A beginner's guide to stocks

It’s Long-term

Only invest money that you dont need for at least 5 years. Rather put your money only if you can lose ‘all’ of it. A holding period of more than one year not only reduces the possibility of loss, but also ensures that you will be treated better on tax front, as there is no tax on capital gains if the holding period is more than one year.

Study and invest

Not knowing about the possible outcomes of your actions is the true risk of investing in equities. Never invest on tips. Try to find information on the stocks and mutual funds you intend to invest in. A good track record across market cycles, while not a guarantee of future performance, reduces possibilites of future underperformace.

Direct or indirect

Should I invest on my own? The answer is no – if you do not have the time, expertise and inclination to research into ‘investment opportunities’ and if investing is not a full time activity for you. In such circumstances, it makes sense to hire an expert and invest through them. The transactional costs – such as demat charges, brokerage - are a deterrent for those with a a small investment corpus. This is where mutual funds come in as they start as low as Rs 500 and in some cases even at Rs 100 per month in the form of micro SIP.

SIP route

Systematic investment plan (SIP) is one of the better options for investing in the stock markets. Exposure at various time intervals helps reduce the risk associate with the market timing.

Index fund

In a rising market, the first to rise will be the front rung stocks. Index funds that track Nifty and Sensex help you to tap the opportunity. You just have to ensure that the fund will have least tracking error and minimal cost of the offering.

Equity linked saving scheme (ELSS)

Those who want to invest in equities and avail of tax breaks, equity linked saving schemes are the option. A scheme such as Franklin Templeton Index Tax can offer you a channel to invest in index while you enjoy a tax break.

Pitfalls to avoid

New fund offers (NFO) are best avoided if there is a lack of track record. Unit linked insurance plans are good only for those who typically have a term of more than 20 years on mind. If your investment horizon is three years mutual funds are better options. Do not get swayed by the online advisory services that claim to have 100% success ratio in day trading. Only god or a liar can claim a 100% success ratio.

There is no ‘one shirt fits all’ solution here. You have to assess your financial needs and your resources in the light of the markets. Portfolio rebalancing from time to time will further enhance the quality of the returns.

Meet Infosys highest-paid execs

Prof Marti G Subramanyam was the highest paid non-wholetime director at Rs 96 lakh (Rs 59 lakh). Other two names in the Infosys' 2007-08 were Srinath Batni, and Subhash Dhar. Batni received an annual compensation package of $316,207 (little less than Rs 1.3 crore). A member of the Infosys board, Batni is also a director on the board of Infosys Technologies (China) Co Ltd and Infosys Australia Pty Ltd.

Dhar is a senior vice-president and heads the communications, media and entertainment business unit at Infosys. He is also a member of the executive council of Infosys and serves on the board of Infosys Australia Pty Ltd. Dhar got an annual compensation package of $248,316 (a little less than Rs 1 crore), in the year 2007-08.


Among the board members, Mohandas Pai earned the highest compensation package of Rs 2.59 crore. He was followed by CFO Balakrishnan at Rs 2.36 crore (Rs 0.63 crore).

Last year, Pai was the third highest earning executive at Infosys. He received an annual package of $443,379 (about Rs 1.8 crore). This included $82,033 (approximately Rs 37 lakh) as annual salary, bonus/incentive of $308,625 (Rs 1.3 crore), other annual compensation of $31,916 (around Rs 14 lakh) and $20,805 (around Rs 9 lakh) towards long-term benefits.




The US-based Ashok Vemuri, head of BFSI and capital markets, took home a total compensation of Rs 4.04 crore (Rs 2.81 crore last year).

Last year Vemuri, had received an annual compensation of $704,111 (a little over Rs 2.8 crore).







BG Srinivas, head of European operations and an executive council member, was the highest paid employee at Infosys in the year-ended March 2009.

Last year, Srinivas received a total compensation package of Rs 3.07 crore, which includes approximately Rs 1.8 crore towards salary, Rs 1.16 crore towards bonus and incentives. This included an amount of Rs 38 kakh accruing from long-term benefits.




The CEO and MD, S Gopalakrishnan’s total compensation package stood at Rs 92 lakh (Rs 81 lakh) while co-chairman Nandan Nilekani earned Rs 91 lakh (Rs 82 lakh).

COO SD Shibulal’s Rs 87 lakh (Rs 78 lakh) was the lowest among key management personnel. NR Narayana Murthy, non-executive chairman and chief mentor, took home a commission of Rs 63 lakh (Rs 50 lakh).

Buying Guide To Cameras

Wanting to buy a camera for long? Bamboozled by the cameras around you? However, not sure how to go about hunting, what to look for? What features and how many megapixels?

You need some help in choosing your perfect one. Take a shot...



With digital cameras, it does. The overall quality of the image depends mainly on three things; quality of lens, quality & size of image sensor and image processing circuitry.

