Hit by malicious rumours, cos rope in ‘online reputation management’ firms

Hit hard by malicious rumours and negative comments on Internet about them, thousands of companies have roped in ‘Online Reputation Management’ firms to deal with this menace and protect their businesses, a survey has found.
According to the findings of the study conducted by Indo-UK online reputation management company aReputation.co.uk, more than 6,000 SMEs and 240 large corporations in India have engaged such ‘Online Reputation Management’ service providers.
As many as 300 online management firms are currently present in India with most of them catering to small firms. The market size of online reputation management firms in the country is estimated to be close to Rs 200 crore.
The firms are spending Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore to invest in their online image building, aReputation.co.uk said.
With increasing Internet penetration and growing influence of social media, the number of instances of negative comments and malicious rumours being spread on the web has also grown rapidly over the last few years.
As per the data from aReputation.co.uk, 49 per cent consumers are likely to research a business through popular social media networks such as Facebook, Google Plus and LinkedIn.
As a result, majority of the companies despite having good intentions are suffering from online criticism, it said.
“Companies and executives can spend years building a reputable and strong brand but it can be beyond disconcerting to wake up one day and see slanderous remarks reflecting online, particularly when the items move beyond constructive criticism to include outrageous accusations and defamatory remarks,” aReputation.co.uk spokesperson David Miller said.
Employing cutting-edge tools, online management firms help companies tackle negative publicity on the web.
“We have clients here in India who have faced all kinds of crisis without any response plan in place. By the time they come to us, quite a bit of damage is already done,” Miller said.
Miller added that online criticism can lead to companies lose customers and increased employee attrition levels.
Commonly, companies face online criticism in the form of malicious rumours, negative comments, disreputable remarks and scandalous conversations.
However, companies are taking major steps to improve their reputation online, Miller said.
These steps include reaching their customers directly through complaint forms on websites, email surveys or follow-up surveys, leaving reviews online, making sure they have a response strategy ready for negative ones and trying to resolve a situation before it turns into a crisis.

Source
http://indianexpress.com/article/business/companies/hit-by-malicious-rumours-cos-rope-in-online-reputation-management-firms/

Sahara SEBI Issue – Statement from Keshav Mohan, Advocate

We are disappointed with the judgment that has been delivered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court earlier today. We are still in the process of reading and understanding the judgment. The voluminous evidence that we have already submitted to substantiate our stance may have possibly been misunderstood.We maintain that we have already refunded to 93% of our investors. Most of the payments made were in cash, as per the RBI norms and in accordance with SEBI and SAT orders. In addition to ledger entries, we had also submitted original vouchers, receipts and other concerned documents in original being physical proof of the payments and are with SEBI pending verification.

We expect to return to the Hon’ble Court in the near future with further evidence of our compliance of the Hon’ble Court’s previous orders, and to satisfy the Hon’ble Court of our earnest intentions moving forward.
The Hon’ble Court has indicated that it expects us to make a new proposal. Since the beginning, we have been trying hard to present the best practical proposal. We have always maintained that this will be actually a double payment which we are asked to make hence a serious relook into the business and financial status is required each time. In light of today’s direction, we will try our best to derive a fresh proposal to the best of our capacity and hoping to satisfy the Hon’ble Court. For this, we would also apply to the Hon’ble Court that our properties and bank accounts be defreezed so that we are in a position to come up to the expectations of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
We take this opportunity to reiterate our deep and abiding respect for the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and our commitment to follow the order in letter and spirit.

Keshav Mohan
 Advocate

Foreigners in a ‘foreign’ land

Has India become an unfriendly country?

It is not safe for foreigners.

It is not safe for women

It is not even safe even for Indians of a "particular" physical appearance from a specific "geography" within India. What happened to the ancient Sanskrit maxim of "Athithi devo bhava", which enjoins us to treat guests as gods? What happened to our civilizational ethos, based on a long history of openness and fairness?

In recent months there have been many instances that have shaken our faith in this long-held belief. These have been widely reported and commented on by mainstream media, but the debate, as it happens too often in our bite-obsessed news culture, has sadly withered away. Until the next time. Not all foreigners in India are tourists who are passing through.

