Startup India Project

On 16th Jan 2016, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi announced bunch of benefits and schemes to promote start-up ecosystem in India. The event was called ‘Startup India, Stand up India’. It has immense importance because, for starters, it was the first of its kind dialogue between India’s startup community and the government.

Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, intended to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and Startups in the country. This will drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. The Government, through this initiative aims to empower Startups to grow through innovation and design.

In order to meet the objectives of the initiative, Government of India announced an Action Plan that addresses all aspects of the Startup ecosystem. With this Action Plan, the Government hopes to accelerate spreading of the Startup movement from digital/ technology sector to a wide array of sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, social sector, healthcare, education, etc. and from existing tier 1 cities to tier 2 and tier 3 cities including semi-urban and rural areas.

The Action Plan is divided across the following areas:

• Simplification and Handholding
• Funding Support and Incentives
• Industry-Academia Partnership and Incubation

Since the day, the talk on “Start-up India” scheme has started, its been a burning question in each entrepreneur’s mind, whether their venture qualifies for these new schemes and benefits announced. Finally Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Government of India has clarified which ventures will qualify as Start-up to claim the benefits.

 

Definition of a Start-up (only for the purpose of Government schemes):

Start-up means:

• An entity, incorporated or registered in India
• Not older than five years,
• Annual turnover does not exceeding INR 25 crore in any preceding financial year,
• Working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialization of new products, processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property.

It is important to note following points:

• Provided that such entity is not formed by splitting up, or reconstruction, of a business already in existence.
• Provided also that an entity shall cease to be a Start-up if its turnover for the previous financial years has exceeded INR 25 crore or it has completed 5 years from the date of incorporation/ registration.
• Provided further that a Start-up shall be eligible for tax benefits only after it has obtained certification from the Inter-Ministerial Board, setup for such purpose.

Demonetization!!

Demonetization is the act of stripping a currency unit of its status as legal tender. It occurs whenever there is a change of national currency: The current form or forms of money is pulled from circulation and retired, often to be replaced with new notes or coins. Sometimes, a country completely replaces the old currency with new currency.

In 2016, the Indian government decided to demonetize the 500- and 1000- rupee notes, the two biggest denominations in its currency system; these notes accounted for 86% of the country’s circulating cash. With little warning, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to the citizenry on Nov. 8 that those notes were worthless, effective immediately – and they had until the end of the year to deposit or exchange them for newly introduced 2000 rupee and 500 rupee bills.

Chaos ensued in the cash-dependent economy (some 78% of all Indian customer transactions are in cash), as long, snaking lines formed outside ATMs and banks, which had to shut down for a day. The new rupee notes have different specifications, including size and thickness, requiring re-calibration of ATMs: only 60% of the country’s 200,000 ATMs were operational. Even those dispensing bills of lower denominations faced shortages. The government’s restriction on daily withdrawal amounts added to the misery, though a waiver on transaction fees did help a bit.

Small businesses and households struggled to find cash and reports of daily wage workers not receiving their dues surfaced.

The government’s goal (and rationale for the abrupt announcement) was to combat India’s thriving underground economy on several fronts: eradicate counterfeit currency, fight tax evasion (only 1% of the population pays taxes), eliminate black money gotten from money laundering and terrorist-financing activities, and to promote a cashless economy. Individuals and entities with huge sums of black money gotten from parallel cash systems were forced to take their large-denomination notes to a bank, which was by law required to acquire tax information on them. If the owner could not provide proof of making any tax payments on the cash, a penalty of 200% of the owed amount was imposed.

SITM

Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management (SITM) established in 1996, is the pioneer in the field of Telecom Management in entire SAARC region. The institute endeavors to develop World-Class Telecom Business Leaders who can address the needs of a constantly changing business scenario in a technical field, such as telecom, with ease. The institute embraces the spirit of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” which focuses on bridging distances among the members of the world and facilitates cultural exchange amongst the students. The Institute in its 15th year of existence commits itself towards realizing the vision of its founding forefathers.

Students at SITM are part of a techno- management business school that has remarkably evolved into a center for learning and excellence in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) domain. It has made its presence felt in the ICT industry with over thirteen hundred alumni, tirelessly contributing to the growth of organizations throughout the ICT value chain in India and abroad.An SITM student experiences a potent mix of academics, domain expertise and professional skills. He is endowed with experiences beyond knowledge. This is achieved through continuous exposure to seminars and workshops, industry visits / exhibitions and professionally conducted events.

