All are equal but some are more equal. We have all heard this before right?
Here is something that goes to prove that!
If you are an employee, the employer does a deduction of tax at source (TDS) and pays it to the Income tax department. At the end of the financial year, the employee is supposed to get a statement (Form 16) from the employer with all the details of the salaries paid and the taxes deducted and paid to the income tax department.
There are employers who do the TDS and may not have paid all the deductions to the IT department. They must pay all of it before 31st march and then only they can give the form 16 to the employees. The employees will file their income tax returns with the IT department by 31st July.
What happens in the case where employer has not given the form 16 to the employee? Here are couple of scenarios, I am sure you won't like it.
Employee files the IT returns with the IT department based on his/her knowledge and if the tax calculations show that the employer has not paid the TDS to the IT department, the employee will have to pay that though the employer has already deducted the tax (but not paid to the government). The government does has to get its does - does not matter if the employer has defaulted, the employee has to even pay interest on the tax that should have been paid but not paid. How wonderful. On one end, an employer who gets away scotch free in spite of not adhering to the rules and regulations and on the other hand, you have the employee who has to practically pay up taxes again!
What are the options?
1. The employee finds out online how much tax has been credited into his account (there is an online facility by the IT department) and calculates the taxes with the help of an auditor, finds out if there is a short payment by the employer (yes, the employer has deducted at source) and pays up and files the returns.
2. The employee gets the employer to pay him/her the tax amount deducted but not paid to the IT department and pays it to the IT department directly and files the returns.
Let me have your thoughts!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Worst shopping experience in Total Mall - Mysore Road
I should have posted this quite some time ago, being the lazy guy I am, it took time.
A few weeks ago, I visited Total Mall on Mysore Road (quite close to the flyover that takes you to Bangalore city corporation).
It was a weekday. I hate going to malls on weekends. The malls are crowded, noisy, stifling and long queues at the billing counter. You can finish your shopping in 15-20 minutes and wait for may be another 15-20 minutes at the billing counter, worst still, it can take you more than 30 minutes to get out of the billing counter.
First and foremost, the A/Cs were off. You know what happens when there is no air conditioning in a closed environment. The air was stuffy, odd smell and obviously people were sweating. The way they have arranged the racks is totally absurd. You have to move from one end to the other end to find an item. At the billing counter, it took me more than 45 minutes. Why is that? There were only few counters that were open and they had long winding queues!
I strongly suggest, never ever visit Total mall. Such a waste of time and unpleasant and rude people.
A few weeks ago, I visited Total Mall on Mysore Road (quite close to the flyover that takes you to Bangalore city corporation).
It was a weekday. I hate going to malls on weekends. The malls are crowded, noisy, stifling and long queues at the billing counter. You can finish your shopping in 15-20 minutes and wait for may be another 15-20 minutes at the billing counter, worst still, it can take you more than 30 minutes to get out of the billing counter.
First and foremost, the A/Cs were off. You know what happens when there is no air conditioning in a closed environment. The air was stuffy, odd smell and obviously people were sweating. The way they have arranged the racks is totally absurd. You have to move from one end to the other end to find an item. At the billing counter, it took me more than 45 minutes. Why is that? There were only few counters that were open and they had long winding queues!
I strongly suggest, never ever visit Total mall. Such a waste of time and unpleasant and rude people.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Jumping the line in Hospitals and Diagnostic Centres Too!
I had to get some tests done for one of my family members. I went to a very popular and reputed diagnostics center on Rajkumar road in Rajajinagar (Bangalore west).
The diagnostics center is a fairly well organized and we are sort of regulars for any laboratory tests that need to be done irrespective of which doctor, specialist recommends the tests.
Today, should have been no different! But it was a different experience.
In the billing section, usually, there used to be 3-4 people attending to the customers/patients. Today, there were only 2 of them. The billing took some time.
After the billing, the counter where they take the blood samples used to have 2 people manning the operations. Today, there was only one!
There were many people waiting for their turn and the queue went on building up. There were old people, there were sick people, there were kids.......
As usual, the person coordinating the blood/urine samples was calling names in the order in which he/she received them, well, I thought so! We were waiting for quite sometime and out of the blue a hale and healthy man walks in, has a brief chat with the coordinator (I don't know what they call his function/role) and went ahead and gave his blood sample. This was totally out of turn!
