Taxpayers need to be treated like customers

Picture yourself doing this. You buy a plasma TV at a high price. The salesman is not only rude, but treats you like dirt. You swallow the humiliation, for you badly want that TV.

Your neighbours all have one. After you take the product home, it fails to work and you spend weeks trying to get it fixed. If you are the gutsy type, you will take the manufacturer to a consumer court. If you are more docile, you are at least likely to curse him and resolve never to buy the brand again. Either way, you have a choice. The manufacturer has to take note or he has lost a customer.

But what if you are against a monopolist, who couldn't care less if you are unhappy with his service, who wouldn't worry about whether customers are loyal or disloyal?

That, in sum, is the situation the Indian taxpayer finds himself in today. Especially salaried taxpayers, who have few options when it comes to dodging the taxman.

Taxpayers are customers. We pay taxes in order to receive certain goods and services from the government, whether it is protection of life and limb, maintenance of clean streets, or providing social safety nets for our less fortunate brethren.

If the government does not provide these services efficiently, it is no different from that crooked plasma TV manufacturer we talked about earlier on. It is, in effect, cheating us and we have a right to ask for our money back.

Yes, I know, we can always throw a government out if it does not deliver, but what about the money we have already paid up? Morally, all taxpayers still ought to be treated like customers, for we are the people paying the bill for even something as fundamental as the right to vote. Far from being accountable to us, the government and the tax department treats us callously.

Take the recent case of e-filing. The Central Board of Direct Taxes is doing everything possible to make life inconvenient for us by laying down rules that can only deter us from filing online. First, it told us that yes you can e-file, but you won't get any acknowledgement and you have to send the hard copy to Bangalore. God forbid if they don't get it. You have to file again. Can't these babus accept our returns in any city and dispatch the bundle themselves?

Next, we are told that every tax deduction at source must indicate a unique transaction ID, failing which the tax deduction will be treated as invalid. Now, if this what is required to match the data at the back end, why think about it 45 days before the last date for filing returns? Why can't they think about it now and implement it from next year? Quite clearly, serving the man who pays their salaries in the last thing on the minds of taxmen.

But we are still talking only about the softer aspect of service. The hard aspects -- delivery of bang for the buck -- is sorely missing. In return for my taxes, the government should be delivering security.

But if a local thug threatens me in my home, I am more likely to do a deal with him than go to the police. So my taxes do not deliver security; I am paying additional taxes to the local goonda. Next, civic services. Do I get garbage-free streets or adequate power? Hardly. Our cities are glorified garbage dumps. In most middle class households, inverters and generators are a necessity. In short, power supply is becoming a private responsibility.

Well, maybe the taxes we pay are not enough to pay for all the services we want. Maybe. But consider this. Even taxes collected for specific services don't yield decent service. Mumbai collects a humongous amount of entry tolls to improve city roads.

The tolls have been rising almost every year, but the quality of city roads keeps deteriorating. So where is the toll money going? What is the government really delivering in return for my tax payments? Pretty much zilch. Indian taxpayers now have no option but to organise, agitate and sue the government for failure to deliver what it should. If they don't, the government will treat them as chattel.

Dear taxpayer, remember this: you are the customer and the government has to treat you decently. If not, you should collectively drag it to court.

Sasan Gir: the Last Refuge of the Asiatic Lions

Wildlife reserves and national parks have always fascinated me and I have left no opportunity to visit them. Among the many national parks of India the name of the Sasan Gir National Park, also called the Gir National Park, occupies an important place. The only surviving habitat of the Asiatic Lions (300-odd) in the world, the Sasan Gir National Park is in Gujarat, India.

Spread over an area of 1412 sq km, the Sasan Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary has a protected area of 258 sq km. Actually, the national park is considered to be one of the most protected areas in Asia.

Sasan Gir has several species of flora and fauna including more than 400 plant species. The national park is mainly hilly and has dry deciduous type forest. Teak, Acacia, Jamun and Dhak trees dominate the landscapes of the wildlife sanctuary through which seven major rivers flow much adding to the beauty of the area.

The national park also has about 38 species of mammals. This include, among others, panther, leopard, hyena, Indian Deer, sambar, spotted deer, blue bull, four-horned antelope, bear, desert cat, and rusty-spotted deer, apart from, of course, the Asiatic Lions-- the pride of Sasan Gir.

