honestly

PMP Certified!

2011-12-16T11:47:00.004+05:30

The thought of doing my PMP certification crossed my mind for the first time almost a year and half back. But then I was never decisively working on this. Eventually lot of things around me gave me the inspiration to take up this certification. In the month of October 2011 i made the payment, but i took the exam date only in December first week.

Yesterday December 15th was My Exam, which by God's grace was quite easy as compared to some of the mocks that I taken earlierand cleared without much fuss. My preparation included:

Head First PMP
PMBOK 4th Edition
Rita PMP
then various mocks which included O'riely's , Rita's etc.
And ofcourse Rajesh Nair notes (spreadsheet) came in very handy. The last two weeks before my exam i was only referring to these notes and the questions after the chapters in RITA's book.

Overall a good part of the questions were short not having multiple paragraphs which in itself was a soothing factor Psychologically. But there were lots of questions with two very close options . I finished my 200 questions in about 3 hours and 15 mins and then spent about 40 mins of the remaining time reviewing the 40 odd questions i had marked for review.

2011-09-01T12:29:00.007+05:30

Onam 2011 .... Pookalam after a long time ....

Deja Vu

2011-09-01T12:20:00.003+05:30

After a long time tried my hands at pencil skethches, Indu as well joined in.. sharing the same..

Arthapedia

2011-08-30T09:37:00.000+05:30

A portal launched by Indian Economic Service, to demystify some of terms used in the Indian financial market. The portal is still in it’s early stages.

http://arthapedia.in/index.php/Home_Page

Japan's Calamity

2011-03-15T10:22:00.003+05:30

Well 11th March 2011 was a dramatic, rather unfortunate day in the history one of the most self sufficient country in the world. This is when the deadly earth quake stuck the Japanese coastline, which in turn triggered a Tsunami. Well since then you switch on to any International news channel and the only thing you see are the images of destruction.

Yesterday when I was watching one such news item in BBC there was an interesting thing shared by the correspondent. In the video footage they showed people standing outside a super market where in hundreds had queued outside the supermarket and there was this guy from the supermarket who was announcing that they had very limited stocks and one of the waiting consumers told the correspondent that in near by vicinity this is the only super market which has something with itself. Inspite of all these the interesting aspect was that there was no chaos at all. People were patiently standing outside in the sun in the queue in an orderly fashion waiting for their turn to come. Which as rightly mentioned by the reporter was a typical sign of Japanese culture of patience and forgiveness.

Further the reporter went on to say that most of the houses or shops were open since their walls had collapsed and lot of things were lying in the open, but still there was not a single incident of loot that was reported from anywhere. Quite an inspiring culture I must say.

Rumblings from my Job

2011-02-22T12:02:00.001+05:30

Probably this is what an MBA does to you: I mean post my MBA I think I have become a lot more judgmental about people. Each time I meet somebody I try to fit in or her into a certain category. Anyways, my current role/profile has been quite instrumental or helpful in developing this attribute. Mainly because I spend a good amount of my time taking interviews, trying to judge people as best as I could in the shortest available time and also try to resolve different people conflict issues within the team. Not that these are not good things to do, but over the last 2 months I have kind of limited myself to these. Eagerly looking forward to times to come, probably I could get chance to do more challenging things which probably make me stretch my skill set as well.

Nokia E63

2010-02-17T11:32:00.000+05:30

Nokia E63, I bought this phone almost 14 months back and to be honest it’s been quite a phone and I have found lot of its features useul. Its my first business phone and I found it quite useful. Though at times I used to see some issues like screen hanging, slow performance etc and off late automatic restart. Initially I used to think this to be a bug in my own piece and owing to time constraints I didn’t visit Nokia care.

Today the situation has become worse, my phone has hanged completely. The phone switches on but it does not respond to any keypad functions. Now when I conducted an extensive search on the internet I found that all these problems that I was facing are a known bug in E63 L and had been known to Nokia since long. I am completely stumped I am surprised how come a corporate like Nokia not solve this issue in its phone.. or may be it has already solved via some patch which I am yet to find.. will search more.

Never Give up: An inspiring Video

2009-08-09T00:32:00.001+05:30

This ones a real inspiring video which i came across through one f my friends on Facebook.

Update's

2009-08-08T23:45:00.002+05:30

Considering that i didn't post for long there are lotsssssssss... of updates.. Will try to be more regular on this blog so that could post the happenings then and there .. because as u can see it becomes really difficult to put them across in one go.. but anyways sparing a few almost all of the udpates have been a pleasant one..work wise its being a bit challenging, learning but yet pleasant time.

On personal note took couple of days off form office went to mumbai ( that was abt 2 weeks back)had some real nice time with my nephew and niece [miss them after coming to chennai :-(] , made a quick visit to kerala as well as my aunt took ill.. Apart frm that there there is somethings more to add hopefully should be able to post more about the same in coming weeks :-D

Chennai: Food Review..

2009-08-08T23:15:00.004+05:30

This is my first post in almost three months. Current schedule of work is a bit uncompromising hence this irregularity in posting.. :-( But its good to be busy and continue learning specially in these market conditions ;-) ..

Well if u are somebody who know me, then u are aware of my dislikes for this city ;-).. but anyways won't use this post to crib.

Rather this might act as a insight for people who are new to Chennai.. In last 4 months I have eaten out at quite a few restaurants around. But this post I would use to review just three of them, Green Park in Vadapalani, The Residency in T Nagar and Savera in R K Salai. Among these i have went multiple times to Green park. Once opted for buffet and the next time for Al a Carte. This was one of the sumptous buffets i have had in recent times.. specially the deserts section had so much ..hmmmwahh.. :-) . For the al-a-carte it was just about ok.. nothing great..

The Resiency (old) T Nagar was a huge place as in the case of green park, even these people had multiple restaurants, each serving a different cuisine. Here the starters were awesome infact we were almost full by the time we finished all our starters. The main course though was quite disappointing and we had it just for the namesake..

Savera in Cathedral Road/ R K Salai... stood apart from either of the above restaurants because..they had a roof top restaurant.. the fact that this place is close to the beach .. made the roof top restaurant experience worth it. We had a very strong breeze blowing through out. But one disadvantage of this breeze was that, whatever was served became cool pretty quickly. That may be one of the reasons why I didn't like the starters. But the main course and the deserts(one among the better rasmalai's i have ever had in Chennai) were quite good. Another bad observation was the service. Though initially when there weren't many people the service was good, but once the crowd built up, there was absolute no service at times..We ended up asking for a bottle of water to almost 5 waiters before it actually arrived at our table. Having said all this I would say this is one among the very few places in Chennai where you should come, incase you are asking out somebody for a date in Chennai. The roof top experience is simply remarkable.

Price wise i found more or less all three of them to be pretty much on the same scale.. So i guess depending on which part of the 4 course meal you are interested in and with whom you are going out you may pick ur choice!! :-)

United Nations Online Volunterring

2009-05-27T11:40:00.003+05:30

This is an initiative which I didn’t knew off, till some time back. Well incase you have a internet connection and some free time every week then this one’s for you. I myself have known quite a few people who though quite talented but aren’t in a position to travel to far off places and provide their services in a social cause. UN Online Volunteering provides a perfect platform for such people. As using this initiative you can play a very significant role and be a part of some project run by the United Nations Organization.

There is ofcourse a certain satisfaction that quite a few of us draw out of such an activity, but apart from that there are quite a few other benefits as well:

You get certificates from the UN accrediting the work that you have performed and also if lucky you might actually get an opportunity to work with people from different nationalities understand their style of working, which in itself is something very significant to gain.

So incase you as well want to be part of this or want to just browse through the projects/ opportunities in offering then the link to refer to is http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/vol/index.html

Well on my side I have applied for a project, let's see if my resumes gets through.

Any Given Sunday

2009-05-15T11:09:00.002+05:30

This one's based on the cult like craze for American football. An excellent movie specially i would say because of the role played by Al Pacino. You must listen to the pre match motivational talk that Pacino renders during the course of the matches they play. Specially the one before the play off is really awesome. It's the one which probably the corporates should play during their team building sessions.
Loaded with lots of motivational dialogues and some crazy (american) football stunts this is a must watch movie.

IPL

2009-05-08T15:09:00.002+05:30

Well guys.. just a quick one.. for the ones who don't have a TV but a net connection with a decent speed, you can watch the live streaming of IPL matches at IPL's official website.

http://www.iplt20.com/

Enjoi !!

Zoozoos : The Vodafone Creation

2009-05-08T15:00:00.003+05:30

The Zoozoos.. This ones certainly on the verge of becoming among the most watched Videos (much like susan boyle's). This ad campaign with the characters called by its creators as zoozoos was launched by Vodafone during the second season of IPL (2009). The idea was to make vodafone's customer aware about the various Value Added Services offered by the company. Now as a senrior managment official of Vodafone puts across they have an huge customer base which is increasing at a rapid pace, but most of them are not even aware of VAS offered by Vodafone. Say for eg: their phone back up facility was launched two years back. Still most of us don't even know about it ( I am an vodafone customer, i wasn't aware of it).

Now coming back to the zoozoos roughly 22 such ads have been made and intially the plan was to launch one ad on each day of the IPL. But then this has it's own repurcursions, its very well possible that the customers might not be able to imbibe the ads at a pace at which the company's releasing it. So as of now around 7 ads have being released and they have been immensly successfull.

