Is this the Power of compounding?

Want to be a millionaire and never got a chance to take part in Kaun Banega Crorepati? Worse, still you don't have the Dus Ka Dum option, nor have you been able to become Paanchwi Paas Se Tez yet. No need to lose heart over such things. You can still become a millionaire. All you need is lots of patience and the willingness to save constantly, without giving it a break.

Tell me the worth of Rs 100, at 10 per cent interest, after 150 years. Is it in thousands, lakhs...? Nah! That's Rs 16 crore! And the same amount would grow to Rs 1899 crore after 200 years. No, that is no magic, but simply the power of compounding, described as the eight wonder of the world by Albert Einstein himself. Imagine someone in your family might have left Rs 100 in a bank account 200 years ago. You would already have become a billionaire today! Simple.

Still unimpressed? Because you don't have the patience to wait for such a long period? Then try some other ways and avenues. You may get the desired result even within 3 to 10 years, depending on the kind of investment and the risk involved.

Says Ashish Kapur, CEO, Invest Shoppe India Ltd, "We believe the best way of making money, if you were to start with an empty kitty, is to make investment regularly in a disciplined manner. And when it comes to regular investing, there is nothing to beat SIP."

Thus, an extremely conservative person can easily look forward to an 8 per cent return compounded monthly and make a crore by investing Rs 1.37 lakh every month for five years.

If you are unable to make that kind of investment, then you can safely decrease the investment amount by increasing the period. For instance, if you save just Rs 5,000 every month and invest it in an absolutely safe instrument, which gives 8 per cent return compounded annually, you will amass over Rs 1 crore in 35 years alone.

However, if you are also willing to take risk for higher returns, then only the sky is the limit.

Says Amit Sarup, director, Religare Venture Capital Ltd, "There are various investment options which can increase the investor's wealth multifold over a time span. At the safest end of the spectrum are relatively risk-free investments such as National Savings Certificates, fixed deposits, debt mutual funds etc. which in current scenario can give a return of approximately 8-9 per cent pa and can double your money over a period of 8 to 9 years. However, one can opt for a high risk investment and venture into equities to get a much higher return in a shorter time-frame."

One needs to understand, however, that equity markets are very volatile and can also result in capital getting eroded in case of negative movements in equity markets. For an individual one of the best ways to invest into equities is by investing via the mutual funds route. In the past couple of years, the returns have been phenomenal with average returns being up to as high as 40 to 50 per cent per annum. However, even if one looks at the performance over much longer periods, there are many schemes which have given an annual return between 25 and 30 per cent.

Forex futures hits Indian bourses

Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), a unit of Financial Technologies, has received an in-principle approval to offer currency futures trading by a newly set up unit

MCX has received an approval for its unit, MCX Stock Exchange Ltd, which had applied for currency derivatives and it will start offering membership from Tuesday.The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will introduce trading in rupee futures from Friday after the central bank set market guidelines and said bourses recognised by SEBI could seek the regulator's approval to offer exchange-traded currency futures.

MCX is governed by the Forward Market Commission (FMC) and it had to set up a separate unit, which will be regulated by SEBI, to offer currency futures trading. The Bombay Stock Exchange is waiting for the final go-ahead to start currency futures trading after it got an in-principal approval earlier this month.

The National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India, the country's third-largest commodity exchange, also plans to launch currency derivatives. MCX is the biggest among 22 Indian commodity bourses in terms of turnover, with a 75 percent share.

It was valued at $1.1 billion last year when Citigroup and Merrill Lynch each bought 5 percent stakes in bourse promoted by Financial Technologies. In February NYSE Euronest, the parent of New York Stock Exchange, agreed to buy 5 percent stake in MCX.

Online Forex Trading Rules

There are 10 major reasons why the currency market is a great place to trade:

1. You can trade to any style - strategies can be built on five-minute charts, hourly charts ,daily charts or even weekly charts.
2. There is a massive amount of information - charts, real-time news, top level research - all available for free.
3. All key information is public and disseminated instantly.
4. You can collect interest on trades on a daily or even hourly basis.
5. Lot sizes can be customized, meaning that you can trade with as little as $500 dollars at nearly the same execution costs as accounts that trade $500 million.
6. Customizable leverage allows you to be as conservative or as aggressive as you like (cash on cash or 100:1 margin).
7. No commission means that every win or loss is cleanly accounted for in the P&L.
8. You can trade 24 hours a day with ample liquidity ($20 million up)
9. There is no discrimination between going short or long (no uptick rule).
10. You can't lose more capital than you put in (automatic margin call)

The 10 Rules
1. Never Let a Winner Turn Into a Loser
2. Logic Wins, Impulse Kills
3. Never Risk More Than 2% per Trade
4. Trigger Fundamentally, Enter and Exit Technically
5. Always Pair Strong With Weak
6. Being Right but Being Early Simply Means That You Are Wrong
7. Know the Difference Between Scaling In and Adding to a Loser
8. What is Mathematically Optimal Is Psychologically Impossible
9. Risk Can Be Predetermined, but Reward Is Unpredictable
10. No Excuses, Ever

Trading is an art rather than a science. Therefore, no rule in trading is ever absolute (except the one about always using stops!) Nevertheless, these 10 rules work well across a variety of market environments, and will help to keep you grounded - and out of harm's way.

Online Trading : Trip to Trader Town

The act of placing buy/sell orders for financial securities and/or currencies with the use of a brokerage's internet-based proprietary trading platforms. The use of online trading increased dramatically in the mid- to late-'90s with the introduction of affordable high-speed computers and internet connections.

Stocks, bonds, options, futures and currencies can all be traded online.

Investopedia Says:
The use of online trades has increased the number of discount brokerages because internet trading allows many brokers to further cut costs and part of the savings can be past on to customers in the form of lower commissions.

Another benefit of online trading is the improvement in the speed of which transactions can be executed and settled, because there is no need for paper-based documents to be copied, filed and entered into an electronic format.
While it might seem like high-tech fun to the casual observer, trading is a lonely ordeal. Not only does the professional trader need to have extreme discipline, experience, and an attitude that doesn't dwell on the money but sees trading as a game; he or she must also spend at least six hours a day in isolation with only the sound of whirring computers punctuated by the occasional audible signal. However, thanks to the development of the online trader's chatroom, trading in seclusion may no longer be a necessary ingredient for success. Here we look at how the trader's online chatroom not only connects traders but also can help their efficiency and profitability.


Technological Companion

Hotcomm technology allows those who are sitting at computer screens and hooked up to a broadband connection to communicate with other traders and share ideas, indicators, strategies, and observations on an ongoing basis. They can even alert fellow traders of trade signals that have fired.

Participants can also share their favorite charts as well as data and research gleaned from their favorite sources. Conversations between those in the virtual room can be typed or spoken over a microphone. It allows all to pool their senses and resources so that, in effect, the combined effort of many becomes greater than the sum of the parts. It is the ideal tool for training and ongoing education.

The brainchild of 1st Works Corporation, a Boston company formed in 2000, HotComm is a real-time multimedia desktop platform for secure communication and content delivery among groups of users. Other services include interactive messaging, voice-over Internet protocol (VOIP), full motion video and content delivery, group navigation, shared applications, and remote control on demand.

Trading in Numbers
Trading rooms are virtual online meeting places that allow both presenters and guests from around the world to interface online and exchange ideas and information. As of September 2004, HotComm programs were in use by over 6,000 customers in more than 60 countries accessing a total of more than 100 rooms every day. Some of the larger rooms hold as many as 700 users daily, according to Director Kevin Driscoll of 1st Works Corp.

Driscoll, having been with Hotcomm since its inception, says that while the Hotcomm application is not limited to traders, it was specifically designed with the needs of the trader in mind.

"Initially we did not really have a target market, but traders adopted us since the application was able to achieve all or at least most of the functions that they required. Their input has helped shape the products that we offer today. Our applications have since evolved into a series of programs with functionality that also appeal to a wide variety of corporations and distance learning institutions, the latter as exemplified by The Technical University of Denmark."

Connecting with Experts
Woodie's CCI Club, the most popular Hotcomm trader chatroom, is a great example of what the power of the Internet and technology has done for the business of trading. Founded by Ken Wood, or "Woodie" to those who regularly populate his trade room, the chatroom is occupied 24 hours a day by traders from around the world trading every market from the Hang Seng Exchange in Hong Kong to the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).

Figure 1 – HotComm chatroom window of Woodies CCI Club. There were 629 traders in the room when the author checked in. Chart provided by Hotcomm.com

Even if the markets they trade are vastly different, all who occupy the CCI Club share a common trait: they all use Donald Lambert's Commodity Channel Index with a twist. The twist consists of a unique way of reading the CCI that Wood has developed. Using terms like "ghosts," "shamus," "zero line rejects," and "trendline breaks," traders enter and exit trades seemingly like magic--at least to those not familiar with Wood's techniques. The rate at which his room has grown is clear proof of this technique's success.

Figure 2 – Woodie's CCI indicator on a three-minute chart of the S&P 500 emini (ES). Chart provided by Tradestation.com

A trader and regular CCI Club attendee uses Woodie's CCI signals to trade a variety of commodities, taking CCI signals using one contract. According to Wood, the account accumulated $100,000 in profits 17 weeks after initiation. It was set up to show what was possible using the CCI as an indicator to trade commodities.

