Does your Income tax website account have your CA phone number ? You can now claim it back Posted: 07 Sep 2014 09:19 PM PDT

Does your Income tax website account have your CA phone number ? You can now claim it back : Jagoinvestor

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Does your Income tax website account have your CA phone number ? You can now claim it back Posted: 07 Sep 2014 09:19 PM PDT Let me start by sharing with you what was the situation of millions of tax payers in India till now. If they wanted to do e-filing and went to income tax website and tried to login to their account, they failed at it, because they did not have the password, because it was created by their CA’s or someone else who assisted them once in filing their tax. And the person could not even use the “forget password” option, because it asked for some information like Phone/Email to send the OTP pin or authentication link and obviously their phone and email was not used while creating the account. And this meant depending on the CA for this. However recently Income Tax Department has taken strict action on this. Income Tax department has sent an email to all the income tax payers to update their emails and phone numbers if they want to do that. Now as per new rule, A person can use his phone/email on maximum 10 accounts (now CA’s wont be able to update their personal phone/emails on all their clients, which is also a bit big issue for most of the CA’s , because a lot of their clients are not net savvy and its very convenient for CA’s to manage their accounts) Anyways, Here is a an email snapshot of the email which was sent by income tax department. More details on this page below https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/eFiling/Portal/StaticPDF/Update_Contact_Details.pdf How to update your Phone Number and Email on income tax website If you are a new user, then its very simple and you can just go to their website and create a fresh login/password. Now its mandatory to give phone and email id. There will be one time password (OTP) sent and authenticated. Now if you are a registered user (your PAN is your User id) and if you want to make sure that the full control of your login is with you, then make sure you update your email and phone on the website. Here is what you need to do to update your phone and email on their website 1. Go to https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/ and try to login 2. Click on “Forgot Password” link and put your User id (your PAN) and move ahead 3. One the next pages you will get an option to update your email and phone. 4. Choose that and follow the steps. Below is an image snapshot of how it looks like Note that there is also an issue with this new move, because now any person who has information about your details can create a new email and phone and can use that to claim an account (assuming he also has information about the bank details which was used by the person) . A lot of CA’s are also not liking this change by the income tax department, because now their clients will go away as they are not under control of their CA’s . Would like to know what you do you think about this move by IT department.

Forgetful investors did best!

Dear All,

Please find below an article as appeared on Money Life for an interesting reading:

Forgetful investors did best!

The ‘buy and hold’ investment strategy has taken on a different meaning, ‘buy and forget’. According to Fidelity, investors who forgot that they had an account performed the best. While it may not make sense to invest money and then simply forget about it, but investors who did unknowingly, earned a better return. Fidelity Investments reviewed the performance of their client’s account, what they found was that, accounts that performed the best were those account of investors who forgot that they had an account at Fidelity.

In fact, research by behavioural finance experts have found that investors who checked their portfolios monthly were more likely to move them in a more conservative direction than those who reviewed them annually. This behavioural trait is called "myopic loss aversion". It is based on human tendency to avoid losses, because the pain, we feel from a loss is twice as powerful as the pleasure, we feel from a gain. In the study, conducted by two famous behavioural psychologists—Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky—subjects were assigned simulated conditions that were similar to making portfolio decisions on a monthly or yearly basis.

Should you buy and forget your investments over fixed periods? While it is a dreaded thought for some, investors should take responsibility for their finances and put some rules in place and stick with them.

https://savers.moneylife.in/blog/behavourial-finance/article/forgetful-investors-did-best/1035.html?utm_source=PoweRelayEDM&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=Subscriber%231069&utm_campaign=MSSN%20Weekly%20Newsletter

How to deal with difficult clients

Dear All,

Please find below a good article as appeared in CafeMutual for your reading:

How to deal with difficult clients 

Advisors should set the right expectations in the minds of their clients from day one.

Every businessmen has to deal with difficult clients and financial advisory is no exception. Some clients are easy going while others never stop nagging.

In this article we’ll explore how advisors can tactfully manage difficult clients.

It is important to set the expectations right from the very beginning. “The best way to avoid conflicts is to set client expectations right in the first meeting. Under promise and over deliver,” says Nikhil Kothari of Etica Wealth Management.