Now there's one more thing about this ad which i never knew untill i read an article. Those zoozoos that you see on the screen they are not animations, infact they are actual human beings, to be more precise they are women and in certain cases children. The reason for this being that zoozoos were designed to have thin arms and legs, with a dispropotionate head. So the zoozoos that u see on the screen are women wearing a costume/mask . The costume/mask is in two parts, one is for the head which is filled with foam to make it look bigger the other is for the remaining part of the boy.

Well, advertising sure is a proffession for the talented ones.

The Outsourced

2009-05-03T22:11:00.000+05:30

The ones who had criticized danny boyle after seeing "Slumdog millionaire",

saying that it shows India's under belly .. well my dear friends then u should surely watch

"Outsourced" guess it was realeased some time in 2006.

I don't know but i feel that this one was equally open in potraying the slums of india.

But honestly when we are open to hear our appreciation for what ever good we have done,we

should be equally honest and open to hear out the darker side of the story.

THough there wasn't anything great in this movie, but somehow i liked it a lot.

It depicted some practical issues and traditions which we follow and the perception

an outsider might have to those.

Pantaloon Femina Ms India World: A Touching Story

2009-04-29T09:33:00.003+05:30

This is an article i came across in TOI the other day. A real motivaing one. Here's the article about Pooja Chopra(Pantaloon Femina Ms India World) :

Neera Chopra( Pooja's Mother) lived through abuse, poverty and some tough choices to make her once-unwanted girl child, Pooja Chopra, the Pantaloons Femina Miss

I don’t know where to begin... they were terrible times. My husband was well-placed, but the marriage had begun to sink almost as soon as it began. Like most women do, I tried to work against all the odds . My in-laws insisted everything would be alright if I had a son. My first child was a daughter, and that didn’t do me any good... but I couldn’t walk out. I had lost my father, my brother was in a not-so-senior position in Bata. I didn’t want to be a burden on my family and continued to live in my marital home in Kolkata.
Also read Pooja Chopra’s Blog I looked after my mother-inlaw, who was suffering from cancer, and while bathing her, I would tell myself she would bless me and put things right. I don’t know how I tolerated it all. The least a man can do, if he must philander, is to not flaunt his women in his wife’s face. Then began the manhandling. I still wanted my marriage to survive. I was a pure vegetarian and learnt to cook non-vegetarian delicacies thinking it would please him. Then, I was pregnant again. When Pooja was eight months in my womb, my husband brought a girl to the house and announced he would marry her. I thought of killing myself. I hung on the slight hope that if the baby was a boy, my marriage could be saved. When Pooja was born a girl, for three days, nobody came to the hospital. There was a squadron leader’s wife on the opposite bed, who was kind enough to give me baby clothes for Pooja to wear. When she was 20 days old, I had to make a choice. I left the house with my girls — Pooja and Shubra, who was seven then. I haven’t seen my husband since. I promised myself, even if we had just one roti, we would share it, but together. I began life in Mumbai with the support of my mother, brother, who was by then married. It wasn’t the ideal situation, especially when he had children — space, money, everything was short. I began work at the Taj Colaba and got my own place. How did I manage? Truth be told, I would put a chatai on the floor, leave two glasses of milk and some food, and bolt the door from outside before going to work. I would leave the key with the neighbours and tell the kids to shout out to them when it was time to leave for school. Their tiny hands would do homework on their own, feed themselves on days that I worked late. My elder daughter Shubhra would make Pooja do her corrections... This is how they grew up. At a birthday party, Pooja would not eat her piece of cake, but pack it and bring it home to share with her sister. When Shubhra started working, she would skip lunch and pack a chicken sandwich that she would slip in her sister’s lunchbox the next day. I used to pray, “God, punish me for my karma, but not my innocent little kids. Please let me provide them the basics.” I used to struggle for shoes, socks, uniforms. I was living in Bangur Nagar, Goregaon. Pooja would walk four bus stops down to the St Thomas Academy. Then, too little to cross the road, she would ask a passerby to help her. I had to save the bus money to be able to put some milk in their bodies. Life began to change when I got a job for Rs 6,000 at the then Goa Penta. Mr Chhabra, the owner, and his wife, were kind enough to provide a loan for me. I sent my daughters to my sister’s house in Pune, with my mother as support. I spent four years working in Goa while I saved to buy a small one-bedroom house in Pune (where the family still lives). I would work 16-18 hours a day, not even taking weekly offs to accumulate leave and visit my daughters three or four times a year. Once I bought my house and found a job in Pune, life began to settle. I worked in Hotel Blue Diamond for a year and then finally joined Mainland China — which changed my life. The consideration of the team and management brought me the stability to bring them up, despite late hours and the travelling a hotelier must do. Shubhra got a job in Hotel Blue Diamond, being the youngest employee there while still in college, and managed to finish her Masters in commerce and her BBM. Today, she is married to a sweet Catholic boy who is in the Merchant Navy and has a sweet daughter. I continue to finish my day job and come home and take tuitions, as I have done for all these years. I also do all my household chores myself. Through the years, Shubhra has been my anchor and Pooja, the rock. Pooja’s tiny hands have wiped away my tears when I broke down. She has stood up for me, when I couldn’t speak for myself. Academically brilliant, she participated in all extra-curricular activities. When she needed high heels to model in, she did odd shows and bought them for herself. When I saw Pooja give her speech on TV, I knew it came from her heart. I could see the twinkle in her eye. And I thought to myself as she won “My God, this is my little girl.” God was trying to tell me something. Today, I’ve no regrets. I believe every cloud has a silver lining. As a mother, I’ve done nothing great. ‘I won due to my mother’s karma’ Pantaloons Femina Miss India Pooja Chopra’s mother promised ‘One day, this girl will make me proud’. Pooja speaks on fulfilling that promise... When I was 20 days old, my mother was asked to make a choice. It was either me — a girl child, or her husband. She chose me. As she walked out she turned around and told her husband, ‘One day, this girl will make me proud’. That day has come. Her husband went on to marry a woman who gave him two sons. Today, as I stand here a Miss India, I don’t even know if my father knows that it is me, his daughter, who has set out to conquer the world, a crown on my head. Our lives have not been easy, least so for my mother. Financially, emotionally, she struggled to stay afloat, to keep her job and yet allow us to be the best that we could be. I was given only one condition when I started modelling — my grades wouldn’t drop. All the girls in the pageant worked hard, but my edge was my mother’s sacrifice, her karma. Today, when people call to congratulate me, it’s not me they pay tribute to, but to her life and her struggle. She’s the true Woman of Substance. She is my light, my mentor, my driving force. My win was merely God’s way of compensating her.

The IPL Extravaganza

2009-04-28T11:41:00.002+05:30

This year the IPL is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Firstly there are immense controversy about the venue and the very sustenance of the tournament was questioned. But then our BCCI stalwart Mr.Modi saw the tournament though the thick and thins and ensured that it happened.

I have hardly been able to follow the match on the television though I guess interests picks once we reach the lateral rounds of the tournament.

Another controversy doing rounds this year is that of the blog called as fake IPL player. Now there has been lots of discussion as to whether he is actually a player with the KKR or is he a attention seeking sports journalist or somebody who might be looking to create some controversy or add spice to the entire event.

Further today I was a bit saddened when I was reading an article in TOI, it was about one of the most prolific batsmen of yester years. One who I believe would have been apt for a event like IPL, its Lance Klusener. Known for his bit hits in the 50 over version today Klusener doesn’t fit in the scheme of things for CSA. The only reason for this.. well he is part of the rebel cricket league ICL. Just a sad example of how politics & power in sports can deprive some genuine talents of their opportunity.

Just for the records

2009-03-21T00:55:00.003+05:30

Well, as i said this one's just for the records :-) Finally I am going to buy new phone tomorrow.. and bid farewell to my old (really old) communicator which now has lots and lots of issues.
The bad thing about me is that I am bit too careless as far as gadgets are concerned, and hence mobile has stayed safe in my hands for more than two years :-( . I hope i could set the record straight with this new one.
And as one could guess my knowledge abt these gadgets as well is not so great.. hence though i have few shortlist but still i don't know which is the one that I might go for.

P.S.: The update is that i bought an Nokia E63

Elections 2009 !!

2009-03-14T11:54:00.002+05:30

The dream of being a prime minister has brought some of the big wigs
of Indian politics together (the Third Front). Everybody remembers how I K Gujral and Deve Gowda had their short but memorable stint at the helm and supposedly that's what is making everybody try their hands. But historically such third front alliances have not been
a success in Indian politics. Before the elections they might show extreme unity but once
the government is formed then there is a tussle at every step, be it the decision on
cabinet ministers or important policy decisions.
Specially in these testing times where on one hand we have disturbed neighbourhood and
on the other we have financial turmoil, I would have loved to see a government which could
be ready to take some decisions on its own rather than doing something which will
be in line with the pol manifesto of all the alliance parties. :-(

Bloggers can be nailed for their views

2009-02-24T13:03:00.005+05:30

Today a news item featured in the TOI which mentioned about the case of a 19 year old blogger against whom a case was filed by a political party. His mistake: he started a group against that party and lots of people posted their hatred filled thoughts under that group. Though this guy had moved the supreme court to quash the criminal proceedings against him, but it didn't work in his favor as the honourable court upheld the proceedings against him.
I am sure this is going to be an debatable event in the blogging community, more so because we Indian's believe it to be our fundamental right to express our thoughts freely and blogging being one of the mediums to do so. Already i could see many sympathizers posting their comments on the TOI website. Whatever be the ulitmate ruling in this case it would be a path breaking one and would surely impact the blogging community in a considerable way.