By giving daily online commentary and regular free online seminars, some of which have been sponsored by the Chicago Board of Trade, Ken Wood is a model pioneer of the possibilities of chatrooms, helping thousands of other traders learn to survive this uncompromising business. (All he asks in return is that those who learn something support his favorite charity, the Make-A-Wish Foundation.)

Another long-time and very successful example of how chatrooms provide an educational resource to traders is Nexgen Software Systems (of which this author has been a regular attendee). In a series of Hotcomm chatrooms, owners John and Melinda Novak have helped educate 50 to 80 traders per day on the benefits of using automated Fibonacci levels and other indicators. (For more on the Novak's Fibonacci-based trading techniques, please see "High-Tech Fibonacci" and "Trading Fib Confluence – As Easy as ABC.")

Figure 3 – Our three-minute S&P 500 emini chart using Nexgen confluence zones (red and blue horizontal lines) and ABC indicator. Lower window is a MACD indicator modified by Nexgen. Chart provided by Tradestation.com Indicators by Nexgen Software Systems.

Novak is the regular moderator and educator handling questions about everything from software to the intricacies of interpreting various Fibonacci or ABC signals. The Nexgen rooms have demonstrated that traders using the online chatroom can find not only others wishing to learn, but also experienced traders who have insight into particular techniques and who enjoy having a number of eyes and ears on the market. They also help provide valuable views into where prices may be headed.

Traders Reaching Out
When a greater number of traders and investors join the markets, volatility increases across all equity and commodity classes. Where there is increased volatility, there is increased risk but also greater opportunity for profit. In an environment of ever-increasing competition and complexity, it becomes crucial that traders have the tools necessary to not only survive, but thrive in the trading game. One brain and a pair of eyes and ears are fine, but there is little doubt that there is strength in numbers. This extends from the initial learning phase right through to the expert professional level.

Chatrooms allow users to learn from experts located anywhere in the world, without leaving the comfort and convenience of their own trading rooms. These virtual meeting rooms also allow professionals in all aspects of the trading game to share ideas, charts, research, and market reconnaissance in the blink of an eye.

This new way of trading can help increase efficiency and profitability, and if you are not a committed hermit, you'll find it's a whole lot more fun to boot!

U.S. faces threat from cyber attacks

Don't duck yet, but experts are predicting the next large-scale military or terrorist attack on the United States may be a cyber attack. Experts say last week's attack on the former Soviet republic of Georgia was preceded by an Internet assault that overwhelmed the Georgian government. And these security experts say a cyber attack could be just as devastating to the U.S. economy and infrastructure as a deadly bomb.

"Nobody's come up with a way to prevent this from happening, even here in the U.S.," said Tom Burling, acting chief executive of Tulip Systems, an Atlanta web-hosting firm that volunteered its Internet servers to protect the nation of Georgia's websites from malicious traffic.

"The U.S. is probably more Internet-dependent than any place in the world," Burling continued. "So to that extent, we're more vulnerable than any place in the world to this kind of attack. So much of what we're doing [in the United States] is out there on the Internet, and all of that can be taken down at once."

Check out more on this at cnn.com

Apple's iPhone in the enterprise

It certainly came as a bit of a surprise when Apple announced that it had licensed Activesync from Microsoft and was bringing full Exchange Server support to the iPhone. After all, Apple had marketed the device almost exclusively to consumers since its release and had ignored repeated requests from users for corporate email support. So why now? And does the iPhone really stand a chance against entrenched enterprise players like Microsoft, RIM and Palm?

Whether or not [the iPhone] will be picked up as a strong enterprise class device remains to be seen. Whether it will become a force in enterprise messaging like Windows Mobile also remains to be seen. Windows Mobile still has the fullest implementation of Activesnyc on the market but that isn’t going to keep us from licensing that technology to other device manufacturers. I think that this really says a lot about Microsoft’s commitment to standards. We obviously feel that Windows Mobile is a premium enterprise experience but if people want to experience Exchange on another device then we want to give them that choice. When you’re a company as big as Microsoft, you’re invariably going to have people who are your partner in some areas and a competitor in others. I think that’s a healthy environment—that’s just good capitalism.

One of the things that’s very important about Activesync, from an admin perspective, is the ability for the admin to make the final decision. We’ve built in controls for admins in Microsoft Exchange 2007 SP1 to give people really granular control—admins can make the choice for which devices they’re going to allow and what policies they want to be respected. An IT department can decide that if a device doesn’t support certain policies, it won’t be allowed to sync. On the software side, we make sure that admins have full control of their network and what devices attach to it.

Outsourcing on the rise

A new study by the Hackett Group projects that companies will increase their use of offshore resources by 50 percent in the next three years while cutting costs by up to half through the use of cheaper overseas labor. "We were surprised with the speed and increase of companies moving forward with this," said Michel Janssen, chief research officer at Hackett.

Technology Partners International, another consultant, predicted that 2008 could be a record year for offshoring contracts. It said contracts awarded in the first six months were worth more than at any time in the last three-and-a-half years, and the volume is projected to grow by 10 percent to $87.4 billion.

Gartner, a technology research firm, said India remains the top offshore location, but China, Russia and Brazil are gaining ground. Gartner predicted that offshore spending by American firms will grow by 40 percent in 2008 and that European firms will increase spending by 60 percent.

Credit crunch to lead to more outsourcing

We've been talking for years about how more financial services firms are outsourcing more knowledge-oriented work abroad. Junior level research and analysis started getting offshored a few years ago. The New York Times notes that the trickle has now become a flood. Top outsourcing firms in India are seeing a healthy bump in business, apparently. The paper notes Morgan Stanley has about 500 people in India doing research and statistical analysis. About 100 of GSachs' 3,000 employees in Bangalore work on research. JPMorgan has 200 analysts in Mumbai working for its investment banking operations. Another 125 analysts in Mumbai support the bank's global research division. Citigroup has no fewer than 22,000 employees in India, a few hundred of which work on research. So what does this mean for kids aspiring to junior level analysis jobs? By one estimate, 40 percent of research-related jobs on Wall Street will be sent abroad

Can Web 2.0 transform relationships with business clients?

I think it's fair to say that most banks have invested more in the "online experience" of their retail customer sites than in their wholesale customer sites. But that could change as more corporate users demand more web functionality, especially when it comes to cash management and basic transactions. Celent took a look at Web 2.0 and bank sites, and found few really compelling applications. But Celent is convinced that over the next three years, we'll see a dramatic shift. What will likely kick start the process is a better interface; that is, a souped-up dashboard. This will have to be functionality rich, Web 2.0-driven and intuitive, making clear all services available. Wells Fargo was singled out for its effort. What strikes me most is the incredible opportunity here. Bottom line: Banks face some tough build or buy decisions. Plenty of vendors are out there, but few have captivated the market. My advice would be to remain modular if you can. You don't want to have to start completely over if you miss on the first swing.

iPhone to make Wall Street inroads?

Can the iPhone supplant the Blackberry as the info-drug of choice on Wall Street? Knocking off the Crackberry seemed impossible not too long ago, but Apple has upgraded the enterprise capabilities of the new iPhone 3G, and we are already seeing some more interesting applications emerge. Wall Street & Technology reports Lab49 has developed a real-time portfolio management tool, offering analytics and monitoring. It does not, as of now, offer any actual trading functionality. Hedge fund managers may like what they see and decide they've just got to have it. If demand swells we'll see even more robust apps emerge. Hedge funds will likely determine the adoption rate--and the "cool" factor. Third-party development will determine the race on Wall Street.

Apple iPhone leaves users wanting more

From the moment Apple announced its iPhone at Macworld 2007, the tech world hasn't stopped asking questions. Because Apple has kept many iPhone details under wraps until very recently, we've been forced to speculate. Until now. Is the iPhone pretty? Absolutely. Is it easy to use? Certainly. Does it live up to the stratospheric hype? Not so much.

Don't get us wrong, the iPhone is a lovely device with a sleek interface, top-notch music and video features, and innovative design touches. The touch screen is easier to use than we expected, and the multimedia performs well. But a host of missing features, a dependency on a sluggish EDGE network, and variable call quality -- it is a phone after all -- left us wanting more.

For those reasons, the iPhone is noteworthy not for what it does, but how it does it. If you want an iPhone badly, you probably already have one. But because you'll have to sign an iPhone-specific two-year contract with AT&T to get an iPhone and shell out $499 (4GB) or $599 (8GB), we suggest you wait until the phone comes down in price and the network improves. Hopefully, both will happen soon.

On with the review: the iPhone boasts a brilliant display, trim profile, and clean lines (no external antenna of course), and its lack of buttons puts it in a design class that even the LG Prada and the HTC Touch can't match. You'll win envious looks on the street toting the iPhone, and we're sure that would be true even if the phone hadn't received as much media attention as it has.

Researchers develop next-generation antivirus system

Antivirus software on your personal computer could become a thing of the past thanks to a new "cloud computing" approach to malicious software detection developed at the University of Michigan.

Cloud computing refers to applications and services provided seamlessly on the Internet.

Traditional antivirus software is installed on millions of individual computers around the world but according to researchers, antivirus software from popular vendors is increasingly ineffective. The researchers observed malware—malicious software—detection rates as low as 35 percent against the most recent threats and an average window of vulnerability exceeding 48 days. That means new threats went undetected for an average of seven weeks. The computer scientists also found severe vulnerabilities in the antivirus engines themselves.

