Portfolio of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

For all those affiliated with the stock market, it is always fascinating to know what the other person is investing into, what are the stocks owned? Call it human nature, but its always interesting to know what the other person does, the ever inquisitive nature of mankind.

So we were also a bit inquisitive and decided to take a look at the holdings of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, one of the savviest and smart investors on Dalal Street. He is a CA by profession and his name catapulted into fame when Forbes, in 2007, ranked him as the 51^st richest man in India. Son of an income tax officer, he started dabbling in stocks while in college. Rather than take a job, he plunged into investing, starting with around Rs.5000 in 1985 when the BSE Sensex was at 150; it is now over around 14,000. His privately owned stock trading firm Rare Enterprises, derives the name from first two initials of his name and wife Rekha's name.

Hence we thought it would be very interesting to know about his holdings and the stocks which he holds a substantial stake in. He is a long term investor and does not trade for short term profit. Take a look at his portfolio and maybe learn a few lessons. These shares are held by Rakesh and his wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala and form a part of his disclosed portfolio. There could be more holdings through companies, trusts, proprietary accounts which are not in the public domain.

NAME OF COMPANY	SHARES HELD (as on 30/06/08)	PRX (as on 5/08/08)	VALUE (Rs.in crores)
TITAN INDUSTRIES	39,85,756	1277	508.98
PRAJ INDUSTRIES	1,33,76,624	188	251.48
LUPIN LTD	27,52,135	753	207.24
CRISIL	5,50,000	3631	199.70
NARAGJUNA CONSTRN	1,24,50,000	134	166.83
BILCARE	20,25,000	640	129.60
PUNJ LLOYD	50,40,000	291	146.66
PANTALOON RETAIL	23,30,895	353	82.28
KARUR VYSYA BANK	24,94,073	348	86.79
BHUSHAN STEEL	8,20,000	922	75.64
GEOJIT FINANCE	1,80,00,000	43	77.40
PROVOGUE INDIA	3,80,000	850	32.30
GARWARE WALL ROPE	5,00,000	86	4.30
PRIME FOCUS	8,82,500	460	40.59
VICEROY HOTELS	47,50,000	51	24.22
INFOMEDIA INDIA	15,06,062	155	23.34
AGROTECH FOODS	17,03,259	126	21.46
ZENOTECH LABS	11,50,000	113	12.99
MID-DAY MULTIMEDIA	22,50,000	26	5.85
ION EXCHANGE	5,00,000	153	7.65
ZEN TECHNOLOGY	5,00,000	164	8.20
ALPHAGEO	1,25,000	413	5.16
JB CHEMICALS	10,81,650	47	5.08
AUTOLINE INDUSTRIES	12,11,622	182	22.05
MRO TEK	5,70,834	51	2.91
HIND OIL EXPLOR	61,00,666	136	82.97
TOTAL VALUE OF PORTFOLIO – Rs. 2231.67 crore.

How to score points with your boss

People don't leave jobs -- they leave their bosses" is an age-old cliche. This statement almost makes bosses look like much-hated autocrats.

However, if you were to dig deep into the boss-employee relationship, it's not always the boss who is to blame. The responsibility of building a strong relationship lies equally on the employees as well.

So, to improve your relationship with your boss, here are a few easy tips:

Be supportive
Support your boss with last-minute presentations, paperwork or arranging a meeting with clients instead of spending time over a gossip session. These are the small things that will strengthen your relationship with your boss and get you noticed. Every boss loves the team member who helps them with the finer details and makes their life a little easier.

Extend respect
Listen to your boss and respect the fact that s/he also has relevant experience and is acting in the company's interests. His/her goal is to make sure that there is a consensus within the team.

A few interaction skills that make a big difference to a respectful atmosphere in your organisation include not interrupting conversations, asking if the person has time to talk and listening to ideas. Remember not to be a know-it-all or in such a hurry that you finish the other person's sentence.

Be sure to comment on their ideas to let them know you have really been listening, not just waiting for them to take a breath so you can jump in with your agenda. Being skilled and intelligent is no compensation for the lack of life experience.

Be genuine
Never try to fake it when you are actually not interested in listening and taking instructions. Be genuinely interested in what s/he is saying. Try and understand his/her point of view and act accordingly. It is always advisable to revert to your boss in case you do not have clarity on a certain issue. Seek his/her support to prepare an action plan. A genuine interest will help you develop trust required for a professional relationship. Take keen interest in new projects and do some due diligence to make it a success.

Communicate honestly
Try to communicate transparently. Don't make commitments that you cannot keep; this will call for some amount of planning from your side. Deliver information which is true and based on facts -- this will not only make you credible, your colleagues will look up to you for support.

Most bosses have a knack of remembering what you say and a commitment that was not met may haunt you after six months during the performance appraisal discussion. A little bit of caution can save nasty surprises towards the end.

Appreciate your boss
Your boss does care what you think about them, s/he however does appreciate your mentioning his/her good work. When you do recognise job well-done, be specific in your compliments. Refrain from saying in an off-handed manner, "Oh, great work, boss." Make it more personal: "Boss, that is the best research that has come across my desk in the last six months. Excellent work. If your boss comments, "Good presentation." Refrain from saying, "Oh, it was nothing." Deflecting a compliment often draws unwanted attention and belittles both you and the person offering the compliment. Just say, "Thank you."

