It seems she is born for the womenfolk.  Mamta, an entrepreneur with impeccable talent, dedicates her time and energy for causes concerning the weaker sex. “For women to women” is her slogan and works for their economic independence.  She  and her Blue Lotus are  fully dedicated to the welfare of women.  In a candid conversation with APN News  Mamta explains her object and intentions. Excerpts:

What motivated you to begin Blue Lotus, any specific incident?

Yes.My journey as an entrepreneur and the lack of support available at all levels for the majority in this country. Still we don’t brand traditional craft and bring about mass awareness through retail shelves it will not work. To ensure the craft lives, the brand needs to tell the story. Yes losing my first brand to dirty business practices, practiced by many. Blue Lotus is based on Blue Ocean Theory, which is about collaborations to create win -win for all…it isn’t a linear growth, it is a circular growth.

 How do you expect to promote/help the upcoming artisans and designers through Blue Lotus?

We are creating retail platforms, out of the box retail platforms. We are the marketing and distribution and innovation arms for all the designers and artisans, we launch, we mentor, we support, we guide. We hope to finance too in the near future.

What is the size of the business you have as of now?  

Locations in terms of a Physical Store, we don’t have many. We work on retail & event format’s regularly so once it falls into a process we will be able to give a figure. I am not sure but the number of Employees would be about ten. In fact, we are working to add a new sale point on daily basis.This will be visible to the world by 2014-2015.

How are you different from such similar organizations? Do you have any specific social agenda?

Ye, we have a detailed social addenda. Empowerment, economic growth and financial stability of women are on top of our agenda. We work hard to provide quality of life for all those associated with us, directly or indirectly. We work on the Blue Ocean Strategy which refers to working in tandem with people & creating a niche’ for your products simply put. The motto of Blue Lotus is financial Sustainability for all & creating commercial viability for dying crafts & arts of India. The approach at Blue Lotus is very Holistic & is complete learning where we round of the Edges. It isn’t just an organization it is way of living.

You declare that  “For women to women” is your motto. Do you take up issues related to women like women empowerment, atrocities on women etc?

Sure. We are certainly concerned of all issues related to women. Our intention is to economically empower the womenfolk. What we have started is just the beginning of an elaborate mission. We now   put our efforts to empowering women working at the Stores, helping them learning a Skill Set.  Such efforts will help the women bring in money into their homes.

Here the Women Designer’s/Entrepreneurs have a platform for launching their Brands, Products & getting mentored in the process as well.

How do you plan to expand Blue Lotus?

I am working with many NGO’s and Fair Trade Organizations and supporter of many women and organizations working for the cause of women empowerment etc

The survey, conducted for Microsoft by the research firm Ipsos, of 1,825 employees across the APAC region also found that 40 percent of employees feel there isn’t enough collaboration in their workplaces and that social tools could foster better teamwork. According to the survey findings, 57 percent of employees in the Asia-Pacific region would like to be more involved in the decisions to add new technologies and tools at their workplaces, and 45 percent of employees would be willing to spend their own money on social tools to drive company efficiencies.

“Employees were already bringing their own devices into their workplaces but now they are increasingly bringing their own services as well,” said Charlene Li, founder and analyst at Altimeter Group, a firm that studies social media and other technology trends. “Employees expect to work differently, with tools that feel more modern and connected but are also reflective of how they interact in their personal lives. Enterprise social represents a new way to work, and organizations that are embracing these tools are improving collaboration, speeding customer responses and creating competitive advantage.”

Some employees, however, are facing challenges as their companies are hesitant of implementing social tools. Of the survey respondents, 39 percent said their IT departments can be a barrier to using new tools, with 74 percent naming security concerns and 47 percent citing the fear of productivity loss as the top obstacles in their organizations. As they face these challenges, 23 percent of employees in the Asia-Pacific region say they have ignored their organization’s IT policy to install social tools, and 32 percent say they know someone who has.

The research also found distinct differences between countries, sectors and genders as they relate to the levels of productivity, collaboration and communication tools used in today’s workplace.

Regions (Global findings)

·         Employees in the Asia-Pacific region were most likely to attribute higher productivity levels to the increased use of social tools, followed by Latin America and Europe. Employees in Latin America, however, were most likely to credit social tools with greater collaboration in the workplace, followed by the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.

·         Greater proportions of workers in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region are using social tools — and with greater frequency. In contrast, those in North America and Europe have been slower in adopting many social tools.