Advisors should understand client psychology to deal with clients effectively. “Patience and good understanding of investor behaviour is important to manage difficult clients. Advisors should understand the natural behavior of clients in an event of any loss”, says Rajesh Chheda of Finance Factory.

Advisors say that informed clients are always better. Thus, it is always important to keep your clients updated.

To avoid disputes in the future, advisors should diligently document every advice rendered to clients. Nisreen Mamaji of Moneyworks Financial Advisors says, “Documenting every communication helps. It will safeguard advisors if clients decide to take any legal action against them.”

However, Nisreen Mamaji says that advisors should try their best to retain clients, “Asking clients to leave should be the last option. It is best not to onboard them in the first place. Advisors should try to understand their clients well before onboarding them. However, dealing with difficult clients is a good learning opportunity for advisors.”

However, some advisors caution that one should not spend too much time with clients who do not generate much revenue for their business. Time is the biggest asset in financial advisory business, they say. “Time spent on a particular client and the revenue generated should be in sync,” points out Nikhil. 

It may not be possible for advisors to get along with all clients. Some clients can be over demanding and have unrealistic expectations. In such cases, advisors can part ways with such clients. “Advisors need to be honest to themselves and to the clients. It is just not worthwhile holding onto something that isn’t working,” says Rajesh.

Suresh Sadagopan of Ladder7 Financial Advisories agrees “There are some clients who do not trust advisors and question their credibility. Advisors have no choice but to show them the door. Advisors should always work with clients who are aligned to advisors business philosophy.”

Summing up

·         Under promise and over deliver

·         Educate clients on what they have invested in

·         Update clients and alert clients before things turn bad

·         Reach out to clients who suffered loss before they approach you

·         Present similar case studies of past event.

·         Keep records of conversation

http://www.cafemutual.com/News/How-to-deal-with-difficult-clients~237~Cli~BusinessDevelopment~62

Dear All,

Please find below a good article from yahoo finance on behavioural finance for your reading:

4 ways to trick your brain and build your wealth

Sadly, our brains aren't wired to make us rich. Thanks to evolutionary quirks in how we view the world and make decisions, behavioral economists tell us we often do exactly the wrong thing when it comes to money and accruing long-term wealth (such as with our savings accounts, our retirement accounts and sticking with budgets).

Don’t despair, though. There are plenty of ways to either short-circuit our mental foibles or even use them to our advantage so we can still come out rich. Here are four mental patterns that make us poorer — and how to overcome them.

Mental Pattern: Hyperbolic Discounting

Simply put, we prefer short-term satisfaction over long-term gain. The farther out the future benefit, the more we discount its value. Is it any wonder so many of us have trouble saving for retirement (or anything else)? 

Overcome It:

1. Make savings automatic so you don’t have to constantly choose saving over spending. You make the decision once and it’s done.

2. Visualize your goals. Put a picture on the fridge of the vacation home you want to buy or the activities you want to pursue in retirement to make your goal more real and thus harder to discount.

 Mental Pattern: Mental Accounting

We tend to value, and treat, sums of money differently depending on where the money comes from and where it’s kept. This is why, for example, many people spend more when they use credit cards than when they use cash. Because of mental accounting, money spent on cards doesn’t seem as “real” as cash they hold in their hand. The obvious solution? Use cash! 

Overcome It:

1. Use savings sub-accounts to save for specific goals. Most online banks allow you to set up multiple savings accounts, each labeled for a different purpose, for free. You’ll probably think harder about dipping into a savings account labeled “Hawaii vacation” than you might if it were just labeled “savings.”

2. Save every $5 or $10 bill you get. This tip drives rationalists nuts, since it’s such a random way to save. But that’s why it works. It takes advantage of mental accounting, plus there’s an element of gambling that makes it fun, since you typically don’t know when your targeted bill will show up in your wallet.

3. Use non-retirement savings to pay off credit card debt. Bite the bullet since it’s irrational to keep savings earning less than 1 percent while your credit card debt is costing you 15 percent or more.

 Mental Pattern: Status Quo Bias

Two British researchers described this quirk as “an exaggerated preference for the status quo,” because it requires “less mental effort than considering a proactive course of action.” In other words, we’re lazy. We’ll stick with what we have rather than bestir ourselves to consider the alternatives. 

