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LORD VENKATESHWARA - TIRUPATHI - PICTURES FOR DEVOTEES

SUGGESTIONS FOR CORPORATE IN INDIA IN SENDING ANNUAL REPORTS AS PER "GREEN INITIATIVES"

Recently I had attended two annual general body meetings conducted on different  dates in respect of two prominent corporates at Chennai.

The shareholders were very much annoyed over the steps taken by the Corporates in not issuing the annual reports to the share holders in order to implement Green Initiatives as advised by Government of India .

The main purpose of Green Initiatives is to protect the environment. The environment can be protected by optimum use of the natural resources available. The use of more paper and paper products indirectly demands abundant raw materials and in this case the raw materials being the trees. Usage of more number of trees for the above reasons indirectly  affects  environment to a great extent which is one among the reasons for “global warming”. This has prompted the Government to implement the scheme. It is only an advice by  the government and not any guidelines

The Corporates in order to implement Green Initiatives communicated their decisions to the shareholders:

·         The annual reports as at each financial year will not be issued at present and in future in physical form  as were done hitherto

·         However, the annual reports will be mailed to the shareholder through the email ids available with them

·         For getting the annual reports through email, the shareholder has to exercise his option as to whether he is willing to receive the report in physical form  or through email

·         In case no confirmation is not received within the stipulated time, the annual reports will be sent through and not as hard copies

Basing upon the above guidelines, the corporates adopted the following procedure in dispatching the annual reports to their shareholders:

·         Some companies sent annual reports wherever they had received options from the shareholders in getting the annual reports in physical form

·         Some companies sent annual reports to all shareholders who were available at the city where the annual general body meeting was proposed to be held – the reasons being that those shareholders would definitely attend the annual general body meeting. Many shareholders who were living in upcountry places other than the place where the annual general body meetings were held were denied the opportunites in getting their annual reports

·         Some companies sent the annual reports to all shareholders in a simplified manner – reducing the number of pages, avoiding printing many photographs, using cost effective paper etc thus reducing the cost of annual reports by more than 60%

·         Shareholders who were sent annual reports through email were compelled to take print outs from the soft versions mailed to them resulting in expenses

In fact shareholders are the true owners of any company. The shareholders in a company can be 100 or 100000. Irrespective of the number of shareholders in a company, it is quite normal that all the shareholders will be eager  to know the performance of their companies. In fact some cute shareholders spend  reasonably a lot of time in going through  the annual reports of their companies thoroughly and they attend the annual general body meetings with the sole intention to point out irregularities in performance, functioning etc apart from offering  good suggestions

It is a wonder, knowing well that the owners (shareholders) should be given ample opportunity to attend the annual general body meetings without causing them any inconvenience, the corporate with a view to implement the green initiatives are found to be taking hard decisions in either issuing or non issuing the annual reports in physical formats

The following are some of the points to be noted by the coporates in regard to issue of annual reports to the shareholders

·         No management can deny their owners(shareholders) in getting their due annual reports. In fact it is the sole responsibility of the managements to make available the reports without fail to the shareholders.

·         Getting an option from the shareholders and basing upon the options,  mailing them the soft versions of annual reports is not quite right on the part of the managements

·         Sending the annual reports to the owners at specific  centres   alone will deprive the owners residing at upcountry locations of the opportunities in perusing the annual reports of their companies.

·         Spending an amount in getting the printed versions of the annual reports will jeopardize the interests of the shareholders

·         Unless printed versions are made available to the shareholders, the shareholders may not be in position to go through the annual reports thoroughly and participate in debates and discussions during the course of annual general body meetings

·         Unless effective debates and discussions by the shareholders take place during the course of any annual general body meetings in regard to the performances made by the companies, the management may not be in position to understand the true sentiments of the shareholders

·         The debates, discussions and viewpoints of the shareholders are mainly for the growth of the organization. Unless the companies are willing to face their shareholders offering good suggestions and observations  boldly during the annual general body meetings, they may lose opportunities in correcting themselves which will help in turn their  competitors flourish in the market

The following are some suggestions as to how best the annual reports can be made available to the shareholders so that they are least inconvenienced.