Key Findings from India

·         9 in 10 Indian workers use email, followed closely by 8 in 10 who use IM/video conferencing, and three quarters who use team sites/intranets.  In India, usage levels of these tools tend to be higher than most other markets across the board.

·         The most prevalent social tools in the Indian community are also those recognized by workers as most useful and encouraged in the workplace. External social networks, micro blogging, and internal social networks are restricted by one quarter of Indian organizations.

·         7 in 10 workers feel that security concerns are to blame for the restrictions, while 6 in 10 feel the restrictions are due to productivity loss. However, 71% of respondents feel social tools have actually helped to increase their productivity.

·         Likewise, 7 in 10 feel social tools have increased workplace collaboration, and that their company recognizes the value of providing social tools – more so than in most other countries.

Sectors (Global findings)

·         Email is the most widely used social tool by employees in the IT sector, followed by team sites/intranets, video conferencing, and IM.  IT professionals tend to use more social tools than employees in other industry sectors.

·         Financial services and government employees are most likely to say their company places restrictions on the use of social tools, likely due to the high level of regulation in those sectors.

·         Moreover, professionals in financial services (74 percent) and government (72 percent) are more likely than those in other fields to say these restrictions are due to security concerns, while those working in retail (59 percent) and travel and hospitality (57 percent) are more likely to blame productivity loss.

Gender (Global findings)

·         Men are more likely than women to attribute higher productivity levels to social tools in a professional setting.

·         Women are more likely than men to believe their company restricts the use of social tools.

·         Men are more likely than women to say these restrictions are due to security concerns, while women are more likely to blame productivity loss.

Potential of Social Tools

Done right, enterprise social can drive significant business value by improving how employees connect, share information, and work across teams and geographies, as well as beyond the organization walls to customers, vendors and other key relationships.

“Just as email accelerated the pace of business in the ’90s, enterprise social will be the driver for greater agility and transformation in the 21st century workplace,” said Ramkumar Pichai, GM – Microsoft Office Division at Microsoft. “As we look ahead at how collaboration and communications continue to evolve, we believe that the tools people use today — email, IM, voice, videoconferencing and social — will come together and be deeply integrated into apps in ways that will speed collaboration and truly transform the way people work.”

Microsoft envisions enterprise social as a fiber connecting all collaboration tools within an enterprise, not as a separate website or app that must be added into employees’ daily mix of activities. Companies stand to benefit as they start to use social tools such as Yammer — and embedded social capabilities within Office 365, Lync and Microsoft Dynamics CRM — for collaboration, sharing, and communicating outside and inside their organizations. Advantages include an increase in team collaboration, employee engagement, organizational connectedness, and the flexibility required to react nimbly and quickly to business changes and demands.

To aid in cross-border collaboration, Yammer announced the availability of the new Message Translation feature this week, which allows people to instantly translate Yammer conversations into their native language, removing language as a barrier to collaboration. Message Translation is available for Yammer Enterprise customers at no additional cost and can be enabled simply by network administrators.

 Source : Suresh Krishnan

Jackson Fernandez

Jackson Fernandez looks positive, brimming with immense energy, and hardly holds any business tension on his pleasing face. He is an MBA from XLRI and an engineer by training and now Country Manager,  for Wego.com in India.  Before joining Wego, a leading travel metasearch site that gives travellers a complete view of available flights, hotels, travel packages Jackson was a Management Consultant at Accenture working on the online marketplace strategy and its rollout at Verizon, as well as corporate strategy initiatives for some of the Fortune 500 companies. In an interview to APN News Jackson explains the composition and scope of online industry in India.

Q. You claim to be a success in the online marketing industry.   How do you rate the prospects of online marketing in a country like India where majority of the population is computer illiterate and not even familiar with modern communication methods?

I think comparing the online industry and the addressable market in contrast with the overall Indian market is rather unfair and incorrect. Factors like growth rate, actual market size and comparison with other international markets would give us a fair view on what the opportunity is. The rapid propagation of web based models over the past few years trying to address key customer pain points coupled with ubiquitous use of hand held devices are catalysing the growth of this market.   We have seen a growing number of users searching Wego for flights and hotels from mobile devices.