As I said before, there were many waiting and this is totally wrong! I don't normally get upset, but I did lose my cool! I went and told the coordinator, this is not right. Don't give preferential treatment, just make sure that people are attended in order. Then, things started moving in the right manner.
Question is,
why do we put up with these kind of things everyday?
Do we have to go on fighting for what is right?
Why should there be such discrimination, even in hospitals and diagnostic centers?
I have seen this in places of worship, government offices...... you name it, it happens, every day!
I don't care if this guy thought I was rude! I meant to be rude and had to make him understand that what he was doing was wrong.
If you have had similar experiences, please share your thoughts!
Srinath
The diagnostics center is a fairly well organized and we are sort of regulars for any laboratory tests that need to be done irrespective of which doctor, specialist recommends the tests.
Today, should have been no different! But it was a different experience.
In the billing section, usually, there used to be 3-4 people attending to the customers/patients. Today, there were only 2 of them. The billing took some time.
After the billing, the counter where they take the blood samples used to have 2 people manning the operations. Today, there was only one!
There were many people waiting for their turn and the queue went on building up. There were old people, there were sick people, there were kids.......
As usual, the person coordinating the blood/urine samples was calling names in the order in which he/she received them, well, I thought so! We were waiting for quite sometime and out of the blue a hale and healthy man walks in, has a brief chat with the coordinator (I don't know what they call his function/role) and went ahead and gave his blood sample. This was totally out of turn!
As I said before, there were many waiting and this is totally wrong! I don't normally get upset, but I did lose my cool! I went and told the coordinator, this is not right. Don't give preferential treatment, just make sure that people are attended in order. Then, things started moving in the right manner.
Question is,
why do we put up with these kind of things everyday?
Do we have to go on fighting for what is right?
Why should there be such discrimination, even in hospitals and diagnostic centers?
I have seen this in places of worship, government offices...... you name it, it happens, every day!
I don't care if this guy thought I was rude! I meant to be rude and had to make him understand that what he was doing was wrong.
If you have had similar experiences, please share your thoughts!
Srinath
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Interesting SMS I received yesterday on my mobile from CBI
We get lot of SMSs on our mobiles. Some of them are useful and most of them are junk, nothing but SPAM.
Is there anything we can do about it? Nothing! We don't have strict spam laws here in India and we have to suffer all the junk that people stuff us with.
Interestingly, I received an SMS yesterday. This post is all about it.
Guess who has sent the SMS? CBI (Central Bureau of Investigations) is the prime body in India that is an equivalent of FBI.
To the content of the SMS now. It says, please inform if any PSU (public sector unit), govt. official is demanding bribes or has huge assets disproportionate to their income. They have given the contact numbers to call and provide the information too.
In reality, how many people dare to do this? People are scared of government officials, or the babus we call them with fearful respect.
Officials asking for bribes to clear some files faster or to approve some project is one thing.
But, what about harassing the poor people in the name of umpteen number of rules which have clauses, sub-clauses, sub-clauses for sub-clauses........ and keep on doing a ping pong, making them run from pillar to post? Common man is totally under the mercy of these officials, and in many instances the person who had to get the work done is long dead and the legacy is continued by his son/daughter, and his/her son/daughter, and on and on....... Something must be done to make these things easy for the common man.
There I go off-track.
Here is the contact numbers of CBI in Bangalore for people to call and take forward their issues.
+91 80 23542144 and +91 9481606810 (cell/mobile).
Here is the link the CBI website: http://www.cbi.gov.in/index.php
Hope this helps some of the needy people.
Once again, thanks for reading my posts!
Warm Regards
Srinath
Is there anything we can do about it? Nothing! We don't have strict spam laws here in India and we have to suffer all the junk that people stuff us with.
Interestingly, I received an SMS yesterday. This post is all about it.
Guess who has sent the SMS? CBI (Central Bureau of Investigations) is the prime body in India that is an equivalent of FBI.
To the content of the SMS now. It says, please inform if any PSU (public sector unit), govt. official is demanding bribes or has huge assets disproportionate to their income. They have given the contact numbers to call and provide the information too.
