Indian Squash gold medallist Ravi Dixit ‘auctions’ kidney to fund for South Asian Games

This passionate 20-year-old squash player from Uttar Pradesh shocked the nation by auctioning his kidney on the social media in order to sponsor himself for the upcoming South Asian Games 2016. Ravi, a gold medallist in the 2010 Asian junior championship is in need of eight lakhs rupees to kick off his campaign in the 12th South Asian Games starting next month in Guwahati, Assam and Shillong, Meghalaya, India.

The plight of Ravi Dixit can be understood with his Facebook post which read,”I have been playing squash for the last 10 years. Even after winning so many medals and representing India so many times, I do not get any support to take my squash to the national and international levels,” Dixit said.

“Dhampur Sugar Mill has supported me but how long will they continue to support me? Next month, the games are starting in Guwahati and I am representing India. To prepare for the tournament, I am training in Chennai but I have not been able to arrange enough money to fund my campaign for the games. I have lost my determination. I am ready to sell my kidney. If anyone needs a kidney, they can contact me. The price of my kidney is Rs 8 lakh,” he continued.

Ravi’s attempt of selling kidney is considered illegal which has got his parents worried. He belongs to a middle-class family from Bijnor in the state of Uttar Pradesh. His father is working with Dhampur Sugar Mill, which supports his campaigns.

As per the Times of India reports his father Ramkailash Dixit was quoted saying, “I have spoken to Ravi. He is in Chennai right now but I spoke to him on the phone. His mother and I are imploring him not to take the step. Together, we will figure out a way to deal with this crisis. This way, he will ruin both his life and career. I am saddened to hear that my son is taking such a drastic measure. I funded my daughter’s wedding with Ravi’s winnings. Since he has to support the family as well, he cannot use much of what he gets for himself.”

His mother Sarvesh said that it was very difficult to support him with the limited income of his father. Dhampur Sugar Mill had been very generous in supporting Ravi’s career. But the family is too embarrassed to seek the help of the mill anymore.

“The mill has always supported Ravi in his endeavor. We wish he had come to us before doing such a thing. We will speak to him and do whatever we can to help him.” Vijay Gupta, an official at the mill, told The Times of India.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh state minister Moolchand Chauhan said that Dixit was a talented player and he will meet the player’s family, take the matter to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, and will help him financially.

News Source - TOI

Indian Air Force, Army to provide security for 12th South Asian Games

5,110 armed police personnel from the central force and Assam Police and 6,537 unarmed policemen of the state will be deployed in Guwahati to ensure that the Games are conducted smoothly and in a peaceful manner.

An effective and comprehensive security cover, including air protection, has been laid out for the upcoming 12th South Asian Games to be held in Guwahati and Shillong from February 5 to 16. There will be multi-layered security cover in all the venues with even protection from the air to be provided by the Air Force and the Army Air Defence Unit, a SAG communication said on Wednesday.

Altogether 5,110 armed police personnel from the central force and Assam Police and 6,537 unarmed policemen of the state will be deployed in Guwahati to ensure that the Games are conducted smoothly and in a peaceful manner. Adequate security measures have also been put in place and both armed and unarmed security personnel will be deployed in Shillong, the communication said.

Source- http://www.india.com/

India Is Now The 77th Least Corrupt Country In The World.

India has been ranked 76th out of the 168 countries, according to the latest list released by watchdog Transparency International.

The country improved its position by nine ranks from the 85 in 2014, despite its score remaining the same. 

Out of a possible 100, India scored 38 points, which was the same score in 2014. 

The scoring system of CPI measures perceived levels of public sector corruption world-wide and countries with high score points on a scale from 0-100 shows corruption levels are low.

The ranking is based on the various criteria like public sector corruption, whether governmental leaders are held to account or go unpunished for corruption, perceived prevalence of bribery, and whether public institutions respond to citizens’ needs.