Stick to better known brands only; preferably Canon & Nikon. Both these companies do only imaging and they’re good at it too!

Millions of dollars spent by companies on advertising the ‘megapixel myth’ have brainwashed many. The fact is megapixels have nothing to do with image quality. Cramming more megapixels into a smaller image sensor can even lead to reduced picture quality.

Before buying, check out the optical zoom (more the better), LCD (size, quality), optical viewfinder (useful to frame photos in bright sunlight) and video recording (should be at least VGA quality @ 30 fps).

Also take note of the battery type, accessories (lens, flash, remote), optical viewfinder and manual modes. Some smaller cameras have really tiny and hard-to-use buttons; see if the camera fits your hand before you buy.

Cameras with touchscreen LCDs reduce the number of buttons, but attract a lot of fingerprints. Also check if the responsiveness of the screen is good enough for you.

Rechargeable batteries are convenient, but offer no means of recharging while on the move. If you’re worried about running out of power while travelling, you can go for a camera that uses standard AA size batteries.

Use high-power Ni-MH batteries, but in a pinch, you can also switch to alkaline batteries.

Prosumer refers to a class of camera that is intermediate between basic point-and-shoot and digital SLRs. They offer features suited to the more advanced user like full manual control, high optical zoom, image stabilisation (usually), high quality video and ability to attach an external flash.

But they are also usually more expensive and larger than their basic counterparts.

CCD/CMOS (charge coupled device/complementary metal oxide semiconductor): The type of image sensor used in a digital camera.

Digital zoom: This type of zoom digitally enlarges a portion of the image to make it appear bigger/closer.

Image stabiliser: A technology/mechanism by which camera shake is automatically countered (to a certain degree). It can be electronic or optical. Electronic is cheaper, not as effective.

ISO/ASA (Industry Standards Organization or American Standards Association): Denotes sensitivity to light, assigned to a number. Higher ISO/ASA means greater sensitivity and vice versa. It can help reduce camera shake, and can also lead to increased image noise.

Optical zoom: Refers to the use of movable lens elements to bring an object closer. Look for optical zoom figure, not the digital zoom.

Basic Enquiries About Infy

U don’t need to be great at programming when u r joining as a Fresher. Guys don’t be in thoughts that u r going to be hi-fi Programmer in ur future. The only time during which u do some serious programming is during training and u need not be skeptical if ur non-comp sci as well.Infy teaches every thing from basics.

Now infy does not throw out anyone. It will keep on giving you chances to pass the test until you yourself run out of company in frustration, so don’t worry.
Infosys trainings is not very tough but u need to give some extra efforts. It is 6 months long. If you don't perform well in any of the exams, you'll be given a second chance, so, attend classes carefully.Forget that you are no more a student for 6 months. You'll get your whole life to enjoy with your first salary, second salary and so on. But no enjoyment for first 6 months.

It doesn't matter where your background is CS or non-CS.Some people are from Construction, Mechanical, Civil, Printing, Chemical and other different streams of Engineering. They all get the same exposure, same salary, same treatment, same knowledge. Don't think a CS student would be in advantageous position. All are same 

Generally our training will be broken up into 3 parts. The first part will be a generic program, which will give us basic take on comps in general during that they teach us abt networking, C , SQL and a few other very basic concepts.U have to give tests for individual modules which are online tests multi-choice no negative marking. All is from the course material popularly know as CHAMPAK. U should be thorough with the course material thats all. At the ends of the genric program u have to write a comprehensive exam, which is in three parts. One 50% of marks which is similar to the online tests u would have taken but with -ve mkng, 20% for programming in C and querying in SQL, 30% written. After that u will be allotted to a specific streams.

First subject...CHSSC...(computer hardware n systems sw concepts) then C...then RDBMS...then u have your stream specific training...with OLEs (on-line exams)...
n u have to study for it from the CHAMPAK (infy slang for their training material)....all OLE questions come straight from the champak n u have to mug that....u just don't need to go for any training before hand...becoz even if u know everything...it doesn't matter ...coz the champak is the bible...n thaz what u'll hafta know....All the best...n relax...the solution to all your fears lies in the holy champak.

The project allocation totally depends upon INFY.If U have any choice or interest they can’t help u.It totally depends on their business requirement. Enterprise Systems has highest market value...there are also many mainframes project with Infy. So if u do c,java,vb etc before joining it wud not help in training as 
1. What they will teach u is different
2. U don’t know which specific stream u get there e.g. if u get open systems then java,vb which u did before training wud not help.Similarly in the case with internet stream i.e. if u do C beforehand then it wud not help in internet stream. And nothing wud help if u get mainframes as it has COBOL programming.
The facilities at mysore are down to earth. they will provide u cycle to move around. Hostels wud be on twin sharing basis. So Chillax... and enjoy your rest of the days in full throttle...if still u r thinking of some pre joining preparation then nobody can suggest u. Do whatever u want but don’t think that it wud help in your training due to above mentioned facts.