In reality, how many people dare to do this? People are scared of government officials, or the babus we call them with fearful respect.
Officials asking for bribes to clear some files faster or to approve some project is one thing.
But, what about harassing the poor people in the name of umpteen number of rules which have clauses, sub-clauses, sub-clauses for sub-clauses........ and keep on doing a ping pong, making them run from pillar to post? Common man is totally under the mercy of these officials, and in many instances the person who had to get the work done is long dead and the legacy is continued by his son/daughter, and his/her son/daughter, and on and on....... Something must be done to make these things easy for the common man.
There I go off-track.
Here is the contact numbers of CBI in Bangalore for people to call and take forward their issues.
+91 80 23542144 and +91 9481606810 (cell/mobile).
Here is the link the CBI website: http://www.cbi.gov.in/index.php
Hope this helps some of the needy people.
Once again, thanks for reading my posts!
Warm Regards
Srinath
Monday, July 26, 2010
How am I driving? What a farce!
In the 70s and 80s, we used to have factory buses. These buses belonged primarily to HAL, BEL, ITI to name some of the top companies. All of these are public sector companies.
Then, in the late 80s and 90s, we could see quite a few buses and cabs from MNCs who had set up shop in Bangalore outskirts (now what do we call that, in skirts?).
The 90s and 2000s saw a great deal if increase in private buses and cabs, thanks to IT companies who setup shops in Whitefield, Electronic city, Mysore Road (Global Village) and Hebbal. These are ever increasing.
One of the interesting as well as intriguing things that one notices on these buses and cabs is the sticker on the rear glass. That says "How I am I driving" or "If the driver of this vehicle is driving rashly, please call XXXXXXXXXX number".
To all of us who are behind these killers on the road, it is a total farce and a big joke.
These companies are big, they talk a lot about social responsibility, corporate governance et al. Many of them give big time lectures, talk about how we should improve the infrastructure in Bangalore, how we should participate in helping the needy........... the list goes on.
Now, these companies have hired many private cab and bus operators to transport their employees to wok. They have stringent rules on the operators to be well within the designated time for arrival and departure irrespective of the traffic conditions, else they are penalized.
In turn the operators, penalize their drivers! Why do they want to lose money if the driver is late for whatever reason?
What will these cab and bus drivers do? They are driving within the city in all kinds of traffic conditions as if they are possessed and are about to beat the likes of Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vittel. Their right foot is glued to the accelerator pedal, their right hand is glued to the horn button and who cares about clutch and gear!!!! They don't get paid a great salary and add to that they are in no condition to bear the penalties! They would even go on the wrong side of the road to beat the traffic and many times create gridlocks!!!!!!
Every now and then, a child gets run over, a biker is pushed out of the street straight into hell, an old man walking by the side of the road does not seem to exist, the car in front of the cab or bus does exist ............
Who is really responsible? Any thoughts?
Then, in the late 80s and 90s, we could see quite a few buses and cabs from MNCs who had set up shop in Bangalore outskirts (now what do we call that, in skirts?).
The 90s and 2000s saw a great deal if increase in private buses and cabs, thanks to IT companies who setup shops in Whitefield, Electronic city, Mysore Road (Global Village) and Hebbal. These are ever increasing.
One of the interesting as well as intriguing things that one notices on these buses and cabs is the sticker on the rear glass. That says "How I am I driving" or "If the driver of this vehicle is driving rashly, please call XXXXXXXXXX number".
To all of us who are behind these killers on the road, it is a total farce and a big joke.
These companies are big, they talk a lot about social responsibility, corporate governance et al. Many of them give big time lectures, talk about how we should improve the infrastructure in Bangalore, how we should participate in helping the needy........... the list goes on.
Now, these companies have hired many private cab and bus operators to transport their employees to wok. They have stringent rules on the operators to be well within the designated time for arrival and departure irrespective of the traffic conditions, else they are penalized.
In turn the operators, penalize their drivers! Why do they want to lose money if the driver is late for whatever reason?
