattle, USA.
It is also the story of how Kalyana Raman Srinivasan, who was so indigent that he had to study under a streetlight, but then managed to score excellent marks, rose in life and became today's Kal Raman.
At every turn in his life, he took the difficult path and it turned out to be the right one and in the right direction. His rise to the top is more dramatic than a thriller. Today, he is a very successful entrepreneur and the founder-CEO of GlobalScholar.
Read his extraordinary story of triumph and determination . . .
Difficult childhood
Kal Raman was born and brought up in a small village called Mannarakoil in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. It was a comfortable normal middle class life for him and his siblings as his father was a Tahasildar there.
But the sudden death of his father at the age of 45 changed everything overnight.
Kal was 15 then. "My mother got a pension of Rs 420 a month and you can imagine how tough it is to educate four children and feed five mouths with Rs 420?"
Hi life changed dramatically after his father's death. The family moved from the rented house to a hut that had no proper water supply or electricity. Kal Raman remembers, "All of us used to study under the streetlight and, thank god, the streetlights used to work those days! MGR (M G Ramachandran) was the chief minister then. We had to sell the plates to buy rice to eat and my mother used to give us rice in our hands. That bad was our situation."
But his mother, who had studied till the 8th standard, was very particular that her children studied. "All our relatives wanted my elder brother to stop studying and take up the small job offered by the government but my mother wanted him to continue studying."
"Then they wanted me to learn typewriting and shorthand so that I could get some job after the 10th standard. But mother said, 'My children are going to get the best education I can offer. Education is our salvation.' She was my hero for her vision and she still is my hero."
What kept the family going? "We were sad but because we accepted our fate, we were at peace with whatever that happened to us. We knew our father would not come back to lift us up from poverty. We also knew our salvation was a long way away."
He didn't know why he used to tell his mother, "One day I will give you so much money that you will not know what to do with it!" Years later, he did exactly that!
First turning point in life
Kal Raman believes that God played a hand in all the major turning points in his life. The first turning point in life was after his 12th standard. He got good marks in both the engineering and medicine entrance exams, and for engineering, he got admission at the Anna University in Chennai while for medicine, it was in the Tirunelveli Medical College.
"While going in the bus with my mother to join the medical college, I told her, "If I join for medicine here, the high probability is that my life may begin and end in Tirunelveli. I really want to see the world.' She agreed with my decision to go to Chennai and join Anna University and study Electrical Engineering and Electronics."
So, he stepped into a new world outside Tirunelveli, and that was Chennai. Though he had got merit scholarship and a lot of good people helped him pay the initial fee, the scholarship amount never used to reach him regularly or on time.
"The mess fee was Rs 250 a month and I used to be a defaulter in the mess at least six months in a year. Till you pay the mess fee, you cannot eat in the mess. So, I used to live on day scholars' lunch boxes and also use to fast. That is when I learnt to fast ! I must say a lot of friends helped me with money and food."
Scarcity of money was so bad that he had no money to buy food just before the final semester exams. When he gave his final semester exams, he had not eaten for a day-and-a-half. "After finishing the exam, I almost fainted."
The day after the exams came all the scholarship money that was due and it was around Rs 5,000. "So, I went home a rich man and that helped us repay some loans."
It is also the story of how Kalyana Raman Srinivasan, who was so indigent that he had to study under a streetlight, but then managed to score excellent marks, rose in life and became today's Kal Raman.
At every turn in his life, he took the difficult path and it turned out to be the right one and in the right direction. His rise to the top is more dramatic than a thriller. Today, he is a very successful entrepreneur and the founder-CEO of GlobalScholar.
Read his extraordinary story of triumph and determination . . .
Difficult childhood
Kal Raman was born and brought up in a small village called Mannarakoil in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. It was a comfortable normal middle class life for him and his siblings as his father was a Tahasildar there.
But the sudden death of his father at the age of 45 changed everything overnight.
Kal was 15 then. "My mother got a pension of Rs 420 a month and you can imagine how tough it is to educate four children and feed five mouths with Rs 420?"