Denmark which scored 91 points topped the list. It was followed by Finland and Sweden with a score of 90 and 89 respectively. While New Zealand was at the fourth place, Netherlands and Norway shared the fifth place with 87 points.

The bottom five were Angola (163), South Sudan (163), Sudan (165), Afghanistan (166) and North Korea and Somalia shared the last place at 167 with a score of 8 each.

While China rank at 83, Pakistan is at 117th, despite improving its rank by three positions.

The new Nostradamus: Baba Vanga

Yes, we've all been told since childhood that Nostradamus, the French apothecary who made prophecies, got the rise of Hitler, Napoleon and many other things right.

And this week, we're being told Nostradamus seems to have a successor - Vangelia Pandeva Dimitrova, more known as the blind Bulgarian seer Baba Vanga - who has a roster of 10 terrifying predictions for our future, including a big Muslim invasion of Europe in 2016, reports Huffington Post.

Local legend has it that Baba Vanga, the 'Nostradamus of the Balkans' - first gained the ability to see the future when she was blinded in a terrible storm at age 12.

She began to make predictions at the age of 16 and "her powers of foreseeing took shape after she turned 30".

In the autumn of 1952, the prophetess found herself in big trouble when she said that Josef Stalin would go into the nether world. She was jailed as a result of that prediction, albeit not for long.

Believers claim she correctly predicted some key global events of the past few decades including:

• The assassinations of Indian prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi

• The Kursk nuclear submarine disaster

• Global warming

• 9/11: "Horror, horror! The American brethren will fall after being attacked by the steel birds. The wolves will be howling in a bush, and innocent blood will be gushing."

• The 2004 tsunami: "A huge wave will cover a big coast covered with people and towns, and everything will disappear beneath the water. Everything will melt, just like ice."

• The election of Barack Obama: she predicted that the 44th President would be an African American. She also predicted he would be the last US President

• World War II

• The date on which Tsar Boris III died

• The break-up of Czechoslovakia

• The break-up of the Soviet Union

• The break-up of Yugoslavia

• East and West Germany's reunification

• Boris Yeltsin's election

• The Chernobyl disaster

• The date of Stalin's death

• The conflicts in Syria

• The separation of Crimea

'Specialists' have calculated that 68% of her prophecies have come true.

But the biggest problem with these predictions is that they have no official source. While Nostradamus left written articles, Baba Vanga did not. Which is why changing what she may have said to imbue events with meaning post facto is not just possible but probable - think of it like playing Chinese whispers.

Source - Catch News

Why are Oil Prices falling?

Since mid-2014, global crude oil prices have fallen precipitously. In June 2014, a barrel of Brent crude sold at $110. By early 2015, that plunged to $60. Today, it sells below $30 - a level not seen since 2004.

ling global demand for oil, the slowdown in the Chinese economy and the refusal of Saudi Arabia to cut oil output levels, the world has far more oil than anyone needs. Supply remains much higher than demand and therefore prices have crashed.

If the Saudis do not cut production, then there is no way that those who have begun benefitting from oil export, like Iraq, or those who hope to benefit from it, like a post-sanctions Iran, would hold back production.

Iraq has doubled its production since 2014 and Iran is eager to benefit from oil exports now that economic sanctions against it have been lifted. This could push prices down further.

If the Saudis thought that oversupply resulting in low oil prices would bankrupt the frackers of America and help them maintain market share, that too has not happened to the extent expected. The United States continues to produce a significant amount of oil through "fracking" of shale.

Differently-Abled Anu from Bangalore inspires us to live life the way it is not the way we want it to be.

32-year-old Anu Jain from Bengaluru loves the world she lives in. She paints what she sees and she is brilliant at what she does. 'Canvas Narratives', an exhibition of her work is a proof of how good she really is.

