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Sunday 25 December 2016

10 reasons behind enormous success of Baba Ramdev's Patanjali brand

Patanjali ayurved ltd formed in 2006, is one of the fastest growing FMCG(fast moving consumer goods) company of India. In 2015 its total sales grew to 5000 crores. It has over 4000 distributers,10000 stores and 100 megamarts across the country. It offers wide variety of products from oil/shampoo to rice and medicines. It is said to be entering in product market of jeans and other clothing too considering the demand of the time. During an interview Ramdev said ''Patanjali aims to set up 10 mega units, 50 semi mega units and many small scale units to compete with multinationals with the idea of swadeshikaran (indianism)''.It is an FMCG empire that was not in the competition of the big players even a couple of years back. Today, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali is sweeping away everything in its path. From local stores to Amazon, Patanjali products are everywhere.
No other FMCG has grown so fast in India ,we present you some facts about how Patanjali became a giant in Indian marketplace. Here are the reasons behind overnight success of baba ramdev's Patanjali brand.
    1. Strong community building or follower base - This brand has drawn hope from ancient wisdom. From last decade baba Ramdev has put a lot of effort in popularizing the concept of YOGA and AYURVEDA. In this time he has successfully built an extremely loyal community of followers. 'Important point to understand is that for a successful business an strong community is like solid foundation on which you can build a business that would really last for ages.( all the aspiring entrepreneurs take note).
    2. Low pricing of Patanjali products - Instead of selling to retail trade through distributors, Patanjali group have their own branded outlets across the country. thus they can save a reasonable margin in distribution which translates into 20 to 25 % cost advantage and gives company to leverage to price its products 15-30 % cheaper than other brans in competition.
    3. Feel of nature and wellness - Patanjali is wisely using ancient brand value of natural ayurvedic herbs in selling their products, branding them as herbal and claiming them to be better than rival's products. Patanjali is first brand which was turning idea of using natural products into a cult. Consumers in India like contemporary things, that spring from their cultural identity. The concept of ayush and Ayurveda has this appeal. Besides the consumer awareness about impact of harmful products, in what they eat or drink, has been growing rapidly( imagine how fast water purifier industry has grown in last decade). At the same time this brand offers products with no harmful products(as they claim during their marketing and advertisement).
    4. Single brand strategy - Nestle has 100's of brands in India, Unilever also has many. but in Patanjali every product goes with single brand name-> PATANJALI. In multi brand strategy each brand requires its own marketing and promotional budget, and teams. But cutting it down to one brand makes the process easier. It also reduces your marketing spend, and this reduction can also be utilized to drop the maximum price \s. Besides Single brand strategy also makes consumer recognition of product easier. For example people will simply go to market and ask for soap of Patanjali instead of asking and choosing among various soaps of unilever company.
    5. Tagline of swadeshi - They suggests that buying patanjali will contribute to the Indian economy as they are homegrown products,according to them money that we spend in these products stays in India and eventually comes back to us only. Idea of swadeshi which Baba Ramdev would promote from time to time in media and every time during his yoga campaign.
    6. Promotion and marketing - They are spending a lot on aggressive marketing of the brand also. In tv advertisements you can see that every second or third ad is related to Patanjali brand. baba ramdev is himself seen marketing a lot of his products. As Adi Godrej has said ''Patanjali is riding on Ramdev's image,not products''.
    7. Free consultation with medicines - This is also very important, in the market patanjali has three types of retail stores-Arogya Kendra, chikitsalya, and swadeshi Kendra . These stores are given the brand value of Patanjali and in return these stores provide , free consultation by certified medical practitioners . The fact that a trustworthy consultaion is free in an area as important as healthcare provides strong leverage to company itself.
    8. Replicating of successful products - Top selling products are picked up from market and similar products are developed based on herbal formulation under Patanjali brand. Mostly they are replica's of successful products of multinational companies. take the example of atta noodles of patanjali which is replica of nestle's Maggie and divya chyawanprash which is replica of DABUR's chyawanprash.
    9. Product variety - Patanjali offers products in wide range of FMCG group, which provides consumers a lot of options.
    10. And last but not least don't ignore the God man culture of India, people will do whatever they are told to do by some Baba. Imagine some baba saying them to buy some oil/ghee/toothpaste. How tough is that ? 
 Patanjali brand is one of the fastest growing giant in the field of FMCG. It has proved that today business is not only about delivering good products but clever marketing strategies are also equally effective.
Anyway with Baba Ramdev, at this point, anything seems possible.