Polarization Of News

2009-02-23T13:59:00.002+05:30

Its quite surprising to see the extent to which news channels polarize the news depending on the region where this news is read. One of the best examples of this being " Slum dog Millionaire" the most talked about movie in the recent times. Today when Slum dog bagged 8 Oscars out of the 10 nominations it had received, i decided to check on two news websites just to see how they put across this news.

BBC news: Stated the headlines as "British Movie Slum dog Millionaire" sweeps the
Oscars.

On the Other hand IBN Live puts it across as " India based movie " slum dog bags 8 Oscars. Though neither of the news items are wrong as slum dog is an India based movie directed and produced by British citizens, but then the impact that the two news items leaves on the mind of the readers are quite different.

Say for e.g.: an Indian would be more happy to read the IBN live version of the story and for a British BBC's news might sound music to his ears.

Traveogue: Elliot's Beach

2009-02-15T18:37:00.006+05:30

After spending my last weekend in Kerala, this time I decided to explore chennai. Subsequent to a awesome chicken curry that we (me and my room mate) prepared we went to the Beasant Nagar Beach also called as the Elliot's Beach. This is supposed to be among the more cleaner beaches of chennai.

From Porur we got an A/C bus ( one of the few in chennai) quite a comfortable journey to Saidapet with just two stops in between. I wish there were more such buses in chennai. From Saidapet it took us another 20 odd mins to reach Beasant Nagar beach. To my surprise as my friends had told me it was quiet a clean beach. Since we were not carrying any spare clothes we didn't actually venture into the sea, rather enjoyed the cool breeze from the shore. Considering that it was a weekend the place was quite crowded.

To my surprise lots of well known brand’s retail outlets are there around Elliot’s beach. Infact I managed to have my first vada pav in 4 months from a small shop out here, though it didn’t match the taste of a typical Mumbaiya vada pav, but then considering the fact that I was having this vada pav in one of the most conservative cities of southern India gave me immense pleasure.

Out an out it was a nice weekend cooked a delicious meal and visited a nice place, hopefully the subsequent weekends would as well be equally good. By the way the next weekend we are supposed to go to ECR road, for a Go-karting competition .. J

Life @chennai

2009-01-26T18:45:00.004+05:30

Its been precisely a month since I ventured out of my home once again to a new place altogether to start things from scratch. Further retrospection tells me that in the last 10 years I have been to quite a few places like Jabalpur, Kottayam, Palakkad, Mumbai, Pune, Dubai, Singapore and now in Chennai and have stayed at these places for a period varying from 6 months to 4 years. Guess that’s some achievement of sorts ;-) .

Anyways this wasn’t supposed to be a self boosting blog. So coming to the point now I am put up at one of the oldest metro’s of southern India. The last time I came to Chennai was about 14 years back and that was just for couple of days. Since then I have never had any ecstatic feelings about this place, unfortunately then the memories that I took back home was that of long queues of vessels in front of the pump waiting for water to come, petty fights over water and the extremely crowded buses. Infact I used to feel pity for people who used to work in Chennai. Well what can I say what goes around comes around. So here I am in a altogether new place where everything we eat starts with some form of rice and coconut. People speak different languages like Tamil, Tamil and Tamil ;-). The best part are the autowalla’s, their’s nothing called a meter that the auto guys out here make use of. But I must say the auto drivers out here enjoy tremendous unity they are all united as far as stating a fare is concerned, you ask for a 2 km distance and they would add two zeros to that and state a bill of Rs.200 ( a bit exaggerated u see). But believe me this month I have dared to take an auto ( not the share auto) only once and that was the first trip that I took out here.

Having said all these not so good things I would say that my preconceived notions made me expect more bad things in Chennai than I actually did. Things in Chennai are certainly changing but there is a lot too be done on the infrastructure side. Though they have developed an IT park but this place is an panchayat which means although the government gains in terms of taxes and employment but then there is much that they can do, but since supposedly the budget of panchayats are not good enough to undertake major infrastructure projects. So many places along the way I see water clogging which seems to be a very big problem in this vicinity. Public transport is pretty decent infact its much much better than a city like Bangalore, but mostly its crowded.

So out and out I have got very mixed feelings for this city with a bit of an inclination towards the negative side. I believe there are some basic things which the government can do in here which would improve the life of the local people immensely. Well the worst test for me would be during the summers and the rainy season, so keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best

Data Centres - Server Farm

2008-05-23T12:50:00.004+05:30

The importance of datacentres can be understood from the gowing size and number of data centres across the globe.Companies go in for various approaches when they decide to go for a DC. Say for an banking application or applications which need real time information it is very necessary that data should be as close as possible, to make sure of the speed and also to make
it possible for the support staff to rectify the errors if any.This is the reason the computers in corporate data centres were often housed in the firm's basement and dedicated “server farms”.
On the other hand for companies like Microsoft & Yahoo datacentres are mostly used as data storage areas/systems hence for them the prioriy is safety and security rather than the speed as real time use of that data might be less. Hence such companies go in for some really secluded place say for eg: Quincy in the centre of state Washington, about three hours drive from the nearest city.
One of the major reasons for going for such far off locations is the geographical advantage that they possess. Some of these locations close to dams and rivers, there by making sure that ample cheap power is available, as power is required in lumpsome for Datacentres.To have a feel of the quantity of power required by these datacentres, i quote: Microsoft's $500mn facility in Chicago will need three electrical substations with a total capacity of 198 megawatts.
Prempted with above concerns and data centre regulations, companies are now trying to consolidate and simplify their computing infrastructure. Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest computer-maker, for instance, is replacing its 85 data centres across the world with just six in America.

US Slowdown isn't Exactly Bad for Indian IT

2008-04-25T04:10:00.003+05:30

Its a long perceived notion that US recession shall hit the Indian economy specially the IT sector really hard, but then there is a different school of thoughts as well. It says that the recession might not exactly be bad for the Indian IT sector.
A report from Gartner says US economic slowdown will lead buyers of IT services to consider increasing the percentage of their labour in offshore, lower-cost locations. India will remain the dominant location for IT offshore services for North American and European buyers as a result of its scale, quality of resources and strong presence of local and traditional service

With concerns that the US economic slowdown could extend to other geographies, organisations are refocusing on IT cost reduction and taking steps to accelerate the use of offshore labour, Gartner said. Buyers of IT services will shift from cost-containment goals to a greater focus on cost reduction and productivity increases in their sourcing decisions. This will lead to a steady increase in the adoption and expansion of offshore services - primarily from India, but increasingly from other countries as well.

But the flip side of the recession would be that there could be a drastic cut in the IT expenditure of these firms , meaning the indian IT companies might not be able to negotiate for increased charge backs.And with the salaries in the Indian IT companies increasing at a fast pace the IT companies might take a hit !

Petro Dollars & World Economy

2008-02-10T13:14:00.000+05:30

The ever increasing prices of oil has strengthened the hold exercised by petro dollar holders on the world economy.High oil prices are a sort of tax on oil importing nations but they generate windfall revenues for the oil exporting countries specially in the gulf region. In 2006 petro dollars were the single largest source of net global capitalin flow. A major chunk of these revenues are recycled into the global market , making petro dollars a strong player in the market.
Where are these petroldollars used ??

Central Banks
Part of petrodollars end up in the cenral banks ,which invest in foreign assets to stablize foreign currencies against balance of payment fluctuations.

Sovereign Wealth Funds
These are state owned investment funds , used to invest oil surpulses into the global financial markets.

Goverment Investment Corporations
Increasingly, oil exporters channel some of their wealth into smaller, more targeted funds, such as Dubai International Capital (DIC) and Istithmar. These entities invest directly in domestic and foreign corporate assets, shunning the portfolio approach of the sovereign wealth funds.

Goverment Controlled Companies

Fueling Liquidity
In fixed income markets this increased liquidity has significantly lowered the interest rates.
Its estimated that total foreign net purchases of US bonds have brought down long-term rates by about 130 basis points.Taking into account the allocations of GCC investors,it is estimated that each year equity markets receive $200 billion in petrodollars, accounting for about $2 trillion—or 4 percent—of their capitalization
Some observers worry that this new liquidity is having an inflationary effect on asset prices, perhaps fueling bubbles.

Concern Is ....
Despite the many beneficial effects of petrodollars in increasing global liquidity and spurring the growth of various financial-asset classes throughout the world, the rise of investors in oil-exporting countries has created concerns.
One worry is that the huge size of petrodollar sovereign wealth funds, coupled with their relatively high appetite for risk, could make global capital markets more volatile. The limited transparency of these funds amplifies the anxiety.
A final concern: the long-term economic impact of higher oil prices. In the 1970s their rise sparked inflation in the major oil-consuming economies and sent global banks on a petrodollar-fueled lending spree in Latin America

SatyamWay

2008-02-09T23:49:00.000+05:30

Found this interesting piece of info while reading an interview of Mr.Ramalinga Raju , founder and chairman of Satyam Computers.This is something which happened in 1991 ,when the west wasn't very sure of outsourcing work to India.And its then that Satyam got its first fortune 500 client in India.This happened in US Midwest where in Satyam took up a rented house , across its customer's software development centre .Ten satyam engineers field tested the benefits of Global IT offshoring by pretending they were in India.They worked nights to simulate the time difference and for 6 months never met their customers across the street in person , communicating only through a dedicated satellite link"In the end the team worked better from this place called Little India as compared to working onsite"....