Overcome It:

1. Sign up for automatic increases.Many employers now boost workers’ 401(k) contributions 1 percent or so each year. Sometimes it’s the default option, while other times you have to sign up. If your employer won’t do it automatically, steel yourself to visit Human Resources once a year to boost it yourself. (Mark it on your calendar to increase the odds you’ll actually do it.)

2. Use target date retirement funds. These funds choose your asset allocation and regularly rebalance your investments — important tasks you should be doing but likely aren’t, because of your lazy brain.

3. Beware free trials. Marketers know that if you’re offered a trial subscription, you’re unlikely to cancel before the true cost kicks in. Don’t tell yourself you’ll remember to take action, because your status-quo-loving mind will make you forget.

Mental Pattern: Loss Aversion

We hate losing roughly twice as much as we love gaining. People who don’t understand this peculiarity often don’t invest enough in stocks because they’re far more worried about potential losses than they are the larger potential gains. What to do? 

Overcome It:

1. Limit your exposure to stock market noise. Don’t obsessively check your portfolio; once a quarter, or even once a year, is enough. What matters is not what’s happening now, but what will happen over your decades-long investment horizon (which is a big gain over time).

2. Dump your losers. People often resist selling a stock at a loss, or getting rid of their clutter in a garage sale, because such actions make real the fact that the money they spent is gone. Well, it’s gone regardless, and getting rid of your losers may free up money for more productive purposes.

Liz Weston is an award-winning journalist and author of several money books, including the best-selling “Your Credit Score.” She writes about personal finance at her site AskLizWeston. You can like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-ways-trick-brain-build-040000096.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory

How to increase the quality of referrals?

Dear All,

Please find below a good article as appeared in CafeMutual for your reading:

How to increase the quality of referrals?

A research note on ‘Referral-Generating Techniques of Top Financial Advisors’ published by US based AIG Advisor Group gives interesting insights on how advisors can improve the quality of referrals.

Many financial advisors believe that the more referrals they get, the more successful they will be with referral marketing.

Referral success is driven by quality far more than quantity. It may help to understand that there are three ways to evaluate referral quality:

1. The quality of people to whom you are referred.

2. The quality of the referral message in influencing the prospect.

3. The quality of your first meeting(s) with the referred prospect.

For example, suppose a client calls you and say: “We had a cookout with our neighbors last week. You don’t know them. But when they asked whom we use for financial advice, I gave them your name. They may call you to discuss a situation they are facing.”

What is the first thing you should say in response? Of course, the answer is: “I greatly appreciate it. It means a lot to me.”

But then what? If you had three questions to ask the referral source, what would they be? Many advisors would like to know: 1) how much money the prospects earn; 2) the approximate value of assets they own; and 3) what financial products or services they need.

These are nice to know, but they aren’t easy to find out. In any case, they aren’t the most important things to ask referrers for purposes of evaluating the quality of referrals.

If you’ve paid close attention, you know what those questions are. They are among the most natural follow-up questions you can ask, very low in pressure:

1. How well do you (the referrer) know them?

2. Whom do they know? Are they well connected? To whom or what (mutual friends, center of influence, net­works)?

3. Are they well respected and influential in any network? (Are they COIs?)

Notice that these questions don’t sound nosy or pry into what type of “situation” the neighbors may be facing. If you are carefully targeting the prospects you want to reach, your first assump­tion about any unknown referral should be that this entity is more likely to help connect you to a target prospect than to be a target prospects.

It generally works well to begin qualifying any referral by focusing on social relationships and connections between people. It’s a great way to acknowledge that the referral is important with­out getting into complex details or confidential personal information. After all, our social relation­ships and connections are pretty public!

How to increase referral quality 

In the “perfect referral,” the referrer introduces you to a room full of target prospects and has great influence with each one. For each prospect, the referrer provides a powerful testimonial stat­ing that you are the greatest financial advisor on earth.

Of course, this usually isn’t reality. But what can you do to increase the quality of referrals?