Don't lock horns with your boss
Bosses don't like nor do they cooperate with people who they think are against them. When you are against something, the person thinks you are against them personally. Once you voice your opposition to another person's idea, you become part of the problem. It's as if a war has started with each of you fighting to be right. When you are for something, you begin focusing on the potential for positive change. You start the process of collaboration.

Some people carry this inward, self-focus into the workplace which leads to professional relationships turning sour. Make sure that you play an active role in building a strong relationship with your boss rather then expecting to be pampered all the time.

(http://us.rediff.com/getahead/2008/aug/15office.htm)

Coping With A Bad Boss

Is your boss a yeller, a micromanager or clueless? Does he put insulting notes on memos that co-workers can see? Does he throw things?

Amy Cunningham's first boss at a Minneapolis public relations firm was a yeller and a micromanager, a tough challenge for a new employee just out of college. After a series of unpleasant incidents, the boss finally exploded when he found out Cunningham had put together a media kit without showing him the separate pieces before assembling it--a routine task she'd done many times before.

The boss stormed into her office, got in her face, yelled and cursed. "He tried to throw out any personal insult he could come up with," Cunningham says. "I've never been in another situation, business or social, that was that scary."

It all worked out. Cunningham approached another executive at the company and got reassigned. The boss left a few years later, and Cunningham stayed on--15 years, and counting.

Having a bad boss is more than an annoyance. It's the main reason people leave their jobs. Increasingly, that's a tough choice these days. A new survey from Working America, an AFL-CIO affiliate, says that more than 50 million workers feel some pressure to stay with a bad boss because of the current economic downturn.

"It's difficult to handle [uncomfortable] situations without taking some type of risk, and that's why a lot of people choose to ignore or live with it," says Manny Avramidis, senior vice president for global human resources at the American Management Association.

So if your boss is a jerk and you feel you have no choice but to stay, how do you cope? Here are some basic tips:

The best way to deal with a micromanager is to update him frequently. E-mail the boss a memo or checklist of what you're doing on a project so the boss is reassured, and check off your accomplishments as you go.

For instance, if the boss assigns you a report to write and then dictates what exactly you should have in it, tell him, "You've given me enough guidance. Let me take a shot at it and I'll come back after I have a rough draft. Can we talk about the rough draft when it's done?"

Dealing with an unpleasant boss can be uncomfortable, if you choose to address the situation by confronting him. Weigh the problem and how much bringing it up with him might affect your career. If your boss is a yeller and is creating a tough--or even hostile--working environment, say something like, "These aren't the conditions I work best under. Let's talk about a way to make them better." If that approach doesn't bring results, seek advice from Human Resources.

Sometimes a boss who's perceived as a dummy can actually be good for your career. Use cluelessness as an opportunity to gain more responsibility. Ask if you can take on more projects and even help manage the team.

"For people who like to take initiative, that can be a great thing," says Gini Graham Scott, author of A Survival Guide for Dealing with Bad Bosses. Meanwhile, others find that they're directionless without a boss's guidance. If that's the case, gently force the boss to critique your work and ask you questions.

Ideally, vet your boss before starting a new job. If you're in the final rounds of interviews with an employer, use networking to find someone on the inside. Ask about the person you're likely to work with. What's his skill set? Does he respect the views of his employees? Does he delegate or does he drive people crazy with questions?

Finally, ask the following to flush out any facts your source didn't spill earlier: What do you like--and not like--about working here?

If you don't like what you hear, don't take the job.

(http://in.news.yahoo.com/240/20080728/1302/tbs-5242272.html?printer=1)

How to Feel More Energetic

Fatigue is a common complaint regardless of age, but it becomes more prominent after the age of 40. Assuming you are in otherwise good health, here are some things that you can do to boost your energy level:

Get more sleep. Most middle-aged adults need at least 7 hours of sleep each night.

Exercise. Starting an exercise program can be overwhelming if you suffer from fatigue. Start modestly -- perhaps stretching exercise and walking. Remember the good, healthy feeling you experience after you complete your workout.

Drink more water. Most people don't drink enough water. Dehydration makes us sluggish. A quick rule of thumb to determine how many ounces of  water you require in a day is to take you body weight (in pounds) and divide by 2 and add 8 ounces for 30 minutes of aerobic activity you do.

Pare down your commitments. Doing less is not always easy, but overscheduling is a primary cause of fatigue. Look over the activities of your day or week and often you can find some that may not be necessary or enjoyable. We all have things we must do. Take a look at the non-essentials, perhaps some should move into the rest & pleasure part of your life. Take charge of your life.

Take a B-complex vitamin supplement. The B vitamins provide energy and help maintain healthy muscle and nerve cells. Aging and stress increase our need for these vitamins, while alcohol and caffeine deplete them in our bodies. Take a B supplement that contains at least 50 mg of B-1, B-3, B-5 and B-6, and 400 micrograms (mcg) each of B-12 and folic acid.

Have Fun. Laughter is essential to good health. But merriment is a foreign concept for some people. Finding delight in life is energizing. Find things that give you an emotional lift and enjoy them.

