"I CAN" IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN "I.Q."

Sunday, November 11, 2012

DIWALI.....!!!


Glass lamp with kundan work
I have to tell you that the last thing on my mind is Diwali because it's toward the end of the year and many projects are due at school and at work. Also, I usually pour all my energy and creativity into Navaratri and Diwali is an afterthought. I know that's surprising but I have friends that take Diwali very seriously and the party just moves there for me (and minus all the work). But we do spruce up the house and put out the diyas to mark the occasion. I want to share with you pictures from previous years  and maybe in a day or two, from this season. I think the style reflects my Eastern roots peppered with the Western influences of the last 15 years.
Festive season 2011
Festive season
The colors that traditionally grace India are reds, greens and browns and these are such autumnal colors that they match not only Diwali but nature outside.
Fall 2011: Browns, red, green
Festive season

Info. about Gujarat..!!

Gujarat.....
Situated in western India and bordering Pakistan, Gujarat is among India's most prosperous states. Its per capita GDP is 2.4 times the Indian average.
Gujarat 's GDP growth rate is 10.6% and India can not achieve 8 percent Growth rate without Gujarat getting closer to 12% growth rate.
If it was a nation it would have been 67th richest nation in the world above many European and Asian economies like Taiwan and Ukraine .
Gujarat holds many records in India for economic development:
· 20% of India 's Industrial Output
· 80% of India 's Diamond Production
· 9% of India 's Mineral Production
· 50% of India 's Natural Gas Production
· 54% of India 's Crude Oil Production                                                                           
· 22% of India 's exports
· 24% of India 's textile production
· 45% of India 's pharmaceutical products
· 35% of India 's Sponge Iron Production
· 47% of India 's petrochemical Production
The world's largest ship breaking yard is in Gujarat near Bhavnagar at Alang.
Reliance Petroleum Limited, one of the group companies of Reliance Industries Limited founded by Dhirubhai Ambani operates the oil refinery at Jamnagar which is the world's largest grass roots refineries.
Gujarat ranks first nationwide in gas-based thermal electricity generation with national market share of over 8% and second nationwide in nuclear electricity generation with national market share of over 1%.
Over 20% of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Gujarat
Over 35% of the stock market wealth of India is with Gujarati People.
In recent Forbes magazine list of 10 richest Indian people four are Gujarati - Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Azim Premji and Tulsi Tanti Over 60% of Indian Population in North America is Gujarati.
An average income of a Gujarati family in North America is three times more than the average income of an American family.
Gujarat is having the longest sea shore compared to any other Indian state
Gujarat is having the highest no. of operating airports in India (Total 12).
India's 16% of Investment are from Gujarat ..
Gujarat is having highest no. of vegetarian people compared to any other state in India ..
The first ALL VEG PIZZA-HUT was opened in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad – the commercial capital of Gujarat is the seventh largest city in India ..
Surat is the fastest growing city in the world.
Gandhinagar is the Greenest Capital City in whole Asia
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad(IIMA) is Asia's 1st and world's 45th ranked management college located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Gujarat is the safest state as the Crime rate of it is 8.2 which is the least in India even after considering 2002 communal riots, stated by India Today 2005 report.
Gujarat is having least crime against women among all Indian states (excluding Goa ) where AP is 1st, Delhi is 2nd , Bihar is 3rd , Zarakhand is 4th and UP is 5th.
Ahmedabad which is the seventh largest city in India is the lowest in crime rate among all Tier-I and Tier-II cities of India as per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.
Ahmedabad is ranked 2nd in Real Estate - Ahead of Bangalore ,Chennai, Hyderabad , Mumbai & Delhi.
Ahmedabad is ranked 3rd in Policy Initiatives - Ahead of Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta , Mumbai & Delhi.
Ahmedabad is ranked 4th in Manpower - Ahead of Bangalore ,Chennai, Mumbai & Delhi.
