મફતમાં નંબર ચેક કરીને મફતના ભાવમાં ચશ્માં આપનાર ગૌતમભાઈ ઉપાધ્યાય

આંખેથી જોવાની દ્રષ્ટી અને સમજવાની શક્તિ આ બંને વસ્તુ એ માણસના જીવનમાં ખુબ જ ઉપયોગી બનીને રહે છે. આપણા શરીરની પાંચેય ઇન્દ્રિયોમાં આંખ એ મહત્વનું અંગ છે અને તે માટે જ આંખોનું જતન કરવું એ આપણી જ ફરજ બને છે. ફિલોસોફીની વાત પછી હવે કરીએ ચશ્માની વાત અને તે એટલા માટે કે આંખ અને ચશ્માની દાંડી એ બંને વચ્ચેનો સંબધ એ ગાંધીજી અને ગોપાલ કૃષ્ણ ગોખલે જેવો છે. આજે કેટલી બધી બ્રાંડ ચશ્માની બજારમાં આવી ગયી છે. જ્યાં જુઓ ત્યાં ચશ્માં જ ચશ્માં. ફેસબુકમાં ચશ્માં, ઘરે ચશ્માં, દુકાને ચશ્માં અને કાકાના ખીસામાં પણ ચશ્માં. 

ચશ્માની કિંમત કેટલી માત્ર ૨૦૦-૨૫૦ રૂપિયા જેટલી ? 

કદાચ હોઈ પણ શકે પરંતુ તમે ક્યારેય એવું સાંભળ્યું છે કે માત્ર ૧૦ રૂપિયામાં પણ જરૂરિયાતવાળા લોકોને ચશ્માં આપનાર લોકો આજે છે અને તે પણ પોતાની ચશ્માંની દુકાન હોવા છતાં તેઓ વર્ષોથી સેવાકીય પ્રવૃત્તિ કરે છે.  તમને કદાચ આ વસ્તુ મજાક લગતી હશે કે શું વાત કરો છો માત્ર ૧૦ રૂપિયામાં ચશ્માં ?  કઈ જગ્યાએ ? મને ખબર હતી કે એ પ્રશ્ન તમારો તરત જ આવશે કેમ કે તમે એ પ્રશ્ન પૂછવા માટે વર્ષોથી બંધાયેલા છો. 

તો સાંભળો. અમદાવાદમાં ગાંધી રોડ ઉપર ધીક્વાચોકીનો ઢાળ આવે છે અને ત્યાં સરૈયા નામની પોળમાં ગૌતમ ચશ્માં ઘર છે. તેમના માલિક છે ગૌતમભાઈ ઉપાધ્યાય એક બ્રાહમણ તરીકે માંગવા કરતા ૧૦ રૂપિયામાં ચશ્માં આપવાની વૃતિ ધરાવે છે અને તે પણ નિસ્વાર્થભાવે. આખા ગુજરાતની મોટા ભાગની સામાજિક સેવાઓ સાથે સંકળાયેલા ગૌતમભાઈ વ્યવસાયે એક ચશ્માની દુકાન ધરાવે છે પરંતુ એમનામાં રહેલા સેવાકીય ગુણના હિસાબે આજે તેઓ આખા રાજ્યના ધાર્મિક સંગઠનો, ધર્માદા સંસ્થાઓ, ચેરીટેબલ હોસ્પિટલો અને નાના નાના ગામડામાં જઈને ટેબલ - ખુરશી ઉપર બેસીને હાથે ચશ્માના નંબર ચેક કરીને કોઈ પણ જાતની ભૂલ વગર જરૂરિયાત વાળા લોકોને માત્ર ૧૦ રૂપિયામાં ચશ્માં આપે છે.

