what do the ultimate gift consists?

The gift that diverts the life along the unique & valuable path is ultimate.
these unltimate gift are :

Gift 1: The gift of work - If u got the chance to work,take this work as gift.

Gift 2: The gift of money - This gift is too worthfull.

Gift 3: The gift of friends -Friends is the most essential gift given by the existing god.

Gift 4: The gift of learning - Use yur time to learn,because leaning is the most valuable gift.

Gift 5: The gift of problems - Problems are gifts,accept it.

Gift 6: The gift of family - The first gift,but some are deprive of it.

Gift 7: The gift of laughter - It's a gift.plz open it,which keeps healthy & gives power to life.

Gift 8: The gift of dreams - This gift can do anything.it can change the whole world.so dream & see the effects.

Gift 9: The gift of giving - You think sometimes this gift can ruined you.but believe it 'll not do so.

Gift 10: The gift of gratitude - Its a gift you should have it in plenty of ammount.

Gift 11: The gift of the day - A lovely gift.spent this gift with full of love & happiness.

Gift 12: the gift of love - The final gift,everyone borns for.have it,its yours.

check out have you ever lost any of the above gift in the life.if lost,try to grab it.

7 mistakes to avoid when applying for tech job

In this economy, even having the experience may not be enough

Greg Schaffer

(Computerworld) My eyes are blurry from reviewing over 40 résumés for a network administrator position, and for good reason. More than half of the résumés did not make it past my initial review. While I had to reject some candidates because of lack of experience (or, rather, lack of clearly demonstrated required experience), others had errors in their application packages that lowered their ranking -- errors that could have been easily corrected.(And yes, I literally do rank résumés, based on years and type of experience but also on other nontechnical variables such as communications ability.)

Of course, the traditional job-seeking advice still applies. Always follow résumé best practices -- proper spelling, good organization, consistent font and so on. Realize, too, that if you simply do not meet the required minimum experience, it's very unlikely that you will win the job. Beyond that, if you avoid these all-too-common mistakes that I have seen over years of filling network administrator positions, you'll boost your chance of landing the job.

Mistake 1:your objective is unclear

When I review résumés for a network administrator position, if the applicant chooses to include a section about his objectives, I hope to see something related to networking. Likewise, managers filling spots for security, databases, Web development and other specialties are looking for specifics that show a candidate is a good fit for the job. However, I often see nonsensical statements such as, "I'm seeking an interesting and challenging career position." This conveys very little.

Instead, something directly related to the position you're seeking would be appropriate. Suppose, for example, that you applied for a network administrator job at a community college. "Utilizing my experience to expand and maintain the network to enhance the pedagogical mission of the college" says that you see this as a challenge and that you understand the business of the place you are applying to.

This leads to two subpoints. First, whenever possible, show you understand how technology affects the business. Second, decide if an objective section is really necessary. Some people opt to substitute a short description of their professional offerings, which, if done well, can effectively convey both your goals and understanding of the business as well as serve as a snapshot of your most desirable skills.

Mistake 2:you've listed old skills

I'd like to say it has been some time since I've received a résumé that listed in a skills section "Windows 3.11 for Workgroups," but unfortunately it hasn't. At least it's been a while since I've seen DOS 3.2 referenced.

I'm not trying to downplay achievements from over 10 years ago. Yes, I also remember loading Trumpet Winsock before Microsoft Corp. incorporated TCP/IP into Windows, and back in the day, I was a Novell 3.12 CNE. But how relevant are those skills today? They're really not, and including them in a résumé gives the impression of trying to fill the application with fluff.

If you do want to mention that you were proficient in tapping ThickNet, leave it for the job description section. When I look at a skills section, I am trying to directly correlate the candidate's skills with what I need. Of course, some network skills that don't change much over time can be listed. If, for example, the ad calls for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol administration experience and you managed DHCP 10 years ago, by all means put it in the skills section. It's the technology no longer in use that should be left behind.