Hi life changed dramatically after his father's death. The family moved from the rented house to a hut that had no proper water supply or electricity. Kal Raman remembers, "All of us used to study under the streetlight and, thank god, the streetlights used to work those days! MGR (M G Ramachandran) was the chief minister then. We had to sell the plates to buy rice to eat and my mother used to give us rice in our hands. That bad was our situation."
But his mother, who had studied till the 8th standard, was very particular that her children studied. "All our relatives wanted my elder brother to stop studying and take up the small job offered by the government but my mother wanted him to continue studying."
"Then they wanted me to learn typewriting and shorthand so that I could get some job after the 10th standard. But mother said, 'My children are going to get the best education I can offer. Education is our salvation.' She was my hero for her vision and she still is my hero."
What kept the family going? "We were sad but because we accepted our fate, we were at peace with whatever that happened to us. We knew our father would not come back to lift us up from poverty. We also knew our salvation was a long way away."
He didn't know why he used to tell his mother, "One day I will give you so much money that you will not know what to do with it!" Years later, he did exactly that!
First turning point in life
Kal Raman believes that God played a hand in all the major turning points in his life. The first turning point in life was after his 12th standard. He got good marks in both the engineering and medicine entrance exams, and for engineering, he got admission at the Anna University in Chennai while for medicine, it was in the Tirunelveli Medical College.
"While going in the bus with my mother to join the medical college, I told her, "If I join for medicine here, the high probability is that my life may begin and end in Tirunelveli. I really want to see the world.' She agreed with my decision to go to Chennai and join Anna University and study Electrical Engineering and Electronics."
So, he stepped into a new world outside Tirunelveli, and that was Chennai. Though he had got merit scholarship and a lot of good people helped him pay the initial fee, the scholarship amount never used to reach him regularly or on time.
"The mess fee was Rs 250 a month and I used to be a defaulter in the mess at least six months in a year. Till you pay the mess fee, you cannot eat in the mess. So, I used to live on day scholars' lunch boxes and also use to fast. That is when I learnt to fast ! I must say a lot of friends helped me with money and food."
Scarcity of money was so bad that he had no money to buy food just before the final semester exams. When he gave his final semester exams, he had not eaten for a day-and-a-half. "After finishing the exam, I almost fainted."
The day after the exams came all the scholarship money that was due and it was around Rs 5,000. "So, I went home a rich man and that helped us repay some loans."
First job
Like opting for Chennai and joining Anna University instead of a college in Tirunelveli, Kal Raman took another risk with his first job also. His first job was with Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE), and he had a choice of joining either Chennai or Mumbai.
Although he knew nobody in Mumbai, he chose the capital of Maharashtra.
He remembered the first day. "It was interesting. With bag and baggage, I went to the TCE office after taking a shower at the railway station as I had no money to go to any hotel. After the first introduction at the office, the manager noticed that I was wearing slippers to the office. He called me and said, "I don't care which college you are coming from but this is not acceptable. You should come in shoes tomorrow."
I said I couldn't come in shoes the next day and this the manager construed as arrogance. "How could you talk like this?" he asked me. I said, "Sir, it is not that I don't want to, but I can't afford to buy shoes. Only after I get my first pay cheque, can I buy shoes. Sir, I request you not to terminate my job because of this. I and my family need this job."
Shocked to hear the explanation, the manager asked, "Where are you staying?" and the reply was, "Dadar Railway Station."
So distressed was the manager to hear Kal speak that he immediately released a month's salary in advance and also arranged for him to be at his friend's place till he could find a place to stay.
"He bought me a pair of shoes and those were my first shoes. The next day, I sent Rs 1,500 from the advance to my mother."
Like opting for Chennai and joining Anna University instead of a college in Tirunelveli, Kal Raman took another risk with his first job also. His first job was with Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE), and he had a choice of joining either Chennai or Mumbai.
Although he knew nobody in Mumbai, he chose the capital of Maharashtra.