સુરેન્દ્રનગર, રાજકોટ, પોરબંદર, જામનગર, ભાવનગર, સુરત, બરોડા અને ક્યાંય ને ક્યાંય એમને રાહતદરે કેમ્પ કરેલા છે. એમની સાથે થયેલી મુલાકાતમાં વધુ જણાવ્યું કે મારે લાયન્સ ક્લબ, રોટરી ક્લબ, રેડક્રોસ અને બીજી બધી સંસ્થાઓ સાથે જોડાણ છે અને જો તે લોકો આ સેવાકીય પ્રવૃત્તિ કરવા માંગતા હોય તો હું ત્યાં વિના સંકોચે પહોચી જાઉં છે એક પણ જાતનો પૈસો લીધા વગર. ચશ્માં મારા, મારે પોતાને જ જોવાનું અને એ પણ કોઈ જાતના બીલ વગર. મને એક ચશ્માની કિંમત અંદાજીત ૧૮૦ કે ૨૦૦ રૂપિયામાં પડે છે અને તે જ ચશ્માં હું આ બધી સેવાકીય સંસ્થાઓ સાથે જોડીને માત્ર ૧૦ રૂપિયામાં ગરીબ અને જરૂરિયાત વાળા લોકોને આપું છું જોકે મેં ક્યારેય મારી આખી જીંદગીમાં આ લોકોને મારી દુકાનનું સરનામું આપ્યું નથી. એમને માત્ર એમ જ કહું છું કે "તમારે જયારે કોઈ પણ તકલીફ પડે તો મને આ નંબર ઉપર ફોન કરી દેવાનો" કોઈ પણ ગામડામાં કે શહેરમાં હોય હું આવી જઈશ. આ જાતની સેવા માત્ર અમુક લોકો જ કરે છે.

મેં એમને કહ્યું કે ગૌતમભાઈ મને ઘણા બધા પત્રકારો ઓળખે છે તો તમારી સ્ટોરી હું છાપામાં છપાવી આપું તો એમણે મને સ્પષ્ટપણે ના પાડી દીધી કે દિપકભાઈ, હું આ ચશ્માં સેવાકીય પ્રવૃત્તિથી કરું છું અને જો હું આને વ્યવસાય બનાવી દઈશ તો બ્રાહ્મણ તરીકેનો મારો જન્મ હું આવતા જન્મે હું નહિ પામું.

તમે જો કોઈ ધર્મનું કાર્ય કરવા માંગતા હોય તો એક કામ કરજો તમારી સગવડ મુજબ એક કેમ્પ કરી આપો અને હું ત્યાં કહેશો ત્યારે પહોચી જઈશ મારી સાધન સામગ્રી લઈને બસ એક જ અપેક્ષા છે કે માનવધર્મ એ જ સાચો ધર્મ. આજે આ જ વસ્તુ અમદાવાદ કે બીજા કોઈ શહેરમાં ૭૦૦-૮૦૦ રૂપિયામાં કરી આપે છે. હું એમ નથી કહેતો કે એ લોકો માનવધર્મ ગુમાવ્યો છે પરંતુ સસ્તા મળતા ચશ્માં જો મોંધા ભાવે આપણે વહેચીયે તો એ ખોટી વસ્તુ છે.

તમે કોઈને પણ મારો સંપર્ક આપી શકો છો. મારો નંબર છે: ગૌતમભાઈ ઉપાધ્યાય - ૯૦૯૯૮૪૪૪૧૨. ૦૭૯- ૨૨૧૩૯૦૬૫.

Perception or Inception – “MBAs are threats to CAs” – Kumar Manglam Birla

Identifying MBAs as threat to CAs as professionals, noted industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla today asked the government to implement IFRS (international financial reporting standard) with utmost care.

"CAs today face top challenge from MBAs who are good at communication skills, know finance and economy better," the Chairman of Aditya Birla Group said while addressing the two-day All India Conference of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) here.

Seeking steps to re-orient the curriculum for CA courses, Birla said that having knowledge only in accounting would not help the present day CAs to face the challenges. "MBAs have an edge over CAs in many fields as the Indian economy is much closer to the world economy now. As merger and acquisition are order of the day, CAs have big roles to play," he said. Stating that the employers want new CAs to become productive from day one, Birla suggested the CAs to 

take leadership.

by virtue of their quality and have knowledge over other matters besides accounting.

Birla, a chartered accountant and an MBA himself, was not happy over the rate of pass percentage of CAs. "The pass percentage during our time was 4 per cent. Now it is 17 per cent. The pass ratio should be 10 per cent," he remarked apparently stressing the need for better products. To a query from participants at the session, Birla said public analysts would misinterpret results and confuse IFRS. "IFRS should be implemented very carefully," he said.