·         All shareholders are to be sent the annual reports in physical form

·         The annual reports can be prepared in cost effective manner by using minimum number of pages with all required information. Presentation of photographs etc can be avoided

·         In case the shareholders prefer to get the annual reports in soft form, the corporate have to send them the annual reports through email – otherwise – the reports are to be sent in physical form only

·         If the shareholders so desire, they can be sent the annual reports through CDs

By the abovementioned suggestions, the shareholders will not be much inconvenienced and at the same time  the guidelines in regard to Green Initiatives can be well adopted.

How to protect your hard earned money ?

As a banker served in a bank for  more than 39 years, I came across various instances whereby the customers are losing their money by investing in unremunerative and unproductive investments.

I would like to share herebelow my experience and viewpoints for people who are willing to put in their hard earned money in safe investments.

Why savings ?

You need to save because you require money in the future. Your  future requirements may be

·         To take care of  your health  and the health of your dependants

·         To pay the school and college fees to be incurred by the your children

·         To buy a new house or flat

·         To buy a new car

·         To buy various household requirements like refrigerators, washing machines, dining sets, new beds, clothes, books etc etc.

How much to save ?

·         There is no such hard and fast rule for reserving any money for  savings. The portion for investment differs from person to person. A person earning a very good income,  however, may not be having  much expenses and he can save more  whereas a person earning a meager income, however, in a position to meet several expenses can hardly save some money. Anyhow each person despite the facts that they earn a reasonable income or meager income should develop the habit of saving money at least a small portion and the amount thus saved will definitelyl be very much helpful in protecting their future interests to a large extent.

What are the different types of investments available ?

·         Bank deposits: Certain portion of money can be invested in bank deposits. There are a lot of advantages in investing the money in bank deposits. The money available in a bank can be withdrawn immediately within a short span of time. There are different kinds of deposit schemes available in the banks. The following are some of the schemes:

1.       Savings bank deposits: When a person invests any money in savings bank deposits, the amount can be withdrawn at any time subject to the amount available to his credit. In case he deposits an amount of Rs. 10000/-, he can withdraw Rs. 5000/- during the same day. There are no restrictions in this scheme. He can issue cheques to third parties instead of dealing in cash transactions. Moreover the cheque payments will serve as recorded entries which will be legally binding for requirements, in future. On account of availability of ATM cards, the person can withdraw the amount at any point of time through any ATMs installed anywhere.

2.       Current account: Normally current accounts are permitted for business transactions. In this particular type of investment scheme also, apart from cheque book facility  ATM card facilities are also available. This scheme is akin to savings bank scheme except that savings bank accounts are not permitted for business transactions.

3.       Recurring Deposit scheme: In this scheme, the customer chooses an option for investment . The period of deposit can be one year, two years, three years etc . He can remit a fixed sum of money each month; quarterly; half-yearly or yearly. This induces the customer to save compulsorily an amount each month and at the end of the investment period he can withdraw the entire money deposited in the scheme along with  interest. This scheme is more suitable for persons who are spendthrift lacking will power to safe keep their hard earned money . Normally bankers recommend this type of scheme to salaried persons and persons drawing pensions regularly each month.

4.       Fixed deposit scheme: In this scheme, a fixed amount is deposited for a definite period say, one month, two months, three months, six months, one year, two years, three years etc. Depending the period of investment, the rate of interest differs. Normally longer the period, the interest payment is also high. The customer have the option to withdraw the interest payments on monthly, quarterly, bimonthly, half yearly and yearly basis. This scheme is more suitable for investing the surplus money on hand. Normally people prefer these  type of investments for the following purposes viz., – to purchase jewellery, houses, cars, two wheelers, to meet expenses in connection with the marriages of children, educational expenses, health checkup etc.