Try licorice. This herb improves immune health, so it's a great tonic for people with fatigue. Use the herb, not the candy. Take 1/2 teaspoon of tincture daily for up to 2 months. If you dislike the taste of licorice, try schisandra (same size dose). Note: Licorice is not safe for people with high blood pressure or liver or kidney disease. 

Lose weight. Even a small weight gain is enough to make some people tired. Image carrying a 10 pound weight with you all day long. You will have more energy if you drop unnecessary body weight.

Declutter. Living in a mess - and feeling guilty about it, is tiring. Clutter also distracts the mind, making it more difficult to concentrate. Get just one room, or one area, organized. You will get a boost.

Energy is a beautiful thing. A person with a lot of energy can accomplish twice what someone without much energy can and have more fun doing it. You get more life with more energy. And here’s a way to crank up your engine: Act more energetic. That sounds like shallow, positive-thinking hype, but it’s actually based on solid evidence: It works.

When you act more energetic, it stimulates your body. Lying down is relaxing. Moving around is more stimulating. Moving around quickly is even more stimulating. It gets the heart pumping. It puts the mind in gear.

Our biology has evolved to fit a different kind of world than the one in which we now find ourselves. There were plenty of times in our prehistory when food was scarce. People who wantonly used up energy would be the first to die, leaving no offspring. The bodies following the prime directive CONSERVE ENERGY passed their genes to us.

But times have changed. It’s no longer difficult to find food. If anything, food is difficult to avoid. Calories are everywhere, hugely and abundantly available. As a matter of fact, now a major concern for people in America is being overweight. Times have changed dramatically. There’s no longer any need to conserve energy, but your genes don’t know it. They’ve still got their orders, like a soldier in a jungle who was never told the war is over.

You can be more energetic, but you’ll have to override your feelings. And you can do this. You’ll have to essentially ignore the natural laziness we all share.

The way to override your body’s prime directive is to act energetic whether you feel like it or not.

The truth is, you are energetic when you act that way, regardless of how you feel. Listen to what I’m saying here. You want to be more energetic? By simply acting more energetic, you immediately become more energetic in reality, in the same way that when you act ethical, you are ethical, regardless of whether or not you were tempted to do the wrong thing.

You can become more energetic in ten seconds. Simply start acting more energetic.

You don’t have to feel energetic to be energetic. A nice bonus, however, is that often when you act energetic, it will rev you up and make you feel energetic too.

Experiments show that when people walk quickly, it speeds up their metabolism, making them feel more energetic, and this energetic feeling lasts for several hours after the activity. Acting energetic physically changes your body into a more energetic body.

So don’t wait until you feel energetic before you act. Act first. The feelings will follow.

 

(http://moodraiser.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-to-feel-more-energetic.html, http://www.usgyms.net/energy.htm)

Exchange-traded fund

An exchange-traded fund (or ETF) is an investment vehicle traded on stock exchanges, much like stocks or bonds. An ETF holds assets such as stocks or bonds and trades at approximately the same price as the net asset value of its underlying assets over the course of the trading day. Most ETFs track an index, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500. ETFs may be attractive as investments because of their low costs, tax efficiency, and stock-like features. In a survey of investment professionals conducted in March 2008, 67% called ETFs the most innovative investment vehicle of the last two decades and 60% reported that ETFs have fundamentally changed the way they construct investment portfolios.

 

An ETF combines the valuation feature of a mutual fund or unit investment trust, which can be purchased or redeemed at the end of each trading day for its net asset value, with the tradability feature of a closed-end fund, which trades throughout the trading day at prices that may be substantially more or less than its net asset value. Closed-end funds are not considered to be exchange-traded funds, even though they are funds and are traded on an exchange. ETFs have been available in the US since 1993 and in Europe since 1999. ETFs traditionally have been index funds, but in 2008 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began to authorize the creation of actively-managed ETFs.

 

Most investors can buy and sell ETF shares only in market transactions, but institutional investors can redeem large blocks of shares of the ETF (known as "creation units") for a "basket" of the underlying assets or, alternatively, exchange the underlying assets for creation units. This creation and redemption of shares enables institutions to engage in arbitrage that causes the value of the ETF to approximate the net asset value of the underlying assets.

 

ETFs offer public investors an undivided interest in a pool of securities and other assets and thus are similar in many ways to traditional mutual funds, except that shares in an ETF can be bought and sold throughout the day like stocks on a securities exchange through a broker-dealer. Unlike traditional mutual funds, ETFs do not sell or redeem their individual shares at net asset value, or NAV. Instead, financial institutions purchase and redeem ETF shares directly from the ETF, but only in large blocks, varying in size by ETF from 25,000 to 200,000 shares, called "creation units." Purchases and redemptions of the creation units generally are in kind, with the institutional investor contributing or receiving a basket of securities of the same type and proportion held by the ETF, although some ETFs may require or permit a purchasing or redeeming shareholder to substitute cash for some or all of the securities in the basket of assets.