Everyday is a new learning experience in this dynamic space. The pace with which the industry is transforming and innovating is pretty amazing. Any company who operates in this space has to adapt to the changing dynamics of the space and leverage on new models and innovations to reach out to their customers and enhance the customer experience.  Wego’s localisation of its content in India into 11 national languages is in order to reach as many people as possible with technology that makes travel more accessible and affordable for all. Infact we are the first metasearch site in India available in 11 national languages including Bengali, Gujarati and Telugu amongst others which has proved immensely popular with travellers, particularly those seeking affordable domestic holidays.

Q. Being an engineer what motivated you venture into marketing field?  Was it your choice?

As I mentioned earlier most of the new age ventures leverage on technology to address key customer pain points. My technology background makes it easier for me to correlate the real world problem with a series of technology solutions that could address the issue at hand.

Wego as a platform is extremely useful for the new generation traveller who plans and books online. Wego filters through the plethora of options available to suggest the best possible option for the customer. Hence on the B2C side it addresses a key problem that the customer faces while on the B2B side it acts as a marketing channel for travel providers to showcase their inventory in front on customers whom otherwise they would have challenges reaching out to. Our global play across 52 countries is significant value that we bring to our partners.

Q. How is Wego different from other similar sites? What extra does Wego provide to the clients/users?

Wego is a travel metasearch site, not an OTA, providing cutting-edge technology to enable easy to use methods for travellers to identify the lowest rates and airfares available online on one simple screen. At any given time, Wego searches over 700 travel sites which include an inventory of 600 full service and low cost airlines, 400,000 hotels and resorts, as well as 400,000 recently integrated vacation rentals. Once a selection is made from Wego’s extensive inventory the user is directed to the OTA, airline or relevant travel partner to complete their booking.

Q. What could be the size of users of Wego? What is your annual turnover in terms of revenue?

Since our India launch in mid-2012, we’ve seen an inspiring month on month increase of 15 to 20 per cent in terms of website visits; particularly impressive considering these figures were purely organic and not supported by intensive marketing campaigns.

We don’t share revenue figures but can tell you we are the leading travel metasearch site in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, with India a core high-growth/high-volume market in which Wego has invested heavily.

Q. How do you compete with the aggressive marketing strategies of other majors in the similar field?

We don’t compete with the marketing strategies of other major OTAs, infact we complement their efforts on growing the overall addressable market not just in India but other geographies. We compare their inventory and pass along travellers who have chosen their products and are ready to book.

We find that the Wego brand has also succeeded largely by word-of-mouth recommendation, beyond our marketing efforts in-house. Travellers who have made savings in time and money using the site have shared their positive experience with others.

Q. What is your current market share?  What is the kind of clients/users making use of your services?

We are one of the top 3 leading travel metasearch players in all the markets that we operate in. Our users range from independent travellers and business travellers to family and large groups. We are also a favourable option for students and back-packers who are looking for budget and economical travel options.

Q. Any specific business model you plan coming decade in terms of enhancing your reach?

A decade is a fairly long horizon to comment on especially because of the rapid innovations coming out not just from our global tech labs but also on the ecosystem is transforming. On the customer side we aspire to drive improvements that enhance customer experience and make travel planning online and easier and more effective process, while on the B2B side grow as a marketing channel that delivers value to our partners and help grow the overall market. Our focus areas have always been developing markets each of which have huge potential for growth and have their own unique characteristics which require tailored solutions.

The UN health agency underlined that pedestrian victims make up 22 per cent of the total 1.24 million people killed annually in road traffic accidents around the globe.

“More than 5,000 pedestrians are killed on the world’s roads each week. This is because their needs have been neglected for decades, often in favour of motorised transport,” said Etienne Krug, head of the WHO’s injury prevention department.

“We need to rethink the way we organise our transport systems to make walking safe and save pedestrian lives,” he said in a statement. Pedestrians are among the most vulnerable road users, the WHO said.

It pointed to studies showing that males — whether children or adults — make up a high proportion of pedestrian deaths and injuries.

In developed countries, older pedestrians are more at risk, while in low-income and middle-income countries, children and young adults are often affected.

The proportion of pedestrians killed in relation to other road users is highest in Africa, at 38 per cent, and lowest in Southeast Asia, where the figure is 12 per cent.

“We are all pedestrians, and governments should put in place measures to better protect all of us,” said Oleg Chestnov, head of the WHO’s non-communicable diseases and mental health division.

“This will not only save lives, but create the conditions needed to make walking safe. When roads are safe, people will walk more, and this in turn will improve health and protect the environment,” he added.

