Wish you all Happy New Year 2011

I wish you all a wonderful and Happy New Year
It has been long since I did post, yet I hope I can manage enough time this year to post regularly the interesting developments from Germany.

Being a Green Courier!

Social Networks have truly revolutionized the web. We do feel lifeless and listless without these social networks where we are virtually networked with many of our friends and family and also networked with virtual friends. Every day we do hear about some or the other new social network. Well, some social networks are unique, yet most of them are just copies of many others.

Off all these, one social network, I would like to highlight which is quite unique, innovative, practical and quite helpful in day-to-day life. It is CHAKKR, a network of travellers, claiming to be a new Green Courier Revolution. Indeed it is. Chakkr concept is not new to many of us. How many times have we not posted in innumerable community forums, asking anyone among us is travelling to India or somewhere else and can carry or bring some letter or a packet which is quite important and urgent for us. How many times have we not asked our friends to who is travelling to India or coming from India to Germany to carry or bring our packets. Well, in India, how many times have we not asked the Bus drivers travelling from Bangalore to Hyderabad to carry an urgent letter. Indeed Chakkr innovatively integrates all these and provide us a common platform.

How to become a Chakkr?

Becoming a Chakkr is quite simple, just logging into www.chakkr.com and register yourselves and start using it by being a courier or seek a courier.

Why Chakkr?

- SEND/GET A PACKET: If you have a packet or an important letter to send it to India from Germany, you make a “Seeking a Courier” request asking if anybody is travelling to India with a brief description of your courier need. If anyone of other chakkrs is travelling, then they shall contact you directly or you can contact any of the chakkrs who has made “courier available” requests.

- TAKE/BRING  A PACKET: If you are travelling to India from Germany, you can make a “Courier Available” request with the description of your travel. Well, anyone who is seeking courier shall contact you and come to terms with you and you can agree upon taking or bringing their packets.

- SHOPPING USING TRAVELLERS: You love chocolates from Swiss or wine from France, Cuckoo Clocks from Black Forest, just check out Chakkr if anyone from Swiss or France or Germany travelling to your home country and buy your favorites for you and bring it to you so that you can pay them later.

How else can Chakkr Helps?

- Adds some more buddies to your virtual friends’ list.

- Well, Chakkr does help you earn some bucks too, Chakkr allows you to quote a small price for your service, ofcourse totally dependant on individual’s discretion.

- For those who commute daily between cities for work or for business, does really help earn some extra bucks to pay off may be their travelling expenses.

How reliable is Chakkr?

Can we really trust those who wanted to deliver our needs? Chakkr provides a mutual agreement of trust between the two parties who come to terms to deliver each other’s needs and services. I have been using Chakkr for quite a while now, and Indeed it is quite reliable as for example if you want to send some important letter to India, you usually find the potential courier for yourselves and you either meet this person or talk to this person before you hand-over your letter. If you don't have confidence in a certain potential courier, you can always go for other potential couriers.

Definitely Chakkr is quite practical and helpful for everyone. Just give a try and lemme know your experiences.
www.chakkr.com

Why Keukenhof is famous among Indians?

Keukenhof, the famous Tulip Garden in Holland are everyone’s favorites. Offlate one of my German colleagues has visited Keukenhof Tulip Gardens and was surprised that every 3rd or 4th visitor is Indian and when he came back and asked me why?
Well, here is the answer:
  
 Truly speaking, my colleague was absolutely right. The bus we took from Düsseldorf itself was occupied by as many as 35 Indians of 50 seats though. And once we reached there, well, leaps and bounds of Indians. I felt very happy as I felt more like I was in India than in Holland. But I was really wondering, why it is very popular among Indians?

I do feel, we Indians are inherent flower lovers, aren’t we? what say? What do you think?

By the way, I tried some creativity in taking pictures at Keukenhof. Creativity gone wrong or not?

Nothing can be so beautiful

Seems like volcanic ash has totally cleared off the skies in Europe as surprisingly we had a very clear and warm weekend. Spring has already set its eye in Germany for a while now after a long chilly winter, yet for all the time it was never a Spring climate thou. Despite, trees have turned green and flowers started blooming. I really love the Summer out here, it is quite colourful not only the nature but also people. Everybody seems to be so colourful, so happy and they all look just different people than to what they are in other seasons in Germany. Truly weather does play a greater role on the personalities of the people.