5.       Reinvestment scheme: The fixed deposit scheme is called reinvestment scheme under certain situations and the difference between  the fixed deposit scheme and the reinvestment scheme is that in the former case, interest payments are made periodically and in the latter case, the interest is paid at the end of the investment period i.e. at the time of maturity of the deposit. In other words,  at the end of the investment period, the customer gets the principal amount invested, interest amount and interest for the interest accrued. The amount available at the time of maturity in this scheme will be more than the fixed deposit scheme on account of the facts, that the interest is compounded

6.       Other schemes: The abovementioned schemes viz savings bank, current account, recurring deposit, fixed deposit and reinvestment schemes are called the basic schemes and banks offer different kinds of schemes basing upon the abovementioned basic schemes through different packages and different combinations. Just like the saying goes –“ Old wine in a new bottle”

·         Insurance schemes:  Whereas we call it as”instalments” in the case of bank deposit schemes, we call it as “premium” in the case of insurance schemes. Insurance schemes will not offer more interest benefits akin to bank deposits, however, the insurance policies cover several risks, like life risk, fire risk, riot risk etc etc.

·         Shares/debentures: Many people are interested in investing the amount in shares of corporate and there is no fixed period for investment in shares. The shareholders are  in fact the owners of the corporates and they get some dividend each year when the company earns any profit. The amount invested in shares attract 100% risk. Either the investor gets very good income from the investment or no income at all and sometimes, he can lose the entire amount invested during some unforeseen circumstances

·         Mutual funds: When an amount is invested in mutual funds, the companies take the responsibility for safekeeping the money in investing in diversified portfolios and the market risk is reduced to a reasonable extent. The returns available through mutual funds cannot be compared with the returns through direct investment in shares on account of the facts, that the companies can pay the returns to the investors after meeting all their expenses in handling various mutual fund schemes. Investments in mutual funds are also risky

·         Gold jewellery: People invest in gold and gold jewellery on account of the facts, that the gold appreciates each year and especially in countries like India, people are vigorous in investing in gold.

·         Real Estate: For long term investments, real estate are good. However, for investing in real estate a person has to accumulate his savings from various sources. The disadvantage in investing real estate is that even though the appreciation will be higher comparing to any other investments, liquidity is very low and a person has to wait for a long time in order to sell his property and realize the amount to his credit. Wise people accumulate their savings in bank deposits like recurring deposits and fixed deposits initially and thereafter utilize the maturity portion of these deposits in acquiring the immovable properties.

Conclusion:

It is the responsibility of each individual to reserve a reasonable amount depending upon his income each day or each month and invest in schemes suitable to them. The amount invested will definitely be helpful under emergent situations. Instead of borrowing money from outside, depending upon the amount invested in schemes will yield a lot of happiness and peace of mind.

What is called Year Book and what does the Year Book normally contain ?

Recently I had the opportunity to go through one Year Book  published by one of the famous publishers in India

The publishers are coming out with year books every year incorporating the changes that had taken place during the year  and the book is mainly intended for use by

·          students who are willing to update their knowledge base,

·          scholars who are willing to explore unknown areas,

·         teachers and faculties working in schools and colleges willing to improve their knowledge level

·         individuals, housewives and  businessmen willing to add more value to their information pool about various rent  events, places etc

Why the year book ?

In order to improve the  knowledge level about each and every aspects, one has to either browse the internet and utilize a lot of manpower and time in searching various sites to gather a lot of information required by them or purchase from the markets  various newspapers and magazines which are available in different languages at periodical intervals. Moreover , a person cannot have the  required information from  one newspaper alone and his quest for knowledge never stops and it drives him to run behind  various magazines. This also consumes a lot of manpower apart from consumption of more time. Moreover, he has to spend a lot of amount in procuring  various periodicals to fulfill his requirement

In case, if one book consisting of all latest information is made available to him, the time spent will be thus reduced to a great extent apart from saving a lot of manpower and money

The year book is such a  publication and as on date various publishers are coming out with such information book called –Year Book called  in other words as an encyclopedia of the year.

What are the contents of an Year Book ?