(Share this article if you found this helpful) 

Tuesday 6 December 2016

The incident of 1989 which changed the political scenario in Tamilnadu

On 25 March 1989, Karunanidhi, then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and also the state's finance minister, stood up to read his budget speech, when he was interrupted by the opposition. Congress MLA Kumari Anandan spoke that police was harassing Jayalalithaa, then Leader of Opposition in the assembly, who also joined her in protest, arguing that Karunanidhi was using the police to harass her and was getting her phones tapped. She wanted the house to discuss this issue. 

Even before Karunanidhi could say anything, the assembly was in chaos, and Jayalalithaa screamed "People charged with criminal acts should not be allowed to present the budget”. She declared that Karunanidhi was corrupt. Karunanidhi replied with a retort - expunged from assembly records for being 'unparliamentary' - which made Jayalalithaa very angry. As one of her MLAs rushed towards Karunanidhi’s desk, he lost his balance and fell; DMK legislators dismantled the microphones and threw them at the opposition members, who flung slippers and books in response; one of Jayalalithaa’s MLAs tore the budget papers in half.

The speaker adjourned the House - which should have brought these shameful happenings to a close. It did not. While Jayalalithaa was coming out of the assembly, the then minister for public works, Durai Murugan, among Karunanidhi's favorites even today, obstructed her path, clutching at her sari as she cried for assistance. 

This incident—with its echoes of the shameful disrobing of Draupadi in theMahabharata—was the beginning of the end for Karunanidhi. Jayalalithaa publicly vowed to “never step foot inside the House until conditions are created for a woman to attend the Assembly with dignity”. And rest is history, she became cm of state for five times after that. She will always be remembered as symbol of women empowerment. 

Friday 2 December 2016

India just unveiled world's largest solar power plant

Image result for adani solar manufacturing



This sunlight based power plant is arranged at Kamuthi, in the condition of Tamilnadu. This venture has been commissioned by ADANI POWER aggregate.

This is world's biggest sun based power plant (photovoltaic),generating most extreme sun based vitality at a solitary place.Previously this title had a place with TOPAZ sun based homestead in California,which has limit of 550 MW,

It has the producing limit of 648 Mw,which is most astounding for any single sun-powered plant on the planet.

Kamuthi sunlight based power plant was finished on 21 sep 2016 with starting a venture of 4550 crores.

This plant comprises of 25,00,000 sun oriented modules (a sunlight based module is a blend of sun based panels).And 27,000 meters of structures,576 inverters,154 transformers and 7500 km of the link.

Boards involve 1270 sections of land of land,while the entire plant is extended in 2500 sections of land of the area,it should give power to 1.5 lakh homes.

Sunlight based boards of this plant are cleaned once a day by the automated system,which is thusly charged by sun-based power,therefore making it the self-supporting framework.

India beforehand had added up to limit of 8.6 gigawatts of sun-powered energy,now including the limit of Kamuthi power plant our ability has raised to 9.5 Gws.

Beforehand Charanka sun-powered park,Gujarat was the greatest sun-powered vitality creating plant of India it has a limit of 221 megawatts.

Sun-powered vitality has been a prevalent type of renewable energy,all the created nations are attempting to boost their renewable vitality generation. China creates the most noteworthy measure of sun-powered vitality ,China had added up to limit of 43530 megawatts (approx). India is route behind in this field.

Difficulties and open doors for India in the field of sun-powered vitality:

The land is a rare asset in the nation like India.due to high populace thickness. A ton of land range is utilized as a part of building up such sort of sunlight based power plants.

The fund is the field where we have to stress ,there is insufficient state house interest in the field of renewable vitality in India as of now.

The third test is of technology or specialized issues related with sun-powered power.for the case, Indian framework is not as the present day when contrasted with created nations like America,which causes a great deal of force misfortune amid transmission. Lattice incorporation and capacity are different issues.