This weekend was quite warm out here, should say the first warm days of the Summer of this year. We did not miss the chance to hang out thou. We had been to Düsseldorf Benrath, a part of Düsseldorf city famous for its Schloß Benrath (Benrath Palace). Besides Castle, it has the most beautiful Gardens of Düsseldorf. The pink-colored Palace is beautified with a high fountain in the facade and amazingly beautiful Garden surrounding the Palace.

You might have guessed right, the Palace Garden is a heaven for nature lovers. I was totally lost admiring its beauty and trying every bit to capture it on my small camera.
Don’t you see glimpses of a “Photographer” in making? :-). Lovely aren’t they?
More info on Schloß Benrath at:
 http://www.schloss-benrath.de/en/portal_stiftung/bootportal.asp

Lost in Translation

Sometimes you think you may know everything, yet you end up in total mess you might have ever imagined. This is what has happened to us offlate. My hubby is a Consultant and he used to work for different clients in different cities. I used “used to” as now he is very choosy with his clients after we got married and started living together in Germany. Now we do live in Düsseldorf, and fortunately enough, he just works for clients in and around here, well, he does not mind traveling an hour or so thou as he is doing as of now.

So, in one of his past assignments, he had to work for a client in Oberhausen while he was living in Bremen. Therefore, he did just register himself in Oberhausen for Second – House (Zweitwohnung Haushalt) and he had a First – House (Hauptwohnung) in Bremen from May 2006 – February 2007.

The reason for keeping the house in Bremen was he used to quite often travel back to Bremen and one of his friends advised him to do so to save some bucks from tax returns. That was a good idea thou. Usually the great and the most German tax system allows you to have two houses one as your First-house and the other as second-house (the place of work, if it is not in the same city as you live). You can claim for the Daily-allowances for the first three months. You can claim for the traveling expenses to and fro from your First – House (Hauptwohnung) to Second-House (Nebenwohnung/Zweitwohnung). You can claim rent and maintenance costs of your Second-House. You can claim for the furnishing costs (Enrichtungkosten) for your Second-House. Well, not everything, yet most of it. Then why to miss it, and that’s what exactly my hubby did too. Ofcourse this all happened before our marriage.

Then in the beginning of 2007, he came to know he will have longer assignments with the same client he was working for. So then he decided to move permanently to Oberhausen and then by the end of February 2007, he gave up his apartment in Bremen and moved permanently to Oberhausen. He then went to Oberhausen Meldebehörde (House registration office) to change his registration status in Oberhausen from Second-House to the only Main-House, which he explained to the “typical Governmental Official”, who denied speaking in English, in the broken German he knew then. The Official has totally misunderstood him or did my husband, the ultimate “Lost in Translation” in making ……

He received a letter from Bremen Finance Office (Finanzamt) last year June, that he is still officially registered for second-house in Bremen. Well, that was a shock to him and then he realized the great misunderstanding and the possible “Lost in Translation”. Then he dropped them a letter that it was a mistake and actually he did not have any residence and address in Bremen during that period.

Well, we thought that was the end of it, as we have not heard anything from them until last week at our Düsseldorf address, when directly got a letter from my hubby’s bank that his account has been blocked by Finance Office, Bremen. Well, then he called his bank’s customer care only to know that Bremen’s Finance Office has suspended my accounts activity and bank has no right to free it until they get further notice from the Finance Office. He was told that only Finance Offices in Germany has the authority to suspend one’s bank accounts and block any further activity. This is called “Account Seizure” (Kontopfändung) in Financial Office. Thankfully the customer care agent was quite friendly which is very unusual thou and provided enough information about whom we should contact.

Thankfully, we have one more account, so things were not so bad thou. We have contacted the Finance Office authorities the next day and explained them the situation. Well, now my hubby manages to speak good German thou. After some 10 – 15  calls here and there to different officials in Bremen, atlast they agreed to free his account without having to pay anything.

