Author: Support
Tata Motors to introduce Air Car
Tata Motors is taking giant strides and making history for itself. First the Landrover-Jaguar deal, then the world’s cheapest car and now it is also set to introduce the car that runs on air, compressed air to be specific.
From 50 paise, she now earns Rs 200,000 a day
Shobha Warrier in Chennai
The story of Patricia Narayan, winner of this year’s ‘Ficci Woman Entrepreneur of the Year’ award is amazing.
She started her career 30 years ago as an entrepreneur, selling eateries from a mobile cart on the Marina beach amidst all odds — battling a failed marriage, coping with her husband, a multiple addict, and taking care of two kids.
Today, she has overcome the hurdles and owns a chain of restaurants.
Grants available
Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation (Deadline: Ongoing)
The Rufford Small Grants Foundation provides grants of up to £6,000 for small-scale or pilot nature conservation projects in less-developed countries around the world. Projects must have a nature/biodiversity conservation focus and be located outside the first world. The Foundation’s scope of interest includes conservation work focused on threatened habitats; animals in their habitat; and other organisms such as plants, fungi, or insects.
Projects that offer opportunities to train local team members in the running of the project and that include an educational element for local communities are strongly preferred. Individuals or small groups are eligible to apply and applications can be made throughout the year. www.ruffordsmallgrants.org/rsg
Courtesy : Behram Pastakia
Faulty credit report? How you can set it right
All of us at some point or the other take loans like home loan, car loan, personal loan, etc, from financial institutions. You may, in some instances, also find that the loan does not get approved in spite of your satisfying the loan eligibility criteria. It is then obviously time to learn that financial institutions approve or reject loan applications based on your credit history as reflected by the ‘Consumer Credit Information Report’ (CIR) (http://www.cibil.com/accesscredit.htm) developed by the Credit Information Bureau of India Limited, CIBIL.
The amazing story of Godrej’s growth
How to enable credit to the poor?
Karmayog CSR Dialogue Series 2010
We would like to kick-off the first of the “Karmayog CSR Dialogue Series“, that is a continuing set of of discussions on Corporate Social Responsibility in India.
The discussions will be based on the learnings and results from the Karmayog CSR Study and Ratings of the 500 largest Indian companies, that has been undertaken since 2007. (See www.karmayog. org/csr2009 for more details)
Our objective is to both broaden and deepen the understanding and implementation of CSR in India, by including more people from different areas of work and experience in the dialogue on CSR. So far, Corporate Social Responsibility is discussed and debated largely by corporates, industry associations and some departments of government that have a direct connect. But because what corporates do (through their products and processes) affects all citizens, it is important that all types of stakeholders from citizens to NGOs, media to academia, and corporates and government, together interact and engage on Corporate Social Responsibility.
Solutions to the issues and problems that confront society today need the contribution and involvement of all stakeholders, especially corporates, that form a large, influential and resource-rich group, but also the contributions of all other stakeholders. Karmayog, through the CSR Dialogue Series and through the networking platform that it provides, aims to bring together inputs, contributions and suggestions from all, enabling these to be used in finding and implementing solutions.
We welcome suggestions from you for topics to be covered in the “Karmayog CSR Dialogue Series”.
Karmayog CSR Dialogue Series 2010 – 1
How to enable credit to the poor?
Mohammed Yunus, the pioneer in microfinance and Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2006, says that “Microcredit should be about helping the poor to get out of poverty by protecting them from the moneylenders, not creating new ones. A true microcredit organization must keep its interest rate as close to the cost-of-funds as possible. My own experience has convinced me that microcredit interest rates can be comfortably under the cost of funds plus ten percent, or plus fifteen percent at the most.” (See http://www.grameen- info.org/ for details)
Several Indian micro-finance companies are shortly seeking listing on the stock exchange, and once listed, will be seeking and working towards huge and increasing profits for their investors. This means that they will be lending money to the poor at higher and higher interest rates, and justifying the same as there is currently no other way of reaching credit to the poor. This method of maximizing profit without any other social objective is a way of cashing in on poverty, and is contrary to the objective with which micro-finance insititutions were started, which was to provide credit to marginalised sections of society at the lowest possible rate of interest, with the objective of bringing them out of poverty, and not with the objective of earning profits for the lender.