The WHO recommends a mix of enforcement, engineering and education measures to improve pedestrian safety.

They include boosting laws against speeding, drinking and driving, and mobile phone use at the wheel, as well as providing pavements, underpasses and decent road lighting, better public transport and improved design with soft vehicle fronts that reduce impact damage.

The 75-year-old monarch signed the instrument of abdication this morning after 33 years on the throne in the Royal Palace on the city’s Dam Square, which was filled with as many as 25,000 people wearing orange, the Dutch national color.

Willem- Alexander, 46, became king immediately. A few minutes later, Beatrix, Willem-Alexander and his wife,Maxima, appeared on the palace balcony to greet the crowds.

The royals later crossed the street to the Nieuwe Kerk, a 600-year-old gothic church, where Willem-Alexander was sworn in as king. The city authorities were expecting at least 800,000 visitors for today’s events. The celebrations on Queen’s Day, a national holiday, were being mirrored across the country with concerts and fairs. Dutch NOS TV was broadcasting 14 hours of live programming.

Beatrix “gave her trust for 33 years and she did not betray that trust. That is the basis of her authority,” Willem- Alexander said of his mother in his speech before being sworn in. “I know that I express the feelings of many people in the Netherlands and the Caribbean parts of our kingdom. Thank you for the many beautiful years during which you were our queen.”

His comments drew lengthy applause in the church, including from the new king’s three daughters, who were sitting alongside Beatrix.

Economic Woes

For the Dutch, Tuesday provided a chance to set aside concerns about the economy amid a third recession since 2009 and after unemployment almost doubled to 8.1 percent over the past four years. Prime Minister Mark Rutte has postponed 4.3 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in budget cuts for next year and urged consumers to stop being gloomy and start spending. Even so, the austerity measures may be reinstated if the economy doesn’t grow strongly enough in the coming months.

“I take the throne at a time when many people in the kingdom feel vulnerable and insecure,” Willem-Alexander said in his speech in the Nieuwe Kerk before swearing his oath of office. “Vulnerable in their jobs or their health. Insecure about their income or their living environment. That children will have a better future than their parents seems less obvious than in the past.”

Beatrix announced her intention to abdicate in January, following the example of her mother, Queen Juliana, who stepped down from the throne early in 1980.

Social Cohesion

“The inauguration in Amsterdam today is of national importance,” Petra Hulst, 35, a designer at Royal Philips Electronics NV who was among those on the city’s streets today, said in an interview.

“It’s good for Amsterdam and good for social cohesion in the Netherlands.” “As king, I want to encourage people to make active use of their abilities,” Willem-Alexander said. “However great our diversity, however different our convictions and dreams may be, wherever our cradle stood, in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, everyone may voice his opinion and help to build on the basis of equality.”

After Tuesday morning’s abdication ceremony, the old and new monarchs and Maxima joined in singing the national anthem on the palace balcony. Beatrix then withdrew to be replaced by the daughters of Willem-Alexander and his 41-year-old Argentinian- born wife. The eldest, 9-year-old Princess Amalia, is the new heir to the throne.

National Unity

“What’s so special about a monarchy is that you feel the country’s unity more when there are great festive moments, but certainly also during moments of sadness,” Rutte said in an interview with NOS, recalling incidents including the 1992 plane crash in the Amsterdam neighborhood of Bijlmermeer and the 2009 attack on the royal family in the city of Apeldoorn.

“The moment that Queen Beatrix put her signature” to the act of abdication was most special, because it was then that the throne constitutionally passed to her son, Rutte said.

The new king is the first monarch to bear the name Willem- Alexander and the first male to reign since Willem III died in 1890. Juliana’s mother, Wilhelmina, who succeeded Willem III, also gave up the throne in 1948.

Overlooking many lucrative business options Badri used his technological brain to formulate an easy, affordable and effective system that could guide and assist the desperate diabetic patients to counter the dreadful disease which is killing over hundreds of thousands  of people every  and making the lives of many millions miserable.

