Google, Facebook can't flout Indian laws: Court

  The Delhi High Court has announced the verdict and It is necessary for Facebook and Google to follow the rules and they have made it clear.

     The Delhi High Court on Friday said that social networking site Facebook Inc and search engine Google Inc are bound by the rules of this country and cannot flout the law just because they are foreign companies.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru also directed the two companies to display on their websites the name and contact details of their grievance officers.

"We direct Google Inc and Facebook Inc to display the name of grievance officer on their respective sites. We also direct other intermediaries that the compliance (of the rules) be done in two weeks," the court said.

It said the Information Technology (Intermediaries) Rules mandate that all social networking sites have to publish the name of grievance officer and their contact details.

"Just because you are a foreign company, you cannot flout the law. Like us, you are bound by the rule of law of this country," said the court, also asking the central government to take steps to ensure that the social networking sites comply with the rules.

The bench also asked the central government to file its response on the allegations of petitioner that Delhi Police, Indian Railways and others have created accounts on social networking sites despite government departments being barred from doing so under the law.

The petitioner submitted that government departments like Delhi Police and the Indian Railways are not entitled to create accounts on social networking sites.

The court was hearing the PIL filed by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader K.N. Govindacharya through his advocate Virag Gupta alleging that the websites have no mechanism for protection of children from online abuse.

The PIL has said that children below 18 years are entering an agreement with the social networking sites to open accounts which is against the Indian Majority Act, the Indian Contract Act and also the Information and Technology Act.

The plea has also sought recovery of taxes from the websites on their income from operations in India.


Times of India




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Early declaration of PM candidate to help BJP: Jaitley

             BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Saturday demanded that the party leadership should immediately declare its PM candidate honouring the sentiments of party cadre, in a not-so-subtle advocacy for Gujarat CM Narendra Modi. 

   Jaitley, who was speaking at a function to pay tribute to BJP's founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, argued that early declaration of the candidate would help the party in the coming elections. "We all are clear about it and so are party cadre. The sooner we move forward on the leadership issue, the better it will be," he said. 

     Although the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha did not take names, the reticence may have been motivated by the concern not to infringe party chieg Rajnath Singh's instruction like desisting from making public pitches for Modi. His invocation of cadre sentiment left little doubt that his plea for an early decision was an argument for the early anointment of Modi who enjoys high rating among party's workers and sympathizers alike, which was cited by Rajnath Singh when he had appointed Gujarat CM the chairman of party's national campaign committee a few months ago. 

   Jaitley's remarks tied in with the estimate that leadership will find itself under pressure for a formal declaration in Modi's favour after the monsoon session of Parliament gets over. The BJP top brass, which appears to be vacillating over the leadership issue because of continuing resistance from some members of the parliamentary board, has justified the delay in announcing its candidate on the ground that doing so during the session would have shifted the focus away from UPA's alleged failures and misdeeds. 

  

    Arguing that it was time the party completed the formality of spelling out its leadership choice, Jaitley said that an early decision would help the party frame the battle for 2014 elections as a choice between dynastic politics of the Congress and proven leadership that the BJP offers. He said that the next election would be like a presidential contest where the aspirational class and those disappointed by the weak and indecisive leadership of Congress-led UPA, were likely to opt for a strong and capable leadership. "We will be better off if we offered them the choice now," he reasoned. 

Times of India

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A weaker rupee is not a bad thing

      
     A silver lining.....

      Over three months, the rupee has slid 15% against the dollar, which is surging against most other currencies worldwide. The reason: economic recovery in the US and the continued faith in the dollar as the reserve currency of the world.

In India, there are yelps of agony over the rupee's slide, as if its value against the dollar is some sort of measure of India's standing in the world. India's economy is now more open than it ever was and the rupee's movements are subject to the vagaries of traders worldwide.

And a little depreciation is not a bad thing. Exports have been sluggish for many months as the US and Europe struggled with their own woes and lower-cost nations such as Bangladesh chipped away at our share of textile and garment exports. That could change with a weaker rupee.

The biggest gainer, of course, would be software exporter TCS(BSE) 2.74 % as our analysis on Wednesday showed, followed by a clutch of software, auto and machinery manufacturers. What's good for exports is good for our current account deficit, which can narrow sharply on the back of this depreciation.

Remittances are expected to rise quickly, as Indians working overseas seize this window and send dollars back home.

Discretionary imports, like fine foods, personal care products and so on will be discouraged. And gold imports, a huge drain on foreign exchange reserves, are sure to get squeezed by higher rupee prices.

The government should now focus on reining in inflation, part of the reason for the rupee's weakness and likely to go up because of that weakening.

The Reserve Bank of India has done what it could by keeping interest rates fairly high, but a lot of inflation is related to administrative lapses. Release part of the 78-million-tonne grain mountain into markets to dampen food grain inflation, now at 17%.

Ask states to scrap the APMC Acts that keep farmers in the clutches of middlemen. Clear projects quicker, so that investment materialises. Do these things, the rupee will take care of itself. India has to get growth and investment going, first and foremost.