Clearly, a low-quality referral is one in which the referrer says: “I know Joe (the referred person) a little and he might talk to you. But if you call him, don’t use my name.” It’s better to be given per­mission to mention the referrer’s name. It’s better yet if the referrer will call, write or e-mail to intro­duce you. But how can you make this happen?

Ask the referrer two questions:

> How do you and the person you are referring normally communicate? (In person at work, in person outside work, by e-mail, by letter or phone.)

> When do you expect to communicate with this person again?

Referrers often will see where you are going and volunteer to help you make the connection. If not, explain: “The reason I ask is that I would greatly appreciate it if you could introduce me in your own way and words. Nothing I could say about myself would mean as much as what you say from experience and your heart.”

The best introduction a client can give about a financial advisor usually doesn’t focus on technical skills or product knowledge. It focuses on human qualities like honesty, integrity, caring, listening and communicating. No business card or marketing brochure can be more powerful in this regard than a simple letter, verbal message or e-mail from the referrer, explaining why a relationship with you has been rewarding.

It is the client’s words to the referral that matter most, and you will earn these words with superior client service, high levels of satisfaction, and the appreciation shown for each referral. You can’t greatly influence these words “in the moment” and shouldn’t try.

Advisor Group is one of the largest independent broker-dealer networks and a division of AIG Financial Distributors.

Warren Buffett Tells You How to Handle a Market Crash

Dear All,

Please find below a good article on what Warren Buffett Tells you how to handle a market crash thanks Mr. Qamar Mirza of Hyderabad:

Warren Buffett Tells You How to Handle a Market Crash

Are you starting to panic? Heed the advice of the Oracle of Omaha.

Warren Buffett has never been shy about packing lessons for successful investing into his annual letter to shareholders. That letter is a treasure-trove of insight, presented in a folksy manner that is not only easy to read but incredibly entertaining.

With the market tumbling we’re all likely in need of a few doses of Warren’s unpretentious advice, so I dug through his past shareholder letters to find some gems that may help us navigate the current market drop and build a bigger nest egg for retirement.

1. “It’s better to have a partial interest in the Hope diamond than to own all of a rhinestone,” wrote Buffett in 2013.

Buffett is always hunting for great companies that he can buy for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, but if he can’t buy the whole company, he’s OK with owning a smaller piece of it instead. Applying this advice to our own investments means spending less time considering how many shares of a company we can buy and more time figuring out where we believe the company will be in ten years. Doing that will help us avoid the pitfall of foregoing investments in great companies like Amazon AMZN -0.759% ) or Priceline  PCLN 0.7901%  when they’re on sale to buy lower quality companies with smaller share prices.

2. “A ‘normal year,’ of course, is not something that either Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire and my partner, or I can define with anything like precision,” wrote Buffet in 2010.

Sure, the average annual return for the S&P 500 has been 8.14% over the past decade, but assuming that will be our return this year, next year, or any year is folly. Returns are volatile and will continue to be volatile, so we should focus less on the returns for any one period of time and instead focus on buying great companies and socking them away. Consider this point: While the S&P 500 has experienced plenty of fits-and-starts over the past 10 years, those who have owned it all along are up 103%.

3. “Long ago, Charlie laid out his strongest ambition: ‘All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there,'” wrote Buffett in 2009.

Buffett avoids businesses whose future he can’t evaluate. Instead, he focuses on finding businesses that offer a predictable profit for decades to come. Taking the long-haul approach to finding great companies goes far beyond identifying the next big thing — after all, during the Internet boom there were plenty of Internet companies that soared on expectations rather than profit, and many of those companies have since gone bankrupt. Instead, we should be investing in companies we can understand that are likely to remain winners.

4. “We will never become dependent on the kindness of strangers. Too-big-to-fail is not a fallback,” wrote Buffett in 2009.

Warren’s cash stockpile is a thing of legend, and while that cash hoard holds back his returns in periods of growth, it also protects him when markets turn sour. Importantly, it also gives him the financial flexibility to take action and buy when prices are right. That plan-ahead mentality is something every investor can embrace by making sure there’s always some dry-powder around to deploy during the market’s inevitable declines.

5. “We would rather suffer the visible costs of a few bad decisions than incur the many invisible costs that come from decisions made too slowly — or not at all — because of a stifling bureaucracy,” wrote Buffett in 2009.