To develop this novel approach, the researchers evaluated 12 traditional antivirus software programs against 7,220 malware samples, including viruses, collected over a year. The vendors tested were: Avast, AVG, BitDefender, ClamAV, CWSandbox, F-Prot, F-Secure, Kaspersky, McAfee, Norman Sandbox, Symantec and Trend Micro.

Traditional antivirus software that resides on a personal computer checks documents and programs as they are accessed. Because of performance constraints and program incompatibilities, only one antivirus detector is typically used at a time.

CloudAV, however, can support a large number of malicious software detectors that act in parallel to analyze a single incoming file. Each detector operates in its own virtual machine, so the technical incompatibilities and security issues are resolved

The researchers' new approach, called CloudAV, moves antivirus functionality into the "network cloud" and off personal computers. CloudAV analyzes suspicious files using multiple antivirus and behavioral detection programs simultaneously.

How Can Antivirus Software Keep My Data Safe?

It’s getting harder everyday to protect your data from the dangers posed by computer viruses. These malicious programs have evolved into multiple forms that can be contracted through a variety of avenues, including opening email attachments, opening spam or by visiting corrupt websites.

Fortunately, just as viruses have grown in strength and complexity over the years, so also have the tools used to combat them. With the latest generation of antivirus software, you can give your computer a level of protection never before possible.

Today’s best antivirus software come with multiple virus scans, allowing you to schedule scans in advance, giving you access to a variety of location-specific scans and even real-time scanning, which scan your computer every few minutes for viruses—stopping them before they can do damage.

Since new viruses are being created everyday, the most effective antivirus programs offers convenient virus updates. Most antivirus software offers automatic updates, which regularly and automatically check back with the manufacturer for information on new viruses, providing you the highest level of protection at all times.

What to Look for in Anti-Virus Software

Top anti-virus software should be easy enough for a computer novice to both use and install. The software should effectively seek out and identify virus threats, as well as clean or isolate infected files. There should be understandable reporting available for each scan and plenty of help support available, so you can be well informed of the software’s activities and capabilities.

• Ease of Use –Exceptional anti-virus software is simple to use, regardless of a person’s computer experience or knowledge of viruses.
• Effective at Identifying Viruses and Worms – The best anti-virus products identify infected files quickly through real-time scanning, searching for viruses in a multitude of sources, including email, instant message applications, web browsing and so on.
• Effective at Cleaning or Isolating Infected Files –Truly capable anti-virus software thoroughly cleans, deletes or quarantines infected files—keeping them from spreading throughout the hard drive or network.
• Activity Reporting – Anti-virus programs should give immediate notification of viruses found by real-time scanners and should provide an easy-to-read report of scan results, including what it found and what it did with infected files.
• Feature Set – A well-rounded feature set allows anti-virus software to provide absolute protection. The best programs are those that offer a wide variety of tools, from basic real-time scanning to more advanced; when it comes to virus protection, the more options the better.
• Ease of Installation and Setup – Anti-virus programs should be a breeze to install, making it easy to go from installation to initial scan in just a couple clicks of the mouse.
• Help Documentation – High-end anti-virus software comes with plenty of help, including support via email, online chat or over the telephone. There should also be online resources, such as knowledge bases and FAQs available for quick and convenient help.

No matter how serious a computer virus is or how quickly it's passed around, with today’s anti-virus software, you’ll always have a cure.

PROGRAMMING FOR KIDS

Boku is a video game which is basically aimed at creating the computer programmers of tomorrow.

Visual cue card for instructing the robot

Principal programme manager Matt MacLaurin, a father of a three and three-quarter year-old daughter, designed Boku "as a tool so that kids can make their own games".

"Its secretly a tool to teach kids what programming is like without getting too bogged down in the detail," he said.

The technology lets users guide or program the behaviour of a virtual robot through the use of visual cue cards in the game to perform simple tasks like eating an apple or following another character.

Mr MacLaurin says Boku's marriage of creativity and education is a clever way to hook children into this world.

He noted that girls took just two hours to become completely conversant with Boku while he fudged on how long the boys took.

Mr MacLaurin says Boku, aimed at nine to 11 year olds, will be on sale from the beginning of next year for the X-Box.

BOTNET DETECTION

Botnets are computers that have been taken over by someone else and are beyond the user's control. They are often used to send spam and steal passwords, credit card numbers and personal information. Such attacks are regarded as a billion-dollar shadow industry.

Yinglian Xie and Fang Yu decided to do some research into the field after noticing that Microsoft's Hotmail facility was a popular target of large scale botnet attacks.

View of dynamic IP addresses throughout the world

The team developed a series of techniques for automatically detecting computer servers, or dynamic IP addresses, that send spam by focusing on addresses which change frequently.

Ms Xie says "A normal mail server will want not only to send e-mails but also to receive them so they want a relatively stable IP address. They normally won't use a highly dynamic IP address."

She says: "96% of mail servers on dynamic IP addresses actually send nothing but spam, this knowledge was not much exposed before."

They both hope that eventually their research will be incorporated into Microsoft's Hotmail e-mail service.

LASERTOUCH

The virtual world and the real world mesh with LaserTouch, billed as an inexpensive multi-touch sensing platform.

It's the brainchild of computer vision specialist Andy Wilson, who says "the magic is the software" and that he invented it "for fun".

"I am not making any heavy statements about this," he said.

Surface computers will be pervasive

He doesn't need to. Chairman Bill Gates did that at a recent CEO summit in Redmond with a giant touch wall powered by Mr Wilson's software.

Mr Gates said he wanted to turn nearly everything we touch into a computer and that surface computers "will be absolutely pervasive. In the individual's office, home, the living room."

Mr Wilson's laser touch unit uses a series of lasers, an overhead camera and a 2600 pixel-wide display surface. The mouse is consigned to the dustbin as LaserTouch relies on people using their hands to interact with the computer.

E-SCIENCE IN THE CLOUD

Microsoft's E-Science group works with scientists as a kind of middle-man to "develop tools to help them do their science better and enable progress to happen quicker".

Three projects were on display. One covering water quality, another concerning the Russian River in California and the third on collecting carbon data.

In the carbon project known as Fluxdata, a group of 400 scientists from across the world are looking at how vegetation is being affected by carbon emissions.

In the past they might well have worked in isolation and only exchanged information via email assuming they would know who else was conducting complementary research.

Yogesh Simmhan says: "Now what Microsoft does is take the 400 different sites where the data is being gathered and pull that data into the cloud, the back end."

He added: "The information becomes much more powerful when these scientists from around the world can actually correlate data and not just look at their own work. Proof that it's no longer possible to do science without doing computing."

TABLET PC

The mouse is history. Long live the pen, as far as InkSeine is concerned.

This is an interface for tablet computers and works as a digital notebook that users can write on using an electronic pen.

Raman Sarin says "We've thrown away a lot of the standard windows controls and developed controls that work better with a pen."

The mouse is dead, long live the electronic pen

Instead of scroll bars you make a circular motion to scroll. Instead of drop down bars, which Mr Sarin says he hates, there is a radial or marking menu you access by circling your pen.

When it comes to using the search application, Mr Sarin says the pen makes it easier than using the mouse to drag any image, email or web page into your notes.

He says over 6,000 people have already downloaded Inkseine and that he is overwhelmed by the positive feedback because it is at odds with the "Microsoft bashing" he normally gets.

OTHER RESEARCH

Other projects on display during the road show included PINQ the company's Privacy Integrated Queries, aimed at enabling queries on data while protecting certain information, such as a person's health history.

DryadLINQ is concerned with making it easier to do large-scale data parallel computing.

Images from the virtual WorldWide Telescope

Also highlighted, and reported on by the BBC in past stories, was the WorldWide Telescope, combining imagery from space-based telescopes with internet data.

Bilingual Built-ins that Break Language Barriers features applications to get rid of barriers to worldwide communication. This online service is at the incubation stage and can be seen at Translator.live.com

The Berkeley Emulation Engine, or BEE3, is aimed at researching advances in computer architecture.

Automatic Mutual Exclusion was devised to assist programmers programming for multiple CPUs, or central processing units.

The Keyboard Generation and Query Classification research focuses on developing technology to show keywords to advertisers.

Microsoft working on Windows replacement

Microsoft has kicked off a research project to create software that will take over when it retires Windows.

Indisputably the dominant computing platform of choice, the Windows Operating System looks set to remain that way for many more years to come. Microsoft is certainly not content to take things sitting down though. Already, its own research lab is cooking up a new operating system that is nothing less than a radical departure from the current paradigm. Called Midori, it does away with dependencies tying Windows to a single PC, with a design that centers on the Internet. Many believe that the idea behind Midori is to create a lightweight operating system that can easily be mated to serve as a portable host for compartmentalized applications.

Although Midori has been heard about before now, more details have now been published by Software Development Times after viewing internal Microsoft documents describing the technology.

Midori is believed to be under development because Windows is unlikely to be able to cope with the pace of change in future technology and the way people use it. Midori is widely seen as an ambitious attempt by Microsoft to catch up on the work on virtualisation being undertaken in the wider computer industry.

Innovation is vital to the future survival of Microsoft !