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Economic Times

Management Mythos: Leadership lessons from the concept of Brahmanda

     This article shows how management and mythology are related. It also says how decision making is done and you all should read this interesting piece...

   Lets begin at the very beginning: how can mythology have any relationship to management? This question is rooted in our poor understanding of mythology. And this poor understanding stems from the treatment this subject received from scientists and academicians of the 18th century, most of whom hailed from Europe, and whose views still dominate our educated minds. This was long before scientists took the subject of psychology seriously.

Mythology is the study of stories, symbols and rituals valued by a culture. If there is a particular story that your organization celebrates and repeats again and again, it is aimed at constructing the myth of your organization. So then what is myth? Myth is subjective truth of a person, a people, a community or an organization; it is assumption that shapes decision-making, hence action plans. This makes it interesting for management.

Leadership is about decision making, but how do we take decisions?

If we assume that humans are rational creatures, then we assume decisions will be based on some objective data and influenced by a predictable outcome. But what if we assume that people — even the smartest of leaders — are not rational? Then the story changes. It is at this point that mythology rears it ancient head.

Take a look at how successful entrepreneurs are presented. More often than not they are presented as heroes. People who have changed the course of humanity material history: they have innovated incredible products, given employment to thousands of people, created incredible amounts of wealth. They are celebrated as gods. For this is exactly how the Greeks, later Romans, celebrated those who won the Olympic games or returned triumphant from battle. They had earned a place for themselves in the special heaven reserved for heroes — Elysium. Across management schools, professors act as bards singing their glory, explaining their exploits through case studies, stirring young minds to emulate them.

But no, we do not think of this as mythic. We are convinced this is reality. Try as we might, we cannot escape this bubble of mythology. Despite proclamations of living in a myth-free world, even the desire to break free from it, we end up in another myth bubble, what is technically called mythosphere — a set of assumptions that colours our view of the world, and serves as an invisible lever in our decision-making process. In Hindu mythology, this mythosphere is called Brahmanda, which means the egg of Brahma, the creator of this set of assumptions.

Our set of assumptions is informed by the stories, symbols and rituals we were exposed to as a child. Imagine a child growing up in a city where all roads turn at right angles, where there are clear traffic signals that everyone respects. Now imagine another child growing up in a city where roads come from every angle and traffic signals that everyone breaks. These two children live in a very different Brahmanda, one that trusts every system and the other that distrusts all systems. The developed world belongs to systemtrusting mythosphere while the developing world, especially India, belongs to system-distrusting mythosphere.

This leads to the thesis — to be developed you have to follow a system. From this thesis comes the conclusion — India is not developed because it has no system, it is chaotic. This conclusion comes from the assumption that to be a system, one needs to have central control - like the biblical God and his prophet leading his congregation of chosen people to the Promised Land. India functions on a different assumption - a system need not have central control; it can function with peripheral control as in nature, where there is no central control, but animals and plants are constantly in conflict negotiating their respective territories. Here the reliance is not on God out there but on God inside every human — Brahma, who creates his mythosphere, and is sensitive to the mythospheres of other Brahmas.



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Mythology vs Management

The realist v/s the visionary: What kind of a leader do we need in these troubled times?

    This article clearly speaks about how a corporate leader is supposed to be? Is he expected to be a visionary or a realistic person? It gives answer for all. I would like to share this news with all of you.

     As our country completes 66 years of corporate freedom, numerous challenges and questions stare India Inc in the face. 

In these times of uncertainty, what kind of a leader would you prefer - the hardcore realist who'll make you face facts, or the starry visionary who eggs you on to dream? 

Ploughing through hard times is easier when there is an inspiring vision on the horizon. And thus, it becomes important for leaders to instill hope rather than be doomsayers. "In times of economic uncertainty, leaders who are starry visionaries are needed more. Many mid-level and lowerlevel managers fail to understand that companies, which are built on strong fundamentals can weather any storm and phase of volatility. Those kinds of managers will benefit from a strong visionary leader who can give the confidence to the troops that the company will triumph at the end of such tough times," says Vikram Vuppala, CEO, NephroPlus. "The ability to dream and follow a vision is a powerful attribute and history shows that some of the great leaders were even greater visionaries," agrees Lt Gen Rajender Singh (retd), CEO, DLF Foundation. 

Visionaries are clearly the toast of the corporate world but every leader must be able to deliver reality checks when the situation demands. 

"In today's hard times, you need a leader who is data-driven but not milepost-driven. We are likely to miss the mileposts but the world doesn't come to an end," opines T Muralidharan, chairman, TMI Group. "Employees feel empowered under a visionary leader because he/she allows them to follow their dreams and in doing so, the leader successfully binds the team together with a sense of purpose. But along with being a visionary, one needs to be a realist as well to bring in focus to the team's functions, keep a timely check on the tasks and successfully get the strategies executed," emphasises Rohan Gupta, COO, Attero. 