Apart from academics, our students work on various committees under the guidance of the faculty, which enables them to implement “best practices” in management.

An SITM student, as a business leader of tomorrow, needs to be aware of corporate social responsibilities and therefore, students are encouraged to take part in various extension activities.

In the 2 years a student spends at SITM, his abilities would be put through various tests which would eventually refine him into not only a telecom business leader but also a “good citizen” with high moral values.

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Life lessons

What is it to be stuck in between being matured and being a kid?

They say,”Never let the kid in you die”, and at the same time they say, “Grow-up”. They stop you from talking too much, they ask you to be careful. They say do this, they say don’t do that. Who are they and why do they control you? This is your life! Do whatever you wanna do!! Like WHATEVER! Just make sure you be proud of your life when you look back.

Be a kid even when you grow up to 50. By being a kid, I mean, be genuine by heart, be enthusiastic, enjoy your life, be carefree and be curious. EXPLORE!
The world will never let you stay in peace, but by being a kid, you’ll for sure start loving your life. Let others share their perceptions, ideas, thoughts, judgments with you, but you gotta do what your heart says! THINK FROM YOUR HEART <3!

-Shreyu

 

 

It’s a New Year? Okay!

Welcoming a new year, yet again! Cheers! 

2015 has been amazing to some of us and quite depressing for a few of us. In-spite of all the ups and downs, here we are, standing straight to face another year as it comes. We are getting stronger with every passing year and that’s the beauty of growing up!

To all those who lived 2015 to the fullest, guys, let’s hope you spend another one year with the same enthusiasm. Let’s hope this year be a more exciting one!

And to those who were quite not happy with 2015, guys, there are people who didn’t even know the year’s going to start, there are people who struggle everyday just to earn a few pennies to keep their family from starving, there are people who don’t celebrate new year, they don’t party, they just sleep to wake up on time and go to work. Everyday is the same for them. There are people who despite all the miseries, keep smiling, they are euphoric, they are happy with what they have. If they can be happy despite everything that they face, why can’t we?

Let’s make a resolution. Come what may, we are going to be strong, face it all bravely, and come out of it with pride.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! 🙂

 ~Shreyu!

Her story inspired me..

Read this story of a girl I met by chance. I am so glad she had the courage to tell me her story.

Hey listen! You! Are you okay? He asked, looking at her lifeless face.
She removed the strands of her hair from her face that were blocking
her view. It was a cool winter morning. She was sitting at a dam
staring at nothing in particular, lost in her thoughts.
With a heavy voice, she said, “Erm, yes!” She didn’t look at him.

“You look upset. One thing I would want you to know, you deserve
better.” He said, looking into her eyes, to which she replied, “Go
away or I shall call the police.” A sense of anger in her voice. He
was stupefied but overwhelmed to see such a cute girl shout angrily.

“She was different. All other girls would have talked to me had I said
this. But she was so different. I’ve never seen girls shouting on me.
Never in my life. I loved her voice, a bit shaken but sweet. Her eyes
were dry, maybe due to the continuous flow of tears, her cheeks were
rough, tears washed away the moisture from her face. The way she sat
there, the way she removed the hair strands from her face, the way she
was, everything about her was perfect. Her eyes were passive, I could
sense she was going through a tough time. I wanted to tell her she was
perfect, and she deserved better, much better. I don’t talk to
strangers, but her charm served as a bait for me to go and sit with
her. I want to meet her again” he wrote it in his diary.

“What’s wrong with him? Who the hell was he? I don’t need fake
sympathies, moreover from strangers. Can’t u sit alone for sometime? I
want to be alone, I want to think upon the situations I’ve been
through and find out a remedial solution for the same. I need to get
myself back. I’m lost. But I want to be like I used to. I loved
myself, but now I hate myself. Sorry to be rude Mr. Stranger. Bye”
She made a diary entry.

Both of them were writers. The only difference is that he was a professional writer and his diary was open to public. His entries were
printed on Sunday’s newspaper.

She read the newspaper and the entry made by him. She was sure it was
him. She contacted him and asked him to meet her.