''On eleventh Jan 2010, then head administrator Manmohan Singh reported the 'Jawaharlal Nehru national sun oriented mission' with an objective of 20 gigawatts sun-powered vitality generation by 2022.Which was later increased to 100 Gws in 2015 union spending plan''.

Thursday 1 December 2016

Goods and Services Tax:One Country One Tax One Market

GST BILL SIMPLIFIED

Image result for gst

It has been hailed as India's 'greatest expense change.' After months of political haggling, the administration has won a political accord on the quite anticipated products and enterprises impose (GST) charge, 

The GST will make a typical market for more than 1.25 billion individuals. Here's a refresher on what it is: 

It's a sweeping aberrant expense that will subsume a few circuitous state and government duties, for example, esteem included assessment (VAT) and extract obligation, and distinctive state charges, focal additional charges, amusement impose, extravagance charge and a huge number of related collects by neighborhood bodies. 

The GST is probably going to be at 18 % and is broadly anticipated that would be actualized one year from now in April. 

GST is a 'goal based' assessment, which means it's charged where merchandise is expended, rather than where they are created. Since it moves the power that few Indian states have had in forcing roundabout expenses on the generation and development, a concentrated GST Council has been set up that will choose which duties will fall in the domain of states and which can be subsumed into the GST. A question determination instrument will likewise be set up to determine any GST-related debate. 

What will get to be distinctly less expensive? 

Expect numerous products and buys to end up distinctly less expensive except for fuel, alcohol, and tobacco. While a few businesses are relied upon to be recipients, media outlets might be a major champ as it will essentially cut down the 27 percent diversion impose. Here's the manner by which heading off to the motion pictures will get to be distinctly less expensive: the focal and state charges come to about ?66 on a ?300 film ticket. The assessment could come down to about ?46. Loads of PVR silver screen have shot up lately. Another recipient is the development and building materials industry, which implies the lodging part may likewise be a major victory with things like paints and concrete getting to be distinctly less expensive. 

Why is it a major ordeal? 

The GST is relied upon to add two for each penny to the nation's GDP, other than making the development of merchandise less demanding crosswise over states. Since so far expenses have shifted crosswise over states, frequently business trucks have needed to experience different checkpoints to acquire the vital allows and pay a few charges to the states they pass on their courses, which causes delays and energizes gift. A uniform expense will make that development of business items smoother.

Tuesday 29 November 2016

Son Has No Legal Right On Parents' House But Can Stay At Their Mercy, Says Delhi High Court

If you are a man living with your parents in hope of inheriting their home when time comes, this may not be a good news for you.

Son parents house, Son parental house, High Court Son parents house

NEW DELHI: A son, irrespective of his marital status, has no legal right to live in the self-acquired house of his parents and can reside there only at their "mercy", the Delhi high court has said.



The court also said that only because parents have allowed the son to live in their house as long as their relations are cordial does not mean they have to bear his "burden" throughout his life.




"Where the house is self-acquired by the parents, son whether married or unmarried, has no legal right to live in that house and he can live in that house only at the mercy of his parents up to the time the parents allow," Justice Pratibha Rani said in an order.




"Merely because the parents have allowed him to live in the house so long as his relations with the parents were cordial does not mean that the parents have to bear his burden throughout his life," the court said.



It said this while dismissing an appeal by a man and his wife challenging the order of a trial court which had passed a decree in favour of his parents, who had filed a suit seeking a direction to their son and daughter-in-law to vacate the floors in their possession.