Incidentally, apart from boasting of the best lion population in Asia, Gir also has one of the largest leopard populations in the country. I was lucky to come across several of them inside Gir. What’s more: with more than 300 species of birds that include, among others, crested serpent eagle, brown fish owl, pea fowl, painted sand grouse, pygmy woodpecker, great horned owl, bonelli’s eagle, grey partridge, and bush quail, the wildlife sanctuary is also a haven for the bird watchers.

How to reach

Gir is 895 km away from Ahmedabad and 160 km away from Rajkot which are big cities of Gujarat. It is well connected by rail, road and air. The nearest airport is at Keshod which is 100 km away from Sasan Gir, and the nearest rail head is at Junagadh which is 65 km away.

Subprime crises:what it means,why Big Firms sank?

Subprime crises:what it means,why Big Firms sank?

These days friends you are reading headline that companies in financial sector daily sinking and filing application for bankruptcy and these companies are not like a "vijay di hatti" or small companies ,they have status of one of the first 100 in world in their respective fields .Stock market goes roller coaster these days and making record single day loss and single day gain in world ,moving up down as good as in 6-10 % range in a day (diff between low & high of the day).why this is happening ,Though there might be many reason behind it but one which we are discussing here is most discussed is "SubPrime Crises".



Meaning of SubPrime :Meaning of sub prime commonly used where bank is landing a person at little bit higher rate than normal(prime) rate due to

• Loan to that person is little bit more risky than normal
• Person does not satisfy the condition for taking the loan
• less income than required
• Ratio of loan repayment /income is adverse
• Property involved is in area where rates of property is volatile and not stable
• Risk is high of repayment or some what speculative.

In brief they are landing to a person who is not otherwise eligible as per normal banking condition at higher rates.It does not mean that they are landing to any body without checking any thing but with a knowledge that risk is there, and due to more risk involved , they charge more interest from the party.These Type of loan generally mortgaged by Property or other assets.



If a lay man read this than he can also predict that the bank doing such practices will sooner or later have losses..........?but why the best brain of the world(so called) in US are unable to predict the crises. And Bank/companies which has never shown losses in their history of 140 years ,sank in one quarter losses..



Refinancing:Means bank giving loans directly to the customer,takes loan from other big company on the guarantee that they will pay back the money,as soon as it is received from the client.



Securitization :simple meaning of the securitization is giving loans out of balance sheet and have more cash to give more loan by transfer the mortgaged loans to special purpose vehicles (SPY) created for this purpose by the big houses. After securitization of mortgage assets ,Loan given will not shown in balance sheet and after securitisation of loans banks have good capital adequacy ratio and solvency margins, can give more loan ,but servicing/default risk of all loan remains with the institute and does not transfer to the SPV.



Step by step of reason of Crises

• The bank/companies which are giving loan at sub prime rates ,are small in the size.
• They have more specific information about the consumer and lend money to them on consideration other than financial .
• Then they have refinance their loans from the other big houses like Lahman ,Merrill lynch,AIG or other in the market
• With the money refinanced from the big company they gives more loan and so on
• They have given loan much more than what they have actually owned.
• Rates of property in USA is going south.And interest rates were going up.
• Some client which have Purchased property on loan for capital appreciation/or on the basis of some speculation like future increase in income , in the property was not able to return the loan
• Banks enforcing the foreclosures and taken the properties from the client or properties has been put to sale in the declining price market,Feeding more stock(property for sale) in the market and leads to further price fall
• Small companies collapses on default of some major customers as they are not able to manage cash flows.
• After default from customer they are unable to service the funds refinanced from big company.
• As I have explained above sub prime loans are more risky than normal ,this whole process of collapsing is so fast and have much cascading effect .
• The securitisation of laons also have a role as after securitization of laons companies have more clean balance sheet and one can not judge the Inherent risk involved in that due to less disclosures norms and other reasons.
• And we have now much longer list of casualties like Lahman Bros,Merill Lynch,AIG,Bear stearn,Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...........and so on .This is not end of story more will come.

and more reason which leads to the crises is securitization ,simple meaning of the securitization is giving loans out of balance sheet and have more cash to give more loan by transfer the mortgaged loans to special purpose vehicle (SPY) prepared for this purpose by the big houses. After securitization of mortgage assets ,Loan given will not shown in balance sheet and after than they have good capital adequacy ratio and solvency margins, can give more loan ,but servicing/default risk of all loan remains with the institute and does not transfer to the SPV.