 

The ability to purchase and redeem creation units gives ETFs an arbitrage mechanism intended to minimize the potential deviation between the market price and the net asset value of ETF shares. Existing ETFs have transparent portfolios, so institutional investors will know exactly what portfolio assets they must assemble if they wish to purchase a creation unit, and the exchange disseminates the updated net asset value of the shares throughout the trading day, typically at 15-second intervals.

 

In the United States, most ETFs are structured as open-end management investment companies (the same structure used by mutual funds and money market funds), although a few ETFs, including some of the largest ones, are structured as unit investment trusts. ETFs structured as open-end funds have greater flexibility in constructing a portfolio and are not prohibited from participating in securities lending programs or from using futures and options in achieving their investment objectives. Under existing regulations, a new ETF must receive an order from the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, giving it relief from provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940 that would not otherwise allow the ETF structure. In 2008, however, the SEC proposed rules that would allow the creation of ETFs without the need for exemptive orders. Under the SEC proposal, an ETF would be defined as a registered open-end management investment company that:

 

    * Issues (or redeems) creation units in exchange for the deposit (or delivery) of basket assets the current value of which is disseminated on a per share basis by a national securities exchange at regular intervals during the trading day;
    * Identifies itself as an ETF in any sales literature;
    * Issues shares that are approved for listing and trading on a securities exchange;
    * Discloses each business day on its publicly available web site the prior business day's net asset value and closing market price of the fund's shares, and the premium or discount of the closing market price against the net asset value of the fund's shares as a percentage of net asset value; and
    * Either is an index fund, or discloses each business day on its publicly available web site the identities and weighting of the component securities and other assets held by the fund.

 

The SEC rule proposal would allow ETFs either to be index funds or to be fully transparent actively managed funds. Historically, all ETFs in the United States have been index funds. In 2008, however, the SEC began issuing exemptive orders to fully transparent actively managed ETFs. The first such order was to PowerShares Actively Managed Exchange-Traded Fund Trust, and the first actively managed ETF in the United States was the Bear Stearns Current Yield Fund, a short-term income fund that began trading on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol YYY on 25 March 2008. The SEC rule proposal indicates that the SEC is not suggesting that it will not consider future applications for exemptive orders for actively managed ETFs that do not satisfy the proposed rule's transparency requirements.

 

Some ETFs invest primarily in commodities or commodity-based instruments, such as crude oil and precious metals. Although these commodity ETFs are similar in practice to ETFs that invest in securities, they are not "investment companies" under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

 

Publicly traded grantor trusts, such as Merrill Lynch's HOLDRS securities, are sometimes considered to be ETFs, although they lack many of the characteristics of other ETFs. Investors in a grantor trust have a direct interest in the underlying basket of securities, which does not change except to reflect corporate actions such as stock splits and mergers. Funds of this type are not "investment companies" under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

 

(more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange-traded_fund)

Teach Yourself to Avoid Favoritism

How do you teach executives to avoid encouraging sycophants and playing favorites?

Every company claims to discourage suck-ups. Every leader claims to despise suck-ups. If we all hate suck-ups so much, why does so much sucking-up go on?

Sucking-up happens because we all tend to create an environment where people learn to suck-up to us. We can easily see this in others. It is just hard to see in ourselves. You are probably thinking, “Marshall is making a good point. I see others do this all of the time. Of course, I find it to be disgusting!”

As a test of our unconscious tendency to encourage sycophants, I always ask participants in my executive education classes this question, “How many of you own a dog that you love?” Big smiles cross the faces of these leaders as they wave their hands in the air. They beam as they tell me the names of their always faithful hounds. Then we have a little contest. I ask them, “At home, who gets the most unqualified positive recognition? Is it (a) your husband, wife or partner (b) your kids or (c) your dog?" More than 80 percent of the time the winner is the dog.

I next ask these same executives, “Do you really love your dog more than the other members of your family?” They laugh and say no. My next question, “Why does the dog get the most unqualified positive recognition?”

Their replies are always the same: “The dog doesn’t talk back.” “When I come home the dog is always happy to see me!” “Even if I come home late (or drunk) the dog doesn’t care.” “The dog gives me unconditional love – no matter what I do!”

In other words, the dog is a suck-up.

If we aren’t careful, we can wind up treating people at work like dogs. We can unconsciously recognize people who recognize us.

The best way to stop this behavior is to recognize that we all have a tendency to fall into this trap – and the higher we move up in the organization, the bigger the trap gets.

I teach leaders to rank order their direct reports four ways:

1. How much do they like me? I know that you cannot be sure. What matters is what you think. Only bad suck-ups look like they are sucking-up. Great suck-ups appear to be your "true friends."

2. How much are they like me? Some leaders don’t favor people who like them; they favor people who remind them of themselves. A common variation from an engineer might be, “He may be a jerk, but he is an engineer.” As if people who are not engineers don’t have brains.

3. What is their contribution to our company and its customers?

4. How much positive personal recognition do I give them?
If we are honest with ourselves, in a surprisingly large number of cases, we may find that recognition is more influenced by 1 or‘2 than it is 3. And that (without meaning to) we may be falling into a trap that we despise in others – playing favorites.

Make this ranking yourself. After doing a thoughtful review, start monitoring your own behavior. Make sure that you are recognizing people at working for doing what is right for the company – not for making you feel good about yourself.