Born without legs and rudimentary elbows, Anu is above all her physical shortcoming. She paints, reads, photographs, and even plays the piano. A huge fan of Sudha Murty's books, Anu painted the author's portrait and presented it to her. Honoured by her work, Murty wrote to Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan to organize an exhibition for a "rare artist". The gallery opened on Saturday and will continue till January 23rd. It is being sponsored by Infosys Foundation.

Anu's strength is her family. While her siblings help update her website regularly, her parents offer their unrelenting support.

"One day, my mother gave me a brush and paint and asked me to draw on white canvas. I gradually felt interested and explored. I was hometrained. My paintings are reflections of my thoughts. Most of my paintings have flowers, birds, the sunset and sunrise. No flower is dull in my work, they are bright and cheerful. Pink is the colour of hope, love and happiness and you can see many pink flowers in my work. All that art requires is focus and patience," she said.

Anu also loves to paint on X-ray sheets, and her 'Ganesh on X-ray' became a huge hit in the exhibition. You can see the image attached in our post. When asked if she has any complaints from life, she said, "We do not have enough special schools, disabled-friendly roads and footpaths. (Do) Treat us like normal people."

Anu will soon start teaching arts to students at Bhavan-BBMP school.

You can find her at : anujain.com

Source- IndiaTimes

The iconic Dabbawalas of Mumbai will also supply organic milk, vegetables and other goods.

Apart from delivering food, they will also supply organic milk, vegetables and other goods.

They plan to provide logistic support to multi-national companies (MNCs). The association of Dabbawalas was started by Mahadeo Havaji Bacche in 1890 to provide jobs to unemployed youths from the neighbouring villages of Mumbai.

Subodh Sangle, the coordinator of Mumbai Dabbawalas, during his recent visit to Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), said that the rationale behind the new initiative is to use management skills of the lunch box suppliers.

Sangle said that the managerial skills of the Dabbawalas, which hardly witnessed any lapse in providing lunch boxes to their customers, will give extra financial support to their families.

Sangle said that the managerial skills of the Dabbawalas, which hardly witnessed any lapse in providing lunch boxes to their customers, will give extra financial support to their families.

"Several MNCs need logistic support from us and most of them do outsourcing. Dabbawalas are well-versed with the geography and their services have met customers' expectations," Sangle, who was here to share management skills of Mumbai Dabba walas at IIM-A, tells.

He said some of the groups of Dabbawalas, comprise around 50 persons, who have started delivering organic milk and exotic vegetables. In near future, we will tie up with MNCs to provide them logistic support, said Sangle.

Source- IndiaTimes

Modi Is The Second Most Popular World Leader On Facebook

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the most popular world leader on Facebook, according to a study by PR firm Burson-Marsteller.

He has more than 31 million fans on his personal Narendra Modi page and 10.1 million fans on his official PMO India page, which is ranks third.

US President Barack Obama is the most popular world leader on Facebook with 46 million likes on his Barack Obama campaign page.

According to the study, PM Modi took a lead over President Obama in terms of the number of interactions (the total number of post likes, comments and shares), with more than 200 million interactions in his Facebook 'community' in 2015, more than five times as many as Obama. However, Obama's posts, while attracting far fewer likes than Modi, are nevertheless shared more frequently.

The study also crowned Argentina's new President, Mauricio Macri, as the the most engaging world leader and called him the 'undisputed Facebook president.' Almost 90% of all governments have an official Facebook presence, and 87 heads of state, 82 heads of government and 51 foreign ministers maintain personal pages on the platform, reveals the study.

The study also said that the governments of only 24 countries have yet to establish a presence on Facebook, including China, where the social network is banned and Switzerland, where the former president briefly set up a personal page in 2013 before deactivating it four months later.

News Source- IndiaTimes

Rare Photos of Mahatma Gandhi by Kanu Gandhi, his grandnephew

Source- Catch News
Photographs by Kanu Gandhi/ Gita Mehta, heir of Abha and Kanu Gandhi.