Observing that compliance is the key for better management of Diabetes,  Badri created an online software DiaSof that helps patients become Healthier, Anywhere Anytime. DiaSof helps patients access their medical records from anywhere and helps them share the key aspects of their health condition with their doctors electronically. DiaSof also reminds the users about their oncoming tests and meeting with doctors and thus helps them stay in the treatment cycle. More details can be found in www.diasof.com

With a view of helping the larger Diabetic community that may not have access to internet, Badri worked with the top specialists in the areas of eye, heart, kidneys, nerves and feet to create a set of powerful messages. These messages became a part of a service called DiaCel and were sent to patients via SMS with the intention of helping them Keep Away From Diabetic Complications in just 99 Days’. To know more about DiaCel, please visit www.diacel99.com

Although mobile penetration is very high in India, most instruments do not support the local languages and hence English literacy is critical to the use of SMS as a medium. In a country where 40% of the Diabetic population is in the rural areas, we need to look at more effective ways to reach the message of wellness to everybody.

And while working with patients, doctors and educators, Badri observed that patients had many questions about their health but did not ask their doctors and rarely when they did, they did not get clarity. These unasked and unanswered questions became, over time, deep barriers to their participation in their health be it following diet, taking medicines, exercising, testing and meeting the doctors for reviews.

Badri created DiaKare, the 24×7 Free Diabetes Health Line, to address both these problems of universal access and compliance barriers. Launched with messages in conversation-style formats in English and Tamil, DiaKare helps callers get clarity about their own health and answers their hidden questions. Going further, we would have these messages in as many local languages as possible. More information is available about DiaKare at www.diakare.com. To experience DiaKare, please call 044-66334353 at any time of your choice.

Badri writes on different topics at his blog www.badrirag.wordpress.com. Badri is also active in the sphere of music and runs a melody-only music group called Ever Green Melodies (www.evergreenmelodies.in)

Badri can be reached at care@nrichsoft.in or at twitter @badrirag.

What makes Matrix different from other telecom and security solution companies? Do you have any specialized, telecom security solutions to offer?

Matrix is SUBSTANCE brand. Substance is in the DNA of Matrix solutions. Substance is in the form of technology, depth, genuineness and going beyond the outer façade and offer more values in all the necessary area. This is what differentiates Matrix from the lot. Matrix solutions are packed with More. More productivity, more applications, more flexibility, more functions, more features, more cost saving, more reliability, and more support. Matrix positioning is based on offering more of these true inherent values which customers expect from infrastructure solutions.

In line with the future trends, Matrix launched “NAVAN CNX” unified communications platform for small businesses propositions. NAVAN CNX is an office-in-a-box solution offering voice, data, internet and mobility from a compact and converged platform.

The latest innovation by Matrix in the Security sector is the Palm Vein Reader (PVR) which belongs to our family of Time-Attendance and Access Control products. The PVR is a highly secure and contact less biometric device that works by reading the vascular pattern of the palm. These patterns are unique to each individual.

What is the size of your business and in hominy countries you are on top in terms of turnover?

Matrix products are marketed in more than 40 countries across the globe. Major contributions are in Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific region.

What is the market share you hold globally and in India?

We hold around 90% market share in PLCC EPAX (Specialized PBX for power utilities companies. Matrix telecom products are categorized in two key product segments i.e. IP / TDM PBX, GSM – VoIP Gateways. Out of which IP/TDM PBX contribute 60 to 70%, Gateways – 30 to 40%.

Name a single product where you hold the maximum market share in India?

The maximum market share that we hold in India is for Eternity ME Product that caters to Power Utility companies. This product finds its application in power utilities companies. Power companies can use this product in Transmission, Distribution, Generation station, Sub Station, Control Room for communication using high-tension Transmission lines. These power companies can create their own communication network and their communication cost would be ZERO. Above this, they would be having full control over network without any dependency on other private telecom service providers

What could be the next business area you would prefer to venture into in the immediate future?

In the near futurewe are heading aggressively with strong and strategic marketing plans, in various government Verticals like Defense & Railways and other state government agencies, where we would be offering our total solutions.

We would be working closely with Project companies / System Integrators and government trading contractors. For such business segments, we would be offering specialized products meant for specific usage and application with customized functions and features.

Also our plans are not limited to new markets, but also to ride the market with new technology product for M2M (Machine to Machine) application which is going to be a critical requirement in upcoming years.

Entire world is moving towards monitoring and controlling of various assets / natural resources by using M2M technology based product. To cater such upcoming need, Matrix would be the first Indian company to offer 100% indigenous product to its customers.

Also, by having expertise over converged technologies and various products, we are not far away, to cater customer’s need of Voice and Data communication using one single BOX product.