What will these cab and bus drivers do? They are driving within the city in all kinds of traffic conditions as if they are possessed and are about to beat the likes of Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vittel. Their right foot is glued to the accelerator pedal, their right hand is glued to the horn button and who cares about clutch and gear!!!! They don't get paid a great salary and add to that they are in no condition to bear the penalties! They would even go on the wrong side of the road to beat the traffic and many times create gridlocks!!!!!!
Every now and then, a child gets run over, a biker is pushed out of the street straight into hell, an old man walking by the side of the road does not seem to exist, the car in front of the cab or bus does exist ............
Who is really responsible? Any thoughts?
Sunday, May 30, 2010
My Knee Hurts
What does this mean? Do I have a medical condition or what?
None of that. It is all thanks to the roadworks, the railworks (Metro rail), Autos, Taxis are the ones who are causing this.
The roadworks in Bangalore! It is so nice of the powers that be that they get great ideas and the results are just too good. One day, a road is neatly asphalted, we are all happy commuters! Couple of weeks down the line, the other civic authority digs up roads and start laying new drainage pipes. What is left of the road is not even half of what was available before. You never know when they will fix the road again.
I stay in west side of the city and have to travel to the east for work. All the entry points from west to east, we have metro rail work going on now or someone is laying power cables. The traffic is choatic. Everyone is in a hurry, everyone fights for space, everyone wants to get ahead of the other - end result is a bottle neck and a deadlock. And then there are really some great people out there, from extreme left they would want to go to right, from extreme right, they would want to go to left and the guy who wants to go straight does not know where to go hahaha!
Now, this is not just the autos (the 3 wheeler cabs) or Taxis, I am talking about Audis, Mercs, BMWs, Hondas, Toyotas, GMs, Fords, Suzuki, Hyundai........ There is nothing wrong with any of these! What is wrong is the mindset of the people who are driving those!
People used to be calm and cool in this place. Now, we have people fighting with cops, going to the extent of even trying to beat them up! Oh yes, recent times, there have been instances of drunk women attacking police who were just doing their job. These incidents have brought in some measures and they seem to be working.
I have seen the very same people follow all the traffic rules, signs when they are driving abroad and back home, they are back to the same old devices.
I used to enjoy riding my motorbike and taking my car out for drives. I have really started hating the thought of driving nowadays. Hopefully, all the pain that we are going through will go away soon thanks to Metro rail. At least that is what I think.
We have few good jokes for you.
1. People in the USA drive on the right side of the road, people in UK drive on the left side of the road. We, drive on what is left of the road!
2. The movie "One Flew over a cuckoo's nest" made Jack Nicholson famous, The roads in Bangalore have made the song from the movie even more famous "One went left, one went right, one went over the payment and another went down the open drain".
now:
Oh, before I sign off, I almost forgot to tell you how cops are using technologies to catch offenders now!
Our cops today have Blackberry's, Speed radars, speed cameras, cameras at major signals..... So, dear Bangalorean, if you think you got away by bending the law, and you thought no cop saw you, beware, you are going to be in for good surprise! You will get a nice warm letter coming home from the law authorities. Well, you can even go see all of it here: http://www.bangaloretrafficpolice.gov.in/
Thanks for reading all my ravings and rantings.
Srinath
None of that. It is all thanks to the roadworks, the railworks (Metro rail), Autos, Taxis are the ones who are causing this.
The roadworks in Bangalore! It is so nice of the powers that be that they get great ideas and the results are just too good. One day, a road is neatly asphalted, we are all happy commuters! Couple of weeks down the line, the other civic authority digs up roads and start laying new drainage pipes. What is left of the road is not even half of what was available before. You never know when they will fix the road again.
I stay in west side of the city and have to travel to the east for work. All the entry points from west to east, we have metro rail work going on now or someone is laying power cables. The traffic is choatic. Everyone is in a hurry, everyone fights for space, everyone wants to get ahead of the other - end result is a bottle neck and a deadlock. And then there are really some great people out there, from extreme left they would want to go to right, from extreme right, they would want to go to left and the guy who wants to go straight does not know where to go hahaha!
Now, this is not just the autos (the 3 wheeler cabs) or Taxis, I am talking about Audis, Mercs, BMWs, Hondas, Toyotas, GMs, Fords, Suzuki, Hyundai........ There is nothing wrong with any of these! What is wrong is the mindset of the people who are driving those!