Mistake 3:You've created an 'alphabet soup' explosion

What is one thing that unites all aspects of information technology? Acronyms. Sometimes I think there is a secret subcommittee of the IETF that follows some obscure RFC for creating network acronyms. It follows that network administrators are often guilty of AERs (acronym-enhanced résumés).

Like listing older skills, a seemingly endless stream of acronyms is like data padding in an ICMP packet; it adds only space. If you indicate experience configuring enterprise core LAN routers, I would expect that you understand TCP/IP, SNMP, TFTP, VLSM, VLAN, possibly NTP and VPN, and at least one routing protocol such as OSPF or RIP. There is no need to list them.

That's not to say that acronyms and protocols should not be mentioned at all. But if you do, be prepared to back it up. My favorite interview question is to have applicants describe the differences between TCP and UDP, and if you've put TCP/IP anywhere on the résumé, you'd better get the answer right. Actually, that's one of those questions a netadmin candidate should be able to answer correctly no matter what.

Mistake 4:You misuse industry jargon

One of my biggest pet peeves when reviewing candidates' documents is when I come across a term or statement that has the unintended effect of conveying lack of experience. It may be technically correct but is only seen in textbooks and study materials and not used in the real world.

My favorite example of this is "worked on networks with a star topology." I don't recall ever asking a vendor what star-topology products they offer. I know, and so do they, that a switch is a device that distributes connectivity physically and logically from a single location. Including such phrases tells me that you do not have actual, significant experience working on enterprise networks.

In addition, don't use buzzwords if you don't know what they mean. If you say you work with both single-mode and multimode fiber, you'd better be prepared to explain the differences and the uses of each.

Mistake 5:You're unclear what 'network administrator' means

Some IT professionals have a narrow definition of what a network administrator does: works on Layer 2 and up enterprise transport equipment -- in other words, switches and routers. Also included may be such ancillary duties such as DNS and DHCP administration or firewall configuration and support.

Others, however, define "network administrator" to include server and systems administration. This would include one who primarily works on the end points of a client/server network. In these cases, administration of the network may not be as important, perhaps because the company has a simple network.

Whatever the position, the point is to look beyond the title of the job you're interested in and really examine what the employer is looking for. In my case, I had several applicants who had significant experience configuring, administering to and maintaining Windows servers but zero experience configuring switches and routers even though positions they held had "network" in the job title. They were rejected because I needed a router jockey.

Mistake 6:You're vague about your experience, or you're just downright confusing

Statements such as "works closely with the network team," "assisted in network installation" or "supported networks" convey nothing about relevant network experience. I work closely with my tax adviser; does that make me an accountant? You need to clarify relevant experience.

Also, if applying for an enterprise position, be sure you meet the experience required. If a position requires experience with administering enterprise routers, don't assume that setting up linksys routers qualifies. All that does is convey that you do not understand the difference between SOHO and enterprise networking.

Finally, and this may seem obvious, match the experience to each position, even if it means some repetition. Otherwise, it is difficult to determine the years of experience of, say, configuring routers. I reviewed one résumé in which the candidate described all of her skills first, then simply listed her position titles and dates of employment afterward. Since it was not possible to match duty with position, I could not the calculate number of years experience per duty. The résumé ended up in the reject stack because I was unable to accurately determine if the candidate met the minimum experience requirements.

Mistake 7:You lose sight of the goal

Remember, your résumé should be directed to a technology professional. Yes, human resources may review the application as well, but ultimately the position's supervisor (and most probably peers) will choose who to interview. Your résumé should talk to them.

Do not forget your goal. Get your foot in the door for a face-to-face interview. Craft an application strategy to do so. If you're applying to be a network administrator, have a fellow network administrator or two review your application, and ask them their impressions from a peer perspective. Does it convey that you know networking? If the answer is "yes," you're well on the way to landing that job.

