Sonal Shah works for Google.org on their Global Development team, where she is working on defining their global development strategy. Prior to Google.org, she was Vice President at Goldman, Sachs and Co. and developed and implemented the firm’s environmental strategy. She is also the co-founder of Indicorps (www.indicorps.org), a U.S.-based non-profit organization offering one-year fellowships for Americans of Indian origin to work on specific development projects in India. As the former Associate Director for Economic and National Security Policy at the Center for American Progress, Sonal worked on trade, outsourcing and post conflict reconstruction issues. Prior to joining the Center, she was the Director of Programs and Operations at the Center for Global Development managing the daily operations and serving as a strategic adviser to the president. She also developed and managed policy and advocacy programs for the Center. Before that she worked for eight years at the Department of Treasury on various economic issues and regions of the world. She was the Director of the office covering sub Saharan Africa, worked in Bosnia and Kosovo after the war, and served as the senior adviser to the Under Secretary and Assistant Secretary at the Department of Treasury during the Asian financial crisis. She was also awarded the India Abroad Person of the Year in 2003.

Q: What motivated you to start Indicorps?

My sister, brother and I wanted to start a program that would allow Indians from around the world to be part of India's development. For many around the world India is part of their heritage, but they don't have way to reconnect in a way that is meaningful and in which they can make a difference. India was a very strong part of our identity and we wanted others to have similar experiences and at the same time make a difference.

Q: How difficult was it to initiate such an initiative in US? Any major hurdles that you would like to tell us about?

With a strong vision and real belief in what we were doing, there were no real great challenges. In fact, our American colleagues were great supporters and were the first to donate because they strongly believed in the diaspora giving back. However, it required us to articulate a clear vision for what we wanted to achieve.

Q: How is progress on "Teach for India" initiative? Do you really think it will be possible to convince an Indian graduate to teach for a few years before joining a job?

This is a great question. Everything is possible. If we want to see India change we need to be a part of India's progress. It can not just be Indians from abroad, but it is together with Indians in India that we can make a real difference. It requires each of us that we can be a part of the solution. At the end of our lifetimes we should not look back and say I wished I had worked 55 years instead of 57 years. For some period of time in our lives, we should put our education and energy to use for something greater than ourselves. Nothing beats that feeling when you have helped someone else. At the end of the day, it is truly the giver that benefits.

Q: Would you like to share some incidents from your experience in Bosnia and Kosovo?

Those were truly life changing experiences. Being on the ground after the conflict was incredibly challenging, frustrating and at the same time rewarding. The Bosnians and Kosovars were amazingly resilient. Even the days that I was most frustrated, they did not give up. It taught me three really great lessons:

1) bringing people together after a war/conflict requires patience, understanding, and great negotiation skills;

2) that you need to have a vision for success -- for me at the time it was ensuring that the young Bosnians and Kosovars were able to do my job better than me after one year;

3) that diaspora have the ability to make a real difference -- I saw this in Bosnia, Kosovo and now Liberia.

These experiences taught me much about myself and continue to shape my thinking.

Q: How do you see Indicorps growing in future?

Indicorps has an incredible ability to affect the lives of young people from within and outside India. We want to continue to harness and leverage the power of youth to affect real change around them. We want them to see that their personal development is interconnected with the development of the society of around them. That each person has the ability to even small differences around, no matter how difficult the challenge. We want to continue to strengthen the NGO sectors ability to have impact. We would like to expand to do the same with the private sector and the government. We want to create a new generation of leaders who will be ready to take on the world's challenges and more importantly believe that they can affect positive social change.

Q: What is your message to Indian youth to help in the progress of the country?

To coin a term from the US election -- "Yes, we can." We can make a difference. We can change the system. We can improve society. We can help those around us. As a young and upwardly mobile community, we are in an unprecedented position to affect change; the only thing between us and greatness is our will.

“A little bit imagination can make anything possible”

Thought to ponder: Children are not afraid to go wrong. Then why as adults do we loose our ability to think beyond the obvious and try something new?

17th verse of Tao Te Ching from the book "Living the wisdom of the Tao" by Dr. Wayne W Dyer.


With the greatest leader above them, people barely know one exists.
Next comes one whom they love and praise.
Next comes one whom they fear.
Next comes one whom they despise and defy.
When a leader trusts no one, no one trusts him.
The great leader speaks little.
He never speaks carelessly.
He works without self-interest and leaves no trace.
When all is finished, the people say, “We did it ourselves.”