I heard that training time is unusual i.e. we have to wake up early in the morning for YOGA then usual mundane things and then training starts at 9 or 10 am. Upto 1 pm then break for lunch then 2-5 then 1 hour break then finally 6-8.
There are lots of best books in C, RDBMS, Java. But none of them will help you in OLE and also don’t have time to read extra material other than champak. Those course materials are sufficient. But you'll have to read them thoroughly.
But no book is there to match with their "syllabus". These are for self-learning, not to pass the OLE. Don’t get afraid, if you study the study-materials well, you' score a good mark.

Ask someone working in a good company about infy training, he/she will tell u Infy training is the best in India. My friend told that infy training is the best and u will have a very bright future after 2 years. He also told me dimag se nikal de CAT, JMET just concentrate on your job in Infosys for 2 years and then change to some other company and then apply for some good Executive management program from good institute. Just go ahead and do good in infy.

V ll b gettin a twin sharing hostel room and if available then we can also get a single seater which in no way is less than a 5 star hotel. Swimming, Bowling, Tennis, Library, everything, u name it and its available provided u get the Mysore center.

U can join infy club, they charge u 300 bucks per month...which will b cut from ur salary directly!

U r NOT allowed to get ur system there...U do not have a system in the room. But u can go to the classroom any time of the day...
There have been days wen ppl wud go to stayd at 9 in the night and study till 5 in the morn...its perfectly alright..

U get net connection in the PC alloted to u in the classroom only from 7-9 in the morn and 5-9 in the eve...but u have a 24X7 net cafe in the campus...just incase..

Classes during training start at 9 sharp and u get a break at 10.30 and then 2 hrs lunch break at 12. and then again classes from 2pm to 5.30 pm. if u have assignments to do then you can go back to ur room and cme to the class any time u want to finish ur assignments or study cos the class rooms will be open 24/7. As for the food facility though its not very good , its manageable and the hostel facilities r truly world class!!! the rooms r fully air conditioned and LCD tv , coffee maker hot water, telephone facilities r round the clock available.Dnt worry abt the long training times, once u come to infy u'l get used to it!!

Brand Building

A brand is not a logo, an identity or a product.

A brand is a person's gut feeling about a product ,service or an organization

Its not what you say it is, but it's what they say it is.

A charismatic brand is a product, service or organization for which people believe there is no substitute

The five most important steps in brand building are

1.Differentiate:

who are you? what do you do? why does it matter?

2.Collaborate:

1+1=11

3.Innovate:

distinctiveness, brevity, appropriateness, likability, extendability, protectability

4.Validate:

bringing the audience into the creative process

if you can't tell who's talking when the brand's trademark is covered then the brand's voice is not distinctive

5.Cultivate:

a living brand is a pattern of behavior not a stylistic veneer

You decide The Title, Friend.........

Papa you are a person
who is loving and kind,
And often you know
what I have in my mind.
You r someone who listens,
suggests, and defends.
You r my best friend!
You r proud of my triumphs,
In all that i do,
your love plays a part.
But loving doesn't mean that we always agree.

There are things I know I'll never see.
I'm sure Papa your heart knows what I don't yet know,

The pain of loving a reluctant son,
The anger, coming fast and building slow,
Of being helpless to control someone.
Papa you want only that I grow up right,
But you know what right is, and I still don't.
I have to learn to wield my inner light,
And if I follow yours, well, then I won't.
I'm sorry for the anger in the air;
Though we fight, my love is always there.

Which Maturity Quote Do U Like the Most?

1.The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate.

2.Maturity is: The ability to stick with a job until it's finished; The ability to do a job without being supervised; The ability to carry money without spending it; and The ability to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.

3.Maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had, and what you've learned from them, and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

4.To bear defeat with dignity, to accept criticism with poise, to receive honors with humility -- these are marks of maturity and graciousness.

5. Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity. The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations.

6.Infantile love follows the principle: "I love because I am loved."

Mature love follows the principle: "I am loved because I love."
Immature love says: "I love you because I need you."
Mature love says: "I need you because I love you."

7.Maturity is the process of creating ideas and dreams about what life should be.

8.One stops being a child when one realizes that telling one's trouble does not make it better.

9.There is nothing noble about being superior to some other men. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.

10. You don't learn to hold your own by standing on guard, but by attacking, and getting well hammered yourself.

11.The immature mind hops from one thing to another; the mature mind seeks to follow through.

12.Every human being on this earth is born with a tragedy, and it isn't original sin. He's born with the tragedy that he has to grow up. That he has to leave the nest, the security, and go out to do battle. He has to lose everything that is lovely and fight for a new loveliness of his own making, and it's a tragedy. A lot of people don't have the courage to do it.