Insights Success

Positive Side of COVID Impact on Economy: Especially for India

1) There is gloom everywhere. Every morning I open the newspaper, I see that there has been a record number of new Coronavirus cases in the country. Every day surpasses the previous day in the numbers tally. Economists are predicting the worst recession of the century hitting the globe where millions of jobs will be lost and many more millions of people will be driven into poverty. So, is everything lost? Is there no hope for the economy moving forward? To investigate this issue, I started to look around and realized that in the midst of all this gloom, there are many silver linings. Many reasons to feel optimistic and cheer about; especially if you are an Indian. So, what are the positives that might emerge as the COVID pandemic begins to taper down and eventually leave us alone? There are several such positives. Let us take a look at them:

a) GDP Growth Rates: IMF is the global nodal agency that monitors all the economies of the world and undertakes fiscal interventions wherever these are required to bail out sinking economies. Economies are considered to be in recession whenever they show negative growth rates as compared to the previous two quarters. Almost all the major economies of the world shall get into major recessions after the COVID pandemic. IMF recently published the expected recessionary trends across major global economies. This table is as shown below:

b) The above table is an interesting one. Kindly note that, while all the major developed economies of the world shall shrink and show recessionary negative growth rate (USA -5.9, Spain -8.0, Italy -9.1 etc), only two major economies of the developing world shall continue to tread in positive territories. India & China. When there is economic gloom across the entire globe, the Indian economy is expected to expand by around 2% in 2020 as well. Recent announcements by the Niti Ayog show that the Agricultural output of the country is likely to show a 3% increase and this is likely to positively impact the GDP numbers for India further. So, what is the reason for the Indian economy to show this resilience when the rest of the world is crumbling around us?

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Quotes by Cyrus Poonawalla

They say of the cut-throat world of entrepreneurship that if there’s one thing that helps an entrepreneur sail through, it’s the presence of mind, and the right bit of horse-sense.

Cyrus Poonawala has both, and for obvious reasons. Born in a family of horse breeders, he founded the famed Serum Institute of India in 1966 which is today by all accounts the world’s largest vaccine makers in terms of dosage.

They produce over 1.5 billion doses of vaccines annually for medical conditions ranging from measles, polio and flu. These days they are at the forefront of producing the Covid-19 vaccines which incidentally has almost doubled Cyrus Poonawalla’s income from to USD 13.8 billion in the matter of a few months!

If that didn’t seem enough, he owns prime realty worth in excess of USD 522.00 that includes stud-farms and about 250 acres of land and built-up properties in Pune and Mumbai.

The shocking part today is that before vaccines appealed to him Cyrus Poonawalla almost got down to making race cars given his passion for the same. But he dropped the idea upon realizing the huge upfront investment it would take.

For all of that, Cyrus Poonawalla does seem a modest man of few words! His sayings include the following:

Along with my passion for horse breeding, I was a horse racing enthusiast… In 1974 I was elected as a committee member and subsequently as a steward of the Turf Club. I had a burning desire to clean up the sport, which had always carried the stigma of gambling and manipulation.

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13 Life-Changing Quotes by Mother Teresa

Leprosy is a dreadful disease to say the least. While eating away the bones and flesh, the disease leaves back humans who look worse than ghouls from the worst places in hell. If not treated in time, the wounds collect dirt and body fluids that make the perfect ground for further degradation including the oozing of pus. In a matter of a few years, a healthy human is reduced to the worst degraded state, sometimes far worse than even uncared-for animals.

And the standard response of most families half-a-century back? Throw the suffer out on the street to rot and die a slow and painful death- all the while with the brain registering every painful detail, and not being able to do anything. What is one to call such a life? A curse in its worst form.

And what would you call someone who with all her senses intact sits beside a leper in his/ her worst state and takes care of all the pains and wounds? One word suffices. A God-send. Exactly what she was. Mother Teresa to the world, she was Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu to her native Albania which she left when she was hardly 15 years of age. Arriving in Kolkata in India at 18, she found home. And a purpose, a purpose so profound that it changed everything about her from her name, her thoughts and ideas to the very way she looked and perceived situations. And with renewed sights, she did what seemed impossible then. A world-wide army of volunteers today numbering close to 4,500 nuns actively working in more than 600 missions across 133 countries that serves the most badly affected of humanity be it due to diseases or other calamities. In her over four decades of working from 1950 to 1997, she has seen the shades of humanity no-one else has. That brought her the most unique of insights which in some cases came about in the form of interesting quotes, some of which we state below.