People used to be calm and cool in this place. Now, we have people fighting with cops, going to the extent of even trying to beat them up! Oh yes, recent times, there have been instances of drunk women attacking police who were just doing their job. These incidents have brought in some measures and they seem to be working.
I have seen the very same people follow all the traffic rules, signs when they are driving abroad and back home, they are back to the same old devices.
I used to enjoy riding my motorbike and taking my car out for drives. I have really started hating the thought of driving nowadays. Hopefully, all the pain that we are going through will go away soon thanks to Metro rail. At least that is what I think.
We have few good jokes for you.
1. People in the USA drive on the right side of the road, people in UK drive on the left side of the road. We, drive on what is left of the road!
2. The movie "One Flew over a cuckoo's nest" made Jack Nicholson famous, The roads in Bangalore have made the song from the movie even more famous "One went left, one went right, one went over the payment and another went down the open drain".
now:
Oh, before I sign off, I almost forgot to tell you how cops are using technologies to catch offenders now!
Our cops today have Blackberry's, Speed radars, speed cameras, cameras at major signals..... So, dear Bangalorean, if you think you got away by bending the law, and you thought no cop saw you, beware, you are going to be in for good surprise! You will get a nice warm letter coming home from the law authorities. Well, you can even go see all of it here: http://www.bangaloretrafficpolice.gov.in/
Thanks for reading all my ravings and rantings.
Srinath
Friday, May 14, 2010
Weight loss program for an Elephant? This one is not about making money!
Friends,
Few days ago, there was this news on one of the local TVs. I found it very amusing at first. Read on...
There is a temple of Lord Venkateshwara in a town in west godavari district in Andhra Pradesh (one of the states in India). This temple has an elephant. The elephant has been with the temple from its infancy. She is quite friendly with all the people who visit the temple. She being so friendly and nice, people who visit the temple used to feed her with fruits, nuts and all kinds of food stuff.
The giant (she is not an infant any more) went on eating all the stuff that people used to feed her. She put on lot of weight. This resulted in some complications for her. She used to get tired too fast, she could not even lie down to sleep, moving around was too difficult.....
The doctor came and said to the temple authorities that they should stop feeding her indiscriminately and she needs exercise to get back into shape. Whoever heard of an elephant being overweight!
They started off with a daily walk of 5 km in the morning and 5 km in the evening. The lady is literally enjoying her walks. She has reduced her intake, following a diet and loves her walk.
The result! Within one month, she has shed about 375kg of weight and she has become quite active. She feels the change in herself and is now not tempted to eat all the stuff people are bringing to her.
The question is, if an elephant can do it, why can't we? We keep giving lame excuses saying too much work, no time, it does not work for me and what not.
Just think about it!
An elephant has done it!
Hope you enjoyed reading this!
Regards
Srinath
Few days ago, there was this news on one of the local TVs. I found it very amusing at first. Read on...
There is a temple of Lord Venkateshwara in a town in west godavari district in Andhra Pradesh (one of the states in India). This temple has an elephant. The elephant has been with the temple from its infancy. She is quite friendly with all the people who visit the temple. She being so friendly and nice, people who visit the temple used to feed her with fruits, nuts and all kinds of food stuff.
The giant (she is not an infant any more) went on eating all the stuff that people used to feed her. She put on lot of weight. This resulted in some complications for her. She used to get tired too fast, she could not even lie down to sleep, moving around was too difficult.....
The doctor came and said to the temple authorities that they should stop feeding her indiscriminately and she needs exercise to get back into shape. Whoever heard of an elephant being overweight!
They started off with a daily walk of 5 km in the morning and 5 km in the evening. The lady is literally enjoying her walks. She has reduced her intake, following a diet and loves her walk.
The result! Within one month, she has shed about 375kg of weight and she has become quite active. She feels the change in herself and is now not tempted to eat all the stuff people are bringing to her.
The question is, if an elephant can do it, why can't we? We keep giving lame excuses saying too much work, no time, it does not work for me and what not.
Just think about it!
An elephant has done it!
Hope you enjoyed reading this!
Regards
Srinath
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