That was a really different way of proving ones's credentials.
From then on Ramalinga Raju an commerce graduate & an MBA has been on the path of trying out new things .Currently they are working on a new business model which they call the "Satyam Way".
will write abt the satyam way in my next post .....

Ref : Mckinsey Quaterly

MicroSoft Bids for Yahoo

2008-02-04T12:27:00.000+05:30

Yahoo offlate has been in troubled waters where in there shares have lost 30% of their value over the last one year.They also decieded to lay off around 1000 employess.

Now they have found an interested partner in the form of Microsoft who beleive that MS & yahoo as such would be the right combination to deliver maximum value to the share holders.

Microsfot's $31 a share offers a 62 percent premium for shareholders.

This acquisition if successfull would create a ruckos in the field of online advertising, currently worth $40 billion and expected to grow to $80 billion in next three years .

Google was early to understand the power of Internet , MS though late on this , is trying to catch up pace with this acquisition..

@Dubai

2008-01-10T13:55:00.000+05:30

Finally I am in SPJCM dubai , its been an eventful journey all through .Never thought one day i would find myself in dubai ! But then things have been going greatand I ended up here
The flight journey was quite good , with lots of beverages and food been served.The only disappointment would have been the air-hostessess ;-)(I was in an Air India Flight).Thanks to couple of my other batchmates whom i met at the airport the journey was quite a fun.And as such i beleive in travelling light and so wasn't carrying many accoutrements.

Though the flight was good we had a tough time at the dubai airport , as there were quite a fewformalities to be completed , as in a retina test and all , of which we weren't aware of !But all's well tat end's well once we were done with all our formalities we met the spjcm person who had come down t recive us.I really hope this wasn't an harbinger of the tough times to come :-)But then once we came out of the airport we got imbibed in the dubai freeways and the profiligacyof the people which can be seen the cars they own.It was really a delirious feeling , which i shallremember for long time to come.That's it abt an landmark journey of life , which I am sure is going to have an great impact on my life ...Will continue my experiences in the next post as well..ciao !!

Pepsi New Ad Theme - What a Contrast

2007-11-29T15:23:00.000+05:30

Pepsi plans to rope in the childhood story of the worlds fifth most powerful women,Indra Nooyi, into its advertising campaign.I believe after all the pesticide issue this advertisement would be an attempt to get an sympathetic corner in the minds of the consumer via pepsi's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ventures.
It shows how at the age of 5 the current CEO used to wake up at dawn to fill buckets of water.It links her vision of finding more ways to generate water and how PepsiCo is making a difference with its water harvesting activities in Indian villages.What sounded weird to em in this article was that it that water is an issue close to Ms Nooyi’s heart.She has been quoted as saying she still feels guilty filling a bathtub with water. She has stated publicly that she and her family used to wake up in the early hours to fill every bucket in the house, and they had to learn to live off two buckets of water.Now its well known that the manufacturing units setup by these cola companies are one of the major reasons of depleting water resources in their vicinity.
One of the best examples is the coke unit in village of Plachimada in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Plachimada is a farming village of about 800 families, many of them tribal.This unit alone for its massive operation requires a lot of water: around one and a half million litres of groundwater per day in fact. That’s five times the amount of water that ends up in the bottles.

Quote from the website ecologist "A year after Coca-Cola arrived, the water in the local wells turned a strange colour, and villagers began complaining of fever, stomach pains, headaches and diarrhoea. Child mortality rates also increased suddenly. It was as late as August last year that the district medical officer eventually told the people of Plachimada that their water was toxic and unsafe for drinking. Now all 800 families have no choice but to make a four-kilometre round trip on foot, twice daily, to collect water from outside the toxic zone."

This does give an idea as to why cola companies are looking for new ways to generate water that to under the umbrella of activities concerning social cause.This is the reason i find this ad so contrasting , since they are the very people who have contributed in a big way to this water crisis .But on a positive note its nice to see that the MNC companies are at least looking for options to compensate for the harm they have done to the society.

Amazon's Kindle

2007-11-20T16:20:00.000+05:30

Technology At its Best

This one is for all the bibliophile's out there .It gives you a perception of the extent to which technology has intruded into our lives.

Amazon has come up with a new product of theirs called Kindle .Kindle is an wireless portable device with instant access to numerous books, magazines, blogs and newspapers.Kindle is wireless.No computer is needed and you do ur shopping directly from the device.It makes use of the same technology as used by the cell phones so ideally one doesn't need an Wi-Fi hot spot to use this device.No software to install and no monthly bills .Once u order ur book, within minutes it gets delivered to Kindle.Weighing just 10.3 ounces this device sounds revolutionary but then it needs to be seen as to how many of us would not mind carrying a gadget just to satisfy his/her reading instincts ..

OutSourcing Models

2007-10-19T11:20:00.000+05:30

The rapid growth of indian IT sector has brought into picture various outsourcing models prevalent in the market.On the first look it might seem that outsourcing isn't a big nut to crack but then there are quite a few critical decisions which come into the foray while taking decisions pertaining to outsourcing some work.

From the fringe there are three vibrant types of offshoring models:

Joint Venture offshoring (JV)

Subsidiary/Captive Development Centre Offshoring

Service Provider OffShoring

Joint Venture offshoring

In a Joint Venture an organization ties up with a local firm or company either by taking an equity stake or by forming an independent company in which either of the companies contributes resources.A joint venture contract may sometimes include build-operate-transfer (BOT) clauses to motivate both parties to work towards a clearly defined exit strategy.

Subsidiary/Captive Development Centre Offshoring

Companies may decide to bypass the JV model altogether and go directly in for a subsidiary or local office if the management is comfortable in dealing with the nitty-gritty of internationalization and local market operations. Some of the popular terms used to describe the model include offshore development center (ODC), captive development center or in some cases simply branch or local office.

Service Provider Offshoring
The JV and subsidiary models of outsourcing may involve deep commitment on the part of a client organization, a move that management at traditional companies may sometimes be averse to. To counter the perceived risks of these models and to capitalize on the benefits of offshoring, companies resort to outsourcing projects, programs and individual work orders to offshore vendors.

SPJCM Evaluation Round

2007-10-15T15:33:00.000+05:30

Gone 13th of October I attended my S P Jain's evaluation round , first of the colleges to which I had applied using my GMAT score.I wasn't very much used to the habit of putting on a tie , blazer and things like cufflings and neither do I own these. But then thanks to my brother i was obliged with all these things which now- a -days are important for oneself to look impeccable. And believe me this was bit too much for an person like me who is a bit reclusive atleast as far as dressing is concerned. ;-). Having said this , the glistened look did make me feel a lot more confident !

My big B was kind enough to drop me to the college making sure that even after travelling through the cool , breezyy...not at all humid climate of Mumbai I was still as fresh as ever ;-)
Though I was tumultous within myself but then I tried to keep my cool.

To start off with we had to write two essays .First being to state as to what do i enjoy doing other than my professional work. Second was to mention two life defining moments of mine.
Then there was an case study : which mentioned that if I was the big dude of a company what would I do to protect my company against the various financial irregularities that happen.

Then we had a group discussion , where by we were given two topics the one we selected was "commercialization of health-case services :is it needed".To be honest the GD started off on a chaotic node, and thankully I wasn't part of it for the initial 2 minutes .But then I did get an inch of space to speak , and I am glad I made the best use of it !

Then I had the first of the two personal itnterviews this was an elimination round , so was a bit petrified.But once the interview started it was very smooth, most of the questions were realted to my professional experience , the companies with whom I have worked and about ITIL.
Overall it went off well.Then came the final round that to me sounded more like a formality , but then there were people who got screwed up in this round.For me even this round wasn't bad.

With the sort of performance that leaves one satisfied I am awaiting for the results with my fingers crossed.

P.S. : As on 23rd October I got my Admit call for SPJCM !!

SPJCM Application & ITIL

2007-10-15T15:30:00.000+05:30

Hey forgot to update this , I am done with my ITIL Foundation certification with fairly decent score of 80 % .
Apart from that , after a lot of thinking and thought provoking discussions i did decide that i won't be applying to any American B-Schools,Now that doesn't that they aren't good for me :-) infact i would say am not good for them ... well to be really honest financial constraints and quite a few other reasons counted in this decision of mine .So i am up for SPJCM , ISB HYderabad , and some time late this year NUS Singapore.
I completed my application form for S P Jain on 17th of September. Although i had given some heads-up to my recommnders,butinline with the SPJ process i could send across the reco forms to my recommenders only on 17th.And to my surprise i got an invite for their second round evaluation today that's on 20th September.I am yet to go to the link they had sent across and select one of 13th and 14th of October.

Indo - US Nuclear Deal !