Buffett doesn’t hesitant when he’s presented with an idea that hits the mark. He recognizes that he won’t be right every time, but he also believes that taking action is critical to realizing the potential of an opportunity. As investors, we can emulate Buffett’s approach by making sure that once we’ve done our due diligence and picked our favorite investments we take action and buy, regardless of the market’s short-term machinations.

6. “Unlike many business buyers, Berkshire has no ‘exit strategy.’ We buy to keep. We do, though, have an entrance strategy, looking for businesses in this country or abroad…available at a price that will produce a reasonable return. If you have a business that fits, give me a call. Like a hopeful teenage girl, I’ll be waiting by the phone,” wrote Buffett in 2005.

Buffett keeps strictly to his investment discipline, but he also keeps an open mind to great ideas that fit into his strategy. Those ideas can come from various places. His acquisition of Clayton Homes, for example, was sparked by an autobiography of Clayton’s founder Jim Clayton which had been given to him as a gift by some University of Tennessee students. Keeping open to opportunities, regardless of their origin, may help us find worthwhile investments for the long term, too.

7. “Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies. And if they insist on trying to time their participation in equities, they should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful,” wrote Buffett in 2004.

Buffett knows that emotion is a dangerous weapon that, if used incorrectly, can result in significant loss — and, if used correctly, can result in significant gain. Emotional reactions to surging or descending markets can make people buy when they should sell and sell when they should buy. Buffett often compares taking advantage of market slides to shopping for groceries. Last week on CNBC he summed it up by saying, “If you’re buying groceries, you like it when prices go down next week. And you like it if they go down further the next week.” Just as we like getting a good deal on the items at the grocery store we would be buying anyway, we should also be fans of getting a good deal on our favorite companies.

Following in Buffett’s footsteps

Buffett has no idea whether he’ll outperform the S&P 500 over the next year, but he does know that Berkshire Hathaway’s book value has grown a compounded annual 19.7% over the past 49 years. Similarly, we don’t know if our investments will outperform the market daily, weekly, or yearly, either. What we can feel pretty good about is the knowledge that investing in great companies like Coca Cola  KO -0.9395%  and Wells Fargo WFC -2.007%  — two companies that are long-standing Buffett holdings — may help put us on a path to a less-worrisome retirement.

regards

4 client interactions that showcase investor connect Team Omega, Omega Financial, Bhilai

Dear All,

Please find below a very good article that has appeared in Wealth-Forum e-zine Master Mind: Advisor Insight series for your reading:

