MICHHAMMI DUKKDAM

Michhammi Dukkdam or Micha Mi Dukdam are the words which are used for term of Forgiveness by Jain religion followers during the biggest and event of ‘PARYUSHAN’.
The meaning of Michhammi Dukkdam is to ask for forgiveness for any sins I have done. Normally people wish Michhammi Dukkdam to the near and dear ones, after coming from Pratikaman where they ask for sorry through prayers for all the sins they have committed.

खामेमि सव्व जीवे, सव्वे जीवा खमंतु मे।

मित्ती मे सव्व-भूएसु, वेरं मज्झ न केणइ।।

Ø खामेमि सव्व जीवे (Khamemi Savve Jiva) – I forgive all the living creatures
Ø सव्वे जीवा खमंतु मे (Savve Jiva Khamantu Me) – I seek Pardon from all the life forms.
Ø मित्ती मे सव्व-भूएसु (Mitti Me Savva Bhutesu) – I am Friendly towards every one of the living beings.

Øवेरं मज्झ न केणइ (Veram Majjham Na Kenvi) – And Seek enmity with nothing.

PARYUSHAN PARVA - Paryushan is major events for Jains. Jain is world’s only religions who give the same chance of living for the all living species on the earth not only mankind. Jains celebrate the birth of the 24th TIRTHANKARA MAHAVIR during Paryushan an eight-day celebration in the month of August/September. As the name suggests, celebrated annually for self-purification and uplift is meant to adhere to the ten universal virtues in practical life; and leads us on the right path, far from the mad strife for material prosperity, which ultimately leads us to our true destination i.e., salvation. The non-Jains also express high reverence for this Jain festival. All members of Jain community- high and low, young and old, and males and females, participate with full vigor and zeal in the various religious rituals and cultural programs. Paryushan is celebrated with fasting i.e. Vrat and Tap.

These celebrations harbinger social harmony and amity and preach the lofty Jain motto ‘Live and Let live’.

PRATIKAMAN - This is one of the processes of remembering all the sins done by us throughout the year and confessing in front of Guruji and asking for forgiveness. Also during pratikaman we ask forgivessness from all our fellow mates for we have hurt them by any means...it is said "maan vachan n kaya thi" - by thoughts, speech or action, intentionally or unintionally. Ideally pratikaman has to be done everyday to wash our daily. There is a 2-3 hours ritual, where we read and go through the different types of sins a person can commit, and we ask for the forgiveness of those, and also in a way offer praises to God, so that we can cultivate the great qualities of God within us.

FASTING - In Jainisim, fasting is considered as a spiritual activity, that purifies our souls, improve morality, spiritual power, and increase knowledge and strengthen relationships. The purpose is to purify our souls by staying closer to our own souls, looking at our faults and asking for forgiveness for the mistakes and taking vows to minimize our faults. Strict fasting where one has to completely abstain from food and even water is observed for a week or more. Depending upon one's capability, complete fasting spans between 8-31 days. People also have to follow the ritual of not eating after sunset.

JAINISM is Not Only a Religion But Also A way of Living

This post on the blog is for the sole purpose of awareness of Jain festival ' Paryushan'.

SWINE FLU

BACKGROUND

• WHO (World Health Organization) has issued alerts against the developing situation regarding the outbreak of swine flu A(H1N1). Media reports indicate affected countries as Mexico, USA, Europe, Canada with reports of spreading across countries.

HOW SWINE FLU EMERGED

• The new virus has made a jump from pigs to humans and has demonstrated that it can also pass from human to human. This is the reason it is demanding so much attention from the health authorities. The virus passes from human to human like any other flu, either through coughing, sneezing, or even by touching infected areas, although little is known about how the virus acts on humans.

SYMPTOMS

• Fever
• Cough
• Sore Throat
• Body Aches
• Headache
• Chills and Fatigue
• Diarrhea
• Vomit
• Burning Eyes
• Pneumonia
• Muscle/ Joint Aches

CHECKLIST

• Follow personal hygiene tips for safety
• Practice safe food consumption habits
• Exercise vigilance on environmental changes and contacts
• Watch out for authentic media news reports through usual communication channels
• Do not Panic or fear, Do not believe in rumors

TRAVEL CARE

• Personnel considering travel to foreign countries should be aware that if the virus continues to spread, restrictions on movement may be imposed with little or no notice. Significant further deterioration in the situation could lead the authorities in other countries to control/prohibit travel to and from effected areas placing restrictions on local and international travel


• At all International airports, currently travelers are being screened for symptoms of the virus. Personnel should allow additional time for transiting through airports throughout the region because of screening procedures


• Travelers should ensure that their medical insurance is up-to-date and that they know how to activate it. Travelers should also check that their medical insurance is valid for travel. Personnel should know where to seek medical assistance during their trip.