Mr India in real life - VINAYAK LOHANI (Changing Destinies.Changing India)

Vinayak  Lohani, the Founder of Parivaar, did B.Tech from  Indian Institute of  Technology Kharagpur (2000) and MBA from Indian  Institute of Management  Calcutta (2003). He did not appear for the  placement process at IIM,  and immediately after his MBA, started  Parivaar. The normal career-path  of a mainstream corporate career  following degrees from two of the  most prestigious institutes in India  ensures a highly lucrative future,  but Vinayak Lohani sacrificed this to  work at the grassroots level.

Mr India  in real life

He  was inspired by the spiritual and humanistic ideals of  Swami  Vivekananda, and with just 3 children in a small rented building  with  almost no financial resources, Vinayak started Parivaar. As on 1st   April 2015 Parivaar’s Residential Institution has 1023 resident  children  and is considered to be a model institution for caretaking and  overall  development of children from destitute backgrounds in a  residential  setting. It is also the largest free residential  institution for  children from impoverished backgrounds in whole of West  Bengal. Parivaar  is slated to reach a capacity of 2000 residential  children by 2017 and  in next 10 years aims to become India’s largest  residential institution  for children from impoverished backgrounds.

On  Vinayak and Parivaar, many academic case-studies have  been authored  dealing with grassroots Social Entrepreneurship and   Organization-building. These cases have been taught and discussed at   various B-Schools in India. Best-selling author Rashmi Bansal’s book ‘I   have a Dream’ has an entire chapter on Vinayak Lohani and the initial   phase of Parivaar.

Roles with Government of India
Induction  into Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE)  (2015 onwards), the  apex consultational forum in Ministry of Human  Resources Development,  Government of India.

Induction  into the National Committee for Promotion of Social and  Economic  Welfare constituted by the Ministry of Finance, Government of  India  (2014-2017)

Inducted  into the Governing Board of Childline India Foundation (2014  onwards),  constituted by the Ministry of Women and Child which manages  24 hour  child helpline services across nearly 350 towns in India.

Inducted  as a Member of Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) (2015   onwards), set up by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of   India, as a funding and capacity-building institution towards   accelerating sustainable action in the domain of rural livelihoods.

Induction into Government of India’s Ministry of Women and Child’s Working Group for the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2011).



Academic Background
Graduation (B.Tech) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur (1996-2000)

Post-Graduation (MBA) from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta (2001-2003)

Source
parivaar.org

Chandrakant Sampat - The Warren Buffett of India

Chandrakant Sampat was known to many as the Warren Buffett of India  and was regarded as a veteran stock market investor. The 82-year-old  investor lead an active yet simple life that included daily jogging and  yoga exercises. Surrounded by books and periodicals at his Worli  apartment bedroom, Sampat hardly looked like one of the most successful  investors in the country.

Sampat died at the beginning of 2015 aged 86.

He did not earned his coveted title for nothing. Starting from  scratch after quitting his family business in 1955, he has been  investing in equity for more than four decades, carefully picking stocks  of companies like HUL and Nestle..

“There was a time when I was 70% into the (equities) market,” he  said, shaking his head. “Times have changed.” Of late, the veteran  turned bearish and put most of his money into cash and cash equivalents.

Starting almost from scratch, simply by picking stocks and companies  for investment, he was often referred to as a guru. He came across as  being obsessed with moneymaking. Nevertheless, he was amongst the most  objective and emotionally detached persons you are likely to meet in a  lifetime. Moreover, that includes detachment with money. His emotional  intelligence especially his ability to defer gratification was probably  his most important strength.

An autodidact, he was openly abhorrent of the educational system in  his country, and was often cited as saying “knowledge is that which  liberates and not captivates”. That in fact was a translation of one of  the shlokas from the great Indian epic, The Bhagwad Geeta, much of which  he recites verbatim. “Markets and mistakes are the best education. The  conventional education just closes the mind”, he declares.