Wednesday 16 November 2016

From the wall of a banker in rural area #demonetization

Here is the Facebook post
“Alright I’ve had enough! I work at ***, rural area. And if tomorrow I have to tell another mother that we can’t give her enough cash for her child’s treatment, I will breakdown. If tomorrow I see another shivering old lady in the queue, I will breakdown. Because I can’t really look them in the eye and explain to them that it’s all for greater good and for national interest and that black money will go away. Black money or no black money. The system has always failed them every single time. And govt hospitals don’t exist everywhere, Pvt ones aren’t taking old currency, and for crying out loud your elitist asses wouldn’t trust a govt hospital either with the life of your loved ones. Please be honest. Please drop this elitism. This is NOT ‘inconvenience’. It’s a crime now. It’s a violation of human rights. People have DIED. Died waiting in queues, died in hospitals that didn’t take old currency, died working in banks. How can you justify DEATH because of a poorly executed policy in the name of greater good. I don’t want any good that has someone’s blood on it. And will this good mean income parity? WILL IT? What was the rush when your infrastructure wasn’t ready? People have died because you couldn’t wait to hit headlines. Black money can’t be your excuse for apathy. If this is your idea of deshbhakti then to hell with such patriotism. My patriotism doesn’t allow me to let people die for anyone’s ‘greater good’.

#Demonetization”

Sunday 16 October 2016

Nobel prizes: --interesting facts and history

Recently a lot of media hype is there about Bob Dylan getting theNobel prize for literature.
Here we present some facts about the Nobel prize given every year:-

(1) Nobel prize is awarded for outstanding contribution in fields ofchemistry, economics, literature, peace, physics, and physiology ormedicine.(2) Sweden and Norway presents the award every year.The Royal SwedishAcademy of sciences awards the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Nobel Prizein Chemistry, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, theNobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute awards the Nobel Prize inPhysiology or Medicine, the Swedish Academy grants the Nobel Prize inLiterature, and the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded not by a Swedishorganisation but by the Norwegian Nobel committee.(3) Nobel prize was first awarded in 1901.(4) Initially Nobel prize was not given in field of economics, In1968, Sveriges Riksbank celebrated its 300th anniversary by donating alarge sum of money to the Nobel Foundation to be used to set up aprize in honour of Nobel. That year, the Nobel memorial prize ineconomic sciences was awarded for the first time.(5) The prize ceremonies take place annually in Stockholm, Sweden(with the exception of peace prize which is held in Oslo, Norway).(6) Each recipient (or laureate) receives a gold medal, a diploma anda sum of money decided by Nobel foundation (the Nobel prize amount for2016 is set at Swedish kronor SEK, 8.0 million per full Nobel prize).

Story of Nobel prize :--

Nobel prize is given in the name and honour of Swedish inventorAlfred Nobel. Alfred Nobel was a chemist, engineer and inventor. Nobelmade a lot of inventions of which 'Dynamite' is the most famous. Thewill of Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895.

»Alfred Nobel did a lot of innovations, and earned a lot of money fromhis patents.
»In 1888, Alfred Nobel's brother Ludwig died due to some accident. Onthe next day a french newspaper mistakenly published Alfred'sObituary.It condemned him for his invention of dynamite, Obituary stated "Themerchant of death is dead"It further stated "Dr, Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding waysto kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday".
»Alfred Nobel was disappointed with what he read and decided to leavea better legacy after his death.
»This inspired Nobel to change his will. His will specified that histotal fortune to be uesd to confer awards in various fields ofchemistry, peace, physics, medicine etc. After his death Nobel prizefoundation was established. And thats how Nobel prizes were awarded.


(Doesn't that seem an interesting story?)

Friday 14 October 2016

Surgical strikes and political aftermath in India

Recent surgical strikes that the Indian armed forces conducted across the line of control, are being highlighted in the media constantly due to growing politics over the issue. Surgical strikes came up in the wake of terror attack at an army camp in Uri(kashmir), on september 18th in which our 19 soldiers were killed.


Here are some facts about the surgical strike :-

1. Such strikes were also carried out in the past (remeber operation ginger) but they were different in certain ways, like scale of operation and political involvement.

2. Previous strikes mostly happened at operational-tactical level. Which means that local army commanders took the action and government was informed later.

3. This strike was different because it includes the highest level of political involvement. Some reports say that PM Modi was himself watching the whole operation( live ) conducted by our armed forces.

4. As soon as the news spread in media Pakistan denied any kind of strike in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

5. Meanwhile Pak troops also resorted to heavy cross border firing along LOC after this strike.

6. Some terrorist attacks are also reported in baramula and pampore district of Kashmir.


Now have a look at political scenario post surgical strike in India:-

1. There were tough times ahead post Uri attack, for modi led NDA government. Public sentiments were creating pressure over government to act tough and give befitting reply to Pakistan. At the same time Modi government was also suffering backlash over the ongoing tension in Kashmir.