Top 10 Careers with highest job satisfaction

iTop10 has just published findings of a survey to analyze which are the careers that give highest job satisfaction. It is indeed very much essential that one achieves job satisfaction in one’s job, whatever it may be, to make one’s life delightful. There are hundreds of hottest job openings out there, but that may not essentially be satisfying for you… In today’s world most of the people, despite enjoying prestigious positions in various top-class organizations, are not fully satisfied with it. The reasons may vary from one individual to another. But the most important question is: ”What career will end this quest for satisfaction / happiness?”

Hottest Job openings also conducted a similar research backend and came out with a strange outcome that Software-related jobs, though are among highly satisfying jobs, still lag behind careers like singing, writing, painting, etc. when it comes to job satisfaction. With due respect to iTop10, here is my own list of the careers considered as the most satisfying:

1. Singers & Actors — the most relaxed creatures… Even if their movies / songs are not so popular with people, they still rake in loads of money! Includes cheerleaders too!!
2. Authors — Most of the people don’t understand what they write, and hence this community is absolutely safe from being dodged from their jobs…
3. Fire fighters — Awesome! Hats off to these guys who make life safe, colourful, delightful & worth living.
4. Doctors — great contribution to keeping people healthy.
5. Professors — Hmmm. Highly satisfying as long as pupils listen to them!
6. Painters and sculptors — Ditto authors. Only they understand what they have created, therefore no competition and hence highly satisfied…
7. Software-related
   The most fascinating and amazing of all fields… Not any more. People associated with developing software or any related fields are found to be highly satisfied. A possible reason may be the highly addictiveness of this profession. I have taken efforts to further drill down this stream and have listed the software roles based on their satisfaction levels:
   • Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
   • Chief Program Manager
   • Project Manager
   • Business Analyst
   • Software Tester
   • Knowledge Manager
   • Onshore/Offshore Coordinator
   • Team Lead
   • Software Developer — the most dreaded community!
8. Criminal investigators — making life hell for those on the wrong side of law. Definitely interesting if they themselves are not involved!!!
9. Career counselors — Teaching (read, Preaching) is always a pleasure. They may not be sure of where their own career would go, but they would certainly guide others to choose the right path…
10. Education administrators — I don’t know if they really do anything!!! :)

Knowing where to tap makes all the difference

A giant ship was making its way in the Pacific when its engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure out how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a young boy. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately set to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer and gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life.

He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

“What?” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!”

So they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.”

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer …………………. $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap…………………….. $ 9998.00

Effort is important, but knowing where, can make all the difference.

Perspective

“You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.”
- Jim Rohn

“Where to Tap“, brings to our attention a critical component in an otherwise well accepted philosophy, rather crisply. It tells us that, “where” we put efforts to achieve our objectives, is as important or perhaps a shade more important than “what”. So, we must never overlook this aspect in our endeavour to pursue our goals coz it might just make all the difference.

As Elbert Hubbard said, “Folks who never do any more than they get paid for, never get paid for any more than they do.”

We also need to make a visible impact by our efforts and make our point such that there is no room for debate about why we deserve the acknowledgement we claim. Otherwise, we may end up with only $ 2 instead of the $ 10,000, for our efforts!!

Tata to sponsor Team Ferrari in next Formula 1 race

Times Now just reported that India’s most renowned corporate brand, Tata and one of the biggest teams in Formula 1, Team Ferrari has inked a deal wherein the Tata’s will sponsor Team Ferrari in the forthcoming race. It may be recollected that in last 3 years, India participated in the Formula 1 racing with Narayan Karthikeyan making a mark. Now this year, India has gone ahead with sponsoring entire racing team!

Ratan Tata was quite happy with this global branding deal, under which fans will see the Ferrari drivers flaunting an Indian brand. Another first for India, A really good news for Tata’s and for India too, especially after the recent terrorist attacks that thrown Mumbai out of gear.

Hats off to Ratan Tata for inking this fantastic deal. I am feeling proud to be an Indian!