The one man who has had a lasting impression on him is none other  than the greatest management theorist of all time, Peter F. Drucker. “If  we achieve profit at the cost of downgrading or not innovating, they  are not profit. We are destroying capital. On the other hand, if we  continue to improve productivity of all key resources and our innovative  standing, we are going to be profitable not today but tomorrow. In  looking at knowledge applied to human work as the source of wealth, we  also see the function of the economic organization”, he says, resonating  with Drucker.

Taking a clue from Drucker, every company is measured on a rigorous  scale of productivity and innovation before forming a part of his  portfolio. It does not end there. Every constituent in his portfolio was  continuously challenged. Any stock that fails to measure up well  against his metric was given the boot. He gets every rupee to sweat for  him.

Sampat was one of the most successful investors in India. Starting  from scratch, Sampat’s obsession with wealth, coupled with a strong  spell of patience and precision, has helped him build a fortune in the  Indian equity market. Nevertheless, these days, he is not touching  equities – not because he was tired of making money but due to high  risks in this area.

Chandrakant Sampat: Investment philosophy

“Pick up good companies with good managements when their share prices  are at an eight-year or 10-year low. Alternatively, if you still want  to do something, buy good companies that are 40% lower than their  52-week high. I will buy only those companies that are in a business  that even fools can understand, have very little debt, have free cash  flows or do not have much capital expenditure, which is nothing but  deferred cost,” he said
He was a big bull on FMCG stocks (Gillette, Proctor etc.) and MNC  Pharma. A Firm believer that free cash flows are the only thing that  matters.
What is Sampat’s secret to good investing? Pat comes with the answer:  Invest in a business you understand, the company should have either  zero or very little debt, the share should be available at a P/E ratio  of 13 to 14 times the current year’s earnings and lastly, it should be  available between 3.5% and 4%. “It is that simple!” he says. This is all  he does; he says, no more research. Follow these golden rules, and you  can be as good as he can, he concluded.

Chandrakant Sampat: Quotes
“To be a good investor all one has to do is dream”

“All you need is a cheque book and a pen”

“Knowledge is that which liberates and not captivates”.

“Markets and mistakes are the best education. The conventional education just closes the mind”

“If we achieve profit at the cost of downgrading or not innovating, they are not profit”

“Coke and Gillette have been around for many years, and they are  likely to be around for many more. I cannot say that with any degree of  certainty for technology, where the rate of obsolescence is very fast,  where things change at warp speed”

“De-bureaucratize the whole process of Foreign Direct Investments  (FDIs) with only one condition, the Multinationals who seek entry into  this country must get themselves listed on the Indian bourses”

“Experience is not an asset. The future is going to be entirely  different and the past can provide little clue about the future,”

“I have seen nothing like this before. Capitalism seems to have  gone old. It is finding survival difficult. Keep away from the markets,”

Chandrakant Sampat: Bio, Investments, Articles, Quotes - Resource Page

Help Others Achieve Their Dreams and You Will Achieve Yours.

In 1987, a 74-year old rickshaw puller by the name of Bai Fangli came back to his hometown planning to retire from his backbreaking job. There, he saw children working in the fields, because they were too poor to afford school fees.

Bai returned to Tianjin and went back to work as a rickshaw puller, taking a modest accommodation next to the railway station. He waited for clients 24 hours a day, ate simple food and wore discarded second-hand clothes he found. He gave all of his hard-earned earnings to support children who could not afford education.

In 2001, he drove his rickshaw to Tianjin YaoHua Middle School, to deliver his last installment of money. Nearly 90 years old, he told the students that he couldn’t work any more. All of the students and teachers were moved to tears.

In total, Bai had donated a total of 350,000 yuan to help more than 300 poor students continue with their studies. In 2005, Bai passed away leaving behind an inspiring legacy.

If a rickshaw-puller who wore used clothes and had no education can support 300 children to go to school, imagine what you and I can do with the resources we have to bring about positive change in our world!