2007-09-27T17:07:00.000+05:30

In relation to the Indo-US nuclear deal the two documents much in discussion arethe Hyde Act and the other is the US-India agreement on peaceful uses of nuclear energy under section 123 of the US atomic energy.
The 123 Agreement is so named because the US negotiates nuclear treaties with other countries under section 123 of the 1954 US Atomic Energy Act (USAEA). The agreement paves the way for lifting the international embargo on the export of civilian nuclear technology and fuel the US has led against India since it first exploded a nuclear device in 1974.
Ideally as per the US laws Nuclear/atomic energy co-operations could be initiated by US only with those countries which are already part of the Nuclear non-proliferation Treaty.To enable reaching such an agreement with India as India is not a part of the NPT , US Congress passed United -States India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act., popularly knownas Hyde Act.It was passed by the US House of representatives on July 26,2006.
Probably the most controversial point of the INDO -US deal is Point 2.1 of the Indo Nuclear agreement states that "Each party shall implement this agreement this agreement in accordance with its respective applicable treaties,national laws, regulations and license requirements concerning theuse of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes." Its this statment which brings the Hyde Act into picture and this were the goverment and the communist party come head on!
Although the Indian goverment has justified the nuclear agreement with the US from the stand point of meeting India's increasing energy needs and reducing its dependence onoil and natural gas imports.But according to Indian goverment's own projections,even if it sucessful in carrying out its plans to rapidly expand India's nuclear energy capactiy with foreign assistance,nuclear energy will only supply about 5 percent of India's energy needs in 2025.Rather than India's energy needs, it is predatory geopolitical ambitionsof US imperialism and big power ambitions of the India ruling elite that are motivating the Indo-US nuclear deal.Its inevitable result would be to further geopolitically destabilize South Asia and Asia as a whole.
The deal is unclear about permanent fuel supplies, has a broad termination clause and imposes curbs on India's right to conduct nuclear tests. The key provisions of the agreement do not protect India from a tougher American law that mandates stringent penalties should India conduct another nuclear test. The Hyde Act, passed in December last year, provides thatUS President will have discretionary powers to terminate the civil nuclear cooperation if India conducts a nuclear test.The agreement that is derived from the Hyde Act also puts India in the back seat.

2007-08-23T12:32:00.000+05:30

This reminds me of my wonderful college days n there was no decorum in my life, but there were lots of joyous moments .I never really got a jist of Onam celebrations till i celebrated one in the God's Own Country.The milieu out there is so wonderful that it just won't go unnoticed.Inspite of the fact that people in kerala are so relagated still this is one such festival which changes the mood and brings them closer.

I shall never forget those beautiful pookalams,which my grand ma, inspite of her old age ,used to put across religiously each day ,i used to watch it while sipping a hot cuppa.Infact i got so inspired from her dedication at that age that i started helping her out in this daily chore of hers.

While I was in Kerala a Pookalam was a dime-a-dozen event , now that i am not in kerala i miss those .

I still miss those bonhomie people who during Onam made Pookalams, prepare ona-sadya , the delicious payasam. :-)

Though times have changed much but still i sincerely hope that this festivity and celebration mood be there till perpetuity.

Happy Onam to one and all !

The person who gave up a 5 Star Job to feed the hungry!

2007-08-06T15:52:00.000+05:30

I came across this new article on IBNLive , which mentioned about one Mr.Krishnan.

Krishnan used to work as an Chef at an 5 star hotel , but one day he saw a poor guy who almost ate his waste out of hunger.He immedietly went to a near by restaurant and bought some idli's for him.

Going forward Krishnan formed an NGO called Akshaya , he formed a team of cooks and started helping them with food .Most of the people who are fed by him are mentally challenged

To me it sounds more like a fairy tale , can't beleive that there could be people who might actually give up their luxurious life and do so much for a social cause.

Krishnan looks for contributions and help from people who are willing to donate. His area of work is Madurai.

So just incase u feel that u can as well play ur part then he can be reached at

Krishnan can be contacted at 0452-4353439, 9843319933

My GMAT ..Its Done Finally !

2007-08-06T15:30:00.000+05:30

I guess i am a lot relieved today .... after a supposedly rigorous preparation which spanned for over 3 months , finally i gave my GMAT on the 2nd of August.
Believe me although this was my second attempt , but i was as nervous as i was during mine first try :-(
Guess i have a bit of exam-o-phobia hehaa ;-)
Well for me anything above 700 would have made me happy , though like anybody else the higher the score the more happy i would have been.
I scored an 710 the break-up being 49 in Quant and 38 in verbal .Well in none of my GMAT prep i had scored more than 35 in Verbal .So i was glad to see that i had performed better , as for maths i was looking for an 50 as i was more less scoring a 50 in quite a few of my mocks .
The verbal was far far simpler then what i had anticipated ,i guess i made more of mistakes in CR and probably RC , because the SC questions were quite simple , thanks to Prachi Praeekh's yahoo group , Scoretop and Scorechase , who helped me a lot in improving my sentence correction tremendously .The immense way in which these forums helped me can be understood from the fact that in my first attempt i had scored an meagre 28 in verbal and this time around i scored 38.
Though this score might not bring a smile to everybody's face, but for me i am satisfied .Now i need to concentrate on the my application.

People wish me Luck !

Kingfisher & Air-Deccan Closer to Ceiling a Deal !

2007-05-31T09:46:00.000+05:30

This news has been doing rounds for some time , though Captain Gopinath Plainly rejected that there is no deal in offering to Kingfisher , but the newspapes does make us believe otherwise .

Though i would say a stratergic merger between the two would be an good thing to happen for either of them! Mainly because although they are there in the same industry but the market segment they target are different. And that makes sure that they don't eat upon each others customer base in the aviation industry ..

It would be good Air deccan from the perspective that it would help them cut even their losses , they supposedly recorded a loss in the last quarter , and that makes them vunerable for such an venture .As for Vijay Mallaya the king of mergers and acquisitions this would make him the largest market share holder in India.So , i would say it could be a win win situtation.

But yes the sad thing could be if Air Deccan sheds its so called low cost flights. As its only because of air deccan that lots of people who used to earlier travel by trains , now think twice as to whether they should book a flight ticket and save some time !And i was pretty impressed to read about the business model/plan that Air deccan followed to cut its cost , though it didn't help them cut even their losses , but as Captain Gopinath said it takes time for plans to succeed .

IT Cos Shiftng from People Centric Model

2007-05-09T09:58:00.000+05:30

Today morning i read an article in the ET . As an IT professional myself it wasn't an great news to read . It mentioned about the plans of the various IT cos to change the linear relationship which they have between no. of employees and revenues . So the companies intend to increase their revenues per employee. Basically to an Software engineer like me all it means is that my managers will get the hell out of me ;-) ..
Jokes apart ,from an industry perspective i was really glad that the IT companies are thinking in this direction , such an thought process will go a long way in improving our work culture . In India like Narayan Murthy had mentioned in one of his speech long time back, there is ample talent but the talent needs to be nurtured and trained to bring them to the industry standards and that basically means huge training costs as reflected in Infosys's Training budget !
The increasing salaries and talent crunch are few of the major factors which have made the IT cos to think in the direction of de-linking profits and employee numbers .
I find this concept really interesting and challenging , as in a service oriented economy like that of ours (India's) how can we do away with the human power and still make huge profits ..
I am looking forward to read more on this , as in near future this is an concept which all most all the IT companies in India will have to implement as otherwise it would be really difficult for them to bear the rising salaries of their employees.
One way to achieve this goal would ofcourse be by automtaing the various processes involved and implementing end-to-end workflows, so that the manpower needed for a particular activity gets reduced considerably . The article mentions an initiative by Zensar in this direction they call it as "Solution BluePrint" (SBP is a collection of work flows, design models and protocols that automates software engineering process).