4 client interactions that showcase investor connect

Team Omega, Omega Financial, Bhilai

MasterMind is a joint initiative between Sundaram Mutual and Wealth Forum, in which we offer insights into how you can become a more effective advisor to your clients, by understanding them better, understanding how they think, understanding how they take financial decisions. This gateway into your clients' minds we believe will help you relate better to them, communicate more effectively with them and thus serve them better. Mastering your client's mind is your gateway to becoming a more successful advisor. Its not for nothing that they say, "Its all in the mind!" In this article of the Advisor Insights series within MasterMind, Ziauddin Khan and his partners at Omega Financial, Bhilai, share 4 incidents of client interactions which showcase what MasterMind is all about - communicating with clients in a manner they can relate to - and thus helping them take appropriate decisions. Selling an equity fund to a businessman Businessmen are normally very difficult prospects for equity funds. One such businessman client of ours raised an objection that most advisors would have come across : "Why should I invest in equity funds? My business gives me 20% plus return". Rather than discussing the merits of an equity fund, we decided to take a different approach. We asked him, "Sir, would you be interested in investing in the business of a company that has generated 30% plus growth in profits every year for the last 10 years?" That got him interested. We continued, "And sir, this company is run by one of the best managements in the country". He was now quite interested. We went on to tell him that the name of this company is HDFC Bank. Then, in a similar manner, we spelt out the profit growth track record and management qualities of HUL and ITC. By now, he was fully engaged in the conversation. Then we went on to describe that we can either buy each of these companies in a portfolio for him and track them separately or we can recommend a large cap equity fund that invests only in the top 50 companies of the country, with sound track records of profit growth, backed by high quality managements. We got him convinced to buy a large cap fund, because he now appreciated the quality of businesses he was buying into. Our learning was that a businessman understands businesses - not equity markets. If we talk about underlying businesses, there is far better chance of such investors relating to an equity fund. Selling an equity fund to an FD investor We got chatting one day with a prospect who only invested in fixed deposits, and that too only SBI. He considered everything else too risky. At the outset of the meeting itself, we figured out that there is no easy way to get this person convinced about equity funds. We kept aside our sales pitch and started talking about his son, who was due to complete his engineering degree later in the same year. He was obviously proud of his son's academic progress. We asked him what his son planned to do after graduation. We asked him, "Sir, if your son gets a job at L&T, will you send him?" "Why not", he replied, "L&T is a great company". Then we simply asked him, "Sir, if you don't want to risk your money on L&T, why are you risking your son's career in the same company?" He understood immediately. Then we started explaining the track records of growth in profits of India's best companies and the qualities of their managements. Today, this client not only has invested in equity funds through us, but is a great source of referrals for us, as he unhesitatingly recommends us to his friends. Charging Fees A prospect was ready to start using our advisory services, but was not agreeable to paying us our fees. He said, "I get doorstep service from other distributors, they don't charge fees. Why should I pay you a fee?" We narrated a story from the 1984 film Aaj Ki Awaaz. In the film, Raj Babbar is an accomplished mechanic, and the son of a very poor man. A businessman's factory machine stopped working and all his engineers could not set it right. The poor man offered the services of his son. The businessman was skeptical, but went ahead as he had no other options. Raj Babbar inspected the machine quietly for a few minutes, then picked up a hammer and hit one spot only once. The machine started working again. The businessman was overjoyed. But, when Raj Babbar asked for a 100 rupee fee (which in those days was a lot of money), the businessman baulked at the amount. Why pay so much just for striking a hammer once? Raj Babbar explained that it was not the act of striking the hammer once which justified the fee, it was knowing where to strike it that made the difference. In much the same way, we told this prospect that we don't charge fees for service and for door-delivery of forms and statements. Our fee is for advice. At the end of the day, while service is important, our core function is to help you reach your financial goals and that is where our advice comes in. Reaching financial goals happens with good quality advice, not with door delivery of account statements and forms. He understood and agreed to commence business with us, and pay us our fees. Connecting with women investors Our insights on connecting with women investors came from an unfortunate incident in the life of one of our clients. We got a call from a lady who sounded very anxious. Her husband had died 5 years ago and she had been running from pillar to post to track down all his investments. Several people had offered to do this in the past, she had paid fees to many of them, but she was still clueless and unable to make a comprehensive list and encash all these investments. We promised to help and we told her we will not charge anything for this. It took us a lot of time, but we finally managed to painstakingly put the entire portfolio together. There were numerous unclaimed dividends, unclaimed maturities, unclaimed policies. We went through all the paper work and got her all the money that was due to her. This experience gave us insights into the 2 basic issues that many wives face as far as family investments are concerned, especially when it is the male member who takes all financial decisions : Non-disclosure of all investments and insurance policies by husband to the wife Lack of awareness among many wives about products and processes With the support of HDFC AMC and DSP Blackrock, we began our Women Investor Awareness Programs. We invited only women - no males were permitted. Our first session saw 138 women participating. It was a unique experience to see husbands coming to the hotel lobby to drop their wives for the session and then waiting in the lobby for their wives to come out after the session. The session was a great hit - we only spoke about essentials of products and processes that women needed to be aware of. We urged them to get more involved in understanding their family portfolios. We urged them to familiarize themselves with managing the paperwork independently. This was so well received by them, that we got demands for many more sessions on a number of allied topics. This has become a regular initiative for us now - one that empowers women by communicating what they need to know and one that is giving us good new business leads as well. http://www.wealthforumezine.net/MMAdvisorInsights041014.html#.VECmKGeSz-s

ear All,

Please see below an interesting read as appeared in NDTV about a Diamond Merchant from Surat who recently gave away cars, houses & jewellery to his employees as bonus:

Am A School Dropout, Says Diamond Merchant Everyone's Talking about

SURAT:  A diamond merchant in Gujarat has gifted over 1,000 employees cars, homes and jewelry as Diwali bonus in a stunning act of generosity, Oprah-style. Savjibhai Dholakiya says his workers deserve big rewards for their hard work and loyalty.