After this from May 2015 onward, I support education of 2 girl child. Believe me when I say this, do something for other, it will give you inner peace.

Source - Pingaksh Sharma / https://syedusmanhaniel.wordpress.com/2013/08/17/bai-fangli-a-rickshaw-puller/

#Inspiration #TrueStory Inspire someone today !!!

This is a real incident and happened with a friend. 

A college is incomplete without a Sutta (Cigarette) shop outside main gate. These shopkeepers are the most interesting people you can ever meet. If you want to know about change, every year they see new blood walking in and a totally transformed individual walking out of that hallowed gate. 

A friend who was a chain smoker decided suddenly to pull the brake and stopped smoking. After somedays he went to that shop to settle the balance. You are certainly  not a chain smoker if you do not have an account at the shop outside college's gate. 

Coming back to story, guess his reaction? You might expect him to ask why did you stop? Take one? But this guy handed my friend a 5star(chocolate), and told him it's good you stopped smoking and don't pick it up ever again. When my friend tried paying for 5star, he refused and told him to consider it as a reward for following the right direction. 

Faith in humanity,  restored.

Source- Rohit Gattani

#TrueInspiration This IAS Topper is One of the Bravest Women Alive...

The reason Ira Singhal made headlines for topping the IAS exam were two-fold: one, she's the first differently-abled person who's been able to accomplish this already-difficult feat, and the second is that she'd had her candidature cancelled twice because of her scoliosis—and she persevered through it all like a boss!

"I was already working 20 hours a day in a corporate job, and absolutely killing myself doing it...till I eventually realised—this is really not what I want to do. I want to help people—and that's definitely not happening here. So I thought I might as well take these 20 hours a day that I'm completely wasting at a job that helps noone, really, study instead and use my time for good in the service."

When she did finally write the exam, it was a flying colours scenario—but despite her great UPSC rank, the government didn't give her the job she rightly deserved. "I got the rank to be in the IRS, but they clearly just stated, 'your disability isn't the disability we have selected, so there's nothing we can do' —and this was despite me fitting all the criteria!"

She didn't take it lying down though. She ran around courtrooms relentlessly for a year—and meanwhile her candidature was cancelled altogether! "I wrote the exams again, and qualified again, constantly hitting my head against the same stone wall. But I kept fighting, because I realised I'm not just doing it for myself but for tonnes of other people who have faced the exact same thing since they were children. I've been discriminated against all my life—schools wouldn't admit me and would ask my parents to cart me off to 'special' school instead, people would stare at me and gape when I walked down the street—and you have no idea how much your stock plummets in the marriage market when you have a condition like this," she laughs. "But I knew I was getting into the system to change the country, and to make a difference—and what better way to start!"

Image source- Google Images

Kerala Now Has 100% Primary Education. Its Officially declared.

Kerala has become the first state in the country to achieve total primary education. This has been achieved through the primary education equivalency drive of the state literacy mission Athulyam. The equivalency programmes have proved a huge success and the ultimate objective is to achieve total Plus-Two education in the state," education minister P K Abdu Rabb said on Monday.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari will officially declare the 100% primary education status achieved by Kerala on Wednesday.

The second phase of Athulyam was carried out across the state as part of the Mission 676 of the government, launched to mark its third anniversary. The programme offers a chance for those who failed to get primary education due to various reasons to achieve the education qualification equivalent to fourth standard.

Those aged 15 to 50 were beneficiaries of the programme and were identified through family registries prepared by anganwadis under the social justice department and also through ward-level surveys carried out by instructors in continuing education programmes.

Around 2.6 lakh candidates appeared for the 4th standard equivalency examination in June 2015 and 2.2 lakh candidates qualified. The equivalency examination was held in 6,613 centres across the state and those who scored 30/75 in English and 20/50 in other subjects were declared winners.