5 ways to unwind at the office

ll work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'. Now, nobody wants to be Jack, but invariably at some point during work you find that Jack's shoes fit just fine. It's almost as though the whole office is tuned into the same frequency.

The hum of the systems, clicking of the keys, shuffling of feet coupled with the idle banter can have you lost, waiting to stick your head out for a breath of fresh air.

Unwind, it's easy! You have the controls and the choice is yours to switch channels. The first step is to want to tune out. Once your mind is open to variables at work, possibilities start to pop out of the walls. And this does not include converting cubicles into a little feng shui showroom or involve chimes, bells and nodding dolls that every office already has.  

Headphone help
Music is the easiest way to tune out and headphones are as private as you can get. Tune into a personal space that is devoid of the office sounds. If your PC doesn't have a sound chip, speak to the IT department.

Speakers are like a concert in office with everyone on for the gig especially the lip syncers and sing-along-aloud-out-of-tune ones. So turn on the music and have your office tapping to a new groove.

Start with a seed
You can't take a pet to office unless you work at the zoo, leaving plants as the next best living thing to introduce to the office environment. Studies have shown that plants around the office help. But we won't go around watering every plant in the office and put the janitor out of a job.

Simple, plant a seed, watch it grow, this will give you time to take a break, water the plant and just maybe a conversation with the little tree may help.

Meeting meditation
The head honchos know it, Art of Living talks about it and yet we spend five minutes on wondering how to change the future rather than doing the now. Take five minutes out of office time, get to a quiet place -- the terrace, a balcony, the fire escape, the bylane -- wherever, but it should be quiet.

Now this won't give you nirvana but it sure as hell will help you recharge your batteries. Your mind can take you places, it's a magic carpet ride and if you haven't tried it, you should.

Busy with balls
If sitting in one place is your biggest problem, what you need is a ball. Stress balls, the ones with the smiley face are the best. Bounce them of walls, play an innings of cubicle cricket, toss a quick game of catch on the way to the board room or hit some dodge ball when you work late. If this doesn't get your mind racing, it surely will give you an adrenaline shot better than any office coffee.

The dream pillow
If all else fails, and you are really in need for your mind to shut down and reboot. Do just that. Take a nap.

Spend less time chatting at the water cooler and rest your mind and body. It helps. It increases your efficiency and you can be one of the privileged few who still dream while at work.

All you need to do is buy a comfortable little pillow. Keep it tucked away in a drawer and when you need to, instead of trying new and exaggerated methods to find some self-time while at the office, you can do what nature has us do no matter how much we avoid it. Try it, a 15-minute nap can and has changed how people work. Bear in mind, though, that this is not your chance to catch up on the hours of beauty sleep you missed out on thanks to the party last night. This is just to rest your eyes and freshen your mind for 10 to 15 minutes.

There are as many ways as there are workplaces. We can all find what helps us tune out. The best suggestion I can make -- have a talent, take that to work. If you draw, you can tune out on a white board. Musicians can leave a suitable musical instrument in the office for a quick tune and back to work. 

Maybe even a boxing bag, pool table, a pinball machine, the possibilities are infinite. It is up to you to take that time out and go play!

(www.rediff.com/getahead/2008/apr/21work.htm)

Want a work-from-home job?

With the continuing technological advancement of telecommunications, more people are exploring the option of telecommuting -- working from home or elsewhere without having to give attendance at the office.

The reasons for telecommuting or taking up a non-office based job could be numerous. Stay-at-home moms prefer it so they can look after their children, the unemployed make the most of such offers till they find a steady job, others with health concerns may be unable to work from the office and so on.

Here's a few ideas on how to make money while remaining within the confines of your own home. All you need is an Internet connection and a computer. Most of the jobs described here do not require you to be a computer whiz, either -- you just need to have working knowledge of the Internet and programmes like MS Office, Word etc.

~ Set up an online store

This is like owning a retail shop online. You can design your own online store and sell products -- anything from apparel to books, bouquets, accessories, electronics etc. Starting up such a business will not require much of an investment. You will, however, have to be careful about monetary transactions and dispatches, as payments are all made online. If you think, you can't handle the money and logistics part, a better way is to register with an Internet marketplace like eBay.

~ Translation

If you have a good command over two languages, translation could be a very interesting option. If you want to take up some assignments within India, knowing English, Hindi and one regional language is a winning bet. A lot of companies outsource their translation jobs. You can approach them and ask for a contract. Government offices also outsource such assignments; you can try for opportunities with them.

If you know a foreign language and English, it is again a very interesting combination. You can approach a lot of publishers wanting to republish their content in a foreign language. These can be the publishers of books, magazine, software etc. This career can offer you an earning potential of approximately Rs 600 per page!

~ Day-trading

Day-trading in the stock market is a good way of making money from home. All you need is an Internet connection and a demat account. You can make money by operating in the stock market. It is up to you to decide how aggressively you want to operate. While you start speculating, be careful how you are investing your money.

~ Authoring

If you have a good knowledge of any subject, you can get in touch with some publishers to find out if any of them wants to publish a book on the proposed subject. This will give you an opportunity to put your knowledge to good use and utilise your time in a better way while earning money. When you are approaching a publisher for the first time, make sure that you submit a well-drafted proposal, so that you can discuss it in detail. The earning potential in this field depends upon your subject.