GMAT SC Tips

2007-04-26T13:50:00.001+05:30

Fewer/LessWhich of the two following sentences is correct?1. The company fired no less than fifty employees.2. The company fired no fewer than fifty employees.The second sentence is correct. Why? Because you use less when you're talking about thingsyou can't count (less pollution, less violence) but fewer when you're talking about things you canGMAT Study Strategy Page 22 of 50http://home.comcast.net/~dave.kim/GMAT_Study_Strategy.htm 6/7/2005count (fewer pollutants, fewer violent acts).2. Number/AmountThese words follow the same rule as less and fewer. Number is correct when you can count thething being described (a number of cars, a number of people) and amount is correct when youcannot (amount of love, amount of pain).3. Among/BetweenUse between when only two options are available (between the red car and the blue car) andamong when more than two options are available (among the five answer choices, among themany books).Between may be used with more than one things are involved. as in handshakes between people. Here essence is that handshakes take place mutually between every two people. or in relations between nations...4. If/WhetherWhether is correct when you're discussing two options (whether to get chocolate or strawberryice cream) and if is correct for more than two options (if she should get ice cream, frozen yogurt,or a cookie).-------------"The number" is singular as in The number of boys is not known."A number" is plural as in A number of boys are going.-----------The only time when less is associated with countable objects is when fractions/percentages or other numbers are involved.Less than one quarter of all people amounts to less than one percentcount is less than 1000--------Idom:Grounds for + nounor Grounds to + verbboth are correctAs in: By establishing that the new waste processing plant would contribute to pollution as well as economic impoverishment of the region, Lowell shows that the city council has strong fiscal grounds for opposing of the plant proposal. -----------------------Idiom:Consider:There is no preposition added to consider.Historians consider Mona Lisa a great work of art.not consider to be not consider asRegarded as:Due to the critical acclaim generated by his recent exhibit, the artist is currently regarded as the most promising sculptors in America.Many scholars regard the pre-Hispanic civilizations of Peru as the most impressive in South America.(A) regard the pre-Hispanic civilizations of Peru as(B) regard the pre-Hispanic civilizations of Peru to be(C) regard the pre-Hispanic civilizations of Peru to have been(D) consider that the pre-Hispanic civilizations of Peru are(E) consider the pre-Hispanic civilizations of Peru asA is correctthink of ...as---------------------Lie-Lay-Lain - To assume a reclining positionLay-Laid-Laid - To put something----------------------Semicolon: Any sentence after a semicolon (, should be an independent clause. ----------------------Object v/s. Subject: If you need participle and need to decide between present or past participle, use this rule.If a noun is the object of a verb, the verb should end with ‘ed’. If a noun is the subject of a verb, the verb should end with ‘ing’. (e.g. ‘local times determined’ when the noun is object of the verb ‘determined’) (e.g. determining the local times – where the noun local times is the subject of the verb determining).Somebody determined times – times is object of determinedTimes differing – Times is the subject of differed---------------------One of the Group: The pattern to remember is ‘one of the NOUN (this noun will always be plural) + that/who + PLURAL VERBExample : He is one of the persons who make money. This is one of the cars that run on hydrogen.A number of people are waiting for the bus.The number of cars in the city is decreasing.Any of the stockholders who disapprove – is the right useThree cats, each eatThree cats, each of which eats A sentence like ‘X is one of the Y that are. Are is the correct use. Such a sentence always should have a subject verb agreement with Y and not with X.With its plan to develop seven and a half acres of shore land, Cleveland is but one of a large number of communities on the Great Lakes that is looking to its waterfront as a way to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses.(A) is looking to its waterfront as a way to improve the quality of urban life and attract(B) is looking at its waterfront to improve the quality of urban life and attract(C) are looking to their waterfronts to improve the quality of urban life and attract(D) are looking to its waterfront as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attracting(E) are looking at their waterfronts as a way they can improve the quality of urban life and attractC is correct.------------------Less (Also used for sums of money as in above sentence, periods of time and distance, or while citing numerical or statistical data)• There is less traffic on the road, because fewer people drive these days.• It's less than twenty miles to Dallas. • He's less than six feet tall. • Your essay should be a thousand words or less. • We spent less than forty dollars on our trip. • The town spent less than four percent of its budget on snow removalWith a total population of less than two hundred and xfewer breeding females than ever before, the American crocodile seemed a decade ago to be in danger of disappearing.Correct: (A) of less than two hundred and fewerAnother thumb rule with Use “fewer” to modify a plural noun.Example: I have fewer papers to write than last year.Use “less” to modify a singular noun.Example: You’ll need less paper if you type your report.A description about 'fewness' from dictionary.comThe traditional rule holds that fewer should be used for things that can be counted (fewer than four players), while less should be used with mass terms for things of measurable extent (less paper; less than a gallon of paint). However, less is used in some constructions where fewer would occur if the traditional rule were being followed.Less than can be used before a plural noun that denotes a measure of time, amount, or distance:less than three weeks; less than $400; less than 50 miles. Less is sometimes used with plural nounsin the expressions no less than (as in No less than 30 of his colleagues signed the letter) and or less (as in Give your reasons in 25 words or less).---------------Subject Verb Agreement:exchange subject and object and see that verb still matches in numberOne Important Example : All the choices but D contain ambiguities.Among the various emotions on display was anger….Among the various things found were statues….--------------USE of OR: When there are 2 or more options separated by ‘OR’, both should equally apply to the following clause. e.g. Slowing the growth or damaging forests (Both slowing the growth and damaging apply to forests. Now, consider the clause ‘slowing the growth forests’ and ‘damaging forests’.The first one, does not seem fine. As, it should be ‘slowing the growth of or damaging forests).Damaging or slowing the growth of forests – Is the correct usage (Damaging forests or slowing the growth of forests).-----------------------------------------------------------------------Compare to vs Compare with:To compare two dissimilar things use compare toTo compare two similar things use compare with-----------------------------------------------------------------------Because v/s. In That: When ETS puts ‘because’ and ‘in that’ in a sentence, more often than not,‘in that’ would be correct. ‘In that qualifies’ the previous sentence, while ‘because’is just used to show a simple causal relationship.Teratomas are unusual forms of cancer because they are composed of tissues such as tooth and bone not normally found in the organ in which the tumor appears.A. because they are composed of tissues such as tooth and boneB. because they are composed of tissues like tooth and bone that areC. because they are composed of tissues, like tooth and bone, tissuesD. in that their composition , tissues such as tooth and bone, isCorrect E. in that they are composed of tissues such as tooth and bone, tissues------------------------------------------------------------------------Usual v/s. Is Usual: He is faster than is usual for any human being – Is correct.He is faster than usual today – is correctA Mercedes is more expensive than usual for a car – IncorrectA Mercedes is more expensive than is usual for a car – CorrectWhen something is compared to a subgroup to which it belongs, is usual should be used. When something is compared to itself, usual is finee.g. He is nicer than usual.------------------------------------------------------------------------Native to Vs Native of:Native of v/s. Native to: Native of can be used when referring to human beings.Native to usage is otherwise correct.------------------------------------------------------------------------CHIEF of WHICH v/s. CHIEF among which: Jamieson's proposal was rejected for several reasons, the chief among which was cost.(A) the chief among which was cost(B) among which the chief was its cost© the main one was cost(D) the chief reason of which was its cost(E) the chief of which was costchief means main or principal, and all three words mean the top one. And when we refer to a member of a group, we use of. For example,if we want to name our best friend, we'd say He is the best of my friends, but not He is the best among my friends.Now, run these through your head to see how they sound: • The main reason of all the reasons. • The main reason among all the reasons.I think the first sounds better and is more precise.Also A can be rephrased to main reason among which was cost. Which doesnot refer to all the reasons and hence A is wrongE can be rephrased to main reason of which was cost. Here which refers to rejection of the proposal.

A Nice ( But tiring ..) Weekend

2007-04-22T19:40:00.001+05:30

This was one of the my most entertaining weekends , infact i would say , that my last two weekends have been really cool.....
The weekend of April 14th i went to Shangrilla water park on the outskirts of Thane , it was supposed to be more of an family get- together , as some of my cousins from abroad as well had come down to India ...Thanks to one of my uncles who took the pains to orgranise such an gathering... beleive me with such an big family with so many relatives ..its never an easy task to get everybody under a single roof owing to different reasons .... ;-)
Uhh .. anyways it was an funfilled day ..... the best part was the "Rain Dance "...Belive me there was a time when i was utterly shy to shake my legs , but then i don't know what happened that day ...i was in full flow , i was pulling across everybody to the dance floor , and i was actually astonished at see my dancing skills ;-))
This weekend was no different , where by we went to Diamond Water park , this is about 7 KMs from Lohegaon airport . To be honest this visit was never there on the very first hand ..Thanks to the extent of uncertainity that we have in our lives , it happened ;-) Even out here the best part was the rain dance .... all drenched in rain, dancing to some rocking music !
Woww.... i can't beleive i had two back to back outings that to some water park ..
But now i can actually feel the hangover over or i would say the body pain :-( its simply unbearable .... hmm proabably will need a day or two to come over it .....

Cricket and Java All the way !

2007-03-09T17:00:00.000+05:30

This weekend after a gap of more than 2 years i would get a chance to play the game whichevery Indian cherishes , yeah ,come 11th March and i would be part of an intra project cricket tournament .Its been more than 2 years since i last played cricket :).
After getting dinged at my bskool attempts , this is an nice change.
Though this week was pretty cool at the office , on personal grounds its been busy , i had been busy with contacting my college friends out here in Pune for an get together, now that as well is there this Sunday .So immeadietly after my cricket match i would be going acrossfor this meet.Though i am usually very excited abt such meets , but this is one of those which makes me feel a bit wary . And that's because all the guys out there will be speaking in pakkamalayalam , and though i am an keralite myself but i don't speak that good a malayalam.But yes i want to use this for the benefit of our Alumni projects , specially for the scholarship one !
Now this is what i call a busy weekend :)
As for this week it has been a very entralling one professionally , though there wasn't much work in myproject , but personally i did quite a bit of R&D .For someone who had not done codingfor any lanaguage other than microsfot technologies ,it was a nice experience to develop a utility in Java.Still a long way to go though ...

As for on the MBA Front , i have ordered the Manhattan SC guide , hoping to improve my SC Verbal half of GMAT , which screwed up my score in my first attempt !