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.
We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.
Intense love does not measure, it just gives.
Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

8 Motivational Quotes from Indian Entrepreneur Narayan Murthy

You can call him the Mahatma of the IT industry given that Time Magazine described him as the ‘Father of Indian IT Sector’. After the early demise of his first enterprise, NRN went right back into employment only to walk back and start Infosys. The rest as they say, is history which includes a string of accolades including the Fortune listing him as ‘one among the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time’.

Two Padma awards (Padma Shree in the year 2000 and Padma Vibhushan in the year 2008) and lot many things later, NRN is today the Chairman Emeritus of Infosys besides being an independent Director on several bodies including HSBC, DBS Bank, Unilever, ICICI and NDTV, and advisor to renowned educational institutions including Cornell University, INSEAD, ESSEC, the Ford Foundation and the UN Foundation.

We include some of his most telling and pithy of quotes below.

A clear conscience is the softest pillow in the world.
The real power of money is the power to give it away.
You do not have to be the son of a rich man to be an entrepreneur. Today kids are far more willing to take risks because they’ve seen high rewards.
It is better to under-promise and over-deliver than vice versa. For this one need not break the law of the land

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6 Powerful quotes by Kumar Mangalam Birla

Fire either burns in entirety or purifies it entirely.

In his case, it did both in parts. It seared in him an urge to excel in all fields that he touched upon. It also purified his intent and defined a path that his enterprise would take. In times to come, it would make him and all his entities renowned in their respective fields.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, fourth generation scion of the illustrious Birla family of India became the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group at the young age of 28 when tragedy befell upon him. His father, and one of India’s finest industrialist and social entrepreneur, Aditya Vikram Birla fell to cancer.

For Kumar, life till then was a cruise given that he was born into one of India’s most known and admired of business families which had roots that stretched all the way back to India’s independence. His great-grandfather, and India’s industrial doyen Shri Ghanshyam Das Birla was close to the likes of the Mahatma and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Shri Ghanshyam Das Birla was also close to Kumar in his younger days. In his own words he says that he was lucky to have learnt the ropes of the trade at the hands of some of India’s most known and admired business-leaders which also included grandfather Basant Kumar Birla and his father Aditya Vikram Birla. Tough businessmen they certainly were, but equally significant were their humanitarian gestures towards everyone be it their employees or the public at large.

All of their influences and ideas the young Kumar Mangalam Birla imbibed in plenty and can be seen in the way he structured and led his business on the path of astounding growth. Their combined worth in the year 1995 when he entered the scene was in the region of USD 2 billion.

Today, with the addition of metals including aluminium and copper, cement, textiles (pulp, fibre, yarn, fabric and branded apparel), carbon black, insulators, natural resources, solar power, agribusiness, telecom, financial services, retail and trading, their net-worth is in the region of an astounding USD 45 billion. That apart, in the span of a quarter-of-a-century, the Aditya Birla Group has acquired over 40 renowned entities worldwide- a record of sorts for any Indian conglomerate!

All this has given Kumar Mangalam Birla, a CA by qualification with an MBA from the London Business School, a deep and thorough understanding of what it takes to make businesses effective, efficient and very customer centric. These have also resulted in a series of well-meaning quotes by Kumar that everyone from businessmen to newbies could use in their daily lives to enlighten and motivate.

Leadership is hard to define and good leadership even harder. But if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader.
When you assume negative intent, you’re angry. If you take away that anger and assume positive intent, you will be amazed. Your emotional quotient goes up because you are no longer almost random in your response.
As a leader, I am tough on myself and I raise the standard for everybody; however, I am very caring because I want people to excel at what they are doing so that they can aspire to be me in the future.
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7 Inspiring Quotes by Indra Nooyi, One of the Most Powerful Businesswomen

She made the best even better! Pepsico and its ex-CEO Indira Nooyi.

What was worth USD 2.7 billion in 2001 rose to USD 6.5 billion when she left in 2018! Going to her credit also were Pepsico’s acquisitions of Tropicana and Quaker Oats which resulted in her becoming the company’s CFO- the first ever by an Indian woman in America.

She has often been ranked as one of the most powerful businesspersons, the most powerful CEOs, the most powerful of women chief executives and the likes. She cut her teeth in the corporate world with esteemed organizations that include Boston Consulting Group, Asea Brown Boveri and Motorola before joining PepsiCo. Such has been her influence in her home country of India that in the year 2005, she was felicitated by the Government of India with the prestigious Padma Bhushan.