Revelries pushed America to recession. Is there anything in stored for future gen?

It has increasingly started to become clear that America is slipping into recession. With the sub prime crisis hitting one of the largest investment bank Bear Stern causing it to file bankruptcy followed by IndyMac Bancorp Inc, Fannei Mae and Fredie Mac..or in short FULL MAAZA , it seemed clear that there was more to follow them. Inspite of this mortage gaints FMs not backed by goverment, they are implicitly assumed by everyone to enjoy government support and this has cause they to behave reckless playing with the hard earned money of Americans. Just after few months, investment bank dealing with this rather complicated products formed out of mortgages given to sub prime customer, started revealing this losses which they could have carried on as MTM (mark to market).

But what is surprising in this predecided mortgage games is how the FED has tacked. It started offering huge stimulus,just an exaggeration infact the crisis is so huge that not even US reserves could compensate it completely, to gain the faith of investors and the innocent tax payer in the economy. During the past quarter-century, the world's most powerful economy has suffered only two official downturns, in 1990-91 and 2001. Both were short and shallow. In 2001 consumer spending barely skipped a beat; a decade earlier it fell, but only briefly. Buoyed up by rising asset prices and financial innovations that allowed ever more people to tap ever more debt, the collective American wallet has not snapped shut in almost two decades. The proportion of debt far exceeded the income, causing the numbers in the debt to income ratio look other way round.

This recession we are now entering is a result of bad attitudes and behavior. It seemed like just about everybody became entitled to everything.Nuts gobbled up resources like there was no tomorrow. Americans brought big cars and big houses that they did not need and ,if needed, debt surpassed their income . This was all due to lax banking policies and unrestrained green paper. Attitudes that came mainly from the right wing, however the left has more than its share of the blame stated I want it, give it to me now and to you know where if anybody gets in my way. Also, they stated that I do not have to pay for it, let others pay for my Hummers and SUV’s. The money they borrowed from this came from overseas and future generation of Americans will be poorer while trying to pay off his/her unpaid for luxury. The current account deficit will never be paid off . Taxes will be high, and the era of tax cuts will be long distant memory.

This when compared to China is completely contradictory. Chinese govement is acting smart. They believe in conversing resources in which ever form it is. America is inefficient and Americans grossly inefficient and that is why today jobs are being outsourced Offshore. American Companies were so stupid when they first launched their Products in India(They used per capita American Consumption Patterns to base their future Market Potential in India). FYI..India's per capita income is just $500 as compared to $40000 of America. America's use of energy and food- it is grossly inefficient and a colossal global waste.Majority of the Americans are grossly over weight and it brings along health problems. America is on a negative feeding cycle based on one bad inefficient practise leading to another.

Wanna make googol out of Adsense

Google Adsense is a great PPC or Pay Per Click Program that any web publisher can use to earn huge money from their website. There is minimal investment to start earning.AdSense Ad Design is one of the key factor in the performance of AdSense ads.Similarly, changing the positioning and numbers of ads would show significant changes in AdSense earnings at different times.

AdSense give quite a bit of control over how text ads can display on your site. You can change the color of a number of elements in ad units by changing the ‘color palettes’ that you choose.

As you can see above in the ‘default’ color palette there is the option to change the color of ad borders, the title, background, text and URL. There are rumors floating around at the moment that we might have more control over the font of ads too in the future

Unfortunately there’s not a single color palette that works best on every blog. As with everything - testing different color schemes is the only way to work out what works best for you.

Contrasting AdSense Ads

When I first started experimenting with AdSense I tried do everything possible to make the ads be seen. The theory is that if people see the ads they’ll be more likely to click them.

The result was some of the most horrendous color combinations that you’ll ever see put together in an AdSense unit.

I’m not sure why anyone would select this kind of combination but it was commonplace a few years ago. I saw a number of publishers back in that day saying that a Red/Yellow combination worked best.
The Pros of this design where that they were eye catching - the Cons were that they didn’t do a lot for creating a great first impression of your site and instead may cause headache after seeing such "Click me" kind of ads,

So Which AdSense Ad Design is Best?

The choice of which AdSense ad design to choose for your blog is a decision that you need to weigh up on a number of fronts including:

* Performance - test different designs to see which converts best in terms of click through rate
* Aesthetics - each of us have a different preference on what does and doesn’t look good and on how willing we are to allow ads that ’stick out’ a little.
* Other Competing Design Elements - if your blog’s design is ‘busy’ and has a lot of competing points of visual interest for readers you might need to increase the ‘loudness’ of the ads in order to compete.

When it comes down to purely financial considerations - the fact is that sometimes blending works best and on other occasions it can be better to go with a more contrasting approach.


In short...

Here are few adsense tricks that can help you increase you income without much investment.

Adsense Trick -1 : Check you Keyword density
Check the keyword density of your page, this will help you forecasting of ads that will be displaying on your pages. You can also adjust you pages to target particular type of ads.

Adsense Trick -2 : Update you page to target towards some ads
You can also update you page content to target some keywords.

Adsense Trick -3 : Build theme based content for better result
Make the pages of the related topic, you can use the keyword suggestion tools to achieve this.

Adsense Trick -4 : Increase you web site page count
You should write one or more pages per day to increase number of pages on you website. When you create more quality content you will start getting more visits to you web site and your income will keep on increasing.

Adsense Trick -5 : Use the best adsense ads format on your web site
Research on the ads format and then display the best ads on your pages.

Adsense Trick -6 : Use the right color combination for your ads
Use the ads color matching with your page theme.

Higher studies - A Vantage point

So you wanna take the big leap?

A successful entry into a U.S. based M.S. needs a lot of meticulous planning in advance. This information is primarily meant for engineering graduates. If you have decided to do an M.S. after your B.E., you should start preparing right from the second year. A typical schedule would look like this:

Second year of B.E.

- Have a passport ready or apply for one

- Gather enough study material and information on GRE, TOEFL etc.

- Start preparing from the fourth semester itself.

Third year of B.E.

- Book your GRE, TOEFL dates sometime during July with the TOEFL date lagging GRE by a week.

- Decide on the program (area of interest) and the universities based on various factors.

- Take your GRE and TOEFL between your sixth and seventh semester.

Final year of B.E.

- Based on your GRE and TOEFL scores, start applying to your chosen universities by December (after your seventh semester).

- After you receive admits, decide which university you are going to join.

- After you receive your I-20, get all other documents ready. Also block your airline ticket through a travel agent.

- This is also the time for applying for an educational loan or scholarship.

Post B.E.

- Book for a visa date sometime during June (before the last week).

- Keep your fingers crossed!

- After getting the visa, get other materials ready.

Depending on which stage you are currently in, you may choose to go to the pre-apping, post-apping or post-visa sections or if you are just starting out to explore the world of apping, just read through the entire stuff! You are in for a big lecture!

Pre-apping stage

The basics of it all

The way to continuing your higher studies in the U.S. can be a long-drawn and exasperating affair. It takes a lot of patience and meticulous planning to establish yourself where you wish to be. Before you jump headlong into this document, let me introduce you to some of the unfamiliar terms you will often come across in peer circles, official correspondence, websites etc.

Term


Meaning

Apping


Short form for 'applying'. Refers to applying to universities

School


May variably refer to department, office or college

Standardised tests


Refers to tests like GRE, TOEFL etc.

CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) - up to the current semester


A grading system analogous to the percentage system adopted in Indian universities. The maximum is 4.00 in most U.S. universities (similar to 100% in our universities)

Major


Denotes the area of specialisation you intend to pursue

Admit


An offer of admission from a university
Undergraduate degree Bachelor's degree
Graduate degree Master's degree or PhD

U.S. universities work different from their Indian counterparts. When you make an application to an university, you must send the original application to the Graduate School (the American equivalent of the university administrative office) along with requisite application material and a copy of the same to your department along with the application material that have been asked of you by the department. A few weeks after you receive an admit (usually you will first be intimated by e-mail and then by an official letter; you may or may not be intimated of grant of aid in this letter), you will receive a form called I-20 (this is the document which signifies the official statement of your admission to the visa authorities) which you must fill in during the time of visa application. Keep this document safely and produce it when you appear for the visa interview.

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GRE and TOEFL

Preparing for the GRE/TOEFL

It takes quite some time for preparing well for the GRE. Usually, six months' time is enough for most people (in case you wish to prepare systematically and gradually) but you should allocate at least 45 days as a minimum for the GRE. The GRE has three sections:

Verbal (this includes multiple choice questions (MCQ) on antonyms, relationships, logic and reading comprehension)

Quantitative (the easiest of 'em all, this should be a real pushover for any engineering student. Has MCQs on various topics like algebra, arithmetic etc.)

Analytical (starting Oct. 2002, this section has two questions which must be answered. The answers must be in essay form)

Each section takes at least 15 days preparation which is why 45 days in the minimum for GRE as a whole. Of course, all this is assuming you have the requisite skills - vocabulary, logic, essay-writing, mathematical etc. The duration mentioned is only for practice and not for learning these skills!