No more missed tickets to your favorite concert

I am a great fan of Bon Jovi. I almost die for his songs like It’s my Life. I always wanted to attend one of his concerts, but getting tickets was next to impossible. Especially when I hardly had any time to stand in queues or to run around after agents. I was also on similar sticky wicket when Britney Spears came to my town for a live event, and I promised myslef that this time I will not leave any stone unturned to attend my love’s event. (Yes, I love Britney!) Just around this time, one of my friend suggested Seatwave - the Fan-to-Fan online ticket exchange community. It’s an online marketplace where fans can trade tickets for concerts, theatre, sport, special events and just about any other kind of live event.

This concept is actually driven by simple yet powerful processes: TicketIntegrity™ - tickets come only from legitimate sources and no fraudulent practices followed here; and TicketCover™ - All Seatwave tickets (Concert tickets / sports / theatre) are covered for event cancellation ensuring that you get the full cost of your ticket back and not just the face value. So there are no hassles of standing in surpentine queues, rubbing your shoulders (in the wrong way) with other fans / goons, loosing precious time, etc. Seatwave guarantees that you’ll get your tickets well in advance of the actual event, and in case you didn’t get, they will be happy to refund all your money! I am hooked in guys, and you?

6 Secrets of attractive male body language

Life Creation proudly presents to the netizens the 6 “top secrets” of the MALE body language that surely attracts (read seduces :)) female counterparts… Most men have such terrible body language that simply by learning a few secrets, you can instantly stand out from the crowd. Every man can become more attractive; body language is one of the most important for increasing your attractiveness, and making a better first impression. So what can you do starting from today?

1. Plant yourself when standing still
Put your feet slightly wider apart than is natural, dont shift your weight. Notice how your feet feel planted.

2. Do not fidget, fiddle, or touch face

3. Don’t look down - NEVER!!!

4. Make slow head movements
Look around slowly and smoothly, don’t dart around and jolt your head around like you are on fire!

5. Walk more slowly and smoothly
By being smooth and comfortable you give off a sense of quiet confidence. You stand out from the people rushing around.

6. Hold your drink by your side
When you have a drink, hold it by your side. It is a blocking action to hold a drink in front of your chest.

Do these things and you will make a better first impression and stand out from the other men in a room. If you have additional tips to share, please post them here so that all the readers can benefit from them. C’mon gents, won’t you like to impress girls (& women too) like James Bond?

Plush apartments in Mumbai offered at discounted rates

An exclusive offer for ICICIdirect customers to own apartments in Mumbai’s posh western suburb - Kandivali (E) - RNA N.G. Sun City by RNA Developers…

Project Name: N.G. Sun City

Project Location: Thakur village, Kandivali (E)

Possession: Ready

Project Details:

• Property Type: 1, 2 and 3 BHK
• Area: 631 - 1297 sq. ft.
• Budget: Rs.36 Lacs onwards

Project Features and Amenities

• Swimming pool, club house, fitness centre and children’s play area
• Degree college, medical college, polytechnic college, public school within 5 min. radius
• Play ground and sports complex within 5 min. radius
• Shopping mall, banks, super markets in close vicinity

Market Rate: Rs.6500/- per sq. ft.
Special discounted rate for ICICIdirect customers: Rs. 5300/- per sq. ft.

Heart Surgery for Kids - Free of Cost

Yes, you read it right… One hospital in India has pledged to perform heart surgeries on kids, absolutely FREE of cost.

The SAI SATHYA SAI INSTITUTE OF HIGHER MEDICAL SCIENCES will perform the heart surgeries on kids. If you want to avail this fabulous facility, please contact following address:

Sai Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences
EPIP Area, Whitefield,
Bangalore 560066
Karnataka, India
Telephone: +91-080-28411500
Fax: +91-080-28411502
Email for general queries: adminblr@sssihms.org.in

SHARE this information will all… Let’s be a part of this humane effort to save the gifts of God - children - from heart diseases… HATS OFF to Sai Sathya Sai Hospital for this initiative…

Batsman is saying that the evidence of you putting up the finger and destroying the stump is not enough to make him believe that he is out.

