La Lutte pour les donations

Il y a de plus en plus des associations caritatives qui sollicitent les dons à travers de monde. Où
qu’on aille, on est assiégé de demandes d’argent comme, ‘Donnez généreusement, s’il vous plait’ ou ‘Aidez maintenant!’

On ne peut pas donner d’argent à tous. La majeure partie de l’argent qu’on gagne va à nourrir et à abriter nous-mêmes et notre famille. Nous devons décider quel organisme de charité à contribuer.

On a été proposé que les gens aient commencé à se fatiguer de compassion. Si les communautés sont demandées à contribuer au trop de charités, ils ne pourront pas les supporter. Ils détourneraient de tous les organismes des charités.

Puis, il y a la mauvaise publicité dont souffrent quelques organismes caritatifs. Certains réussissent à recueillir de l’argent, mais ils ne réussissent pas à le distribuer aux nécessiteux. La gestation d’une organisation de  bienfaisance n’est pas facile.

Organismes caritatifs, cependant, grand ou petit, affrontent l’apathie, la critique et l’accroissement de la concurrence. Un comité régional qui essaye de ramasser de l’argent pour les gens sans abri probablement fait face aux mêmes problèmes que les charités internationales. Certainement, les comités régionaux  risquent de recevoir plus de criticisme parce que c’est facile à leur contacter.

Les appels d’aide ne reçoivent toujours la réponse désirée. Pourtant, ce n’était pas vrai dans le cas de terrible désastre de tsunami qui a été lieu en décembre 2004. Pas seulement les gouvernements, mais aussi les individus de plusieurs pays, ont contribué les sommes d’argent considérables pour aider les victimes. C’était une tragédie d’ampleur incroyable qui a affecté les gens de nombreuses  nationalités. Elle a touché les cœurs de gens dans le monde entier et ils ont répondu en  donnant généreusement aux appels. Heureusement, il n’y avait aucun signe de fatigue de compassion à ce moment-là.

Text in English 

The Fight for donations                                                

There are more and more charities seeking donations across the world. Everywhere we go we are besieged by demands for money such as, 'Please give generously,' or 'Help now!'

We cannot give them all money. The bulk of the money which is earned by us goes to feed and house ourselves and our families. We have to make up our minds which charities to contribute to.
It has been suggested that people are beginning to suffer from compassion fatigue. If communities are asked to give to too many good causes, they will not be able to cope with the demands. They might then turn away from all the charities.
Then there is the bad publicity that is suffered by some charities. Some are successful at collecting money, but not so successful at distributing it to the needy. Too much money is being spent on administration. Running a charity is not an easy task.
Organizers of charities, however, big or small, face apathy, criticism, and increased competition. A local committee that is trying to raise money for the homeless in the town is likely to have  to deal with similar problems to those that are faced by the large International charities. Indeed the local committees are more likely to receive criticism since they are easier to contact.

Appeals for help do not always receive the deserved response. However, this was not true in the case of terrible tsunami disaster of December 2004. Not only governments, but also individual people in many countries, gave considerable sums of money to help the victims. This was a tragedy on such a huge scale that it affected a great many different nationalities. It touched the hearts of people all over the world and they responded by giving generously to the appeals. Fortunately, there was no sign of compassion fatigue then.

L’Interdiction de fumer

Une lettre à une amie pour raconter le bien-être grace à interdiction de fumer à l'Irelande 

Chère Anne,

Je m’amuse bien les trios semaines de séjour en Irlande. Les gens sont très serviables et amicaux et tout autour de nous, il y a une belle campagne fertile et verte. On dit que la terre est verte parce que, c’est plus mouillé que les autres endroits, mais le ciel était sans nuages jusqu’à présent.

J’habite dans une petite belle ville. Elle est aussi belle que mon village, si pas plus belle. La région est montagneuse / Il y a des montagnes et je me sens énergétique. Chez moi, comme tu sais, J’ai tendance à être inactif.

Je suis en meilleure santé grâce à l’escalade. En effet, Je n’ai jamais senti si bien depuis des années, partiellement à cause de l’interdiction de fumer dans les lieux publics en Irlande. Comme Tu sais, je travaille à mi-temps dans une entreprise d’ordinateur et j’ai supposé que ce serait interdire de fumer dans le bureau. Pourtant, c’est interdit aussi aux bars et  aux restaurants. Quand J’ai entendu cela, j’étais très heureux.

C’était une découverte merveilleuse pour un non-fumeur dévoué comme moi. Certainement, ca m’a fait tellement plaisir que J’ai presque décidé de faire de l’Irlande mon abri permanent.

D’abord, il me semblait inconcevable que je pourrais boire un verre ou prendre un repas sans inhaler des fumées de cigarettes de quelqu’un / être un fumeur passif. Une soirée est beaucoup plus agréable maintenant. La nourriture / l’alimentation et le vin, tous les deux semblent mieux et plein de goût. Je suppose que les grands fumeurs restent chez eux, maintenant.