Indira Nooyi’s initial years were spent in Chennai from where she did most of her education including graduation. A fine, fine student, she made it to IIM Kolkata for her PG. Her latest accomplishment in education includes a master’s in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management. An all-rounder, she was a part of her school’s band as also the cricket team. Incidentally, on the subject of cricket, she was the first independent woman director of the ICC!

An out and out performer who leads from the front, she has seen it all in the corporate world, the ups, and the downs, and most of all, how to take things up even when things look bleak. In all these, if there’s one thing Indira Nooyi is sure to have gathered, it’s experienced, and the ability to articulate them in the form of interesting quotes. We reproduce a few below.

Leadership is hard to define and good leadership even harder. But if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader.
When you assume negative intent, you’re angry. If you take away that anger and assume positive intent, you will be amazed. Your emotional quotient goes up because you are no longer almost random in your response.

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10 Azim Premji quotes to inspire you for success in life

He is one of India’s doyens in the field of software who is known in India for the frugality of his existence given that he is said to travel ‘economy class’ on flights when on business. These days, he is also known for philanthropy and is said to have donated in excess of INR 9000 crores (USD 12.27 billion approximately) to charities for the education of India’s poor and deprived children.

Azim Hasham Premji, know to the world as Azim Premji headed Western Indian Vegetable Products for the first time in the year 1966 after the passing away of his father. In time it became WIPRO. With the change in its name came the change in its product profile which went from cooking oils to soaps and toiletries, electricals to software and IT-related products. The last came about in the early 80s and corresponded with the departure of IBM from India.

In the intervening years both Wipro and its ex-Chairman have created a name for themselves in the field of IT and related products that have stood the test of time and of usability with some of Wipro’s products being considered game-changers in the industry.

As is wont of a charismatic leader of his stature, Azim Premji too has created some of the best quotes of his experiences in varied fields be it leadership, growth, development, the need for compassion and nurturing, and the likes. We have compiled some of his best quotes and mentioned them below. Hope you find same to be interesting reading.

Character is one factor that will guide all our actions and decisions.
We invested in uncompromising integrity that helped us take difficult stands in some of the most difficult business situations.
In our way of working, we attach a great deal of importance to humility and honesty; With respect for human values, we promise to serve our customers with integrity.
I strongly believe that those of us, who are privileged to have wealth, should contribute significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged.
I was 21 and had spent the last few years in Stanford University Engineering School at California. Many people advised me to take up a nice, cushy job rather than face the challenges of running a hydrogenated oil business. Looking back, I am glad I decided to take charge instead. Essentially leadership begins from within. It is a small voice that tells you where to go when you feel lost. If you believe in that voice, you believe in yourself.
There are millions of children today who don’t attend school. However, education is the only way to get ahead in this country.

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9 quotes by Chetan Bhagat that will change your perspectives

The movie 3 idiots made him a bigger star than its star cast! Suddenly the world awoke to the writings of one who had seen life from a very contemporary perspective and written it in the most interesting and thought-provoking of ways. An engineer from the famed IIT Delhi, he went on to do an MBA from the equally famed IIM Ahmedabad. Employment saw him with the likes of Peregrine Investments Holdings, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank, all in Hong Kong.

Chetan had a thing with writing from early on which saw him write some of his best novels while in employment (One Night @ the Call Center and Five Point Someone happened while he was at Goldman Sachs). His “The 3 Mistakes of My Life” sold five lakh copies in three months!

Besides writing novels, these days Bhagat writes screenplays for his movies and is also a known motivational speaker who has conducted sessions in over 300 organizations in 50 cities worldwide.

And in all that he writes, including his quotable quotes, Chetan Bhagat the ex-banker infuses his own sense of being prudent and practical in the backdrop of principles, and a sense of dignity and respect. Some of his more famous quotes which are sure to resonate with every reader is mentioned below.

Don’t quit. It will happen one day.
Forgiving doesn’t make the person who hurt you feel better, it makes you feel better.
When you fly high, People will throw stones at you. Don’t Look down. Just fly higher so the stones won’t reach you.
There are two ways of spreading light- to be candle or the mirror that reflects it.

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10 Thought Provoking Quotes by Anand Mahindra

It’s expected of businessmen, more so the renowned ones to have an education which mirrors the fields in which their organizations specialize. His ideally should have been Automotive Engineering given that they make some of India’s (some say the world’s!) finest automotive, including off-roaders, SUVs, utility vehicles and these days the Indian Army’s state-of-the-art Armoured Tactical Vehicles.