100 Interview Questions for Software Developers

For most of the questions in this list there are no right and wrong answers!

My questions are simply starting points for interesting discussions. For example: there is a question about reasons to use static methods vs. singletons. If this triggers your candidate to start a tirade againt both static methods and singletons, there's a good chance you're dealing with a smart software developer! But if the candidate can produce nothing more than a blank stare and this sound, then he might very well be a moronic mandrill. Likewise, there are many correct ways to find out whether a number is a power of 2. But if the candidate suggests using the mod operator, well... you know what I mean. (And if you don't, no problem. Fancy a banana?)

Requirements

1. Can you name a number of non-functional (or quality) requirements?
2. What is your advice when a customer wants high performance, high usability and high security?
3. Can you name a number of different techniques for specifying requirements? What works best in which case?
4. What is requirements tracing? What is backward tracing vs. forward tracing?
5. Which tools do you like to use for keeping track of requirements?
6. How do you treat changing requirements? Are they good or bad? Why?
7. How do you search and find requirements? What are possible sources?
8. How do you prioritize requirements? Do you know different techniques?
9. Can you name the responsibilities of the user, the customer and the developer in the requirements process?
10. What do you do with requirements that are incomplete or incomprehensible?

Functional Design

1. What are metaphors used for in functional design? Can you name some successful examples?
2. How can you reduce the user's perception of waiting when some functions take a lot of time?
3. Which controls would you use when a user must select multiple items from a big list, in a minimal amount of space?
4. Can you name different measures to guarantee correctness of data entry?
5. Can you name different techniques for prototyping an application?
6. Can you name examples of how an application can anticipate user behavior?
7. Can you name different ways of designing access to a large and complex list of features?
8. How would you design editing twenty fields for a list of 10 items? And editing 3 fields for a list of 1000 items?
9. What is the problem of using different colors when highlighting pieces of a text?
10. Can you name some limitations of a web environment vs. a Windows environment?

Technical Design

1. What do low coupling and high cohesion mean? What does the principle of encapsulation mean?
2. How do you manage conflicts in a web application when different people are editing the same data?
3. Do you know about design patterns? Which design patterns have you used, and in what situations?
4. Do you know what a stateless business layer is? Where do long-running transactions fit into that picture?
5. What kinds of diagrams have you used in designing parts of an architecture, or a technical design?
6. Can you name the different tiers and responsibilities in an N-tier architecture?
7. Can you name different measures to guarantee correctness and robustness of data in an architecture?
8. Can you name any differences between object-oriented design and component-based design?
9. How would you model user authorization, user profiles and permissions in a database?
10. How would you model the animal kingdom (with species and their behavior) as a class system?

Construction

1. How do you make sure that your code can handle different kinds of error situations?
2. Can you explain what Test-Driven Development is? Can you name some principles of Extreme Programming?
3. What do you care about most when reviewing somebody else's code?
4. When do you use an abstract class and when do you use an interface?
5. Apart from the IDE, which other favorite tools do you use that you think are essential to you?
6. How do you make sure that your code is both safe and fast?
7. When do you use polymorphism and when do you use delegates?
8. When would you use a class with static members and when would you use a Singleton class?
9. Can you name examples of anticipating changing requirements in your code?
10. Can you describe the process you use for writing a piece of code, from requirements to delivery?

Algorithms

1. How do you find out if a number is a power of 2? And how do you know if it is an odd number?
2. How do you find the middle item in a linked list?
3. How would you change the format of all the phone numbers in 10,000 static html web pages?
4. Can you name an example of a recursive solution that you created?
5. Which is faster: finding an item in a hashtable or in a sorted list?
6. What is the last thing you learned about algorithms from a book, magazine or web site?
7. How would you write a function to reverse a string? And can you do that without a temporary string?
8. What type of language do you prefer for writing complex algorithms?
9. In an array with integers between 1 and 1,000,000 one value is in the array twice. How do you determine which one?
10. Do you know about the Traveling Salesman Problem?