While the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) contends that the existing Indian Accounting Standards must converge with the IFRS to increase the credibility of Indian companies globally, Birla felt it might create confusion. As per an earlier roadmap laid by the MCA, companies with a net worth of over Rs 1,000 crore were to converge their financial statements as per IFRS from April 1, 2011. But the move hit roadblock in view of opposition by some corporate houses, sources said.

Corporate affairs minister Veerappa Moily, earlier this month, asserted that IFRS would be implemented from April 1, 2013 to ensure that corporate biggies keep pace with the changing times and global trends. Stating that IFRS should suit Indian needs and not be based on the US disclosure model, Birla said public analyst groups need to be educated on how to interpret numbers. Because of the policy paralysis, the confidence of investors has been shaken, he said replying to another question adding that decline in the FDI and insurance sectors was result of such policy matters. On research and development (R & D), Birla said: "R of R&D has not made much progress. Indian industries have done much in development side.

Source: The Financial Express

Photo Courtesy : Google

Fans of ‘Chandragupta Maurya’ organize rally in Mumbai

Enthusiastic fans of the most popular historical TV serial Chandragupta Maurya organized a massive rally at Zuhu in Mumbai with a demand for return back of the show. Lead actors of the show Manish Wadhwa (Chanakya), Sooraj Thapar (Dhananand) and Tej Sapru (Tej Sapru) also attended the rally to thank their loving fans for the support.

“In my career of over two decades I haven't seen fans showing so much love to see a show back on air. Hence when we got to know that people have organized rallies across the country, we went to visit them in Mumbai and thank them for showering so much love” said Sooraj Thapar during the rally.

Udit Rajpara, a dedicated fan of the show said, “Sony had agreed to air Chandragupta Maurya, but the NOC required for the same from Imagine TV has yet not been issued after a period of three months".

Naveen Dhawan was the person who actually arranged the rally, which also displayed street plays in favor of the show and against the decision of channels to air the useless ‘Saas-bahu’ serials that is merely done for TRP.

Earlier rallies were also organized in Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. The official ‘Save Chandragupta Maurya Show’ Facebook page has a huge fan following across the globe.

Colleagues pay tribute to slain Maruti manager

Colleagues and relatives ofAwanish Kumar Dev, the Maruti Suzuki General Manager HR who died in the July 18 violence at the company's Manesar plant, gathered and lighted candles in his memory at Leisure Valley Park in Sector 29 on Sunday evening. Nearly 200 people, including women and children, protested the government's "inaction" and sought justice for Dev. 

Demanding that organizations and the government ensure the safety of employees, people, carrying "Justice for Awanish" placards and candles in their hands, took out a small procession. A two-minute silence was also observed. 

Samrendra Kumar, an HR consultant who organised the vigil along with few other colleagues, said "It's not a protest but a pressure group which will remind the government to take action. Until now there have only been talks but no action. Where are the culprits who did this? They claim they had arrested all the 12 union leaders responsible for the incident on the same day. How is it possible? Others say it was pre-planned, if so then what happened to our intelligence?" The incident also puts a question mark on the measures taken by the organization and the government for workers' safety, he added.

Recalling the incident, Salil Lal, who was stuck with Awanish in the fire inside the Maruti plant and beaten by the union members, said, "There was frenzy all over suddenly. 

Awanish's wife, who was not present, sent a text message reading "Thanks for the support. This will keep pressure on them. Please keep up the pressure." 

For some it's high time the country's needs a change in its labour laws. "India needs to get out of the medieval mould. More importantly, the nexus between politicians and trade unions needs to be exposed," said Shubhendu Kumar who was present at the vigil. 

S K Mohanty, an advocate, who did not know Awanish but was there to support the cause, said "I don't know Awanish personally. But, if this has happened to Awanish, it can happen to any other person. We need to reform our labour laws. Moreover, the human resources officials and other top officers should stay in touch of their workers." 