Here are highlights of his interview with NDTV's Ravish: 

This is God's blessing that I have come this far from zero. I had nothing.This is God's gift.

I have experienced it in my life that I will not have less if I give.  

It is the law of nature. When I sow one seed, I'll have hundred.

These are my employees. They will not let me suffer losses.

So we thought that we should have a loyalty programme. In 1991 when we started the company, our exports were worth Rs. 1 crore, now it's close to Rs. 6000 Crore. 

Our employees are responsible for this growth.

We analysed the work done by these 1200 people and realised that they had a major role in taking us forward.

People should hear about these 1200 people and be inspired. Everyone should feel responsible for their own work. People have skills but they need motivation.

We had our own method of choosing people. My son has done an MBA from New York and has been working with me for 6 years. 

Everyone got together and analysed who are the people responsible for our growth. We know who has added what value to the company.

What we have given them is nothing compared to the effort put in by these people.

You are speaking to a person who has had little formal education but I read everyday, learn everyday. I inspire myself, motivate myself.

I have studied till the 4th Grade. I dropped out of school when I was 12 and joined the diamond industry.

The employees who I gave gifts to - I did their kind of work in Surat for 10 years with my brothers.

All four brothers put together will not make a graduate. My youngest brother is the most educated - he made it to the 10th Grade.

(Q: Are you a Communist?) I don't understand what 'communist' means. Is there a Gujarati word for it? I have learnt whatever little Hindi I know speaking to people like you.

In the next five years, you'll see how this impacts the diamond industry. 

We had decided on a budget of Rs. 50 crore.

I wanted to give cars to everyone but then we found out that about 200 employees don't have their own houses. 

Then we found out that there were 500 people who had both houses and cars. So we then thought we should give them jewelery for their wives. 

Wives support the workers who work here. We do not give priority to wives in Gujarat so we thought this should be our priority.

I am happy that you've highlighted this effort. I did not expect it. 

I think people will be inspired by this move. Even in your industry, the mindsets will change and you'll have higher salaries. 

I'm a very ordinary man and you've made me very big.

This stadium belongs to our factory because I saw Ganguly play cricket in London.

My workers play cricket and I sit in the pavilion and watch them.

We have a gym, a steam-sauna facility. We have other sports facilities where managers and workers play volleyball together. 

Whether the government gives us an exemption in taxes or not doesn't matter. Paying your taxes will not kill you. These 1200 people have contributed over Rs. 10 Crore to taxes.  

I have decided to call diamond-cutters 'diamond engineers' because they may not be educated but they work better than engineers. And we want to call the workers who polish diamonds 'diamond artists'. 

These people earn Rs. 70-80,000 a work. They're people who earn by their talent and skill.

I have workers from 21 states in India and 361 villages. Everyone's parents know me because I take them on pilgrimages to Haridwar. We're indebted to their parents too.

I'm in what is called 'social business'. 

When you give money to someone, the responsibility of the person who takes that money increases.

I am a businessmen. I want more therefore I'm paying more. I'm not doing anyone a favour.

I have with three others have bought a plane to start charter service for Surat. The idea is to give a service not profit. But you see in the next five years this too will be profitable.

I'm trying to show businessmen what they can do. I'm also telling all workers to work hard like my workers do so that your bosses are compelled to act...

No one from the Surat diamond industry has told me what I'm doing is wrong... I am a trader - I give first and then I take... some people do it the other way round. 

By God's grace, none of the 28 members in the family go against what I say. My wife or brothers  have never disagreed with what I do. 

I had given three Maruti cars as gifts 18 years ago. They cost Rs.52,000 each and I had no money them.

We have never sacked people but there are 2 or 3 per cent people who sometimes do not fit our criteria - but some of them get training and come back and we hire them again. 

I train my workers - they do not chew tobacco, they respect their parents...

My factory is not  to make diamonds, it makes men. (Meri factory heerey bananey ki nahi hain, manav bananey ki hai)

regards