~ Proof-reading

Again if you have a good command over a language, you can approach some publishers for a proof-reading job. Any written material, be it a book or online content, needs to be proof-read before actual publication. This presents a good opportunity to those who have a good command over language. You can earn anything from Rs 7000-10,000 to start with.

~ Blogging

If you know your subject well, you can start blogging it. Good content will attract a lot of traffic and hence advertising. You can gain monetary benefits through Google Adsense and other advertisements.

~ Moderating a forum

You can apply to work as a moderator for a forum. There are various forums on the Internet which need moderators. If the job interests you, it presents a good work-from-home opportunity. Usually a forum moderator is paid based on the revenue the forum generates. This should be able to earn you something around Rs 10,000-15,000 per month.

~ Graphic designing

This is a creative field which needs an interest in creativity and a knowledge of working on software. Anything starting from a visiting card to an advertisement needs graphic designing. So, if you have a flair for creativity and knowledge of creating graphics, this could be another interesting field. The earning potential in this field depends on the size of assignment. Designing an A4 size ad for a medium level company should be able to fetch you somewhere around Rs 3,000-Rs 5,000.

~ Typing

Every organisation needs documents to be typed. You can approach some organisations to see if some of them are ready to outsource it to you. Also, you can find some opportunities on Internet. The payments here are made on page basis. This job can get you anywhere from Rs 100-500 per page, depending upon the company and the language you need to type in.

~ Content writing

Many online and print magazines actually pay freelancers to write for them. If this interests you, this field offers some really worthwhile opportunities. You will see many websites advertising for content from freelancers. Approach them and see if there's an opportunity for you. The earning potential this job offers also varies with the company and subject. You can earn anything from Rs 500-4000 per article.

You may ask, how do I get a work-from-home opportunity? The best option is to explore if there's an opportunity with your current employer to work from home, or look up online vacancies. If that is not possible or you are not interested in doing it, you will have to graduate from the university of hard knocks and make your own way freelancing.

The personal qualities you will need to ensure that you are successful in your working from home assignment are:

~ Self-discipline
~ Commitment
~ Maturity
~ Productivity
~ Self-motivation

So, if you think you have the qualities that a home-based job needs, start working on your options now.

(http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2008/mar/11home.htm)

How the Sensex is calculated

For the premier Bombay Stock Exchange that pioneered the stock broking activity in India, 128 years of experience seems to be a proud milestone. A lot has changed since 1875 when 318 persons became members of what today is called The Stock Exchange, Mumbai by paying a princely amount of Re 1.

Since then, the country's capital markets have passed through both good and bad periods. The journey in the 20th century has not been an easy one. Till the decade of eighties, there was no scale to measure the ups and downs in the Indian stock market. The Stock Exchange, Mumbai in 1986 came out with a stock index that subsequently became the barometer of the Indian stock market.

Sensex is not only scientifically designed but also based on globally accepted construction and review methodology. First compiled in 1986, Sensex is a basket of 30 constituent stocks representing a sample of large, liquid and representative companies.

The base year of Sensex is 1978-79 and the base value is 100. The index is widely reported in both domestic and international markets through print as well as electronic media.

The Index was initially calculated based on the "Full Market Capitalization" methodology but was shifted to the free-float methodology with effect from September 1, 2003. The "Free-float Market Capitalization" methodology of index construction is regarded as an industry best practice globally. All major index providers like MSCI, FTSE, STOXX, S&P and Dow Jones use the Free-float methodology. (See below: Explanation with an example)

Due to is wide acceptance amongst the Indian investors; Sensex is regarded to be the pulse of the Indian stock market. As the oldest index in the country, it provides the time series data over a fairly long period of time (From 1979 onwards). Small wonder, the Sensex has over the years become one of the most prominent brands in the country.

The growth of equity markets in India has been phenomenal in the decade gone by. Right from early nineties the stock market witnessed heightened activity in terms of various bull and bear runs. The Sensex captured all these events in the most judicial manner. One can identify the booms and busts of the Indian stock market through Sensex.

Sensex Calculation Methodology

Sensex is calculated using the "Free-float Market Capitalization" methodology. As per this methodology, the level of index at any point of time reflects the Free-float market value of 30 component stocks relative to a base period. The market capitalization of a company is determined by multiplying the price of its stock by the number of shares issued by the company. This market capitalization is further multiplied by the free-float factor to determine the free-float market capitalization.

The base period of Sensex is 1978-79 and the base value is 100 index points. This is often indicated by the notation 1978-79=100. The calculation of Sensex involves dividing the Free-float market capitalization of 30 companies in the Index by a number called the Index Divisor.

The Divisor is the only link to the original base period value of the Sensex. It keeps the Index comparable over time and is the adjustment point for all Index adjustments arising out of corporate actions, replacement of scrips etc. During market hours, prices of the index scrips, at which latest trades are executed, are used by the trading system to calculate Sensex every 15 seconds and disseminated in real time.

Dollex-30

BSE also calculates a dollar-linked version of Sensex and historical values of this index are available since its inception.