Probability Fundas In GMAT

2007-01-16T14:01:00.000+05:30

Courtsey : ScoreVille

The goal of this lesson is to get you accustomed to and comfortable with combinatorics problems on the GMAT. We have incorporated the hardest problems from GMAT that we could find, so this collection should make your experience on the final GMAT less stressful because the real problems are not as difficult. Another goal is to provide you with techniques to solve all combinations problems in time you have – 2-3 minutes.
Just to start, combinatorics problems are believed to be some of the hardest ones on the GMAT - the elite division of questions that yields only to probability. Yet, even combinatorics questions have several levels of difficulty, making them available through the test:
Easy – one action problems with no complications or limits imposed
Medium – two action problems or one simple limit
Hard – either include extensive calculations or several limits or even both
Still, the hardest thing with problems is to identify the solution method. The test writers, on their part, will make sure to include several almost right, but still wrong answers in order to make sure you pick a wrong answer should you mess up even a bit. Here is the bottom line: the point is to figure out how to solve, the rest is arithmetic. Below you will find several scenarios to approach combinatorics problems that, hopefully, will help you easily identify the right solution for each given problem that you meet on your test day, and at the end we have listed an approximation of a systematic approach to combinatorics problems.
One word on guessing: personally, we don’t like guessing. It is just as hard to guess right as to solve right, so we usually choose solving.
Before we move on, it is recommended that you know by heart two problems from the Kaplan Gmat Guide with CD 2003 or 2002 edition. They are located at the end of the book in the math review section. You have to know them and understand them before continuing.
FORMULAE
There are several rules and formulae to find the number of combinations:
1. Multiplication rule – when the number of available spaces for combinations matches the number of elements (e.g. we have 5 people for 5 positions – the result will equal to 5x4x3x2x1 or 5!, which is 120.) or when we have several groups within one set; we will need to multiply the results for groups to find the total. (see example 1, 2, and 3).
2. Addition rule – applies in the more complex situations, primarily when we have a variable number of positions for combinations, and thus have to calculate several different number of combinations for each given number of positions (e.g. we have $1, $5, $10, $20, $50 bills what is the number of sums we can come up with?). (see example 7).
3. Permutations formula: P(n, k) = – unique members (example 7, 8).
4. Combinations formula: C(n, k) = – non unique members (example 9, 10, 11).
LOGIC
The first kind of the problems that we will consider is not what we usually imply under standard combinatorics problems, but still very interesting. Consider the following example from GMAT Plus:
EXAMPLE 1. Of the science books in a certain supply room, 50 are on botany, 65 are on zoology, 90 are on physics. 50 are on geology, and 110 are on chemistry. If science books are removed randomly from the supply room, how many must be removed to ensure that 80 of the books removed are on the same science?
(A) 81
(B) 159
(C) 166
(D) 285
(E) 324
Such problems invite us to provide a foolproof solution that would work in 100% of the cases. Thus, this means we will need to find a solution for the worst case. In our example, we can say that there is a devil kin sitting in the certain supply room and she hands us the books so that each time we get a new book. So after about 250, we will have removed all of the botany and geology books as well as 50 on zoology, 50 on physics, and 50 on chemistry, but we still don’t have 80 of the same kind. We have 15 zoology, 40 physics, and 60 chemistry books left. So, after another 45 books, we will have removed all zoology books, 15 physics, and 15 chemistry books. Still not enough. We have at most 65 books of one kind. Let’s remove 14 of each kind of the books we have left. So, after removing 14 of physics and chemistry books we will have a total of 323 books removed and we have 5 stacks that are at most 79 books. Now, however, we need to remove only one book because we will know that we have only two kinds of books left (either chemistry or physics) and any of them will give us a set of 50. Of course in reality it would not be that bad, but we have to take the worst situation.
It would be easier, however, if we just took a look at the number of the books that could be left in the room. We know that we need 80 of one kind, so we for sure know that those would not be botany, zoology, or geology books because there too little of them. If we need to guarantee that 80 are removed, we would have 10 physics and 30 chemistry left. However, since we need only 80 of one kind, we can say that either 11 physics and 30 chemistry or 10 physics and 31 chemistry. The trick is to spot see that we need only one stack to be 80, not all. Then, we could subtract 31 from the total number of books (365-41=324).
There are not that many of these remove/remained problems, but they are fun.
Let me know if you come across any, I will include them into the practice section.
LOGIC AND SIMPLE RULES
Usually, on the GMAT you can solve and find the number of combinations or permutations without using any formula or even writing out the combinations, but just by applying your logic. For practice, consider the following example from the Princeton Review:
EXAMPLE 2. Katie must place five stuffed animals--a duck, a goose, a panda, a turtle and a swan in a row in the display window of a toy store. How many different displays can she make if the duck and the goose must be either first or last?
A. 120
B. 60
C. 24
D. 12
E. 6
Here is the explanation by the same company. It works but it is not optimal.
Let’s simplify things. We know either the duck or goose is first or last. Ignore those for the moment. How many ways can we arrange the panda, turtle, and swan in the positions 2, 3 and 4? Be systematic, and list them out: PTS, PST, TPS, TSP, SPT, STP. 6 ways. So if the duck is first and goose is last, there are 6 ways the whole arrangement can work; if the goose is first and the duck is last, that makes 6 more for a total of 12. The answer is (D).
This is an average difficulty problem – we have 5 spots and 5 animals to fill them, so we will just need to run the factorial, but even without knowing that, we can solve the problem. Let’s use the brain for a second. I don’t think you need to write out all the combinations as Princeton Review suggests because it is a pain (yet sometimes it helps when you are not sure about a solution).
Anyway, just think logically: there are 3 spots available for swapping: 2, 3, and 4 (the first and the fifth one are occupied by the duck and goose). So, for the first of the three spots, we have 3 animals; for the second – 2, and for the third only one. This means that for every of the three animals in the spot #1, we have 2 animals in spot #2, and one in spot #3. Therefore, to get the total number of combinations we need to multiply 3x2x1. This falls under the multiplication rule of combinatorics. Since the duck and goose provide us with two options, again, according to the multiplication rule, we need to multiply our final result by 2 to get 12.
Try solving this problem on your own.
EXAMPLE 3. The president of a country and 4 other dignitaries are scheduled to sit in a row on the 5 chairs represented above. If the president must sit in the center chair, how many different seating arrangements are possible for the 5 people?
(A) 4
(B) 5
(C) 20
(D) 24
(E) 120
Let’s consider another example, this time from the official guide:
EXAMPLE 4. In how many arrangements can a teacher seat 3 girls and 3 boys in a row of 6 if the boys are to have the first, third, and fifth seats?
A. 6
B. 9
C. 12
D. 36
E. 720
I don’t know what approach took ETC in this problem, but the most optimal again would be just to straighten things out and then apply logic. This is clearly a unique spots/members situation because otherwise we would have only one combination (girls 2, 4, 6 and boys 1, 3, 5), but it is not in the answers and truly would be stupid to ask.
So let’s devise a plan.
Think for a bit so that you would not waste time doing useless and incorrect calculations.
First of all, we have a limitation on our group that defines the number of combinations for odd and even positions. Usually for problems like this, there are two methods of solution: find the total number of combinations and then subtract the ones that fall under a limitation or count all the possible combinations that respect the limitation and then multiply them (usually the preferable approach). In our case, however, the limitation is fairly large and it will be useless counting the total number of combinations and then subtract a very complicated condition.
So, let’s count the possible number of combinations under our limitation. We know that there are 3 seats for 3 boys, so similarly to the previous example, we get 3! or 3x2=6. The number of girls is the same, which gives us two groups within one set; to find the total number of combinations, we need to multiply the two results for two groups 6x6=36. (because for each combination of girls there are 6 arrangements of boys and vice versa).
If you were entirely at a loss with this question, you could have guessed. First of all, 720 seems just a way too much; actually it would be the correct answer if we did not have limitation, but with the limitation it looks too much, so we are down to 36, 12, and 9. 6 is too little; you could have figured that out too. None of the answers is the product of a factorial. Actually, it is very useful to know the factorial products: 2!=2, 3!=6, 4!=24, 5!=120, 6!=720. Anyway, it would be hard to guess cause we would have 12 (6+6) or 36 (6x6).
Personally I don’t like guessing. I think it is much harder to guess than to solve, so why not do the easiest thing and just solve?
Perhaps a pure multiplication rule will be the following that came from an unknown source:
EXAMPLE 5. If a customer makes exactly 1 selection from each of the 5 categories listed below, what is the greatest number of different ice cream sundaes that a customer can create?
12 ice cream flavors
10 kinds of candy
8 liquid toppings
5 kinds of nuts
With or without whip cream.
(A)9600
(B)4800
(C)2400
(D)800
(E)400
According to the problem, the customer must make 1 selection out of each and it can be only one (if it were different it would much more complex). Basically, we have 5 different ingredients, so after picking one of 12 ice cream flavors, the person has 10 choices of candy, and then for each of 10 choices of candy, he/she has 8 options for toppings, and for each of those 8 toppings – 5 kinds of nuts. Moreover, the person will get either with or without whipped cream. Obviously, this is a multiplication case by all means: the number of positions to fill with combinations equals the number of different ingredients – 5, (in such cases, we can’t use a permutation or combination formulae). Here is what we get after multiplying: 12x10x8x5x2 = 9,600 (don’t forget the whipped cream). This is a one-action problem.
Sometimes, the math may not be very easy. Consider the following example from the Schaum’s Intro to Statistics:
EXAMPLE 6. From a class consisting of 12 computer science majors, 10 mathematics majors, and 9 statistics majors, a committee of 4 computer science majors, 4 mathematics majors, and 3 statistics majors is to be formed. How many distinct committees are there?