American Express started off as a shipping company in 1850. It used to ship products across the United States and capitalized on the limited reach and slow speed of the United States Postal Service. Their main customers were banks and they shipped various financial instruments like stock certificates etc. They began selling money orders and traveler’s checks in 1882. American Express issued its first credit card in 1958.
(Source: http://home3.americanexpress.com/corp/os/history.asp)

The article given below has been contributed by Balasubramanian V.


My good friend Ratnakar is a great fan of football manager 2008. During his interminable hours of play with that game, he came up with a fantastic observation that makes for good learnings in management as well!

A football manager is always scouting for talent. And football has 3 major types of players. They can be split into the strikers, who range forward to score goals. They include stalwarts like Ronaldo and the more recent Wayne Rooney. Pace and raw talent makes them great.

The next group would be the midfielders. They are the stars who play at the centre of the pitch. Their skill and artistry are the tools that they use to weave magic at the centre of the pitch. Bamboozling the opposition, they are playmakers...either going down the centre or running down the wings. David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane are the most frequently quoted lot here.

The neglected bunch in this group are the poor defenders. Usually sitting at the back, they are known for trying to block those heroes, the forwards and strikers from doing damage. To do this, they can slide into the striker (if they get the ball first), shoulder barge the man, or just kick the ball aimlessly away from the strikers.

So much for context. Now lets look at average age and price of a striker. Strikers are most valuable when they are young. between the tender ages of 19-25 they are at their fastest, and with spectacular reflexes, are capable of feats that most cannot even imagine. Its no wonder that a Wayne Rooney would be transferred off for an almost 50 million dollars at the tender age of 19. By 25, he would be all burnt out, and his market value drops significantly. But if like AC Milan, you get a Kaka at $8.5 million dollars, you can get a great star at bargain basement prices.

As for wingers and attacking midfielders, they need pace first...and although they need those reflexes as well, they are not quite in the same league as star strikers. But because they control the game, and are versatile, they get paid staggering amounts too when they are young. Here, the retirement age would be close to 30. David Beckham at 32 is seen as over the hill, although at 25, he was seen as at his prime. So he has to play in the USA because the Real Madrid's and the Inter Milan's of the world no longer see him as the star he was.

But defenders just seem to go on and on. For example, the AC Milan and Brazilian defender Cafu is 38 and going strong. Defenders hit their peak at 32-35, and can go on even longer. That is because the defender is not about pace as much as anticipation and experience. Like wine, they get better as they get older. So Cafu is worth a lot more at 30 than at 20, and his market price is fairly detemined.

So where is the management analogy? well, here it is. In management, as in football, different people perform different functions. Each person's talent is valuable at certain stages, and experience is valued at other stages.

In a marketing manager, the hunger to get hold of a new account makes a young man take a bus 500 km across beat up roads and obscure villages. Here, his experience does not count as much as his hunger and drive for success. And only when you are young can that hunger be matched with physical stamina and committment to career. As the marketing man grows older, he might marry, settle down in a city with 2.2 kids and sit back. He might no longer want to spend every weekend hunting for those new accounts. Instead he would be content to spend his days at the corporate office, using his experience to design corporate "strategy". A sales and marketing star is a bit like a striker, who is best at a young age.

On the other hand, the finance and legal team are more likely to be the defenders of the firm. A finance man needs to know the ropes and learn through time. No matter how talented he may be, a few years in the trenches help the finance man develop a "feel" for the numbers that talent does not always give. And the legal man needs years and years before he knows which loopholes can let the proverbial elephant pass through, and which ones will merely drown you in a morass of legal battles. These gentlemen tend to be most valuable in their 50's when they know the tricks of the trade (And keep themselves updated with the latest moves).

The problem is this though. When you hire a young marketing man, you always take a risk. He or she would be unproven and untested, but only when they are young can you extract maximum value out of them. Getting the right pay for these people is a challenge. If you underpay a star, the star shall disappear faster than beer in a college party. But you always run the risk of overpaying someone who is later found to be unsuitable.

The issue is very different for experienced financial managers. By the time they are 40-45, they have a proven track record. By this time, the market prices them fairly. So the problem here is that you never actually can get a bargain basement finance guy who is very good. The market ensures that the good ones are already paid stratospheric levels.