2. After the successful conduct of surgical strikes, congress and opposition parties displayed their support for government's decision.

3. When Pakistani establishment denied any kind of cross border strike on their side of LOC, a debate started about whether government should release video proof of the operation. Although government decided to not to make public those evidences due to safety concerns.

4. Meanwhile some BJP leaders and hindutva groups were too much tempted to take the advantage of this operation for their political advantage. In UP at some places posters have appeared to celebrate surgical strikes. Some of them were using PM's image posed as superhero.

"Defence minister Parrikar's statement were seen as chest thumping of BJP and Modi government."

AND HERE STARTED THE BLAME GAME.

5. Oppsition is accusing the central government for politicisation of the issue, and stated that Modi Gov. is using surgical strikes for their electoral gains. Opposition demanded to give evidence after Pakistan claimed no strike happened. Government accused the opposition of lowering the morale of armed forces and doubting our forces capability. Delhi CM Mr. Arvind kejriwal projected as anti nation or Anti Indian Army for asking video proof of surgical strikes. While Rahul Gandhi was criticized for his 'khoon ki dalali' remark.

6. NOW THE INTERESTING THING IS, either call it coincidence or SOMETHING ELSE, some States of India are going to face assembly elections next year (Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand, UP, Gujrat and Himanchal Pradesh) in 2017. And such kind of nationalistic and anti pakistan sentiments are supposed to benefit BJP in elections. Or if these sentiments fuses over the time it may backfire for the BJP.

We believe that credit for surgical ops goes to Army for their sound planning and precise execution, and also to government to give army a free hand. These strike displays our capability to act against the cross border terrorism sponsored by Pakistani army.
But as the current happening going on, and this issue is being politicised, it may somehow diminish the image and prestige of Indian army.

Your views are welcome in the comment box. 

Wednesday 12 October 2016

6 Reasons why 'boycott china' is not a good idea after all

Indo-China relations have not been on the track now a days. China's unconditional support to Pakistan, then blocking India's entry in NSG group, threatening India to stop the water of river Brahmputra, and lately also blocking India's bid to ban Jaish-e-Mohammed Cheif terrorist Masood Azher are the main reasons which determines the coarse of bitterness between both countries. Also there have been military and territorial disputes from long time ago between both countries.
In the recent developments post URI attack a wave of patriotism has been swinging around the country, along with anti Pakistan and anti china sentiments. A message is being circulated in social media to not to buy chinese products, some political groups are actively supporting it too, but if we look at the whole picture this whole boycott idea seems a bit unpractical.

Here we explain the six reasons why #boycott_china is'nt a good idea:-

1.) Some people are arguing in social media that government should ban import of Chinese product in Indian market, but this is certainly impossible as this will be against the norms of World Trade Organisation. And any country can't simply abandon its rules.

2.) China is India's biggest trading partner but it's not true vice versa. In financial year 2014 china  imports amounts only of 16.4 billion us dollors from India, that accounts for 0.8% of total imports of China. While Indian imports from china amounted 58.4 billion us dollors i.e 12.6% of total Indian imports (data source:Wikipedia). And remember that chinese GDP is way bigger than that of India. Even if boycott china succedes to some extent, and our business ties are effected, India will have to suffer more. Figures clearly explain that we can't mess with big boy right now.

3.) China has the least transportation distance with India as compared to US, UK, GERMANY etc. And this factor cuts down the goods price significantly. Major imports from china includes computer hardware, steel, chemicals and drug   intermediaries. India exports a large number of small automobiles and automobile industry requires a lot of steel, this is difficult without imports from china. India has the biggest pharmaceutical industry in the world, but drug intermediaries(chemicals used to make medicine) are suppied from china.

4.) We are in the era of globalization. At present time consumer wants good quality products at lowest cost. Think for a moment can we ditch the Xiaome phone for the micromax one, no, we buy it because it has better quality at same price.