The main reason for Account Seizure was there is something much debated “Zweitwohnsitzsteuer” or “ZWS” (Second House Tax). Well, not every City in Germany do have this kind of tax. Please find the list of cities which have ZWS at ZWS Cities. Since my hubby was unknowingly registered in Bremen as Zweitwohnsitz, he was entitled for this ZWS. So Bremen Finance Office waited for my hubby to make the ZWS declaration by himself. Since he was totally unaware that he was registered and he had the least knowledge about something called ZWS existing, he did not make any ZWS declarations. Then Finance Office, Bremen waited for a certain period, then they started sending notices to our address in Oberhausen, which we have vacated last year. But strange and unfortunately, the notices were sent from the beginning of this year. We had a mail forwarding service (Deutsche Post Nachsendeservice) till the beginning of this year. So we missed the mails. Neither the mails were sent back to Finance Office, Bremen, for unknown reasons or sheer irresponsibility of the Deutsche Post. Well, when shits has to happen, it will in all means.

Thankfully everything was sorted out without any penny being shelved out of our pockets, yet lot of stress thou. I advise all of you who are living in Germany to put a thought over this and re-check this ZWS as many of us are totally ignorant towards this.

For more details on ZWS, follow this link: http://www.zweitwohnsitzsteuer.de/

I appreciate to share your experiences if any in the comments.

Cuckoo Clocks of Black Forest

I remember Cuckoo Clocks from my childhood when one of my uncles who works abroad at that time has installed one at his residence in India. As a kid, I never cared, how it works, only thing that enthused me was a wooden bird coming out of it every hour to make the sounds resembling a Cuckoo. Whenever I visit their house, I used to wait for this pleasing Cuckoo Hums.

Cuckoo clocks always have fascinated me a lot, and well, and after living in the country, Germany where the first modern cuckoo clocks have been made, I cannot stop my anxiety to get hold of one. Well, I am waiting to visit the Black Forest region of Germany, to experience myself to the grandiose of Cuckoo clocks and buy one adorable piece.

Offlate, I have been reading some good lot information about the Cuckoo clocks which I would like to share with you all, so that it can be a handy guide for many of you who would like to buy one or ask someone to get one from here or to gift for someone here.

Cuckoo Clocks, What are they?

Cuckoo clocks are traditionally wooden-carved with the wooden case of the clock decorated with carved leaves and animals. They are weight-driven, that strikes the hours, the sound resembling a cuckoo bird. Most clocks have an automated bird that peeks out through a small door while the clock is striking. The weights are made of cast iron in a “pine cone” shape and the cuckoo sound is created by two tiny pipes in the clock, with bellows attached to their tops. The clock movement activates the bellows to send a puff of air into each pipe alternately when the clock strikes.

Clock Movements

The original Cuckoo clocks from Black Forest have a mechanical clock movements usually classified as 1-Day Movement and 8-Day Movement which are regarded to be the standard clock movements. Quartz Movement Clocks are also available. The 1-Day Clock requires winding every 24 hours and an 8-Day clock requires winding every week. The recommended are mechanical as they are highly durable and reliable.

Clock Designs

Usually there are two most popular designs of Cuckoo Clocks. The “Traditionally Carved” usually represent Railway-House (Bahnhäusle) form with carvings of birds, deer, eagles, leaves and owls. The “Chalet” is a house usually a Black Forest House, Swiss House (Brienz and Emmental) and Bavarian House. Chalet clocks shows very fine details of often a scene from everyday life with handmade and hand laid shingles on the roof. Both the styles are amazing and have their own charm.

Nowadays cuckoo clocks are made in in contemporary decorative styles in different geometric shapes and flamboyant colors.

Melody and Music

In addition to Cuckoo sound, some clocks play music. Usually two different melodies are played by the clock alternatively and the most popular melodies are “The Happy Wanderer” and “Edelweiss”. Bavarian Chalets showing happy beer drinkers often play the songs “In München steht ein Hofbrauhaus” (There is a Brewery in Munich) and “Trink, Bruderlein Trink” (Drink Brothers Drink). One of the emphasized criteria here is the number of tones which usually varies between 18 and 36. For a better quality of Sound, the higher number of tones are recommended.