Which was the biggest government assignment you had in India till now and also on the global level?

The biggest government assignments that we had in India are PGCIL More than 125 nos. of PLCC PBX installed and working in power grid communication network. Then , MPPTCL: More than 50 nos. of PLCC PBX are installed and working in Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company Ltd and GETCO: More than 50 nos. of PLCC PBX are installed and working in Gujarat Energy Transmission Company Ltd.

Globally we have established our presence in Zimbabwe where we did Eternity ME10S (35 Nos.) – a specialized PLCC PBX installed and commissioned in ZETDC (Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission & Distribution Company)

In Nigeria we have to our credit Eternity ME10S (14 Nos.) PLCC PBX installed in PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria) PLCC network and in Bhutan: Eternity ME10S (15 nos.) PLCC PBX installed in BPC (Bhutan Power Corporation).

Child Sex Workers Waiting for Clients

By  Sidharthan

This is heartbreaking.  Over 2.7 million children are involved in prostitution in India. According to a latest report over 30% of the estimated 9 million prostitutes in the country are children below the age of 16. About 40,000 children are pushed into flesh trade every year in India, reports suggest.

Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization that conducts research on human rights says, there are approximately 15 million prostitutes in India.

Speaking in a seminar on human trafficking in the month of May 2009 the then CBI chief had said that over 1.2 million children were believed to be involved in prostitution in India. In January 2010, while hearing a PIL filed by NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan the Supreme Court observed that  India  was “becoming a hub” for largescale child prostitution rackets.  The Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Patnaik further asked Solicitor General to examine the idea of setting up a special investigating agency to combat child prostitution rackets.

In Mumbai, the economic capital of the country, children as young as 9 years of age are sold in flesh trade. This is because a girl between 10 and 12 years fetches the highest price in flesh trade.  (According to a rough estimate the red light district in Mumbai generates at least 5000  crore  rupees per annum in revenue, with 250000 prostitutes serving 365 days a year, at the average rate of 6 customers per day.)

Interestingly, in India, prostitution (exchanging sex for money) is not illegal, but the surrounding activities like operating brothels, pimping, and soliciting sex are punishable under the law. However, sex with a minor girl is punishable. The law says anyone having sex with a minor girl below the age of 16 years would face rape charges. The consent of the girl is immaterial (Section 375(e) of Indian Penal Code).

Section 366A, IPC, dealing with procuration of a minor girl elaborates “whoever, by any means whatsoever, induces any minor girl under the age of 18 years to go from any place or to do any act with intent that such girl may be, or knowing that it is likely that she will be, forced or seduced to illicit intercourse with another person shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

The laws may be stringent, but prostitution, particularly child prostitution is thriving unhindered.  Though prostitution is declared legal operating brothels, pimping, soliciting are punishable.. Brothel-owners can be prosecuted and punished from 1 to 3 years imprisonment with fine for first offence. Detaining someone at a brothel for the purpose of sexual exploitation can lead to prosecution and the punishment could be imprisonment of more than 7 years. Interestingly the existence of large number of brothels in major cities including the national capital is operating with the tacit knowledge of the law enforcing agencies.

Similarly under the existing law a client, if he engages in sexual acts with a sex worker within 200 yards of a public place or “notified area”, could be awarded imprisonment of up to 3 months. If the sex worker is below 18 years of age the client may also be sentenced up to 10 years of imprisonment.

The women lawmakers fighting for their rights and benefits both within and outside the House hardly are seen leading any serious campaign for the liberation of these children from the clutches of flush traders. The so called progressive women oragnisations are hardly found advocating for these sexually exploited little souls. Women chapters of front line political parties have little interest in the issues of these deprived and sexually abused children. The organizations trumpeting support for women empowerment turn a blind eye to this gruesome sexual exploitation of the young little girl children.

The term conclave comes from the Latin for “with a key” and refers to the practice of locking cardinals away from the world’s prying eyes to allow them to choose a new pope without outside interference.

The 115 cardinal-electors will disappear from public view on Tuesday to vote in the Sistine Chapel for a successor to Pope Benedict as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

A puff of white smoke from a Vatican chimney, signifying a decision has been reached, is expected within a few days if the conclaves of the past 100 years are any guide.

It was not always that straightforward.

The election of Gregory X in September 1271, at a time when the Church was riven by political divisions, came after almost three years of deliberations in the town of Viterbo, 85 km (50 miles) north of Rome.