5.) India has large and growing population and we don't have enough manufacturing sector to fulfil the needs of that much people. We have some manufacturing units for these needs but either they are not technologically advanced or they are not cost effective. Obviously we have to import from other countries and here Chinese goods win the game due to their cost competitiveness.

6.) Avoiding chinese products may accelerate inflation, as we know that most of the Indian population lives below the poverty line."SWADESHI ANDOLAN OR BUY SWADESHI" sounded good in Gandhi's era but not in this era of globalization.We have to understand that promoting made in India and boycotting made in china both should be seen from differnt perspective.

Here are some steps that need to be taken for saving our domestic economy rather then completely boycotting Chinese goods:-
1.) Raise import duty on Chinese goods (but it has its limits too).
2.) Set up manufacturing sector and increse domestic manufacturing and expand the existing one so that we can fulfil the needs of society.
3.) Invest more in R&D so that we can make our manufacturing sector more advance.
4.) Invest in infrastructure.
5.) raise the competitiveness of our economy, for example India made satellites and space missions same could be done in other fields too.

Above all we can say that totally boycotting Chinese products is'nt in favour of India, instead we need to try to increse the exports to foreign countries including China.

YOUR VIEWS ARE WELCOME IN COMMENT BOX. 

Saturday 17 September 2016

😂😂😂

Interviewer: How long will you have to work to buy BMW?

Doctor: I think I can buy one in 6 months of practice. 

MBA: I need about 9 months of work. 

Engineer: At least a year of work.

Marwadi: I think…about 5 years

Interviewer: Why so long?
.
.
Marwadi: Well, its a big company!! smile emoticon😁😁😁😁

Just for fun 😁😁

💁Sonia Gandhi met the Queen of England in her palace
💁Sonia: *"Your Majesty, any tips you can give me to stay in power, the way you have been for so long...?"*
👩 Queen, *"Well, the most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people."*
💁Sonia frowned, and then asked, *"But how do I know the people around me are intelligent.....?"*
👩The Queen: *"Easy; you just ask them to answer an intelligent riddle."*
👩The Queen pushed a button on her intercom. *"David Cameron, would u come in here, please....?"*
💂David Cameron walked into the room and said, *"Yes, ma'am..?"*
👩The Queen smiled and said, *"Answer me this please, David. Your mother and father have a child. It's not your brother and it's not your sister. Who is it...?"*
💂Without pausing for a moment, David Cameron answered, *"That would be me, ma'am."*
👩 *"Very good! Thank you, David ! Now U can go"* said the Queen. Then she turned to Sonia with a smile and said *"See.......!!!"*
💁Now its Sonia's turn to apply the same logic....Went back to India and asked Rahul.....!
💁 *"Rahul, answer this for me.Your mother and your father have a child. It's not your brother & it's not your sister.Who is it...?"*
👮 *"I'm not sure,"* said Rahul Gandhi . *"Let me get back to you on that one..."*
👮Rahul Gandhi went to his advisors and asked every one, but none could give him an answer...Finally, he ran into 👴Narendra Modi.
HE asked, *"Narendrabhai, can you answer this for me? Your mother & father have a child and it's not your brother or your sister. Who is it....?"*
👴Narendra Modi answered, *"That's easy, it's me....!"*
👮Rahul Gandhi said, *"Thanks!"* Then he went back to Sonia. *"I did some thinking and I have the answer to that riddle. It's Narendra Modi..."*
💁Sonia slapped him....
and shouted -
*"No..! You dumb idiot....!*
*"It's David Cameron"*
😂 😂😂😂!" 😂😂!" 😂😂!

Thursday 15 September 2016

Engineers day : Some key facts

  • »»  Engineers day is observed in various countries on various dates of the year. 


  • »» In India 15th September is observed as Engineers Day every year.

  • »» India celebrates 15th September as Engineers Day as it is the birth anniversary of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya.

  • »» He was an Indian engineer, scholar, statesman and the diwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918.


  • »» He was a civil engineer, and he took his engineering degree from college of engineering Pune. 


  • »» He was the chief engineer responsible for the construction of theKrishna Raja Sagara dam in Mysore as well as the chief designer of the flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad.