“Hi” he said. “Hey” she replied with a smile. He was mesmerized by
looking at her smile. He held her hand and said, “I don’t know what
your story is, I don’t know who you are, where are you from, I don’t
know anything about you. But, you deserve better. Yes you do. Do you
know how beautiful you look when you smile? But my hard luck, last
time when I saw you, you didn’t smile. If you would have smiled, I
would not have gone. Did you smile again? Yes. This way you look
prettier. Look, I can sense there’s so much in your heart that you
want to let out. You’re not happy. But dear, if you’re not happy, then
this is not what you needed. You dreamt of something much much better,
so trust me, you’ll get that. Its just that you have to go through a
few bad experiences in life in order to value the good ones. This is
not the end. You’re so pretty, do you want to look ugly? Then you’ve
to stop worrying about what happened. You need to stop crying. You
need to move on because if you don’t, you’ll miss out what you
deserve. It seems you’ve been excellent on your part, but that was not
reciprocated. You should be happy that “you” were excellent. Now next
time if we meet, I want you to be happy. Now smile. Yes. That’s like a
good girl.”

“The words he said, the way he said, the way he looked at me into my
eyes, the way he made me feel that everything will be fine, was so
perfect. I needed this so badly. He has pulled me out from the deep
dark nightmare. If I deserve better, I deserve him. He’s the one I dreamt of.” She wrote in her diary.

And she had tears in her eyes while telling me this. Just one thing I would want to say to her- Girl, you’ve a beautiful soul. Never look back now. 🙂

She keeps it all in her little heart..

My friend, Zoya, is a 19-year old girl, fair complexion, 5 feet 4 inches tall, slim and fit, absolutely pure by heart (different from the people we come across these days), carried an exuberant personality, kept everyone around her happy and had an optimistic aura even in the hard times. She had all the qualities of a perfect girl (which BTW is a myth now, though, she was an exception, and I’m so happy that I met her).

Since the very beginning of her life, her parents knew she did mature at a very small age. She understood all the problems, all the tough circumstances, and acted accordingly. For a girl her age, it’s obvious to be very fond of the “glittery world”. Though, before she grew up, she knew “all that glitters is not gold”. She didn’t demand anything, didn’t fall into the trap of teenage, didn’t possess the habits that were regarded as “immoral”.

She hid her problems from the world, not because she was shy, but because she didn’t want the world to know about what she was going through. She LOOKED chilled-out, though she wasn’t. She saw others sharing their problems, showing emotions, getting attention while doing so, getting cheered-up after that, however, she didn’t do so. But the one question that troubled me after knowing it was- WHY?!?!

And then after sometime, I got my answer. Want to know the answer? Read along.. “She was never considered as the first priority”. YES!! Priority comes to the picture now. Nobody can be perfect. Even she can’t be perfect. The misdemeanor she made was that she designed her priority list incorrectly. Instead of placing her own self at the top, she placed her friends and the people close to her at the top. Well, doing so, people started taking her for granted. She adjusted herself according to the people, which, should not be done seeing today’s world.

She lures to be noticed by the people close to her, she wants to discuss HER life with them, she wants to be in the priority, and for that, she has to change herself. She doesn’t need to get better, she has to get worse. Is there any other solution?!?!

 ~Shreyu!

Take me back to those days…

 

Today, while searching for a book, I went to your room and opened up your cupboard. I was perplexed as I wasn’t getting the book that I was searching for. In the midst of all the searching and getting irritated, I called out your name, “Shreyaaaaaassss”, and there was no voice followed by it.

Then I realized that you’ve left. You’ve gone to another city, to complete your graduation. And that was the time when I felt so empty that I couldn’t even force a smile on my face.

While your preparation, I have always wanted you to get through the competitive exams, and now that you got through and have left to start a new chapter of your life, I miss you so so much!

We’ve been together since you were born, shared the sweet and sour moments of our lives, fought like enemies, cared like best friends, laughed at stuffs others failed to understand, and finally, in between all these fights and laughter, we grew up!

This feeling is of being away, is so strange. We were together since the very beginning, and all of a sudden you’ve to go to a different place and life is all changed in a blink of an eye.

Oh btw I don’t miss you okay? I’m just bothered about my knowledge of Mathematics. Who’ll teach me Maths? Who’ll make fun of my silly mistakes? Who’ll leave no chance of teasing me at every point?

I’ve a habit of going to your room whenever I feel bored. Even now, whenever I’m lost, I go to your room, but there’s nobody to entertain me. Your things are kept systematically in your cupboard, and that’s weird, since your room used to be the messiest one.

Oh yes, one more thing, I saw our pictures of the time when we were kids. I was taller than you and I boasted about it to make you jealous. LOL. Now it’s the other way round.

We’ve grown up. Life has changed. It wouldn’t be the same as it used to be. I’ve to accept that.

                                                                                                                             ~Shreyu!