Quite a lot of books are available for the GRE. Not all books are up to the mark, so you should choose the right book for preparation. Further, you should also practice mock GRE computer tests which would give you a fair idea of where you stand. You may follow these books for preparing for the GRE:

Barron's guide to the GRE (the bible for GRE aspirants)

Peterson's guide to the GRE

Kaplan's testprep for the GRE

Arco's study guide (though not a very good book, contains a lot of practice tests)

Word Power by Norman Lewis (useful for etymological guesswork)

Rosenberg's book on vocabulary (I don't exactly remember what the title was)

The GRE Big book (there is actually no such book but its the informal name given to a compilation of GRE question papers over a period of some 20 years. Very good for practice. In Chennai, it is available in the xerox shop near Mandakini (?) hostel)

There are many more books but these books would by themselves take quite some time to finish. So, I guess this would be enough. However, if you have an appetite for more such testprep books, visit the nearest bookshop!

As far as the TOEFL is concerned, a week's preparation would be enough for most people. At most two weeks would be enough for just about anybody. The TOEFL is composed of the following sections:

Listening (dialogues spoken by voices in an American accent will be heard and questions will be asked after the end of the speech)

Reading (passages will be displayed based on which questions will be asked; easier than the corresponding questions in the GRE)

Structure/Writing (the structure part contains questions on identifying grammatical mistakes in sentences; the writing part consists of writing a 250-word essay on a given topic)

You need not worry much for the TOEFL. A week's gap after the GRE would be enough. No books are needed for preparing for TOEFL but it would certainly help preparing using the PowerPrep for TOEFL (unlike the GRE, this software is NOT given free by the ETS).

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Taking the GRE/TOEFL

Most universities in the U.S. require that prospective students take GRE and/or TOEFL for admission. Most universities have a certain cutoff for TOEFL. Often it is pegged at 213 or so. As far as GRE is concerned, your department decides what the minimum allowable score is.

Booking dates for GRE/TOEFL is fairly simple. You can book online at http://www.gre.org/ and http://www.toefl.org/ or by phone. However, you must call Prometric services (the authorised agents of ETS - the agency that conducts GRE and TOEFL exams) at New Delhi for booking your dates. For both of these methods you must possess a credit card (Visa/MasterCard). There is also an alternative method, you may book your GRE/TOEFL by snail mail (i.e. by normal post). Information regarding this can be found at the nearest USEFI centre. For the uninitiated, USEFI stands for the United States Educational Foundation in India. These centres are usually located in the nearest U.S. Consulate or embassy (if in N.Delhi). You can choose the centre for testing (closest to where you live).

The GRE (as also the TOEFL) is a computerised test which must be delivered at an ETS authorised centre. Usually this goes by the name Thomson Prometric/Sylvan. In Chennai, this is located in Jagannathan Road (opp. Hotel Ganpat) in the STAR Vijay building complex. The TOEFL test shows the results (except for the essay section) immediately after completion of the test. The same applies for the GRE too. With effect from October 1, 2002, the GRE includes a compulsory essay (analytical) section and hence (unlike the earlier edition of GRE) the complete results are not displayed. The official scores (for both GRE and TOEFL) are sent to you around two-three weeks after the test. During the test (both GRE and TOEFL) you have the option of reporting the test scores to a maximum of four universities. Therefore, you should have decided the universities you wish joining as this can save quite a sum. Remember, it takes $25 to report both GRE and TOEFL scores to a single university (not including the $6 if you are reporting by phone). For four universities, this comes to $100!

After taking your GRE and TOEFL, you should decide to which universities you send the test scores (other than the four you might have sent scores to during the test). You may report the scores by post or by phone. In case you wish to report by post, you can download the ASR (Additional Score Report) form from the GRE/TOEFL website. Alternatively you can make use of the form provided with the official score report packet. Each university costs you $25 for a GRE and TOEFL report. In case you wish to report using phone, you must pay an additional $6 per phone session (during each session, you may report scores for a maximum of four universities).

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Deciding on the program and universities

Before you finish the third year of your B.E., you should have decided the area(s) of interest and the universities you intend applying to. Choosing the area of interest is not much difficult as by the end of the second year you should have a fair idea of where your interest lies. For example, if you are a geoinformatics engineering student, you might be interested in remote sensing. In such a case, you might consider applying to universities which excel in this particular field. After deciding your field of interest, you should pin down the universities you wish applying to. I have formulated a scheme for choosing universities:

2/7 th of the universities should be highly-ranked (dream schools or those belonging to the so called Ivy League) and should fall within the 1-20 ranking range.

2/7 th of the universities should fall in the 21-50 range (these are called the safe schools because you know you stand a fair chance of getting into such schools)

3/7 th of the universities can be low-ranked schools (i.e. beyond rank 50)

While this is the general scheme for choosing universities, the rank ranges may change depending on each individual's capabilities. Rankings for U.S. universities can be found at http://www.usnews.com/ (nowadays it is a paid site; you won't get rankings for more than 10 schools. However, if you can find a way to get to the full rankings, it would help you decide better). Another source is the annual NRC (National Research Council) rankings. You can do a search in http://www.google.com/ for the current NRC rankings. Using both ranklists, you can get a clear idea of which university you should choose.

One word of caution: do not choose universities primarily based on the costs involved. Remember that even the cheapest U.S. universities charge fees in excess of $15,000 (more than Rs. 7,50,000) PER year and so there is no logic in omitting universities on the basis of fees. Another fact that you should understand is that the cheapest is no necessarily the best!

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Applying to the universities of your choice

Once you have finalised the universities you wish to join, you must start applying. Most universities have stopped issuing application packages after the advent of the Internet. However, you may try asking the university to send you a package. Almost all universities have downloadable application files (as pdf files) which can be printed and filled in. This is certainly preferable as it cuts down the time needed to receive the application package.

Applying involves sending documents (in addition to your filled-up application) which you need to prepare. These documents need some time for preparation and therefore, you should not sit down at the time of application for these documents. They are as follows:

Statement of Purpose (SoP)

This is a brief statement of your degree goals, why you have chosen such and such university and why you wish to take up such and such field of study. Many universities may require more information to be provided. Usually this is a one or two-page essay which is to be provided with the application. SoP is a very important factor in deciding your admission to the university and grant of financial aid. So, make sure you prepare your SoP well ahead of time so that you have enough time to get it revised, corrected and edited many times. Writing an SoP is not like writing just another essay. It requires lot of patience, time, and focus to write a successful SoP. You can download my SoPs from here (I have only included my successful SoPs ;-)). At the end of the page you can find links to some guides on writing SoPs.

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Financial statement

This arguably is one of the biggest worries of applicants to U.S. universities. "How do I show enough funds for the fees indicated?" is a question that would dog every prospective apper. Most U.S. universities charge at least Rs.7,50,000 per year as fees. For a two-year course, it would be necessary to document a minimum of Rs.15 lakhs. That is certainly an astronomical sum for most Indian families. So how do you exactly go about documenting such a huge sum. Usually, this is done by providing a bank statement to the university indicating the ability of the sponsor (this could be your father, mother, uncle etc.). If you belong to a well-to-do family or if you have such a relative, it should not be a problem for you. You only need to get a bank statement and an affidavit of support from your sponsor. Formats for both can be downloaded from here. For those who don't have the financial wherewithal or don't have any affluent relatives might consider approaching 'agents' for this purpose. Though the name 'agent' might sound scary, they are actually professional bankers who indulge in providing financial statements for a fee. Their modus operandi involves depositing a certain amount (which is decided by your university fees) in a bank account opened in your name. They retain the passbook and cheque book thus rendering any chances of pilfering from your side! They usually charge fees on a per-lakh basis. A certain agent in Chennai charges Rs.350 per lakh documented. After preparing the financial statement, the amount is withdrawn and the account closed. I definitely feel this might be unethical or maybe even illegal (I am not aware of laws that may apply here) but there are times when you should take the plunge when there is no way out. But be careful of touts and be sure you have verified the antecedents of the agent before involving yourself in any transaction.

Recommendation letters

These are letters issued by your professors indicating your competence for pursuing such and such program at such and such university. The letters are usually drafted by the professor himself and returns it to the student in a sealed envelope. However, nowadays most professors ask students to write the letter themselves and correct it before approving it. But, you should not assume this to be the norm and embarrass your professor. It is wise to be circumspect in such matters! Reco letters (as they are informally called) are 100 to 150-word letters stating in brief the professor's opinion of the student, his capabilities, and any other information that might be useful to the university in gauging the student. I have included some general templates for reco letters here. You may download them and use them for your recos. But be careful not copy it word-for-word. University officials are very careful in detecting such malpractices and so make sure you use these templates only for reference.

Transcripts

A transcript is an official statement of your marks (till the semester for which marks are available) issued by your university (please note that most U.S. universities do not accept mark statements issued by the college for applicants from India and Pakistan. The transcript must necessarily have been issued by the university only. A notable example is the Ohio State University which explicitly states in its brochure "Applicants from Pakistani or Indian universities: Submit mark sheets from your university certified as true copies of the originals. Mark sheets prepared by the college are not acceptable."). Usually, there is no strict format for a transcript - most unversities only need an attested (copy of your) marksheet; the only requirement being that the transcript should be provided in a sealed envelope.

Résumé

This is rarely needed but some universities like the University of Florida, Gainesville insist on a résumé. Hence it is better to prepared on such grounds. A sample résumé can be downloaded from here. Résumés find their true use when contacting your department professors for financial assistantships.