  • »» He is a recipient of the Indian Republic’s highest honour, the Bharat Ratna. 


  • »» Each year, Engineers’ Day has a theme, and this year it is “Skill Development for Young Engineers to Reform the Core Sector: Vision 2025.”


  • »» Engineers day is not a public holiday in india.. :D

Tuesday 13 September 2016

Cauvery water dispute : Things you need to know

The sharing of water of river cauvery has been source of conflict between two indian states, karnatak and tamilnadu from many years. 
1. course of river Cauvery
The river originated in Talakaveri in Kodagu district of Karnataka. It flows 800 km in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and reaches the Bay of Bengal through Poompuhar in Tamil Nadu. The Cauvery basin covers about 81155 sq km area. Out of this 43,856 sq km is in Tamil Nadu, 34,273 sq km in Karnataka, 2866 sq km in Kerala and 160 sq km in Puducherry.
2. What is the dispute?
The initial dispute was between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu but later Kerala and Puducherry also entered the fray. The issue dates back to 1892 when an agreement was filed between Madras Presidency and Mysore for arbitration but led to a fresh set of disputes. Later, attempts were renewed to arbitrate between the two states under the supervision of Government of India and the second agreement was signed in 1924.
3. Dispute after independence
After independence, Kerala and Puducherry also claimed a share in the Cauvery water. The government of India set up a fact-finding committee in 1970 in this regard. The committee submitted its report in 1972. After some further studies were done by experts, the states reached an agreement in 1976. However, later, the new government in Tamil Nadu refused to give its consent to the terms of the agreement, fueling further dispute.
4. Request for Tribunal
In 1986, the Tamil Nadu government asked for the constitution of a tribunal for solving the conflict under the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956. The tribunal was set up on June 2, 1990 after the Supreme Court took cognizance of the matter and ordered the Central government to do so.
5. 2007 verdict
The tribunal announced its final order in 2007 after 16 years of hearing and an interim order. As per the final order, 419 tmc water was given to Tamil Nadu and 270 tmc water to Karnataka. Kerala and Puducherry received 30 tmc ft and 7 tmc ft water respectively. However, both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu filed a review petition before the tribunal.
As chairman of Cauvery River Authority, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directed the Karnataka government to release 9,000 cusecs of water daily in 2012. The apex court slammed the state government as it failed to comply with the order. The Karnataka government offered an unconditional apology and started the release of the water leading to widespread violent protests.
6. Who called for the recent protests first?
As soon as the Supreme Court’s September 5 order became public, Cauvery Horata Samiti, the organisation which has been at the forefront of the issue in Karnataka, called for a statewide ‘bandh’. This led to violent protests across the state by farmers, affecting public transport facilities, schools, colleges and government offices in Mandya.
7. Why Karnataka doesn’t want to follow SC order now?
Tension over Cauvery water become intense when there is less rainfall. This had happened in 1991, 2001, 2012 and it is happening even now. Karnataka has faced continuous drought. For two seasons, farmers have not been able to grow rice. Shortage of water will put the standing crops in Karnataka’s Mandya district at risk, affecting everyone in Mandya, including some Tamils living in the district. At present, according to Karnataka government, the reservoirs in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka has only about 51 tmc of water. This may be sufficient only for the drinking water needs of people in south Karnataka and not enough for release to Tamil Nadu.
Krishna Raja Sagar dam – the primary reservoir in the Cauvery basin – had only 37 per cent of the reservoir capacity at 18.28 tmc till September 6. If Karnataka releases the water, the congress government in the state may face the ire of the farmers.
8. Recent developments
protests are being held up in bengluru and Mysore over the courts order. Final hearing is yet due in month of October. 

Saturday 10 September 2016

Swami Vivekanand's historic speech in chicago (1893)

On this day swami vivekanand introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago in 1893. Here is full text of his 1st historic speech. 


Response to Welcome

Sisters and Brothers of America,

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world. I thank you in the name of the mother of religions, and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

My thanks also to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration but we accept all religions as true.

I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation.

I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, and which is every day repeated by millions of human beings:

As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which people take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee. 

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita:

Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach them; all are struggling through paths which in the end lead to Me. 
Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.