J’encourage mon ami Pete d’arrêter de fumer, ce qui n’est pas facile. En effet, c’est extrêmement difficile. Cependant, il trouve succès à mettre les timbres anti-tabac et j’espère qu’il serait bientôt un non- fumeur.

Je t’embrasse.

Jim

Text in English

Ban on Smoking

Dear Anne         
I am really enjoying my three-week Irish trip. The people are very helpful and friendly and all around there is lovely, fertile, green countryside. They say that the land is green because it is wetter than most other places, but there have been cloudless skies, so far.

I am staying in a beautiful little town. It is just as pretty as my village at home, if not prettier. The area is mountainous and I feel so energetic! At home, as you know, I tend to be inactive.

I have become a lot healthier because of the climbing. In fact, I am in the healthiest state that I have been in for many years, partly because of the ban on smoking in public places in Ireland. As you know, I have taken a part-time job in a computer firm and I assumed that smoking would be forbidden in the office. However, it is also banned in bars and restaurants. When I heard this, I was so happy.

It was a marvellous discovery for a dedicated non-smoker like me! Indeed, I was so thrilled that I nearly decided to make Ireland my permanent home. As it is I am going to get a later flight home.

At first, it seemed inconceivable to me that I could have a drink or a meal without inhaling someone's cigarette smoke. An evening out is so much pleasanter now. Both food and wine are much better and tastier. I presume the heaviest smokers now stay at home.

I am encouraging my friend Pete to stop smoking, which is not easy. In fact, it is extremely difficult. However, he is finding the wearing of nicotine patches quite successful and I am hopeful that he will soon be a non-smoker.

love

Jim.

  

Le travail des enfants - un mal nécessaire

On est souvent devant un dilemme s’il faut acheter des produit fabrique par les entreprise qui emploi des enfants ou non. A un part en risque de supporter ses entreprises à autre par les enfants pauvres qui n’ont pas d’autre moyen de survie souffrent. Qu’est-ce qu’on doit faire ?

C’est une question très difficile à répondre et les gens sont des avis différents sur ce sujet.

Une partie des  chercheurs sociaux pensent que le travail des enfants existe parce qu’on le permet. Si le gouvernement est attaché d’éduquer tous les enfants et leur mettre dans les écoles, ils auront une chance à se développer et auront meilleurs travaux quand ils grandissent. Les filles ne se marieront pas tôt.

Mais il y a 150 million des enfants qui sont occupés en petits travails dans les usines, agricultures et le secteur du service comme des restaurants. Ils font partie des pays en développement ou la population et le problème de pauvreté est très grand et  le gouvernement ne peut pas fournir éducation et nourriture pour tous les pauvres.

Nous savons que le problème est grave et en tout cas des enfants doivent avoir une enfance holistique. Le gouvernement et des entreprises sociales font des efforts pour réduire le travail des enfants et il y a eu une réduction. Mais nous sommes encore loin d’avoir notre but de donner une enfance holistique à chaque enfant dans le monde.

Jusqu'à ce temps que ce but n’est pas réalisé, nous, les citoyens instruits et bien informés peuvent faire notre contribution à donner un l’avenir éclairé aux enfants défavorisés.

Products made by organisations employing Child Labour - Buy or Not to Buy? #Child Labour #Child Rights

We are often faced by this issue whether to buy or not to buy products made by organisations who employ child labour. The logical answer to this question is NO, we should not buy products made by organisations who employ child labour as that will discourage employers from employing and exploiting children. As per labour law, it is illegal to employ children under 14 years of age.

However, ground reality is that around 10 million children In India and 150 million in the world are engaged in part-time/ full-time employment. Poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, natural calamities forces children to engage in some kind of employment to either partially or fully support their families.

In such a situation, in my opinion, I think it is fine to buy products made by organisations employing children as long as they are not working in hazardous situations. Children working in these organisations should be paid equivalent to an adult. They should also be given opportunities to educate themselves.

This is not an ideal situation. As educated and aware citizen, we would like to see every child enjoying his/her childhood and is given equal opportunity to educate himself/ herself.

According to statistics reported by Save the Children, there is reduction in Child labour in India. A lot of ground still needs to be covered.

Government of India, under its National Child Labour Project (NCLP) surveys district and withdraws children under 14 years of age from child labour and rehabilitate them through vocational training, mid day meals and a basic allowance.
Various NGOs are also working to reduce child labour and give them education and training opportunities.

Child labour is not going to just vanish by working with children, but this problem is an offshoot of lot of other issues such as poverty, unemployment, failing of crops for agricultural community. A strong political will to undertake economic and agricultural reforms, to reduce poverty and unemployment is the crux of this problem. It will not happen overnight. It will take changes at the grass-root level.