Normally in a year book the publishers are providing the information through different 

chapters as mentioned below:

·         

CURRENT AFFAIRS: Under this chapter, they provide various information about the major and important events that had taken place during the period normally during the year. This information will be highly helpful for politicians who are willing to know the world better, students willing to appear for entrance examinations, and teachers and faculty members  willing to train their students. Normally under this category they provide the information in the following manner:

1.      Regionwise events

2.      State wise events

3.      Countrywise events

4.      Global events

·        

COVER STORY: In this chapter, they cover important topics selected by them – which they normally highlight in the cover page of the booklet. The main purpose is to create an inquisitiveness amongst the minds of the buyers. Normally, the cover stories play a greater role towards increasing the  sales volume . Any person who wants to purchase any booklet or magazines normally looks into the cover page and attracted by the cover story he gets an intention to buy the booklet or the magazine. Likewise the cover story chosen in a year book plays a key role in kindling the desire to purchase

·         EVENTS: In this chapter, they provide information about the various events notworthy in nature that taken place during the year

·         SCIENCE WORLD: In this chapter, they cover articles covering science subjects like

1.      Genetic modification

2.      The nanotechnology revolution

3.      Horning stem cells

·       

  ENVIRONMENT: In this chapter, they cover articles like – global warming, world environment events etc

·         THE COSMOS:In this chapter, they cover articles regarding cosmos like – the solar system, the universe, Missions in planets, space shuttle and the movements that are taking place on earth etc

·         INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: In this chapter, they cover articles about the recent developments that had taken place in information technology like – IT scan, Biometric security, spooling or phishing , computers, networking etc

·         HEALTH AND MEDICINE: This chapter normally consists of information about the following  viz: Measuring human body, Human body systems, Human sexuality, Fitness regime etc

·         WORLD PANORAMA: Normally the following information is provided in this chapter like – the biggest and smallest states, countries listed by continents, facts at a glance, the world as on date,  information about the United Nations, United Nations Council etc

·         EDUCATION AND CAREER: In this article, they cover articles about the education and the topics they cover normally are – Careers for modern Indian women, choosing a course of study, how to improve the memory power of the students , how to face examinations fearlessly and courageously etc

·         THE NATION: In this chapter, information is provided about the local country. Here they cover a lot of information about the villages, semiurban centres, urban centres, metro centres, fertile areas, unfertile areas, areas developing agriculture, areas where various types of minerals are available etc etc

·        

THE ECONOMY: This chapter normally contains information about the economy and the impacts of economy during the year. The articles  available in this chapter are – the details of various banks in the country, developments about the banking industry, developments that had taken place in mutual fund industry, insurance industry etc They also cover topics relating to capital markets and the impact  of the capital markets  for the growth or fall in  country’s economy,

·         GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: Normally this chapter is mainly intended to provide the update information to the students pursuing  higher education

·         SPORTS: The information about various sports events that had taken place recently around the world are highlighted in this chapter. This chapter is used as a ready reckoner  by sportspersons and students and teachers and faculty members

The information provided as above are only illustrative and not exhaustive and the quality of the year book depends upon the interest evinced by the publishers in bringing out the booklet

In fact year books are prepared with the social objectives in their mindsets and not mainly as an income generating activity.

In a nutshell, the year book will be a guide for students, teachers, faculty members, politicians and the general public who are willing to update their knowledge.

On the other hand, the publishers are playing a great role in spreading knowledge around the globe and their contributions in this are should be necessarily appreciated.

MORE PICTURES - LORD VENKATESHWARA - TIRUPATHI SHRINE

TIRUPATHI - LORD VENKATESHWARA'S SHRINE

Tirupathi is a famous temple situated in the southern part of India. It is situated on the Tirumala hills and it is called as – God of seven hills. Lord Venkateshwara at the temple is worshipped by Hindus. Many Hindus in India and neighbouring countries have great faith in Lord Venkatshwara and many Hindu devotees had made it a practice to visit the temple at least once a year.

Especially on the first day of each year, while people around the world are in the mood of celebrating the new year, Hindu devotees who have great faith in the Lord never forget to visit to the temple and they are prepared to have a darshan of the Lord even for waiting any number of hours.

There are a lot of facilities available in the shirine.

 A large number of lodges and restaurants available to meet the demands of all kinds of people coming from different parts of the world.

 Sometimes during festival seasons, people find it very difficult to get accommodation in lodges, however, even though the town is situated on the hills, it has been well connected by buses throughout the day and night. Once in five minutes a bus is leaving Tirupathi to Tirumala and in the same manner a bus leaves once in five minutes from Tirumala to Tirupathi. 