Savijit Sharma, an employee in the HR department of Pepsico, said "It's the cause for which the entire HR fraternity has come to support and I'm part of it." 

Anil Sachdev, founder of the School for Inspired leadership, said "We need to get the government working and the people to take responsibility. The fact that instead of a dialogue, these people resorted to violence somewhere reflects that people have lost faith in the Indian 

Constitution and the government machinery."

Photo Courtesy: Google

Others: Times of India

Why Team Anna to end Fast on Friday, to join Politics ?

Following the requests by eminent personalities, Team Anna members, who have been fasting since a week at Jantar Mantar, have decided to call off their fast at 5 pm on Friday.

Twenty eminent persons, including former Army chief VK Singh, on Thursday appealed to Team Anna to call off their indefinite fast. 

Meanwhile, Anti-corruption crusaders Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal have decided to provide a political option to the people. The Team members said that the country needs people's alternative to the government, which indicated that they would form a political party and to be the part of the political system. 

Addressing at Jantar Mantar to the scores of his supporters, Anna on Thursday said that his team was ready to offer a political alternative. He further spoke about where the funding for such an alternative will come from. 

Anna said "Political alternative will be found, we will travel across the country for the next two years." Anna's key aide Arvind Kejriwal, who is on fast since 9 days, said that the decision of the team was for a change in system. 

"Our movement is for the change of system and not change of government. Our movement is for decentralisation of power, power in the hands of the common man, power to people," said Kejriwal. 

Addressing the crowd at the fast venue, he slammed the government saying it is deaf and mute. "They do not want to pass the Lokpal Bill. All parties are corrupt. 90 per cent of the people want us to provide a political alternative", he said. 

Reacting to Anna's statement, Congress leader Ambika Soni said that now Team Anna's intention was clear."We were saying this from first day that Team Anna inspired by politics. It's good that their intentions are out in the open. It's best they come out and be part of the same system they abuse always. If they call off their fast, it's a good thing. Don't hold government to ransom. They have made their point and accusing the government of not bringing Lokpal is not true. It's passed in Lok Sabha and its now with Select Committee," she said.

Source: The Press Trust of India

Photo : Google

The Management Consultancy Phenomenon

If growth and influence are a measure of a successful industry then few have more claim on the top position than that of management consultancy. In 1980, revenues from the consulting industry were estimated at $3bn (Kennedy Information 2002). By 2008, this figure had reached $330bn, an increase of over 10,000 per cent in less than thirty years (Kennedy Information 2009).

Even more remarkable has been the impact of the consulting industry on society. This does not only concern graduates, who now put consultancy as their number one career choice, or even businesses, where the spend on consultants in single outsourcing or IT development projects can run to hundreds of billions of dollars. Consultancy has had an impact on every one of us, from the structures of government and the provision of education, to the very language that we use and the way that we think about the world.

If the statement above seems incredible, it should not. In the last ten years the influence of consultants in the actual governance of countries across the Western world has increased exponentially. As government spending on consultants has risen by 1,000 per cent over last ten years consultants have fostered increasingly close relationships with senators, ministers, and senior public officials in the attempt to influence political agendas and spending strategies. The resulting projects on modernisation, e-business, and new public sector management have cost governments hundreds of billions of pounds with highly varied levels of success.

A clear consequences of this success has been growing dominance of the managerialist practices and discourses in areas which were previously immune, ranging from sectors such as education, charities, 'the arts' and health to whole economies in the developing world. The influence of the consulting industry can also be evidenced in the remarkable spread of the management innovations that have been invented and disseminated by consultancies and consultants, which amount to hundreds of thousands of concepts that organizations across the globe use. These include Total Quality Management, Business Process Re-engineering, Core Competences, Growth Share Matrix and 7-S framework.

The complicity of the consulting industry in the collapse of the dotcom industry as well as high profile companies such as Enron, WorldCom, and Parmalat marked a turning point in public attitudes toward the industry. 

Whether or not consultancy is at a crossroads or whether the recent crisis is a mere blip on the path to greater growth is difficult to tell. However, for students, academics, journalist and consultants, the industry still offers exciting and interesting opportunities in the filed of theory, practice and analysis.

- Deepak Bhatt, Global Management