So, what's the lesson? Well, its this. Recruiting talent is tough. But while recruiting, it might be suitable to evaluate what "hunger:experience ratio" is. It makes it easier to decide at what age and price a person ought to be recruited at.

There are more than 100 million internet users in China. Some of the sites they can't access are BBC news, Amnesty International and Dalailama.com. China was recently in the news for banning both Google and YouTube web sites.

The 2008 Olympics are scheduled to start in Beijing, China in August this year. The current unrest in Tibet has seen lot of calls for boycott of Olympics.

Recently, keeping Olympics in consideration, the uncensored version of BBC website can now be viewed in China.

"N=1, R=G". In his new book The New Age of Innovation, C K Prahalad assumes N=1 as serving one customer at a time. In order to service this one customer, lot of resources have to be used. Global partnerships are needed to offer good product and service. This is what R=G stand for, 'Resource' = 'Global'. The radius of operation is going global for all companies. Each customer is expecting a personalized experience and only an efficient network can deliver value.



Untitled from MGvandenBroek on Vimeo.

Mr. S Venkatadri is the co-founder and partner at Venkat, Kollali & Murthy Accounting firm in Bangalore. He has worked with IOC and HCL before deciding to move into an entrepreneurial role. Claiming that Accountants are more than just bean counters and auditors, he has also consulted on project feasibility and take-overs, trying to wring the last bang from that elusive buck.

Q. What prompted you to setup your own practise rather than work in a company?

The desire to set up practice was primarily prompted by my mindset which was too independent and forthright. This attitude was not an ideal one when you work in a structured environment. Moreover at that point of time monetarily too employment had its limitations. Secondly practice, I felt, allowed one to utilise the acquired knowledge in a wholesome manner. In a job you tend to get compartmentalised.

Q. What are the challenges in setting your own professional services firm?

The main challenge when you set up something on your own, that too with no godfather, is to initially establish your credibility. But to a certain extent I had this credibility since I had worked in industry and also in a fairly large consultancy firm. With my background I did have a good break and from then on it was a question of maintaining qualitative service.

Q. In the industry dominated by the likes of PwC and KPMG, what do you think is the future of upcoming professional services firms in India?

Frankly when I started practice the big firms had their own set of clientele which was distinctly different from the one individual and small firms were looking at. Moreover most of the Indian entities were small and could not pay for the services by big firms. Currently with even small companies going global and with most of the companies having higher operational levels there is a tendency now to go for big firm by fairly large number of companies. But still there are bound to be opportunities for new entrants to cater to the needs of start ups. The new entrants should not be individuals but a group so that they can provide a basket of services like Income Tax, Excise, Service tax etc. This can allow them to get composite assignments from medium size and start up firms which can sustain them. As industries now a days offer a good starting remuneration the desire to get into practice on their own has been declining. So only those who have the confidence and skills to compete with the best can survive. Definitely there is enough space for entrants given our economic growth and increasing regulatory mechanisms which are to be taken care off.

Q. How important are ethics in accounting? Is it really true that accountants make 1+1=5?

In any profession for that matter ethics is very important. Lack of ethics can lead to serious erosion of credibility. In accounting profession where the reports submitted are subject to scrutiny by various statutory authorities one has to abide by the standards formulated by the professional body as well as adhere to the laws which are in force. With reporting formats getting highly regulated subjectivity in reporting has considerably reduced. There are still cases of misadventure by accountants but these are exceptions than the rule.

There can be instances where accountants do certain adjustments which can mislead a common man. Like an instance where a major expenditure on launch of a product is absorbed over a period of 5 Years. Even though this affects the cash flow for the current year and if written off fully in the P&L account in the same year would have resulted in lower profits for the year, by ammortising over a period it can lead to an impression that the company’s profits are better than what it was. This treatment even though is allowed under certain circumstances cannot be easily accepted by a layman. This is only an illustration and there can be many more commercial adjustments of this nature in accounts. Yes there are instances where bad assets are continued to be shown as good resulting in misrepresentation of the state of affairs of an entity. As a general rule accountants are supposed to enquire into every figure reflected in the accounts as to its genuineness and its realisability and then form their opinion and state the fact in their report . Not that the accountants make 1+1=5 but may be they show Re1 asset as Re5 asset which many a time due to lack of information provided by the company. If it is done want only it tantamounts to fraud.