He remembered the first day. "It was interesting. With bag and baggage, I went to the TCE office after taking a shower at the railway station as I had no money to go to any hotel. After the first introduction at the office, the manager noticed that I was wearing slippers to the office. He called me and said, "I don't care which college you are coming from but this is not acceptable. You should come in shoes tomorrow."
I said I couldn't come in shoes the next day and this the manager construed as arrogance. "How could you talk like this?" he asked me. I said, "Sir, it is not that I don't want to, but I can't afford to buy shoes. Only after I get my first pay cheque, can I buy shoes. Sir, I request you not to terminate my job because of this. I and my family need this job."
Shocked to hear the explanation, the manager asked, "Where are you staying?" and the reply was, "Dadar Railway Station."
So distressed was the manager to hear Kal speak that he immediately released a month's salary in advance and also arranged for him to be at his friend's place till he could find a place to stay.
"He bought me a pair of shoes and those were my first shoes. The next day, I sent Rs 1,500 from the advance to my mother."
From electrical engineering to programmingKal's rise in career was meteoric in a short span of time. Within a month, he got a chance to move to Bengaluru (then Bangalore) and also to programming.
Soon, he was in Chennai with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Within a few months, he was sent to Edinburgh, UK.
From Edinburgh, his next stop was the United States. In 1992, he went to the US as an entry level contractor with Wal-Mart. In two years, he was a director running a division.
When he left Wal-Mart after six years, he was a man running the information systems for the International Division of the retail giant.
In 1998, he joined drugstore.com Online Pharmacy as the chief information officer and in 2001 at the age of 30, he was the CEO of the company.
He was at the right place at the right time. "God was there at every step guiding me to take the right decisions. I was also willing to take risks and tread new paths," Kal says.
Starting GlobalScholarPhilanthropist Mike Milken who had donated more than a billion dollars to education, wanted to use technology so that high quality education was accessible to ordinary people.
Milken convinced Kal to join him. That was the time Kal was building schools in his village for poor students.
In October 2007, GlobalScholar was launched targetting both teachers and students by acquiring four companies -- National Scholar (USA), Classof1 (India), Excelsior (USA), and Ex-Logica (USA) -- that were into education.
"Three months after the launch, I travelled all over the US, India, Singapore and China talking to teachers and companies and the public. I found that the only way to impact education was by impressing teachers. The biggest scarcity in the world is good teachers. We decided to help teachers with teaching practices and kids, learning practices."
Kal Raman decided to concentrate on the US market as the US is more advanced in using technology. "They are also willing to pay money for technology. At present, schools buy the material which can be used by teachers, students and parents."
Today, they have 200 people working for GlobalScholar in Chennai and 150 in the US. The study material is prepared in the Chennai office.
The company that was started with $50 million will have in excess of $32 million and will generate $5 million of profits. In 2008, the turnover of the company was Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) and in 2009, it was Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million). In the current year it will be 150-160 crore (Rs 1.5-1.6 billion).
"GlobalScholar is growing at 200 per cent every year. We have 1,000 schools and 10 million students, which is one out of 10 kids in the US, using our study material. This is almost 18 per cent of the US population. We are the fastest growing education company in the US."
GlobalScholar will soon introduce a pilot project in India and China. In the course of all this, Kalyana Raman became Kal Raman. "The country gave me everything and took half my name."
Giving back to societyKal Raman is in India now for the Kumbhabhishekam of the temple at his village Mannarkoil. "It is taking place after 500 years. It is the culmination of two-and-a-half years of work. I have spent more than one and a half crore rupees (Rs 15 million) to renovate the temple and do the Kumbhabhishekam. More than anything else, I have given jobs to all my friends in the village who are masons and carpenters."
Other than this, he has also adopted all the orphanages around his village and he takes care of around 2,000 kids, some of whom are physically handicapped.
"I feel if I can educate these children, eventually we can make a difference in the society. We also help 100 children in their higher education. Around my village, everyone knows that if a kid who studies well cannot afford to pay fees, he has to only come to my house; his education will be taken care of."
"I do not do this as charity; its my responsibility. I am giving something back to the society that fed me, taught me, and took care of me and gave me hopes. "
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