Some questions:
– Should companies with no social objective be permitted to lend money to the poor?
– Should only government organisations and non-profits be permitted to lend to the poor?
– Should there be a limit set to the profits that can be made from micro-finance activites?
– Should the rate of interest be fixed by government, as is done for banks?
The Government of India has framed the Draft Document on Regulation and Development of Microfinance Sector. Please send your suggestions and ideas on ‘how to reach credit to the poor?’ . All responses received will be displayed on Karmayog as well as forwarded to the Ministry of Finance and NABARD.
Please respond via www.karmayog. org/messages/ message.aspx? id=2554
Regards,
Vinay
www.karmayog. org — creating collective conversations
‘Entrepreneurship is not very easy in India’
‘It’s a myth that start-ups can’t survive without venture capital’
Prasanna D Zore
Ratan Tata and the flat tire
One of Mr. Ratan N Tata’s first assignments was the stewardship of the ailing electronics company in the Tata portfolio – Nelco.
Story goes that a team of senior managers from Nelco was driving to Nasik along with RNT. Halfway into the journey, the car had a flat tire, and as the driver pulled up, the occupants – including Mr. Tata – got off for a comfort break, leaving the driver to replace the tire.
Some of the managers welcomed the forced break, as it allowed them a much-needed chance to light up a cigarette. Some used the opportunity to stretch, and smile, and share a joke. And then, one of them suddenly noticed that Mr. Tata was not to be seen, and wondered aloud where Ratan Tata might have vanished.
Was he behind some bush?
Had he wandered off inside the roadside dhaba for a quick cup of tea?
Or was he mingling with some passer-bys, listening to their stories? None of these, in fact while his colleagues were taking a break, Ratan Tata was busy helping the driver change tires. Sleeves rolled up, tie swatted away over the shoulder, the hands expertly working the jack and the spanner, bouncing the spare tire to check if the tire pressure was ok. Droplets of sweat on the brow, and a smile on the face. In that moment, the managers accompanying Ratan Tata got a master class in leadership they haven’t forgotten. And that’s a moment that the driver of that car probably hasn’t forgotten either.
Questions to ask: When was the last time I rolled up my sleeves to do a task much below my hierarchy?
Do I wait for the big opportunity to showcase my leadership?
Is that big opportunity ever going to come?
Am I trying to manage upwards so much that I’ve lost the feel of the field?
Ideas for action: Practice leadership in small things instead of waiting for the big crisis or a major product launch.
Seek to find opportunities to lead in everyday moments.
Build your leadership skills one baby step at a time.
Or was he mingling with some passer-bys, listening to their stories? None of these, in fact while his colleagues were taking a break, Ratan Tata was busy helping the driver change tires. Sleeves rolled up, tie swatted away over the shoulder, the hands expertly working the jack and the spanner, bouncing the spare tire to check if the tire pressure was ok. Droplets of sweat on the brow, and a smile on the face. In that moment, the managers accompanying Ratan Tata got a master class in leadership they haven’t forgotten. And that’s a moment that the driver of that car probably hasn’t forgotten either.
Questions to ask: When was the last time I rolled up my sleeves to do a task much below my hierarchy?
Do I wait for the big opportunity to showcase my leadership?
Is that big opportunity ever going to come?
Am I trying to manage upwards so much that I’ve lost the feel of the field?
Ideas for action: Practice leadership in small things instead of waiting for the big crisis or a major product launch.
Seek to find opportunities to lead in everyday moments.
Build your leadership skills one baby step at a time.
Courtesy : Sam Billimoria
Enterprisers.in 