Tirumala is at the ground level and the bus to reach Tirupathi from Tirumala has to travel for nearly one and half to two hours and the distance is around 50 to 60 kilometres and it has been estimated that there are more than 100 hairpin bends on the route.

However, the journey itself will be very challenging. Many devotees like to go to the temple from Tirumala to Tirupathi by walking and trekking crossing the seven hills. It takes more than six to seven hours to reach the topmost point by trekking.

The temple can be very will visited by people from all over the world 

Do you want to have an office table suiting to all your needs ?

Each manager or administrator requires a better writing table in their house as well as in their office. It is  not only a common requirement for any office administration but also the desire that persists in every manager’s mind

In any organization, provided  a choice between money and career upliftment, wise people prefer only career upliftment which provides them a lot of job satisfaction and increase in the level of responsibility prompting  them to perform betterl. The achievement motivation  drives them towards continual uplift in their career path

Once they are on the move towards the uppermost position in the organization, their needs get changed and they require  and many times demand quality perquisites . Rather than money, the facilities they enjoy provide them a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment.

The office table is one among them.

In fact, unless and otherwise, he himself is the  decision conveying   authority in the organization, he needs to depend on a person other than himself in permitting him to have a better infrastructure.

During such situations, he places his demand with the decision making authority.

The office table should have the following facilities so that the administrator can comfortably discharge his duties wholeheartedly

·         The table should be at least six feet in length and four feet in breadth. This size is the minimum one and moreover the size depends upon the size of the room provided to the administrator

·         The size can be more than six feet and can extend upto to seven feet in length and five feet in breadth. The reasons behind the size are – He should be in a position to handle the objects placed on the table comfortably without any help or assistance from a third person. It means he should be able to handle any objects available on the table without much difficulty

·         The following can be the requirements for the administrator: One telephone and in case of need more than one telephone and upto three telephones. The administrator cannot handle more than three telephones simulataneously and moreover in case the table is occupied by the telephone instruments alone, there may not be sufficient space for keeping other required objects  on the table in a convenient manner. Nowadays, since people are using mobile phones at the most, the question of having telephones rarely arises

·         A pen stand to keep the required number of pens. The administrator can have four pens with different inks say – blue, black, green and red. He can have his own set of  regulations in using the different varieties of pens  - for example - in the following manner: Blue pen for occasional writing or regular writing; black pen for signing normal documents; red pen for the purpose of making any corrections in drafts placed by the subordinate employees and green ink for signing in important documents like certificates, bonds and agreements etc. Normally the usage of different kinds of inks depict the character of the person using the pen. It places him in an enviable position. It is just like wearing a nice neck tie with pair of polished shoes

·         Under normal circumstances, during the course of verification of papers and  important documents, the manager should make use  of pencils  because of the facts that the impressions can be erased subsequently. As such the manager should have at least a pen, a sharpener and an eraser

·         He should have a foot ruler in order to draw lines on the writing sheets

·         Required number of table weights should be placed on the table

·         A  tray should be on the table so that cool/hot  drinks can be placed safely and securely on the tray in order to protect the table and the contents over the table safely and neatly

·         Required amount of drinking water provided in a glass

·         A writing pad in front of him so that he can comfortably keep the sheets on the writing table and start writing. The writing pad should have provisions to keep  a note book consisting of required number of blank white sheets, a good quality pen, a calculator etc

·         Some folders should be made available so that important documents can be kept in the folders safely and securely

·         The manager should develop the habit of using a folder or a pad while he carries important documents to his immediate supervisor. This will create a better impression and he will be regarded in a respectable manner.  Indifferent and “don’t care-attitude” managers carry the documents in their hands and the next level higher authority many times dislike the practices followed up by their subordinates. It has to be borne in mind that – First impression is the best impression

·         In order to ease himself at tense situations, the manager needs to have a foot-rest  under the table and as and when required he can relax himself by leaning  to the chair which will boast his energy level

The details mentioned as above are only illustrative and not exhaustive