Understanding Free-float Methodology

Free-float Methodology refers to an index construction methodology that takes into consideration only the free-float market capitalisation of a company for the purpose of index calculation and assigning weight to stocks in Index. Free-float market capitalization is defined as that proportion of total shares issued by the company that are readily available for trading in the market.

It generally excludes promoters' holding, government holding, strategic holding and other locked-in shares that will not come to the market for trading in the normal course. In other words, the market capitalization of each company in a Free-float index is reduced to the extent of its readily available shares in the market.

In India, BSE pioneered the concept of Free-float by launching BSE TECk in July 2001 and Bankex in June 2003. While BSE TECk Index is a TMT benchmark, Bankex is positioned as a benchmark for the banking sector stocks. Sensex becomes the third index in India to be based on the globally accepted Free-float Methodology.

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Example (provided by rediff.com reader Munish Oberoi):

Suppose the Index consists of only 2 stocks: Stock A and Stock B.

Suppose company A has 1,000 shares in total, of which 200 are held by the promoters, so that only 800 shares are available for trading to the general public. These 800 shares are the so-called 'free-floating' shares.

Similarly, company B has 2,000 shares in total, of which 1,000 are held by the promoters and the rest 1,000 are free-floating.

Now suppose the current market price of stock A is Rs 120. Thus, the 'total' market capitalisation of company A is Rs 120,000 (1,000 x 120), but its free-float market capitalisation is Rs 96,000 (800 x 120).

Similarly, suppose the current market price of stock B is Rs 200. The total market capitalisation of company B will thus be Rs 400,000 (2,000 x 200), but its free-float market cap is only Rs 200,000 (1,000 x 200).

So as of today the market capitalisation of the index (i.e. stocks A and B) is Rs 520,000 (Rs 120,000 + Rs 400,000); while the free-float market capitalisation of the index is Rs 296,000. (Rs 96,000 + Rs 200,000).

The year 1978-79 is considered the base year of the index with a value set to 100. What this means is that suppose at that time the market capitalisation of the stocks that comprised the index then was, say, 60,000 (remember at that time there may have been some other stocks in the index, not A and B, but that does not matter), then we assume that an index market cap of 60,000 is equal to an index-value of 100.

Thus the value of the index today is = 296,000 x 100/60,000 = 493.33

This is how the Sensex is calculated.

The factor 100/60000 is called index divisor.

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The 30 Sensex stocks are:

ACC, Ambuja Cements, Bajaj Auto, BHEL, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, DLF, Grasim Industries, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Lever, ICICI Bank, Infosys, ITC, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Udyog, NTPC, ONGC, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Reliance Communications, Reliance Energy, Reliance Industries, Satyam Computer Services, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, and Wipro.

(http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/feb/21bspec.htm)

What Interview Questions Do You Ask ?

Here are some of the things I might ask in an interview. I admit, I'm not the best interviewer, I'm a developer. But, I am part of the hiring process for new developers (and should be). I know many other developers are placed in the same situation. I hope to share my experience and learn from others.

They aren't listed in any particular order and this is neither comprehensive or complete. I'm not worried about publishing it because if a fraction of the people I interview actually took the step of reading the first few pages of Google results for whatever they are interviewing for they'd be ahead anyway.

Most of these are pretty Java specific. We use other languages too but, the majority of dev is with Java right now.

My goal is not to torture a candidate with trivia questions. My goal is find find out if they can write code and how well they can fit in with the team.

I'm curious to see what kinds of things others are asking too.

I actually ask a lot more code questions but, the nature of work makes those proprietary :-(

• Version Control
• Threads and Synchronization
• Frameworks
• Core API
• Code Style
• Passion
• Discuss

(Read more at... http://willcode4beer.com/opinion.jsp?set=interviewQ)

Start With Something Simple

(A good article from J.D. Meier's Blog)

What's the best way to build momentum and get results?  Start with something simple.  Seriously.  I get to see folks who get results and those who don't.  The difference nine times out of ten isn't smarts.  It's simply action.  The smart folks who don't get results, either get stuck in analysis paralysis or add too many dependencies up front.  The folks who get results start taking action and adjust along the way.

Why This Works
Starting with something simple works.  It's not that thinking up front doesn't help.  It certainly does.  The problem is, three things can happen along the way:

• At some point, your thoughts are based on way too many assumptions and you don't know what you don't know.  You then find out too little too late.
• Somebody faster came along.  While you're thinking, they're doing.
• In the absence of results, your idea slowly dies inside.

The best way to fuel your fire is to incrementally get results.  Start with something simple.  Results feed on themselves.  If you start with something small, you'll learn faster and you'll start to adapt.  You'll inform your thinking.

How To Start
Start with the smallest thing you can personally do.  If you don't know where to start, here's key questions to help:

• What's the simplest thing you could do?
• What could you do today?

Personally, I find asking what I can do today to be the most effective.  Time is a great forcing function.  It's very easy to cut scope using time.  If you don't respect time, then it's very easy to add way too many things that will never happen.

Fail Fast
While starting with something simple helps build momentum, you'll also want to quickly spike on your risks.  You can do this separately, after you have some success under your belt. 