RESOURCES

• World Health Organization - http://www.who.int/
• UK Health Protection Agency - http://hpa.org.uk/
• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention- http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/general_info.htm
• You can also refer FAQs ( A WHO release) with regards to swine flu at: http://www.scribd.com/share/upload/14536828/2b08xv88lmovouw2w0yu

Please note:
This article on the Blog is supposed to serve ONLY as an aid to understand the various details of the swine influenza and NOT for creating or communicating any panic situation at any point of time.

The Indian Machiavelli

Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य Cāṇakya) (c. 350-283 BCE) was an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340-293 BCE), who was the chief architect of his rise to power.He is known as "The Indian Machiavelli" in the Western world.Two books are attributed to Chanakya: Arthashastra and Nitishastra which is also known as Chanakya Niti.

The Arthashastra discusses monetary and fiscal policies, welfare, international relations, and war strategies in detail. Nitishastra is a treatise on the ideal way of life, and shows Chanakya's in depth study of the Indian way of life.

To read more about Chanakya and his nitis copy the following link on your browser:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16494972/Chanakya-Niti

Casadellibro.com

Situation Analysis: The Company Planeta, launched an ambitious online venture “ casadellibro.com”. The venture seems to be in very difficult situation. The market is not favourable. The internet companies faced the era of dotcom crash. There were terrorist attacks and fall in stock market. On the top of everything, the new designed platform to support its future expansion plans could not be integrated.

The management of the Company is in a cost control mode. It is in the dilemma whether it should rescale the newly designed platform based on UNIX or go for an entirely new platform of Microsoft.

There is no doubt that the Company has to launch an internet based platform. Thereby, evaluating both the options has its pros and cons. On one side the UNIX module has already seen the phase 1 of the project, i.e. design stage on the other hand is Microsoft which is latest technology and highly efficient . UNIX is not cost efficient where Microsoft which needed to be rescaled and redesigned in future in case the growth was higher than expected.

To decide for the option, we should make the following assumptions:

1) What is the kind of services the Company want to offer in the market? When it comes to e-commerce the management has to consider the Confidentiality, Integrity and availability of the database

2) What is the expected growth of the online business? Traditionally, the Company has been selling books through its book shops. It appears from the case that the Company is in the expansion mode. Therefore, it can be convincingly assumed that Internet business will grow in the future even though the market is facing temporary slowdown

Based on the assumptions and case analysis I strongly recommend that the Company should re-develop the acquired UNIX model due to following reasons:

1) The amount invested in designing the UNIX platform is a sunk cost and need not be considered for our decision. Even though the Company is in the cost saving mode the future maintenance, redesigning and rescaling cost of the platform has to be considered. Considering the future growth the new system appears to cost effective but it has high rescaling and redesigning costs attached to it.

2) Even though it is always an advantage to have latest technology but UNIX is also time tested technology. To what extent the Companies should upgrade its systems is a difficult question to answer.

3) The Company has passed through the initial churning (design) stage with UNIX so it is quiet matured to deal with the situation. On the other hand, to establish Microsoft platform will be a new experience for the Company which essentially means the Company will have to start from scratch which essentially means “ fear of non- performance”.

4) In economic terms, the Company will have the advantage of learning curve. Since the Company is used to work on UNIX, it will not face the problem of training its employees. In other words, firstly. It will not face resistance from its employees and secondly, it will enjoy the benefits of learning curve impact.

5) Since the solution to the problem of UNIX database was best in breed the concern of security and continuous availability of database doesn’t seems to exist.

6) Lastly, in an organisation, which is in continuous mode of expansion, the IT solutions projects are implemented with a very long term prospects and not the short term viability. Since, the Company has long term objectives, a strong, scaled and secured system is recommended even though a little complex.

Tesco Case

Tesco is the perfect case of use of Information Technology as a tool for a well defined Business Model which Adheres to its core purpose and values of customer loyalty and creating competitive advantage in the market.

Tesco had a clear Customer Relationship Management Strategy (CRM). It not only focused on competitive prices but also on the shopping as an experience as whole for the customer. The step towards the CRM was the Launch of Tesco Club card which was an innovation in the UK market for supermarkets which attracted millions of customers. When clients use the club card points get accumulated for every dollar the customer and can be redeemed at any Tesco Store. The vouchers can be used as payments when the client shops at the store. Another advantage for using this card is that the holders get free access to various clubs. But the area of concern for many people using such kind of cards might be the confidentiality of data.