Q. Your message to budding entrepreneurs.

As I had stated earlier there is still scope for budding practitioners provided they have the confidence and desire to excel. They should have the inclination to be a perpetual learner . There has been a sea change in business dealings with the type of globalisation going around and every entrant needs to update his skills accordingly. In any profession only top 10% in terms of competence can survive. In a single line I can say BE A LEARNER ALWAYS AND NEVER COMPROMISE ON QUALITY SUCCESS AUTOMATICALLY FOLLOWS.

The article given below has been contributed by Varun Sah.

Before I start writing about anything here, let’s revisit some moments of my life.

This one goes back to when I was 3-4 years old & had gone with my parents to a marriage ceremony.

“Papa mein bada hokae Band wala banunga” … I was too small to know how my parents reacted to it but they anyways asked me "Why?” I said “Band waalon ko ache-ache kapde pehan nae ko milte hain aur free khana bhi milta hai” … My dad laughed at this. This is all I remember.

Next, I am 8 yrs old. “Papa I want to become a pilot” … watching an airplane going above us. Dad said “beta uske liyae bahut mehnat karne padti hai” … I again said “How about buying those planes & flying ourselves”. Dad laughs again.

Now I am 16. “Hum log chacha ji ki tarah 3-4 gaadiyan khareed lete hain aur transport ka business chalu karte hain”. Dad saying “Beta you are entering +2, start preparing for IIT now, its very difficult to get through. You’ll have to prepare very hard.”

B.Tech 3^rd year. I used to give private tuitions to +2 students & somehow I became a little famous & by 3^rd yr end I was teaching 4 batches of 10 students each. “Arae yaar (by d way I call my parents ‘yaar’ sometimes) mein to kehta hun ek coaching khol lete hain. Bhayanak paisa hai is business mein” I said. My mom saying “bekar ki baatein mat karo!! Next semester mein tumahra placement hai, CAT hai … jaake prepare karo … ye coaching woaching mein kuch nahi rakha hai!”

So as you could see, you can’t blame me for not having entrepreneurial spirit. I was born with a lot of ideas but somehow my financers (my parents) didn’t like them. And slowly but surely the entrepreneur in me started giving up (at least for the time being). The ideas of job security & stability were fed so deep in my systems that it’s virtually impossible to format myselfL, even now. So you guys think I am blaming my parents for me not opening my business? Naa, I am thanking them for me becoming a manager in a good MNCJ. By the way, did you guys ever thought why we feel so insecure & unstable till we get a job in our lives? Or to say it bluntly why getting a job has become the VISION & MISSION of our whole academic learning (which is minimum 22 years these days).

Probably because all we learn is only “academics”.

Someday I was reading an interview of some big globally known industrialist or something. I don’t remember most of the “Gyan” he gave but he struck one cord in me and that I still remember. He said two things required to become an entrepreneur are

(i) Risk Appetite

(ii) Know the World.

I don’t know to what extent are you guys able to appreciate this but I think this covers everything you should now about starting your own business. Internal (i) & External (ii).

So why are we not good entrepreneurs – Because we don’t have appetite for risk & we don’t know the world. Simple!!

If you dig a little deeper into things (I have to do thisL, “pages bhi to bharne hain”) you’ll realize that we were not born risk averse. It’s only that our upbringing happened in an environment which never encouraged our risk taking ability. Actually, risk itself is considered a bad thing in our typical Indian society (God!! If I tell my dad I have put money in stock market, he’ll kill me!! Especially when market is doing badlyJ). I understand the argument of people that every job has its importance in the system to run smoothly & I also understand the argument that middle class people have to be more concerned about meeting their ends rather than venturing into something new. But all I am trying to focus on here is the attitude of ours.

So where were we? Ya, taking risks. Every Uncle Ji that comes to my place keep telling me about my responsibilities towards my parents, my kins, & even my pet. Very proudly they tell me about how different we are from the West because we think about everyone connected to us before making any decision. I can imagine myself as a poll both in a democracy & the option with the highest number of votes makes way for the final decision.

I believe guys, in the process of learning to think about all those we care, we somewhere forget to think about ourselves. I believe the first and foremost responsibility of an individual is towards “he” himself. I believe one should know “as an individual” what he wants out of life & how is he supposed to get it. Now how a guy wants to manage his “individual priorities” & “social priorities” is altogether his concern & decision. I know a lot of guys will differ from me on this, that’s why I’ve put a “I believe” in the beginning of every line, because this is what only I believeJ.