To fail fast, cut your idea into thin end-to-end slices and test your results.  For example, take one story or usage scenario and try to instantiate it.  Even before you build the solution, simply doing a dry run will reveal a lot of questions you can use to shape your approach.

The purpose of failing fast isn't to fail.  It's to uncover your risks and pick better paths.

(Read more at... http://blogs.msdn.com/jmeier/archive/2008/02/10/start-with-something-simple.aspx)

10 myths about innovation

Myth 1 Creativity is innovation:
Creativity is glamourous. "But getting a new idea is just 1% of the job. The rest is execution,"says Govindarajan."Companies don't pay much attention to execution because they think that innovation equals creativity,"says he.There is another problem related to execution: "What they know how to execute is business-as-usual or the core business. Organizations don't lack great ideas, but they struggle in innovation because of over-focus." That's why Wal-Mart outmanoeuvred Sears in the discount retailing format. Or in the more recent Tata Nano case, as soon as the car was unveiled,Ford made a half-a-billion dollar investment in their Indian operations to come up with a small car priced at $7,000 by 2014."They are still not getting it!" says Govindarajan. "Someone has already fired the first shot with a $2,500 car. They ought to be thinking of something better."

Myth 2 You need a great leader:
it's a commonly held notion that we need a hero who champions the idea and works against all odds. "Innovation doesn't require a great leader, it obviously requires an above average leader," says Govindarajan. As for the notion that s/he fights bureaucracy, "It breeds a very wrong view because to succeed, you don't have to fight bureaucracy—you have to learn to coexist with it, to tap into the resource base."

Myth 3 It equals s k u n k wo r k s :
Skunkworks is a notion that the innovation team works in the "basement". It follows none of the rules of the corporate office. "But innovation in big corporations is centred around ways they can leverage their enormous capabilities to work on complex problems which a start-up would never do," says he. While innovation projects do need some space of their own, they also need to be connected to the main organization so as to leverage its resources. This also forces a degree of accountability on them.

Myth 4 You need major organizational changes:
Remember IBM under Lou Gerstner? "As soon as he came, he changed everything," says Govindarajan. IBM, under him, became a metaphor for how to catalyse innovation. "But that doesn't mean innovation requires major changes. Innovation requires targeted changes," says Govindarajan. "Changes have to be made in that part of the organization where that innovation is being cultivated. By wholesale change you can destroy the business-as-usual machinery." Because business-as-usual is what keeps an organization going but innovation is what keeps its future profits secure.

Myth 5 Innovation equals chaos:
"To say innovation equals chaos is dangerous because that's only about the 1%. The 99%— or the commercialization part—requires extreme discipline," says Govindarajan.
But isn't Google like that? From outside, the organization has nothing but chaos. "In Google what you see as chaos is empowering people at lower levels to conduct experiments. But they always ask them what they learnt from these experiments and how one can incorporate the lessons," says he.

Myth 6 It's the senior executives' job:
"The job of the people at the top is to come up with the strategy while people at the bottom execute it. People in the middle make sure things happen. But the problem with this approach is that innovation becomes nothing more than responding to changes." The people closest to the action are the so-called doers. So Ford, for instance, has missed a huge opportunity because it didn't empower the people in India to drive the innovation for the people's car. "Their approach is that people in Detroit know what works best," says Govindarajan. "The CEO's job is not to get actively involved in innovation, but to manage the organizational context."

Myth 7 It implies customer-orientation:
In the 1970s Xerox was making a lot of money with their $2,000 copiers when a bunch of engineers ("the doers") thought of $1,000 personal copiers. Xerox asked its customers if it wanted these. The problem with that is: who is the customer of Xerox at that point? It is a big company's central copying department. So the answer is obviously no. "That's the problem of the big three automobile companies in India. The customer who is driving a BMW will never tell you he wants a one lakh car."

Myth 8 Planning is irrelevant:
"There is an element of truth to this because if you are in a rapidly changing industry, when do you plan?" says Govindarajan. But planning is important. "One thing we know is that the future is going to be full of surprises. The worst thing you can do in an organization is to be surprised by a surprise. You need to create a capacity to respond to surprises. Build mechanisms that even if the future doesn't happen like I plan, I have some capacity to respond to it. It is a learning tool."

Myth 9 It requires new products and technologies:
Many of the innovations have nothing to do with new products. The Mumbai dabbawallahs, for instance, distributed the Reliance Energy IPO marketing material with the dabbas to 200,000 households and delivered the filled-up forms to the Reliance office. Says Govindarajan, "Even Apple's iPod, one of the most popular innovations in recent times, is nothing but a handheld hard drive."

Myth 10 There are generalisable tools that companies can use to drive innovation:
Innovation comes in different forms and requires a nuanced approached. "If you apply general principles, you can actually destroy it," says Govindarajan. So the tools to measure various indicators such as performance of, say, GE's Six Sigma which is a continuous performance improvement process vis-à-vis a Tata Nano will wary.

- Vijay Govindarajan (in Times)
(Govindarajan is the Earl C Daum 1924 Professor of International Business at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business and director of Tuck's Center for Global Leadership. He is one of the four Indians to appear on the Thinkers 50, a ranking of the Top 50 business and management thought leaders in the world)