WORLD WIDE MIRROR

Unlock your potential Start-ups are challenging. Take stock of these facts before jumping on the entrepreneurship bandwagon. Sujaya Banerjee, CEO and Founder, Capstone People Consulting, Mumbai According to the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs, India scored an overall 41.7 points, ranking 49 among 54 economies globally with a much lower percentage of women entrepreneurs. India presents lower opportunities for women to assume leadership roles, to participate in the workforce or engage in entrepreneurial activities-a disparity that explains the low scores for business ownership by women in the country. Yet, women entrepreneurs in India are steadily finding their niche across industries such as hospitality, catering, manufacturing, consulting, BPOs and creative fields such as design and media. They are striving and dealing with challenges such as technological know-how and cultural biases to navigate the markets and create space

india recently initiated one of the world's largest acquisitions of small weaponry. On February 13, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman cleared contracts for purchasing assault rifles, sniper rifles and light machine guns worth over Rs 15,000 crore-or over $2.5 billion-to equip the world's third-largest armed forces. The ministry plans to buy 740,000 assault rifles for the three armed forces at Rs 12,280 crore, 5,719 sniper rifles worth Rs 982 crore and light machine guns worth Rs 1,819 crore under the fast track procedure. These decisions signal the defence ministry's intent to prioritise equipping foot soldiers engaged in daily operations along the Line of Control and in counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. It is early days, however, for these acquisitions. DAC clearance is among the first stages in a lengthy acquisition process. There are over a dozen steps, beginning with requests for proposals to contra

Dilip Puri, Founder and CEO, Indian School of Hospitality, Gurgaon According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) 2017 Global Impact Report, one in 10 of the jobs worldwide fall under the travel and tourism umbrella. Only last year, the travel and tourism industry as a whole outperformed the global economy-for the sixth year in a row. Over the next decade, travel and tourism is set to successfully continue its rapid expansion, overtaking global economic sectors including communications, manufacturing, retail and distribution, as well as financial and business services, and provide 23 per cent of all jobs worldwide. It's a promise of immense growth and professional opportunities for aspirants keen to pursue a career in the hospitality industry. Be open to change The steady growth within the industry has made hospitality education a popular choice for students. With potential career opportunities available, it's eas

G one are the days when you needed to save diligently for months together to buy an object of desire: electronic items, furniture, consumer durables, gadgets. Now, they can be yours on instant credit, with the added attraction of the facility to pay in easy instalments at no extra cost. Enter the EMI card. "Convenience and the pre-approved feature are reasons behind the popularity of these cards," says Brijesh Dalmia, director, Dalmia Advisory Services. "It's a great marketing strategy that appeals to shoppers." Bajaj Finserv, the market leader in the EMI card segment, claims to have more than 10 million members. Capital First is another major lender in the category and offers the 'Easy Buy EMI Card'. There are also several emerging online players, such as Kissht, Snapmint and ZestMoney, offering the zero-cost EMI conversion option on online markets, such as Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal, to name a few. Big purchases made easy

Tisca Chopra wanted to test her funny bone, only Bollywood had nothing to offer other than dark and dramatic. It didn't help either that some 45 films later, she was being offered roles of "bhabhi" or "beeji". "I'm not ready to be a fringe character floating around supporting what men are doing," says Tisca, whose last feature, The Hungry, an adaptation of Titus Andronicus, released on Amazon Prime. "Where are our stories that resonate?" In 2016, she established the production house, The Eastern Way, and adapted a Bhisham Sahni story into the short film Chutney. Playing the wicked wife who knows how to hold her husband's lover's attention with a morbid tale, the film has amassed over 120 million views since it was uploaded in November 2016. "The medium is very democratising," says Tisca, having recently produced and acted in another short, Chhuri. "You have an idea and you don't need much money [to make it]. Fi

Vegan Cure Fat? Then Type 2 diabetes may not be far behind. How to escape it? Turn vegan. Recent research says a low-fat vegan diet could prevent diabetes in those overweight. Obese people who switched to a vegan diet for 16 weeks showed improvements in insulin sensitivity and in the functioning of pancreatic beta cells. Not only did they experience a significant reduction in their Body Mass Index, compared with the control group, "the vegan group experienced increases in insulin secretion after eating," says lead study author Dr Hana Kahleova of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington DC. Writing in the journal Nutrients, she said the findings have "important implications for diabetes prevention". Those who adhered to the vegan diet also experienced reduction in blood sugar levels during meals and while fasting. So fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains in a healthful plant-based diet, without calorie restriction, holds hope in checking

The reimposition of long-term capital gains tax (LTCG) on equity investments elicited mixed reactions, but most industry experts believe it will not have a significant impact on domestic equity investment inflows over the long term. There will now be a 10 per cent tax on capital gains exceeding Rs 1 lakh, accrued from equity investments held for over a year. All capital gains accrued up to January 31, 2018, though, are 'grandfathered', meaning they are exempt from the new tax. For example, assume you made an investment on April 15, 2017, and accrued capital gains of Rs 1.2 lakh by January 31, 2018, and that this amount further grew to Rs 1.5 lakh by April 16, 2018, you would have to pay a 10 per cent tax only on Rs 30,000 or the gains exceeding Rs 1 lakh made after January 31. In addition to LTCG, there's also a 10 per cent tax on distributed income from equity-oriented mutual fund (MF) schemes. So, if you have opted for the dividend option of an equity- oriented sche