Sending the application

After you have finished filling your application, you can pack it in along with all other application materials (like SoP, recos etc.) in a large thick envelope. Usually, you may need to send two envelopes - one to the Graduate School and another to your department - though some universities may need you send in only one envelope. Prepare address slips (print out addresses from a PC onto slips; the font face may be chosen as Garamond and a large size may be chosen) to be pasted on the envelopes. Even if you apply online, you must send envelopes for documents like your transcripts, reco letters etc. If you have a month's time before the application deadline, you may send your envelopes by normal registered post itself. Sending them through courier or Speed Post may sound attractive but it seves no purpose as normal mail to the U.S. reaches reliably in fifteen days or so. You can save a lot of money by sending your envelopes through normal post; don't worry, the Indian postal system isn't really what it used to be. What I mean here is it is at par with most international services.

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Scholarships and loans

Banks offer educational loans up to Rs.4 lakhs without the need for a security. If you meet their criteria (this will definitely vary from bank to bank), you are eligible to apply for an educational loan. If you wish to apply for a loan amount greater than Rs.4 lakhs you would be required to show 100% security. In both cases, simple interest for the same has to be paid on a monthly basis. Most banks offer loans at 1% per month (or 12% per annum) and this interest has to be paid regularly either by your sponsor. Examples of banks offering loans are SBI, Canara, Syndicate etc. Before applying for a loan, I would recommend you see the websites of the banks you would like to apply to. That would give you a fair idea of the terms and condition of each loan. I would suggest loan applicants to try applying to different banks simultaneously for the no-security loan as you would not only get the amount you need (more than the 4 lakhs given in a single loan) but also would not need to struggle to provide security for the amount. As far as my knowledge goes, there is no legal hurdle preventing from obtaining simultaneous loans nor do the banks mention it as a disqualification for obtaining loan from them.

Obtaining an education scholarship from a charitable organisation is a bit more difficult as they subject you to a lot of questions and take a lot of time in processing your application. Therefore, give yourself a month or two for applying for a scholarship. There are many organisations which provide loan/scholarships to needy students. You need to watch out newspapers and other media for advertisements. At the bottom of the page you can find some links to a few such organisations. Given below is an address-list of a few organisations in India.

J.N.Tata Endowment

The Director,
J.N. Tata Endowment,
Bombay House,
24 Homi Modi Street,
Mumbai - 400001


K.C.Mahindra Educational Trust

The Managing Trustee,
K.C.Mahindra Education Trust,
Cecil Court,
Mahakavi Bushan Marg,
Mumbai - 400039

Mariwala Trust

The Managing Tustee,
Mariwala Charity Trust,
409 Shah and Nahar Industrial Estate,
Dr. E. Moses Rd,
Worli Naka,
Mumbai - 400018


R.D.Sethna Scholarship Fund

The Chief Executive,
R.D.Sethna Scholarship Fund,
Esplanade House,
29 Hazarimal Somani Marg,
Fort, Mumbai - 400001

Lotus Trust Scholarships

Lotus Trust,
Lotus House,
6 New Marine Lines,
Mumbai - 400020


Sir Ratan Tata Trust

Sir Ratan Tata Trust,
c/o J.N.Tata Endowment,
Bombay House,
24, Homi Modi Street,
Mumbai - 400020

Seth Pirojshah Godrej Foundation

Seth Pirojshah Godrej Foundation
Godrej Bhavan,
Waudby Road,
Fort,
Mumbai - 400001

(Go here personally)


AMM Lakshmi Achi scholarship

The Secretary
AMM Foundation
“Tiam House”
4th Floor
28 Rajaji Salai
Chennai 600 001

Naina Parikh Education Trust

Vithaldas Chambers,
Opp. State Bank,
Bruce Street,
Mumbai - 400001


TataChem Golden Jubilee Foundation

Bombay House,
24, Homi Modi Street,
Mumbai - 400020

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Post-apping stage

Getting your visa

An F-1 visa to the U.S. is fairly simple to obtain if your credentials are perfect. You stand a better chance if you have received some form of funding from the university. As of May, 2003, the U.S. Department of State requires all first-time F-1 applicants to go through a mandatory interview irrespective of whether funding has been provided by the university or not. However, don't panic. A visa interview is usually quite a simple procedure if you approach it in the way it should be. Getting a visa involves three steps:

Booking a date for the visa interview

If you live in Chennai, Kolkata or New Delhi, you can book your visa date online at http://www.ttsvisas.com/. You should book your visa date sometime during the first week of May for a date in June and beyond. Remember that during the third week of May, there would be a mad rush to book dates. So, be cautioned! Choose a date that would not only be convenient for you but when you would confident of knowing your final semester grades as also of receiving your course completion certificate. Ideally, the second or third week of June would be good for anybody. You should also keep in mind your reporting date as mentioned in the I-20. The visa interview should not be too close to the reporting date or you will not have enough time for preparing for your stay in the U.S. Likewise, it can't be too further (according to the U.S. Department of State regulations, you may not apply 90 days before your reporting date) to the reporting date.

Preparing for the interview

This involves two aspects - the monetary and the intellectual. As far as the monetary aspect is concerned, you need to show enough proof of funds for your entire stay at the U.S. (except the amount received as aid). For this, you may show a bank statement (as stated above for the application process) and/or a C.A. certificate. Additionally, you may need to show a property/jewellery certificate in case you are mortgaging your land/jewellery etc. to fund your higher studies. Refer to the above section on applying on how to obtain a bank statement etc. For the intellectual aspect, you need to prepare for the possible questions that will be asked by the visa officer. Information for both is provided in this digest. Also join some egroup which caters to the students leaving for U.S. for the Fall (or Spring) session. Do a search in http://groups.yahoo.com/ and you should be fine. Such groups have a lot of info. During my time, I was a member of the fall-2003, fall_2003, chennaifall2003 and fall2003chennai egroups which helped me a lot to prepare for my visa interview.

Attending the interview

If you have prepared well in the above steps, you should find the visa interview a breeze. However, do not be over confident. Just be yourself and answer the questions calmly and confidently. Confidence is the key here - you may sneak in a lie by answering confidently but a truthful answer will be deemed a lie if you take time to answer it. One thought for those who might find it hard suppressing the nerves: Remember that going to the U.S. and doing your M.S. in neither the only thing to do in life nor the end of the world if you don't get to do it. Just think of it as just another day in your life and the visa officer as just another stranger. Maybe the fact that he is an American might intimidate you but think like this: would you feel scared talking to an American tourist? Just think that he/she is not the deciding authority behind your future. Such thoughts would definitely boost your self-confidence, morale and pep you up!

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Post-visa stage

Once you get your visa, the first thing to do is to get your flight ticket. Take a route that is the shortest, cheapest and the most continuous. A flight to Frankfurt/London from your city in India and then onto your final destination would be the best option. This is because it is better not to get into the hands of our depraved customs officers! British Airways or Lufthansa would be a good choice but for heaven's sake please do not try flying with Air India. The money saved thus is definitely not worth the anxiety of a late/cancelled flight. Besides, these airlines are the most professionally managed in the world and would provide you a comfortable transit to the U.S. British Airways is more preferable to its German counterpart because of its alliance with American Airlines (a domestic airlines company in the U.S.) which make it unnecessary to buy two tickets in case you final destination is not directly accessible from London.

The next best thing to do is to go on a purchasing spree. Purchase goods which you might find necessary for your survival in the U.S. A detailed information booklet on what you need to do in the post-visa stage can be found here. You may also finish all such mundane stuff like getting an international licence (it's prohibitively costly to get a licence in the U.S.), getting yourself immunised (as per university requirements) etc. Do read the information in the zip file carefully.

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Links

General information on studies in the United States can be found here

"If you want to study in the United States" - U.S. Department of State

"Graduate School Admissions" - Gretchen VanEsselstyn

Comprehensive information on pre- and post-apping can be found in these websites

Appinfo - prepared by CSE students of CEG, Anna University, '99 batch

http://www.geocities.com/prashthy/

http://www.myacharya.com/

http://www.ee.iitb.ac.in/~teesa/apping/apping.html

http://members.rediff.com/duewest/apliproc.htm

Tips on writing a statement of purpose can be found here

http://career.berkeley.edu/Grad/GradStatement.stm

http://www.useic.ru/apply/appstate.htm

http://www.fulbright.co.uk/eas/postgrad/statement2.html

http://www.cps.ci.cambridge.ma.us/crls/Research%20Web%20Site/9_writing__state_of_purp.htm

http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/gcallaghan/graduate/winningstatement.htm

University rankings

NRC Rankings

http://www.gradschools.com/

Scholarships

http://www.tata.com/tata_sons/releases/20021210.htm

http://www.studentsguild.com/servlet/NFrmFinancialAidMain

http://www.gynonline.com/learning/JNTATA.htm

http://www.studentsguild.com/servlet/NFrmFinancialAidMain

http://www.educationobserver.com/scholarship/Index_Engineering_Technology.htm

http://www.orau.org/nsf/nsfglanc.htm

http://www.educationobserver.com/scholarship/THE_LOTUS_TRUST_SCHOLARSHIP.htm

http://www.fulbright-india.org/fellowships/indians/indgen.htm

http://www.tn.gov.in/department/adtw.htm

http://www.studyhigh.net/studyabroad/ramakrishna.html

http://www.educationobserver.com/scholarship/Index_India.htm

Visa booking and information

http://www.ttsvisas.com/

http://travel.state.gov/what_consuls_look_for.html

http://www.geocities.com/visabysuj/Visa_Xp.htm

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OMO-CRR-SLR-PLR debugged

Tools of Indian Monetary Policy

· Open Market Operations (OMO)

· Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)

· REPO/Reverse Repo

· Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)

Open market operations

Sales or purchases of government debt instruments (treasury bonds, treasury bills, treasury notes) on the open financial markets by a country's central bank as part of its efforts to influence the size of the money supply and the levels of interest rates.