Since liberalization India has become a global hub for immigration. According to one estimate, there are around 54 lakh foreign immigrants residing in the country. Obviously not all are diplomats. Many of these expats have come in the past few years to tap into the opportunities India has to offer, -- its complex and colourful culture, rich history and growing economic clout. They are however only the latest wave of foreigners to be drawn to our land. For centuries they have come as colonizers, missionaries, volunteers and escapees from persecution in other countries. Few went back. Most of them found a home and stayed to become part of the culture. This ability of Indian society to accept, absorb and assimilate even those who were alien to our culture stems from the deeply held belief that Guests are akin to God.

But no longer, it seems.

Foreigners residing in India now routinely face racism and intolerance from xenophobic Indians. There is another sad and despicable distinction that one notices about our behavior towards those from other nations and cultures. The more affluent among them are treated better. 'Whites' are treated better than those from African or Asian nations.

Anywhere else treatment of foreign emigrants would be a political issue. Immigration and the influx of foreigners is a major debate in Europe, the United States and other developed nations. It is not in India, probably because political parties do not consider them as a vote-bank to be courted. If they could vote, the political parties would be flocking to take up their cause.

It is high time we recognize the need for the right to live well and treated fairly FOR ALL. For that, firstly we have to realize that we have a problem. We have to stop pretending to ourselves there is no racism in the country. And our political parties need to take a principled stand on this. Will they?

http://harshavardhanreddyeikon.com/foreigners-foreign-land/

aReputation-Fixing search results through Online Reputation Management

A recent study conducted by a team of researchers surveyed over 300 executives, mostly C-suite and board directors, and discovered that reputation is considered the highest impact risk area to business strategy.

This finding cuts across most industry sectors and ranks above threats to their business model and the impact of economic trends and competition.


Businesses and brands are increasingly seeking the services of companies that specialise in tidying up search engine results. The effect of a terrible review, a critical blog, an unflattering link or rant from a disgruntled ex-employee sitting in one of the top 10 Google spots can be devastating for a business as click-through rates plummet. Obviously, some companies have the online reputation they deserve, but an unjustified, malicious or obsolete complaint may linger for years, blighting every new query.

In most industry sectors, reputation has risen from outside the top five strategic risk concerns to the top of the list. In the energy and resources sector, for example, reputation ranked outside top-10 on the list of strategic risks in 2010, though today, it irritably sits on the top spot.

Large corporations and high-networth individuals are constantly targets of disenfranchised employees and customers. Companies and industries with reputation problems are prone to incur the wrath of legislators, regulators, shareholders and the public. However, what is said is not always a true reflection of a company. Perceptions are not always based on fact, but on opinion, conjecture and rumours.

“The breadth and depth of today’s reputational challenge is a consequence not just of the speed, severity, and unexpectedness of recent economic events but also of underlying shifts in the reputation environment. Those changes include the growing importance of Web-based participatory media, the increasing significance of NGOs and the declining trust in advertising,” said David Miller, spokesperson for aReputation.co.uk, an online reputation management company based in UK but operating extensively in the Indian sub-continent.

According to Miller, “the challenge with any reputation management crisis is effectively targeting those that need to be informed while not generating undue attention from those that don’t. The best way to accomplish this is to create targeted press releases within the News Room that can be linked to from a variety of sources. ”

Speaking to Forbes, Michael Fertik, founder and CEO of Reputation.com, put it succinctly when he said some time back, “you can relinquish your influence over that reputation and your cultivation of it and just let fate take over, but it’s actively costing you something. Even if your online reputation is neutral, there’s an opportunity cost because you may be missing out on visibility or connections that could help you.”

USA-based Reputation.com and UK-based aReputation.co.uk are two of the frontline global online reputation management companies that cater to a wide menu of clients. Their relatively niche, yet substantial, presence in India is likely to inspire Indian ORM companies who have so far been unable to tap the potential of the reputational market. While Reputation.com has a strong presence amongst small and medium companies across all sectors, aReputation.co.uk is known to cater to large corporations and high-networth individuals.

Unfortunately, companies struggle to categorize, let alone quantify, reputational risk. Risk managers are divided on whether reputational risk is an issue in its own right or simply a consequence of other risks. Whatever position companies take on this, almost all executives agree that reputation is a hugely valuable asset.

Whether you are handling your reputational needs or outsourcing it, generating positive content is critical. In a world where more and more people are likely to judge you based on what appears online, there’s no excuse for feigning ignorance or imagining it doesn’t matter.It's much better to take a proactive approach to owning the real estate on Page 1, as opposed to clawing your way in, after bad news is attached to your brand.