Data Structures

1. How would you implement the structure of the London underground in a computer's memory?
2. How would you store the value of a color in a database, as efficiently as possible?
3. What is the difference between a queue and a stack?
4. What is the difference between storing data on the heap vs. on the stack?
5. How would you store a vector in N dimensions in a datatable?
6. What type of language do you prefer for writing complex data structures?
7. What is the number 21 in binary format? And in hex?
8. What is the last thing you learned about data structures from a book, magazine or web site?
9. How would you store the results of a soccer/football competition (with teams and scores) in an XML document?
10. Can you name some different text file formats for storing unicode characters?

Testing

1. Do you know what a regression test is? How do you verify that new changes have not broken existing features?
2. How can you implement unit testing when there are dependencies between a business layer and a data layer?
3. Which tools are essential to you for testing the quality of your code?
4. What types of problems have you encountered most often in your products after deployment?
5. Do you know what code coverage is? What types of code coverage are there?
6. Do you know the difference between functional testing and exploratory testing? How would you test a web site?
7. What is the difference between a test suite, a test case and a test plan? How would you organize testing?
8. What kind of tests would you include for a smoke test of an ecommerce web site?
9. What can you do reduce the chance that a customer finds things that he doesn't like during acceptance testing?
10. Can you tell me something that you have learned about testing and quality assurance in the last year?

Maintenance

1. What kind of tools are important to you for monitoring a product during maintenance?
2. What is important when updating a product that is in production and is being used?
3. How do you find an error in a large file with code that you cannot step through?
4. How can you make sure that changes in code will not affect any other parts of the product?
5. How do you create technical documentation for your products?
6. What measures have you taken to make your software products more easily maintainable?
7. How can you debug a system in a production environment, while it is being used?
8. Do you know what load balancing is? Can you name different types of load balancing?
9. Can you name reasons why maintenance of software is the biggest/most expensive part of an application's life cycle?
10. What is the difference between re-engineering and reverse engineering?

Configuration Management

1. Do you know what a baseline is in configuration management? How do you freeze an important moment in a project?
2. Which items do you normally place under version control?
3. How can you make sure that team members know who changed what in a software project?
4. Do you know the differences between tags and branches? When do you use which?
5. How would you manage changes to technical documentation, like the architecture of a product?
6. Which tools do you need to manage the state of all digital information in a project? Which tools do you like best?
7. How do you deal with changes that a customer wants in a released product?
8. Are there differences in managing versions and releases?
9. What is the difference between managing changes in text files vs. managing changes in binary files?
10. How would you treat simultaneous development of multiple RfC's or increments and maintenance issues?

Project Management

1. How many of the three variables scope, time and cost can be fixed by the customer?
2. Who should make estimates for the effort of a project? Who is allowed to set the deadline?
3. Do you prefer minimization of the number of releases or minimization of the amount of work-in-progress?
4. Which kind of diagrams do you use to track progress in a project?
5. What is the difference between an iteration and an increment?
6. Can you explain the practice of risk management? How should risks be managed?
7. Do you prefer a work breakdown structure or a rolling wave planning?
8. What do you need to be able to determine if a project is on time and within budget?
9. Can you name some differences between DSDM, Prince2 and Scrum?
10. How do you agree on scope and time with the customer, when the customer wants too much?

You have nothing to fear but fear itself

1 Mar 2009, 0049 hrs IST, Kishore Biyani
Darr ke aagey jeet hai. Conquer fear and you can conquer anything. I learnt this fairly early while growing up in a joint family along with 13 siblings and cousins.

Every evening, we would gather around our grandmother to hear her stories. One of her favourite stories revolved around five pilgrims who were on a journey to the holy places in the Himalayas. On a bitterly cold night, they arrived at a dharamshala. It had only one room and the gatekeeper warned them against staying there as legend had it that it was inhabited by a big snake. He told them no one had ventured inside for years. On hearing this, the pilgrims decided to play safe and spend the night in the open.After a few shivering hours, one of them overcame his fear and decided to check the room. On entering, he didn’t find a snake. Instead, a rope lay on the floor. In the dark it resembled a snake. But the other pilgrims didn’t believe the account and decided to sleep outside. The brave one slept soundly; for his fellow travellers it was a long night.