Now coming to knowing the world, the other day an Uncle Ji at my home was telling me “beta humane duniya dekhi hai” … just then I was trying to figure out where all that Uncle has worked in his life & to my surprise I figured out he had all his postings within UP only. Holy Shit man!! Is this the definition of “duniya” to him? Now have a diametrically opposite fact about the so called “west”. Most of the guys in US after doing their High School take a break from studies (break from studies!! Fail hua hoga jaroor!!) to know about the world. So they travel, they travel for an year or two to different countries or may be their own country to meet people, talk to them, understand different cultures, needs, thinking of people all of which is extremely important before you start off anything as a business. This is called knowing the world.

There are other things apart from travelling which may help you knowing the world. But my concern here is do we have the urge to know about things you don’t know? I don’t think so. Another observation of mine, we are pretty close minded people. We think the best way to do something is the way we do it, and that’s why we don’t need to know any other way. Most of us are like “kooauen ka maidhak”, as my mom calls it, who is illusioned that the world is all he knows, but I suppose we are not “maidhaks” or are we?

Anyways guys, enough of bakar from my side. My idea was not to give any Gyan to you people, just to put forth some observations of mine. These are just perspectives which I thought should be highlighted so that people start thinking (which is important). Moreover, don’t ever conclude on anything without knowing the other side of the story. So I strongly suggest you to go & explore the other sideJ. There might be many people who think like me, my suggestion to them … keep thinkingJ. To those who differ, I love you guys … please bless me with your comments.

After the introduction of Twenty20 format, Indian Cricket scenario is going through a sea change. People saw an opportunity to cash on this opportunity by starting leagues. First it was Essel group’s ICL and then BCCI’s IPL. The major difference between the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and Indian Premier League (IPL) is clearly the star power. On one hand, IPL is flooded with star players and on other hand ICC has refused to recognize ICL. Will ICL last???

In an earlier interview Brain Lara had said, “The ICC is trying to encourage new countries like China and America to play cricket. I am disappointed it is not supporting a league where so many international stars are participating”.

Competition for ICL

ICL’s primary competition is the star studded Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the Premier League has lacunae that ICL can exploit. Due to its star players having national team commitments, IPL is forced to have a 1½ month tournament. ICL has the opportunity to have a longer league system in place that allows for a true league format to flourish. In this respect I recommend a bottom up approach for ICL. Only ICL can do this. By having a greater number of local teams, with stadiums across the country, they can target more matches, and a longer season. ICL has been considered the poor cousin of IPL since its launch. The reality is that ICL has the opportunity to change the way the Indian public views the game of cricket. With ambition and a clear strategy, ICL can become the dominant player in cricket.

ICL Positioning

ICL needs to position itself as a strong provider of entertaining Twenty20 cricket, backed by innovative entertainment. In order to maximize the value creation potential of the ICL, ICL needs to leverage the brand in such a way that it responds to the expectations of the customer segments:

Utilitarian promise -- the highest quality of cricket should be maintained

Emotional promise – the league has to involve passion, excitement, suspense, joy and sorrow

Symbolic promise – a feeling of prestige at having a club belonging to the team must be generated

Figure: The virtuous cycle for ICL

Taking cues from Europe & US leagues

The history of European football began with local leagues rather than with the countries themselves. While the elite followed the Gentlemen’s game of cricket, football came to be seen as the commoners game, played on evenings or on weekends by the working class. The first clubs were nothing more than recreation clubs of certain associations such as the Philips Employees Association, which later became PSV Eindhovan or The Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Employees, who have today become Manchester United, the richest football club in the world. Football leagues have had a rich and deep history, where the clubs were first formed, and then the leagues were formed to enable these clubs to compete. The leagues operate in a home and away format, and have fanatical local support.

American Leagues are very different in style and in business format. Rather than clubs forming leagues in a bottom up approach, America has found the top down approach more suitable. The NBA and NFL adopt the franchisee model, where the individual teams are franchised out. The teams pay the league a franchise fee, and compete in the tournament sponsored. The franchisee model has been widely regarded as enabling corporatization of the sport.