To solve the problem, we will need to find the 3 constituting elements – 4 computer majors, 4 math majors, and 3 statistics majors and then, since they are elements of one set – multiply them. Jumping a little ahead, we will use the combinations formula and will get the following results for each group: 495, 210, and 84. Now, since for each computer science major there are a good number of math and stats majors, we multiply. The result we will get is 495x210x84= 8,731,800.
PERMUTATIONS AND COMBINATIONS
Besides the two problems explained in Kaplan, that you should know by heart, about the 3 out of 5 runners and 3 out of 8 committee members, there are few variations.
For example, let’s take a Permutation problem from high school textbook:
EXAMPLE 7. Given a selected committee of 8, in how many ways, can the members of the committee divide the responsibilities of a president, vice president, and secretary?
The solution comes both from the permutations formula and from logic. (Permutations, not combinations formula is used because the order matters since the positions are unique).
Scenario 1 – Formula:
P(8,3)=8!/5!=8x7x6=336
Scenario 2 – Logic:
For the President’s position we have 8 people and for the VP’s – 7, and 6 left for the Secretarial position. Therefore, the total number of permutations equals to 8x7x6=336. Since the position of a person matters (P - Alex, VP- Jen, and S -Sindy is different from Jen, Sindy, Alex), we do not need to divide by anything.
Consider the following more advanced problem from the same textbook (it has a trick to it):
EXAMPLE 8. How many four-digit numbers can you form using ten numbers
(0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) if the numbers can be used only once?
It seems to be easy, we take 10x9x8x7 since we have 4 positions, and get 5040, but there is a trick to this problem because 5040 will include numbers that start with a 0, and in reality we don’t have those. So, we need to subtract the number of the fake 4-digit numbers. There are two ways to arrive to that: either subtract 1/10 out of 5040 since all 10 digits are equally represented (5040-10% = 4536) or use a Permutation formula: P(9,3) = 9x8x7 = 504.
5040-504 = 4536.
However, the problems get more complex by requiring a test taker to make more than one action, so, often, we will need to use addition or multiplication rule along with combination/permutation. Let’s consider an interesting problem:
EXMAPLE 9. A person has the following bills: $1, $5, $10, $20, $50. How many unique sums can one form using any number of these bills only once?
First of all, let’s reason (reasoning is always good!). There are 5 different bills, and we have to make unique sums of money out of them. Basically, as we figure out from the text, we can use either 1 or all 5 bills for our amounts. Good news is that none of the possible combinations seems to overlap, meaning that there is no way to come up with $30, except by taking a $10 and $20 bills. The bad news is that we will need to calculate the possible sums when taking 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 bills. Again, relying on logic and common sense, taking one bill at a time, we will get 5 unique sums that will equal to the nominal value of each bill. Taking 5 bills altogether, we will get one amount - the max, that equals to $86. Now we need to find the number of sums when taking 2, 3, and 4 bills. Using the combination formula, we will get C(5, 2)=5!/2!3! = 10, for C(5, 3) = 5!/3!2!=10, and for C(5, 4)=5!/4!=5
Total will be: 5+10+10+5+1=31 possible sums.
(You can check by writing all of them out).
Moving towards hard problems, let’s consider a little more complex situation offered again by Princeton:
EXAMPLE 10 A three-person committee must be chosen from a group of 7 professors and 10 graduate students. If at least one of the people on the committee must be a professor, how many different groups of people could be chosen for the committee?
A. 70
B. 560
C. 630
D. 1,260
E. 1,980
This is a hard combinatorics problem that again requires several actions. At first it may be confusing because it has a weird condition that at least one professor needs to be on the committee. One way to solve would be to find a total without a limit and then subtract the number of situations when there are no professors on the team. The other option will be to calculate the number of combinations with 1 professor and 2 students, 2 professors and 1 student and 3 professors.
Scenario 1. We get C(17, 3) = = 680 total possible committees. Now, the number of teams with students only is, using the same formula C(10,3) = = 120.
Now, 680-120=560.
Scenario 2. For a committee with 1 professor and 2 students, we will get 7xC(10,2) = = 45x7=315. (we multiply by 7 because For 2 professors and 1 student, we will get C(7, 2)x10 = 21x10=210, and for 3 professors, we will get C(7, 3)=35. Adding up the combinations we will get: 315+210+35=560.
Princeton Review suggests using Scenario 2 because it is supposedly simpler to understand, however, taking into consideration that you can make a mistake in the endless calculations and that it requires 3 complex operations in contrast to 2 in the first case, it has a weaker standing. In any case, both ways get the correct answer, but you need to choose the one that appeals more to you—the one easier to use.
Here is another hard problem with some restrictions; again from an unknown source:
EXAMPLE 11. There are 11 top managers that need to form a decision group. How many ways are there to form a group of 5 if the President and Vice President are not to serve on the same team?
Again our options are to solve the problem either to find the total number of committees and then subtracting the number of groups that VP and P would end up together or to find the number of groups with VP and P and None. However, the second method will be lengthy and unnecessary complicated, so the best solution is to find the total and subtract all the cases that fall under the limiting condition.
Here is the best solution:
11!/(6!x5!) = 11x10x9x8x7/5x4x3x2x1 = 11x2x3x7=11x42 = 462 (since the order does not matter, we use the combinations formula).
This means that the total possible number of teams of 5 out of the pool of 11 people is 462, but we have a limiting condition imposed that says that two members of the 11 cannot be on the same team. Therefore, we need to subtract the number of teams where the Vice President and the President serve together. The number of the teams that VP and P would serve together on is perhaps the hardest thing in this problem. Anyway, the trick is to count on how many teams VP and P will be. To do this, we need to imagine the team, and the five chairs: let’s assume that P is chair #1 (since the order does not really matter), VP is #2, and the three other spots are available to the rest (9 total), so for the 3rd chair, we will have 9 managers, for the 4th – 8, and the 5th place will be offered only to the remaining 7. Therefore, the total teams that VP and P would meet is C(9,3)= 9x8x7/3x2=84. (again we divide because the order of the people showing up on the team does not matter).
Final step: 462-84=378
PRACTICE PROBLEMS
1. There are 9 books on a shelf, 7 hard cover and 2 soft cover. How many different combinations exist in which you choose 4 books from the 9 and have at least one of them be a soft cover book? (Ans. 91 )
There are 5 married couples and a group of three is to be formed out of them; how many arrangements are there if a husband and wife may not be in the same group? (Ans. 80)
3. How many different signals can be transmitted by hoisting 3 red, 4 yellow and 2 blue flags on a pole, assuming that in transmitting a signal all nine flags are to be used? (Ans. 1260)
4. From a group of 8 secretaries, select 3 persons for promotion. How many distinct selections are there? (Ans. 56)
5. In a certain game, a large container is filled with red, yellow, green, and blue beads worth, respectively, 7, 5, 3, and 2 points each. A number of beads are then removed from the container. If the product of the point values of the removed beads is 147,000, how many red beads were removed? (Ans.…)
(A) 5 (B) 4 (C) 3 (D) 2 (E) 0
6. There are between 100 and 110 cards in a collection of cards. If they are counted out 3 at a time, there are 2 left over, but if they are counted out 4 at a time, there is 1 left over. How many cards are in the collection? (Ans.…)
(A) 101 (B) 103 (C) 106 (D) 107 (E) 109
7. The probability that it will rain in NYC on any given day in July is 30%. what is the probability that it will rain on exactly 3 days from July 5 to July 10 ?
There are 4 Fashion magazines and 4 Car magazines. Four magazines are drawn at random, what is the probability that all fashion magazines will be drawn?
a. 1 b. ? c. d. e.
STRATEGY
Read the problem carefully, trying to see both general and specific details, but do not let the numbers confuse you; try to see the whole picture first.
Choose the best approach for solving the problem: either take a logical approach by drawing the number of members, seats, etc or apply a formula.
If you can’t find a way to solve the problem: it seems to be too complex, try to associate it with one of the problems we did. (It is recommended that you memorize at least two problems that are given in the Kaplan math review section so that you would be able to reproduce their solution on paper in a hard moment of panic). Even the most difficult combinatorics GMAT problems are solved using the simple formulae, so look for a way to apply them. There should be one.
If you are completely at a loss, there is a good way to estimate/guess take the most and then estimate how much less the answer should be. Usually, you will get down to two answer choices and then you can try to “podognat’” your solution to the answers and see which solution makes more sense.
After you have solved the problem, go back to the question and make sure you answered it and make sure you followed all the conditions.
It is also recommended to do a fast check on the questions of such difficulty; try to use the other approach if applicable (formula if you used logic or logic if you used a formula) or just make sure your solution is reasonable. (e.g. you may come up with an answer that there are 150 combinations to sit 5 people into 3 seats, but, in fact, it does not make sense because it is too much since even as much as 5! equals only to 120.) Do not spend too much time on any of the problems; you can’t afford more than 3 mins on any of them.

Changing Habits

2007-01-10T12:29:00.000+05:30

untill couple of months back i had been lazy at reading books. But then thanks to my some of my friends ( who were reading buffs) i felt that i am lacking something.Not only this in all the exams i wrote i realised that i had lost lots of marks inEnglish , specially in RC and reading some really different kinds of books will help improve on this.To start of with i read a book which many serious readers would is not so great subjet wise ...it was called "one night @ the call centre " by chetan bhagat , though i liked the book except some partof its climax ..anways the second book that i have started reading now is "Built to last" by Jim collins.I hope i am able to keep this enthu going and read more books..

My First Blog out Here ....

2007-01-08T11:48:00.000+05:30

Quite often it becomes really difficult to be really honest . Well through this blog i would try to be utter honest to myself ;)
After getting battered badly in the CAT ( Common admission test )
that to in my third attempt : ( i am trying to revamp myself .
I do beleive that nothing is impossible to achieve , what matters is the path /approach we choose to achieve it ....
So for me its time think and plan my approach rather than simply keep on writing exams .