WhatsApp update arrives with Hindi support, Privacy settings

Popular cross-platform instant messaging app, WhatsApp has released a new update loaded with several interesting features. The new WhatsApp 2.11.186 update brings Privacy Settings that lets user conceal Personal Information. Apart from that, the WhatsApp update also enables Hindi for the Android smartphones running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update or higher. The WhatsApp app update 2.11.186 is already available in the Google Play Store.

The most important feature in this new update is the Privacy Option that almost every second person was waiting for. The Privacy Settings are located under the Settings->Account menu in the app. Privacy Settings now allows the user to change the personal information. With that, now you can hide the "Last Seen At" timestamp from anyone. Apart from that, you can also disable viewing of your photo and status to the random people. Check out our simple guide to hide your "Last Seen At" from friends and other people.

During chat, the users can see large video thumbnails and also a new option to save or share the photo/group icon. The Flag Emoji and Voice Notes issues have been fixed for the Sony phones and Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

One interesting feature is the new capability to handle Hindi for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean or higher updates running smartphones. Users can enable Hindi from keyboard settings or download the Google keyboard from the Google Play Store.

WhatsApp has also bundled two widgets - one acts as a shortcut to capture and share images while other is a box for unread messages. Update your WhatsApp app to enjoy the new features.

Guinness World Record: Fastest Typing With Nose

AN Indian man has set a new speed typing world record - using his nose. Khursheed Hussain correctly typed a sentence using his conk in an astonishing 47.44 seconds. The 103-character sentence read: "Guinness World Records has challenged me to type this sentence using my nose in the fastest time." The 23-year-old says he spent six hours a day practicing in the run up to the attempt, held in Hyderabad, India, last week. His latest attempt - 6.56 seconds faster than his first, carried out in 2013 - smashed the previous official world record of a measly 1 minute, 33 seconds, set in 2008 in Dubai by another Indian man.

पढ़ाई में कमजोर सुब्रत ने टॉपर से की थी शादी, 20-20 रु. जमा कर बने अरबपति

 

बिहार में हुए थे पैदा

सुब्रत रॉय सहारा का जन्म 10 जून, 1948 को बिहार के अररिया जिले में हुआ था। उनके पिता का नाम सुधीर चंद्र रॉय और माता का नाम छवि रॉय था। कोलकाता में शुरुआती शिक्षा-दीक्षा लेने के बाद उन्होंने गोरखपुर के एक सरकारी कॉलेज से मैकेनिकल इंजीनियरिंग की पढ़ाई की। दिलचस्प है कि सहारा श्री ने अपना पहला कारोबार गोरखपुर से ही शुरू किया।

2000 रुपए से शुरू किया था बिजनेस

बंगाली मूल के सहारा प्रमुख सुब्रत रॉय खुद को सहारा श्री कहलाना पसंद करते हैं। 1978 में 2000 रुपए से शुरू किया गया उनका बिजनेस आज हजारों करोड़ रुपए तक पहुंच गया है। उनके पुराने जानने वाले बताते हैं कि उन्होंने एक स्कूटर के साथ अपना सफर शुरू किया था। तब दिन में 100 रुपए कमाने वाले लोग उनके पास 20 रुपए जमा कर जाते थे।

Sahara India Pariwar organising marriage of 101 under-privileged gilrls

Sahara India Pariwar, every year since 2004, has been organising marriages of 101 under-privileged girls belonging to the economically weaker sections of the society and our junior kartavyayogi workers.

The marriage ceremonies of couples belonging to the four major religious communities - Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian - are organized every year, symbolic of a 'Samuhik Vivah Samaroh' conforming to the specific religious rites and ceremonies of the respective brides and grooms. Till date, 1111 couples have been blessed.

For the 101 marriages every year, Sahara invites applications from bride and groom families who cannot bear the cost of marriage by themselves. After verification process, the applicants are included for the Samaroh. All the marriage arrangements like fooding, clothing, lodging of the relatives, Welcoming of the Baraat, Kanyadaan, 101 Mandaps, etc. are made by Sahara India Pariwar. In addition to this, Sahara also helps all the newly wedded couples in initiating a new life.  For this, Sahara gifts around Rs. 2.5 lakh worth of basic household items to each couple. The gifts consist of Color Television, Refrigerator, Almirah, a double-bed, dressing table, jewelry, Suits to the groom, Sarees to the bride and wrist watch for both. Sahara even takes care of the delivery of these gifts at the couple’s house.