And he was a student of Architecture and Film making from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts who went on to do an MBA from Harvard Business School in Massachusetts.

Anand Gopal Mahindra. With a net worth of USD 1.6 billion, the Chairman of the Mahindra Group was the 88^th richest Indian in 2019 according to Forbes. One of India’s most renowned and admired businessman, his conglomerate’s interests range widely from automotive to aerospace, agribusiness, construction equipment, defence, energy, farm equipment, finance and insurance, information technology, leisure and hospitality, logistics, real estate, and retail. If his businesses’ interests seem wide-ranging, they pale in comparison to his personal interests, more so in matters other than business.

His donation of USD 10 million to the Harvard Humanities Center is the largest personal donation overseas by an Indian.
His interest in blues brought about the yearly Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai featuring some of the world’s best blues musicians.
Nanhi Kali, a project he founded in 1996 to provide primary education to underprivileged girls supports over 130000 girls!
Another initiative, Naandi Danone is the largest provider of safe drinking to rural areas with over 3 million users.

Known for his witty tweets that have brought him a fan following of over 7 million making him one of the world’s top CEOs on social media, his quotes too remain thought provoking and grounded. We mention some below.

If you aren’t humble, whatever empathy you claim is false and probably results from some arrogance or the desire to control. But true empathy is rooted in humility and the understanding that there are many people with as much to contribute to life as you.
Sustainability is a part of our ‘rise’ philosophy. You cannot rise if you take more from the community than you put back.
The glamorous side is SUVs, but frankly, the tractor side is where we are number one in the world.
Leaders don’t look behind; they don’t look to the side – they look ahead.
You want educated women if you are going to have a modern society.
Whether in services or in manufacturing, the trick is to stay ahead of the curve. I believe we should not wait to be disrupted – we should become disruptors ourselves.
Life has an interesting way of teaching even the most powerful people that joy from wealth is fleeting at best.

Source:https://quoteframe.insightssuccess.in/10-thought-provoking-quotes-by-anand-mahindra/

10 quotes by Ratan Tata that will inspire you to succeed

Pithy quotes come to those singed by life who nevertheless take such pains as part of growing up. In his case, it happened early in life when his parents separated and he was brought up by his grandmother who taught him to retain dignity at all costs, a value Ratan Tata says is still with him even today- not surprising in the way his team handled the pains of all those who went through the horrors of the 26/11 carnage, this when most of them weren’t directly related to the Tata Group.

An alumnus of the Cornell University, his first job was managing operations on the Tata Steel shop floor as far back as 1961. With his becoming the Group’s Chairman in 1997, they certainly developed wings in the way they have scaled new heights! Besides a revenue jump of 4000% and profit jump of 5000%, they have accomplished some of India’s biggest mergers and acquisitions including the addition of JLR, Tetley Tea and Corus Steel. Some of India’s most talked-about projects like the Tata Nano car, the world’s cheapest car at INR 1 lac, were his baby.

Deserving of every title bestowed upon him, he is the recipient of the Padma Bhushan award in 2000 followed by the Padma Vibhushan in the year 2008. With the stature of a stalwart and a visionary in one of India’s most admired of corporate houses, Ratan Tata is known to display exemplary ethics in his dealing which comes through in the entire group’s working.

And now, some of his best quotes and sayings to motivate the entrepreneur in you to dream and work like a social-entrepreneur who dreams big and achieves it- all the while taking people along!

“Power and wealth are not two of my main stakes.”
“I’ve often felt that the Indian Tiger has not been unleashed.”
“I have always been very confident and very upbeat about the future potential of India. I think it is a great country with great potential.”
“I have been constantly telling people to encourage people, to question the unquestioned and not to be ashamed to bring up new ideas, new processes to get things done.”
“Ups and downs in life are very important to keep us going, because a straight line even in an ECG means we are not alive.”
“I admire people who are very successful. But if that success has been achieved through too much ruthlessness, then I may admire that person, but I can’t respect him.”
“If you want to walk fast, walk alone. But if you want to walk far, walk together.”
“If it stands the test of public scrutiny, do it… If it doesn’t stand the test of public scrutiny then don’t do it.”
“Apart from values and ethics which I have tried to live by, the legacy I would like to leave behind is a very simple one – that I have always stood up for what I consider to be the right thing, and I have tried to be as fair and equitable as I could be.”
“None can destroy iron, but its own rust can! Likewise, none can destroy a person, but its own mindset can!
Source: https://quoteframe.insightssuccess.in/10-quotes-by-ratan-tata-that-will-inspire-you-to-succeed/