Percent of man-days lost in Gujarat due to labor strike are lowest in country - just 0.52%
It is the first state to implement the BOT law for encouraging private sector participation
The first state to have to fully functional LNG terminal
Gujarat has 33 approved SEZs
Gujarat is the first state to interconnect 20 rivers
It is the first state to provide uninterrupted 24hr 2 phase electricity to all villages
It is the only state with statewide gas grid
It is currently implementing statewide water distribution grid that will connect all 14,000 villages and all cities)
It has largest e-governance network in Asia Pacific
Its agricultural production has been increased four-fold in five years (from USD 2 Billion in 2001-2002 to 7.5 Billion in 2005-2006)
In every corner of Gujarat, within the range of 25 KMs there is a development going on.
Operation WHITE FLOOD (MILK) was initiated in Gujarat by Dr. Kurien which took India in 1998 (may be 1999) to become highest milk producer in the world.
Consumption of GOLD in Gujarat is highest in India ..
Largest number of immigration & emigration is done from Gujarat . Also highest Numbers of passports are issued from Gujarat.Baroda gas project - bringing natural gas to every home - More than 35 years ago they installed pipelines to bring natural gas to every kitchen. I think that was an amazing feat.
AMUL - NDDB & Dr. Kurian - another achievement for Gujarat - it was just fantastic to see how they collected milk early morning from every village in Gujarat . The villagers would line up at 3 in the morning at the milk collection centers!!! What a sight! According to a recent study by the Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank, Gujarat stood first in the country with investments of US$17.8 billion in 2006-07 or 25.8% of India 's total investment of $69 billion during the year.
The southern state of Andhra Pradesh stood a distant second having attracted $6.1 billion in 2006-07.
Gujarat moved up from second place in 2005-06 having tripled its investments in a year.
A report in Times of India describes the Gulf of Kutch as India's " Gulf of Riches". Four top business houses - Reliance Industries, Essar Group, Adani Group and Tata Group, have invested about $34 billion along the Gulf of Kutch's 700-kilometer long coastline. Other corporate, which had invested over $3.26 billion since the 2001 earthquake have investments worth another $19.5 billion in the pipeline. Ten special economic zones (SEZs) near Jamnagar , a 4000-megawatt power project and five private shipyards are coming up. And massive expansion is being undertaken of the Mundra and Kandla ports.
Gujarat's 41 ports handle 80% of India's port traffic and 20% of its cargo. It is estimated that by 2015, Gujarat's ports will handle 39% of India 's cargo.
Not only has Gujarat unseated Maharashtra as India 's number one investment destination but also, it is threatening to dislodge Mumbai, Maharashtra 's capital and the financial and business capital of India, as the trade gateway to the country.
Mundra port where Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum are setting up giant oil storage capacities has already emerged as India's largest private oil storage tank farm.
Sixty percent of India's coal imports enter via Mundra port. Mundra's importance is likely to soar further with the completion of mega power plants being set up by Adanis and Tatas.
The volume of cargo handled by Mundra and Kandla ports alone has outstripped that handled by Mumbai's ports - the Mumbai Port Trust and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.
And now Gujarat is nursing ambitions of dislodging Mumbai as India 's financial hub. Its government recently announced the setting up of an international financial services center, the Gujarat International Finance Tech-City with an investment outlay of $6 billion in Ahmedabad. Forbes Magazine published list of Top 20 Self-Made Business-Men from Asia. The list includes 6 men from India and out of 6 three are Gujarati - Tulsi Tanti, Gautam Adani and Uday Kotak.
India's wealthiest man, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, is Gujarati. Forbes says he is the world's fifth richest man, worth   $43 billion.
Azim Premji of Wipro, is Gujarati. He is the world's 21st richest man, worth $17 billion.
Ten of the 25 richest Indians are Gujarati.
Some of the best business communities in India -- Parsis,Jains, Memons, Banias, Khojas and Bohras -- speak Gujarati.