The ICL is closer in format to the American Model, where the franchise is held by the league rather than the individual clubs themselves. The advantage the American model provides is the ability to ramp up operations in a relatively short time-span. To take an example, it took almost 80 years for the English Premier League to achieve its current form. However, the National Basketball Association (NBA) had achieved nationwide success with a decade.

However, there are some features which are common to all league formats. The first is the prevalence of the home and away system, which partly contributes to the fanatical support bases. Also, a feature noted is the increasing reliance on Television Broadcast revenues as well as merchandise revenues for the clubs or franchisees profitability. A third important point is the length of the season, which varies between 7-10 months of the year.

ICL needs to learn from the successful models around the world so as to adapt them successfully for the Indian Cricket World.

The Indian Cricket League offers a different experience than the Indian Premier League will. I stress that a longer league format is crucial to the success of any league as globally it has been observed that sports fans perceive value and have a higher recall rate of the brand over a longer period of time.

A Thought by Inzamam

In an interview Inzamam had earlier said, "It would be a good idea to have best-of-three finals between the winners of both the leagues. I don't see ICL and IPL as enemies of each other. After all, both are meant to promote cricket."

ICL video ad link

Please do watch these ads if you still havent seen them...

1) Chennai Superstars
2) Delhi Jets
3) Chandhigarh Lions
4) Hyderabad Heroes
5) Kolkata Tigers
6) Mumbai Champs

The article given below has been contributed by Vishwas Mysore.

What does a skeptic do when invited to write, without restricted to being politically right?

And then, when the only constraint, is to with no restraints, right about “Management”, does the job at hand (and elsewhere!) become any easier? Since writing about matters with an apparent and in-your-face sarcasm is not entirely a new genre, let me try my hand at it. (Given the rediscovered joy of running, I could consider trying my legs at it as well, but then my leg writing is as good or bad as my handwriting, and I should now resume writing, inconsiderate, in consideration of the reader who has read so far and cares to read further!).

Management.

Hmm…Management, has come of age, “they” say, and why not? After all, Man has himself come of age, and if one were to dissect the idea of management and the term simultaneously, one would even agree with the fact that the term “Management” itself implies the Coming of Age of Man.

Unfortunately, if you are chivalrous, or a woman, you might tend to disagree, but my only consolation and the accompanying insulation, would be the following argument:

“Oh! Come on! Since when did women start insisting that they too are coming of age? Didn’t they all want to look and feel younger than they really were?”

Having said that, and before I bore you further with my severely limited writing skills, I shall leave you with the story of a man who wrote about among other things, “Management”, and then turned to writing among other things, plays, since he sincerely believed in the idea that enough and more was being written about management.

http://www.vdare.com/pb/parkinson_review.htm

And mind you, this was in the 1970s. So many HBRs and KBRs can gather dust, and you, a typical budding and bidding manager, won’t even feel guilty about not having read them all.

If you still are wondering about what KBRs are, let me tell you that this post itself is one – Kuch Bhi Random. You shall be excused and even forgiven for mistaking it to be “Kharagpur Business Review” :P

Did you know Diet Coke in Japan is sweetened with the plant-based stevia?

It's called stevia (STEE-VEE-UH).

"Stevia has virtually no calories. It dissolves easily in water and mixes well with all other sweeteners..." - Dr. Robert C. Atkins, MD, author of Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution

So what is Stevia?

Stevia is a plant said to be originated in Paraguay. Leaves are Stevia have a refreshing taste that could be 300 times sweeter than sugar. The leaf also contains proteins, fiber, carbohydrates, iron, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, zinc, true vitamin A and Vitamin C. Stevia leaves have numerous health benefits. Stevia Extract, or Stevia Concentrate, if they are in their pure unadulterated form they do not adversely affect blood glucose levels and may be used freely by both diabetics and hypoglycemics. For people with blood sugar, blood pressure or weight problems Stevia is the most desirable sweetener. (Source: http://www.stevia.com/)

The major benefits of stevia are:

- Stevia actually balances blood sugar levels, and is safe for use by both diabetics and hypoglycemics.

- Unlike sugar, stevia reduces cavities by retarding the growth of plaque.

- Stevia is used as a digestive aid in Brazil.

- Stevia contains antiseptic properties which have proven beneficial in speeding the healing process of skin wounds.