Central bank decisions to buy up government debt instruments make for an expansionary (increase) monetary policy, while sales of government debt instruments by the central bank represent a contractionary (tightening) monetary policy.

Different Policy Rates:

Repo-Bank Rate is the rate at which banks borrow money from the RBI, When Repo-Bank Rate is increased money supply in the economy decreases. It is 7.75% as of today in India.

Reverse-repo rate is the rate at which the RBI absorbs liquidity from the system, or the interest rate paid to banks for RBI's borrowings from them. It is 6% as of today in India.

Bank-Discount Rate is the Rate at which Banks borrow money from the Central Bank (RBI). It is 6% as of today in India.

Reserve Ratios:

CRR – Cash Reserve Ratio, the portion or percentage of Depositor’s balances banks must have on hand as cash. It is a requirement determined by country’s Central Bank. It Affects money supply in a country.

for e.g.: if CRR in India is set at 7.5% (this is current CRR rate in India) and Banks total deposits are in tune of Rs 100 Cr then Rs 7 Cr is required to be kept as reserve.

SLR – Statutory Liquidity Ratio is that amount which a bank has to maintain in the form of cash, gold or approved securities. The ratio is derived broadly on the total demand and time liabilities of a bank. It is 25% as of today in India.

Lending/Deposit Rates:

Prime Lending Rate (PLR) is that rate of interest at which a bank lends to its best customers. It is 12.75 to 13.25 % as of today in India.

Savings Bank Rate – is the interest rate offered by banks for the money kept in Savings account. It is 3.5% as of today in India.

Deposit Rate – is the rate interest rate offered by banks for short-long term deposits with the banks. It is 7.5 to 9.6 % depending on tenure as of today in India.

Capital Markets:

BSE Sensex

S&P CNX Nifty

Government Securities Market:

T Bills (91/182/364 Days) : T-Bills are treasury bills issued by the government of a country and are exchangeable (redeemable) in less than a year.

Money Markets:

Call Rates – is the overnight inter-bank interest rate. It is 6.65 to 8.05% as of today in India.

LIABILITIES for a Bank

1. Capital

2. Reserves & Surplus

3. Deposits

3.1 Demand Deposits

3.2 Savings Bank Deposits

3.3 Term Deposits

4. Borrowings

5. Other Liabilities and Provisions

ASSETS of a Bank

1. Cash & balances with RBI

2. Balances with banks and money at call & short notice

3. Investments

3.1 Govt. Securities

3a. In India

3b. Outside India

3.2 In other approved securities

3.3 In non-approved securities

4. LOANS & ADVANCES

4.1 Bills purchased & discounted

4.2 Cash credit, Overdrafts etc.

4.3 Term loans

5. Fixed Assets

6. Other assets
I will come up with a more detailed analysis on how this tools work and their impact (positive as well as negative) on other variables

Tools of Indian Monetary Policy

· Open Market Operations (OMO)

· Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)

· REPO/Reverse Repo

· Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)

Open market operations

Sales or purchases of government debt instruments (treasury bonds, treasury bills, treasury notes) on the open financial markets by a country's central bank as part of its efforts to influence the size of the money supply and the levels of interest rates.

Central bank decisions to buy up government debt instruments make for an expansionary (increase) monetary policy, while sales of government debt instruments by the central bank represent a contractionary (tightening) monetary policy.

Different Policy Rates:

Repo-Bank Rate is the rate at which banks borrow money from the RBI, When Repo-Bank Rate is increased money supply in the economy decreases. It is 7.75% as of today in India.

Reverse-repo rate is the rate at which the RBI absorbs liquidity from the system, or the interest rate paid to banks for RBI's borrowings from them. It is 6% as of today in India.

Bank-Discount Rate is the Rate at which Banks borrow money from the Central Bank (RBI). It is 6% as of today in India.

Reserve Ratios:

CRR – Cash Reserve Ratio, the portion or percentage of Depositor’s balances banks must have on hand as cash. It is a requirement determined by country’s Central Bank. It Affects money supply in a country.

for e.g.: if CRR in India is set at 7.5% (this is current CRR rate in India) and Banks total deposits are in tune of Rs 100 Cr then Rs 7 Cr is required to be kept as reserve.

SLR – Statutory Liquidity Ratio is that amount which a bank has to maintain in the form of cash, gold or approved securities. The ratio is derived broadly on the total demand and time liabilities of a bank. It is 25% as of today in India.

Lending/Deposit Rates:

Prime Lending Rate (PLR) is that rate of interest at which a bank lends to its best customers. It is 12.75 to 13.25 % as of today in India.

Savings Bank Rate – is the interest rate offered by banks for the money kept in Savings account. It is 3.5% as of today in India.

Deposit Rate – is the rate interest rate offered by banks for short-long term deposits with the banks. It is 7.5 to 9.6 % depending on tenure as of today in India.

Capital Markets:

BSE Sensex

S&P CNX Nifty

Government Securities Market:

T Bills (91/182/364 Days) : T-Bills are treasury bills issued by the government of a country and are exchangeable (redeemable) in less than a year.

Money Markets:

Call Rates – is the overnight inter-bank interest rate. It is 6.65 to 8.05% as of today in India.

LIABILITIES for a Bank

1. Capital

2. Reserves & Surplus

3. Deposits

3.1 Demand Deposits

3.2 Savings Bank Deposits

3.3 Term Deposits

4. Borrowings

5. Other Liabilities and Provisions

ASSETS of a Bank

1. Cash & balances with RBI

2. Balances with banks and money at call & short notice

3. Investments

3.1 Govt. Securities

3a. In India

3b. Outside India

3.2 In other approved securities

3.3 In non-approved securities

4. LOANS & ADVANCES

4.1 Bills purchased & discounted

4.2 Cash credit, Overdrafts etc.

4.3 Term loans

5. Fixed Assets

6. Other assets

RBI's Monetary and Fiscal Policy

What is RBI's Monetary Policy?



The Reserve Bank of India will announce its Monetary and Credit Policy for the first half of the financial year 2002-03 on April 29. Even as RBI Governor Bimal Jalan puts the finishing touches to the document, have you ever considered what is the significance of the biannual exercise?

In a world of policies in the financial sector, nothing could get as alien as the Monetary Policy. Terms like M3, CRR, SLR, PLR and OMO would make you think that the typical IT-bug has caught the financial sector. But take a closer look as the Monetary and Credit Policy is crucial to all of us and more so to the banking sector.

For the uninitiated, this policy determines the supply of money in the economy and the rate of interest charged by banks. The policy also contains an economic overview and presents future forecasts.

What is the Monetary Policy?

The Monetary and Credit Policy is the policy statement, traditionally announced twice a year, through which the Reserve Bank of India seeks to ensure price stability for the economy.

These factors include - money supply, interest rates and the inflation. In banking and economic terms money supply is referred to as M3 - which indicates the level (stock) of legal currency in the economy.

Besides, the RBI also announces norms for the banking and financial sector and the institutions which are governed by it. These would be banks, financial institutions, non-banking financial institutions, Nidhis and primary dealers (money markets) and dealers in the foreign exchange (forex) market.

When is the Monetary Policy announced?

Historically, the Monetary Policy is announced twice a year - a slack season policy (April-September) and a busy season policy (October-March) in accordance with agricultural cycles. These cycles also coincide with the halves of the financial year.

Initially, the Reserve Bank of India announced all its monetary measures twice a year in the Monetary and Credit Policy. The Monetary Policy has become dynamic in nature as RBI reserves its right to alter it from time to time, depending on the state of the economy.

However, with the share of credit to agriculture coming down and credit towards the industry being granted whole year around, the RBI since 1998-99 has moved in for just one policy in April-end. However a review of the policy does take place later in the year.

How is the Monetary Policy different from the Fiscal Policy?

Two important tools of macroeconomic policy are Monetary Policy and Fiscal Policy.

The Monetary Policy regulates the supply of money and the cost and availability of credit in the economy. It deals with both the lending and borrowing rates of interest for commercial banks.

The Monetary Policy aims to maintain price stability, full employment and economic growth.

The Reserve Bank of India is responsible for formulating and implementing Monetary Policy. It can increase or decrease the supply of currency as well as interest rate, carry out open market operations, control credit and vary the reserve requirements.

The Monetary Policy is different from Fiscal Policy as the former brings about a change in the economy by changing money supply and interest rate, whereas fiscal policy is a broader tool with the government.

The Fiscal Policy can be used to overcome recession and control inflation. It may be defined as a deliberate change in government revenue and expenditure to influence the level of national output and prices.

For instance, at the time of recession the government can increase expenditures or cut taxes in order to generate demand.

On the other hand, the government can reduce its expenditures or raise taxes during inflationary times. Fiscal policy aims at changing aggregate demand by suitable changes in government spending and taxes.

The annual Union Budget showcases the government's Fiscal Policy.