Besides, one of the attractions of Samuhik Vivah Samaroh every year is the 1914 made special American Panoramic Kodak Still Camera used to capture 101 couples and their families in a single photograph. The camera can rotate up to 360 degrees and produces a very sharp image of the object. The camera uses a 10x7 inches negative specially made for the camera and which is bought from Eastman, New York.  The camera is also used to take pictures of newly elected Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members.

Short memorable moment of Saharasri Subrata Roy as true India.

The short memorable moment that we can we must remember about Sahara and their contribution to India

Lucknow, .January 30, 2011: Saharasri Subrata Roy Sahara. Managing Worker & Chairman. Sahara India Pariwar, honouring Smt. Smita Vijay Salaskar (w/o Shaheed Shri Vijay Sahadeo Salaskar). Sahara observes Shaheed Diwas with the 127 families of Martyrs of Kargil War, 26/1l Mumbai Terror Attack and Dantewada Massacre at Sahara Shaher




Lucknow January 30 2011: Saharasri Subrata Roy Sahara, Managing Worker Chairman, Sahara India Pariwar, honoring Smt. Kavita Hemant Karkare (w/o Shaheed Shri Hemant Karkare). Sahara observes Shaheed Diwas with the 127 families of Martyrs of Kargil War. 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack and Dantewada Massacre at Sahara Shaher.

 Lucknow, January 30, 2011: Sahara observes Shaheed Diwas with the 127 families of Martyrs of Kargil War, 26/11 Mumbai terror Attack and Dantewada Massacar at Sahara Shaher. 

Former Prime Minister of India, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee expressed his feelings as:
“I thank Sahara India Pariwar for taking up the responsibility of 300 Kargil martyrs’ families. I believe more such institutions and families will come forward to fulfill their duty towards the nation.”

(Left) Mr. Salman Khan, Mr. Manoj Bajpai, Mr. Sohail Khan, Mr. Dino Morea, (Right) Mr. Saba Karim, Mr. Nikhil Chopra, Mr. Nayan Mongia, Mr. Rahul Dravid, Mr.Venkatesh Prasad and Mr.Javagal Srinath along with other current and former cricketers at the Kargil Benefit Soccer Charity Match

Sahara India Pariwar, every year since 2004, has been organising marriages of 101 under-privileged girls belonging to the economically weaker sections of the society and our junior kartavyayogi workers.

‘Saharasri’ Subrata Roy Sahara and other Senior members of Sahara India Pariwar along with 101 newly wedded couples during the Samuhik Vivah Samaroh of underprivileged girls at Sahara Shaher, Lucknow

Rising the voice for Saharasri Subrata Roy

Still the voice is rising from all the corner of India in support Saharasri Subrata  Roy, In between this the Bollywood actors are not so far behind to support Mr. Roy.

9 Things Successful People Do When Working From Home

Nearly one-third of full-time employees do most of their work in homes, coffee shops, and other remote places, according to the Flex+Strategy Group states a new study.