Sugar Substitutes market

Source: http://www.steviainfo.com

Stevia Worldwide Status Check

Few companies that installed computers to reduce the employment of clerks have realized their expectations... They now need more, and more expensive clerks even though they call them 'operators' or 'programmers.' - Peter Drucker

"Issey sasta aur accha kahin nahin!" These are the words with with Big Bazaar has won the heart of millions of Indians. The article given below has been contributed by Rohit Pandey. In this article he shares his views on the big, bigger, biggest Bazaar in India.

It’s always an interesting experience when you are traveling sleeper class in a train. From the moment it heaves and hoes and whistles away from the platform, your eyes are already darting around. Seated in the middle of a lower berth, the typical internal conversation goes likes this:

Front lower – lady with kid. 28. No 26. Kid is 3. No 2. Husband? Ahhh, Front Upper.

Front middle - uncle. 47. Nay 46. On his way for official work.

Front upper – Husband. 29 or 30. Looks like a mechanic. Or could be a door-to-door sales guy.

Side lower and upper – look like railway staff. Busy amongst themselves.

Guy on left – Guy with ipod. Looks like IT. Could be middle or upper berth, my side.

Man on right – looking out of the window… seems a bit lost…Whatever!

This is your world where you are for the next few hours, with the kind of people whom you would seldom meet in your real life.

And that precisely is the reason why the great Indian train is called a microcosm of India. It brings us together from our own routine lives and well drawn boundaries into a situation where for a brief few hours, we are all equal – paying same for the same service, going the same distance and same experiences, irrespective of where we are coming from or where we are going.

As times change though, the train is chugging away. An ever increasing number of us are flying (and driving) their way across the country. More and more are upgrading from sleeper class to its better off cousin - the AC class, once again drawing boundaries even as we reduce our own circles.

So, what happens to the so called microcosm? Don’t be worried. We have a new one. Right near us. And believe it or not, I have a precise number – 81 have already opened.

The 81^st Big Bazaar by Pantaloon Retail just opened somewhere in India and in doing so, brought some more of us together.

Brought-some-more-of-us-together? Well, the next time you visit one near you, look at the check out line. The same mechanic or door-to-door salesman, with his wife and kid, followed by the government officer, who has the uncle behind him… all this, while the IT guy is shuffling on his feet, wondering why does everyone have to come on the same day as him – the weekend!

There are people buying rice at 55 Rs. a Kg, right next to people checking out the Rs. 18 a kg rice. There are people paying for their imported Mexican sauce right beside others carrying the cheaper priced 250 gm sauce bottle which they will bring out for guests coming over today, but wouldn’t have bought otherwise.

There is also a bit of ‘seat blocking’ happening with bachelors walking into the stores. One guy secures a place in the long check out queue while others spread across the store with their own mental lists on what they need.

Across the store, we-the-curious-Indians are happily peeping into other’s shopping carts, benchmarking the owners. We don’t mind no children stomping across our feet as we are still looking around for what else can be bought.

There is something for everyone there – everything derived from the Highest Common Factor that we share as Indians. Every Big Bazaar will show you what will sell anywhere across India, with a little bit of what won’t sell anywhere else in India.

And we the customers are happily waiting at the check out counters while the software hangs, and crashes, systems are restarted and the fresh-grad-at-the-counter tries to count his daily collections.

There is an amazing phenomenon at work here – a customer who wouldn’t wait an extra minute at another supermarket is willing to wait at the counter here. Why? Probably because there is a strange sense of belonging. At some point he has benchmarked others in his railway compartment, blocked the best seats for his best family members, chased a mineral water bottle vendor halfway across the train, and before all this, waited for the computers and assistants at the railway reservation counters…

The customer is ok with having to wait a bit because he sees the Big Bazaar as Indian, and knows it all comes as a package deal. It’s ok. It’s India. It’s Indian. It’s the Indian microcosm – the wife, the kid, the husband, the uncle, the IT guy, the anxious sales assistant… it’s all US.

And that is why, despite all the improvisations and modernizations, despite what retail consultants would say, I feel Big Bazaar would always retain a very ‘Indian’ character to itself which will continue taking us back there.

And for this and this alone, maybe, Kishore Biyani, the first generation entrepreneur deserves a salute – for he has not created a supermarket, hypermarket, or any retail revolution.

He has ended up creating the new Indian microcosm, the new Indian Bazaar, the India in a store – the Big, Bigger, Biggest Bazaar.

You have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile. - Brian Tracy