The two great leaders of the subcontinent, the Mahatma and the Quaid, were both Gujaratis from trading communities. One a Bania, the other a Khoja.
Gujaratis number 55 million, five per cent of India's population living on six per cent of surface area, but hold 30 per cent of all Indian stock.
They account for 16 per cent of all Indian exports and 17   per cent of GDP.
On August 8, the National Council of Applied Economic   Research published a report.
The richest city in India is now Surat, ahead of Bangalore and Madras, with an average annual household income of Rs0.45 million (over $11,000). 80 per cent of all diamonds sold anywhere in the world are polished in Surat's 10,000 diamond units
The only non-Jews in the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem diamond bourse are Gujjus.
Between 2004-5 and 2007-8 Surat's middle class doubled in size and its poor reduced by a third.
The fifth richest city in India is now Ahmedabad, ahead of Bombay and Delhi, and miles ahead of Calcutta.
The percentage of man-days lost in Gujarat due tolabour unrest is 0.42 per cent, the lowest in India. Of Gujarat's 18,048 villages, 17,940 have electricity.
Under Modi the face of industrial Gujarat is changing. The world's largest oil refinery is coming up in Jamnagar. Owned by Reliance, it already refines 660,000 barrels of oil a day and will double that this year.
Thirty per cent of India's cotton is grown in Gujarat, 40 per cent of India's art-silk is manufactured in Surat, employing 0.7 million people.
The world's third largest denim manufacturer is Ahmedabad's ArvindMills.
A KPMG report says 40 per cent of India's pharmacy   industry is based in Gujarat with companies like Torrent, Zydus Cadila, Alembic, Dishman and Sun Pharma.
The state's GDP has been growing at 12 per cent a year for the last 12 years, as fast as China's.
History
Scholarships to Gandhiji & Veer Savarkar for further studies in England were awarded by another Gujarati leader Shyamji Krishna Verma,who established India House in London, which was a hostel for Indian students and a meeting place for all our freedom fighter evolutionaries.
Sardar Patel & Mahatma Gandhi were the two Dynamic Leaders of Gujrat
Business/Industry:
The city of Mumbai was established by Parsis & Kutchi Bhatia community (who are also Gujaratis), who established early textile mills in Mumbai. Institutes like the Bombay Stock Exchange and Cotton Stock Exchange were also established by Gujarati Traders.
Some of the best business communities in India -- Parsis, Jains, Memons, Banias, Khojas and Bohras -- speak Gujarati.
According to the August 8 report of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, the richest city in India is now Surat , ahead of Bangalore and Madras , with an average annual household income of Rs0.45 million (over $11,000 per year).
80 per cent of all diamonds sold anywhere in the world are polished in Surat 's 10,000 diamond units
The only non-Jews in the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem diamond bourse are Gujjus.
The fifth richest city in India is now Ahmedabad, ahead of Bombay and Delhi , and miles ahead of Calcutta .
Of Gujarat 's 18,048 villages, 17,940 have electricity.
The world's largest oil refinery is coming up in Jamnagar . Owned by Reliance, it already refines 660,000 barrels of oil a day and will double that this year.
Thirty per cent of India 's cotton is grown in Gujarat , 40 per cent of India 's art-silk is manufactured in Surat , employing 0.7 million people.
The world's third largest denim manufacturer is Ahmedabad's Arvind Mills.
A KPMG report says 40 per cent of India 's pharmacy industry is based in Gujarat with companies like Torrent, Zydus Cadila, Alembic, Dishman and Sun Pharma.
The state of Gujarat's GDP has been growing at 12 per cent a year for the last 12 years, as fast as China's.
India's wealthiest man, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, is Gujarati (world's fifth richest man, worth $43 billion).
Ten of the 25 richest Indians are Gujarati. Gujaratis hold 30 per cent of all Indian stock.
Gujaratis account for 16 per cent of all Indian exports and 17 per cent of GDP.
Now TATA's with their NANO Venture will be Impacting the Gujrat Growth.
Spirituality
The maximum spiritual literature thats available after sanskrit in any Indian Language is in Gujarati
Most Spiritual Leaders have found Gujjus to be most receptive community amongst the Indian states.
Pandurang shastri athawale and Dongre maharaj though being non gujjus made it their Head quarters.