After extensive study, here are the best ways to make this arrangement work.
1. Reclaim your commuting time.
Commuting sucks, and one big advantage of working from home is that you no longer have to deal with it regularly. But it's crucial to reclaim the time you used to devote to travel for something productive. For example, maybe use the first 30 minutes of your day to answer emails you didn't get to the day before and the last half hour to set long-term strategic goals and specific objectives for the next day.
2. Design your space.
You've heard this one before, but it's crucial. Carve out a dedicated space that you only use for work. Preferably, you need natural light and a door, so that you can separate your work from your home life when the workday is done. Moreover, creating a separate and exclusive space can be necessary if you want to take a tax deduction for a home office.
3. Project professionalism.
Some people advise dressing as if you were still working in someone else's office. I think that's unnecessary, and maybe even a bit crazy, but you do need to come across as professional and reliable when dealing with clients. Here's an example: If you're doing video calls, consider having a clean dedicated area for them, or at least hanging a backdrop so people aren't distracted by home-office clutter.
4. Track your savings.
Following on the first three items, it helps to track how much you save as a result of working from home. Commuting costs alone can be substantial. Then consider the reduced costs of meals, now that you don't have to rely on take-out lunches and $2.50 cups of coffee, throw in your lower dry-cleaning bills, and the savings add up quickly.
5. Expand your circle.
Working at home can become isolating, unless you make an effort to build your network and maintain relationships. This might be easier in a major metropolitan area with lots of networking opportunities and industry meetings. However even if you have to travel and use lots of virtual tools--LinkedIn is a great place to start--maintaining your network should be on your to-do list every day.
6. Delegate all that you can.
When I wrote recently about delegating things to assistants, I was truly surprised by the blowback. Regardless, this is crucial, especially if you work from home, because it's easy to fall prey to the illusion that you have unlimited time, and can now do everything yourself. However, if you have a business worth doing, you can--and should--delegate things like managing your calendar, doing initial research, and handling household chores.
7. Manage your distractions.
Talk about easier said than done, but another danger in working from home is that it's so easy not to work. One winning strategy is simply to accept that you'll never be 100 percent productive. That makes it easier to be in control of your "mind-wandering" time at work, and keep it under control.
8. Own your day.
If you find yourself working earlier, take time for yourself and your family later. At the same time, it's great to do errands during low-demand hours. Don't fight the crowds at the mall on a Saturday. Instead, discover the tranquility of 10:30 a.m. on a Tuesday.
9. Own your week.
If you liked the idea of owning your day, just wait until you own your week. If you've wondered how many more runs you could get in on the ski slopes on a Wednesday (or whatever it is you like to do for fun), or how much easier and cheaper it would be to travel during times when fewer people are able, the answer is: a lot. In fact, the only drawback is that friends and family probably don't have the same flexibility. Once you get to the point where you own the week, however, you'll find yourself longing a lot less for the weekend.

Sebi-Sahara row: Why people are still willing to deposit money with Subrata Roy's company

Two days ago, some 24 hours after Sahara's Subrata Roy was arrested at the command of the Supreme Court, I had an interesting phone conversation with a Sahara depositor. This was someone who was not just made a deposit with Sahara in the past, but was planning to do so again soon. He knows many people who are regular Sahara depositors. He had a form with him for two schemes. One of them offered a gain of 10% for a tenure of one year, and the other, a gain of 40% for a deposit period of 48 months.

That's also about 10%. There are several things here that those who are acquainted with the Sahara affair only through TV and newspapers would find surprising. One, there is still financial business being conducted under the Sahara brand. This example is from Jharkhand, and not from a small town either. Two, there are people who are still willing to deposit money with Sahara. This particular depositor is an educated man who has access to the entire range of financial instruments.

Three, I think there are at least some media commentators who would be surprised that there is any such thing as a Sahara depositor. And four, those who'll try to think through this thing will see that 10% per annum is hardly an outsize or a Ponzi-like return being offered.
So why are people still willing to deposit money with Sahara? As far as I can see, simply because they started doing so in the past and the experience has not been negative. They did so in the past, got their money back with the promised returns and it just goes on, even when they have access to alternatives.

One thing about Sahara, which is getting lost in the excitement about the legal tricks that the Sahara group has been playing with Sebi and RBI, is that there is a real savings and investments business that exists. This business is likely to be illegal now, likely to be declining, it may be wrapped up in a larger money-laundering scheme, and its scale may be smaller than the claims of Sahara.

However, there really are a large number of depositors who use Sahara's services and have done so for years, even decades. This is something that anyone who has first-hand familiarity with life in small towns of the Hindi belt can vouch for. This business still exists. When, in 2008, RBI asked Sahara to wind up this business, it should have done so in a law-abiding manner. However, it didn't and RBI failed to detect that it didn't.

Currently, there is a lot of noise being made about the interests of depositors by various authorities and the media. However, the actual focus and the actions do not have the depositors' interests at heart. One reason is that there is a certain belief that these depositors don't exist, that Sahara is entirely a money-laundering scheme.

This simply isn't true. To my mind, the most important question today is what is the real base of investors and if there are enough assets backing their deposits. The long period over which Sahara has existed and the reasonable returns it offers make it unlikely that it's an out-and-out ponzi scheme like Saradha in Bengal and so many others.

However, there may well be some shortfall in assets. Sahara may be a rogue financial institution. And if the rogue part of that description is true, but so is the financial institution part. The most important thing today is to provide a safe exit to real depositors. The cat and mouse game of the so-called Sahara Shri will no doubt continue to entertain all of us for a while. However, someone needs to pay some attention to the real small depositors.

By: Dhirendra Kumar CEO, Value Research

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/comments-analysis/sebi-sahara-row-why-people-are-still-willing-to-deposit-money-with-subrata-roys-company/articleshow/31323040.cms