However, Vuppala cautions, "A starry visionary leader such as Steve Jobs can push the organisation to great heights (almost impossible levels) by exhorting troops to realise a larger dream to change the world. But these leaders tend to be very impatient with subordinates who are not equally passionate or capable to realise the larger dream. Working with such leaders could be very tough for the non-star performers." 

Is there a place for both kinds of leaders at the top? "Both these kind of leaders have a different leadership approach towards working and tackling a particular situation. What really matters is how they use their qualities to turn the issue at hand to their advantage," avers Gupta. "Great leaders embody vitality , will, imagination, hope and a sense of energy. A leader is effective in manifesting his/her vision because he/she creates specific, achievable goals, initiates action and enlists the participation of others. A real leader sees possibilities before others and conveys a vision based on principles that lift humanity," concludes Anil Mithas, CMD, Unnati Fortune Group. 

Although most leaders tend towards one style, the best ones are those that can demonstrate both realism and inspiration. "The organisation needs to spend time and resources in grooming the potential leaders to have these two perspectives. Most of the time, we may find leaders who display one of the above traits, so that they can be groomed for the other one. However, in view of the current times, both the organisation and leader have to be flexible enough to play multiple roles simultaneously to ensure the organisational goals are achieved," shares Ashok Reddy, president - global HR and corporate affairs, Infotech Enterprises Ltd. 

"Visionaries respond to volatility by innovating organisational models and products that define the future. They motivate employees by showing them an exciting vision of the future. Realists often respond by focusing on strengthening the present and motivating the team through short-term achievements," remarks Padmaja Alaganandan, leader - people & change practice, PwC India. 

Thus, the leader has to be practical and a realist, yet must talk the language of a visionary.


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Economic Times

The new note on Mint Street

Time for serious action.

The governor-designate of the RBI will have to rethink or temper many of his past positions that have been at variance with the central bank and the finance ministry

Expectations are running high about the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor-designate, Raghuram Rajan — unusually for an RBI governor, his appointment was not just reported by but also commented on editorially in the foreign press. Living up to these expectations will be a huge challenge for Dr. Rajan. It is bad enough that the Indian economy has to cope with falling growth, high inflation and an adverse external position. What makes things more difficult for him is that many of his past positions are at odds either with those of the finance ministry or the RBI or both.


Dr. Rajan needs to tread warily on three issues in particular. One, whether the RBI’s mandate should be confined to price stability or whether it needs to pursue other objectives as well, such as growth, currency stability and financial stability. Two, whether corporate houses should be granted bank licences and based on what criteria. Three, the role of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC).

Begin with the mandate of the central bank. In its report in 2008, the Committee on Financial Sector Reforms (CFSR), that Dr. Rajan chaired, made its position clear. “This Committee feels that monetary policy should be reoriented towards focusing on a single objective, and there are good reasons why this objective should be price stability (defined as low and stable inflation). An exchange rate objective would limit policy options for domestic macroeconomic management and is not compatible with an increasingly open capital account.”

Army Chief VK Singh may Contest against Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli

Will it be General (Retired) VK Singh versus Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls?

The former Army Chief has discussed the idea with top BJP leaders, who are “excited” at the thought of having a high voltage battle in the pocket borough of the Nehru-Gandhi family. “The former Army Chief was earlier interested in testing electoral waters from Bhiwani in Haryana, his home State. But, Singh realises that the Jat-dominated constituency may not be a winnable seat for Singh, a Thakur,” sources privy to the development told The Pioneer.

Rae Bareli and the neighbouring constituencies of Central UP have a sizable Thakur population. Sources said Singh, also believed his entry into politics would be grand if he took on the Congress chief in her den. Singh could not be contacted as he is in the US for the last two weeks. Singh met three top BJP leaders in the last couple of months to explore possibilities of  contesting from Rae Bareli on a BJP ticket. BJP leaders are also “positive” about his proposal, sources claimed adding, “The BJP would suitably accommodate Singh even if he lost the battle against Gandhi.” 

Singh is currently leading an anti-corruption campaign along with social activist Anna Hazare and is expected to visit Rae Bareli soon. Sources claimed Singh could lay bare his political intentions around October 11, the birth anniversary of legendry leader Jaiprakash Narayan who steered the most effective anti-Congress campaign in Indian history.

The Rae Bareli Parliamentary constituency consists of Bachhrawan (SC), Harchandpur, Rae Bareli, Sareni and Unchahar Assembly segments. As Congress candidate from Rae Bareli, Gandhi had polled over 4.80 lakh votes in the 2009 elections and her victory margin was over 3.72 lakhs. However, the Congress faced a humiliating defeat in the 2009 Assembly elections. It stood third in Bachhrawan, Rae Bareli, Sareni and Unchahar and second in Harchandpur Assembly segments.

The BJP candidate from Rae Bareli got just a little over 25,000 votes in the 2009 elections and the party feel the retired general would substantially reduce Gandhi’s victory margin. With Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi taking centre stage and his trusted aide Amit Shah managing UP affairs for the party, BJP leaders hope Gandhi would face the toughest electoral battle of her political career in the next poll.  

Source: The Pioneer