What are the objectives of the Monetary Policy?

The objectives are to maintain price stability and ensure adequate flow of credit to the productive sectors of the economy.

Stability for the national currency (after looking at prevailing economic conditions), growth in employment and income are also looked into. The monetary policy affects the real sector through long and variable periods while the financial markets are also impacted through short-term implications.

There are four main 'channels' which the RBI looks at:

* Quantum channel: money supply and credit (affects real output and price level through changes in reserves money, money supply and credit aggregates).
* Interest rate channel.
* Exchange rate channel (linked to the currency).
* Asset price.

All this is more linked to the banking sector. How does the Monetary Policy impact the individual?

In recent years, the policy had gained in importance due to announcements in the interest rates.

Earlier, depending on the rates announced by the RBI, the interest costs of banks would immediately either increase or decrease.

A reduction in interest rates would force banks to lower their lending rates and borrowing rates. So if you want to place a deposit with a bank or take a loan, it would offer it at a lower rate of interest.

On the other hand, if there were to be an increase in interest rates, banks would immediately increase their lending and borrowing rates. Since the rates of interest affect the borrowing costs of corporates and as a result, their bottomlines (profits), the monetary policy is very important to them also.

But over the past 2-3 years, RBI Governor Bimal Jalan has preferred not to wait for the Monetary Policy to announce a revision in interest rates and these revisions have been when the situation arises.

Since the financial sector reforms commenced, the RBI has moved towards a market-determined interest rate scenario. This means that banks are free to decide on interest rates on term deposits and loans.

Being the central bank, however, the RBI would have a say and determine direction on interest rates as it is an important tool to control inflation.

The bank rate is a tool used by RBI for this purpose as it refinances banks at the this rate. In other words, the bank rate is the rate at which banks borrow from the RBI.

How was the scenario prior to recent liberalisation?

Prior to recent liberalisation, the RBI resorted to direct instruments like interest rates regulation, selective credit control and CRR (cash reserve ratio) as monetary instruments.

One of the risks emerging in the past 5-7 years (through the capital flows and liberalisation of the financial sector) is that potential risk has increased for institutions. Thus, financial stability has become crucial and there are concerns relating to credit flows to the agricultural sector and small-scale industries.

What do the terms CRR and SLR mean?

CRR, or cash reserve ratio, refers to a portion of deposits (as cash) which banks have to keep/maintain with the RBI. This serves two purposes. It ensures that a portion of bank deposits is totally risk-free and secondly it enables that RBI control liquidity in the system, and thereby, inflation.

Besides the CRR, banks are required to invest a portion of their deposits in government securities as a part of their statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) requirements.

The government securities (also known as gilt-edged securities or gilts) are bonds issued by the Central government to meet its revenue requirements. Although the bonds are long-term in nature, they are liquid as they can be traded in the secondary market.

Since 1991, as the economy has recovered and sector reforms increased, the CRR has fallen from 15 per cent in March 1991 to 5.5 per cent in December 2001. The SLR has fallen from 38.5 per cent to 25 per cent over the past decade.

What impact does a cut in CRR have on interest rates?

From time to time, RBI prescribes a CRR or the minimum amount of cash that banks have to maintain with it. The CRR is fixed as a percentage of total deposits. As more money chases the same number of borrowers, interest rates come down.

Does a change in SLR and gilts products impact interest rates?

SLR reduction is not so relevant in the present context for two reasons:

First, as part of the reforms process, the government has begun borrowing at market-related rates. Therefore, banks get better interest rates compared to earlier for their statutory investments in government securities.

Second, banks are still the main source of funds for the government.

This means that despite a lower SLR requirement, banks' investment in government securities will go up as government borrowing rises. As a result, bank investment in gilts continues to be high despite the RBI bringing down the minimum SLR to 25 per cent a couple of years ago.

Therefore, for the purpose of determining the interest rates, it is not the SLR requirement that is important but the size of the government's borrowing programme. As government borrowing increases, interest rates, too, rise.

Besides, gilts also provide another tool for the RBI to manage interest rates. The RBI conducts open market operations (OMO) by offering to buy or sell gilts.

If it feels interest rates are too high, it may bring them down by offering to buy securities at a lower yield than what is available in the market.

How does the Monetary Policy affect the domestic industry and exporters in particular?

Exporters look forward to the monetary policy since the central bank always makes an announcement on export refinance, or the rate at which the RBI will lend to banks which have advanced pre-shipment credit to exporters.

A lowering of these rates would mean lower borrowing costs for the exporter.
The stock markets and money move similarly, in some ways. Why?

Most people attribute the link between the amount of money in the economy and movements in stock markets to the amount of liquidity in the system. This is not entirely true.

The factor connecting money and stocks is interest rates. People save to get returns on their savings. In true market conditions, this made bank deposits or bonds (whose returns are linked to interest rates) and stocks (whose returns are linked to capital gains), competitors for people's savings.
A hike in interest rates would tend to suck money out of shares into bonds or deposits; a fall would have the opposite effect. This argument has survived econometric tests and practical experience.

Is the money supply related to jobs, wages and output?

At any point of time, the price level in the economy is determined by the amount of money floating around. An increase in the money supply - currency with the public, demand deposits and time deposits - increases prices all round because there is more currency moving towards the same goods and services.

Typically, the RBI follows a least-inflation policy, which means that its money market operations as well as changes in the bank rate are generally designed to minimise the inflationary impact of money supply changes. Since most people can generally see through this strategy, it limits the impact of the RBI's monetary moves to affect jobs or production.

The markets, however, move to the RBI's tune because of the link between interest rates and capital market yields. The RBI's policies have maximum impact on volatile foreign exchange and stock markets.

Jobs, wages and output are affected over the long run, if the trends of high inflation or low liquidity persist for very long period.

If wages move slower than other prices, higher inflation will drive real wages lower and encourage employers to hire more people. This in turn ramps up production and employment.

This was the theoretical justification of a long-term trend that showed that higher inflation and employment went together; when inflation fell, unemployment increased.

What are the measures to regulate money supply?

The RBI uses the interest rate, OMO, changes in banks' CRR and primary placements of government debt to control the money supply. OMO, primary placements and changes in the CRR are the most popular instruments used.

Under the OMO, the RBI buys or sells government bonds in the secondary market. By absorbing bonds, it drives up bond yields and injects money into the market. When it sells bonds, it does so to suck money out of the system.

The changes in CRR affect the amount of free cash that banks can use to lend - reducing the amount of money for lending cuts into overall liquidity, driving interest rates up, lowering inflation and sucking money out of markets.

Primary deals in government bonds are a method to intervene directly in markets, followed by the RBI. By directly buying new bonds from the government at lower than market rates, the RBI tries to limit the rise in interest rates that higher government borrowings would lead to.

Considering that interest rates are now tweaked looking at market conditions, is the Monetary Policy losing its importance?

Bimal Jalan has said he would make the Credit Policy a 'non-event' and would use the policy only to review developments in the banking industry and money markets. Interest rate announcements since 1998-99 were based on economic and market developments.

The policy now concentrates mostly on structural issues in the banking industry.

Some Monetary Policy terms:

Bank Rate

Bank rate is the minimum rate at which the central bank provides loans to the commercial banks. It is also called the discount rate.

Usually, an increase in bank rate results in commercial banks increasing their lending rates. Changes in bank rate affect credit creation by banks through altering the cost of credit.

Cash Reserve Ratio

All commercial banks are required to keep a certain amount of its deposits in cash with RBI. This percentage is called the cash reserve ratio. The current CRR requirement is 8 per cent.

Inflation

Inflation refers to a persistent rise in prices. Simply put, it is a situation of too much money and too few goods. Thus, due to scarcity of goods and the presence of many buyers, the prices are pushed up.

The converse of inflation, that is, deflation, is the persistent falling of prices. RBI can reduce the supply of money or increase interest rates to reduce inflation.

Money Supply (M3)

This refers to the total volume of money circulating in the economy, and conventionally comprises currency with the public and demand deposits (current account + savings account) with the public.

The RBI has adopted four concepts of measuring money supply. The first one is M1, which equals the sum of currency with the public, demand deposits with the public and other deposits with the public. Simply put M1 includes all coins and notes in circulation, and personal current accounts.

The second, M2, is a measure of money, supply, including M1, plus personal deposit accounts - plus government deposits and deposits in currencies other than rupee.

The third concept M3 or the broad money concept, as it is also known, is quite popular. M3 includes net time deposits (fixed deposits), savings deposits with post office saving banks and all the components of M1.

Statutory Liquidity Ratio

Banks in India are required to maintain 25 per cent of their demand and time liabilities in government securities and certain approved securities.

These are collectively known as SLR securities. The buying and selling of these securities laid the foundations of the 1992 Harshad Mehta scam.

Repo

A repurchase agreement or ready forward deal is a secured short-term (usually 15 days) loan by one bank to another against government securities.

Legally, the borrower sells the securities to the lending bank for cash, with the stipulation that at the end of the borrowing term, it will buy back the securities at a slightly higher price, the difference in price representing the interest.

Open Market Operations

An important instrument of credit control, the Reserve Bank of India purchases and sells securities in open market operations.

In times of inflation, RBI sells securities to mop up the excess money in the market. Similarly, to increase the supply of money, RBI purchases securities.