Moving Figurines

Many clocks have dancing figurines as a group of dancers or dancing couples usually below the cuckoo bird which dance when the music plays. Some clocks have children figurines, beer drinker figurines, wood choppers etc, which move when the music plays. Moving figurines are hand-made and hand-painted and they add the German flavor to the clocks, yet increases the price of the clocks too :-)

Night Shut-Off

Not all Cuckoo clocks are Night Shut-Off, therefore prefer to buy an automatic night shut-off cuckoo clocks as per your convenience though.

Manufacturers

It is advised to buy a Cuckoo clock from much renowned Original Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks Manufacturers to name a few, Adolf Herr, Rombach und Hass, Robert Herr, Hönes, Hübert Herr, Anton Schneider, Hekas, Harzer, Lötscher, August Schwer.

Just a few tips for your Cuckoo Clock shopping. Definitely, I shall post some pictures of the cuckoo clock I bought once I get a hand on it. I just can’t wait to get one.

If anybody has got more tips and suggestions, please leave in comments.

You can also order online at http://www.cuckoo-clock.com/

Social Security Agreement between India and Germany

Well, I did already in my one of the previous posts (India Pens Social Security Agreements), specified that India signed Social Security Agreement with Germany on October 8, 2008. This agreement is already in force from 1st October 2009 and EPFO India has already updated with the agreement details which I shall be briefing here.

The Social Security Agreement shall protect the interests of all those employees sent from Indian-based companies to their subsidiaries in Germany or those being sent by the German companies to their Indian subsidiaries on short-term contracts of 48 months with the possibility of extension by securing exemption from social security contribution in their host country. Thus these employees will only be subjected to the social security contributions in their home country.

The features and benefits of the Social Security Agreement:

- Detachment: The current agreement covers only the detachment provision which means the exemption from the social security contributions of the host country for the employees sent on posting provided the employee is making compulsory social contributions in the home country.

Eligibility for Detachment:

Indian National Working in Germany

Nature of Employment	Coverage
Short-term Posting by an Indian Employer for a period of less than 48 months	Indian System
Long-term Posting by an Indian Employer for a period of more than 48 months	German System
Indian Employer hiring an Indian employee in Germany	German System
Indian Employer hiring a Non-Indian Employee in Germany	German System

German Resident Working in India

Nature of Employment	Coverage
Short-term Posting by a German Employer for a period of less than 48months	German System
Long-term Posting by a German Employer for a period of more than 48months	Indian System
German Employer hiring an Indian Employee in India	Indian System
German Employer hiring a non-Indian Employee in India	Indian System

Detachment Certificate: Detachment Certificate issued by the home country indicating the details of membership and coverage of the social security system needs to be accrued by the employee or employer on behalf of the employee being posted as a proof of exemption from the social security contributions in the host nation.

Period: The maximum period of detachment certificate is 48 months which shall be extended by 12 more months upon the request.

Eligibility for Detachment Certificate:

- employees who shall be posted to Germany on or after 1st October 2009 should apply for Detachment Certificate.

- those employees who are already posted in Germany or already working in Germany shall apply for Detachment Certificate from 1st October 2009 till the end of detachment.

Accruing Detachment Certificate:

EPFO, India:

Employer and Employee who is being posted to Germany needs to make a joint request to obtain the Detachment Certificate from EPFO (Employee Provident Fund Organisation), India. The application form can be downloaded from here.

The Liaison Agencies in Germany are:

GKV- Spitzenverband  (https://www.gkv-spitzenverband.de/Home.gkvnet)

Deutsche Verbindungsstelle Krankenversicherung – Ausland (DVKA)) 

(http://www.dvka.de/oeffentlicheSeiten/DVKA.htm)

The application for obtaining Detachment Certificate in Germany:

http://www.dvka.de/oeffentlicheSeiten/ArbeitenAusland/Entsendemerkblaetter/Indien/Arbeiten_Indien_Druck.pdf

Please be noted that the social security agreement signed by India with Germany is limited only for Posting. The complete and elaborate social security agreements (Details at Social Security Agreements with Germany) which are more similar to other Contracting Nations is yet to be finalized between the two nations.

This article is an excerpt from http://www.epfindia.com/IntWorkersNew/GermanyGuidelines.pdf

Image Courtesy: http://www.crossed-flag-pins.com/