After two inconclusive years, frustrated locals rioted, removed the roof from the palace where the cardinals were gathered – supposedly to let the Holy Spirit join them – and cut back their food supplies to spur them to break the deadlock.

Conditions were so harsh that two cardinals died and a third had to leave due to ill health before the remaining princes of the church eventually chose Gregory.

Gregory was determined the ordeal would never happen again. He ruled in 1274 that in future cardinals would be locked in a single room with an adjoining lavatory in the papal palace within 10 days of a pontiff’s death.

After three days, if no pope was elected, they would be served only one dish for lunch and supper instead of two. After five days, they would be given only bread, water and a little wine until they reached a decision.

The value of the new rules was underlined when it took more than two years to come up with one of the odder choices for a pope in 1294.

The deadlock ended only when Italian Cardinal Latino Malabranca declared that a supposedly saintly hermit, Pietro Del Morrone, had prophesied divine retribution for electors who had failed for so long to find a new pope.

The worried cardinals agreed to vote for the hermit and Morrone, in his 80s, overcame his amazement by deciding it was God’s will. He entered the central Italian town of L’Aquila astride a donkey to be enthroned Celestine V.

But papal office did not suit the former hermit and he abdicated after only a few months, the last pope to step down voluntarily until Benedict at the end of February.

Gregory XII reluctantly abdicated in 1415 to end a dispute with a rival claimant to the Holy See, the last pontiff to resign for any reason before Benedict.

Celestine’s final act was to restore the conclave rules of 1274, which included a strict ban on communication with the cardinal electors and which have underpinned the secrecy of papal elections to the present day.

Relinquishing cozy and lucrative career why did you preferred to enter the business world which is considered highly risk ridden?

I started my career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley in New York, and went on to work as Vice President at Citigroup. At 29, I decided to become an entrepreneur and entered the Leisure & Lodging industry by launching a premium brand of corporate housing solutions based in London, named House of Modern Living Ltd. The company went on to achieve a run rate of 5 mn USD in less than 4 years. After handing over the business to a team of hospitality industry veterans, I set out to focus on distribution and technology challenges for serviced apartments and the accommodation industry.

Why you opted for a tourism related business?

As India emerges as one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world, the vacation rentals industry provides a wide berth for tourism building. With a majority of travelers making their travel arrangements online, the credibility of the e commerce platform is becoming pivotal. RatedApartments was born of this need for a reliable yet convenient web based reservation enabler using cutting edge technology that is simple, secure and straightforward. RatedApartments.com marks its presence in India as the first peer to peer (super) brand that brings travelers and accommodation providers together.

How are you different from other similar portals?

We are a Peer to Peer marketplace, which means we are not a traditional Online Travel Agency like the rest of the crowd.  We provide a comprehensive technology suite that allows SME hospitality businesses to use the same tools available to large hotels, and distribute their product in a unique marketplace that is designed specifically for their type of product.
We also think that Rated is very well positioned to become the Amazon of Peer to Peer industry, and can help create a Peer to Peer industry in India including innovations in Peer to Peer Lending.

How big is your business and what is your market share?

The Serviced Apartment industry in India has seen a tremendous growth momentum. Despite the past 4 years of a global slowdown, India has witnessed a large global Serviced Apartment operators enter India, including Oakwood (now in Pune, Bangalore), Bridgestreet (in Bangalore, New Delhi, and Mumbai), House of Modern Living (in Gurgaon), Ascott (New Delhi). We have also seen large growth phases in domestic brands expanding at a rapid phase: (Both Indian brands that operate in the mid segment have raised venture capital – Hummingbird Suites raised some 2 million dollars; Siesta Hospitality raised 10m USD.  Further there are encouraging signs from the development of this industry in New York where 12-15% of hotel stock is Serviced Apartments, whereas currently not even 1% of Serviced apartments constitute the hotel stock in India.

What are your business plans for the coming years, in terms of expansion and innovation?

We want to bring innovation and design back into the forefront of online Travel. We are currently fixated on being market leaders in our industry. We plan to achieve this by setting industry benchmarks in user experience, leveraging the social curve, and building scale in our single product business model. Further, we want to scale up and stay focused as a single product business. This helps us create IP that helps us strengthen and differentiate ourselves from the crowd. This IP will help us further build value by improving our conversion rates, and making us very competitive.