Till such time that we can see our dream to see every child enjoying his/ her childhood, attending school and is free from any form of exploitation, we can do our bit by supporting organisations who provide opportunities to these children.
What can we do to help children engaged in employment.

Ideal Model for Field Force - Fixed Vs Variable OR Payroll Vs Franchise Model

Is there an ideal model or one size fit all for the Sales Force in the Pharmaceutical Industry. The answer is definitely "No".

The key reasons for the same is the diversity of the products promoted and the markets catered by the sales representatives especially in India. 

To decide which model will work best for the company whether 50:50 or 70:30 / on pay-roll versus franchisee depends on the organization / brand / market goals.

1.       An established product does not need high incentive to motivate the team to sell the product.

2.       In case of new product / new market the incentive percentage should be high to increase sales.

3.       In high value drugs / products like oncology or medical devices, the variable % is high

4.       The plan has to be simple and easy to implement. Difficulty in understanding the incentive plan or miscalculations could de – motivate the employee instead of motivating him.

5.       Incentives should not be linked only to sales target, but they should also depend on other objectives and client feedback.

Similarly whether to have the field force on payroll or franchisee will depend upon the following:

1.       The company has less control on the franchisee model as compared to those on payroll

2.       If the product category is very training intensive and you need to control the quality of the sales pitch and have less  attrition , it is better to have sales force on franchisee

3.       There are companies who hire sales representatives on franchisee model and after observing their performance for 2 years take them on the company payroll.

The compensation models are becoming more and more scientific these days. It is a very important factor to keep the sales force motivated. The right mix of the fixed and variable component for the company is essential to increase sales and keep the employees motivated and keep the attrition rate low.

Packaged Vegetable Oil gaining traction in India

The Indian vegetable oil market accounts for 10 % of the total world consumption of 169 Million Tones (year 2010, projected). Consumption of vegetable oil in India stands at 15 million tons for the oil year Oct 08 – Nov 09 and is expected to touch 17 million tons for oil year Oct 09 – Nov 10. In value terms the Indian vegetable oil market is pegged at Rupees 750 billion. The packaged vegetable oil market in India stands at only 25%, i.e. Rupees 187.5 billion.

Analysts and experts have projected that the consumption of vegetable oil will touch 30 million MT in the 2020 with a CAGR growth of 6 -7 %. This growth rate is 3 times the world growth rate of 2% CAGR. The per capita consumption of edible oil in India has improved over last couple of years and stands at 15 kg per year for 2010, but it is still way below the world average of 24 kg per year. Due to increase in awareness and health consciousness, increase in disposable income and rural prosperity due to schemes like NREGS, the packaged oil segment is growing faster than the category and is expected to touch 50% - 60% of total vegetable oil consumption by 2015.

The vegetable oil industry in India is highly fragmented. It has the largest number of oil mills, solvent extractors and refineries. As of January 2009, India had 1, 50, 000 oilseeds crushing units, 795 solvent extraction units, 943 refineries.  These units include those under the small scale industries as well as the organized sector.  The capacity utilization varies from 10 % in case of ghanis (small scale sector) to 30 % in case of extractors in the organized sector.

India is the fifth largest producer of major oilseeds. In the oil year 2008 – 09, India produced 27.7 million tons of Oilseeds. Both, the oil seed yield per hectare as well as oil extracted from the oil seeds in India is lower than the world average. Hence, India is a net importer and imports almost 50% of the oil required for its consumption, which is 14 % of the total world imports.

New Age Banking - Opportunities and Challenges

The telecom revolution has changed many aspects of human life and banking is one of them. Increasing mobile and internet penetration has revolutionized the way people bank. Banking solutions such as mobile and internet banking has helped customers save time, money and efforts as most of the transactions - such as bill payments, cash transfer, checking account balance and making investments - can be performed at home at one’s own convenience.

India is one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world. There are about 400 million mobile users in India. Out of that, 200 million do not have a bank account. It is financially unviable for banks to set up branches in remote villages. Hence branchless banking through the use of technology is the only way to bring the vast unbanked population under the banking umbrella. It can help lower cost for both the bank as well as the customer to access financial services. As most of the transactions are non cash – in or cash – out, mobile banking is a viable option. Local kirana stores can act as designated collection and disbursement centers. With broadband going wireless, banks can set up kiosks with laptops in rural areas to facilitate banking transaction, like the ITC e - choupal model.

Despite all the merits, mobile banking is still a way to go in India due to the many challenges. There are numerous regulations that exist for banking sector to maintain the security and reliability, same amount of regulations can’t be applied on branchless banking model, hence risk involved from the financial security point of view is high. There are also various bodies involved in providing the mobile banking facilities such as the banks, mobile operators, software providers, handset manufacturers etc. The inter-operability of various groups and their ability to adapt to the RBI regulation are some of the challenges. Apart from the above challenges, customer’s adaptability due to illiteracy and ignorance and low transaction amounts are some of the other challenges from the user perspective.