So ,In brief we can say bad practices have a bad results....



thanks for reading ,Now please give comment on the above.

A discussion on the 'Indian Perspective of Wealth Management'

During a recent visit at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Pallav Sinha, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Fullerton Securities and Wealth Advisors Limited, India, interacted with the students and discussed with them the ‘Indian Perspective of Wealth Management.’ Calling it a privilege to be at the ISB and to address the students, some of the topics Sinha discussed during the session were - the different segments in business, importance of customer relationship, the formula for success etc.

 

Talking about the philosophy of Fullerton’s business and what kind of space it has in the Indian market, Sinha said, “Most of us have heard of fortune being made at the top of the pyramid and at the bottom of the pyramid. But there is a huge business opportunity in the middle segment, which often tends to be ignored. This is not a prime target market for a majority of the people.” According to Sinha, it is possible to make huge business propositions in this segment for a variety of reasons - there are very few people here like the micro-finance companies, small personal loan companies etc., that target the lower income. Sinha calls this the ‘underserved segment’ and calls the one right on top the ‘spoilt for choice segment,’ as every financial services company and bank targets this. “It is important to understand what each segment requires, and quite obviously at the bottom it is more basic needs and as you go on top it gets sophisticated,” added Sinha.

 

Retail financial service players find it extremely difficult to enter at the sophisticated level and create product structures and a business proposition there. Entering at the middle segment is the best option for a new entrant because it allows one to acquire new relationships and deepen them over a period of time. “It is a great strategy for acquiring entry and new customers, because in consumer business the number of customers define your success factor,” mentioned Sinha.

 

The other important factor Sinha discussed was customer relationship. He said, “One should be able to measure customer profitability, and in my experience it is extremely difficult to measure it because all financial services and banks are sometimes unable to identify how many products a customer has. “As it is not possible for one entity to deliver multiple products, according to Sinha, the recipe for success is to identify customers across products and deliver. Customers should be able to get all the information they require from one person at one point.

 

Sinha ended the session by sharing the four most important factors in business execution and implementation, which are customer experience, product programmes, sales and pricing. “It is important to have an implementation plan. Here, there is no scope to do different things but it is about doing things differently like reducing cost of acquisition, looking at credit margin and not credit losses etc. At the same time it is very important to define your unique value proposition to tell people what you stand for in the market. But it can never be static. You need to constantly revaluate it and fine tune it,” concluded Sinha. 

thought for the day

27th June 2009
Caught in the coils of the 'created,' man is blind to the fact that he is part of the Divine Creator. Identifying himself with the physical sheath in which he is encased, he is blind to the unity of all beings in the One Universal Absolute. Man has written and studied countless texts on spiritual discipline and discovery, and confounded the confusion, indulging in dialectical rivalries and argumentation. But, he who has put at least a page or two of these tomes into practise, is rendered silent and innocent of any desire for fame or victory. He is happy in the depths of his being. He ploughs the field of his heart, sows the seeds of love and reaps the harvest of fortitude and equanimity.