Forty-year-old Nikhil Kaushik, who runs Fortcaps Health Care at the Govindpura Industrial Estate in Bhopal, is a worried man. His small drug company, with an annual turnover of Rs 35 crore, makes capsules for big pharma, and the twin disruptions of demonetisation and GST have all but derailed his business. Profits had already slipped 30 per cent after demonetisation, and the imposition of a 28 per cent GST on capsules-compared to the 12.5 per cent excise duty earlier-was a double whammy, badly affecting sales in June and July last year. The story was the same for a large part of the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) sector in the country. For Kaushik, a rejig of GST rates later brought the applicable tax rate down to 18 per cent, but any relief on that account will be neutralised by the e-way bill for movement of goods. Financing woes The MSME sector, consisting of around 60 million firms, contributes 30 per cent to India's GDP. The sector also contributes 45 per cent

Featuring an adorable blue octopus skating freely on the ice ring, the doodle depicted the eight-armed mollusk named 'Magpie' twirling, jumping and mimicking some of the best ice-skating moves. As athletes continue to fight for the top spot at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, adorable cartoon animals are busy playing snowy games. And as spectacular performances by the participants mesmerises sports buffs at the PyeongChang 2018, Google has been wowing them with its amazing doodles. For Day 16, the search engine giant decided to focus on free skating. Featuring an adorable blue octopus skating freely on the ice ring, the doodle depicted the eight-armed mollusk twirling, jumping and mimicking some of the best ice-skating moves. The doodle captured the performance of cute blue squid ‘Magpie’ and even showed how it defeated other competitors, including a crocodile and bear. “Giant Squid awards Octopus a perfect eight out of eight, but Gator siphons off a point,” the description o

The Maharashtra government recently unveiled an incentive policy for the construction of affordable low-cost houses on private lands under the Centre’s ‘housing for all’ initiative. Conceptual Advisory Services LLP, a firm in which Sun Pharmaceuticals executive director Sudhir Valia and his wife Raksha are designated partners, has signed a Rs 25,000-crore memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government for building one lakh affordable houses, on a partnership basis, on private land. Valia is also the brother-in-law of Sun Pharma’s Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi. Records show that the Valias’ firm was incorporated on January 18, 2018, and that the “total obligation of contribution (of the partners) of the LLP is Rs 1 lakh”. The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the recently-held Magnetic Maharashtra business conclave in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex. The Maharashtra government recently unveiled an incentive policy for the construction of affordable low-cost house

At first glance, it is impossible to spot it. On the first floor of a rundown two-storey building, sandwiched between the ‘Golden’ bag shop on the ground floor and a carrom parlour on the second level, lies the Yuvraj Saoji Bhojnalaya — the restaurant that is said to have introduced the fiery, oily Saoji cuisine to the world. Well, at least, commercially. The restaurant, which celebrated its diamond jubilee a couple of years ago, is located at the busy corner of Ganjhaket Chowk in Nagpur, and is now run by Hukum Girmaji Umredkar, oldest surviving son of Girmaji, the founder of the restaurant. As we climb the rickety wooden staircase, holding a rope suspended from the upper floor for support, it is evident that business is not as it used to be. “Earlier, we used to have 10-12 staffers, now it’s down to half the number, so we have to run a lot of errands ourselves,” he says. Today, an ‘authentic’ Saoji restaurant stands at multiple corners of the city. “Saoji has become so popular, that

Yes, I understand I will be paid handsomely for my share, thank you very much. Where do I sign?” And just like that I gave up my claim to my father’s and to his father’s property to a developer who promised to give me a flat in the new apartment complex that will come up in its place. For all practical purposes, the decision made sense. The single-storey house with almost five rooms (a corridor was made into a room after it was found to be ridiculously big) was too much for a family going nuclear, both in size and temper. Maintenance was getting harder and someone had to water those plants every single day. It was also what everyone close to a major national highway was doing — the returns on it would be higher than what the coconut trees on the plot would produce in its entire life. “No need to get sentimental about this,” my uncle had said before I signed. “We will all be under one roof.” I imagine he did not understand how an apartment worked, or didn’t think of the walls that

Foot care Dr Abhishek Jain, Orthopaedic surgeon and founder, Delhi Foot Clinic If you have pronated or flat feet, opt for motion restriction shoes. For high arch feet, cushioned shoes are recommended. People with hip/ knee pain or high arch feet should never wear thin sole footwear. Always buy footwear in the evening for your foot is at its maximum size at this time. Take a picture of your soles to rule out any swelling, wounds, ulcers, callus and corn on a daily basis. If you are a diabetic, avoid walking barefoot for diabetic neuropathy will not allow you to know what has pricked you until the damage is already done. Always make sure your footwear is protective, cushioned and does not have hard edges as this will harm your feet. Gynaecology Dr Neena Singh Kumar, Associate Director Robotic, Endoscopy, Gynecology & Obstetrics, Fortis La Femme Hospital Indian women have a lot on their plates and want to juggle it all

he domestic political crisis in the Maldives may have created fewer waves in India had it not, concurrently, opened the door for Chinese naval power to entrench itself among the islands strung south of the Indian peninsula. President Abdulla Yameen's regime in Male has-since the illegal ouster of Nasheed in a coup in 2012-systematically sought to reduce political, security-related and economic engagement with India even as it has invited Chinese presence, which has rapidly expanded. It began with the cancellation in 2013 of the Male airport project contracted to the Indian firm, GMR, and its award shortly thereafter to a Chinese company. Maldivian property laws were changed in July 2015 to allow foreign ownership of land, provided the investment was at least $ 1 billion and 70 per cent was land reclaimed from the sea. With China's experience in large-scale island building through reclaimed land in the South China Sea, one need not speculate about the likely beneficiary of this