As my grandmother would explain, failure exists only in one’s imagination. We fear failure, because we fear criticism, ridicule or rejection. But the truth is that anyone who has been successful has failed at some stage of their life. From failure comes knowledge of what works and what doesn’t; from failure comes knowledge of one’s strengths and weaknesses and it’s from failure that one begins a more determined attempt to achieve success.

As one grows up there comes the realization that there is no standard measure of failure or success. It is a relative term. What one person perceives as extraordinary success may be an ordinary accomplishment for another. What may seem a failure today often turns out to be insignificant in the long run.

Thankfully, I grew up in an environment where there were no high expectations I would excel academically. I never came first in any school exam. I hardly attended classes at college. That may not be the best thing to do but in retrospect I believe that there are many lessons to learn outside the classroom. Learning about how to build relationships and business partnerships; about human behavior and social dynamics is just as important as classroom lessons to succeed in any field.

It is a fact that in our society we ridicule failure. Rather than encourage people to take the road less travelled, we discourage them. There is encouragement to conform to a set pattern rather than stand out in a crowd. This is why failing an exam or a new venture is feared.

I don’t think setbacks, disappointments, rejections and unsuccessful attempts can be called failures. They are steps to success. How one deals with a setback determines the success of the next step. A sudden setback can be seen as a brick wall. It can also be seen as a stepping stone. It’s the way one perceives it that determines whether an unsuccessful attempt turns into a failure. Absolute failure is about not trying to do new things; it’s about lack of conviction; it’s about giving up.

Kishore Biyani: Chief executive officer of the Rs 5,000-crore Future Group. Biyani, who ranked 20 in a class of 35 at school, is regarded as the man who pioneered the retail revolution in India.

China to set up 2nd-hand markets

16 Mar 2009, 0032 hrs IST, Saibal Dasgupta, TNN
BEIJING: China's ministry of commerce has come up with a unique way of beating the financial crisis. It wants to develop a chain of markets that will sell second-hand goods like home appliances, cloths and vehicles.

The ministry of finance has ordered state-owned enterprises and state-run banks to put an end to offering stock incentives and enforcement of stock options to employees that were offered earlier. It has also asked these companies to keep management salaries at a "reasonable" level. The order is expected to result in some sharp executive salary cuts.

The market for second-hand goods is limited to a few pockets as Chinese are reluctant to pick up used goods. The commerce ministry's move to create market places for second-hand goods will encourage people to sell off used goods like refrigerators and television sets and go for new ones, a government source said. The ministry expects a decline in new purchases by people hit by the slowdown. Such people could be encouraged to buy second-hand goods. Others may buy new goods after recovering some money by selling used goods.

This is the ministry's way of increasing domestic consumption and helping companies struggling to survive the financial crisis. Hundreds of Chinese companies have lost export markets or seen their exports dwindle. Factories in south and east China has thrown out 20 million migrant workers engaged in low-skill operations after imposing severe production cutbacks or downing shutters.

Premier Wen Jiabao recently allocated vast sums of money to provide subsidy to farmers buying new household goods, farm implements, vehicles and for stocking grains. This is in line with his theory that increasing domestic consumption would help companies survive the economic slowdown and save jobs.

In a circular, the commerce ministry has asked provincial and local governments to set up special markets in small and medium sized cities for selling used goods as a means of stimulating economic growth.

The ministry said the move will help save resources and create a eco-friendly society besides meeting consumer demand. The local governments have been asked to set up a network for the collection and distribution of second-hand goods.

Local governments have also been asked to rope in home appliance companies and large retailers in the task and set basic standards on quality. The ministry also recommended release of quality marks, issued by the second-hand goods industry asocial, on the used goods to ensure good quality. It also went to the extent of asking local governments to train special professionals for these markets.