Tesco made use of information technology to create tools to efficiently manage its supply chain. A program for farmers and growers and continuous update of codes for new research results shows its commitment to the supplier relations.

Tesco created an employee portal to manage its staffs and also a career portal to centralize its recruitment. It not only served as well defined approach by having centralised recruit plans but also cost effective. Here again it used IT management tools such as creation of website and management of database for its objectives.

On reading of the case, it appears that the Company used the IT system to build finance and inventory management similar to ERP modules. Further, these modules which required continuous online updates were also well managed by the Company.

Another successful strategy adopted by the Company to attract customers was “Clubcard Plus telephone Account” which also offered an overdraft facility. Club card which offered double point of purchases. It appears Tesco could really manage the growing number of saving accounts and cards. All credit to the Information Technology, utilising which the Company could really manage the strategy to attract customers, provide them point of sale services and maintain those customers for longer time period. Further, where the Strategy of entering into new stream of Business is concerned it appears they were again able to utilise IT as an important tool because 80% of the customers from TPF (Tesco Personal Finance) made their transactions through the stores. This again proves the ability of the Company to utilise the database maintained by it to its optimum levels.

Emerging in the latest era of Internet Tesco has emerged as one of the biggest Internet retailers which are tapping into the willingness of some customers to pay higher prices for a better experience. Internet-savvy consumers who value their time or are working class and want competitive prices, find shopping online to be a perfectly acceptable substitute. Shoppers can get groceries and more at competitive prices, just at the click of a mouse. The goods are delivered within an agreed-upon time and unloaded into the house at a nominal fee. No driving. No parking. No crowds. Here also, they are generating by not attracting customers to the stores.

In terms of International Expansion, the front end integration of its website and standalone working of the geographies /countries is the perfect example of managing IT in the way the company thinks to earn revenue and smoothen its operations.

To sum up, Tesco has proven its ability to utilise Information technology and its core values in a structured manner to generate the desired results - Profit maximisation and Customer satisfaction.

Meneame.net Case

Meneame.net Case
"Is it feasible to turn Menéame.net into an economically sounding project? Under which assumptions? Imagine that you were to be hired by Menéame.net as Business Development Manager: what type of proposals could they expect from you?"

As a Business Development Manager I think Meneame.net can be turned into an economically sound project. The success of the plan depends upon the following assumptions:

a) The traffic on the website Meneame.net will continue to increase in future
b) The advertisers in Spain will explore the option of advertising on the internet and use the social websites such as Meneame.net as a platform to advertise their products
c) Being a new entrant in the market with a revenue model the Company should be able to establish itself in the market with virtually no local competition to begin with

I propose the following business plan:

a) To analyse and target the potential customers be it professionals or housewives or young generation residing in spain or those who know and use this Spanish website vey frequently.

b) As per the demographic study of the target customers, to post the advertisement for them on the basis of type of information they are mostly looking for on the website. eg. For young job hunters who might be looking for this site it makes sense to post advertisements of recruitment firms for them. By following this methodology it will not only attract traffic and visibility on the web but maximise value to the advertisers.

c) The model not only intends to advertise for companies but also provide other services such as to conduct opinion polls to get the views of users on a topic or post some important news about the organisation ( this may serve as a mode of informal way of advertisement). This will definitely monitored closely to avoid legal and privacy issues, if any.

d) The Factor of Competition also needs to be factored in. Seeing to the success there is a possibility of new entrants in these markets. The model also aims to create awareness amongst the users and serve to the expectations of the users to such an extent that they do not switch over to any other social website. For this the model aims to control the number of advertisement so that the value maximisation of the user is also taken care off as too many advertisements may also force users to switch over.

About me

I was born in Rajasthan, India. I moved to Mumbai (the capital hub of India), India for higher studies and completed my Graduation in Commerce (B.Com) from R.A.Podar College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai ( www.rapdar.ac.in ). After graduation, I worked in my firm (CA firm) as Audit, Taxation and Management Consultant for two years. Subsequent to graduation, I also completed Chartered Accountancy ( ICAI) in India. Thereafter, I moved to a Mid sized Firm M/s Lodha & Co., (LCO), Chartered Accountants (Member Concern of BDO international) in the field Assurance, Taxation Advisory and Management Consultancy. I worked in LCO for three years. I have experienced the diverse nature of industries around the globe. Further, to add to the cart of different analogies of different countries, I have acquainted and audited accounts as per International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Presently, I am an MBA candidate at IE Business School ( www.ie.edu ) for the passing year 2009.