- BABA

michael Jackson is dead

Enlarge Photo U.S. pop star Michael Jackson speaks during a news conference at the O2 Arena in...
Michael Jackson, the child star turned King of Pop who set the world dancing but whose musical genius was overshadowed by a bizarre lifestyle and sex scandals, died on Thursday. He was 50.
Jackson was pronounced dead at about 2:26 p.m. PDT (2126 GMT) after arriving at a Los Angeles hospital in full cardiac arrest, said Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County Coroner's office. The cause of death was not known and an autopsy would likely take place on Friday, he said.
Jackson's sudden death had been reported earlier by U.S. media, which said he was taken ill at his home and rushed to the hospital by paramedics who found him not breathing when they arrived.
Known as the "King of Pop," for hits that included "Thriller" and "Billie Jean," Jackson's dramatic, one-gloved stage presence and innovative dance moves were imitated by legions of fans around the world.
He transformed music videos and his lifetime record sales tally is believed to be around 750 million, which, added to the 13 Grammy Awards he received, made him one of the most successful entertainers of all time.
But Jackson's belief that "I am Peter Pan in my heart", his preference for the company of children, his friendship with a chimp, his high-pitched voice and numerous plastic surgeries also earned him critics and the nickname "Wacko Jacko."
Jackson, who had lived as a virtual recluse since his acquittal in 2005 on charges of child molestation, had been scheduled to launch a comeback tour from London next month.
Quincy Jones, who helped arrange the music on the album "Thriller" and produced the "Off the Wall" album, told MSNBC: "I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news."
"For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don't have the words. I've lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him."
SOLD-OUT SHOWS
Jackson had been due to start a series of concerts in London on July 13 running until March 2010. The singer had been rehearsing in the Los Angeles area for the past two months. The shows for the 50 London concerts sold out within minutes of going on sale in March.
"Rarely has the world received a gift with the magnitude of artistry, talent, and vision as Michael Jackson," said Neil Portnow, president and CEO of The Recording Academy in a statement.
"He was a true musical icon whose identifiable voice, innovative dance moves, stunning musical versatility, and sheer star power carried him from childhood to worldwide acclaim."
There were concerns about Jackson's health in recent years but the promoters of the London shows, AEG Live, said in March that Jackson had passed a 4-1/2 hour physical examination with independent doctors.
Outside the hospital in Los Angeles about 200 fans and reporters gathered on Thursday, waiting for confirmation of Jackson's death or condition.
Some fans were crying and hugging each other, and others were climbing atop fences to get a better look at a microphone stand where a news conference was supposed to take place.
"I hope he's gone to God, and I hope that he's free of all the troubles he's been plagued with," Tonya Blazer, 50, who said she had been a fan going back more than four decades to his days as a child star.
"I just feel like I'm paying tribute to him," said Dawn Burgess, 42, a fan who said she had posters of Michael pinned to her bedroom wall when she was a child.
CHILD STAR TO MEGASTAR
Jackson was born on Aug. 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of nine children. Five Jackson boys -- Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael -- first performed together at a talent show when Michael was 6. They walked off with first prize and went on to become a best-selling band, The Jackson Five, and then The Jackson 5.
Jackson made his first solo album in 1972, and released "Thriller" in 1982, which became a smash hit that yielded seven top-10 singles. The album sold 21 million copies in the United States and at least 27 million worldwide.
The next year, he unveiled his signature "moonwalk" dance move while performing "Billie Jean" during an NBC special.
In 1994, Jackson married Elvis Presley's only child, Lisa Marie, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1996. Jackson married Debbie Rowe the same year and had two children, before splitting in 1999. The couple never lived together.
Jackson has three children named Prince Michael I, Paris Michael and Prince Michael II, known for his brief public appearance when his father held him over the railing of a hotel balcony, causing widespread criticism.
New Yorkers and tourists in the city's Times Square were shocked at the news of Jackson's death.
"I don't know what to say. It's sad, it's really, really sad," said Nicole Smith, an 18-year-old student from Brooklyn, New York, in Times Square. "My mother was a fan. I listened to his music."
"I'm shocked. I thought someone was lying to me when I first heard it. I was a fan from when he was a little boy and then he got weird," said Sue Sheider, 51, a teacher from Long Island.

quality in business

Quality in business, engineering and manufacturing has a pragmatic interpretation as the non-inferiority or superiority of something. Quality is a perceptual, conditional and somewhat subjective attribute and may be understood differently by different people. Consumers may focus on the specification quality of a product/service, or how it compares to competitors in the marketplace. Producers might measure the conformance quality, or degree to which the product/service was produced correctly.
Numerous definitions and methodologies have been created to assist in managing the quality-affecting aspects of business operations. Many different techniques and concepts have evolved to improve product or service quality. There are two common quality-related functions within a business. One is quality assurance which is the prevention of defects, such as by the deployment of a quality management system and preventative activities like FMEA. The other is quality control which is the detection of defects, most commonly associated with testing which takes place within a quality management system typically referred to as verification and validation.

Father's Day Message

father is the most important person in once life . He is the guide , philosopher and friend for the whole life.